WWE Monday Night Raw- Tribute to the Troops Source: Bryan Randles
After filling in for TNA and WWE's "C" and "B" show in the past, I'm finally filling in on the big stage: Monday Night Raw. It's like being called up from OVW. How long after my push starts do I get my meaningless title run, than pushed back to curtain jerker status because I was promoted terribly?
Let's get to the action.
The show opens with a montage of the soldiers and the narrator telling us it's the most important show of the year. They show the wrestlers mingling and it's basically I believe the same commercial they've been showing in advertising the event.
Ringside the soldiers are chanting U-S-A! Michael Cole welcomes us to the show and Jerry Lawler does as well.
Randy Orton is making his way down to the ring to kick off the show and the ring canvas is blue. I don't remember if it was blue in the past, but I don't recall it being so. It probably was. Randy Orton was booed of course.
Hey there outside, Jericho must have broken the walls down and he makes his way to the ring. Helicopters fly over and Cole mentions the event is taking place in the old Iraqi soccer stadium. I think that's what he said?
They recap what happened at Armageddon with JBL booting Jericho's head 6 inches sharp right.
Jericho vs. Orton (non-title)
-The match is under way and they lock up with Y2J getting Orton down. They lock up again and Orton backs his opponent into the corner and goes to work. He whips him in the opposite corner and runs at Jericho, but he moves and than hits Orton with a series of arm drags. Down on the mat Orton locks in a body scissors for Jericho to only wiggle out and hit a dropkick and the fans chant Y2J.
Jericho goes for the walls of Jericho, but Orton fights his way to the ropes and gets out of the ring. Jericho stays offensive though and springboard splash's Orton from the inside to the outside. Jericho stomps Orton than grabs a soldier's camera and takes a picture of a beaten down Orton. The jokes of Jericho come back to hurt him and Orton gets control. Orton hits his DDT with Jericho's legs on the 2nd rope.
We go to commercial at 9:10, 6 minutes into the match.
Hey, it's an American Gladiators commercial! (I'll be checking it out, maybe).
Back to the show Orton has a headlock cinched in and Jericho is trying to battle out of it, but it's not happening. Orton is now in stalker mode, stomping strategically, but trying to drop a knee Jericho moves and starts laying in the chops. Orton battles back and locks in a sleeper only for Jericho to finagle it a notch down to just a reverse chinlock. Orton takes the hold down to the mat and Jericho gets the crowd to rally around him as he tries to battle out of it. He hits an elbow to Orton's gut than a belly-to-back suplex. Both men are down trying to recover from the fatiguing action. Jericho uses the ropes to get to his feet, but Orton didn't have to.
Jericho comes off the ropes with a flying elbow than hits a big forearm for 2. A missile dropkick for 2. Orton tries to come back, but Jericho locks in a Boston crab than Orton rolls it up for 2. Jericho comes back with the lionsault for 2. Orton comes back with a thumb to the eye for "ahhs" from the crowd. Jericho is down and Orton does his fist pumps on the mat and goes for the RKO, but Jericho spins him around gets him down for the Walls of Jericho and the bell is ringing! Did Orton give up?
Nope, it's JBL's music. That damn stock market bell. JBL comes down and has words for Jericho and Orton hits the RKO from behind.
Jericho wins by DQ on JBL's interference in 14:00. (**1/4). Pretty decent opening TV match.
After Jericho gets out the ring JBL gives Orton a clothesline from hell.
It's commercial time at 9:22. They showed a commercial for Ric Flair vs. HHH next week on Raw. Do both men have too much pride to just have HHH lay down for Flair to get the win?
Back from commercial Michael Cole brags about how WWE brings more entertainment than anyone else does to the soldiers.
We get another montage of the wrestlers interacting with the soldiers and them all thanking each other for what they're doing. Rey thanks the soldiers for doing what they do, Cena called it a humbling experience. Kelly Kelly was shown hugging soldiers, Ron Simmons saying Damn, Lillian Garcia being picked up. Jericho, Maria, Matt and Jeff Hardy, Shawn Michaels and pretty much anyone else that was there got a spot or two in it as well. A lot of Diva shots. Sorry, the shots move so fast that it's impossible to follow them all and type it out.
Back to commercial at 9:29.
Jeff Hardy makes his way to the ring and Cole talks about him being one of the guys who put themselves on the map in 2007. He just put himself on the map? Really?
Carlito is out next and he's Jeff's opponent.
Carlito vs. Jeff Hardy
-Jeff goes after Carlito, but he ducks under the top rope. Jeff makes his way back in the corner and goes to work on Carlito and takes him down. Cole is shilling hard for Jeff on commentary. Jeff hits a shoulder block and slams Carlito out of the air for a 2 count. Jeff whips Carlito in the corner who tries to leap over a charging Hardy, but Jeff yanks him down. Carlito comes back with a big slap and moves to stomping him in the corner. Jeff heads outside and slaps hands with the soldiers and Carlito doesn't like that so he follows him outside. Jeff goes back inside the ring and when Carlito tries to get back in he's met by Hardy's foot. He hits a flying clothesline from the top to the outside.
