World Wilson Entertainment

[ZJ Penn]

Monday Night Raw Preview for Monday 12th June 2006

Less than 24 hours after a truly hellacious and memorable bout at ECW’s One Night Stand II, both Rob Van Dam and WWE Champion John Cena will be in action. After RVD’s big victory yesterday and the advantage that his opponent is not exactly 100% sure when he will cash in his Money In The Bank opportunity, he rolls into his match with Triple H tonight with the undoubted momentum. Cena on the other hand, is in a much different position. After being beaten by Van Dam in singles competition earlier on, it seems likely that Cena will feel the need to prove himself tonight against Edge when they meet in the squared circle. All is not so simple though, as Edge and The Game are still without a doubt trying to force their way into the title race once more, so both Mr MITB and The Champ should be prepared to expect anything from them tonight. Vince McMahon has also announced that he will open the program in an attempt to clear the confusion regarding who will be challenging Cena at Bad Blood, if anyone.

Sticking with Vince McMahon, having announced his stand-in superstar for Shawn Michaels retirement match as Kane. Will their be any further developments on this impending match-up? Find out tonight. The undefeated Umaga will also be here tonight with his manager Armando Allejandro Estrada to make an announcement about the superstars future. Speaking of streaks, Shelton Benjamin looks to end his defeated streak tonight after three successive losses in three weeks. However, this looks to be a tall order when he goes up against the more than ever maniacal Kane. Shawn Michaels Super kick couldn’t get it done last week, can Benjamin’s? Carlito and Chris Masters have been going at each others throats since this years WrestleMania and tonight have each been paired with a partner as they face one another in a tag team match. Chris Masters has been drawn with the Nature Boy, Ric Flair and Carlito will tag with The Big Show. Will the two unlikely teams be able to work together, or will it cause even more problems? The Spirit Squad defend their titles again tonight, this time against former La Résistance members Rene Dupree and Rob Conway. Can they recapture the gold, or will the male cheerleaders continue their impressive run of form in the WWE? Final news to be confirmed is that the so far unstoppable Aja Kong will be in action this time in a handicap match against both Torrie Wilson and Ashley Massaro. It looks likely that if Kong wins the match, she will stand in great stead to be in the frame for the WWE Women’s Championship match at Bad Blood.

Confirmed Matches

- John Cena V Edge

- Triple H V Rob Van Dam

- Shelton Benjamin V Kane

- Carlito & The Big Show V Chris Masters & Ric Flair

- The Spirit Squad V La Résistance (World Tag Team Championship)

- Aja Kong V Torrie Wilson & Ashley Massaro (Handicap Match)

Edited June 4, 2006 by wilson316

[ZJ Penn]

The following results are from the Heat web casts:

- Chavo Guerrero beat Matt Striker with a Frog Splash

- Debutant Mark Copani pinned Eugene after a running Death Valley Driver

- Viscera defeated Danny Basham with a Sex Drive

- Lance Cade pinned Goldust after Trevor Murdoch interference

Edited May 31, 2006 by wilson316

[ZJ Penn]

Tonight’s show as promised opened with a message from Vince McMahon. The chairman came down to the ring and firstly made it known that Shawn Michaels can rest easy, right now he’s not there for him. He announced that he is unsure who should challenge John Cena at Bad Blood should Rob Van Dam decide not to cash in his Money In The Bank title opportunity at the Pay Per View and every superstar on the roster should be looking to make an impression. At this Edge decided to make his way out and said that as he is the chairman and its his job to ensure the WWE gets good ratings, he should look no further than the Rated R Superstar, because HE EQUALS RATINGS! McMahon responded by saying that’s a good idea, but he has a better one. Just before he could explain however, Triple H hit the ring and said that Edge at least got one thing right. It is McMahons job to keep WWE at the top, and the only way to do that, is to give the fans what they want. That isn’t World Champion wanna-be Rob Van Dam, it isn’t the transitional champion, and it sure as ever isn’t John Cena! He went on to say that even though he certainly doesn’t like them, what the fans want, is an eleventh run at the top for HHH. At WrestleMania 22, the fans cheered him and booed Cena, at Backlash the fans cheered him and booed Cena and this chump next to him and two weeks ago on Raw, exactly the same. He then told Vince to do the right thing for once and make John Cena play the game one more time. Again Vince said that as good an idea as that is, he has a better one and you two should go and get ready for your matches tonight. The first of those matches was RVD against Triple H. Despite being on the offensive for the majority of the match and almost scoring the pin after a split-legged moonsault, Van Dam lost out to Triple H after Cena nailed him with the WWE title whilst HHH distracted the referee. In the main event Edge took on the champ and missed out on a big victory when he accidentally speared Lita after the champ moved out of the way. A concerned Edge was then rolled up for three after Cena got his feet on the ropes. Just as it looked to have turned out to be a successful nights work for Cena, Mr MITB entered the ring and hit a Van Daminator with the briefcase. With both Edge and John Cena struggling to get to their feet, RVD found time to grab a microphone and announce that after last night at One Night Stand, he found that there was nothing special about this champ which is why he’s gonna take the next step and cash in at Bad Blood and become the new World Heavyweight Champion!!!. With his back turned, Triple H then came to the ring and a chaotic four man brawl ensued. It was stopped immediately however when No Chance blared out into the arena and WWE Chairman Mr McMahon returned to the stage. He said that it seems the main event for Junes PPV is sealed, however, it also appears like there is going to be no way to stop HHH and Edge from getting into the match which is why he is now going to put them into the main event…as special guest referees! As the show went off the air all four men looked on equally stunned at what just transpired before them.

Umaga and manager Armando Allejandro Estrada also made an announcement tonight with puzzling consequences. They arrived at the ring and Estrada talked about since Umaga arrived the night after WrestleMania 22, he has been an unstoppable force. He has fought some of the best including Ric Flair and The Big Show, and beaten some of the best whilst putting together the greatest undefeated streak in the history of this industry. And at Bad Blood, he’ll be issuing an open challenge to anyone to face him. Before this, Shelton Benjamin looked to achieve the near impossible and stop Kane in his tracks. The match had whitewash written all over it and turned out to be exactly that with the Big Red Machine landing a monstrous choke slam a couple of minutes in after catching a Benjamin springboard. After the match Shane McMahon came to ringside and told Michaels to get out here. He obliged and came out to the stage as Shane proceeded to tell him that Kane has informed him that on the 25th of June 2006, Kane has every intention of returning to the hell he came from and he is taking Michaels with him. He finished by saying that if HBK hasn’t cottoned on quite yet he is going to spell it out to him. A week on Sunday, its going to be The Showstopper Shawn Michaels with his retirement on the line, up against the psychotic Kane…in an Inferno match!!! Shawn looked horrified as Kane laughed at his sunken opponent.

Carlito gained a victory over Chris Masters tonight, despite doing none of the work himself. After Carlito failed to show, The Big Show was left in a handicap match against both the Nature Boy and Masters. The advantage wasn’t enough though as Flair refused to let Masters tag him in and allowed the Show to pound on him and eventually plant the Showstopper. Before he could cover though Carlito returned and made a sneaky blind tag to Big Show and then made the pin as the Big Show and Flair looked on disapprovingly at this almost petty game of one-upmanship between the two. La Résistance were unable to recapture the tag gold tonight as once again the Spirit Squad used their superior numbers to overwhelm their opponents, finishing with Kenny hitting the guillotine leg drop off of Mikey’s shoulders onto Conway. After the match, both Dupree and Conway shook hands, could this be the permanent return of the previously successful duo? Finally, Aja Kong was in action again tonight in a handicap match. She continued her dominating fashion with a convincing win after a top rope Northern Lights suplex on Ashley. At this rate, Kong will have blown her way through the Women’s Division by Bad Blood and now looks a certainty to be Mickie James opponent for the title.

