ZJ Penn

Friday 8th September, Spokane Arena, Washington

Tazz and Styles (Joey, not AJ obviously) open the show with a certain energy about them as they state that tonight the road to Unforgiven hits perhaps its biggest bump when six of the men who will in someway be having an impact on the WWE and World Heavyweight Championship scenes at the end of the month, compete in a six man tag match, with Batista and HBK looking for victories over their future opponents here tonight. In any event, we open tonight with opening step in the ‘5 steps to stardom’ challenge.

John Cena V Funaki

Cena makes his way to ringside to a pretty decent reception and Funaki tries to nail him from behind! Cena doesn’t even budge and nails a hard right hand, following up with a pile driver! He then follows up with a big time power bomb and Funaki is out! Cena drags him to his feet and here it comes, F-U!!! Referee gives the three count and we have a winner! Cena advances! However, instead of Cena’s music, McMahons hits and he makes his way to the stage. He says he’s a busy man so he’ll make this quick. Congratulations on beating Funaki, you’ve made it to the lower mid-card, next weeks opponent…Paul Burchill!

Winner: John Cena

Match Rating: **

JBL comes down to the ring and says that over the last two weeks…he’s been wrong. These superstars whilst maybe not the future, deserve to be given a chance. He then says that his campaign has finished and tonight he’s just going to sit back and watch these two superstars go one on one, and if they’re lucky, he might give them some tips. We see JBL pull up a chair by the side of the ring as both EZ Money and Deuce Shade make their way to the ring for their televised debuts. Unfortunately, both debuts last less than 30 seconds as JBL storms the ring nailing both men with vicious chair shots! The referee is forced to call for a no contest as JBL then hit’s a double clothesline from hell on both men! He exits the ring and looks underneath the ring for something….oh no, he’s got a table. The former champ sets it up and then lays EZ Money on the top. He’s got Shade and…my god! What impact! JBL just power bombed Deuce Shade onto a prone EZ Money…straight through the table!!! “This man is fast becoming an unnecessary member of the roster!” yells Joey Styles. “…and I hope gets what’s coming to him!

Winner: No Contest

Match Rating: **½

WWE Power League

Booker T V Lashley ©

Its time for another title defence and tonight Lashley is in the ring with five-time WCW champion Booker T! Booker looks cocky and starts by taunting Lashley. Bad Idea. Booker gets nailed with a big time shoulder block and then a high impact belly-to-belly suplex! Booker is all over when Lashley follows up with a delayed suplex and a tiger bomb!!! Booker decides enough is enough and goes to the outside while Lashley pumps the crowd with the Dominator set up. Booker rolls back in and nails an unsuspecting Lashley with the title! it’s a DQ but Booker T has had his fill of Lashley for now and launches his way backstage. The replay seems to show him saying, ‘that title isn’t worth that shit’.

Winner: Still champion, Lashley by DQ

Match Rating: ***½

We return from the commercial break as VKM makes his way to ringside, speculation is that this will be his response to Masters’ statement that he will join a rival promotion at the end of his contract. He says how he’s gonna start with the truth, that yeah, he was considering letting Masters go, however, after last weeks shenanigans…he’s got no chance…IN HELL!!! And now, the truths changed! He’d rather pay him out of his own pocket and let his career rot in the un-televised matches in OVW! That’s why at Unforgiven, you’re against ‘the Truth’ Ron Killings in a lumberjack match, which shouldn’t be a problem, with you being a marked man and all. The stipulations of the match being; if you win, you’re free, you can go wherever you damn please! But if you lose, you sign a lifetime contract! Remember the date, 24th September 2006, the day that Chris Masters found out, ‘the truth’ hurts!

(97%)

10-Man Battle Royal

(Austin Aries, Brian Kendrick, Jody Fleisch, Paul London, Jerry Lynn, Super Crazy, Kid Kash, Psychosis, Trent Acid and ???)

Seven of the ten are out here and now the two replacements for both the injured Funaki and EZ Money arrive, former WWE tag team champions, Psychosis and Super Crazy! Two of Mysterio’s stable, the Mexicools could be contenders for his title!. The final entrant is….Juventud Guerrera! All three of the Mexicools who are not the cruiserweight champion, could be fighting Rey for it at Unforgiven! The bell rings and every man starts brawling. This continues for a few minutes with every man getting his finisher in a continuous spot, and now everyone is down! Fleisch is first up and runs at London who is on the ropes…but gets back body dropped up and over to the outside!

[Elimination #1 = Jody Fleisch]

London is then ambushed by Crazy and Psychosis who after trying to eliminate him unsuccessfully…are both tossed over by stable member Juvi!

[Eliminations #’s 2 + 3 = Psychosis and Super Crazy]

Juvi then goes on the rampage eliminating Austin Aries, Brian Kendrick and then Jerry Lynn in quick succession!

[Elimination #4, 5 and 6 = Austin Aries, Brian Kendrick and Jerry Lynn respectively]

Trent Acid is the next to go after being sent all the way over the top by a Kid Kash Hurrancanrana!

[Elimination #7 = Trent Acid]

Kid Kash is very impresses by this…too impresses and is caught from behind by Juvi for the pen-ultimate elimination!

[Elimination #8 = Kid Kash]

London is out and Juvi picks him up and prepares for the elimination…wait a second…Mysterio slides in on the sly and eliminates Juvi! Paul London has won, and is going to have the opportunity to wrestle for the undisputed title at Unforgiven! The remaining Mexicools walk back down the aisle both trying to justify their actions to one another.

Winner: Paul London

Match Rating: **

There’s a cut to the backstage area and we see Christopher Daniels and now special guest referee at Unforgiven Bryan Danielson asking Theodore Long if its possible to take part in a tag team bout tonight to knock their ring rust off before the US title match in a few weeks time. Long says because of the means as to which they gained the match advantage at Unforgiven, he isn’t gonna give them a match, although if they can find their own opponents then he will be happy to book it for them. They quickly dash to the nearest locker room and are turned down by Nunzio & Vito, Tomko & Snitsky as well as Paul Burchill & William Regal before having their challenge accepted by MNM, in the hope of getting themselves back in the undisputed title race. I expect we’ll see that match later on.

(70%)

WWE Hardcore Title

Sabu V Edge © w/Christian

The most important thing to note here is that Christian was active from the start, making this a handicap match from the word go. Although Sabu fought hard, dominating the majority of the match, even hitting the Air Sabu off of the ring apron onto Edge who was laying on against the barrier outside. Despite chants of RVD, there was no sight of Mr. Monday Night. Eventually the odds were too much and Sabu succumbed to a Con-Chair-To and Edge retained.

Winner: Still WWE Hardcore champion Edge!

