ZJ Penn

The Wrestling Observer is pleased to announce that aswell as its monthly review of all WWE PPV's, it will also be launching a fortnightly feature looking at a different aspect of the industry every time.

This will begin this Saturday with a look at who is selling the merchandise for the biggest promotion in the world, World Wrestling Entertainment. It also will look at just why the fans are buying their merchandise over others.

The next two reports after that will feature the over $100,000 report, on the most well off workers in the industry, and The Undercard, giving a closer look at the workers who take up the majority of your viewing time.

Another TV Show Dropped/Big Trouble Down At CW!!!/NWA-CS Hiring’s/NWAPWX Releases And Show Cancelled/Promotion Show Stats/SW Gone

I know what you’re thinking. ‘Its only the 31st July, aren’t the big reports supposed to come at the beginning of each month?’. Well yes, and no, as there will still be the big August 1st Wrestling Heat Newsletter, but there has also been big waves over recent weeks, unfortunately the majority of it is bad, with lots of people losing their jobs:

- First point of order today is that NWA: Pro Wrestling Express, has had its only television show, NWA Top Ranked TV dropped by its local network. As reported earlier, WXW had a TV show cancelled two or three weeks ago and now the exodus of wrestling on the air continues, despite the alleged rise in popularity. This leaves only eleven other shows on the air that isn’t WWE or TNA programming. The loss came as a shock to NWAPWX owner Jim Miller, who was then forced to cancel last weeks TV tapings. As expected Miller has begun the cost-cutting measures early, so as not to fall victim to what has happened to other promotions, by releasing Brant. Despite the brawler wanting only £12,000 on his open contract, one of the cheapest Indy workers in the area, his lack of overness with the fans didn’t fit with Millers sports entertainment style and he took the plunge. This raises questions over Adam Cages future, with him being in the same boat.

- More bad news new, this time regarding Chaotic Wrestling. The company seems destined for closure, once news spread of owner Jamie Jamitkowski quitting the promotion. This lack of an investor has left them high and dry, with so many firings and releases that the business is now only recognised as a small promotion, one step up from a backyard one. The lack of an owner, considering he was pretty hands on, meant that they also had to cancel their previous show, losing further cash and irritating their stars who had turned down other bookings to appear there. In any event, they have had to release staff, the full list being:

Mike Hollow

Dave Daniels

Don Schwimmer

Kevin Loeb

Dan Pancoast

Rich Palladino

Hopefully other promotions can pick them up. Workers have also being sacrificed, with the majority being the new, younger stars who haven’t being exposed much on their shows, becoming much more expendable, these being; Dukes Dalton, Andre Lyonz and Max Bauer. Psycho CW is the other release, notable as he was one of the main eventers at the company, with a gimmick based around the promotion.

- Finally some good news now, that NWA: Cyberspace has decided to go on a bit of a talent search, bringing in new workers Bison Smith and Kaos both on open contracts. Both are talented workers who should do some good for the company.

- Time for the results of the shows that were not cancelled this month, all listed below:

NYWC's 'NYWC Bad Obsession' show was attended by 304 people!

They made $6080 from ticket sales.

IWA-EC's 'IWA-EC Come Out And Play' show was attended by 317 people!

They made $6340 from ticket sales.

IWC's 'Showdown In Turkeytown' show was attended by 465 people!

They made $9300 from ticket sales.

NWA-CS's 'NWA-CS Dissident Movement' show was attended by 301 people!

They made $6020 from ticket sales.

ECCW's 'ECCW The End Of The Line' show was attended by 68 people!

They made $1360 from ticket sales.

IWA-PR's 'Summer Attitude' show was attended by 477 people!

They made $14310 from ticket sales.

IWA-MS's 'Stylin in the Summertime' show was attended by 463 people!

They made $9260 from ticket sales.

JAPW's 'JAPW The Writing On The Wall' show was attended by 456 people!

They made $9120 from ticket sales.

ECWA's 'Hot Summer Fights' show was attended by 368 people!

They made $7360 from ticket sales.

TNA got a 0.77 PPV buy rate for 'Victory Road'!

The event was attended by 9145 people.

They made $1925000 from pay-per-view revenue.

They made $365800 from ticket sales.

WWE got a 1.74 buy rate for 'Vengeance (Smackdown!)'!

The attendance was 18964 people.

They made $4350000 from pay-per-view revenue.

They made $1137840 from ticket sales.

WWC got a 0.55 television rating for 'Superestrellas'!

The event was attended by 190 people.

AAA got a 1.54 television rating for 'Lucha De Vuelta'!

The event was attended by 374 people.

They made $7480 from ticket sales.

They made $2850 from ticket sales.

Obviously big news here aside from WWE and TNA doing respectively well, is that AAA also scored well with their Mexican TV show, could they be finally bringing a third big company to the table?

Finally tonight, we’ve saved the biggest news till last in that the WWE have taken over the Hart families famous Canadian promotion, Stampede Wrestling. The promotion was said to be struggling financially, and the McMahons helped out one of the biggest wrestling families when they reached a deal of $924,000 for a complete takeover. Obviously some big names are left without a job, they’ll no doubt be snapped up quickly. The promotion was flagged up as being in trouble when they fired a huge list of staff and workers, namely these listed:

Workers

Belle Lovitz

Duke Durrango

Gama Singh Jr.

Tiger Raj Singh

Staff

Steve Jaggar

Martyn Standish

Steve Bullock

Lucy Chase

Chuck Etchels

Danny Boy Drake

This forced the promotion into a small level and left them without a show this month, as they had advertised the majority of the departed workers as being there. One final thought this leaves us with though, have WWE finally patched things up with the Hart family after nearly a decade? My guess is yes, as you don’t sell off your pride company to someone you hate.

WWE Vengeance Report

By Dave Meltzer

Last night the Smackdown brand held its first solo Pay-Per-View. The event was billed as having ‘thrills, shocks and changes’, or at least that’s what the tag-line wanted you to believe. Here is my match-by-match coverage of the event:

- The Sunday Night Heat web cast was held prior to the event and was one of the only times Smackdown superstars appeared on it, with Animal and Matt Hardy main eventing in a hardcore match, although it wasn’t really main eventing. JBL versus Rey is the main event, this is the notch above a dark match. Prior to this, we got the usual stuff you expect from Heat nowadays as Mark Copani squashed another superstar and Big Show appeared against Rob Conway once again. In any event, this match was actually decent enough considering one of the competitors peaked about 15 years ago. This was largely down to the hardcore element involved, meaning that they could be forgiven for a lack of technical or high flying wrestling, which isn’t exactly Animals forte now is it? Instead all he had to do was hit Hardy with a chair, or be hit with it, which was enjoyable while it lasted. Some nice spots here also to get the crowd going, the power slam onto the trash can and the Twist Of Fate onto a chair being notable. The finish was also solid, with Hardy putting Animal through a table for the win. Again, nice match that knew its place, focusing more on the entertainment than the wrestling, something that Animal based his entire career on, very successfully. Finally, Hardy cut a decent promo telling everyone to watch out, he’ll be back in what appears to be one of the worst kept secrets in wrestling. I’d say the crowd were as expected, impatient for the PPV to start at 64% whilst the match was above average at 77%. Overall, a **¾ rating.

- The proper PPV then started and we got the usual warm-up video showing everything that had gone on, followed by some rather extravagant explosions and lighting which made you feel that if you didn’t have epilepsy before, you might have it now. Another nice touch was the Vengeance stage, which was showing the faces on one side of the Titantron and the heels on the other. The set had two entrances also, with I guess the workers to come out of their respective side. A bit like Fully Loaded a few years back if I remember rightly.

- Right, onto the first match of the evening which shocked a lot of people who thought that the cruiserweight match might open as usually with Smackdown PPV’s. Hopefully, this means Helms and co. will get more time to showcase their talents. The opener instead is Chavo and Doug Basham. Chavo held a terrific match with Benjamin last month at Bad Blood and I had the inkling that him and Basham could once more produce the goods. To be honest, it was nowhere near as enjoyable as Chavo - Benjamin, but still very watch able at 81%. The airborne small package finish was done well, considering if it goes wrong it can kill the contest. Unfortunately, it appears that no matter how hard they try, the audience just wont get into either of these two workers, still an improvement on Hardys match at 70%, leading to a good *** rating. If the event continues improving like this, I can’t wait for the main event. Sadly, I’m not that convinced that will be the case.

- Now its time for the cruiserweight title match, which had positive points, and negative points. Positive point, so far the match of the night. Crowd into it the most so far at 78% and the contest was terrific at 86%. The bout was really enjoyable with the Smackdown creative team finally giving the cruiserweights time to shine, the double DDT spot bringing the crowd to their feet, not to mention Kid Kash pulling out another Dragonrana to the outside. The negative point being Texas Lewis. Looks like a rehash of the Diesel and Shawn Michaels storyline from 1994, and on a lower scale just isn’t working. I mean, how are they supposed to build up cruiserweight wrestling if Lewis destroys them single handedly every week? Lewis is a great brawler, but has being introduced wrong. They’ve blown his gimmick off quickly it looks like with the finish of Helms firing him. I can see him being sent back to OVW with this experience and then brought back later. The fans just don’t take to him. In any event, I think ***½ is a fair rating, plus with Helms keeping the title, the belt and division stay credible, no doubt their image has improved.

- Usually I only don’t give ratings to squashes, however that precedent is broken tonight when I don’t rate Boogeyman - Booker. Not only because even the five time champ couldn’t carry Boogeymans lack of talent, but because it was too short and well frankly, weird. The match was kept short with Booker having a flurry, then Boogeyman having the comeback, before Sharmell’s interference led to Boogeyman winning. Interesting finish saw Booker turn down the chance to end Boogeymans undefeated streak when he scored with his finisher, by leaving the ring and getting counted out, and consequently, kicked off Smackdown. As far Papa Shango leading Boogeyman into the smoke and beyond, surely not a Shango - Boogeyman tag team?

- Next contest is one I was really looking forward to, and had good reason. Benjamin and Flair are two really great talents, and their mixing styles should combine well. The bout was more or less as expected with the one week build-up that they had. Crowd and match quality were pretty evenly positive at around 76% each. Obviously Shelton got the dirty win but both were kept strong in an interesting contest that worked the crowd as much as the wrestlers. Overall, I’d give it ***, maybe four with my bias towards Flair. One thing I must point out is that I was really enjoying this PPV at this point, one of the best Smackdown had put on in months, although Henry and Khali are yet to come. Another thing I have to tell is that both still seem to be finding their feet on the Smackdown way of things and this may hurt their overness with the crowd very slightly.

- Next title match was the WWE Tag Team title match, and this was one for the ages, living up to the tagline. The quality on show here was incredible, its been a long time since I gave a WWE tag team match a 95% match quality rating, but this got it. Almost every tag spot was included, and the story told, although basic, was done to perfection. Crowd were interested all the way, but only really got to their feet at the finish, for obvious reasons at 76%. Overall, MNM retaining sets up the future well and Summerslam should produce another good encounter. Obviously the finish stole it though, Jeff Hardy returning as Matt Hardys surprise to cost Londrick the match, and the titles. Tag team wrestling just went back up a notch in the WWE, as long as Jeff stays on the straight and narrow. Also good to see Matt Hardy given a decent storyline. First since Jeff left to be honest, minus the Edge encounters. I'm slapping a ****1\4 rating on this.