Quick Results

- John Cena pinned Edge with an illegal roll-up

- Rob Van Dam lost to HHH after John Cena interfered

- Kane pinned Shelton Benjamin with a choke slam

- Carlito & Big Show pinned Chris Masters and Ric Flair with a Showstopper

- Spirit Squad retained their tag titles against La Résistance with a guillotine leg drop

- Aja Kong beat Ashley Massaro and Torrie Wilson after a Northern Lights superplex.

Edited May 31, 2006 by wilson316

[ZJ Penn]

- Obviously a big talking point from the Raw perspective is that the main event for Bad Blood a week on Sunday has been sealed. Its now gonna be John Cena putting his WWE Championship on the line against Rob Van Dam with Edge and Triple H as the special guest referees. The more or less expected match between the two was already pretty open, but with these two additions as referees, its more of a rubber match than ever. With neither Edge nor the Game allying themselves with one of the competitors, its tough to know who will be in each means corner, if any. Hopefully, next weeks Raw should clear that up before the PPV six days later.

- After it was announced that HBK will take on Kane in an Inferno match next Sunday, a number of ‘experts’ were uneasy. The only Inferno match in WWE history between Kane and The Undertaker was average in quality at best and if this does prove to be Michaels last match then he is truly gonna have to pull out all the stops to ensure he goes out on a high. The match will no doubt largely rely on Shawn’s natural charisma and ability to work a crowd to get it going.

- The following was taken from the WWE.com website:

Both Raw and Smackdown are pleased to announce that the annual draft lottery will take place at the end of June through to next months Smackdown PPV, Vengeance, and will potentially shake the brands to their core. One Raw superstar who is said to be looking forward to it is former Intercontinental Champion, Shelton Benjamin, Benjamin has been on a losing streak since WrestleMania and firmly believes a change in scenery will lead to a change in his fortunes.

Edited May 31, 2006 by wilson316

[ZJ Penn]

Just before Khali’s interference as last weeks Smackdown went off the air, The Undertaker sent a stern message to current World Heavyweight Champion. The message was that when he’s done with Daivari and his cronies, he wants the title that’s around Rey’s waist. Whilst this will have been a big worry for the champion, he surely has more pressing matters in his mind in that tonight, he goes one on one against John Bradshaw Layfield. JBL no doubt still hurts from his PPV loss to Mysterio at Judgement Day last month, when he could have become a two-time world champion and will be looking for some sort of payback tonight. Both Khali and The Undertaker are not set to be in action tonight and Theodore Long has confirmed that the Deadman will not even be at the arena for the show. Chris Benoit was scheduled to be involved with a rematch with Daivari’s Army member Doug Basham, however the former tag team champion has complained of an aggravated injury which has been affecting his performance of late. With the match still planned to go ahead, something doesn’t seem quite right and its likely that Benoit will have to be prepared for anything.

The first of the matches to decide Melina’s role in the forthcoming WWE Tag Team Championship contest at Vengeance next month is tonight when Londricks Paul London goes up against MNM’s Johnny Nitro. With huge pressure on both teams to win these matches, it is unlikely that these two athletes are the only superstars who will influence the result. Also tonight, The Boogeyman, having accepted Booker T’s ‘loser leaves Smackdown challenge’, faces Psychosis. Will Booker feel the need to gain an early advantage before next month, or is he going to not appear at the show? Find out tonight. In addition to these match-ups, both of Lashley and Finlays recent partners will be facing each other tonight in singles competition as William Regal and Paul Burchill pit their skills together inside the squared circle. It’s the first of Gregory Helms ‘knockout matches’ tonight as he meets Super Crazy, looking to eliminate him from their triple threat match next month. With Helms realising he can avoid having to defend his title at Vengeance here, expect him to do anything and everything to grab the win. Finally, Matt Hardy helped Ken Kennedy pick up the pinfall over Animal last week with a steel chair shot and a leg drop through the Spanish announcement table. However, will their roles be reversed like that tonight as Kennedy and Hardy must taken on one another with Animal in the building? Tuning in to Friday Night Smackdown is the only way to find out.

Friday Night Smackdown. TV that’s changing Friday nights.

Confirmed Matches

- Rey Mysterio V John Bradshaw Layfield

- Chris Benoit V Doug Basham

- Paul London V Johnny Nitro

- The Boogeyman V Psychosis

- William Regal V Paul Burchill

- Gregory Helms V Super Crazy

- Matt Hardy V Ken Kennedy

Smackdown…TV that’s changing Friday nights!!!

[ZJ Penn]

The following results are taken from the Velocity web casts:

- Lashley pinned Vito with the Dominator. After the match, Lashley was assaulted by Finlay with his stick repeatedly until he was unconscious. By the time Finlay was pulled away from him, the King Of The Ring winner had to be carried out on a stretcher

- Kid Kash pinned Nunzio after the Dead Level

- Chris Hero defeated Funaki with the Charging STO

- Gunner Scott beat Steven Richards after hitting the Top Gun

[ZJ Penn]

Daivari described tonight as the night that him and his ‘associates’ reclaimed the title of most dominant force on Smackdown. He wasn’t far off either as with the assistance of an allegedly sick Doug Basham, John Bradshaw Layfield picked up the victory over current World Heavyweight Champion Rey Mysterio. Mysterio battled against JBL’s sheer power well with his technique and quickness and looked like he was about to grab the win after the 619, however Basham hit ringside and pushed Rey off as he seemed to go for a springboard and into a thunderous Clothesline from Hell. After the match Rey received a beat down from all of Daivari’s Army and as the show went off air, we were left with the image of Daivari, Mark Henry, Basham, The Great Khali and JBL celebrating in the ring as Mysterio looked on battered and bruised from the stage. His appearance in the main event wasn’t the only time we saw Khali tonight however. Chris Benoit was all set to take on Doug Basham earlier on in the show in a rematch from last week. Yet as reported beforehand exclusively via WWE.com, Daivari had claimed that Basham was ‘sick’. After Benoit made his entrance, Daivari hit the stage and announced to everyone that unfortunately Basham would not be physically able to compete tonight effectively, however not to worry as he’s found a replacement for the match. 7 foot 3 monster Khali then emerged from the back to the horror of everyone in the audience and Benoit himself. The Wolverine fought hard hitting a number of knife-edge chops as Khali entered the ring but like he did to all his opponents before him, Khali destroyed Benoit with a ferocious palm strike and a brutal kick to his head. On Daivari’s orders he scooped up Benoit and power bombed him to the canvas for the three count. Just after the match had finished, like he did the week previously, Mark Henry came down to the ring. This time locking in a bear hug to squeeze the life out of Benoit before landing a Big Splash which could have potentially broke all of Benoit’s ribs. With all three of Smackdowns main opposition to Daivari and his enforcers taken out in just two weeks in the form of Rey Mysterio, The Undertaker and Chris Benoit; can anyone stop them now in their quest for glory?