Match Rating: ***

The tag champs stay in the ring as some tables, chairs and balloons are brought into the ring, as ‘Captain Charisma’ announces its time for their appreciation ceremony. They basically spend a couple of minutes stating who they are officially the greatest team ever, as a 3-D chant goes up. Then Edge gets on the mic and talks about how bringing the two back together has fully turned this businesses, hell the entire wrestling worlds tag team divisions right round. Eventually they get to their title match and go on about how clever they have been eliminating their opponents nice and early, giving themselves the Sunday night off. Second City Saints music hits, but only CM Punk makes his way to the ring area…wait Colt Cabana with a double springboard bulldog from behind! The challengers now have the firm advantage and whilst Punk forces Edge to tap lose consciousness with the Anaconda Vice, Cabana puts Christian through a table with a flapjack! They then drag an unconscious Edge to his feet and nail him with Edge and Christians own move, the Con-Chair-To! On their way to the back, the Saints themselves get on the stick and challenge the undisputed champs at Unforgiven….to a Tables match!

(82%)

Chris Daniels + Bryan Danielson V MNM w/Melina

A good solid match from four really solid wrestlers, each getting a good amount of offence throughout. Danielson was particular impressive, showing no signs of the ring rust he claimed he had earlier. Hitting a 450 splash on Nitro and following up with a double power bomb on Mercury with Daniels for the win. Thye even showed a ruthless streak when Daniels nailed an interfering Melina with a right hand! It was what followed that mattered though as AJ Styles stormed the ring nailing both men several times. He then went for the styles clash on Daniels, but it was too time consuming and the future guest referee made the save, then both of them hit the double DDT on him and proceeded to beat him down. However, you look at this, AJ Styles is in a lot of trouble when he tries to take the US title at Unforgiven!

Winners: Daniels and Danielson

Match Rating: ***

Its time for the Cabana and Carlito is in the ring and announces that his guest is former world champion, known world-wide and also a former royal rumble winner among other things. However, there is one thing that his guest is not, and that is…COOL!!! Benoit’s music hits and he looks pissed! However, the interview goes quite well considering until Benoit decides to repeat his previous comments to Jericho last week. At this Carlito looks pretty mad and declares how what he said is definitely not cool, and that Carlito is gonna leave before he does something he regrets. As he goes to exit the ring though Benoit attacks and nails three German suplexes in a row! He then locks on the crossface…but here comes Jericho! Benoit bails before he reaches him and a fierce stare down ensues. That match is gonna be intense!

(85%)

HBK, Batista and Chris Jericho V Kurt Angle, Randy Orton and Triple H

The main event began and as the six guys made their ways out you could tell the crowd was really hot for this and the match did not disappoint. Every member of the match gaining some good ring time. One particularly good spot came when Orton went to hit the RKO on the Animal Batista but was pushed away straight into Sweet Chin Music, although the near fall was broken up by HHH. The actual finish to the match came when Orton and Batista and HBK and Angle had all battled into the crowd leaving just Triple H and Y2J. Eventually, the first ever Undisputed Champion had the Game on the ground and was lining up a Lion Sault. However, who was on the other side of the ropes…Chris Benoit! The two engaged in a stare down resulting in a hangman for Chris Jericho, and who should pick up the pieces…HHH with a Pedigree! The referee administered the three count and all four heels celebrated in front of the three stunned others. Just as everyone thought that was it however, a familiar gong was heard as the Deadman made his way to the ring!!! He entered the ring and HHH launched Orton at him who took a choke slam! Benoit and Angle were next, the wolverine taking another choke slam and angle a tombstone! Even the faces had decided that was enough and tried to stop him. But the Undertaker fought like a man possessed, firing off shots to everyone in the ring! HBK…choke slam! Chris Jericho…Tombstone! Even Batista took a choke slam! Crack the Game sent Undertaker to the canvas with a sledgehammer shot! But he sat right back up!! Triple H attacked with another shot but was nailed with a big boot to the face…and a Tombstone!! The Undertaker has just blown his way through SEVEN of the worlds biggest stars in a few minutes! What a way to send a message to Triple H ahead of the World Heavyweight Championship match in two weeks time!

Winner: Angle, Orton and HHH

Match Rating: ***½

And with that…Smackdown went off air…

Quick Results:

- John Cena beat Funaki to advance to the second step of the gauntlet by pinfall

- EZ Money and Deuce Shade; No contest due to interference

- Lashley beat Booker T to retain WWE Power League title by DQ

- Paul London won a 10-man battle royal

- Edge beat Sabu to retain Hardcore championship

- Daniels and Danielson defeated MNM by pinfall

- Angle, HHH and Orton beat Shawn Michaels, Batista and Y2J by pinfall

Show Reaction: Rating: 81% and a TV rating of 5.79

Here’s the confirmed card so far ahead of tonight’s program:

-John Cena starts on his first step to stardom against Funaki!

-Chris Benoit a guest on Carlito’s Cabana!

-10- Man Battle Royal to determine Rey Mysterio’s #1 contender to his title!

-Edge and Christian to hold an Undisputed Tag Champions appreciation night!

-Its 6-Man Tag action as HHH, Kurt Angle and Randy Orton take on HBK, Batista and Chris Jericho!

-What will be the response to Chris Masters ‘Master’ plan for his future?

-Bobby Lashley to defend his Title againstBooker T!

Tune in tomorrow night and all will be revealed and more…

The Truth To The Tales!

-This Thursdays big news is that after a huge backstage bust-up, Eric Bischoff has declared he is to sit out the rest of his contract with the WWE! Obviously wwe.com tried to cover it up with a story as to how he wants to run the backstage area, however it can be officially and exclusively revealed that Bischoff is in fact furious at his limited TV exposure this year and is willing to sit out the contract or receive a pay-off to go early. However WWE are refusing to let him leave in the vain hope that they can get him to change his mind

and also to stop him become what would be a major coup for TNA!

-WWE have released two workers less than three weeks into their new, six month deals! The two workers can officially be confirmed as New Jack and Ian Rotten - both former ECW stars. It was initially hoped they would add some experience and solidity to the lower end of the card and also rookie filled OVW. However, it is said that the OVW head booker, Danny Davis, was shocked at the lack of fitness and in-ring skills of the pair during their first session and they even didn’t get chance to make their debut for OVW television!

-New Jack

- Ian Rotten

-Final big news this week is that some quite reliable sources are reporting that Mark Calloway, known to fans across the world as The Undertaker, wants to go on another vacation for personal reasons before returning for one last run before his expected retirement at WrestleMania 23 in 2007. This has added fuel to the fire of speculation that the 5-time World Champion will be dropping the WHC strap to Triple H this month at Unforgiven!

Breaking News!

The following news items are taken from the www.wwe.com website:

-Chris Benoit is the confirmed guest for Carlito’s Cabana. After his remarks on the Highlight Reel the other night about the ‘glorifying of sports-entertainment’ through talk segments and so on. This could lead to an uneasy segment for Carlito.

-Eric Bischoff has decided to step down from his role as a WWE authority figure, leaving Vince McMahon, Theodore Long and Mick Foley as the remaining authorities. Bischoff stated that his reason for stepping down is that he wants to give something back to the WWE for not leaving him in the wrestling wilderness after the collapse of WCW and so is going to put his efforts into helping running the backstage area for a while.