- The next match was for the KOTR title opportunity and Lashley won clean in a bit of a shock leaving people wondering how that will fit into RAW stories with Summerslam’s main event already set up. The actual match and feud was done well, with Lashley now looking pretty legitimate, Finlays first real feud finished in the WWE, even Paul Burchill got credit from it. Overall, ***¼ rating, meaning that this PPV is not the 2001 Royal Rumble or WrestleMania 17, but it still looking pretty good. The clean break on the feud now means that the workers are free to begin new feuds, with Lashley now on RAW and Finlay and Burchill set to tag for a while longer.

- First of the three big matches saw Henry beat Benoit by disqualification then get beat down. Pretty average match with fans now just waiting for the two final matches and Henry and Benoit limited to chair shots and ribs based manoeuvres. A good *** rating still, as it did everything right in a short space of time, and gave them both clean breaks from each other, whilst keeping each man strong. It looks like Henry is really coming out well from this, fans finally getting round to the fact that he might not be Kurt Angle, but has done well with what he has had to do, and he seems to be over now more than ever.

- Time for the casket match now and in all honestly, it wasn’t as bad as everyone thought it would be, although Khali’s inability to sell hurt the match rating. Overall, it was short and sweet at **½, which in my opinion is perfectly acceptable wrestling. Biggest point to come from this match was Kane returning, albeit in his mask. This I am currently undecided, as Brothers Of Destruction has been done to death in the past. Who knows though, can the new management rekindle some of the magic of 2001? One good thing though, it seems like Khali is gone for good, as much as I wanted him to be a success, him in the ring hurt my eyes. Still, casket matches always leave superstars open for a return. Hopefully, he can return to OVW and brush up his skills to avoid being released.

- The final match of the night saw another *** contest. This time Rey beat JBL clean again to capture the US title. Something tells me though, that one of these reigns isn’t going to last very long. Considering the size difference, the match was decent enough, Rey getting the win with a pretty unique finish with JBL preventing himself from kicking out. This leaves JBL title less, but I think not out of the title race. Although surely they cant have another JBL - Rey contest at Summerslam can they? My prediction, a swerve coming soon.

Overall, one of the best PPV’s of recent months, I’d give it around 80% overall, maybe 79%. The buy rates are set as early indications of 1.74, up 0.16 on Raw’s Bad Blood. Thus bringing in $4,350,000 [PPV rate] and $1,137,840 [ticket sales] for WWE, $5,487,840 overall and $487,840 more than last months PPV. Who’d have thought you’d see the day that Mark Henry and Khali outsold HHH, RVD, Edge and Cena by so much? That’s good booking for you!

Tonight, the Smackdown brand held its first Pay-Per-View since the new management took over, and if its thrills, shocks and changes that you wanted you were not disappointed. The event saw one of Smackdowns biggest matches to date, when Rey Mysterio and John Bradshaw Layfield defended their respective titles, the World Heavyweight Championship and the United States title, in the Ultimate Challenge II. This was the same as when Hulk Hogan faced the Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania VI and so they had to live up to something big. Also, with Hogan, the WWE Champion at the time coming up short in that match, the pressure was most definitely on Mysterio to get a result. Could he get the job done and continue living the dream? Or was it finally time for JBL to bring that World Title ‘home’? Another big match tonight saw The Great Khali and The Undertaker square off once more, this time in a casket match. With the general consensus being that once someone gets trapped in that casket, the other will make sure that they never set foot in the WWE again, and this could be the last we see of Taker in the company. With Undertaker only ever hurting Khali once or twice over the previous weeks, it looks like a Deadman exit from the industry could be imminent. Whatever the results, you could be sure that the PPV was definitely not one to miss!

Sunday Night Heat Main Event: Hardcore Match

Matt Hardy Vs Road Warrior Animal [Hardcore Rules]

The final match of Heat was also seen as the warm-up bout before the Vengeance PPV got underway and didn’t fail in entertaining the fans. The contest was between Animal and former Tag Team Champion Matt Hardy, with bad blood built up over recent weeks as former partners became bitter enemies when an enraged Hardy blamed Animal for costing them the chance to become tag team champions. Hardy followed his vendetta up with a series of assaults on Animal, who responded in similar fashion leading up to this match. Just in case you thought it couldn’t get any more vicious, the match was held under hardcore rules, meaning that anything was legal. The match was a high paced affair, with both men going straight for the weapons underneath the ring, Animal almost causing an early end to the match with a power slam onto a trash can. Hardy kicked out though and went back at his opponent, nailing him with numerous chair shots and even a Twist Of Fate onto it. In the end it was Hardys experience in hardcore matches and unwavering desire which spurred him on, getting the three count when he landed the Second Rope Leg Drop through a table. After the match, Hardy hit another Twist Of Fate onto Animal then tossed him out of the ring before grabbing a microphone. Matt finished by telling the eager crowd in attendance that this wouldn’t be the last time that we see him tonight, as he has something shocking in store that will rock Smackdown.

The show then opened with pyro and POD supplied theme music to please the crowd, before a video was rolled to show the matches for tonight and how they came about. Surprisingly to some, the show then opened with Chavo Guerrero and Doug Bashams encounter.

Chavo Guerrero Vs Doug Basham

Prior to the match, both superstars made their separate entrances to obviously different crowd reactions, however Chavo looked particularly concerned when the cunning Daivari accompanied his opponent to the ring. The match was a back and forth contest, with both competitors showing their individual talents. Ultimately, though Daivari was never going to stay out of the match once his client looked in danger of being beaten, and once Chavo took control, there was no hesitation. Guerrero was able to take the advantage when a high risk top rope manoeuvre was ducked by the Mexican, and he followed up with The Three Amigos. As the crowd felt it coming and the ‘Eddie’ chants began, Chavo ascended to the top rope and prepared for a Frog Splash. Daivari then climbed onto the nearby apron and began shouting at Guerrero in Arabic, seriously irritating Chavo and forcing him to hit the schemer with a solid right hand. The distraction lasted for long enough though for Doug to meet him on the turnbuckle and deliver a ring shaking Second Rope Spine Buster, although somehow Chavo found the intestinal fortitude to kick out at two and a half. A now recovered Daivari continued to bark orders at Basham, telling him to do it again. He hoisted him to the second rope, looking for another Spine Buster, although the experienced Chavo showed particularly intelligent skill to roll him up in mid-air, picking up a big win with a small package to the delight of the fans! The action was far from finished here though as after Chavo finished celebrating his PPV victory and returned to the locker room, Daivari confronted a despairing Basham, telling him that he is useless, dead weight, and that he doesn’t want him with them anymore, as he is making the rest of his Army look bad. Basham even went as far as to get on his knees and beg and plead Daivari to reconsider, although all he got was a kick to the face and spat on. At this, his brother Danny Basham hit the ring, chasing Daivari back away. He then gestured to Doug with a handshake…which was accepted! The two brothers then hugged, showing they are back together as a team once more.

WWE Cruiserweight Championship

Gregory Helms © w/Texas Lewis Vs Kid Kash Vs Super Crazy

The second match of the PPV was in fact the first title match of the night, as Gregory Helms defended his WWE Cruiserweight Championship against two of the finest athletes on the roster in Kid Kash and Super Crazy. As expected, Texas Lewis also accompanied Helms to ringside and also as expected was involved from the off. They took advantage of the fact that it was no disqualification to make it almost like a tag team match. This was until the referee told Lewis to return to the back or he would remove Helms from the match! Reluctantly, Texas left the ringside area and the match was restarted, with both Kash and Crazy now teaming up, it went from a tag team match in Helms’ favour, to a handicap match in his opponents favour. The three superstars used a variety of moves associated with this division to try and gain the advantage, with Super Crazy sending the audience into raptures with a double tornado DDT from the top rope getting near falls on both superstars, but not a three on either of them. The finish to the match came when a title shot from Helms was grabbed by Kash, who tried to return the favour, only to nail the referee. At this point Lewis re-emerged from the back and destroyed both of the stunned and equally tiring competitors with his patented Texan Backbreaker, allowing the drained Helms to crawl across the ring and grab the victory, to the disgust of the fans. After the contest had finished and the bell rang, Helms demanded that Lewis hold up Kash for him to hit the knockout blow with the Shining Wizard. However, Crazy dragged him out of the way at the last second, meaning that Helms landed the Wizard on Lewis!!! As his opponents exited the stage, Helms abandoned his bodyguard, telling him that his services are no longer needed if he cant carry out simple instructions and he would be better off without him.

Ric Flair Vs Shelton Benjamin

The third match on the card was definitely one for ‘pure’ wrestling fans as old school met new school, when high flying Shelton Benjamin met the somewhat ‘underhand’ Ric Flair in the squared circle. The bout was hotly contested with neither man wanting to give up his chance to make an impression at their first Smackdown PPV since joining in the draft in recent weeks. Flair was at his best, firing away with knife-edge chops left, right and centre. With the crowd firmly behind the ‘Nature Boy’, the ‘Woo’ chants nearly blew the roof off of the arena. Benjamin seemed unable to cope with the rather unexpected offensive flurry from Flair, almost falling victim to the Figure Four Leg Lock three times, but getting to the ropes every time. Flair then took a defensive approach, also showing strong character to kick out of a top rope suplex from Benjamin, as well as a Springboard Bulldog to follow it up. Just when the match seemed to be approaching the thirty minute time limit set beforehand, both men somehow were able to hit low blows on one another. As they rose to their feet at a count of nine, Benjamin looked for his T-Bone Suplex, but Flair caught him off guard with an inside cradle, which was then rolled through by Shelton to get the win!!! The victory was tainted though, as replays showed Benjamin to have grabbed hold of the tights to keep Flair down for a three count. As Shelton continued to celebrate his quite remarkable change in fortunes since moving to Smackdown, Flair looked pretty downbeat in the ring despite his standing ovation, as he realised he was beaten with tactics that the ‘dirtiest player in the game’ should have been well aware of.

Loser Leaves Smackdown Match

Booker T w/Sharmell Vs The Boogeyman

The next match on the card was far and away the shortest one, culminating in a grand total of eight minutes, including entrances. Also featuring The Boogeyman, it was never going to be anything but weird. Booker took the aggressor role, hitting his opponent with everything he had, kicks, chops, even a Book End to only get a two count. The Boogeyman fought back from there against a bewildered Booker T, concluding with his Supernatural Touch finishing manoeuvre. Sensing that her man was done for, and that they might both be out of a job, Sharmell then took it upon herself to nail Boogeyman with his own weapon whilst the referee checked on Booker. Although this only got his attention and he produced from his pocket a handful of worms! Just before he could smother them on Sharmell, she was able to hit a sickening low blow which the five time WCW Champion followed up with a Scissors Kick! Here the match took an even stranger twist when instead of covering the unconscious Boogeyman, Booker left the ring and went back up the aisle, getting himself counted out in the process to the shock and disgust of his wife Sharmell, who understandably chased after him. The referee pronounced the now conscious Boogeyman the winner, and that Booker was no longer a Smackdown superstar. To finish, just when you thought it couldn’t get any weirder, it did, as the classic music of Papa Shango sounded in the arena and the old voodoo man appeared on the stage. As The Boogeyman looked on perplexed, he motioned for him to follow Shango back through the smoke from which he came, and The Boogeyman agreed. This match solved one question, who is leaving Smackdown, but threw up a few more. Such as, what is Papa Shango doing back in the WWE? And what does The Boogeyman have to do with him?