Also tonight, it was the first of Londrick and MNM’s singles matches to determine Melina’s role in their future WWE Tag Team match up. The first of these was when former Cruiserweight champion Paul London took on current half of the tag champions Johnny Nitro. MNM before the match in an interview, blighted Londrick saying that they promise only Nitro will be in the ring as they know that without a shadow of a doubt, they can win both matches. It turned out to be quite the opposite, as London pulled off an impressive victory in an enthralling singles match with Nitro running into a turnbuckle which he exposed himself previously, before London perfectly executed the 450 Splash for a solid three count. After the match, Mercury tried to rush the ring with Melina at his side, but Kendrick was quick to back his partner up as they shoved MNM’s earlier taunting on Velocity right back at them. With only another victory next week required when Kendrick faces Joey Mercury, could Londrick be only a three count away from getting rid of MNM’s unfair advantage? Find out next week on Friday Night Smackdown! After Booker T’s victory against Jamie Noble last week, The Boogeyman was in action tonight hoping to show he was ready for their ‘Loser Leaves Smackdown’ match next month at Vengeance. His opponent was Psychosis and even though his high flying style was tough for the voodoo man to handle, he came out on top after catching a Psychosis cross body block and flipping him over then hitting the reverse power slam we’ve seen him use so often in the past. When the match finished, we caught no sign of Booker who is now most definitely aware of the challenge he faces at Vengeance. Another match tonight featured Lashleys new found friend William Regal taking on Finlays British partner Paul Burchill. Before the match, footage was rolled of Finlays awful attack on Lashley with his stick earlier on Velocity just after Lashley scored the win with the Dominator on Vito. With Lashley taken away badly injured, Regal was at a disadvantage as Finlay accompanied Burchill to the ring. Regal showed his intestinal fortitude though and fought a good fight, sometimes against two opponents at once. Regal even came close to winning the fight when after the referee was stunned accidentally, he withdrew his brass knuckles to finish Burchill but Finlay entered the ring and took the shot from the hardest left hand in the business instead. Burchill took the opportunity and ambushed Regal from behind and planted his patented shoulder breaker and then the Royal Mutilation arm bar forcing Regal to tap out. Once the bell rang, Finlay recovered and joined Burchill in a beat down on the Blackpool man. This continued until Lashley staggered to the arena and grabbed Finlays stick from the outside and cleared the two from the ring. Another big match which took place tonight was the first Cruiserweight title elimination match. Current champion Gregory Helms was looking to knock out Super Crazy from the scheduled triple threat match. In spite of this, Super Crazy was still able to ensure that a Cruiserweight championship match will take place at Vengeance next month, although he never actually scored a pinfall or a submission. Early on in the match Helms came off the top with a double axe handle which despite being meant for Super Crazy, nailed the referee. Eventually, Helms had had enough of Super Crazy and cracked him right between the eyes with his title belt. The shot was poorly timed though as the referee roused just in time to see it and award the disqualification. After the match, Helms was furious, seeing fit to take it out on the referee with a DDT before backstage staff could break it up. The final piece of action tonight was when Ken Kennedy faced Matt Hardy in singles competition. After Hardy cost Animal his match last week, it was inevitable that the Road Warrior would make and appearance, which he did as Hardy set up a second rope leg drop, coming out onto the stage and distracting Matt for just long enough for Kennedy to regain his senses and attack Hardy and land the Green Bay Plunge for the win.

Quick Results:

- JBL beat Rey Mysterio with the Clothesline From Hell

- The Great Khali pinned Chris Benoit after a Giant Bomb

- Paul London defeated Johnny Nitro with the 450 Splash

- The Boogeyman beat Psychosis with a reverse body slam

- William Regal submitted to Paul Burchill’s Royal Mutilation

- Super Crazy defeated Gregory Helms by DQ

- Ken Kennedy pinned Matt Hardy after the Green Bay Plunge

[ZJ Penn]

- Its exactly a week from Bad Blood tonight and the RAW brand has so far confirmed only these matches:

WWE Championship Match

John Cena © V Rob Van Dam

Special Referees: Triple H & Edge

Retirement Inferno Match

Shawn Michaels V Kane

Umaga Open Invitational Challenge

Umaga w/Armando Allejandro Estrada V ???

Carlito V Chris Masters

With only four confirmed matches, expect RAW to announce some more to the line-up this Monday night, with the most likely being a Women’s Championship match and a World Tag Team Championship clash. This is a stark contrast to Smackdown who, even though their PPV isn’t till next month, already look to be building up at least 7 or 8 matches.

- Sources state that WWE have now been given the green light to bring Dave Bautista, known to the fans as Batista, back to the ring full-time. After being out for months with a big muscle injury, The Animal is now all clear to return to the ring and is expected to feature at some point in the run-up to one of the WWE’s biggest PPV’s of the year, Summerslam. Another reliable source has shed some more light on the Randy Orton suspension scenario. Orton’s suspension was scheduled to end on July 1st, however with the writers not having a big feud set for the former World Heavyweight Champions return as of yet, don’t expect to see him rushed back anytime soon.

- A few superstars which you may have noticed on WWE ‘B-shows’, Heat and Velocity, are impressing numerous analysts. Among them include the now regular Gunner Scott, and debutants Mark Copani and Chris Hero. Although the three have yet to have a big match as of writing, their learning curve and willingness to pick up new skills from the veterans has impressed people backstage. Expect more from them in the future, with perhaps a Raw or Smackdown appearance for at least one of them.

- As previously reported by Wrestling Heat, CM Punk is set for a call-up to WWE television, yet this has not transpired as such. This is allegedly because WWE are torn between his new gimmick and perhaps name changes, as well whether or not to throw him in at the deep end so to speak. This comes as no surprise as in shoot interviews a number of established stars have spoken of their desire to work with whom they believe will be the next big thing, much like Brock Lesnar was touted as a few years ago. The list is said to include; Chris Benoit, Shawn Michaels, Shelton Benjamin and even RAW main eventers Triple H and WWE Champion John Cena. Rumours will obviously abound of the punk and gangster connection between him and Cena although this is unlikely as Punk is set to work in the face role and Cena has recently become a full-on heel.

- Unfortunately the final news of the day is both bad news and good news. The bad news is that current WWE main eventer Kurt Angle will undergo surgery tonight on his aggravated neck injury. The multiple time World Champion has been out of action largely since just after WrestleMania 22 and the injury is said to have plagued Angles performance within the ring since as early as 2001/2002. The surgery will regrettably keep the Olympic Gold Medallist out of action for at least two months if not longer. However, the good side is that the revolutionary new neck surgery, if successful, will completely heal the injured neck of Angle. This could mean that Angle is able to finally take his sports entertainment skills to the level of people such as the legendary Stone Cold Steve Austin, ‘Hollywood’ Hulk Hogan and The Rock, and become a contender for the mantle of best all-rounder of all time.

[ZJ Penn]

Monday Night Raw Preview for Monday 19th June 2006

Last week Vince McMahon unveiled one of his biggest surprises of recent weeks when he named both Triple H and Edge as the special guest referees for this Sundays PPV event, Bad Blood. This came as a shock to both the competitors, Rob Van Dam and WWE Champion John Cena, as neither of them are held in particularly high regard by either of the new referees, meaning that this Sunday will no doubt be explosive to say the least. In the main event tonight, all four of these men will be in action in a tag team match, when John Cena and HHH team up to face RVD and Edge. With both men looking to make a further impression on each other ahead of their championship match in less than seven days time, the bout is sure to push both men to their limits. Also, will either of The Game or the ‘Rated R Superstar’ make their intentions known tonight? Or are they saving their allegiance till Sunday? Find out tonight, only on Monday Night Raw!

Tonight is also the last night before Shawn Michaels undergoes not only the biggest threat to his career, but potentially his life, when he faces Kane in a retirement Inferno match. After warning HBK that he is going to need to stay in full fitness before Sunday, Shane McMahon has given Michaels the night off and told him to sit back and watch, as Kane attempts to take apart another opponent when he goes up against Goldust tonight. With Kane having the obvious advantage with the Inferno match rules, HBK is surely going to have to pull out all of the stops at some point if he is to pick up the victory. Its Snitskys turn to try and stop the juggernaut that is Umaga tonight when they square off. Umaga has issued an open challenge for Bad Blood and will be hoping to hit top gear tonight against a similar style man-mountain Gene Snitsky to ensure victory this Sunday. The number one contender to Mickie James title is up for grabs tonight, when former Women’s Champion Trish Stratus goes up against the seemingly unstoppable Aja Kong. With two victories to her name in three weeks and also having demolished both Stratus and James on her debut in the WWE, it looks like Trish is going to have put on the performance of her illustrious career here tonight. Tonight’s RAW is also the last one before Carlito and Chris Masters square off before their PPV match at Bad Blood. Tonight will be a warm-up to that match when they face each other in singles competition. Both men will be looking for both the mental advantage of a win, but perhaps more importantly, the physical advantage that they could get over each other if it gets extremely physical, which is likely. Finally, Shelton Benjamin has now told WWE.com that even though he isn’t in singles competition tonight, he will be at the arena to hold a Shelton Benjamin appreciation night. Benjamin cant seem to buy a win at the moment and has made no secret of his desire to return back to the Smackdown brand when the annual draft lottery commences in and around the next month after Bad Blood. What this will entail entirely, who knows?