-Major new announcement regarding Rey Mysterio’s cruiserweight championship at Unforgiven! The following week on Smackdown, a 10 man cruiserweight battle royal will be held to decide the number one contender to the title. Confirmed participants so far include; Austin Aries, Funaki, Jerry Lynn, Jody Fleisch, Trent Acid, Kid Kash, Paul London, EZ Money and Brian Kendrick with the final member to be announced on the night. This leaves the Unforgiven pay-per-view card looking like this:

World Heavyweight Championship

The Undertaker © vs. Triple H

WWE Championship

Randy Orton © vs. Batista

No. 1 Contendership For WHC Title- Submission Match

Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels

WWE Title No.1 Contendership Bout- Style or Substance

Chris Jericho vs. Chris Benoit

United States Title Match

Christopher Daniels © vs. AJ Styles

Special Guest Referee = Bryan Danielson

Undisputed Tag Team Titles Bout

Edge and Christian © vs. Second City Saints

Cruiserweight Championship Match

Rey Mysterio © vs. ???

Monday 4th December, Kemper Arena, Kansas City, Missouri

The opening credits finish rolling and we’re presented with a well made video clip of Vince McMahon’s previous announcements from Smackdown! over the titles, Kurt Angles ‘Pick Your Poison’ challenge to HBK followed by the ambush and acceptance and finishing with HHH’s brutalisation of the Undertaker last week. JR and the King are tonight’s commentators, with both quick to point out that even though HBK-Angle has the potential to be another classic, they simply cannot wait for Batista to finally catch up with Orton inside the steel cage. They also point out that we’re kicking off with the internationality match-up, which should show off a wide variety of wrestling styles.

The Mexicools V Finlay, Chavo Guerrero and Ultimo Dragon

This match has the potential to really get the show off to an awesome start with a variation of styles, from Mexican Lucha Libra, to Japanese high impact wrestling to the brutal-pull no punches-British style. The match started off well with Ultimo taking the advantage over Psychosis using his almost unparalleled combined ring awareness and speed; even managing to hit a dragon-rana for a broken-up two count. The multi-national side then went through their entire team with smooth tagging, Finlay hitting a brutal power bomb and Chavo getting a couple of close falls with moves such as the mahistrol cradle among others. Eventually Psychosis made the tag however and the match levelled back out. A couple more spots played out including a triple springboard cross-body by every one of the Mexicools onto their opponents. The finish came when everyone was down, including the referee, except for Ultimo. He signalled for the Asai moonsault to the outside but Psychosis entered the ring with the timekeepers bell! Dragon ducked the swing and nailed him with his own weapon! A simple three count followed, but a second referee entered the fray and reversed the decision because of the DQ! Dragon was furious, but to no avail, as the Mexicools gained the victory.

Winner: The Mexicools

Match Rating: ***

Crowd are a bit curious as they see a chair being set up in the ring. All of a sudden, Masters music hits and he makes his way to the ring with that painfully slow entrance of his. He announces that recently he’s being bored stiff (just like his wrestling) sitting in the back during the TV broadcasts, forced to wrestle the house shows when HHH and Kurt Angle cant be bothered to. So for one night only, Vince McMahon has given him the opportunity to hold the ‘ever popular’…Master lock Challenge! He awaits the arrival of a challenger…and it is Ron ‘The Truth’ Killings! He sits calmly, waiting for the inevitable hold to come….but it doesn’t…instead a chair shot does! Killings tries to fight back but its too late. Masters drops him with a body press and applies the Master lock till he passes out, then grabs hold of the nearest mic…

“Hahaha!! You all fell for it! All you fans, this chump, even the great Vince McMahon was hooked in! Basically, while I‘ve been sitting around the back, lugging everyone’s bags around, I thought of an idea. I absolutely destroy the guy who comes out, he demands a match with me, instant TV exposure! If all goes well, when my contract is up at the end of the next month, it’ll be Total Non-stop Action, for Chris Masters, if you get me?”

(83%)

Interesting, it seems like Masters is planning on grabbing some big time TV exposure then making the jump to a ‘rival company’ when his contracts up! In any event, JBL has made his way to the ring and awaits a response to his ‘crusade’ challenge…

JBL V ???

This time the answer comes from new recruit Trent Acid, who the other day on Byte! This stated that he was ready to go toe-to-toe with the likes of Angle and HHH. Well this should be a good initiation! Acid at first does a good job, using his speed to dodge the slower, ungainly JBL. He then slaps the former champ across the face…big mistake. JBL nails him with a huge Big Boot and the Clothesline From Hell! 1..2..3! He then carries a lifeless Acid to the apron and proceeds to deliver a dead weight body press drop over the top rope and through the Spanish announcers table! I’m guessing that we won’t be seeing him for a while, and that next week the challengers to JBL might not be as willing to step into the ring.

Winner: John Bradshaw Layfield

Match Rating: **½

Cut to backstage and there’s not really much to describe, just Ric Flair going into a locker room labelled ‘WWE Champion’….anyways, the next match is up and we’re taking back to ringside.

(99%)

Colt Cabana V Christian

Cabana knew this would be an uphill struggle from the start, but I doubt he expected this. Christian refused to enter the ring to start the match and eventually Earl Hebner had to exit to the outside and try and get him in. this lead to a chair shot to the back of Cabana from a crafty Edge and a Spear! Christian controlled the match from here on, until he attempted a big time top rope axe handle which was countered with a power slam! Cabana then summoned enough energy to hit a pair of hard clotheslines, and a massive back body drop to the outside. Edge then climbed onto the apron and received a right hand and a dropkick for his troubles! This gave Christian valuable recovery time, sneaking back in and hitting the Unprettier for the win! It was simple maths really, the numbers game working in favour of the Undisputed Tag Champs. A beat down then ensued with them signalling for the con-chair-to! All of a sudden a battered CM Punk limped to ringside clearing house of Christian, but then turning into a massive Spear!!! Once again, the challengers have been destroyed, will either of them make it to Smackdown on Thursday, let alone Unforgiven!

Winner: Christian

Match Rating: ****

An interesting bout that could have serious repercussions for either team mark my words. *No chance hits* Well, it looks like its time for former WWE Champion John Cena to ‘know his role’. McMahon gets on the mic and tells everyone in the back, at home and in the audience that John Cena felt his power last week and that if he ever wants to get back to where he was in his company, its time to lose the attitude. Cenas music hits and he gets to the ring, and then into McMahons face. He tells him to cut the crap, that the attitude isn’t a part of his ‘act’, the attitude is him and if he wants rid of the attitude, then he wants rid of him. He then leans up to nearly touching distance and demands to know…..have I got a job? McMahon looks a bit pissed, recomposes himself before declaring to everyone….yes! However, McMahons word is as good as a contract and he told him about the conditions for the match last week, that if he lost, his superstar main event status was also lost. As of next week John Cena will be opening Smackdown against….Funaki!!! Cena put on a sarcastic smile before asking McMahon, just tell me what I gotta sign to get rid of you and your bullshit because John Cena has left the building….and the WWE!!! Wow, Cena has offered his resignation to a remarkably composed McMahon and then heads back up the aisle. However just before he can give a final goodbye to the ‘Chain Gang’, Vince shouts back to him, Hey John, you should really let a guy finish what he’s saying before you go and do something like that…because if you show up on Smackdown then you’ve won the first match of your ‘5 steps back to stardom’ gauntlet. Cena looks intrigued.