WWE Tag Team Championships

MNM © Vs Londrick

The second title match on the card and the only tag team match was between two of the hottest young teams in the industry, MNM and Londrick. With Melina banned from ringside, Londrick weren’t afraid to go all out and attacked with their no-fear, all risk style which has got them where they are today. For the majority, this paid off, sending Nitro and Mercury crashing from pillar to post with an assortment of top rope dropkicks, shoulder tackles and spinning wheel kicks. It wouldn’t be high risk if there wasn’t any danger involved though and this cost Brian Kendrick dear. Kendrick was looking for a Shooting Star Press on Nitro to end the match, when Mercury used his tag team knowledge and wits to pull the rope down, crotching him on the turnbuckle. This obviously swayed the match big time, with MNM blocking Brian from his partner Paul London, and hitting several seamless double team moves including backdrops, clotheslines and flapjacks to put him out of commission. With arrogance comes complacency though, and MNM are two of the most arrogant people in WWE today, if not all-time. This eventually gave Kendrick the chance to duck a double clothesline and make the big tag to partner London! As expected, he came in all guns blazing, knocking them down with hard rights and lefts, although in the hustle and bustle, he knocked his own partner off the apron with a misplaced shot, before knocking Nitro out to join him with a Moon flip Kick, landing on Mercury with the cover with what could have been a hundred count. The pin never came though as, of all people, Matt Hardy was distracting referee Nick Patrick on the outside. Out of the blue though, another superstar darted through the crowd and over the barrier. He looked a lot like Matt Hardy but from closer range was instantly recognisable as his brother, Jeff!!! As the crowd exploded once they realised, Jeff hit the top rope, and then for the first time in a WWE ring in years, dropped a soaring Swanton Bomb onto the unaware Paul London, before rolling Mercury back on top of him! As the referee turned, Hardy exited the ring and joined his brother on the outside, just in time for MNM to retain their titles under questionable circumstances. Post match, The Hardy Boyz joined MNM in the ring and Nitro and Mercury now with Melina, put out their hands in friendship, which was accepted…but no! Jeff and Matt both hit them with a Twist Of Fate each!!! As the crowd cheered them on, they then followed up with a Leg Drop and another Swanton Bomb from Matt and Jeff respectively, before chasing Melina backstage! Already we have four matches left but already this crowd are happy to have come, and the surprises sure as ever aren’t finished yet.

KOTR Title Opportunity Match

Finlay Vs Lashley

With perhaps two of the toughest brawlers on the roster, this match was never going to be pretty to watch, especially coupled with the fact that they have history together, now stretching back months. It would all end tonight though, and it did, in spectacular fashion. Lashley took the early advantage in the match, as he was obviously able to outmatch Finlay when it came to strength and brute force. Finlay is nothing if not tough though and was able to admirably kick out of two or three potentially match winning moves, including a devastating Running Power Slam. The grizzled veteran then showed his wily tactics and years of ring experience to set up Lashley for a mule kick to the groin in the corner behind the referees back. With the pendulum now swinging the other way, Finlay moved in for the kill, punishing his rival with savage blows and then using a variety of holds to keep him down on the mat, but was just unable to hit the killer blow to put Lashley away. Time after time this happened, and once Finlay let up for just a second, Lashley exploded out of the corner and clotheslined him right out of his boots and prepared for The Dominator. At which point Paul Burchill hit the ring, biding Finlay some time by taking a Spear for his efforts. With his partner now down, Finlay blindsided Lashley and scooped him up for The Muscle Buster. Lashley wasn’t done yet though and powered out with a wiggle of the legs and even went so far as to land back on his feet and get Finlay up for, and hit with, The Dominator!!! The crowd then went wild for their now RAW hero, as he covered Finlay and the referee counted for three for Lashley to keep his KOTR title opportunity.

Chris Benoit Vs Mark Henry

Chris Benoit is indeed, a long match veteran, although this was particularly short, mainly due to the injuries caused by Mark Henry to his ribs over recent weeks. Benoit hit the ring to meet Henry and at first tried to outwrestle him with his technical style, although every time Henry respond with a shot to the ribs and sometimes even locking on a bear hug. Realising that he was risking not only career, but his life, Benoit snapped and forgot all about the match, heading to the outside. He returned with a chair and after the referee tried to get it away, forced it into his ribs, prompting a swift disqualification. This rivalry wasn’t about who pinned who though, it was about revenge and being the last man standing once all the smoke had cleared. Benoit indeed was that night, knocking the life out of Henry with no fewer than five solid chair shots to his head and spine, even then locking on the Crossface till the team of staff, security and referees could break it up. Again, he might not have pinned his opponent, but Benoit sure as ever won this contest.

Casket Match

The Great Khali Vs The Undertaker

Some PPV’s are seen as having two main events, and if with Vengeance this was the case, then this was most definitely the other one, as The Deadman faced his arch-nemesis in recent weeks, the 7 foot 3, muscle-bound Khali. To make things even more risky for both men, it was a casket match, with the winner set to be gone from the WWE, forever. Before the match began, the accompanying Daivari grabbed a microphone, before telling The Undertaker that he is always one step ahead of everyone else. You see, he said he realised that casket matches are no disqualification, and then motioned to the back as Mark Henry joined them in the ring, albeit still suffering from a slight concussion at the hands of Benoit. Still, the odds of three to one looked bad for Taker, who then came down to ringside, the arenas atmosphere changing entirely and the crowd jumping out of their seats. The Deadman reached the ring and removed his attire there, still weighing up the situation. Just as it looked like we were about to get going, the music of Smackdown General Manager Theodore Long sounded over the deafening crowd atmosphere, and he arrived on the stage. He said that he realised that this might happen, making a slight reference to the 1994 Royal Rumble. Which is why he didn’t do anything about it, puzzlingly. He then went onto explain that he now gives us the final draft lottery pick! Long got well out of the way as the pyro went off and it’s The Undertakers brother, Kane!!! This wasn’t how we knew him though, as he had returned to his previous form of being completely covered apart from one arm, even wearing the mask from years ago. He stood toe-to-toe with the Deadman for a few seconds, before acknowledging that he still has a score to settle with Daivari’s Army for the Inferno match at Bad Blood, and together the brothers rushed the ring clearing house of all three men. The match eventually began, and the adrenaline fuelled, invigorated Brothers Of Destruction went on the rampage, at one point Taker hit a Tombstone on Henry as Kane simultaneously nailed Daivari with one. It wasn’t completely one sided though, as Khali ambushed them from behind, knocking them both down with two brutal chops. As he stood over them, arms held high, he was then shocked to see both men sit up simultaneously, then hit a couple of punches to stagger him, before both coming off of the ropes to hit a double flying clothesline to topple the big man for perhaps the first time! With the other two still out of it, The Brothers made the cut-throat symbol to each other, showing they were on the same page, before getting Khali up and somehow nailing a Double Chokeslam on the man mountain!!! The frankly amazing match was then ended as they rolled him into the casket and shut the lid, and just like that Khali was gone. The duo then stayed in the ring as Henry and Daivari headed to the back, Taker celebrating on one knee and Kane setting off the turnbuckle flames. The unstoppable team finished by walking off to the back, with the casket and it looks pretty safe to say that they aren’t going to let Khali rear his ugly head in the WWE ever again.

Ultimate Challenge II

World Heavyweight Championship Vs United States Championship

Rey Mysterio Vs John Bradshaw Layfield

The final match was indeed the Championship match, and was indeed a clash of champions, the World Heavyweight Champion and the United States Champion. With one man set to lose his title for sure tonight, neither wanted to make any mistakes and both made a cautious start to the bout, not letting the opponent have an opportunity to take an advantage. Frustration eventually got the better of JBL and he made several lunges at Rey, although the speed worked to Rey’s benefit and he countered, scoring with several high-impact moves to almost get the win with a near fall after a bulldog. JBL had learnt from previous encounters with Rey though to know who to avoid this and went to the outside where he thought that he was safe. Mysterio’s ability knows no boundaries though, as he came over the top rope with a corkscrew piancha, although Layfield dodged, sending Mysterio crashing and burning to the floor. Never one to miss an opportunity, JBL continued on the outside, sending the fan favourite into the steel steps, the ring post, even putting him through the Spanish announce table with a sickening power bomb. After rolling the World Champion back in the ring, he covered for only a frustrating near fall. His book of tricks wasn’t done with yet though as he removed the turnbuckle padding to distract the referee, who tried and failed to replace it. As he did this though, JBL got hold of the World Title and wrapped it around his arm, before attempting a powerful Clothesline From Hell!!! Mysterio was somehow able to avoid though, by ducking, sending Layfield crashing into the exposed (by himself) turnbuckle. The dazzled JBL then stumbled backwards into a dropkick to the spine from Mysterio, and landed on the ropes! The 619 followed and Layfield somehow kicked out of the Frog Splash that followed! Mysterio tried to end it with the ‘Drop Of The Dime’, but this time JBL had the awareness to counter into a power bomb for a two and three quarters count. With the referee counting both men down, as he reached nine the crowd were booing as they didn’t want a classic match to end this way, and it didn’t. JBL spurred on to win the World title once again, rose to his feet and looked for The Clothesline From Hell once more, this time Mysterio again dodged the move, but also able to hang onto both arms and put a crucifixion in place. In an ironic scenario, JBL then caught both his feet in the ropes whilst trying to kick out and trapped himself, allowing Rey to get the three and become joint World Heavyweight and United States Champion!!! The crowd went wild, Benoit and Chavo came down to the ring to celebrate as the show went off the air and JBL trudged to the back, now that Rey Mysterio had two titles, and he didn’t have any!!!

Quick Results:

- Rey Mysterio pinned JBL to retain the World Heavyweight Championship and win the US title

- The Undertaker beat Khali in a casket match

- Mark Henry defeated Chris Benoit by Disqualification

- Lashley defeated Finlay to keep his KOTR title opportunity

- MNM retained the WWE Tag Team titles against Londrick

- The Boogeyman beat Booker T by count out

- Shelton Benjamin pinned Ric Flair

- Gregory Helms retained his WWE Cruiserweight Championship against Kid Kash and Super Crazy by pinfall

- Chavo Guerrero beat Doug Basham by pinfall

- In the Heat main event, Matt Hardy beat Animal with a Second Rope Leg Drop through a table

Sunday 30th July 2006, Smackdown Presents...Vengeance!!! Live, only on PPV!!!

Ultimate Challenge II

United States Championship Vs World Heavyweight Championship

John Bradshaw Layfield © Vs Rey Mysterio ©

Casket Match

The Great Khali Vs The Undertaker

Chris Benoit Vs Mark Henry

King Of The Ring Title Opportunity Match

Finlay Vs Lashley

WWE Tag Team Championships

Londrick Vs MNM ©

'The Nature Boy' Ric Flair Vs Shelton Benjamin

Loser Leaves Smackdown Match

Booker T w/Sharmell Vs The Boogeyman

Chavo Guerrero Vs Doug Basham w/Daivari

WWE Cruiserweight Championship

Gregory Helms © w/Texas Lewis Vs Super Crazy Vs Kid Kash

ALSO, MATT HARDY FACES ROAD WARRIOR ANIMAL IN A HARDCORE MATCH IN SUNDAY NIGHT HEATS MAIN EVENT!!!

