wrestling / TV Reports
The RAWtopsy 06.11.07
by J.D. Dunn Different rules this year. If a guy wins, his brand gets the draft pick which will be chosen by random draw…unless Ted Dibiase buys off the good one. Edge avoids a charge and clubs Cena in the back. He dropkicks Cena to the floor. Cena comes back in with a sunset flip. Edge gets two but stops to argue and gets scooped up into the FU, but he slips out and kicks Cena’s tooth loose. Cena counters a chinlock to the STFU, but Edge is in the ropes. Cena hits the Throwback and avoids a spear, sending Edge to the floor. He makes the mistake of following him out, though, allowing Edge to slip out of an FU and toss him into the announce table for the COR win at 12:53. Gotta admire weaselly Edge. **1/4 Speaking of which, let’s go to special Rawtopsy WWE Draft correspondent Paris Hilton… JD: Paris, can you hear me? Punk starts out hot but jumps right into a dropkick from Carlito. Carly goes after Punk’s oft-injured ribs. Punk comes back with a Boston Crab and a springboard clothesline. A roundhouse kick puts Carlito down for two. Carlito hits the Backstabber, but Punk rolls to the floor. Back in, Punk hits the Go2Sleep for the win at 4:52. *1/2 Well, this should be quick. Even Joey Styles doesn’t give Balls a chance. Boot to the gut. Thrust kick. Samoan Spike. Raw gets another draft choice at 0:29. 1/4* Benoit actually gives Lashley someone to wrestle with, and Lashley actually looks like the wrestler he is because of it. I understand that big moves get big pops, but if he’d do a little more wrestling in between, it would go a long way toward making those power moves more meaningful. Benoit goes for a Crossface a bunch of times, but Lashley picks him up for the Argentine Backbreaker Drop. He shouldertackles Benoit in the corner, but Benoit reverses his suplex to the Crossface. Lashley is in the ropes, though. Lashley picks Benoit up like a rag doll, but Benoit slips out and hits ROLLING GERMANS. Lashley practically no-sells, but Benoit locks in the Sharpshooter! Lashley powers out. Benoit charges…right into the powerslam at 7:25. Good effort, especially considering this was a throwaway match. **3/4 So it’s IC Champ versus US Champ. Santino starts out quickly, but MVP comes back and controls with a cravat. They trade kicks, a battle that MVP loses, so he goes to the throat. Marella goes up and hits a shoulderblock. MVP reverses a corner whip and hits the Kawada Kick. That sets up the Playmaker at 4:59. * Snitsky with some stuff. It’s not important. He wins at 1:26. But he’s not done, so the ref reverses his decision. The funniest thing is Miz’s “That’s fuckin’ right!” reaction to his “win.” 1/4* So, I suppose Kristal loses this, and Teddy gets drafted to Raw? Kristal is going with a sort of leather Catwoman look, and Candice’s mannerisms are starting to mimic Trish Stratus’. Kristal works the leg. Yes, you read it right. Candice comes back with the Go Daddy Elbow and a Tarantula Headscissors. Candice hits a nice spinning wheel kick to knock Kristal cold at 1:41. If they keep it short, Candice looks really good. 1/2* Okay, to say the deck is stacked is an understatement. Burke bails early because he’s afraid of Batista, so Jeff tosses him back in. Batista powerslams Burke for two. Jeff comes in and hits the Whisper in the Wind and the Swanton. Burke pulls him off the cover, though, and hits an STO. JBL says he’d like to see Jeff come to Smackdown so the Hardyz would be reunited. Yeah, just think of what they might accomplish. Batista finishes Burke with the Demonbomb after Jeff got knocked out. Smackdown earns another one at 3:33. * This is for TWO draft picks. Let’s see. Matt Hardy, Mark Henry, Chavo Guerrero, Chris Masters , William Regal, Kevin Thorn, Marcus Cor Van, Tommy Dreamer, Sandman, Matt Striker, Viscera, Eugene, Kenny Dykstra, Johnny Nitro and Randy Orton. Striker and Sandman go early. Striker actually looked accidental, but it’s not like he was going to win anyway. Mark Henry tosses Chavo Guerrero like Akon with a concert-goer. There goes Tommy Dreamer. Henry dumps Thorn. Henry and Vis go belly-to-belly. Henry clotheslines him and upends him to the floor. We come back from a break to find Henry going after his own teammate, which is find because a handful of Raw guys eliminated each other. Cor Van misses the Pounce and goes over the top. Nitro gets dropkicked over by Orton. That leaves Henry, Hardy, and Orton. Henry goes after Hardy, nearly giving JBL a heart attack because he wants them to team up against the Raw guy. Matt adopts the Benoit strategy of hanging on to a front facelock for dear life, so Orton just sneaks up and dumps Henry over. Matt is able to hang on, though. He counters the RKO to the Side Effect, but Orton comes back with a stretch backbreaker. Orton counters the Twist of Fate and uppercuts Matt out at 13:38. 3/4* JD: So, Paris, would you like to sum things up?
Paris: So there you have it. ECW is the least sexy brand. Back to you. DON’T STOP BELIEVIN’! The 411: The draft was good for the most part. We knew there weren’t going to be any HUGE changes (like Triple H or Shawn going to Smackdown). For the most part, the guys who were drafted had done all they could on the brand they were on and were in need of a change. And before you say, “Oh, that’s the stupidest thing they’ve ever done,” in regards to Vince going boom, it’s not even the stupidest thing they’ve done this year. At least this angle will have some intrigue. |
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