WWE Raw on the USA Network
Live from East Rutherford, N.J.

[Q1] A video recapping the Fatal Fourway at Backlash aired; showcasing every elimination. Triple H and Randy Orton’s previous comments narrated the piece.

The opening video aired. Big Show is in the video now. JR and Jerry Lawler welcomed us to the show. JR had an extra bit of excitement in his voice.

As expected, the new WWE Champion Triple H made his way to the ring (wearing the belt!). He received a HUGE pop. Say what you want, but the crowd loves this guy.

You would think last night was Wrestlemania with the post match celebration and the way the announcers are selling his title victory as something out of this world.

H finally took the microphone seven minutes into the show. He proclaimed “The Age of Orton” officially dead. He then discussed his latest long road back from injury and whether or not he would be the best again. “The Game is back.”

Randy Orton, ready to compete, came out to the ring. Orton asked Triple H if he was proud. Orton called himself the victim of his own success. Orton and H argued about whether or not the former champion preferred multi-person matches.

Orton said no one was better than him, not even Triple H. Orton is using his rematch clause at Judgment Day. H went on to say Orton ran his mouth about how great he was for six months. Triple H did the same thing, but when he did it, he was telling the truth.

Orton kept running his mouth and Triple H hit him in the mouth with the microphone. Orton said he is not waiting until Judgment Day and he is ending Triple H’s title reign tonight. Triple H held up the belt as Orton stared him down from the ramp…

JR and King said they would try to have the information when we come back from commercial… [C]

Twill’s Two Cents: Good segment. I like that they made a huge deal of the title change because it should be a huge deal. I like that they seem to be continuing with an Orton vs. Triple H one on one program. I would not even mind seeing a couple of title changes, similar to Triple H and The Rock back in 2000.

[Q2] Back from commercial, JR and King confirmed the WWE Championship Match tonight, with Triple H defending against Randy Orton.

1. The Babyface Divas defeated The Heel Divas in 3:31 when Mickie James pinned Jillian Hall. This is a rematch of the match from the PPV. If you missed it, you did not miss much. There was a huge brawl before the bell rang to start the match.

Kelly Kelly started with Beth Phoenix. Kelly squared actually hit a decent spinning hurricarana. Kelly is hot. Damn. Kelly finally tagged in Mickie James, who traded offense with Jillian. Mickie hit a Thesz Press. She then rolled up Jillian for a surprise pinfall victory.

Twill’s Two Cents: That was pointless. I guess we were able to see a lot of hot girls, but seriously, that served no purpose.

After the match, the divas stared each other down. King plugged the official coronation of the new King of the WWE, William Regal. [C]

[Q3] Back from commercial, they showed the “Please buy the replay of Backlash” highlights.

2. JBL defeated Robbie McAllister (with Rory) in 1:04. JR said JBL had a bad night last night and his look was, “like the stock market crashed.” JBL squashed him. JR called the finished “The Lariat from Hell.” Cool.

After the match, JBL went over to the announcer’s table and put on a headset. JBL said it should have John Cena in the ring and challenged the winner of tonight’s match.

Twill’s Two Cents: Oh no. When JBL had his run back in 04-05, I was a huge fan of his. I hope he does some sit-ups before they put him back in the title picture.

JR plugged tonight’s main event, Triple H defending the WWE Championship vs. the former champion Randy Orton… [C]

Back from commercial, they showed highlights of the impending breakup of Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch…

3. Paul London and Brian Kendrick defeated Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch in 1:57. King plugged London and Kendrick in the new WWE magazine for kids. How can they come up with enough material to publish this magazine continuously?

JR said it this was an important match for both teams, as Carlito and Santino were the number one contenders. This was a nice plug for the division.

Cade and Murdoch made frequent tags and worked over London early. London got away and tagged Kendrick, who showed off a series of quick moves. Cade hit Kendrick with a closeline to the back of head before tagging in Murdoch. Kendrick literally rolled up Murdoch a couple of seconds later. The cover was botched, but the referee counted to three.

I do not know country music, but Trevor got on the microphone and decently sang, “I’ve Got Friends in Low Places” to Cade, and received a pop for it. Cade took off…

Twill’s Two Cents: This was obviously a storyline match. Cade is on his way to a big push. I do like how Murdoch seems to have a babyface gimmick in store for him too.