In the past the WWE has certainly seen some underhand characters, such as The Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase, The Nature Boy Ric Flair, even the Chairman himself, Vincent Kennedy McMahon. However, as of tonight, John Bradshaw Layfield can most certainly add himself to that list. In the main event, Rey Mysterio defended his World Heavyweight Championship against Mark Henry in a match notably set up by JBL, who forced him into the contest after defending his United States title against Chavo Guerrero the week previously. However, this soon turned out to be a plan all along, as only a matter of minutes into the match, JBL ran down to the ring, creating a 2 on 1 scenario. As the blows rained down on the Champion and the referee called for a disqualification giving Mysterio the win, the crowd were surprised to see a heavily banged up and bandaged Chris Benoit hobble to ringside and try to save his friend. Despite slugging it out bravely, Benoit was eventually too weak and a shot to the ribs soon brought him down to the canvas, where Henry proceeded to continue with splashes and horrific submissions whilst JBL hit a high-impact Clothesline on Mysterio, almost taking his head off. As the show went off of the air, EMT’s and the backstage staff were able to drag the cunning twosome off their enemies, although the damage has now been done, with Benoit looking particularly in pain. Where this leaves the PPV in two days time, only time will tell, although General Manager Theodore Long is undoubtedly hoping that neither man picks up the win on Sunday.

Continuing with Teddy Long, he announced before the show that he would explain the final draft lottery pick scenario and was true to his word. Long arrived at ringside prior to the main event, and announced that he does indeed know who the draft pick is, and it is a big one. However, the pick hasn’t arrived here tonight, and so he is pushing his debut back to Vengeance. Long then returned to the back, having created an air of mystery for the fans to mull over. The match that preceded the main event saw Finlay and Paul Burchill face Londrick in tag team action. The match was a mixture of brawling and high flying, as all four men looked to exert pressure on their opponents, Paul London nearly ending the match early on with a Dragonrana onto Paul Burchill for a near fall. As expected with their titles on the line against Londrick later this week, MNM made an appearance at the end of the bout, in fact costing them the victory when they hit The Snapshot on Paul London whilst the referees back was turned. The beat down continued post match, with all four men scoring with shots on Londrick, until the familiar music of now RAW superstar Lashley sounded and he hit the ring, clearing house of his rivals and MNM!!! With Finlay backing up the ramp in disbelief, Lashley told the fans and him, that although it pains him to say, RAW is now his home and he couldn’t give a damn about Finlay. However, when he comes to RAW unannounced, he crosses the line. Which is why, he will face him at Vengeance, and he will beat him! Then, and only then, will Finlay finally realise that he is the better man. With that match now re-confirmed, there was only one persons opponent left to announce, Shelton Benjamin’s. He came down to the ring prior to the tag team match and told him that the challenge is now a week old, so he wants someone who can brawl, someone who can fly, and someone who can wrestle to get out here and make it official. The cameras then got perhaps the picture of the year of Shelton’s face when his call was answered by non other than Ric Flair!!! Flair entered the ring to deafening cheers and ‘Woo!’ chants before grabbing a microphone. He said that he wants someone who encompasses all three of those attributes huh? Flair then said that how about he goes one on one with someone who has NONE of those skills! He might not throw hands like The Undertaker, he might not execute a perfect side headlock takedown like Chris Benoit and he might not be able to perform a Moonsault quite like Rey Mysterio. However, he should make no mistake about it, that he is the biggest jet-flying, limousine riding, kiss-stealing, wheeling-dealing son-of-a gun on the entire roster!!! He finished by telling Benjamin that he is willing to take him to town…so long as Shelton accepts. Benjamin announced that even though he was hoping for someone a bit more…athletic, he guesses a 16-time World Champion will do for now, before offering a handshake to seal the deal so to speak. Cautiously, Flair went to accept the shake, although Benjamin quickly retracted his hand only to spit right in the legendary Flairs face! The former Intercontinental Champion then headed to the back to prepare as Flair looked on, no doubt fuming inside, despite keeping a cool exterior.

Gregory Helms also came out of tonight riding high. The WWE Cruiserweight Champion picked up a win over Nunzio on Smackdown, with some assistance. The match rolled back and forth for a while, although Nunzio eventually gained the advantage, at which point Helms collapsed, holding his knee. As the referee tried to offer assistance, Texas Lewis climbed in from the outside, wrapping a steel chair around Nunzio’s head, before exiting with the chair. Helms then showed to in fact be feigning injury, nipping up off of the mat, to hit a Shining Wizard on Nunzio to record a win. Although it was far from an impressive performance on Gregory Helms part, Lewis looked capable of winning the match for him, which no doubt will be in Kash and Crazy’s this Sunday. One thing that they will take heart from, is that after the match, Helms barked orders at Lewis to ‘get him his gold’. Lewis looks to be getting more and more frustrated at Helms treatment of him as the weeks go by, which could work in his opponents favour if he pushes him too far this Sunday. Finally in action tonight, Doug Basham was able to beat Funaki with a Second Rope Spine Buster in an efficient performance, not letting the Japanese Star get any offence in whatsoever. With both him and Chavo winning convincingly this week on Smackdown and Velocity respectively, their match at Vengeance looks more and more unpredictable as the time goes by. After his victory, Doug was met by his brother Danny Basham inside the squared circle, with Danny pleading with his brother to leave Daivari behind and rejoin with him, to become the team they once were and abandon the thuggish antics Daivari his imposed onto him. For a second, it looked as though he might see sense, although the silver tongue of Daivari quickly squashed this when he had a word in his ear. The two then double teamed Danny, leaving him spread out on the canvas in a sickening assault. Also, a video aired across the world, showing the highlights of Kurt Angles career, who is unfortunately injured, although everyone in the WWE and we’re sure you do to, wish him a speedy recovery.

Confirmed Results:

- Rey Mysterio defeated Mark Henry by DQ when JBL interfered to retain his World Heavyweight Championship

- Finlay & Burchill pinned Londrick after MNM landed the Snapshot on Brian Kendrick

- Gregory Helms w/Texas Lewis beat Nunzio when Texas Lewis hit Nunzio with a steel chair

- Doug Basham defeated Funaki with the Second Rope Spine Buster

The following match results are taken straight from the Velocity web casts:

- Chavo Guerrero defeated Animal after Matt Hardy interfered

- Hardcore Holly pinned Simon Dean with the Alabama Slam

- Chris Hero beat Scotty 2 Hotty with the Running STO

- Psychosis defeated Jamie Noble with the Guillotine Leg Drop

Smackdown Preview For Friday 28th July

We are only two nights away from Smackdown PPV Vengeance and World Heavyweight Champion Rey Mysterio is in for rough ride when he takes on Mark Henry tonight in a match for his title. Originally, it had been General Manager Theodore Longs plan to rest all of his superstars involved in the big matches this Sunday so that they could be refreshed and put on the best Pay-Per-View possible. However, John Bradshaw Layfield had other plans. WWE.com can now exclusively reveal that Layfield confronted Mysterio mid-week, telling him that he risked the biggest match of the year to give HIS friend a title shot, and that if Mysterio is a true World Champion like he was, he will do the same. Never one to turn down a challenge, the Champion is now on the verge of a massive defeat to The Worlds Strongest Man that could potentially ruin the PPV on Sunday. One thing that Rey will have to be aware of is that Mark Henry is on a demolition path. Last week it was Chris Benoit who found out the ruthlessness of Henry. Benoit has yet to return to the WWE since last week after being admitted to a nearby hospital, and is a major doubt ahead of his match this Sunday.

Also tonight, another ruthless competitor is in action when Finlay once again teams up with Paul Burchill to face WWE Tag Team title chasers Londrick. With high flying and risk taking up against the old school technical style, it should make for an interesting encounter. It could be considered however, that MNM will be looking to make an impact on their opponents ahead of their encounter, although Finlay will also no doubt be worried that Lashley has yet to accept his challenge for this Sunday regarding the King Of The Ring title opportunity. Gregory Helms will be accompanied by Texas Lewis in his PPV warm-up non-title match against Nunzio, in a match were Helms can look to show his opponents, Kid Kash and Super Crazy, that he doesn’t need bodyguards to win matches. As mentioned previously, Long is trying to rest the majority of his most popular superstars and so the other match on the card features Doug Basham and Funaki competing, with Basham looking to pick up some momentum ahead of his match with Chavo Guerrero on Sunday. Also, Shelton Benjamin has said that he will be at the show to find out just who his opponent for Vengeance is. After completing his hat-trick of styles with a win over Hardcore Holly last week, Benjamin announced that he wanted to face someone who encompassed all three styles, just who is it, if anyone does indeed respond to the challenge? Find out tonight. Finally, with both brands having only one draft lottery pick left, Smackdowns was scheduled for tonight, although Teddy Long has decided to make an announcement regarding it tonight.

Can Mark Henry finally become the World Heavyweight Champion? Will MNM be a factor in the tag team match? What does Theodore Long have to say about the draft? Who, if anyone, will respond to Shelton Benjamin’s challenge? Are there going to be anymore surprises ahead of Vengeance? Find out tonight, only on Smackdown!!!

Confirmed Matches:

- Rey Mysterio Vs Mark Henry [World Heavyweight Championship]

- Finlay & Burchill Vs Londrick

- Gregory Helms w/Texas Lewis Vs Nunzio [Non-title]

- Doug Basham Vs Funaki

It was a night of expectation from Batista as the fans waited impatiently to find out just who, if anyone, he had found to wrestle as his tag team partner in the main event. Throughout the evening we cut to the back to see that The Animal had yet to arrive, until only a few minutes from the match-up when he came through the front door, alone. Eventually, John Cena and Triple H got fed up of waiting and came down to the ring, demanding that Batista come and face them. Indeed The Animal, never one to back down from a challenge, hit the stage with a microphone and told them that it had been tough to find a partner, he even thought he wasn’t going to manage it till he got a knock on his dressing room door a few seconds ago. After Cena then challenged him to unveil his ‘friend’ and he brought out his partner and its last weeks draft lottery pick, the 2006 King Of The Ring, Lashley!!! With both of his opponents clearly unnerved and shocked at the unexpected arrival of Lashley, Batistas team clearly held the advantage throughout, using a wide variety of power manoeuvres to outmuscle their adversaries. However, if there is one thing that the WWE has taught us in over 20 years, its that things are never that simple. At the end of the match, Batista and his long-term rival HHH began brawling viciously, the referee being hit with a Batista clothesline after The Game dragged him in front of him like the coward he can be, before they inevitably spilled out of the ring to the ramp. This set-up a frankly tantalising showdown between Lashley and the WWE Champion, John Cena as the crowd rose to their feet in anticipation. They quickly went into a slobber knocker of a fight, with Lashley the victor, hitting a monstrous power slam and signalling for The Dominator as Cena writhed in agony on the mat. What he didn’t bank on though, was Smackdown superstar Finlay heading through the crowd and jumping the barrier to nail the KOTR winner with his stick before returning to whence he came, as Lashley stumbled across the ring, trying to gain a grip of himself. Cena, ever the opportunist, quickly got to his feet, getting him up for, and hitting, the F-U as the referee woke up to count a cheap three count before Batista could return to the squared circle. With Lashley out, the dastardly duo then became true to their word, nailing Batista with numerous cheap shots, finally busting him wide open with a Pedigree onto the WWE title belt. As the show went off the air, we were treated to the sickening site of HHH and Cena once again standing over a fallen and bloodied Batista. The main question is, can Batista come back from this? Or have his opponents made his quest of a second World Championship nothing more than a pipe dream? Speaking of slobber knockers, the WWE and its fans were proud to announce the return of good old Jim Ross JR to the role of lead announcer on the RAW brand. Unfortunately, what this holds for the man who held the fort so to speak in Joey Styles, we have no idea at this point.

