6/7 Powell's WWE Raw Live Coverage: Three-hour Viewer's Choice show with the cast of "The A-Team" guest hosting, including UFC fighter Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Raw and Smackdown wrestlers to appear

By Jason Powell

WWE Raw on the USA Network
Live from Miami, Fla.

[Q1] General managers Bret Hart and Teddy Long came to the ring as Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler checked in on commentary. Bret welcomed viewers to the first viewer's choice edition of Raw. He said that for the first time ever, fans could go to the WWE website to vote.

Long thanked Bret for inviting him to Raw. He said the fans may even decide the fate of the WWE Championship. Hart said all of the Fatal Four Way match participants would compete, and the fans would decide who their opponents would be. Teddy said they should talk about Randy Orton.

Orton's entrance music played and he headed to the ring with his right arm in a sling. Orton told Bret that he wants a match against Edge tonight. "What's it going to be, Bret?" Orton asked. "Do I have a match with Edge or not."

Edge walked onto the stage without entrance music. He said that if Orton wants a match that badly, they should give him what he wants. Edge said he wanted to finish what he started.

Long said it wasn't his show, but he wanted to run something by Hart. Bret liked what he heard. He said they were going to let everyone in the arena decide. Long polled the Miami fans by saying they could have (a) a debate, (b) a sit-up contest, or (c) a match where Edge would have one arm tied behind his back.

Edge protested on the stage. Hart polled the crowd, which booed the first two options and then cheered loudly for the match. Edge continued to complain. "The people have spoken, Edge," Hart responded. "Good luck." Edge dropped the mic and headed backstage.

Teddy it was time for the first viewer's choice match of the night. He said it was Chris Jericho vs. Big Show with an (a) over the rope challenge, (b) submission match, or (c) a bodyslam challenge. Long instructed viewers to go to the WWE website to vote. He said they would reveal the results later.

Big Show came to the ring as the announcers talked about how great it was going to be. Show shook hands with the fans at ringside... [C]

Powell's POV: The viewer's choice aspect is pretty lame with basic match stipulations. They'll probably lead the fans to vote for the matches WWE wants to give them, just as they've done for past shows. That said, everyone involved, including the announcers, is doing a good job of making it seem fun. Obviously, the idea behind the weak stips for Edge and Orton was to get the crowd to pop for the one-armed match.


After the break, Matt Striker revealed the results of the voting. Body Slam challenge scored 48 percent, submission match scored 41 percent, and the over the top rope challenge scored 11 percent...

[Q2] 1. Big Show beat Chris Jericho in a body slam challenge match in 2:55. Show jumped out to the early advantage. Jericho went to ringside. Show reached out to grab him, but Jericho pulled his arm down over the ropes and took control of the match. Show came back and body slammed Jericho for the win.

After the match, Show applied his submission hold. Jericho tapped out. For some reason, the ring announcer named Show the winner via submission. Then Show picked up Jericho and threw him over the top rope, meaning Show won in every possible option that was available...

Powell's POV: The result was very anticlimactic, which explains the live crowd's ho-hum reaction to it.

Cole and Lawler hyped that the fans could vote on whether the Hart Dynasty would face the Uso brothers, the Dudebusters, or Great Khali and Hornswoggle... Backstage, the three teams made quick pitches for themselves. Well, actually Khali and Hornswoggle just yelled like goofs... [C]

Powell's POV: If it's a popularity contest, we're about to see Khali and Horny. If there's ever been a time when I wanted WWE to fix the voting, this would be it. By the way, Joe Mathieson got off to a late start with the ROH TV review, but he's up and running now, so feel free to check it out on the main page.

Cole and Lawler recapped the previous events... Striker set up the results of the voting. Khali and Horny won with 54 percent, the Uso brothers got 36 percent, and the Dudebusters got dudebusted with only 10 percent of the vote...

Powell's POV: To those of you who voted for Khali and Hornswoggle, kiss my ass. Thanks for the part you played in making us all suffer through this match.