“Basically every show up to Unforgiven you are in a match against someone from each rank of the card, opener, lower-mid-upper card and main event. Every one of these matches that you win…you get that spot in the card! Also, as a bonus, if you get to the main event spot match-up and are victorious, you will earn the chance to put yourself in either of the main events at Unforgiven! However, in the interests of fairness to the others on the roster, as soon as you lose a match you stay in that position on the card till at least next year, that’s right 2007! And even then, how good are you at winning royal rumbles? Because that’s your only way up! Now I’ll let you re-consider your resignation for a few days, and we‘ll know your answer to the challenge if we see you show up on Smackdown!”

(92%)

Batista V Randy Orton

(Cage Match/Non-Title)

The cage descends and Batista awaits Orton’s arrival with a grin on his face, he cant wait to take him apart! His music hits and what the f….it’s a midget dressed as Orton! Batista looks pissed and plants him with a one-armed spine buster and a Batista Bomb!! The real Orton then enters with a baseball bat and nails an unsuspecting Batista in the spine…and then hit’s the RKO!!! He mocks Batista with a pretend three count…which Batista kicks out of at two and starts to get to his feet! Orton tries to exit through the door but Batista intercepts him! Orton has nowhere to turn, so feigns to be begging for mercy…waits for Batista to get close and goes for an RKO! Its well scouted and Orton goes first face into the cage, getting busted open in the process! Flair makes his way to ringside and throws a steel chair over to him…and Batista catches it! Big-Time chair shot and Batista exit’s the cage…before re-entering to plant Flair with a shot as well…and declares to the 16-time world champion….DON’T GET INVOLVED IN MY BUISNESS!!! Batista has gone someway towards finishing the job tonight and will look to continue on Smackdown!

Winner: Batista

Match Rating: **

Alright, there is still much more to come and up next is the US Title bout signing. Its going to be two former ROH and X-Division legends, Chris Daniels and the ‘phenomenal one’ AJ Styles. Both make their way out to the ring and take a seat as another man with a link to TNA, Dusty Rhodes who has been given the ‘opportunity’ to be the road agent for this match and keep it under control, begins to read the stipulations for the contest. A minute or two later and Daniels picks up the mic and tells Rhodes to shut it. He’s heard enough and whilst staring down Styles declares the rules of the match mean nothing to him and he WILL beat him under any rules, whatever they are. He then snatches the contract and signs it without even reading it. This ‘brave’ act gets to Styles who then does the same, feeling under pressure to keep up with the champion. Rhodes retrieves the contracts from both and takes them backstage. All of a sudden Daniels bursts into laughter and exit’s the ring. A puzzled Styles demands to know what he’s laughing at. The Fallen Angel manages to calm himself to declare Styles a ‘predictable son of a bitch’ and that he’s just agreed to meet Daniels in a special guest referee match, and the referee is none other than…Bryan Danielson!!! Styles face says it all, he’s been had and is now gonna be in what will no doubt be a handicap match against former tag team members and lifelong friends!

(83%)

Triple H V Shelton Benjamin

HHH came out and stated that tonight he was gonna compete in singles competition to knock off the rust before he beats The Undertaker at Unforgiven and becomes 11-time World Heavyweight Champion. He then said how he was gonna kill two birds with one stone and also exorcise the demon of someone who did beat him a couple of times cheaply, a while back when he had his mind on other things…and demands that Shelton Benjamin get out here! He responded and the match began. Shelton fought well but HHH and his underhand tactics some him out of all tight spots…including the use of an exposed turnbuckle. Eventually HHH got the win after dodging the Stinger Splash and nailing an AA Spine buster and the Pedigree! Following the match he said its time to show the Undertaker what will happen if he crosses his path before Unforgiven…and reaches for the sledgehammer underneath the ring! All of a sudden his arm tenses and he’s slammed against the ring, as he rolls around in pain we see that the Undertaker was under the ring all along! HHH then takes a choke slam through the remaining announce table! More road agents than Einstein could count hit the ring at the order of McMahon to ensure that the title match can still go ahead...but the familiar dong hits and the arena goes black! When the lights return the Undertaker is nowhere to be found!

Winner: HHH

Match Rating: **¾

The final scheduled non-wrestling segment of the night is about to come in the form of the highlight reel! Jericho announces the guest Chris Benoit!! Jericho goes over the previous battles, interspersed with clips and tells him how they have been friends in the past, will be enemies at Unforgiven, but whatever tense you look at, we respect each other all the same. Benoit cuts Y2J off quick smart and says he agrees with everything in that sentence, except one thing. He agrees they’ve had classic battles, he agrees they’ve been friends in the past. Hell, he even agrees that in the future they will be enemies of the worst proportions. But the thing he doesn’t agree with, is the respect thing. Now Jericho might respect him, and he’s fine with that, but Chris Benoit sure as anything, does not respect Chris Jericho! He says how when he started out, one of his main aims was to bring wrestling back to the masses of days gone by, when ‘Killer’ Kowalski and Bruno Sammartino wrestled a match to packed houses every night. He then goes on, saying how after over twenty years of hard work at WrestleMania 20, he did that. But then, just over a year later Chris Jericho returns and undoes all his hard work. Y2J looks puzzled and asks him if he can elaborate, tell him what he means. Benoit laughs and tells him how he stands for everything he hates. Glorifying what should be a contest of skill and passion…into a popularity and beauty contest! He finally tells him that he’s now part of the problem and that Chris Benoit is the solution. This is more than just a #1 contendership match, the future of the industry is on the line…and that at Unforgiven….problem solved! Jericho tells him that he’s delivered too many head butts and has lost it, and that Y2J is Y2Gone and he’ll see him at Unforgiven and then makes his way up the ramp.

(86%)

Shawn Michaels V Kurt Angle

(Pick Your Poison!)

Both competitor hit the ring to massive receptions and stare each other down, before HBK gets on the stick and says that there have been a lot of PPV standard matches tonight and that they should put on a bout like only they can…and do it under hardcore rules! Angle nods his head in agreement and the match begins. The majority of the match is spent trading hold for hold with Angle applying the ankle lock a number of times with no success. Eventually it spilled to the outside and Angles predatory instincts kicked in nailing HBK all the way to the stage and back with weapons! HBK as we all know though is a big time performer and came back hitting the spot of the night, after Angle attempted a belly-to-belly over the top rope HBK skinned the cat and nailed Sweet Chin Music to the outside! He propped Angle onto a table on the outside and then hit a Flying Elbow Drop off of the top of the turnbuckle straight through it! Angle kicked out and then somehow got to his feet and collapsed against a ring post. Michaels went for a second sweet chin music but he moved! Michael’s leg crashed against the post and he collapsed after rolling back into the ring. Angle grabbed the nearest thing to him, the ring steps and nailed Michael’s in his damaged ankle three times and then locked on the Angle Lock! Amazingly, Michael’s wouldn’t tap and Kurt released the hold. He then looked to go for the angle slam but Michaels had it scouted and locked on the Angle Lock himself! Angle knew his own move inside out though and rolled through grabbing the ropes on the way for a cheap finish to a class match!