Confirmed Matches:

- John Cena & Triple H V Rob Van Dam & Edge

- Kane V Goldust

- Umaga V Gene Snitsky

- Aja Kong V Trish Stratus (No.1 Contendership - Women’s Championship)

- Carlito V Chris Masters

Also, Shelton Benjamins Appreciation Evening

Who will lead into this Sundays Bad Blood with the all-important momentum? Find out tonight, only on Monday Night RAW Live!!!

Edited June 1, 2006 by wilson316

[ZJ Penn]

The following are the results of the Sunday Night Heat web casts:

- Chavo Guerrero pinned Eugene with a Frog Splash

- Viscera defeated Johnny Parisi with the Sex Drive

- Mark Copani pinned Val Venis after his Running Death Valley Driver

- The Spirit Squad beat Cade & Murdoch after interference from Johnny, Mitch and Nick

[ZJ Penn]

Tonight’s show emanated from the ARCO Arena and certainly shook it to its very foundations. We also found out which corners each of the referees would be in, ahead of Bad Blood in six days time. Prior to the main event tag team match, John Cena bumped into Triple H backstage. HHH told him that after he nailed Rob Van Dam with the title last week, allowing The Game to pick up the victory, he realised something. Although he hates Cena as much as Cena does him, they can work together in that if Triple H helps him on Sunday to retain that title, then he’ll expect him “to return the favour, say, at Summerslam”. The Game then proposed a handshake as the camera faded out before we could see the champs response. Then, just before the title match Edge confronted RVD and told him about Cena and HHH’s ‘deal’ and suggested that they should do the same. Van Dam simply said that unlike Cena, he is going to be a worthy champion and that he doesn’t need his or anyone else’s help, before walking away from an astonished Edge. In the actual main event, all four men were at each others throats with every man nailing their finishing manoeuvre at one point or another. In the end, RVD scored the deciding pinfall, but not without Edges help. After climbing to the top and looking to land the Five Star Frog Splash on Cena, HHH entered the ring looking to nail Van Dam with a sledgehammer. Yet Edge used his years of in-ring experience to plant The Game with a high impact Spear, allowing RVD to hit the massive Frog Splash and pin the Champ. After the match, Cena and HHH attacked Van Dam but with Edges help they cleared the ring and sent them back up the ramp. Edge then again proposed they work together, however this time Mr Money In The Bank responded positively with a nod of agreement. So going into this Sunday, its clear to tell that Edge will be in Rob Van Dams corner, whilst Triple H will be using his refereeing abilities in order to favour John Cena.

Also at tonight’s event, Kane took on Goldust. Despite Goldust being a large athlete as well, Kane used his mix of sheer power and unrelenting brutality to dominate the former Intercontinental Champion from start to finish, winning the match with a big time Chokeslam. After the match as Kane continued to beat down Goldust, Shawn Michaels music hit the arena and he sprinted to the ring clutching a flaming barbed wire 2 by 4!!! Aware of this, Kane exited the ring and avoided a shot from the weapon as HBK told him to bring it on whilst the Big Red Monster backed up the ramp. As Michaels went to continue chasing Kane however, Kane brought his arms up in his trademark style before crashing them down. This led to not only the ring posts bursting into flames but the ring ropes also! Kane laughed from the stage as Michaels was trapped inside the apocalyptic Inferno that the squared circle had become. Eventually, some security was able to put out the blaze but this will no doubt have affected Michaels psychologically, with his retirement potentially only six days away.

In other action tonight, Umaga faced Snitsky in singles competition. As he had all his comers before him, Umaga got the victory with some powerful offence, getting the pin after a second rope splash. Despite Snitsky almost grabbing a three count after a monument us Big Boot, Umaga looked threatening throughout and will arguably be the favourite no matter who answers his challenge in a few days time. Before this match, we witnessed the Shelton Benjamin appreciation evening. He hit the ring and said before he came to RAW he was an impressive champion. Then he left Smackdown and achieved even greater things on this brand. He then rolled some video footage showing multiple victories over Triple H, Kane, Rob Van Dam and Ric Flair among others. When this finished he said that despite all these things, his passion for RAW has gone, which is why his victories have been much less frequent recently. However, when he goes to Smackdown, he is going to be reborn and made the promise that by this time next year he WILL be a World Champion. On this note, Chavo Guerrero came out onto the stage and Benjamin asked him what he wanted. Chavo said that he is sick of Benjamin running his mouth about how he wants to go to Smackdown and other crap to show that he is still a top class performer. Chavo said that he also wants to go to Smackdown to wrestle alongside his friends, World Heavyweight Champion Rey Mysterio and future Hall of Famer Chris Benoit. But he also realises that he if he does leave RAW, he wants to leave the excellent RAW fans with a great memory of him and a victory to sign off with. Benjamin said that as touching as that was, he also has every intention of leaving on a high instead of his current losing streak. He then challenged Chavo to a match this Sunday at Bad Blood which was accepted. Another match which took place tonight was that of Carlito and Chris Masters going one on one. Masters scored the win for himself after feigning a knee injury early on, and as soon as Carlito turned his back to him, jumping to his feet and applying the Masterlock which left Carlito with no choice but to tap out. They then engaged in a post match brawl, with neither man wanting to show weaknesses before Bad Blood. The shock of the night came from the Aja Kong and Trish Stratus match for number one contendership to the Women’s title. Kong had been in seemingly unstoppable form in recent weeks since appearing in the WWE and looked a sure-fire certainty to be the challenger for Bad Blood. However, after landing a string of high impact moves including her patented Northern Lights Superplex, Trish still managed to get a foot on the ropes and break the count. This infuriated Kong who went to the outside and grabbed a chair and then brought it down onto Trish’s head forcing the referee to call for a disqualification. Whilst Trish lay semi-conscious in the ring wondering how she had won the match, Kong looked disgusted with herself and stormed off to the backstage area. With three more matches added to the Bad Blood card, the final match to be added was for the Spirit Squads World Tag Team Championships. After meeting coincidentally back stage, Ric Flair and The Big Show started discussing last weeks tag match, their history in WCW among other things and eventually decided that they would like to team together, if only for one night. Later on in the show, the match was confirmed that Big Show and the Nature Boy would compete for the titles at Bad Blood.

Quick Results:

- Rob Van Dam & Edge pinned John Cena & Triple H

- Kane defeated Goldust

- Umaga beat Gene Snitsky

- Trish Stratus defeated Aja Kong by DQ to become the No.1 Contender

- Chris Masters beat Carlito by submission

Be sure to tune into Raw’s June event Bad Blood on Sunday 25th June, live, only on Pay-Per View!

Edited June 1, 2006 by wilson316

[ZJ Penn]

- We can exclusively reveal today that new WWE signing Aja Kong has been sent to rehab by the company after repeated substance abuse. It looked more and more likely that Kong was set to become WWE Women’s Champion this week at Bad Blood however she lost the number one contendership match last night on RAW to Trish Stratus who will now fight for the belt on Sunday. Sources say that a number of road agents had seen the potential cocaine powder in the stars dressing rooms. However, the final straw is said to have come when Aja allegedly turned up to a RAW house show under the influence of cocaine and her opponent Victoria refused to wrestle her in fear of both of their safeties. WWE are said to have stood by her as with others that have fallen victim to the drug in the past and expect a strong push for the star if she can overcome her ‘personal demons’ during her lengthy spell in rehabilitation. The WWE are also likely to point out to her that if she cannot recover from her addiction then they will have no other option than to terminate her estimated $110,000 a month contract.