2. The Hart Dynasty (w/Natalya) beat Great Khali and Hornswoggle in 1:25. Kidd worked with Khali to start. Khali tagged in Horny, who missed a Tadpole Splash and was pinned quickly. Afterward, the Uso brothers and Tamina hit the ring, but were quickly run off by the Harts...

Powell's POV: All joking aside, I can't blame WWE for not giving away the first Harts vs. Usos match on Raw without any hype.

Cole and Lawler were talking at ringside when Lawler stood up and headed to the ring. Cole look flustered for about two seconds. He settled in quickly and introduced footage from Smackdown of the Undertaker and Kane angle...

Powell's POV: Here's hoping Lawler is heading to the ring to ask the viewers and live crowd if they'd rather have Jim Ross or Michael Cole as the play-by-play voice on Raw. Hey, I can dream.

[Q3] The Kane video carried into this quarter-hour... Cole hyped the cast of "The A-Team" for after the break...

Powell's POV: Vote right now on the main page on whether you'd like to see Cole face Daniel Bryan in a bikini contest, Vince Russo on a pole match, or a shoot fight! Okay, not really. By the way, Dot Net correspondent Ben Leonard reports that Lawler headed backstage. He also noted that Khali was limping after the match, but that's probably the norm.

Ring announcer Justin Roberts introduced three of the four stars of "The A-Team" movie. Liam Neeson is not at the show. Bradley Cooper walked onto the stage and said he didn't know where his two sidekicks were at. He plugged the premiere date and said they were happy to be hosting Raw. He quickly headed backstage...

In the backstage area, Lawler was shown looking for someone. He was pulled into a room by the guy playing Murdoch and Rampage Jackson. They were both in character. Lawler said someone stole his crown. The Murdoch dude acted like Lawler was a true king and said they would find who is responsible.

Rampage said he watches Raw all the time and thinks he know who has the crown. They left the room and were approached by the celebrity whore Bella Twins. One of the twins mentioned that they watch Rampage's fights, but he was in B.A. Baracus mode. Murdoch said something to them, but I lost interest about two minutes earlier...

Santino Marella came to the ring. Cole hyped that Santino would face Vladimir Kozlov in an (a) match, (b) arm wrestling competition, or (c) dance-off... [C]

Powell's POV: Or (d) turn the channel and check back about five minutes before the top of the hour when WWE will start taking this show seriously.

After the break, Striker was standing in the ring with both men to reveal the results. It went 84 percent for dance-off, nine percent for match, and seven percent for an arm wrestling match. Santino was happy and pumped his fist. Santino said he was actually the sixth Backstreet Boy.

Santino danced, did some summersaults, and struck the cobra pose that WWE thinks is over even though they've never really bothered to explain it. Kozlov mumbled something into the mic. He did some robotic dancing and then moonwalked amongst other things. Striker polled the fans, who voted overwhelmingly for Kozlov.

Santino shook Kozlov's hand. Kozlov twirled him around as if they were dancing partners. When Santino ran toward him and jumped, Kozlov shoved him down. Kozlov smirked and left the ring. Cole reminded the viewers that they voted for it...

A backstage shot aired of a bunch of WWE Divas. Fans are allowed to vote for an (a) six-on-six tag match, (b) Diva battle royal, (c) champion vs. champion match... [C]

Powell's POV: So if they vote champ vs. champ, does that mean it becomes a handicap match since LayCool think they are co-holders of the WWE Women's Championship? No, I don't really care either. Also, Ben Leonard notes that Cole beat Santino in a wrestling match during the last commercial break. He wrote that it was "hilarious" and said Cole demonstrated the cobra to Santino.

After the break, the Divas walked onto the stage as Cole noted that Lawler was on his way back to ringside. "What a shock," Cole said because the Divas were out there. Lawler stood in the ring and pointed out the Divas. He set up the results of the poll. It went 73 percent battle royal, 16 percent champion vs. champion, and 11 percent for the tag match...

Powell's POV: Remember what I wrote about five minutes before the usual start of the show? I take it back.