Back in the ring Hardy goes for the swanton, but Carlito moves. More fists from Carlito an irish whip and Jeff hits the whisper in the wind out of it. Both guys are down for the 10 count, but both guys are up. Reverse neckbreaker from Jeff for 2. Jeff hit's his swinging leverage springboard dropkick in the corner. Jeff goes for the twist of fate, but Carlito turns it into a neckbreaker for 2. A frustrated Carlito reaches for his apple, takes a bite, but Jeff hits a jawbreaker and the apple chunks fly. He heads up top and hits the swanton for 3 in 7:00. (*1/2).
They take another look at life on base for the soldiers. This time it takes a look at the artwork of the soldiers. They focus on a particular guy whose name I did not catch who made a painting that seemed to be of importance. Again, I apologize for not being able to catch all of this.
We go to commercial again at 9:42.
Back from commercial they're talking to a soldier who was around when a suicide bombing took place killing 19 soldiers. The guy tears up while talking about the incident and the people who he knew died from the bombing. He talks about how everyday they fight in Iraq it's for the lost soldiers and making sure they don't die in vain.
Vince McMahon is now making his way down to the ring, now he is inside of it and he has a microphone of course. Vince is wearing a red sports coat. That's different.
Vince plays good guy and thanks the troops and talks them up. He says wherever the soldiers are in action, WWE will be right behind them. Vince talks up the divas and it's time for them now.
Kelly Kelly comes out first with a Mrs. Claus kind of get up and of course the soldiers are eating it up.
Layla comes out next who is actually her tag team partner.
Mickie James is next to follow, than Maria in an American Flag theme costume.
Kelly Kelly got the biggest pop it seemed to me, but she was also the first one out.
We get a commercial at 9:53 before the match. Tomorrow night you can relive the year of extreme in 2007 on Sci-Fi at 10.
Back from commercial the action has started.
-Maria and Layla are in full catfight mode down on the mat and Kelly Kelly gets the tag than Mickie. Kelly whips Mickie into the ropes and goes for her cartwheel handspring elbow, but Mickie Moves and Kelly's back eats the buckle. Mickie goes for the pin and the fight is breaking down. Layla and Kelly are down and Maria and Mickie go for double broncobusters.
Vince McMahon gets in the ring and says the fans have seen enough. Vince says Santa Claus isn't coming to Iraq this year. Santa Claus makes his way to the ring though and he has a bad arm! Is it John Cena? Nah, it actually sounds like the real Santa Claus. Santa says he has bad news for Vince. Since Vince was a little child he'd always been a bad boy. He says he remembers Vince as a little child walking into a convenient store and it was on that day that he stole something. Santa sees all remember? It was a magazine, but not any magazine, it was a naughty magazine. Santa reiterates how bad Vince was as a child. Vince says that this Santa is not the real Santa. It seems Santa has proof in the form of a letter Vince as child wrote to him. Santa says the letter is over 100 years old and the crowd chants "old as dirt" at Vince. The letter says that Vince would love a rooster with a beautiful coat, a giant rooster. HHH is writing Cena's jokes! Vince apparently also wanted a red rider BB gun. Vince says you're not the real Santa, who are you? Cena unveils himself and hits an FU on Vince and the crowd eats it up.
With Vince laid out, Cena says Santa brought his sack and it's quite bulging and heavy. Than says he doesn't want anyone to get the wrong idea but these sacks are full of gifts to spread the Christmas cheer. Than asks the divas for assistance in doing so.
Whose more perverted on their best night? Cena or HHH? One of those guys has to go heel. When Cena comes back they can't both be running around as faces making the same jokes. It'll be an hour a night of the same character.
I guess the divas match is a no contest at about 4:00 by the way. (DUD).
Another montage of the soldiers and this one is much more cheerful. They talk about the joy the Iraqi children have for the soldiers and how they greet them and appreciate them.
That was a long segment and it's commercial time at 10:07.
Back from commercial they show clips from a reinstatement ceremony that took place earlier in the day. A montage of the soldiers with the wrestlers again. That was a long montage.
USA's character to watch is the Predator, if you're curious. Wasn't he the character to watch last week?
I guess it's a full on commercial break again. It's 10:14 now. They're gearing up for the 2nd quarter of the 2nd hour. Spider pig, spider pig, does whatever a spider pig does. They're still making American Pie movies?
Ok, back from commercial they talk about the Iraqi soccer stadium. They talk about the legend that Hussein had the soccer team all killed when they lost a soccer game. Jericho talks about how that's part of the reason why they had to come here.
Rey Rey is making his way to the ring and stage dives into the crowd. It's hard to judge the size of the pops at the distance I am from the television, but that may have been the biggest of the show so far.
Whoa how a crowd shifts. Henry is out now and you can imagine the roar of boo's, or just hush silence in the awe of the world's strongest man. Yeah, there is some boo's I guess.
Rey vs. Henry
-The bell rings and Henry is scolding Rey like it's his 7 year old child. Rey showing his guts by going at Henry, but he just shrugs off the biggest little man. Rey gets thrown into the turnbuckle now and Henry just stomps him down to the mat. Rey fights back with kicks to get out of the corner than a dropkick, but Henry don't go down. Henry with a press slam and he stands on Misterio for a 2 count. Henry goes back to '84 and applies the bear hug. It looks like he made up with his son.