Also tonight saw the first ECW Open Challenge held by Edge. After coming to the ring with Lita, he told any ECW superstar to get out to the ring, and the challenged was answered by little Spike Dudley! The ultimate underdog was given a rapturous reception from the crowd, topped only by the fact he took it straight to Edge, almost getting the pin with a Dudley Dog through a table, although Lita broke up the count. Edge was then able to come back with the help of Lita, at one point hitting a Spear into the steel ring post on the outside for inexplicably only a two count. His experience and talent showed through though, no matter how much Spikes desire could match it, The Rated R Superstar eventually picking up the three with an Edge-o-Matic onto a Lita provided chair. Edge then grabbed a microphone, telling RVD that that was just a sample of what he can expect from him for when he finally plucks up the guts to come back and face him in the ring and that another ECW ‘star’, saying that he uses the term very loosely, should prepare for another beating next week. As previously told by WWE.com, Ken Kennedy was at the show with words for Carlito and as expected, they were regarding the Intercontinental Championship. Kennedy met with Josh Matthews backstage, and after introducing himself, announced that he could simply cost Carlito match after match with unnecessary interference until he was willing to put anything on the line to face him, but his is going to do this straight up, because he is an honest man, as everyone knows. He finished by saying that he is challenging Carlito to a match, at Summerslam, for his Intercontinental title. Will Carlito accept? It looks like we’re going to have to wait till next week on RAW to find out!

With regards to the title matches tonight, neither title changed hands after successful defences from both. Mickie James retained against Trish Stratus and Victoria in a triple threat match after waiting patiently outside for Trish to hit Victoria with a Chick Kick, before climbing inside the squared circle to land a high impact Mick Kick onto Stratus and get the three. In terms of the tag team match, The New Wave again looked impressive, this time seeing off only three members of the squad, after Nick and Johnny were demolished earlier on Heat by Mark Copani and Johnny Parisi. This made the task infinitely simpler, Palumbo getting the deciding pinfall with a Yakuza Kick on Nick whilst Test fought with the other two on the outside. Finally tonight, Umaga was able to extend his streak with a Second Rope Splash onto Chris Masters, when Armando Allejandro Estrada distracted him allowing Umaga to capitalise. Masters looked especially without focus, perhaps still stunned that Lashley broke his previously thought to be ‘unbreakable’ Masterlock last week on RAW. Again the mysterious and now infamous ‘video’ played once more, something which is clearly frustrating Umaga and his manager.

Confirmed Results:

- John Cena & Triple H pinned Batista & Lashley after Finlay from Smackdown interfered

- Edge defeated Spike Dudley with the Edge-o-Matic onto a steel chair

- The New Wave beat The Spirit Squad in a match for their World Tag Team Championships

- Umaga w/Armando Allejandro Estrada defeated Chris Masters with the Second Rope Splash

- Mickie James beat Trish Stratus and Victoria to retain the Women’s Championship

The following results are taken from the Heat web cast:

- The Big Show pinned Rob Conway with the Showstopper

- Eugene beat Lance Cade with The Rock Bottom

- Mark Copani & Johnny Parisi defeated Johnny & Nick of The Spirit Squad with The Running Death Valley Driver

- Val Venis pinned Matt Striker with the Money Shot

RAW Preview For Monday 24th July 2006

Last week on RAW, WWE Champion John Cena and Triple H issued the challenge to Batista to meet them in the squared circle once again, although this time he has the chance to find himself his own tag team partner for the bout. However, with The Animal only just returning to RAW and not exactly having too many friends on the show, his likelihood of finding this partner are looking slimmer and slimmer as the time ticks away. Earlier in the day, WWE.com caught up with the former World Heavyweight Champion, who had this to say; “Have I found a partner, ” One thing that will be praying on Batistas mind though, is that should he find himself in the position by tonight’s show that he has failed to find a partner, he has to face the prospect of once again going up against Cena and HHH in a handicap match. Although Batista has overcome that stipulation in the past, that was only by disqualification and he risked another serious injury afterwards, this time with his opponents threatening to ‘finish the job’ if they are given the opportunity ahead of their WWE Championship match next month at Summerslam.

In other interesting news tonight, Edge holds his first ECW Open Challenge. Edge has said he will hold an extreme rules match every RAW until Rob Van Dam returns to face him. However with his opponent unknown until they make their way out onto the stage tonight, has Edge made a big mistake already with his challenge? Edge has experience in this hardcore environment, with numerous brutal victories to his name, including TLC match victories as well as his more recent WrestleMania 23 win over Mick Foley with the now infamous Spear through the flaming table, and so any ECW superstar who takes The Rated R Superstar lightly could be running the risk of an early retirement. Its only been a matter of weeks since Ken Kennedy appeared on Carlito’s Cabana as part of the draft lottery, but he has already made a huge impact, rubbing shoulders with the Intercontinental Champion Carlito and Chris Masters. However Kennedy appears to have only one thing on his mind, title gold and so looks to be gunning for Carlito, who he has been at loggerheads with ever since the IC Champ dampened his debut with a shot to the face from the belt. In any event, Mr Kennedy has announced that he will be at the event tonight with some strong words, which he definitely wants Carlito to hear.

Sticking with title belts, there will in fact be two titles defended on RAW tonight, firstly when the Spirit Squad look to regain their belts lost last week to The New Wave of Test and Chuck Palumbo in tag team action. Despite the champions having the momentum, and the belts, the sheer numbers that ‘The Squad’ is always a threat to any team, and so they had better be on their toes at all times if they are to come away from this with the gold still around their waists. The other belt being defended is the Women’s Championship. Current Champion Mickie James has been absent from RAW in recent weeks after declaring that she doesn’t feel as though there are any worthy challengers to her title, but anything can happen tonight as she doesn’t even have to be pinned, as it’s a triple threat match also featuring former Women’s Champions Trish Stratus and Victoria. Finally, Umagas streak is set for another increase tonight as long as he can beat The Masterpiece. With Masters form not being quite as spectacular as he would have liked in recent weeks, can Umaga and Estrada clock up another win?

Has Batista found a partner ahead of the match, or will he have to go it alone once more? Who is Edges ECW opponent? What does Ken Kennedy have to say? Can The New Wave and Mickie James retain their title belts? Is Umagas streak set for another boost? Find out tonight, live on Monday Night RAW!!!

Confirmed Matches:

- Batista & ??????? Vs John Cena & Triple H

- Edge Vs Spike Dudley

- The New Wave © Vs The Spirit Squad [World Tag Team Championships]

- Umaga w/Armando Allejandro Estrada Vs Chris Masters

- Mickie James © Vs Trish Stratus Vs Victoria [Women’s Championship]

Finlay & Burchill/ECCW Release/TV Network Drops Show/New Signings

- The first point tonight is that WWE have decided to keep going with the idea of having Dave ‘Fit’ Finlay and Paul Burchill teaming up regularly. The duo have been together for a while now and impressed in the Lashley angle. It is also hoped by the new WWE management that Burchill will be able to learn from the experience veteran Finlay.

- Also, ECCW have decided to release Cheerleader Melissa from her contract. Melissa has long been one of the most popular figures in the company, however with them having to cancel their last event due to lack of ticket sales, the company have decided to part ways with her because of her high fees.

-Another company in trouble is WXW. After ever-decreasing poor viewing figures, the local network on which they used to broadcast their show has decided to cut all ties with it. As expected, the cost cutting for the promotion has already begun, with Talia the first worker to exit the company.

- Another exodus today we can break exclusively is Trent Acid. The well-known independent high flyer has quit his connections with PWU to take up a contract with BCW, who have also been on the lookout for other talent, bringing in highly rated Perro Aguayo Jr. However, it isn’t all bad for PWU despite losing Acid, as they have been able to bring in Takao Omori from Japan.

Whilst Chavo Guerrero certainly had a disappointing evening tonight after failing to capture the United States Championship from John Bradshaw Layfield, there was another superstar who had a much worse night. As mentioned, the main event saw JBL defend his US title against Chavo, and the champion pulled through, showing that he could walk the walk, as well as talk the talk. Chavo did come close on a number of occasions, almost winning the title with a Frog Splash although JBL kicked out at two and a half. Despite having the advantage, Chavo was uncharacteristically unable to put the big man away and it cost him, Layfield hitting a high-impact Clothesline From Hell off the ropes for a three count. After the match, JBL continued to beat down on Chavo and grabbed his title belt from the referee and looked to nail Guerrero with it. However, Chavos friends Chris Benoit and Rey Mysterio looked to head to the ring and save his partner although Benoits busted ribs slowed him down. As Mysterio sped to the ring and went toe-to-toe with JBL, Mark Henry was able to catch up with Benoit on the stage and attacked brutally, hitting a Worlds Strongest Slam onto the unforgiving steel ramp. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Henry then scraped Benoit off of the ground before landing a military press off of the stage onto the electrical equipment that must have been at least fifteen feet below in a career threatening incident!!! As the crowd, the people at home, even the three rivals in the ring looked in astonishment and horror, the show went off the air as Mark Henrys assault left Benoit in pieces on the arena floor, surrounded by the EMT’s. Prior to the main event, The Great Khali and Daivari came down to the ring to verbally assault The Undertaker, although what they got wasn’t quite what they bargained for. For a few minutes they talked about it not mattering what match type they took part in. They said that all that matters, is that by the end of the night, The Deadman will be gone…for good. They finished by saying that Taker hasn’t even hurt Khali, but Khali has destroyed him time and time again, and that he is going to need to bring more than his ‘powers’ if he is going to stand a chance next Sunday. As the deadly duo looked to leave the ring amidst a chorus of boos, the lights went out and the familiar gong of The Undertaker sounded in the arena! As the mist swirled around the ring and in the aisle, we didn’t even get a glimpse of the legendary Deadman, although he had this to say to his opponent: “Sunday 30th July 2006, you will witness the rebirth. Sunday 30th July 2006, you will be overwhelmed by the power. Sunday 30th July 2006, Khali will…rest…in…peace”. The arena then cleared and the lights returned as a clearly disturbed Daivari and Khali headed to the back. Just what did The Undertaker mean by the rebirth? It looks like everyone will have to wait till Vengeance to find out!

Another big match tonight saw Hardcore Holly make his in-return against Shelton Benjamin. Unfortunately, despite having the entire crowd behind him and not looking rusty whatsoever, Benjamin was the winner of the match after flipping out of the back of an attempted Falcon Arrow and rolling Holly up, grabbing hold of the tights to ensure he got the win. Post match saw Holly celebrate with the fans on his return, despite getting screwed over by Benjamin, before Benjamin made a quick announcement that now that he has beaten superstars with one of these attributes each, he wants to take on someone with all of them! He finished by saying that next week he is officially making the challenge and expects someone to accept it. In other news, last weeks draft pick, Ric Flair was successful in winning his debut match after wrestling a good old-fashioned style bout with William Regal. Having two of the most underhand superstars in the WWE always meant that there was going to be illegal tactics going on, but The Nature Boy showed great cunning and guile to duck the brass knuckles and hit a chops block, before locking on the Figure Four, forcing Regal to tap out. After the match, Finlay and Paul Burchill, who were earlier victorious in Velocity’s main event came out and attacked both competitors, particularly Regal. Finlay then got hold of a microphone and announced that he hasn’t got away. As the crowd looked on puzzled, he revealed that he was talking about newly drafted RAW superstar Lashley, who he was previously set to face at Vengeance for the King Of The Ring title opportunity. He said that General Manager Theodore Long told him that they are still going to have that match, as long as Lashley agrees to show up, as now that he is a RAW superstar he has no power over him. Finlay said that he’d better agree, or like Regal and Flair found out today, him and Paul are going to have to show him what’s what. Texas Lewis was also able to win his first singles match tonight, although he also showed that he isn’t invincible. After reversing a Jamie Noble Hurrancarana into a Power bomb, Lewis got the three count with a devastating Texan Backbreaker. Once the referee rang for the bell, Helms, who was at ringside throughout, entered the ring and told Lewis to hoist him up so that he could nail him with a big-time neck breaker from the top rope. As he did so though, his Vengeance opponents, Super Crazy and Kid Kash stormed the ring, Crazy hitting a Franken Steiner on Helms to knock him for six allowing The Pit-bulls to combine, ducking two right hands from Lewis, before sending him over the top rope, crashing to the arena floor with a double clothesline! As the three acknowledged each others efforts in the ring, Helms took his frustrations out on Lewis, almost unbelievably telling him to work harder. Finally, the penultimate draft lottery pick for Smackdown was revealed tonight to be Danny Basham, who also beat Simon Dean with his Brain Damage finishing manoeuvre, despite interference from The Gymini. Now that Basham is on the same brand as his brother Doug, will join him in Daivari’s Army, or does he have other plans for himself as a singles superstar in the WWE?