3. Maryse won a Divas battle royal in 3:50. The order of elimination was Rosa, Tiffany, Kelly (which drew a groan from the crowd), Alicia, Gail Kim, the celebrity whore Bella Twins, Layla, and McCool leading up to the final three. The match came down to Maryse, Jillian Hall, and Eve.

The heels ganged up on Eve and threw her through the ropes. Jillian put her hands up for a high-five. Maryse smirked and obliged, but then kicked her and threw her through the ropes for the elimination...

Powell's POV: Okay, we get it. Maryse and Eve are the top Divas on Raw. They will feud over the WWE Divas Championship from now until the day they retire.

[Q5] Maryse's celebration was still going at the top of the hour when the show would normally start. Cole and Lawler recapped the first hour and tried to make it seem like the Hart Dynasty vs. Khali and Horny match "was great!!!!" They also recapped Show destroying Jericho and beating him in three different ways. Cole also hyped Edge vs. Randy Orton for later in the show with the one-arm rule...

A shot aired of Sheamus walking backstage. Kane said Sheamus took out Triple H to make a name for himself. He suggested that Sheamus may have attacked Taker. Sheamus said he took out Hunter in front of the entire world and doesn't take kindly to accusations. Kane said he doesn't take kindly to liars and hopes to see Sheamus real soon...

Fans were encouraged to vote for Sheamus's opponent: (a) Kane, (b) Mark Henry, (c) Evan Bourne... [C]

Powell's POV: Gee, do you think they want viewers to vote for Kane? By the way, Ben Leonard noted that they changed the mat after the Divas match. Insert your own joke about the celebrity whore Bella Twins or any skanky Divas here.

After the break, Lawler pimped the crappy Fatal Four Way theme song... Sheamus came out. The announcers narrated highlights of Bourne and John Cena winning the main event last week. Striker read the voting results: Kane with 88 percent, Bourne with nine percent, and Henry with three percent...

Powell's POV: If the live crowd had anything to say about it, Bourne would have won the voting. I'm skeptical of this one. I can see Kane winning thanks to WWE giving him the nudge, but not by such a huge margin.

4. Kane beat Sheamus by countout in 7:30. Sheamus jumped out to the advantage and put the boots to Kane as the show cut to break. [C]

[Q6] After the break, Kane got some offense in, but Sheamus controlled the bulk of the match. However, Kane made his comeback and chokeslammed Sheamus, who rolled out of the ring and was intentionally counted out...

The announcers hyped Orton vs. Edge for later...

The next poll is whether John Cena will face (a) Jack Swagger, (b) Rey Mysterio, or (c) C.M. Punk... [C]

Powell's POV: How about (d) take the night off?

After the break, a video recapped Wade Barrett winning the NXT competition. Backstage, Savannah interviewed Barrett, who said the outcome was never in question. He said in one week's time, something would happen in WWE that's never been accomplished before in WWE...

Powell's POV: He's going to have a good match with R-Truth? All bad jokes aside, my guess is winning the U.S. Title in his first "official" match.

Backstage, Ted DiBiase and Virgil were interrupted by Rampage and the Murdoch guy. DiBiase said he wouldn't steal King's crown when he could buy anything he wants. Murdoch pulled out a badge. Virgil and Rampage went face-to-face.

IRS (a/k/a Husky Harris Sr.) walked in with the crown on his head and said Lawler never paid his taxes. DiBiase said the crown was just bait. Gas went off in the room. The heels put gas masks on. Rampage split, Murdoch dropped to his knees in one of the corniest scenes ever...

Powell's POV: Wow, that was the shits. We're supposed to take the wrestlers seriously unless they're clowning around with certain guest hosts. I would say this was a new low, but let's not forget that R-Truth was blown up by MacGruber a few weeks back.

Fans are also allowed to vote for R-Truth's partner and The Miz's partner for a tag match. Truth's options are Christian, MVP, and John Morrison. Miz's options are Dolph Ziggler, William Regal, and Zack Ryder...

Powell's POV: They've never acknowledged that Morrison is injured, so I guess we shouldn't be surprised that they're not making a fuss over his potential return either.