[Q4] They showed highlights of last night’s match between Shawn Michaels vs. Batista. JR sold the injury as real… [C]

4. Paul Burchill and Katie Lea Burchill defeated Super Crazy in 1:47. Katie announced that William Regal has made this a handicapped match. A faint “Super Crazy” chant could be heard.

Crazy hit his spots at about 1:15, but missed a moonsault. Katie hit a missile dropkick. Burchill hit the Curb Stomp and Katie covered Crazy for the pinfall victory.

Twill’s Two Cents: It is nice to see both of these two back on TV. They were not acting incestuous, so that is a positive.

Backstage, Todd Grisham asked Randy Orton if he was having second thoughts about invoking his rematch clause tonight. Orton emphatically answered, “NO!”… [C]

The lights were out as we returned from commercial. Lillian Garcia informed us we were about the witness the official coronation of “The new king of all the WWE,” William Regal. Ironically, the beat of his new theme music sounded like the American National Anthem.

Regal told us he would remain the Raw General Manager. Jonathan Coachman could be heard crying somewhere. Regal said he would be feared. He said he would be our ruler. He was going out of his way to heel the crowd.

All of a sudden, Mr. Kennedy came to the ring. Kennedy was wearing a weird, Batista like vest. Kennedy said he would love to congratulate Regal, but he could not do that.

[Q5] Kennedy asked who the biggest superstar in the company was who was not even invited to compete in the tournament? He asked who wanted to challenge Regal to see who was the real king. “MRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRerrrrrrrrrrrrr.” Regal interrupted Kennedy. Welcome back.

Regal demanded an apology. Kennedy said faintly, “I, I am, MRRRRRRRRRRRRR. KENNEDY.” As he started to repeat himself, Regal nailed Kennedy and both men went to the ground fighting. Referees had to separate the two…

Twill’s Two Cents: Fantastic segment. It looks like Kennedy is ready for a babyface run. I love this feud as an upper midcard program.

JR plugged the main event. They ran an advertisement for the Hardy’s DVD, which was more in depth than anything we have seen, including the Matt-Edge-Lita situation… [C]

Back from commercial, the Raw Rewind showcased the tag team championship feud…

5. Cody Rhodes (with Hardcore Holly) defeated Santino Marella (with Carlito) in 3:15. Santino grabbed the mic and said he hates New Jersey, The Sopranos, and fake Italians with fake Italian accents. As an Italian, I found that hilarious.

Cody missed a high cross body, leading to Santino hitting a back heel trip for a nearfall. Carlito ate an apple at ringside. Santino grounded Cody and locked in a camel clutch. JR said he has not seen one in awhile, but someone just applied one last week.

Rhodes sat up and hit an Electric Chair. Santino tried to steal a win with his legs on the ropes, but the referee caught him. Cody hit a DDT for the win.

After the match, Cody mocked Santino with a fake accent, but Carlito hit the Backstabber…

Twill’s Two Cents: Average match. I am not sure how a clean loss helps the feud progress, but nonetheless, they can ride Santino right now because he is humorous.

[Q6] Backstage, Chris Jericho was making his way to the ring in a tuxedo. King said he might be going to the prom… [C]

Back from perhaps the shortest commercial break ever, Chris Jericho headed to the ring. The Highlight Reel set is slightly different, as it is an “awards edition.” We know where this is going…

The nominees for “Best Actor in Sports Entertainment included a classic Mr. Fuji and Magnificent Muraco “Fuji General” video. Next was “Michael Cole in Deliverance Part II.” Finally, we have Shawn Michaels faking a knee injury at Backlash. Jericho opened the envelope and announced Michaels as the winner.

Michaels limped severely to the ring as Jericho mockingly applauded him. Jericho actually had a little statue for him. Jericho called for Michaels to give a speech. “Chris, I’m hurt,” is all Michaels said.

Jericho said nobody becomes a backstabbing bastard faster than Shawn Michaels does. Jericho did a fantastic job of antagonizing Michaels here. Jericho called him the “Daniel Day Lewis of the WWE.” Jericho left the ring as Michaels stayed behind.