Confirmed Results:

- John Bradshaw Layfield pinned Chavo Guerrero with The Clothesline From Hell to retain the United States Championship

- Shelton Benjamin beat Hardcore Holly after grabbing the tights in an illegal roll-up

- Ric Flair defeated William Regal by submission with the Figure Four Leg Lock

- Texas Lewis pinned Jamie Noble with the Texan Backbreaker

- Danny Basham beat Simon Dean with the Brain Damage

The following match results are from the live Velocity web cast:

MNM held an interview with Josh Matthews where they lambasted Londrick, telling them that with or without Melina at ringside, they will have no problem beating them at Vengeance to retain their WWE Tag Team Championships once more.

- Finlay & Burchill defeated Psychosis & Super Crazy with the C4 after Finlay nailed Psychosis with the Muscle Buster

- Animal versus Sylvan was ruled a no contest after Matt Hardy ambushed Animal on the stage

- The Gymini pinned Scotty & Funaki with a Double Brainbuster on Scotty

Smackdown Preview For Friday 21st July 2006

It’s only been less than a week since Smackdown General Manager Theodore Long announced the Ultimate Challenge II match for the Vengeance PPV, with Rey Mysterio pitting his World Heavyweight Championship up against John Bradshaw Layfields United States Championship, in a repeat of the WrestleMania VI main event, which saw Hulk Hogan’s World Title risked against The Ultimate Warriors Intercontinental Championship belt. On that occasion, it was the World Champion who was defeated and JBL has decided to show a somewhat arrogant streak, by announcing earlier that he will put his US Title on the line against Mysterio’s friend Chavo Guerrero, with a loss meaning that he will lose his place in the Vengeance main event. Whilst it appears that JBL will be treating this match as a whitewash to show his superiority on Smackdown ahead of a week on Sunday, there is no doubt that Chavo will see this as an opportunity to finally launch himself to the next level in the WWE, something he has struggled to do since his arrival in the company and coupled with JBL’s complacency, we may just see an upset here tonight.

Another big match tonight sees the return of the as ever fan favourite, Hardcore Holly. Holly is all set to take on Shelton Benjamin in his first competitive match-up since doctors and experts gave him the green light after recovering from an infection which almost resulted in Holly losing an arm. The match also has a certain amount of significance for Benjamin, in that it is his final match in which he aims to prove that he can outwrestle anyone on Smackdown in any style. After beating Chris Benoit in a technical match last week and Psychosis in a speed orientated contest the week before that, the former Intercontinental Champion looks to finish with a victory with one of the toughest brawlers in the industry. Whatever the outcome, Holly is sure to give as good as he gets in a no doubt bruising encounter. If Benjamin does pick up the win however, he will no doubt have the chance to pressure Teddy Long into giving him the opportunities to face the biggest talent on Smackdown, and maybe even catapult himself into the World Heavyweight Title scene before joint PPV Summerslam in August.

Speaking of the biggest talent on Smackdown, the literally biggest superstar on the roster has broke the news that he will be here tonight, no doubt with some harsh words for The Deadman, who it has been announced The Great Khali will face at Vengeance, in a casket match. Also in action tonight is last weeks draft pick, The Nature Boy Ric Flair, who takes on William Regal in singles competition in his Smackdown in-ring debut. Flair will be looking to style and profile like only he can, in an attempt to get some momentum going as quick as possible. Sticking with the draft, Smackdown will be looking to make up for the loss of Lashley tonight, when they take their penultimate pick. Although the young and talented Lashley seems almost irreplaceable, WWE Champion John Cena, Triple H, even Batista or Lashley himself are all possible candidates for the switch. Who is it? Tune in to Friday Night Smackdown to find out! Not only will the pick appear tonight, they will also be wrestling, with whoever it is lined up to go one-on-one with Head Trainer of The Gymini, Simon Dean. Finally tonight, Gregory Helms personal bodyguard Texas Lewis makes his singles debut, when he faces one of Helms Vengeance opponents tag team partner, in the form of Jamie Noble, one half of The Pit-bulls. Lewis has looked very impressive in recent weeks and Helms will be wanting him to send a message to Kid Kash and Super Crazy tonight in the squared circle.

Has JBL become too confident for his own good? Can Shelton Benjamin complete the hat trick of victories? What do Khali and Daivari have to say to The Undertaker? Can Ric Flair start off his new Smackdown career with a victory? Who is the penultimate draft lottery pick for Smackdown? Find out tonight, exclusively on Friday Night Smackdown!!!

Confirmed Matches:

- John Bradshaw Layfield Vs Chavo Guerrero (United States Championship)

- Shelton Benjamin Vs Hardcore Holly

- Ric Flair Vs William Regal

- Texas Lewis Vs Jamie Noble

- Draft Lottery Pick Vs Simon Dean

It appears that for Batista, as one nightmare ends, another one begins. As his injury nightmare and dropping the World Heavyweight Championship ended, another one began when he had to take on Triple H and John Cena in a handicap match. Having somehow survived that nightmare, he now has to go through the prospect of facing it all again after the announcement made by The Game and the WWE Champion here tonight on RAW. After the main event had finished, the two superstars came down to the ring and grabbed a microphone. Switching between the two of them, they eventually got the message across that they were perhaps a bit too tough on him with the handicap match and that next week on RAW they are going ‘to have a little tag team match’. They then proceeded to tell him that they are even going to let him find his own partner. They warned him however, that this time they are going to show no mercy and will finish the job they started last week. They finished by telling him rather ominously that if he fails to find a partner for next weeks show, then he will be handicapped, permanently! The match is already only seven days away, so it looks like The Animal is going to have to begin his search for a partner as quick as possible to avoid having to endure another handicap bout. Also at tonight’s show, Edge faced Eugene in singles competition for the main event. As expected, the Rated R Superstar made light work of Eugene, attacking from the off and getting the three count after a few minutes with three consecutive Spears to leave Eugene down and out. Edge then scraped his opponent off of the canvas and tossed him to the outside before grabbing a microphone. He said that it was now time for his announcement. He told the crowd that he knows his off-the-cuff comments about ECW are being discussed by everyone and anyone, and also that the ECW stars themselves are pretty p’ed off at him talking about them like he is. However, he announced that he has been talking about them for weeks now and he hasn’t seen one of them get out here to come and defend their ‘honour’. Which is why as he is unable to kick RVD’s hardcore ass, he is going to issue an open challenge to any one ECW superstar every week till Van Dam finds the courage from somewhere to come back to RAW and fight him once more. Edge finished by saying that those ECW pieces of trash better get back on the treadmill, or in Sandman’s case, get on the treadmill, cause he is going hardcore on someone next week! The final major shock tonight came regarding the penultimate draft lottery pick for the RAW brand. Chris Masters was all set to take on Carlito in singles competition. However, when he came down to the ring earlier than scheduled, it appeared he had something else in mind. Masters said that seeing as Carlito is no match for him and only won at Bad Blood because he was having an off night, he is going to hold a little invitational before tonight’s match. That’s right, the return of the Masterlock Challenge!!! He then called out a referee and set up a chair in the middle of the squared circle, before calling out not just anyone, but the draft lottery pick! He went on to declare that even though he didn’t know just who it was, it could be The Undertaker for all he cared and the hold would still remain unbroken. There was a few moments of silence before the crowd erupted in celebration as the King of The Ring 2006 winner Bobby Lashley came down to the ring and went nose-to-nose with The Masterpiece!!! Despite being slightly unnerved by Lashleys introduction to Monday Night RAW, Masters carried on with the routine, determined to make him tap out. Lashley then sat in the chair and Masters applied the hold. Immediately, Lashley began to thrash and pull almost breaking it within seconds, although Masters held on forcing Lashley to slow down. He eventually looked as though he was going to pass out, yet came back with a second wind, and to Masters horror as the crowd cheered him on, broke the hold!!! As the audience and everyone watching around the world went wild in celebration, The Masterpiece tried to foolishly regain some shred of dignity and attacked his opponent with a clothesline which was ducked. A swift kick to the mid-section later and he found himself on the receiving end of a high-octane Dominator! With Lashley now on RAW, just what does the future hold for this years King Of The Ring? Looks like everyone will have to wait till next week to find out! In addition to this, as soon as Lashley disappeared backstage, the current Intercontinental Champion Carlito hit the ring and demanded that the referee start the match, looking for an early cover, which Masters somehow kicked out of for a near fall. The match then rolled on with Carlito clearly dominating as the aggressor, what with Masters more or less still incapacitated from his run-in with Lashley. An interesting point came late on however, when Mr Ken Kennedy, Carlito’s nemesis, joined J.R and Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler at ringside for commentary. Noticing this Carlito gestured to Kennedy to come on down and fight him, leaving Masters out of his vision for long enough to apply the Masterlock on his opponent and drag to him to the centre of the ring. Carlito, unlike Lashley, didn’t have the strength nor the energy to struggle though, and was forced to pass out after a minute of fighting it. As Chris Masters celebrated in the ring what is no doubt a big win for him, Kennedy returned to the locker room, telling JR and The King that his work here is done.

It was an undoubted night of surprises and change on RAW, and it was all kicked off when new Tag Team Champions were crowned as unbelievably, The New Wave of Chuck Palumbo and Test overcame all five members of the Spirit Squad. The match looked to be over when after the referee was accidentally hit with a wild hard right hand, all five members were quick to pile into the ring and beat the challengers down. As Mikey held Test in the ropes, the other four ascended to a turnbuckle each and looked to come off onto Test in the centre of the ring with four simultaneous Double Axe Handles! Palumbo showed good teamwork and communication skills however to shout to his partner who moved out of the way just in time for a four-man Spirit Squad collision to take place, sending them all reeling out of the ring. The tables were then turned as Mikey was left to face both Test and Palumbo at once and eventually succumbed to a devastating Double Big Boot. Palumbo then roused the referee as Test made the pin, to crown new champions! So far The New Wave have been as good as their word, can they revolutionise tag team wrestling on RAW? Only time will tell! In other news, Umaga again continued his undefeated streak with a win over Roadkill. Roadkill had been hoping to get revenge on Umaga from Bad Blood last month, by putting him out of his element. However, it actually worked in Umagas favour, allowing him to brutalise his opponent, with no referee stopping it anytime soon. Roadkill did come close when he tried a Flying Elbow Drop through the table, but Estrada pushed him off the top rope before he could fly. Umaga then used the table to his advantage, scoring with his patented Second Rope Splash to get the victory and continue his run. This week, the video again played to infuriate the pair even more, although the mind games from whoever is doing this appear to be paying off, as the duo become increasingly frustrated as each week passes. Finally, the show opened with Val Venis looking to beat Danny Basham, and he would have done, if the referee could have got a better view of the scenario. Basham eventually ended the match when he hit a backdrop with a pinning bridge on The Big Valbowski and the referee counted the three. What he didn’t see that the replay showed though, was Val actually manoeuvred himself into a position where he was in fact pinning Basham, although no amount of complaining from Venis could change his mind.