[Q7] [C] R-Truth did the "What's Up" dance and entrance. After the "what's up" line. Truth said the fans picking his partner is what's up. Truth handled the results himself, so Striker's just got even easier. The results were Morrison 54 percent, Christian 29 percent, and poor MVP with 17 percent...

Powell's POV: Someone ask Rampage what he thinks Rashad Evans would think of Truth's entrance. How about a poll for how many people want to see MVP turn heel?

As Morrison was making his entrance, Lawler voted. He actually needed instructions on this, as our correspondent noted earlier that a techie was showing him something on a laptop. Miz came out and mocked the fans for picking Khali and Horny in a tag, and Kozlov in a dance-off. Good for him.

Miz said he doesn't care who his partner is because he's going to win the match. He said he's going to take back the U.S. Title the first chance he gets. The results of the poll were Zack Ryder with 45 percent, Dolph Ziggler with 38 percent, and William Regal with 17 percent. The live crowd didn't care...

5. The Miz and Zack Ryder defeated John Morrison and R-Truth in 3:20. The announcers hyped the NXT season two debut for Tuesday night.

[Q8] Morrison and Truth got their offense in, but Miz hit the Skull Crushing Finale on Morrison and got the pin...

Powell's POV: You'd think WWE would be happy to get some injury relief, but they didn't do anything to build up Morrison here.

Backstage, Bret and Edge were talking. "You may think it's not going to happen, but it's going to happen," Hart told Edge before walking away. After Edge was out of the picture, Kane showed up and questioned whether Bret attacked Taker.

Kane said Bret came back to WWE for closure, and he had quite the history with Taker. Kane questioned whether Bret is upset because Taker's legacy has surpassed his. Kane said that if he found out Bret did it, Hart would be in a vegetative state just like Taker... [C]

Powell's POV: Bret never answered Kane, nor did he show any fear whatsoever. He just stood there and listened before walking away with the same facial expression he started with. I guess someone on creative got a kick out of having Bret stand there and be told that Taker's legacy is greater than his.

6. Randy Orton beat Edge by DQ in 1:40. Edge had one arm strapped behind his back. Orton wore the sling to the ring (yes, I know it rhymes) and to start the match. Orton ducked a clothesline and put the boots to Edge. He tried to get the crowd going, but they weren't very cooperative.

Orton dropped the mat and did the Viper Pose stuff with one arm. Edge pulled his arm free and put the boots to Orton. The ref tried to tie him up again, but Edge blew him off and attacked Orton. The ref called for the bell. Orton struggled to his feet in the corner. Edge charged for the spear, but Orton kicked him and then sent Edge to ringside.

[Q9] Orton held his arm in pain and headed to ringside, where Edge rammed a chair into the injured arm. With Orton lying on the ground, Edge slammed a chair onto Orton's injured shoulder. Orton writhed in pain by the announcers' desk as Edge smiled and headed backstage...

Powell's POV: WWE is sending the message that Orton's performance at the pay-per-view is going to suck. Even if he yanks the sling off when the bell rings that night, it will be too late for Orton fans who pass on the show. Oh, and Edge looked like a tool during the actual "match" because he was getting his ass kicked by a one-armed man. Why not just go with the predictable, yet effective gimmick where Orton rips off the sling and RKO's Edge? They could have done the same angle after the match to reestablish Orton's injury.

The announcers recapped the Divas match and then hyped the Cena partner poll... [C]

Powell's POV: Yes, they actually felt the need to remind us that Maryse won the Divas battle royal.

A shot aired of the rainy scene outside the building. Remember this image when WWE passes up Miami for WrestleMania host city... The announcers recapped the Edge and Orton post-match angle...

Backstage, John Cena thanked Evan Bourne for being his partner last week. After Bourne left, Savannah approached him. He said his fate lies in the hands of the most able bodied decision makers WWE has ever seen - the fans (that's what it feels like to have your ass kissed, folks)...