Winner: Kurt Angle

Match Rating: ***¾

Angle then darted up the aisle for the quick getaway and grabbed the closest mic and declared:

“Michaels….you’d better look after that ankle of yours, because at Unforgiven for the #1 contendership to the World Heavyweight Championship, you are going one-on-one against the holder of the best rookie year in the history of the WWE, a multiple time World Champion and an Olympic Gold medallist... in a submissions match!!! And even though you didn’t tap tonight, I guarantee you will on the 24th September!”

Quick Results:

- The Mexicools beat Finlay/Chavo/Ultimo

- JBL beat Trent Acid

- Christian beat Colt Cabana

- Batista beat Randy Orton

- HHH beat Shelton Benjamin

- Kurt Angle beat Shawn Michaels

Show Reaction: Rating :87% and 6.78 TV rating

John Cena begins his gauntlet and Bryan Danielson takes on AJ Styles…only on Smackdown!!!

Here’s the confirmed card so far ahead of tonight’s Monday Night Raw:

-Pick Your Poison! HBK Vs Kurt Angle

-John Cena finds out his future within the company!

-Colt Cabana takes on Christian!

-Chris Benoit on The Highlight Reel!

-Batista gets his hands on Randy Orton, who has nowhere to run in a non-title cage match!

-Contract Signing for Styles/Daniels IC title bout

-Internationality match! The Mexicools vs. Finlay (UK), Ultimo Dragon (Japan) and fellow Mexican Chavo Guerrero!

Stay right here to find out what goes down in its entirety….

Friday 1st September 2006, 1st Mariner Arena, Balitmore, Maryland

Joey Styles and Tazz welcome us to the show and immediately inform us all of the big announcements coming up throughout the show and to stay tuned because apparently we don’t want to miss a second of this, unless Michael Cole comes back to the announcing team, in which case you probably will. They also goes as far as to re-confirm the fatal-four way match, the challengers vs. champions match as well as exclusively drop the ‘bombshell’ that Booker T and Ken Shamrock are going to be going at it as well. Aren’t we the lucky ones? Anyhoo, the cameras start rolling and the lights start flickering, its time for our first match of the evening!

Hardcore Championship

Edge© V B-Boy V Burchill

Alright, we’re kicking off with some hardcore action! Edge makes his way down to ringside without Christian for a change, meaning there’s the usual chorus of boo’s. B-Boy makes his WWE debut entrance to a mixed reaction; cheers from those who know him from his Indy and OVW days, nothing really from everyone else, followed by the no longer ‘Pirate’ Paul Burchill.

Before the match can get under way however, Edge exit’s the ring and returns with a mic and declares that, “Hey, I didn’t bring Christian with me, so I don’t expect to see either of those Second City Stains either!”. Very funny. By the way, for the uneducated out there Edge and Christian will be defending their Undisputed Tag Titles against the Saints at Unforgiven. The contest finally begins and it is in fact the champion who takes an early advantage after turning on Burchill after they both attacked the debutant, both being unsure of his offensive skills. With Burchill firmly planted to the mat following an implant DDT and a near fall, the ‘R rated superstar’ turns his attentions to B-Boy who manages to reverse a number of smooth holds before hitting a big time Hurrancarana to the outside and signals for what I’d assume to be a springboard piancha. I’ll never know though because Burchill blind sides him with a chair shot and prepares for the C4. However, both fail to notice both Edge AND Christian sneak into the ring, hitting a con-chair-to on the interlinked workers. Burchill then takes the Edge-O-Matic whilst Christian delivers a big time Unprettier to B-Boy, allowing Edge to cover the fallen B-Boy and get the three-count from the referee.

Winner: Still Hardcore Champion, Edge

Match Rating = ***

JBL then appears on the Titan Tron. This must be his ‘huge announcement’. I cant wait. The former WWE Champion declares that, “I…am going to keep this short and sweet…last year when I was champion I had a long list of challengers to my title, The Undertaker (*pop*), Booker T (*pop*), Eddie Guerrero (*huge pop*) to name but a few. But when I look around today I see all these young guns thinking they’re the next big thing! Well, I’ll tell them something right now! Until you’ve been in the ring with me, a wrestling god!!…you are a NOTHING!!! And once you’ve been in the ring with me you are something….a LOSER!!! That’s why I’m gonna take these new kids on the block a the lesson! Its time for JBL’s cleansing of the roster! It’s time for JBL’s crusade! Its time…to take out the trash!!!!”

(76%)

Wow, that was certainly something! Lets wait and see where JBL goes with this one. *JBL‘s music hits*

Well, it looks like we aren’t gonna have to wait long!

JBL V ???

JBL reaches the ring and takes the mic and challenges anyone who has been on the roster for less than six months to get their chicken ass out here so he can whip it. The answer comes in the form of Jimmy Yang, who some may remember as Akio from a while back. JBL laughs and turns to hand the mic back, but when he turns round Akio flies of the top rope for a cross body!! Oh no, JBL catches him and here it comes….Last Call! Yang must be out! JBL’s not done yet though nailing him with a couple more power moves including a knee lift, a pile driver, some neck breakers and a DDT. Eventually after enough hassle from the referee, he waits for Yang to groggily rise before taking his head off with a huge clothesline from hell!!! 1..2..3, its over. Oh no its not! JBL picks Yang up and power bombs him to the outside! Brutal! Heaven help anyone else who crosses this mans warpath!!

Winner: JBL

Match Rating: **½

Backstage we see the Legend Killer himself, Randy Orton who looks like he’s got something he wants to share with Maria and everyone in the audience and at home. “So…we all know its gonna be Batista who’s challenging me for my title at Unforgiven (*Huge Pop*). But we also know this, on any day, that I can beat anyone (Un-der-taker chants start up) and on any day I can make an impact! That’s right, and tonight I plan on sending a message to Batista about what he’s let himself in for!

(100%)

Interesting stuff, I guess we will find out what he means exactly later on. At least he seemed calm enough. Anyway, time for something which I can guarantee will not be so calm…it’s the Power League fatal-four way!!