Backstage, Triple H was mentally preparing himself for tonight’s main event… [C]

Twill’s Two Cents: Another fantastic segment. Jericho is finally back everyone. His work on the microphone in the past month has been amazing. What is intriguing is that Michaels might be swerving everybody and Jericho could be proven to have been right all along in doubting the injury.

[Q7] Back from commercial, Rambo presents WWE Judgment Day. I guess Rocky Balboa is sponsoring The Great American Bash.

Backstage, Santino Marella said he loves WWE Divas, especially those with junk in the trunk. He approached an unknown person, who turned around and revealed himself to be Rowdy Roddy Piper. Marella spewed off 80s references, including asking Piper to do the “Truffle Shuffle,” and mispronouncing Cyndi Lauper’s name. Piper slapped Marella…

Twill’s Two Cents: I guess they gave Piper more than two day’s notice this time. I love the 80s, so the references were cool. Santino was great again.

They ran the Backlash video again, highlighting Triple H’s championship victory last night at the PPV… [C]

6. WWE Champion Triple H vs. Randy Orton ended suspiciously with no winner as the show went off the air in 23:01. Tell you what, the live crowd is HOT tonight, and they are being rewarded for it. Despite H’s second long entrance of the night, it looks like we are getting 20+ minutes tonight.

Lillian announced the competitors after the entrances. I love that they are doing this. I do agree with Jason Powell though. We do not need a slutty schoolgirl doing the announcements. Both men get A’s for their facial expressions and selling of this as a huge championship match.

Slow start, as both men lock up, only to be broken up by referee Mike Chioda. Orton hit a sick shoulder block at 1:25. They came to work tonight folks.

Long side headlock followed by a irish whip sequence. H crotched chopped Orton. Nice leapfrog by Orton; you certainly do not see that much anymore. Orton charged at H in the corner and missed, hitting his shoulder hard against the ringpost. Triple H followed up by shooting Orton into the ringpost again.

H continued to work on the shoulder and arm. JR called this beautifully. He said H worked on the arm, “but is trying to dislocate the shoulder as well.” Orton hit Triple H with a kick, followed by the middle rope DDT. Both men lied on the mat in pain as they went to commercial… [C]

Back from commerical, Orton was laying into Triple H with clubbing blows. Jim Ross, as great as he is, is at his best tonight. You can tell he is excited.

Orton hit a dropkick and scored a very nearfall at 9:37. He then locked in a modified sleeper hold. H countered with an irish whip and sleeper hold of his own. Orton quickly hit a back suplex. He then hit his stomps, followed by a knee to the forehead of the champion.

Orton measured and nailed another huge knee for a nearfall. JR is fantastic here; King is at his best as well. Orton went to the outside and brought H with him. He slammed Triple H’s head on the steps before both men reentered the ring.

Orton began pounding on the upper chest of Triple H. He reapplied the chinlock, attempting to cease the airflow to H’s lungs. King called Orton a boa constrictor; which was a spot on call.

Triple H hit a back suplex. JR notified us it was the same counter Orton used minutes ago. Orton got in his RKO preparation stance and Triple H pushed him into the turnbuckle.

H began to land right hands. He hit a facebuster, followed by a closeline. He went for another, but Orton hit a powerslam for a nearfall at about 17:00. Triple H, after a few exchanges, hit a high knee and uncharacteristically went for a cover, scoring a nearfall.

Orton hit the inverted backbreaker and almost won the title. Orton, in desperation, went to the top rope. H crotched him in the corner. H went to the second rope and hit a superplex.

[Overrun] After both men got to their feet, Orton attempted an RKO. Triple H attempted a Pedigree but Orton countered. Triple H locked in a Crossface.

They cut to the production truck where William Regal began ordering around the director. He said to take the show off the air.

Twill’s Two Cents: What the f*ck?

The screen went to black, but you could hear JR and King continuing to call the match. Apparently, H had the Crossface locked in and Orton’s eyes were fading out. The show immediately went off the air…

Twill’s Two Cents: That match was major PPV main event quality. It was that good. Okay, I get Regal re-establishing himself as a heel tonight. However, why give away that good of a match only to give us that BS finish? The “finish” aside, Triple H, Randy Orton, Jim Ross, and Jerry Lawler all brought their “A+” game tonight. That was fantastic. This was a solid show; get ready for a crowded main event picture.

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