Confirmed Results:

- Edge destroyed Eugene after three consecutive Spears

- Chris Masters beat Carlito by submission after applying the Masterlock when Ken Kennedy distracted his opponent

- The Spirit Squad lost their titles to The New Wave when four members collided with one another. Test & Palumbo then hit the Double Big Boot on Mikey to crown new champions

- Umaga w/Armando Allejandro Estrada defeated Roadkill in a hardcore match with a Second Rope Splash through a table

- Danny Basham pinned Val Venis controversially after hitting a bridging backdrop

The following results are taken from the Sunday Night Heat web cast:

- Goldust pinned Rob Conway with the Curtain Call

- Mark Copani defeated Johnny Parisi with the Running Death Valley Driver

- Lance Cade beat Viscera with the Top Rope Bulldog

- Gene Snitsky defeated Matt Striker with the Pump-Handle Slam

RAW Preview For Monday 17th July

Last week saw the numbers game catch up on The Animal, the show finishing with both of Triple H and John Cena standing tall over Batista, despite losing the match by disqualification. This week, none of the three WWE Title competitors will be in action, although the champ and HHH have told WWE.com that, unlike Batista, they will be in attendance tonight and both of them have got something to say to ‘The Animal’. What this means is anyone’s guess, but you can bet your bottom dollar that it doesn’t bode well for Batista one bit. With Summerslam getting closer and closer by the day, it appears that Batista is going to have to work hard and keep his eyes peeled if he is to get to the WWE Championship match in any type of fitness at all to compete. Also tonight, in a rather unusual and peculiar main event, Edge goes one-on-one with Eugene. Edge has shown a brutal mean streak as of late and it looks likely that Eugene’s safety could be in real danger here tonight. As well as the match-up, the Rated R Superstar also exclusively broke to WWE.com yesterday that he has something to say to all of the people involved with ECW, individually Rob Van Dam and Paul Heyman. Again, what this announcement has anything to do with is beyond anyone but Edge at the moment, we’ll just have to wait till Monday Night RAW to find out. In other news, the annual draft lottery reaches its penultimate conclusion tonight, when aside from either The Boogeyman or Booker T at Smackdown PPV Vengeance, the final draft pick is made tonight. Having already poached two big name superstars in the form of Batista and Ken Kennedy, signed Test to a RAW deal, and definitely bringing in one of the aforementioned Booker or Boogeyman, can RAW complete a coup de grace of a draft year when the final superstar appears tonight?

Speaking of new RAW superstar Test, last week Chuck Palumbo announced that he is his brand new tag team partner and that they will be challenging for the titles this week on RAW, before putting the boots, quite literally, to The Spirit Squad, Goldust and Gene Snitsky. Earlier in the day, ‘The New Wave’ as they now call themselves, to prepare for a change, as they are going to show everyone on the roster just what it means to be a champion. In any event, the match will take place tonight, when The New Wave face Kenny and Mikey of The Spirit Squad in tag team action. Other matches tonight see Carlito go up against Chris Masters in one-on-one action. After nailing Ken Kennedy with his Intercontinental Championship last week, it looks unlikely that Kennedy will let this lie. That’s not forgetting the bad blood between Masters and the IC Champion, both of them facing each other less than a month ago at the RAW PPV of the same name, which should mean for a memorable encounter even if Kennedy doesn’t show. Finally, Danny Basham faces Val Venis in singles competition and Umaga looks to try and extend his already impressive undefeated streak by one match tonight, when he tangles with former ECW superstar Roadkill. The main difference with this match to Umagas previous encounters though, is that this is Roadkills speciality, a hardcore match.

Just what do Triple H and WWE Champion John Cena have to say to The Animal, Batista? Can Eugene survive his encounter with Edge, and what does he want with the ECW roster? Who is the penultimate draft lottery pick? Are we going to see new World Tag Team Champions crowned tonight? Has Ken Kennedy forgotten about Carlito, or will he be out for revenge? Find out tonight, only on Monday Night RAW!!!

Confirmed Matches:

An announcement from WWE Champion John Cena and Triple H regarding Dave Batista!!!

- Edge Vs Eugene

- Carlito Vs Chris Masters

- The Spirit Squad Vs The New Wave [World Tag Team Championships]

- Umaga w/Armando Allejandro Estrada Vs Roadkill [Hardcore Match]

- Danny Basham Vs Val Venis

Exclusive to WWE.com is the news that former Intercontinental Champion Rob Van Dam has suffered a bad knee injury as a result of both the Frog Splash to the concrete floor as well as the beating he suffered last week on Monday Night RAW at the hands of the Rated R Superstar and will not be competing till August at the earliest. Earlier in the day the WWE had the chance to catch up with RAW superstar Edge, who had this to say when questioned about the condition of RVD:

“What do I think about Rob Van Dam? I don’t give a crap about ‘RVD’. The fact of the matter is that someone who is supposed to be hardcore, turned out to be soft-core, if you know what I mean. In any event, I’ve been hearing all these rumours that Rob Van Damned, Pauline Dangerously and all the rest of those Exceptionally Crappy Wrestling superstars have been pretty angry at my comments in recent weeks, which is just what I wanted. In fact, they’d all better tune in to RAW this Monday, cause I ain’t finished with them yet.”

What does Edge have to say to the ECW faithful? Find out tonight, only and exclusively on Monday Night RAW!!!

It was only a two hour show tonight, but it was two hours to completely change the shape of this months Vengeance PPV when Smackdown General Manager Theodore Long announced the matches for the wrestling extravaganza. Prior to the main event, we saw Shelton Benjamin face off against Chris Benoit, with Benjamin looking to prove he could beat any technical based superstar at their own game. The match was an enthralling affair, with back and forth submission holds and suplexes exchanged between the two for the best part of the match, which ended in controversial circumstances. As Benoit looked to finish Benjamin after the triple German suplexes with the top rope Diving Head butt, Mark Henry came down to ringside, distracting Benoit for long enough so that Benjamin could jump to the same level and deliver a top rope T-Bone Suplex to get the three! After the bout, Henry proceeded to put a beat down on Benoit like never before, culminating in three Worlds Strongest Slams and a second rope splash, leaving Benoit bleeding from the mouth and likely with broken ribs. Also, once referees had pulled Henry away and EMT’s had helped Benoit to the back, it was announced that next week, Shelton Benjamin finishes his revival when he fights one of the toughest brawlers in the business, the returning Hardcore Holly! Then, in the main event, Rey Mysterio faced Henry. In a shocking result, Henry was able to record a win over the World Heavyweight Champion. However, this came from a disqualification when after scoring with a high impact Worlds Strongest Slam, Henry placed Mysterio on the Spanish Announce table and looked to end hi career with a body splash through it. Yet Benoit stumbled to the ringside area with his ribs taped up, and demolished Henry with three brutal chair shots. JBL then came to the ring and the four superstars went at it until the now familiar sound of Teddy Longs music hit the arena and he demanded that they stop fighting. He then proceeded to announce the matches for Vengeance, in a bid to end the brawling once and for all. He began by making a match involving new Smackdown superstar Chavo Guerrero, who will now face Doug Basham on the 30th July. He then went on to announce that should Chris Benoit be able to wrestle through the pain barrier, he will have the opportunity at Vengeance to get revenge on the man who caused it, Mark Henry. Long then moved on to make the huge announcement regarding whether or not The Undertaker would compete at the PPV. As expected, Teddy Long told the crowd that the Deadman would be facing his arch nemesis The Great Khali, although not in a regular singles match. Then to a great ovation from the crowd, told everyone that the WWE isn’t a big enough company for both of them, which is why they will compete in a casket match!!! To finish the earth shaking announcement, Long said that as JBL has had more than enough title opportunities in recent weeks, he WILL face Rey Mysterio, but…in a non-title match! At this, Layfield grabbed a microphone and practically pleaded with Long to give him another chance at that belt, going as far as to say that he’ll put anything on the line. Long considered the proposal, before asking them if they remember the main event at WrestleMania VI. He said that in that match, Hulk Hogan took on The Ultimate Warrior, in a title versus title match, and at Vengeance, Rey Mysterio will put his World Heavyweight Championship on the line and John Bradshaw Layfield will put his United States title on the line, in the Ultimate Challenge II!!! As the show went off air, both champions looked pleased with the result of the announcement as the crowd went wild behind them.

In other news tonight, Smackdown revealed their third draft lottery pick to a great response from the crowd. Long came out onto the stage and made it known to be The Nature Boy, Ric Flair. As the crowed ‘Wooed’ like never before, Flair hit the stage in his trademark robe, to his trademark music and gave a short but sweet interview to the fans. He said that he is here on Smackdown feeling as good as ever, and here to get one last run as the World Champion! Also tonight was a huge eight man tag team match. Quickly the inevitable occurred when six of the eight superstars began brawling on the outside and as the referee tried to sort it out, Matt Hardy took advantage, hitting Animal with a steel chair, and scoring with the second rope leg drop to get the win. After the match, MNM nailed both of Londrick with their WWE Tag Team title belts to leave them out cold, and Paul Burchill helped Finlay to take out Lashley and also fight off William Regals attempted help. Another tag match tonight saw Gregory Helms and Texas Lewis team up for the first time to face Helms Vengeance opponents Kid Kash and Super Crazy. Kash and Crazy looked very cohesive considering they have never teamed together and dominated Helms from the word go, that is, until he ducked a double clothesline and tagged Lewis in. Lewis showed a brutal mean streak to decimate both men and scored with a Texan Backbreaker on each superstar. Then just to rub insult to injury, Helms tagged back in and hit a Shining Wizard on Kash to get the deciding pinfall. Also tonight, Gunner Scott made another appearance on Smackdown and once again looked impressive, pinning Orlando Jordan after delivering a ring shaking Top Gun.

Tonight’s Results:

- Mark Henry beat Rey Mysterio by disqualification when Chris Benoit interfered

- Shelton Benjamin pinned Chris Benoit with a top rope T-Bone Suplex after Mark Henry provided a distraction

- Matt Hardy, Finlay & MNM pinned Animal, Lashley & Londrick

- Gunner Scott Vs Orlando Jordan

- Gregory Helms & Texas Lewis Vs Kid Kash & Super Crazy

The following results are from the Velocity web cast:

- William Regal and Paul Burchill fought to a double count out

- Jamie Noble defeated Nunzio by submission with the Dragon Sleeper in a triple threat match also featuring Psychosis

- The Gymini beat Scotty 2 Hotty & Funaki with a double backdrop on Scotty

- Chris Hero pinned Tatanka with the Running STO in a rematch

Smackdown Preview For Friday 14th July

Tonight is the night that all the smoke clears and all the dust settles before its kicked back up again at Vengeance, when Smackdown General Manager Theodore Long announces the match-ups for this months WWE PPV. Long has said that he has had enough of the unnecessary violence and is going to try and restore order tonight. However, Long has told WWE.com that he will not break his decisions on the matches to the world till the very end of the show. In any event, there are still matches to be held before the announcement, with the main event being when World Heavyweight Champion Rey Mysterio takes on Mark Henry in one on one action which will no doubt be a smooth ride for either man. Also in action tonight is former Intercontinental and Tag Team Champion Shelton Benjamin. Having broke his defeated streak against Psychosis last week, he now intends to show that he can beat any superstar on the roster, this time in a technical, chain-wrestling style match. This time he faces arguably the finest technical wrestler in the world at the moment, in the shape of Chris Benoit. It could be argued that Benoit is still not 100%, with his ribs still battered and bruised from his numerous encounters with Henry in recent weeks, although he should still be more than a match for Benjamin, who seems to have abandoned his technical background for a more high-risk showmanship approach. It has been two weeks now since Benjamin arrived on the Smackdown brand via the annual draft lottery, and tonight the draft continues as Smackdown gets its third pick since it began. Having already brought Shelton and Chavo Guerrero over to Friday nights, Teddy Long will undoubtedly be hoping to pick another top class superstar to bolster the ranks.