In the locker room, the Murdoch guy came to. Gene Okerlund showed up with a mic and referred to him by his real name. Murdoch guy said he's Murdoch. Okerlund said he's a respected actor. Okerlund said Murdoch dude has a chance to outshine the original.

Okerlund said the guy who replaced him is horrible. Josh "Stalker" Matthews was shown. Josh said he's standing right behind Okerlund. Gene blew him off. Murdoch guy got excited and put the Murdoch hat on. Matthews asked if he and Okerlund could talk. "Oh, zip it, loser," Okerlund said...

Powell's POV: It was nice to see Mean Gene, but everything about the A-Team skits is bad. They pick the least known member of the bunch to give the most camera time to. Hell, Bradley Cooper has been on television for about 15 more seconds than Liam Neeson, who isn't even in the building.

Backstage, Teddy Long hyped that fans could vote to determine Drew McIntyre's opponent. The options were (a) Yoshi Tatsu, (b) Goldust, and a mysterio opponent who was making dumb hand signs behind a curtain... [C]

[Q10] After the break, the voting was revealed by Striker. Mystery man got 88 percent, Goldust got eight percent, and Yoshi got four percent. Matt Hardy emerged from behind the curtain and said, "We got him," to Teddy Long...

7. Matt Hardy beat Drew McIntyre in 1:25. Before the match, McIntyre protested. Teddy said Hardy was suspended from Smackdown, not Raw, so the match was on. Hardy got a nice reaction and "Hardy" chants. He won clean after a Twist of Fate.

After the match, Hardy continued to pound on McIntyre. He shoved the referee down at one point. Hardy held onto Drew's hair as a ref pulled him back. Hardy came away with a handful of hair...

Powell's POV: Hardy's character isn't very bright since one would assume shoving the ref would be grounds for getting him suspended from Raw too.

Backstage, Rampage Jackson was handcuffed to a chair. Ted DiBiase, Virgil, and IRS entered the room and said he was about to get his answers. Ted said they weren't going to fly anywhere. Rather, they are headed to the ring...

Powell's POV: What's worse? A bad ass UFC fighter who oozes charisma pretending to play his movie character on Raw, or Ted DiBiase Jr. being forced to act like he thinks the guy is really the movie character? I actually had high hopes for the cast members. By the way, is Bradley Cooper too stoned or too smart to appear on camera?

In the ring, Virgil and IRS were holding Rampage against the ropes. DiBiase said everyone has a price, even him. He said someone wanted B.A. delivered to him. Roddy Piper's music played and he came to the ring.

Piper said he once silenced Mr. T, and now it starts all over again with "you." Piper said "The A-Team" is the biggest movie of the summer, but he won't see it. Piper said he was going to beat the mohawk off B.A. tonight.

[Q11] Before Piper could do anything, Murdoch guy rode on a golf cart to the ring with Okerlund and Dusty Rhodes. Rampage broke free of the handcuff and tackled DiBiase. He ripped off his t-shirt. Dusty hit the bionic elbow on IRS. Roddy shoved Virgil into Rampage, chokeslammed him.

Murdoch, Dusty, and Rampage celebrated. Okerlund congratulated "the A-Team." The crowd didn't give a shit. Murdoch guy credited Okerlund for saying something about a dream, which gave him the idea to call the American Dream, since he lives in Florida. Dusty delivered the "I love it when a plan comes together" line and then pimped the movie... [C]

Powell's POV: I'm stunned at how awful these skits were. This isn't a case of, "Oh, the Dot Net guy is just being a snob." The live crowd was just as baffled by this crap as I was. Rampage looked like he was having fun, I never want to see Murdoch guy again, and hopefully Bradley Cooper is as far away from the building as humanly possible. By the way, if WWE and UFC are different forms of entertainment, then why is WWE too chickenshit to mention who Rampage fights for?

Cole hyped that next week's guest host is Mark Feuerstein "and his buddy the Big Show," who will appear on Feuerstein's show "Royal Pains"...

After saying something earlier about how much he hates liars, Lawler tried to sincerely thank the fans for making this such a great show. He then voted for Rey Mysterio as John Cena's opponent...