Lashley© V Sabu V Matt Hardy V Carlito

Every wrestler makes their way to the ring with the least fuss possible. Its Sabu and Carlito to start with CCC raking the eyes and going to work on Sabu. He then uses almost every move in his arsenal on the former ECW world champion, before planting the back cracker for a near fall. Sabu gets whipped into a vacant corner and escapes Carlito’s shoulder thrust with a mule kick into the turnbuckle!! A pissed off Carlito nails Hardy with a chop that constitutes as a tag. Hardy gets a good deal of offence in, including a side effect, before trying in vain for a pin and tagging out to Lashley. Business just picked up. Lashley dominates Sabu with a series of wicked suplexes and power bombs before Sabu slides out the back door of a power slam and makes the tag to a stunned Carlito, who I am sure right about now would be saying how that’s not cool, or something similar. He hesitantly enters the squared circle and promptly gets nailed with a side slam. Just when it looks like Carlito’s going to need his last rites read to him he puts in a risky low blow which Mr Hebner must have chosen to ignore it was that clear. He taunts a broken Lashley before pulling him up for his swinging neck breaker…wait a second! Lashley shows incredible power and stands up to vertical base with Carlito laying flat on his back, mid neck breaker! Then plants Carlito with the Dominator!!!! He gets the pin fall with Hardy deciding not to risk the wrath of Lashley by interrupting the count…and Sabu not really in the right state to do anything just about now.

Winner: Still Power League Champion, Bobby Lashley

Match Rating: ***

Cut to the back, and we see CM Punk shining up his Intercontinental belt. All of a sudden we see Hardcore champ Edge storm in and nail him with his title. Christian, who we now see was watching guard in case Colt Cabana decided to show his mug joins in before they leave, one title heavier.

(84%)

CM Punk really did not look in a good shape, I think we need some EMT’s back there quick smart. It’ll be interesting to see how this develops on Raw. The show must go on however, and its time for the Challengers and Champions match!

AJ Styles + Paul London V Christopher Daniels + Rey Mysterio

The champs are out first making a separate entrance from one another. There’s a long silence before London and Styles make their entrance together! Same old music and entrance styles (no pun intended) as in the past! Pure nostalgia for any ROH fans out there!

The challengers are jumped quickly however and beat them down, throwing styles out the ring before double teaming London. Some seamless tagging in and out from Rey and Daniels and this could be a foregone conclusion after five or six minutes! London finally is able to get some room and goes to cross the ring for the tag. But Rey dropkicks him to the back of the head and sends him to the second rope…619!!! Springboard Hurrancarana….no!! London counters with a high impact Moon flip Kick out of desperation and makes the tag! Styles cleans house of Mysterio but fails to notice Daniels with the IC belt...wait, he ducks it and sends Daniels to the outside as well! Rey prepares for another springboard. Good teamwork from London who alerts AJ who catches Rey-Rey and nails the Styles Clash!!! 1..2..3!!

Winners: AJ Styles and Paul London

Match Rating: ****

We cut to a commercial break and when we return good ol’ Vinny Mac is in the ring:

“As I‘m sure you have guessed I have come to make announcements regarding the title matches. Now we all know that HHH will face The Undertaker and Batista will go up against Randy Orton, but what you all wanna know is who faces the winner of those. Well, at Unforgiven, there are gonna be two #1 contendership matches HBK and Angle, with the winner facing the World Heavyweight Champion, whoever that may be. As for the second match, Orton or Batista will get to pit their skills against one of two…what some say…undervalued employees….Benoit….or…Jericho!!!!”

Woohoo, two #1 contendership matches announced on one show!

“Wait a damn minute, cut this music! I’m not finished yet! John Cena! You wanna demand a championship match, you‘ve got one! But no-one demands anything off Vincent Kennedy McMahon, which is why you wont be facing Orton, oh no…you‘ve got Undertaker!!!!”

(89%)

Booker T V Ken Shamrock

As the crowd recovers from the shock of three potential title changing matches ring announced all at once, the next match begins. It was a pretty short, but entertaining bout telling a good story. Booker tried to go hold for hold with Shamrock and failed, then attacked with his spinning kicks and chops, which worked. The finish came when Booker went for a running leg lariat and Shamrock moved, resulting in a Jack Doan bump. Orton suddenly sprinted down the aisle and into the ring, delivering the RKO to Shamrock giving Booker T the three (see what I did there). Orton then got on the stick announcing how…

“If I can take out the Worlds Most Dangerous Man like that then beating someone who gives up titles because they‘ve hurt their back shouldn’t be too hard!”

At this Batistas music hit and he sprinted to the ring only for Orton to push Booker at him, giving him enough time to race up the aisle, whilst Booker received a massive spine buster! Once he realised Orton had hightailed it he then delivered the Batista Bomb sending a message to the champion.

Winner: Booker T

Match Rating: ***½

Booker slumps his way up the aisle towards the back as Angles music hits and he makes his way to the ring giving Booker T a sarcastic applause. When he does reach the ring he gets on the stick and declares…

“The reason I‘m out here tonight ladies and gentleman, is not to run down Shawn Michaels. Hell, I am an Olympic Gold Medallist! I let my performance in the ring humiliate my opponent. No, I am out here tonight to challenge HBK to a match next week on Raw under ‘Pick Your Poison Rules’. Basically we wrestle, the winner chooses the match variety for our now #1 contendership match at Unforgiven! Later this month”

Angles combined anger and curiousness as to Michaels response will be leads him to not notice the man sneak into the ring behind till its too late and….BANG!!! Sweet Chin Music!

“You want that match Angle, you got that match! Oh by the way, I‘ll see you next week!!!”

(97%)

John Cena V The Undertaker

Cena makes his usual entrance with a not-so-usual look of nervousness on his face. He knows its do-or-die now (which could be literally now he’s against The Undertaker). He waits…the lights go out…there is no smoke…there is no dong…the lights come back on. Turns out he doesn’t need an entrance because he’s already behind Cena!

The match was basically a squash, with Undertaker getting a load of offence in, in a short period of time. Cena did get one opening however, after a controversial low blow. He then hit all of his main moves including the FU, with The Undertaker sitting up after all bar the FU, which got a near fall. a shocked Cena was then overpowered, followed by a choke slam, last ride power bomb and tombstone combination. Cena was pissed. He knew that was it, he’d have to go back down from the elites like his opponent and his challenger HHH, and start having to earn shots by beating nobodies for months on end, as opposed to demanding them when he wanted them. He tried to barge past the Deadman, and got a choke slam over the top rope for his troubles. Although this left ‘Taker unguarded and Crack! HHH brought the sledgehammer across the back of his head! Crack! Crack! Twice more! HHH was getting desperate to weaken this guy, because he knows its the only chance he has of winning at Unforgiven…

Winner: The Undertaker

Match Rating: ****

Quick Results:

- Edge beat B-Boy and Paul Burchill to retain the Hardcore title.

- JBL beat Jimmy Yang

-Lashley beat Carlito, Sabu and Matt Hardy to retain the Power League title

- Styles and London beat Daniels and Mysterio

-Booker T beat Ken Shamrock

Undertaker beat John Cena to retain the World Heavyweight title

Show Reaction: Rating: 79% and 5.77 TV Rating,

Remember, Pick Your Poison Next Week, Only On Raw!!!

Here’s the confirmed card ahead of tonight’s Smackdown! show:

-Two major announcements regarding the NO.1 contendership for both of the World Heavyweight Titles!

-Lashley to defend WWE Power League Title against not one, not two, but three opponents, Carlito, Sabu and V1 himself, Matt Hardy!!!

-JBL has a self-proclaimed ‘huge’ announcement regarding both his and the companies futures!