- As expected, the WWE have also confirmed their final line-up for the RAW brands PPV, Bad Blood. New matches that have been confirmed include:

- Chavo Guerrero V Shelton Benjamin

- Ric Flair & The Big Show V Spirit Squad for the World Tag Team Titles

- Mickie James V Trish Stratus for the Women’s Championship

[ZJ Penn]

Smackdown Preview for Friday 23rd June 2006

Last weeks Smackdown saw Daivari and his cohorts put all three of Smackdowns top three stars at the moment on the shelve in The Undertaker, Chris Benoit and World Heavyweight Champion Rey Mysterio. Smackdown General Manager Theodore Long confirmed the seriousness of the situation by earlier declaring that of the three; Benoit is struggling with several broken ribs at the hands of Mark Henry and The Undertaker hasn’t been seen for weeks, leaving Rey as the only one half-fit. However, as champion, he needs Rey to compete week in, week out for the brand otherwise he may be forced to vacate the title, similar to Batista’s situation earlier in the year. Because of this, he needs to know Rey is in good health and so is putting him in a requested title defence tonight against John Bradshaw Layfield. With JBL having the support of Daivari and his army of thugs, and Mysterio fighting alone, is a title change going to occur here tonight? Find out live on Smackdown! Also with Taker and Benoit missing from action, Mark Henry, Khali and Doug Basham will be competing tonight. Henry and The Great Khali take on Nunzio and Vito in tag team competition whilst Doug Basham has a tough test in Jamie Noble also. Could this be the memorable night that one of the most dominant forces in Smackdown history completes a clean sweep of matches and also captures the top gold in the industry? Or can Rey overcome the odds and prove his worth as World Heavyweight Champion?

The second of the matches concerning MNM and Londrick are tonight when Joey Mercury faces Brian Kendrick. With Londrick having won the first round last week after Paul London pinned Johnny Nitro, it could be argued that MNM took them far too lightly. Its unlikely that they will do the same this week. With Melina’s position in next months title match on the line, don’t expect it to be one-on-one affair like last week either. In recent weeks both Finlay and his new partner Paul Burchill have been terrorising King Of The Ring winner Lashley and his friend William Regal, with Finlay insisting that Lashley faces him in a rematch for the KOTR opportunity. Lashley has announced that he will be here tonight with some words for Finlay regarding the situation. Last week, Super Crazy booked himself into the Cruiserweight Championship match at Vengeance next month with a disqualification victory over the current champion Gregory Helms. Tonight, Kid Kash has the opportunity to do the same when he faces off against Helms with his place in the title match also on the line and Helms’ last chance to ensure that he is not fighting in a triple threat match in July. Finally, Ken Kennedy will be looking to keep his impressive streak to date going, when goes up against Orlando Jordan in singles competition. Since returning to action, Kennedy has been given an unexpectedly positive reaction from the Smackdown fans which he seems to be taken aback by. Will it continue tonight? Find out exclusively on Friday Night Smackdown!!!

Confirmed Matches:

- Rey Mysterio V John Bradshaw Layfield (World Heavyweight Championship)

- Mark Henry & The Great Khali V Nunzio & Vito

- Doug Basham w/Daivari V Jamie Noble

- Brian Kendrick V Joey Mercury

- Gregory Helms V Kid Kash

- Ken Kennedy V Orlando Jordan

Friday Night Smackdown - TV that’s changing Friday nights!

Edited June 4, 2006 by wilson316

[ZJ Penn]

The following are the results of the Velocity web casts:

- Paul Burchill beat Psychosis in a match of the year candidate with the C4 after Finlay interfered

- Chris Hero defeated Animal with the Charging STO after Matt Hardy distracted him at ringside

- Scotty 2 Hotty & Funaki pinned The Gymini after The Worm on Todd Shane

- Gunner Scott hit the Top Gun on Steven Richards in a rematch from last weeks Velocity for the three count

Edited June 1, 2006 by wilson316

[chazmers]

great diary dude, definately one of my favourites on the board

its quite life like as in the way the WWE would present RAW and SD. Its good to see that you havent gone on a mass TNA signing spree like AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels.

Keep Up The Good Work

[ZJ Penn]

OOC: Thanks, always nice to get positive feedback so I know there are people who appreciate the diary

Hopefully I can check out yours sometime

Anyways, these results didn't take as long as I thought they would, so enjoy

Hopefully, Bad Blood will be up quicksmart.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tonight was the night that Daivari and company almost achieved their goal when John Bradshaw Layfield almost pinned Rey Mysterio to become World Heavyweight Champion. However in WWE, almost just doesn’t cut it as he found out tonight. Earlier on in the show, Mark Henry and The Great Khali played their part to perfection, as did Doug Basham. Basham faced former Cruiserweight champion Jamie Noble. Noble, despite putting up a commendable performance against Doug, didn’t have eyes in the back of his head to watch Daivari and a well-timed distraction when Noble was on the turnbuckle cost him the match, as Basham was able to hit the Second Rope Spine buster for victory. Henry and Khali were in action against Nunzio and Vito in a match up that’s result was never in any doubt once Khali chopped down Nunzio and covered for three. After the bell rung, the two mammoth competitors saw it fit to beat down their competitors. With backstage staff too intimidated to get close, Henry landed a Big Splash onto Vito through the Spanish announce table as Nunzio received a Giant Bomb from the Indian powerhouse inside the ring. With two victories for Daivari’s Army already, the stage was set for a main event to change the face of professional wrestling as JBL took on Rey Mysterio for the World Heavyweight Championship. Mysterio had been beaten down time and time again in recent weeks and it showed early on tonight when Mysterio found it difficult to run and so found it tough to avoid JBL’s powerful strikes. With his usually clear speed advantage out of the way, Mysterio looked for a technical advantage, almost forcing JBL to tap out to a Triangle Choke late on. However, both of Basham and Henry came to ringside to join with Daivari in distracting Mysterio to break up the hold. With the constant interference from outside the ring, JBL took the advantage and scored a near fall with the Last Call Fallaway Slam, which Rey showed true courage and sheer determination to power out of. With the match reaching the twenty five - thirty minute mark, JBL became increasingly infuriated and looked to end it with a Clothesline From Hell, which Mysterio dodged and instead nailed the referee. Before, Nick Patrick’s head had even hit the canvas the three outside competitors entered the fray and beat down Mysterio with hard punches and kicks. Just as it looked to be all over for Mysterio, his loyal friend Chris Benoit, sporting a taped up ribcage came down the aisle and begun to go toe-to-toe with Daivari and the others sending them running. As Rey and the Wolverine recouped inside the squared circle, Daivari motioned to the back and The Great Khali emerged from the locker-room and headed to ringside. Barely before he had reached the ring though, a familiar gong was heard and Khali looked back to where he came from, expecting his rival to appear. Instead, The Undertaker made his way through the crowd, ambushing Khali from behind and sending him into the steel steps, toppling the monster! Taker then tossed Daivari into the ring and planted a big-time Chokeslam as Benoit locked the Sharpshooter in on JBL. At some point in this chaos, referee Nick Patrick was able to recover and call for the bell, throwing the match out as a no contest. It would seem, at least for now, that the cavalry have arrived and Daivari and company are on the ropes. Can they hit the knockout blow next week, and just what will Daivari have in retaliation for this humiliation? Whatever it is, no doubt it will be brutal.