Backstage, Josh Matthews and his hair product interviewed the three potential Cena opponents Mysterio, Swagger, and Punk. Mysterio said he's the top dog on Smackdown and wants to go after the top dog on Raw. Swagger said it would be World Champion vs. World Champion.

Punk, who was accompanied by Luke Gallows and Serena, said Josh asks stupid questions. Punk went on to vow that he'd beat John Cena and make him join the Straight Edge Society. Yes, Punk is still wearing the mask...

John Cena came to the ring to a big pop, which is very impressive given how drained the fans were after that dreadful A-Team skit and, well, the rest of this embarrassingly awful show. Striker read the results of the poll: Punk 45 percent, Mysterio 32 percent, Swagger 23 percent...

Powell's POV: Well, that was surprising. Yeah, I know Punk is over big with the IWC, but I don't think the IWC was voting for most of the other stuff we've seen on the show. I wonder if the results would have been any different if they had played up the champion vs. champion aspect earlier in the show.

Punk headed to the ring with Serena and Gallows as Cole explained why he was wearing a mask...

[Q12] 8. John Cena fought C.M. Punk (w/Serena, Luke Gallows) to a no-contest at 10:00. Cena made an early play for Punk's mask at 2:00. Punk rolled to ringside as Cena smirked. The crowd was really hot for Cena. He was in control of the match until Gallows tripped him behind the ref's back at 3:45, when the show went to break. [C]

After the break, Punk was in control and struck Cena with a series of kicks. Cena made his comeback, but was distracted momentarily by Wade Barrett, who walked onto the stage to a chorus of, well, silence. Cena hit the Five Knuckle Shuffle on Punk and then watched as Barrett inched closer to the ring.

Suddenly, Michael Tarver, Heath Slater, Darren Young, Justin Gabriel, David Otunga, Daniel Bryan, and Skip Sheffield all showed up at ringside. The NXT gang roughed up Punk's crew and then entered the ring and surrounded Cena. The eight wrestlers attacked Cena.

Barrett was leading the NWO, er, NXT rookies. Bryan continued to pound on Cena as the others headed to ringside. Sheffield knocked out Striker. Gabriel and Sheffield roughed up Lawler, who fought back briefly only to be pounded down. They knocked over the announcers' table. Darren Young beat up a production guy.

They grabbed Justin Roberts. A bald dude tried to break it up, but he got his ass kicked. Bryan ripped off Roberts's shirt and roughed him up. The rookies took the ropes down and trashed the ringside area. Cena was still lying in the ring. He stood up and shoved Otunga, but Tarver knocked him down.

Otunga hit his finisher on Cena (yes, he even hit it right!). Young hit a move on Cena, who was selling it as if he was out. Punk even tried to fight back, but the NXT rookies roughed him up too. Bryan pulled at his mask, but they eventually kicked him out of the ring. Young and Slater picked up Cena and threw him into Sheffield's clothesline.

With Cena lying on the ground, Bryan yelled, "You are not better than me," and spat in his face. They took turns taking shots at Cena and then picked him up and put him on Barrett's shoulders so that Barrett could hit his finisher. Gabriel came off the top rope with his finisher on Cena.

[Overrun] The NXT rookies finally left the ring. Trainers hit the ring and tended to Cena. EMTs brought a stretcher to the ring for Cena. The EMTs loaded him onto the stretcher. The camera showed the wreckage at ringside, back to Cena, and then to the wreckage including the fallen announcers and crew members.

Shocked fans were shown as Cena was hauled out on a stretcher. Cena gave the thumbs up sign as he was being stretchered off to close the show...

Powell's POV: Where the hell did that come from? It was certainly unexpected and a great beatdown angle, but are there enough quality NXT wrestlers to keep this going strong? I will have a lot to say about this one later tonight in the Dot Net Member Exclusive audio review of what was an otherwise terrible show. You can listen to this audio and enjoy all the perks of membership by signing up right now via the Dot Net Members' Signup Page.