-Its Challengers V Champions as former ROH partners AJ Styles and Paul London re-unite for one night only to face their respective opponents at Unforgiven, Christopher Daniels (US Champion) and Rey Mysterio (CW Champion)!!!

-Will John Cena get a rematch after dropping the WWE Title to Randy Orton?

Stay right here to find out this and more….

Inspiration for this goes to Aaron man, for inspiring me to have a reason to carry on booking. Basically, I started a new game in Feb 2006 as WWE (Using the Breaking Barriers Update (Y) ) and have currently played through seven months and have arrived at September. At this point I thought to myself about starting a new game because this one was going stale. Then as I lay about last night looking through the various forums on Ewbattleground and GreyDogSoftware etc. I had the vision to do this. Tbh, even though its nice to have what you’re doing acknowledged, the main reason I am doing this is to ‘jazz up’ my current game and give me more reason to go on. Anyways, I doubt this will be a four times a week update , although I will try to at least stick to the schedule of one Raw and one Smackdown! Also a PPV at least once a month. However, if I get really into it and receive some positive feedback then who knows. Finally, before I get going, if you’ve been writing/reading a ‘dynasty’ before you, may notice similar elements in here. If that’s the case then its likely I’ve stolen the idea from you and a bunch of other ideas from other people. Please don’t complain, take it as a compliment (Y)

All right, so the first thing to note is that as I’m WWE, I have completely abolished the brand split, simply because it was rubbish. I then simply had everyone on each show. However, that did lead to having two tag title belts, which I’ll get to in a minute. I let go the usual suspects and brought in some new faces. Below is the entire roster as it stands right now:

Main Event Scene

Batista (Face)

Chris Benoit (Heel-Recent Turn)

Chris Jericho (Face)

Christopher Daniels (Heel)

Kurt Angle (Heel)

The Undertaker (Face)

Triple H (Heel)

Upper Midcarders

AJ Styles (Face)

Christian (Face)

John Cena (Face)

Ken Shamrock (Tweener)

Randy Orton (Heel)

Shawn Michaels (Face)

At this point I’ll note that these rankings become pretty packed from here and so I will only point out the noteworthy and regularly used workers from here on

Midcarders

Booker T (Heel)

Big Show (Face)

Carlito (Heel)

Chris Masters (Heel)

CM Punk (Heel)

Edge (Heel)

El Hijo Del Santo (Mexican Lucha Libre Veteran, Face btw)

James Gibson/Noble (Face)

JBL (Heel)

Kane (Face)

Kid Kash (Heel)

Lashley (Face)

Matt Hardy (Face)

Paul London (Face)

Rey Mysterio (Face)

Ron Killings (Face)

Sabu (Face)

Shelton Benjamin (Face)

Tajiri (Face)

Tank Abbott (Heel)

NB/ I also have kept the entire women’s division but rarely use them….their managers if anything

Lower Midcarders

Austin Aries (Face)

Brian Lawler (Heel)

Bob Sapp (Face)

Brian Kendrick (Face)

Bryan Danielson (Face)

Chavo Guerrero (Face)

Colt Cabana (Face)

EZ Money (Heel)

Fit Finlay (Heel)

Frankie Kazarian (Heel)

Jody Fleisch (Face)

Juventud Guerrera (Tweener)

Ken Kennedy (Heel)

MNM (inc. Melina, all Heels)

Paul Burchill (Heel)

Psychosis (Tweener)

Super Crazy (Tweener)

Scotty 2 Hotty (Face)

Trent Acid (Face)

William Regal (Heel)

Openers

Funaki (Face)

Jimmy Yang (Face)

Tarzan Goto (Face)

The Boogeyman (Heel)

Managers

Bob Orton (Face turn after trying to cost Randy his WWE title against John Cena)

Bobby Heenan (Face, main client = Austin Aries)

Jimmy Hart (Face)

Lita (Heel, main client = Edge)

Melina Perez (Heel, main clients = MNM)

Ric Flair (Tweener, main client HHH, I reunited them J)

Stacy Keibler (Face, main client = Lashley)

Torrie Wilson (Heel, main client = Paul Burchill)

Authority Figures/Non-Wrestlers

Eric Bischoff (Heel)

Hulk Hogan (Face)

Mick Foley (Tweener)

Shane McMahon (Heel)

Stephanie McMahon (Face)

Steve Austin (Face)

The Rock (Face)

Theodore Long (Face)

Vince McMahon (Heel)

Unavailable Workers

James Gibson (Face, Ripped Bicep for 6 months)

Johnny Parisi (Heel, Torn Calf for 4 months)

Lance Cade (Heel, Rehab)

Matt Stryker (Face, Neck Injury for 7 months )

Rob Van Dam (Face, Neck Injury for 7 months)

Steven Richards (Tweener, Rehab)

Jesus, that’s a lot of workers actually, it looks a lot smaller on scroll bars

Well the only things left to tell are the titles and the TV shows and then you lucky lot have got no excuse to not know everything about this masterpiece.

Titles

Right, I will list the titles in order of their image within the promotion, who holds them and how long for and who they won them off of. Also note that I felt two tag titles were one too many to be used without a brand split. As a result I unified them both in a match for the Undisputed Tag Champions. The match was a ladder bout contested between the World Tag Champions RVD and Sabu (recently re-united J), the WWE Champions Psychosis and Super Crazy and Kane and the Big Show who wormed their way in. The match was eventually won by RVD and Sabu.

World Heavyweight Championship

Holder: The Undertaker

Held for: 3 months plus

Preceded By: Kurt Angle

Image Rating: 97 (out of100)

WWE United States Championship

Holder: Christopher Daniels

Held for: 1 and a half months

Preceded By: Chris Jericho

Image Rating: 96 (out of100)

WWE Cruiserweight Championship

Holder: Rey Mysterio

Held for: 6 Days

Preceded By: AJ Styles

Image Rating: 92 (out of100)

WWE Heavyweight

Holder: Randy Orton

Held for: Just under 3 months

Preceded By: John Cena

Image Rating: 89 (out of100)

Undisputed Tag Team Championships

Holders: Edge and Christian (Oh Yes!!!!)

Held for: Just under 2 months

Preceded By: RVD and Sabu

Image Rating: 89 (out of100)

WWE Intercontinental Championship

Holder: CM Punk

Held for: Just over 1 month

Preceded By: HBK Shawn Michaels

Image Rating: 79 (out of100), how the mighty has fallen

WWE Power League

(new title me and a friend thought of/stole from another, used for promising talent)

Holder: Bobby Lashley

Held for: 2 months

Preceded By: Paul Burchill

Image Rating: 75 (out of100)

WWE Hardcore Title (It‘s Back!!!)