As mentioned on WWE.com before the show, Lashley confirmed that he would have some words for Finlay tonight, and he duly delivered. The 2006 King Of The Ring was interviewed in the back by Todd Grisham and along with his partner in recent weeks William Regal, told Finlay that in no uncertain terms, he is going to get what’s coming to him. He said that last month at Judgement Day, he had his chance to win the KOTR title opportunity and he blew it. However, it seems that Finlay and his partner in crime Paul Burchill aren’t going to leave him or Regal alone till he gets it. Which is why he is going to give him that chance next month at Vengeance. He warned Finlay though, that this is more than just about a title opportunity, he took it to the next level with his cowardly ambushes, which is why next month at Vengeance, he doesn’t care about the title opportunity, all he cares about is making sure that if Finlay gets it, he is in no fit state to challenge for the title for the next few years! In other news, MNM and Londricks title match next month seems to have hit a snag when Mercury scored a pinfall victory over Kendrick after Nitro and Melina double teamed him with shots from the WWE Tag Team title belts. This has left their singles matches at 1 -1 and so Melina’s role at Vengeance next month is still unclear. Hopefully, Smackdown General Manager Theodore Long will be able to clear the situation up next week. The tie in the series will come as a bitter blow to Londrick as Kendrick would have had the match won after he rolled up Mercury. However, Nitro distracted the referee for long enough for Melina to break up the count before Paul London could help out his tag team partner. When it rains, it pours, that seems to be the message to WWE Cruiserweight Champion Gregory Helms after Kid Kash grabbed a crafty pinfall with the aid of an exposed turnbuckle to force a triple threat match for his title at Vengeance. Helms was on top for the majority of the bout and so was perhaps understandably angry that the referee missed Kash removing the padding before getting out of the way for Helms to Avalanche himself into the steel and into the Dead Level for three. With Helms past record of victories slightly tainted to say the least, it could be considered to be that what goes around, comes around for the champion. Finally, Ken Kennedy seems to be developing a positive reaction from the crowd. Despite winning his match against Orlando Jordan tonight after low blowing the former United States Champion and then hitting the Green Bay Plunge, fans still gave the superstar a standing ovation, leaving Kennedy bewildered to say the least. Teddy Long did announce that whilst both Booker T and The Boogeyman were not in action tonight, Bookers wife Sharmell will be next week when she faces Jillian Hall.

Quick Results:

- Rey Mysterio V JBL was ruled a no contest

- Mark Henry & The Great Khali pinned Nunzio & Vito with Khalis devastating chop - kick combo

- Doug Basham defeated Jamie Noble with the Second Rope Spinebuster

- Joey Mercury beat Brian Kendrick after interference from Melina and Nitro

- Kid Kash defeated Gregory Helms by pinfall with the exposed turnbuckle

- Ken Kennedy pinned Orlando Jordan after the Greenbay Plunge

[ZJ Penn]

Breaking News:

After last nights Friday Night Smackdown, WWE.com caught up with Daivari, whose collection of superstars were fought from the arena last night, also ruining JBL's chance of winning the title. Daivari told us that what those three men did last night was very foolish because now, Daivari and his friends are going to get them indirectly, through their friends, their loved ones, even their family aren't safe anymore. He finished by telling them that one way or the other, someone is going to pay for their mistakes.

[ZJ Penn]

Sunday June 25th 2006, RAW Presents...Bad Blood!!! Live On PPV!!!

WWE Championship

John Cena © Vs Rob Van Dam

Special Guest Referees: Triple H & Edge

Retirement Inferno Match

Shawn Michaels Vs Kane

Umaga Open Invitational

Umaga w/Armando Allejandro Estrada vs ?????

Carlito Vs Chris Masters

WWE Women's Championship

Mickie James © Vs Trish Stratus

World Tag Team Championships

The Spirit Squad © Vs Ric Flair & The Big Show

Also, Shelton Benjamin Takes On Chavo Guerrero!!!

[ZJ Penn]

Earlier this evening, the WWE’s RAW brand held its now annual June PPV. The event was one of the most hotly anticipated in recent history and sure as ever did not disappoint the fans. The event was the culmination of numerous attacks and disputes between superstars, some with devastating consequences. Perhaps the most important match on the card was when the then WWE Champion John Cena took on the winner of the WrestleMania 22 Money In The Bank ladder match, Rob Van Dam. With RVD already having a PPV victory over Cena at One Night Stand II, the odds were stacked firmly against the champ. However, the introduction of Triple H and Edge as the special guest referees changed everything, especially when they aligned themselves in Cena’s and Van Dams corners respectively. Could Cena pull off another successful title defence, or was it indeed time for a change? Also, a match that had the potential to create professional wrestling’s biggest shock perhaps of all time was held tonight, when Shawn Michaels faced Kane in not only an Inferno match, but if HBK lost, he had to retire. One thing’s for sure, there certainly was a shock in store if nothing else. With the loser of the bout being the first person to touch the searing flames, was it time that the Showstoppers twenty year show stopped? Or was there something much more sinister afoot?

Chavo Guerrero Vs Shelton Benjamin

The opening match of the show was a truly dazzling display of athleticism, toughness and technique. With Chavos Mexican style and Shelton’s amateur wrestling history, the two superstars put on a seamless bout to show everyone what RAW is all about. Both men showed the signature manoeuvres that had gotten them where they are today, Chavo landing the Three Amigos and a Frog Splash for a near fall, whilst a Shelton Super-kick and a T-Bone Suplex both forced Guerrero to exert energy with only a split second to go. Ultimately, Benjamin wanted to sign off with a win and end his RAW career with a bang and the former Intercontinental Champions determination really showed as he countered Chavos second Frog Splash and set up the Super-kick. However Chavo read the move and avoided it meaning that the referee took it instead. Chavo then used tactics his late uncle Eddie would have been proud of, hitting an audacious low blow, before grabbing a chair from outside and then feigning to have been hit with by Benjamin. The tactic fooled referee Jack Doane who had no hesitation in calling for the bell for a disqualification. After the match, Shelton was understandably furious that his RAW career has possibly ended with a loss and took it out on Chavo with no less than three consecutive T-Bone suplexes before heading to the back.

World Tag Team Championships

The Spirit Squad © Vs Ric Flair & The Big Show

The first title match of the night was for the World Tag Team belts and looked on paper to be simply a title change. However, they didn’t account for the three other members of the Squad, who from the word go had an involvement with the proceedings. As Flair struggled to fight off Kenny and Mikey inside the ring, Johnny, Mitch and Nick ambushed The Big Show with a huge array of attacks. Despite having the early advantage, the challengers fought back into the match and came close to grabbing the victory when after Show hit the Showstopper on Mikey, Flair locked on the Figure-Four leg lock. Nevertheless, Mitch and company outside the ring distracted the referee so that he couldn’t see Mikey tapping, as Kenny came off of the top with the Guillotine leg drop onto an engaged Flair. This allowed Mikey to score the pinfall to retain the titles as the other four members held back The Big Show with one on each of his arms and legs.

WWE Women’s Championship

Mickie James © Vs Trish Stratus

Since losing the belt to Mickie at WrestleMania 22, this was the second time Stratus had been given the opportunity to win the title back. After putting on a determined display to record the first ever WWE victory against the monstrous Aja Kong last Monday, Stratus was looking to show some of the same here tonight. Unfortunately, the crazy champion was able to show why she is recognised as the best women’s wrestler in the world and retained the belt here at Bad Blood. Despite Trish unleashing her full repertoire of moves on the champion, every pin attempt was unluckily ruined as the referee was either out of position or for example, when James foot fortunately landed on the ropes after a Chick Kick. Eventually, James scored the pinfall after utilising Stratus’ own ‘Stratusfaction’ against her after catching Trish atop the turnbuckles attempting a high flying manoeuvre.