Henry goes for a splash, but Rey moves and hits a kick to the jaw. Rey hits a west coast pop for 2. Rey hits a baseball slide kick to Henry's lower region in the corner. Rey hits the 619, but Henry powers up and throws Rey away. Rey comes back with a roll-up and gets the pin in 5:00. (1/4*).
Another segment with the Soldiers talking about IED's, which are some kind of Explosive Device that is one of the most dangerous things for the soldiers in Iraq. They than talk about a vehicle called a "buffalo" that they use to hunt down the IED's and get rid of them.
Commercial again at 10:28.
John Cena at the army base segment now. Cena shows off his military knowledge in talking about the stuff inside the walls at the base. The soldier Cena talks to tells America to "keep rocking in the free world and we'll keep kicking ass over here."
It's time for the Raw rebound and they recap the Flair vs. Umaga scenario from last week. Than they hype the Flair vs. HHH match for Raw next week again.
Jericho now has his own segment on the base. It follows Jericho from when he was leaving the states than forwarding past the 22-hour flight to him arriving in Iraq. They show him taking pictures with the guys and signing autographs. Jericho is shown around and gets to check out a helicopter and some of the other forms of weaponry on base. Jericho is amazed by it all. He says it's like a movie, but it's real.
Commercial time at 10:39. They hype the greatest matches of 2007 special in place of Smackdown on the CW this Friday night at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. (Cheap plug time, as I'll be covering it here for you all on Gerweck.net, by the way).
Officially back from commercial and DX is making their way to the ring. Cole says the soldiers requested a DX reunion for the show and they got it. Ok, that I'm pretty sure did beat Rey's pop.
HHH has a mic and the crowd is chanting DX. HHH tells the crowd to be quiet for a second and tells them he has a question that needs to be answered. "Are you ready?" Rooooaar. "No, I said are you ready?" Roooar. For the thousands in attendance and the millions watching all over the world, we have the pleasure of standing with the greatest fighting force on God's green earth! "U-S-A!" The crowd erupts. "Let's get ready to suck it!"
That was nice.
HBK has the mic now and says that if you are not down with the men and women of the military we got two words for you! Suck it!
Just like old times.
Umaga is making his way to the ring, than Kennedy follows.
Commercial time before the match takes place. It's 10:50. I guess we got a decent 10 minute main event ahead of us. Hey, it's more spider pig.
Back from commercial the match is underway and HBK is battling Kennedy in the ring. HBK with a shot at Umaga and a body slam for Kennedy. HBK heads up top and hits his flying elbow. He plays to the crowd and is already going for sweet chin music. Umaga takes him out though and Kennedy with the cover and gets 2. Umaga gets the tag in and hits a couple of head-butts on HBK. He drops a big knee to the chest and gets a 2 count. The crowd is rallying for HBK to get in some offense and he's attempting to with chops, but Umaga comes back with a big uppercut. Umaga tags in Kennedy who hits some forearms. Kennedy with a keylock and now a "Kennedy sucks" chant from the crowd. HBK is up, but still in the hold and trying to drag Kennedy towards his corner, but Kennedy cuts him off with a kick and a thumb to the eye. Umaga gets tagged in while Kennedy holds HBK in the corner and he gets in some shots. Umaga clamps on the Samoan nerve grip hold of death on HBK. He gets to his feet and brings some chops, but an Umaga head-butt takes him back down and Kennedy gets tagged in. HBK doesn't have much left in him and whatever's left he's using to try and fight back and Kennedy pulls out the rolling senton, but HHH breaks up the cover.
Umaga gets tagged in and he goes for the 2nd rope flying head-butt and HBK moves. He gets the hot tag to HHH and he goes off on Kennedy and hits the high knee. He throws Umaga into the turnbuckle and a spinebuster for Kennedy. HHH flexes, kick to Kennedy's stomach and he goes for the pedigree, but Umaga breaks it up. HBK hits sweet chin music on Umaga, than sweet chin music on Kennedy. HHH hits the pedigree on Kennedy for the 3 count in 11:00. (**1/4).
I wonder if they knew Kennedy was actually going to have a good performance at Armageddon for a change, if they would have had Umaga take the 3 count?
After the match DX plays to the crowd and they can't help but love it. They invite the troops to come into the ring.
Closing the show Cole thanks the troops, wishes them a Merry Christmas and says America is behind you.
They close the show with another montage of the wrestlers with the troops.
Overall: A pretty ok Raw. Obviously this show is about the troops and not advancing storylines, although they were able to incorporate the JBL vs. Jericho feud into it. The Jericho vs. Orton and DX vs. Kennedy and Umaga matches were both pretty decent. The rest of the wrestling was forgettable. If you're a Cena fan I'm sure you enjoyed seeing him on TV again and that'd be a plus as well.
The troops sure seemed to enjoy themselves and got to see a lot of the WWE superstars in action and that's what matters most.
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