Holder: Edge

Held for: Less than 1 month

Preceded By: James Gibson forced to vacate due to injury

Image Rating: 74 (out of100)

WWE Women’s Championship

Holder: Trish Stratus

Held for: Less than 1 month

Preceded By: Vacated after Aja Kong was fired for speaking out against the WWE

Image Rating: 45 (out of100)

Television Shows

Fundamentally, I run the same TV and events schedule as the current WWE. However, I also run a primetime WWE show on Wednesdays named WWE Lockdown. However, if you do continue reading you will notice the fact that it doesn’t appear. This is because I basically use this show as a ‘pure’ wrestling show. No storylines or angles, or titles on the line, just matches between up-and-comers and also a main event showcase between big time workers such as Angle - Benoit. Furthermore, there are also special appearances matches from overseas wrestlers such as a promotional ‘Best of Japan/Mexico/Britain’ (for example, TAKA Michinoku V Jushin ‘Thunder’ Liger or Johnny Smith V Doug Williams). As this doesn’t really make good reading to most I wont include it, unless someone really wants me to in which case I’ll post them under the closest ‘quick results’ section.

Final point to make is that I saw one ‘dynasty’ offer the chance to let people predict the outcome of a PPV etc. with the winner being given the perfect of prize of the opportunity to book the next Raw/Smackdown! Main event Whoever thought of this, I’m stealing it (Y) , it’s a great idea. Also if I have a big decision to make such as a disciplinary matter (fire suspend-how long, etc) then I might very well ask for some input on it.

That’s it for background info (Y) seen as its Saturday I’ll start with the nearest show which is Smackdown!

Card coming to a thread near you soon!

EDITED POST

Apologies if you started reading already but Four-Star-Fizzle brought to my attention that I was missing my catch-up paragraph, and so here it is:

March

WrestleMania 22 ran the same matches as in real life, with the same results except that Kurt Angle and Benoit retained and Mark Henry was pronounced dead, never to darken the WWE’s door again. Also, the Money In The Bank match was replaced with a Smackdown V Raw tag match. The expected draft was denounced by Vince McMahon, who announced the removal of the brand split, but then went on to appoint Mick Foley as Raw General Manager. Angle was then forced back into a match with Undertaker by Mick Foley at Aprils Backlash PPV.

April

April saw the debut of Sabu into the WWE teaming with old partner RVD, who had decided to take on the tag team scene, picking up the straps at Backlash. Christian also made a U-turn on his TNA contract after some revised terms of over $100,000 a month was agreed to sign a permanent contract for WWE. He appeared at Backlash and nailed Benoit with a chair before reuniting with Edge, who had just been defeated in his challenge for the US title. John Cena retained his WWE title against Randy Orton, thanks to his father Bob, nailing his own son with the cast, apparently his way of toughing him up. HBK also won the IC strap that night after Benjamin looked for a springboard that went into a Sweet Chin Music. The Animal also made his return, grabbing a fourth PPV victory over HHH as well as a second consecutive win at Backlash. This was despite Ric Flair re-aligning himself with the Game. In the main event, Kurt Angle again overcame the odds, grabbing a second PPV victory over the Deadman in four months. However, this did come after three questionable chair shots to the head.

May

At Judgement Day this year, RVD and Sabu were set for their first successful title defence against Kane and the Big Show, before Edge and Christian cost them the titles through interference, prior to declaring themselves to be in the race for the belts. Michaels retained against Benjamin in a rematch, and a handshake ended the feud mutually. John Cena again beat Randy Orton in the WWE title match, with more unwanted interference from Bob Orton. Another repeat performance occurred when Batista grabbed the five straight wins over HHH at Pay-Per-Views in just over a year, after Triple H demanded a rematch, saying he needed to know if he could beat him. The event finished with a title change as The Undertaker grabbed his fifth world championship of his career in a hardcore match after a sickening tombstone onto a chair reminiscent of his first title victory over Hulk Hogan all those years ago.

June

Bad Blood quickly became one of the most shocking events in WWE history after three superstars from rival companies invaded the event. Christopher Daniels, AJ Styles and Frankie Kazarian, neither face nor heel, led by the first ever Undisputed World Champion, Chris ‘Y2J’ Jericho. They claimed they were the next step in wrestling and would change the face of WWE themselves (think N.W.O/Evolution crossover). They fulfilled this promise by winning both the US title and Cruiserweight championship titles in less than 24 hours. Kid Kash also retired Jimmy Snuka at the event in a cage match, replicating the infamous Snuka - Muraco match from decades past. After defeating Cena the following night on Raw from Judgement Day, new WWE champion Randy Orton successfully teamed up with Shane McMahon to defeat HBK and Shane McMahon in a tag team match. John Cena took on and defeated Booker T as well as Triple H finally grabbing a PPV win, this time over a disheartened Kurt Angle, who claimed that he was losing his desire to wrestle now that he was no longer the champion. RVD and Sabu became No.1 contenders to the tag team titles after pinning Edge, just after a mistimed Big Boot from the Big Show. The main attraction of the night came in the form of a brutal triple threat match for the WHC between JBL, Batista and the champion, The Undertaker. In the end Taker retained after coming back from both a clothesline and a Batista Bomb.

July

Vengeance was hyped as being chaotic and it duly delivered. The hardcore championship was re-introduced. The belt was eventually won by James Gibson, after a gruelling 20-minute, 20 man hardcore match, featuring experienced hardcore grapplers such as Hardcore Holly and even Steve Blackman returned to try and pick up the honour. Edge and Christian, who by now had forced their way into the match after a non-title victory over Kane and the Big Show, picked up the belts after a triangle tag team match. Christian snuck the pin after Kane and The Big Show double choke slammed Sabu out of his boots and went after RVD and Edge. The Second City Saints debuted at the show today, answering the open challenge of MNM and fully deserved their victory with an impressive performance that left the crowd already appreciating their work inside the ring. A sneaky roll-up by Booker T cost John Cena further in his quest to get back to the WWE title as well as Randy Orton defeating an injured HBK in a hardcore match which finally put him out of action for a few months after a number of niggling injuries threatened to do so. Angle walked out of rematch against HHH giving the Game the count out victory. Angle soon regretted this however, as Mick Foley informed him that it turned out this was a No.1 contendership match for the World Heavyweight Championship! The champion was hot tonight also, getting the three count over Batista in a falls count anywhere. The ‘Invasion’ continued their dominance in the WWE, defending both their titles, however, Vince McMahon then announced to Y2J that if he left this group then he would gladly give him a shot at the WWE title the next night on Raw, which he accepted! The group were stunned and swore they would keep going and Jericho should watch his back.

August

The next night on Raw, they as promised, attacked Jericho in his match and cost him the title he craved so much. By now though, the group was struggling without a clear leader and with all three, particularly Styles and Daniels arguing amongst each other, the group officially split at Summerslam when Daniels purposefully cost Styles his cruiserweight title to Rey Mysterio. Other matches on the card included; Booker T pinning John Cena once again, CM Punk from the Second City Saints defeated Ron Killings by submission. The showpiece of the night was the elimination chamber match for the WHC. This was contested by Undertaker, Batista, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, Randy Orton and Kurt Angle with HHH as the special referee to decide who he would face in his WHC match at Unforgiven. Taker eventually got the win after threatening the Game into making the pinfall over a fallen Benoit.

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Hopefully, that brings everyone up to speed. Any questions or queries, feel free to ask (Y)