Carlito Vs Chris Masters

One of the longest running feuds on the card came to a culmination here tonight when the ‘coolest’ superstar on the roster squared off against the self proclaimed ‘Masterpiece’, Chris Masters. The two had been at each others throats ever since Carlito eliminated him from both the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber and the January 2006 Royal Rumble as well as when Chris Masters “accidentally” caught Carlito with a top rope double axe handle smash to cost them the World Tag Team titles at WrestleMania 22 in April. The match was essentially a bout of one-upmanship with both superstars trying to embarrass the other one whenever possible, be it a paint-brush slap to the back of the head, or tossing the other to the outside. In spite of this, it was obvious that the winner of this match between two youngsters would have taken the next step towards becoming a big hit in the WWE, let alone the RAW brand. Masters nearly stole it early on after blindsiding Carlito and half locking on the Masterlock. However, Carlito had prepared for this and was able to slip out of the back door before it could be fully applied. The winner was eventually decided after Masters hoisted Carlito up for a Military Press and Carlito positioned himself onto Masters shoulders before going to the eyes, then rolling through with a victory roll and grabbing the ropes whilst the referee counted three. As Carlito celebrated up the ramp his career boosting victory, Masters argued with the referee about how he couldn’t have not seen the blatant cheating from Carlito. Eventually the Masterpiece snapped and applied the Masterlock on the referee! Staff eventually broke the hold, but the damage had clearly been done as medics carried the referee out of the ring on a stretcher and no doubt to a nearby hospital.

Umaga Open Invitational

Umaga w/Allejandro Armando Estrada Vs ?????

With the crowd eager to know who he was facing Umaga wasted no time and Estrada called out a challenger. The answer came in the form of who was announced as a local wrestler, Bradley Jay. For the limited amount of offence he got in, the newcomer looked eager and dangerous, however, Umaga is red-hot at the moment and shrugged off his Lariat signature manoeuvre to body slam the youngster before landing a top rope body splash for three. After the match Armando Estrada grabbed a microphone and said surely that’s not it. Umaga came here for a fight and he’s not leaving this ring till he gets one. He then went on to say that the last guy was a rookie, surely there are more experienced guys in the back who can put up a fight at least. Familiar music to ECW fans then roused the crowd as Roadkill came down to the ring. The former extremist took the fight straight to Umaga and knocked him down with a DDT and looked to follow up with a Flying Elbow Drop. However, he hadn’t counted on Estrada at ringside who with a stealthy shove, crotched him on the ropes. Umaga only needed this opening to dominate and did exactly that, grabbing a three count after nailing his Thumb of Doom. Again Estrada grabbed a microphone and again said that he wanted another challenger after declaring that Roadkill wasn’t fit to wrestle in the same ring as Umaga, as he had just shown and asked if there was anyone talented in the back with the nerve to step into the ring with the unstoppable Umaga and add their name to the ever-increasing best undefeated streak in sports entertainment. For the third time some theme music played. This time it belonged to former Tag Team Champion and recognised former blue chipper Chuck Palumbo. Palumbo marked his return to the WWE by coming to within a second of defeating Umaga after scoring with a sickening Yakuza Kick. Yet Umaga showed top resilience to kick out and with the help of some more Estrada interference, get the win with another top rope splash, crushing the chest of Palumbo into the mat. After the match, for the third time, Estrada got a microphone and announced that tonight, tonight three more people were added to the list and tomorrow, so will another as Umaga continues the greatest undefeated streak in sports entertainment history! The crowd exploded as the lights dimmed and a video played on the Titantron, despite it being very ambiguous. All the video showed was the words ‘August 27th’ over and over again. As the lights returned, the crowd were in a stunned silence as was Umaga and Allejandro as people began to realise that this was the date of Augusts PPV, Summerslam. Why is this so relevant to Umaga though? I guess we’ll find out in just over two months time.

Retirement Inferno Match

Shawn Michaels Vs Kane

The penultimate match on the card saw HBK put his career, and life, on the line against Kane. Whilst everyone was expecting twists and turns tonight as the Showstopper looked to pull out all of the stops, no-one in the arena saw what eventually transpired coming. The two competitors entered the ring and the flames emerged all around the ring, trapping the two men. With Michaels in a confined area, he was obviously at a disadvantage not being able to use his quickness and Kane took full advantage of this, beating on HBK with throat thrusts and power slams, determined to get rid of Michaels breathing capabilities. After working on the throat for what seemed like an age, no doubt twice as long to HBK, and also fighting of a number of resurgences from Michaels, the Big Red Monster hit a Chokeslam. Realising that the only way to win is to scorch your opponent, Kane pushed Michaels head closer and closer to the flames. Here the Showstopper caught second wind, fighting him off and nailing a string of big time moves, culminating in an almost impossible body slam. Recognising that the top rope elbow was impossible, Michaels started up the band, which Kane scouted and ducked successfully, before walking straight into another Sweet Chin Music that sent him backwards over the top ropes whilst the fire receded and to the outside! Kane being the force that he is landed on his feet though and began to laugh at HBK realising that he would have to touch the flames to escape the ring, resulting in an early retirement for Shawn Michaels. However, neither competitor saw what came next. Out of nowhere, Smackdowns Daivari came down the aisle, along with his army of Mark Henry, Doug Basham and associate John Bradshaw Layfield!!! The foursome began to take Kane apart, despite his valiant efforts to fight them off. As Henry prepared a potentially career ending Body Splash, Michaels did something courageous that very few others would have even considered. Timing it to perfection to avoid the flames, he ascended the turnbuckle and rolled back the years before becoming the Showstopper once more and scoring a moonsault all the way to the concrete floor onto all involved. Realising that his plan was falling to pieces, Daivari as usual called in the reinforcements in the shape of The Great Khali, who literally chopped Kane and HBK down to size. As JBL and Doug Basham held back Michaels, everyone could only watch as the 7 foot 3 colossus and the worlds strongest man utilised a massive double Irish whip to send Kane face first into the flames!!! As Kane rolled around holding his face which would have been in unimaginable pain, the Smackdown invaders retreated up the ramp having achieved their goal. They warned earlier that family members and loved ones weren’t safe anymore, it appears that The Undertakers brother has found this out first hand here tonight. Amidst the chaos, the referee called for the bell declaring HBK to be the winner, as Kane was the first to be damaged by the inferno. In spite of the rivalry between the two, HBK tried to help an injured Kane to the back but received a one-handed Chokeslam to the arena floor for his troubles as Kane continued to hide his burnt face from the crowd as he disappeared to the back. In any event, a few minutes later, the fans gave Michaels a standing ovation for his performance and everyone appeared happy that this wasn’t the last time we’ll see him in action in the WWE.

WWE Championship Match

John Cena © Vs Rob Van Dam

Special Guest Referees: Triple H & Edge

With all of the fire inducing equipment gone, it was time for the main event. With four of RAWs hottest superstars involved, it was always going to be dramatic. Especially with two of them looking to leave with the WWE title, and the other two trying to book themselves in a WWE Championship match by being biased. The crowd clearly were on RVD’s side throughout with chants of R…V…D and E…C…W commonplace the whole time in match whilst Cena was essentially booed right the way through the bout. In addition to both referees aligning themselves with one of the competitors, the clash was fundamentally a tornado tag team match of Van Dam and Edge up against Cena and The Game. Both men came close to sneaking the pinfall throughout with a numerous amount of roll-ups and cradles giving each one of the referees the incentive to bring out a quick three count that was actually closer to a one count. The standout point in the match came when HHH saw fit to enter a sledgehammer into the fray which RVD avoided and Cena took the accidental blow followed by Edge. The two men left stared each other down before The Game tossed the hammer out of the ring and then they went at it with extreme intensity from both parties. Van Dam became the last man standing in the ring with a Van Daminator into the WWE title which sent the King of Kings crashing to the canvas. A Five Star Frog Splash followed to Cena, but no refs meant no count and the match continued even though RVD was rightfully the new WWE Champion. Regardless of his best efforts to revive Edge, the Rated R Superstar stayed down and John Cena capitalised to hit the F-U!!! This time HHH was able to make a quick count but Van Dam somehow kicked out to both HHH and Cenas disgust! Audibly, Cena shouted to HHH to get the hammer, they were going to finish this once and for all. What he hadn’t counted on as HHH exited the ring to find the hammer was that Edge was back up and coiled in the corner! As Cena turned, it almost seemed to be slow motion as he exploded out of the corner to the fans delight, which quickly turned to horror and despair as Cena was dragged out of the way by Triple H and RVD took the full on Spear instead!!! As Edge looked down at his fallen ‘friend’, a quick sledgehammer shot later and he joined him unconscious on the mat, as Cena got the cover for Triple H to count for the three, ironically, with no ridiculous speed increase on it. Cena then celebrated with his title in the ring to unanimous boos from the crowd as HHH told him in no uncertain terms not to forget their deal, as the beaten duo recovered from their blows. As the show drew to a close, a distraught for himself Edge was at the stage looking back at the ring as Van Dam stared at him, looking really, really angry.