Also in action tonight for the first time is Gregory Helms new found bodyguard, Texas Lewis. Lewis certainly looks impressive with what we saw of him a few weeks back, when he single handedly demolished both of Helms opponents for Vengeance with his ‘Texan Backbreaker’ finishing manoeuvre. Both Kid Kash and Super Crazy will be looking for revenge tonight though when all four men compete in a tag team match. Can Kash and Crazy put up a fight against Lewis, or is Helms set to gain an even further advantage ahead of his triple threat WWE Cruiserweight Championship match this month at Vengeance. Last week, we witnessed a quite frankly devastating 6-man tag team match, and this week Smackdown has gone one better to bring the fans an 8-man tag team bout. The contest will feature a whole host of feuding superstars, including; 2006 King Of The Ring winner Lashley, Londrick and MNM, as well as Matt Hardy and Animal, who are now scheduled to have a match at Vengeance. Finally, the show will also feature an interesting bout when Gunner Scott and Orlando Jordan look to prove their dominance over one another.

What will the matches for Vengeance be? Can Rey Mysterio overcome Mark Henry? Is Benjamin set to continue his resurgence to form? Who is the third draft lottery pick for Smackdown? Is Texas Lewis going to continue to help Helms remain Cruiserweight Champion? Find out tonight, only on Friday Night Smackdown!!!

Confirmed Matches:

- Rey Mysterio Vs Mark Henry

- Shelton Benjamin Vs Chris Benoit

- Matt Hardy, Finlay & MNM Vs Animal, Lashley & Londrick

- Gunner Scott Vs Orlando Jordan

- Gregory Helms & Texas Lewis Vs Kid Kash & Super Crazy

When you talk about great superstars of the past, you have to look at those who have not only beaten the best, but also survived the worst as well, and tonight, Batista would appear to have done that. The Animal did actually overcome the odds to pick up the victory against the deadly duo of Triple H and John Cena, however, whilst the history books will remember it as a Batista win, it will seem more like a victory for Cena and HHH, as the bell came not for a pinfall, but in fact a disqualification. Earlier on in the show, both HHH and Cena quite surprisingly gave a joint interview backstage. They told everyone watching that to them, the result of tonight’s match doesn’t matter. Rather ambiguously they then added because quite frankly, win or lose, tonight they will win for sure. In the actual main event, Batista did well to dominate for the majority of the match, making several comebacks as The Game and the WWE Champion tried to inflict further damage to his previously injured back. Eventually, the former World Heavyweight Champion shrugged off the blows, showing no sign of injury, to send both opponents to the canvas with thunderous spine busters before setting up the Batista Bomb on John Cena. Yet prior to him hitting the manoeuvre, The Game brutally assaulted Batistas back with a sickening shot from his patented sledgehammer. Despite the referee instantly calling for the bell for a disqualification, HHH continued to rain down blows on his arch nemesis across his shoulders and spine. Cena then came to his senses and they each delivered an F-U and a Pedigree to The Animal before HHH hoisted Batista to his feet and held him in place for the champ to deliver a solid shot to the face with his WWE title belt which busted Batista wide open. As this weeks RAW went off of the air, the viewers and the audience were left with the vision of both of the champ and Triple H standing over a bloody and battered Batista, and there is no doubt in anyone’s minds that this one is far from over, that’s for sure.

Another big match tonight saw 2006 Money In The Bank match winner Rob Van Dam go one on one with the 2005 winner, Edge. Van Dam was clearly still pretty banged up from last week, sporting a large bandage around his knee. Other than that though, it was almost impossible to tell, as RVD took complete control early on, even continuing with his death-defying style which we have seen over and over again in the past, coming close in the opening minutes with a split-legged moonsault for a long two count. The tide eventually turned though when after the Rated R Superstar distracted the referee for long enough with a feigned injury, Lita entered the ring and hit a dropkick to the back of RVD’s knee, sending him to the canvas in a painful heap. From then on Edge continued with blatant shots to the knee, even removing his knee pad to expose the joint. This carried on for what will seem like an eternity for Van Dam, until Mr Monday Night couldn’t even stand up straight without falling back down. Complacency is a wrestlers worst enemy though, and Edge somehow lost the match when whilst he looked to lock on the Edge-a-cator to capitalise on his weakened state, RVD rolled him up for a three count to seal an unlikely victory. Post match made for difficult viewing however, when an enraged Edge didn’t let up, going as far as attacking his knee with a steel chair, and even locking on the figure four with RVD’s exposed joint wrapped around the ring post. Eventually, officials broke it up and helped Van Dam to the back, but Edge wasn’t finished. Realising that he’d touched a nerve with his ECW comments last week, he got hold of a microphone and began to continue to rip into the promotion, blasting the wrestlers, the fans, even the former owner of ECW, Paul Heyman. It appears that the situation between these two is going to get worse before it gets better, that’s if RVD is capable of recovering from the devastation caused to him by the Rated R Superstar this evening.

Other matches tonight saw Ken Kennedy make his RAW in-ring debut up against Chris Masters. Both men started strongly in a match fuelled by powerful manoeuvres and strikes, with The Masterpiece coming close to a win when he caught a Kennedy cross body and hit him with a high impact military press into a power slam. However, Kennedy kicked out and found an opening to create a comeback, eventually picking up the three count with the Kenton Bomb after hitting a DDT on his opponent. Once the match had finished, Kennedy celebrated on the turnbuckle and failed to notice Carlito slide under the ropes till he turned and was met with a Intercontinental title shot to the face, knocking him out cold. Carlito, never one to forget an old grudge, waited to till Masters began to exit the ring and then planted him as well with the belt. leaving Carlito stood over both competitors, with Ken Kennedy laid at his feet once again in successive weeks. Tonight we also had a bit of shock surrounding the draft. Earlier in the show, Vince McMahon told everyone watching that as RAW would have to wait till after Vengeance later this month for the draft pick, he has signed a new superstar to compete for the brand, and would reveal him later tonight. The revelation came after the World Tag Team Championships match between Snitsky & Goldust and the Spirit Squad. The Squad were able to retain the titles when the three members outside of the match held onto Snitskys legs outside of the referees view, not allowing him to return to the ring, forcing a count out. As they celebrated another successful title defence, Chuck Palumbo arrived on the stage microphone in hand. He announced that he went to see Mr McMahon to tell him he wanted gold and he told him that he is willing to give him a tag team title opportunity match, and has also found him the perfect partner. Palumbo then welcomed new RAW superstar Test out onto the stage!!! The newly formed tag team proceeded down the aisle meeting and taking out Snitsky and Goldust on the way, Palumbo dropping Snitsky throat first onto the guard rail as Test crotched Goldust onto the opposite side. They then stormed the ring, delivering hard right hands all round to the five members, before scoring with big time Big Boots and Yakuza Kicks to the champions, Kenny and Mikey. They’ve only been together for a few hours, but this dangerous duo already look a force to be reckoned with in the WWE. Opening the show was Umaga taking on Rob Conway. As expected, Umaga got the win with the Thumb of Doom after Conway was hit with a low blow from Estrada, and also as expected, that mysterious video played again. However, this time, Armando Allejandro Estrada grabbed a microphone and challenged the person behind the video to show themselves, as they have no chance of beating the man with the greatest undefeated streak in sports entertainment history! However this was met with a frosty silence as no-one came to the ring and Estrada declared them to be a coward, whoever it was.

Confirmed Matches:

- Batista beat John Cena & Triple H by disqualification

- Rob Van Dam pinned Edge with a roll-up

- Ken Kennedy defeated Chris Masters with a Kenton Bomb

- The Spirit Squad beat Snitsky & Goldust by count-out to retain the World Tag Team Championships

- Umaga w/Armando Allejandro Estrada pinned Rob Conway with the Thumb of Doom

The following results are taken from the Heat web casts:

- Roadkill defeated Johnny Parisi with his Flying Elbow Drop after hitting a deafening chair shot with the referee down

- Mark Copani beat Eugene with his Running Death Valley Driver

- Danny Basham defeated Lance Cade after the Brain Damage

- Val Venis pinned Matt Striker by coming off of the top rope and nailing the Money Shot

RAW Preview for Monday 10th July 2006

Last week saw newly returning RAW superstar Batista accept the extremely dangerous challenge of a handicap match tonight against both of 10-time World Champion Triple H, and current WWE Champion John Cena. Whilst Batista has absolutely no fear of anyone and will relish the challenge to take on his equally cunning opponents ahead of Summerslam next month, it is vital for him to recognise that he is only just returning from injury and has only one victory to his name since. In addition, with both of Cena and The Game baying for blood this Monday, HHH’s history with The Animal and Batistas recent injury, are we going to see them reopen old wounds, both mentally and physically? A further match-up tonight sees former Intercontinental Champion Rob Van Dam get his chance to take out his anger and frustration on the man who cost him the chance to become WWE Champion last month at Bad Blood, Edge. Last week, the Rated R superstar cost him another title opportunity when he decided to get involved in the match, eventually leading to RVD blowing his knee out on the concrete floor. Van Dam is highly unlikely to be 100% for tonight’s contest against Edge, which could reignite his past knee injuries further tonight in a big risk. Will this compromise his high flying, no fear fighting style? Or will he continue on as the ‘Whole Damn Show’ and get revenge over the former WWE Champion for his past actions and words?

Furthermore, last weeks Monday Night RAW saw Ken Kennedy revealed as the second draft lottery pick for the roster and he instantly created a negative relationship with the newly crowned Intercontinental Champion, Carlito. In any event Kennedy makes his first official RAW wrestling appearance tonight, in a singles match against Chris Masters. The match promises to be an interesting affair to say the least, with Kennedy no doubt looking to pick up a win. Continuing with the draft, the third pick would be scheduled to take place tonight, however, as this evenings pick was set to be the winner of the Booker T - The Boogeyman ‘Loser Leaves Smackdown’ contest this month at Vengeance, there will be no roster switch tonight. In other news, Goldust and Gene Snitsky will be given another ‘golden’ opportunity tonight when they face the Spirit Squads Kenny and Mikey in a World Tag Team Championship match and Umaga attempts to continue his undefeated streak with a win over Rob Conway, who will be looking to make a big impact in the singles leagues, after his La Résistance tag team partner Rene Dupree was put on the sidelines with a serious neck injury.

Can Batista survive his handicap match? Will RVD fight through the pain to beat his adversary, Edge? Is Ken Kennedy going to get his RAW career off to a winning start? Are the World Tag Team titles going to change hands? Find out tonight, exclusively to Monday Night RAW!!!

Confirmed Matches:

- Batista Vs John Cena & Triple H

- Edge Vs Rob Van Dam

- Ken Kennedy Vs Chris Masters

- Goldust & Snitsky Vs The Spirit Squad (World Tag Team Championship)

- Umaga w/Armando Allejandro Estrada Vs Rob Conway