WWE TV Reports 5/12 Powell's WWE Raw Live Coverage: John Cena returns to continue his feud with JBL, will Jeff Hardy return now that he's completed his suspension? By Jason Powell May 12, 2008 - 10:00 PM Email This Article | Printer Friendly Page Send Us News & Results | Back to Main Listing WWE Raw on the USA Network Live from Detroit, Mich. [Q1] Highlights aired from last week's main event... Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler introduced the show with the lights turned off in the arena. When the lights came back on, William Regal was standing in the ring with Lillian Garcia. Regal nodded and Lillian sang "God Save the Queen" to a chorus of boos from the live crowd. Regal chastised the crowd for disrespecting him and his country. The crowd booed like crazy. He warned that he can throw fans out of the building. "Perhaps I need to set an example," he said. Regal walked to ringside and told they crowd they should take him very seriously. He called for security and asked them to throw out two fans. Mickie James ran to ringside and pleaded with him not to throw them out. "I don't care if this is your brother and his girlfriend," Regal said. A huge "Regal sucks" chant broke out. He headed back to the ring and Mickie followed. He told her to get out of the ring or he'd throw her out. He threatened to strip her of the WWE Women's Title. John Cena's entrance music played and he walked to the ring to confront Regal. Cena spoke to Regal and Mickie left the ring. Cena read anti-Regal letters that fans sent to WWE.com. One of the fans referred to Regal turning off the lights as "WCW Thunder bad." Funny. Cena said Regal would know something about that. Even funnier. Regal asked if that's how the fans really felt. "Very well, I give you my word that I won't be turning off the lights during any of the matches," Regal said. He then booked Cena vs. Randy Orton and said anyone who interferes is automatically suspended. "Now, perhaps I've earned a little bit of your respect," Regal said. He left the ring, but Cena called him back. He said he didn't earn respect, he simply made a good match. He brought up Lillian singing "God Save the Queen" and reminded him he's in Detroit. Cena brought up that they were in Motown and had Lillian sing "Respect" at ringside. Cena assured fans that if Regal didn't turn the lights out on Lillian, they would be going out all night... Powell's POV: Regal has huge heat. So much for all the theories that turning off the lights would put more heat on WWE than Regal. That being said, the company went out of their way to have Cena and Regal assure viewers that they didn't have to worry about the lights going out. My guess on the main event is that Regal interfere. All in all, a good opening segment that set up the main event and made it clear to viewers that the lights would stay on. [Q2] [C] 1. Cody Rhodes and Hardcore Holly defeated Santino Marella and Carlito to retain the WWE Tag Titles in 3:00. Roddy Piper was introduced before the match. He took a seat at ringside. Come on, you didn't think they were going to put him on commentary, did you? In the end, Santino became distracted by Piper and then he walked into a DDT from Cody for the loss. Piper celebrated with Rhodes and Holly... At ringside, Ross asked Lawler if he believed Shawn Michaels injured his knee during the match against Batista. This led to a text vote... [C] Powell's POV: I'd like to see more banter like that between the announcers, but not to set up text polls. The WWE announcers generally ignore questions that seem like they're the most obvious questions to ponder during a broadcast. Lawler even responded like Ross was putting him on the spot when it should just be part of their usual on-air banter. [Q3] Mr. Kennedy walked onto the stage and performed his introduction. Then he walked to the ring for his match. As he was walking to the ring, Lillian introduced him. Strange. Even the announcers made fun of that one... 2. Mr. Kennedy pinned Snitsky in 3:30. After some back and forth action, Kennedy hit the Mic Check for the win. The crowd cheered for Kennedy and counted along with the referee's three count... [C] Backstage, Todd Grisham interviewed Santino. Not classic line this time around. Santino said he's looking for Piper... Backstage, Mickie acted like a giddy schoolgirl while asking Cena to join her, her brother, and her brother's girlfriend at the bar. Cena looked like a total dork while speaking seriously and talking about how he had to stay serious for his match tonight and on Sunday. He said he was joking and that he'd go. He also warned her that things can get wild when he's involved... Powell's POV: I'm not sure where they're going with this one. It would be fun if Mickie turned on Cena and hooked up with Orton eventually, but there's no telling where this storyline is headed at this early stage. [Q4] [C] Highlights aired from last week of the diva tag match... 3. Mickie James and Maria defeated Beth Phoenix and Melina in 1:30. During the match, Melina accidentally knocked Beth off the ring apron. Beth glared at Melina and then deserted her. Moments later, Mickie pinned Melina... [C] Powell's POV: Wow, what's up with all creative love for the women tonight? I'm not complaining. I'm just surprised. [Q5] Chris Jericho walked to the ring for a promo and introduced footage of the Shawn Michaels vs. Batista pay-per-view match. Jericho pointed out that 72 percent of the fans believe Michaels is nursing a knee injury. Jericho said he was in the minority. Jericho showed footage from their tag match last week and he stated that it changed his mind. Jericho said he saw the pain in Shawn's eyes during their match last week. He apologized to Michaels and volunteered to call off their pay-per-view match. HBK's music played and he limped to the ring. Michaels told Jericho that he was actually did fake his injury. Jericho refused to believe it and told Michaels that he wasn't going to fall for it. Jericho got flustered. "The problem with you, Shawn, is that you think you're smarter than everyone else," Jericho said. Out of nowhere, Michaels hit Sweet Chin Music on Jericho. He stood over Jericho and then kneeled down and said, "Trust me when I tell you, I'm not hurt." Michaels flipped over the top rope and left the ring without any sign of a limp... [C] Powell's POV: The crowd didn't know how to react to that segment. I'm still not sure that they know what to make of Michaels. His injury tease makes sense for messing with Jericho's mind, but it also makes him look like a phony for screwing over Batista and pretending to be hurt over the last two weeks. Not a bad twist, just an odd one. Jeff Hardy's music played. "What music is that?" Lawler asked. The crowd popped. After a lengthy pause, Jeff walked onto the stage and the crowd let loose. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back Jeff Hardy," Lillian Garcia said. Ross said there was a standing ovation and said it was a "wonderful surprise" to see Hardy back. Powell's POV: I think this would have gotten an even better reaction had they went with Hardy's old music instead of the new music he got just before he was suspended. [Q6] Hardy stood in the ring with a mic and said, "Man, it feels good to be back." He said he made a mistake and he paid for it. He said he had a lot of things to do including becoming Intercontinental... Jeff's mic cut out. Regal walked onto the stage and said Jeff should be punished for his sins and would compete against Umaga as a punishment. 4. Jeff Hardy pinned Umaga in 1:25. Hardy did a baseball slide into Umaga and then dove onto him before he could even get inside the ring. Once they got inside the ring, the referee rang the bell to start the match. The fans chanted, "Let's go Hardy." Umaga controlled the match inside the ring until Hardy hit the Whisper in the Wind for the three count... [C] Powell's POV: It looked like Umaga kicked out before the three count so they could revisit this match next week. The announcers put over Jeff in a huge way. However, I didn't like the fact that he said he was back to go after the intercontinental Title. Or at least that's what he was starting to say. Yes, he should have to prove himself. I just don't think fans want him to make that his mission statement. He'd be better off talking about wanting to win the WWE Title and then get sidetracked because of something Jericho does. It just seems odd that a guy who has held the title several times isn't targeting the WWE Title. Overall, though, a good return for Hardy. 5. Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch beat Cryme Tyme in 2:30. Early in the match, Lawler stated that Cade and Murdoch have been winning ever since Murdoch started singing. What? The crowd was really flat for this match. In the end, JTG tried to roll up Murdoch, who sat down on him and scored the pin. Afterward, Cade thought Murdoch's singing might have had something to do with winning their match. He encouraged Trevor to sing their victory song. He sang "The Gambler" by Kenny Rogers. Out of nowhere, Cade creamed Murdoch with a punch. He hit him again when Murdoch tried to stand up... Powell's POV: Was Lawler referring to house shows? Murdoch started singing because he lost a match two weeks ago. Then he sang backstage last week and did not appear on the show. In other words, they haven't even appeared in televised match since he started singing. Maybe Cade is a country music connoisseur and didn't like the way Trevor sang the wrong lyrics to "The Gambler." I know the lyrics were wrong because my dad went through a really strange Kenny Rogers phase when I was a kid. To this day, one of my brothers gets pissed when he hears the song "Lady" because he feels it's "disturbing." [Q7] The Smackdown rebound segment aired... [C] Backstage, Beth acted poorly while telling Melina that she attacked her because she knew she intentionally cost her the WWE Title last week. Beth explained that Melina knew she could beat Mickie easier than she could beat her. Melina smacked Beth, who then snapped into an all out rage and beat the piss out of Melina until referees and into the picture and pulled her off... Backstage, Grisham interviewed Randy Orton, who said, well, pretty much what he always says. He said he's the most athletically gifted and smartest athlete in WWE... [C] An ad for ECW hyped C.M. Punk vs. Miz, and Kane vs. John Morrison for tomorrow night... Powell's POV: Orton needs a manager. He's a great heel, but his promos are just too monotone. He's just not growing out of it. His promos would be passable if he was a mid-card guy, but he could make even more money if he had the right person talking for him. [Q8] Randy Orton finally has new music!!! That Age of that Crappy Song is finally over!!! Powell's POV: Yes, I'm happy. I hated that poppy pansy song. I don't know if I like this song yet, but it's definitely better than that pussy song he had before. 6. Randy Orton defeated John Cena in 9:30. Cena sold the head injury he received when Orton kicked him in the gourd during his last Raw appearance. He sold an early flurry of Orton punches by acting as if he'd been knocked loopy by the punches. He recovered in time to dump Orton over the top rope just before the break. [C] Cena took control of the match after the break. JBL and Regal walked onto the stage. JBL announced Regal wanted him to replace the referee. Cena attacked JBL immediately. He turned his attention back to Orton and went for the FU, but JBL kicked him in the face. Orton covered Cena and then JBL made the fastest three count in history to give Orton the win. Afterward, the heels beat up Cena until Triple H made the save. The heels outnumbered Hunter, but Cena recovered and threw JBL out of the ring. Cena and JBL brawled into the crowd and disappeared, leaving Orton and Hunter in the ring. Orton fired away with punches. [Overrun] Suddenly, a steel cage lowered around the ring. The crowd chanted for Triple H, who made a quick comeback with the spinebuster. Hunter rammed Orton into the cage, which was still loose and Orton fell to the floor at ringside. Hunter climbed the cage and Ross asked what he had in mind. Not much. Hunter's music played to end the show... Powell's POV: Now that's how a heel referee is supposed to count! They were putting over Orton's kick so well tonight that I thought he was going to soften up Hunter heading into the pay-per-view by catching him with a boot to the head just before the show went off the air. Overall, a newsworthy show thanks to the return of Jeff Hardy. I'll have more to say about it tomorrow in the WWE Raw Hitlist in and my Tuesday Podcast. You can check out Rich Twilling's "Live Coverage" report by clicking here. 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