Quick Results:

- John Cena pinned Rob Van Dam to retain the WWE Championship

- Shawn Michaels beat Kane in an Inferno match after Smackdown interference

- Umaga pinned Bradley Jay, Roadkill and Chuck Palumbo in separate open invitational challenges

- Carlito defeated Chris Masters after using the ropes for leverage

- Mickie James retained her WWE Women’s title against Trish Stratus

- The Spirit Squad beat Ric Flair & The Big Show to retain the World Tag Team Championships

- Chavo Guerrero defeated Shelton Benjamin

[ZJ Penn]

Obviously last night WWE held their Bad Blood PPV which was interesting at the least. Here’s what I made of it:

- The show opened with a performance from Saliva who performed the PPV’s theme tune as well as other songs from their extensive WWE library. Live bands, good way to get the crowd pumped up, even if it is a little expensive. However, this usually isn’t a good sign, as it often means a promotion is trying to hide a poor PPV with this, which isn’t good, obviously.

- The dark match of the evening to really warm the crowd up saw recent debutant Mark Copani team with Matt Striker to face the newly reformed La Resistance. As much as I hate to see quality workers such as Dupree and Conway reduced to jobbing for workers with less than 10 Velocity wins between them, that’s life and the team of Copani/Striker was actually quite good with Copani getting the push with a running DVD on Conway about 10 minutes in. I’d say the crowd were into it about 67% which is quite good considering the winner is hardly Stone Cold and the match quality around 68% with no real botches, although nothing particularly tough or innovative was attempted here. Overall, a solid **½ match to begin. Onwards and upwards, hopefully.

- Next up we were treated to Benjamin against Chavo and what a way to kick off the show! This was almost as good as last weeks Kid Kash - Helms match on Smackdown in terms of wrestling. Pretty much a rubber match to keep fans guessing with either man getting the win a good result. WWE opted to go down the keep Chavo looking strong whilst Shelton couldn’t pin someone if they were asleep in the middle of the ring route as Guerrero got the win with a dusty DQ finish. The match went a good 20 minutes which was nice to see in this day and age. The quality was as mentioned superb, I with no regret am talking 99% match quality here with a variety of styles used. Unfortunately, I’d only say that it gathered around 71% crowd interest, just four per cent above the un-televised dark match and its Shelton Benjamin versus fucking Chavo Guerrero! Honestly, if its not Hogan, Austin, The Rock, Taker or Sting, people just don’t give a crap these days. If the crowd had been more appreciative this would have been a Match of the Year candidate but the only slightly perky atmosphere killed that opportunity to be honest. Hopefully, they’ll both go to Smackdown or stay on RAW and we get a rematch, with some proper fans in the audience for once. Overall, I am gonna give it ****¼. Seriously, if you didn’t see this live, get the DVD for this match alone, a great bout.

- From one of the highs of the evening, to one of the lows now as we move onto the World Tag Team Championship match. This one was wrong on so many levels. Firstly, Flair doing the job…to Mikey…after a leg drop, is just not right. The Spirit Squad are good workers for the future and are giving this cheerleading thing a great effort but, at the moment, no-one cares. Obviously they were going to go over, which is going to piss some people off, apparently this included The Big Show, who took the very unprofessional liberty of no-selling everything thrown at him. Thus making Flair look a complete pansy when he got pinned. With a leg drop. The fans couldn’t give a crap really for a championship match on a global promotions PPV at 66%. Granted it had only had a weeks build-up but to put on a match with quality of no more than 56% is inexcusable with the mix of talent between the 7, yes SEVEN workers on show. To summarise, a disappointment. Would have been better off making this the dark match instead. *½, and that’s being generous.

- A pleasant surprise next in the Women’s title match. Granted it wasn’t a classic but considering the shit that went on backstage with Aja Kong and the drugs scandal, they did well to pull a performance out of nothing more than a few days build-up. Obviously Trish Stratus was never gonna win but the match was booked in such a way as to keep both strong. The match, considering women’s wrestling is often duff, was interesting at 58% match quality, which for women is solid. For Flair, Big Show and the supposed stars of the future, is a piss-take. Sorry. Whilst Trish might have lost face by losing cleanly, it will have done Mickie James’ stock the world of good and established her as a good rival to Stratus as the top women’s worker in North America. Also, kudos to the fans with an 82% crowd reaction. I say this because whilst it would have been easy to say ‘Boring! Seen it twice before!’ They realised the mess here and rallied behind them. However, hate to drone on but, 11% more crowd interest for a women’s match than Chavo - Shelton, that really leaves a sour taste. Still at least this two star rating (**) wont have hurt the titles image at all, in fact, it probably improved it.

- Personal shock of the night next. Not the match result at all. Carlito goes over, Masters goes crazy and so on. Hell, even Masters put on a half decent performance. The shock was that the crowd seemed to be too busy discussing the freaking Trish - Mickie match than watching one of the WWE’s brightest talents grab a big PPV victory. The match quality was as expected at around 71%, but the crowd were only around 40% interested, dragging it down to a lowly ** rating through no fault of the workers. This crowd was messed up tonight.

The Umaga invitational was, in essence, alright. The first two matches were pretty seamless so they get judged together. Bradley and Roadkill sold like mad to give it a nice match rating of 74% whilst the crowd mainly didn’t know who they were, and couldn’t give a damn about Umaga, lowering their interest to just 50%. Overall, these get **½ for being average with the hand that they were dealt. Unbelievably, the third match got worse. I think that the crowd assumed that the third entrant would be Angle or someone who’d come and hand Umagas ass to him, instead they got Palumbo, so I kinda understand the 45% crowd interest. The match was more or less the same at a 74% rating bringing an overall ** rating. Still, they wanted to get Umaga over, and what better way to do it than to have him beat three debuting guys in one night. This PPV is becoming decidedly average, hopefully HBK can save it.

- And indeed he can! Obviously the fact that the ring is surrounded by fire reduces the list of spots available and so it was never gonna get more than 70% match quality and **¾ overall. Don’t expect another of these soon. However, the crowd was well into it at 89% particularly with the finishing spots, the moonsault, the Irish whip into the fire and the Chokeslam onto the concrete. Very 2001. The finish was unexpected completely as Smackdown arrived unannounced (and the crowd including me were on the edge of our seats just waiting for The Undertaker to arrive, which never happened), which in this day and age is like Goldust (not the wrestler) and can really get the crowd interested. Obviously, with HBK not retiring it leaves a number of avenues available, interesting to see where RAWs creative run with this ball.

- Final match of the night, and by far the best. The WWE Championship match. Good quality throughout at 80% and obvious crowd interest at 85%, particularly with the finish. Some brutal sledgehammer shots here, I swear the one Edge took looked real. Everyone wanted to see the title change hands, but I think they were right not to, just didn’t seem right. Cenas heel turn has gone down well and hopefully he can carry the ball till Summerslam at least. What does that leave of the main event scene? Well considering Edges part in RVD’s loss and HHH’s warning to Cena, the two feud routes seem more or less sorted for now. Overall the match is a ***¼ for a good performance. I‘d rate the PPV at around the 70 -75% mark taking into account the piss poor matches as well as the good ones. Worth getting for Shelton, Shawn and Triple H’s matches alone. Just remember to skip the tag team match.

Early figures indicate a buy rate of 1.58 and an attendance of 18,000 people. Thus buffing the WWE coffers by over $5,000,000 already. Roll on Vengeance.