WWE TV Reports 5/19 Powell's WWE Raw Live Coverage: Batista vs. Chris Jericho for a match against Shawn Michaels, plus the return of Piper's Pit By Jason Powell May 19, 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 Kansas City, Mo. [Q1] The opening video aired. Randy Orton's entrance song down, the Raw theme to go... Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler introduced the show and hyped Chris Jericho vs. Batista while the camera panned the crowd. Jeff Hardy's entrance music played and the camera continued to give viewers crowd shots to capture the atmosphere... 1. Jeff Hardy fought Umaga to a double countout in 5:15. At 3:00, Umaga avoided the Whisper in the Wind move that beat him last week and finished off MVP last night. Later, Hardy dove over the top rope onto Umaga at ringside. Hardy tried to follow up by running the guardrail and diving onto Umaga. However, Umaga caught him and hit a twisting one-arm slam as the ref counted out both men. Hardy sold the move by lying on the mat while the trainers examined him... Powell's POV: Is it just me or did they use more close up shots of the wrestlers' faces during this match? They closed in on Hardy while he was selling a nerve hold and then they moved in on Umaga when he was setting up for a move. The match was very energetic and the crowd was really into it. Much better than last week's short comeback match. Backstage, Batista told Chris Jericho he wasn't going to let him stand in the way of getting his hands on Shawn Michaels. Jericho didn't back down. The insincerely wished each other luck and then stood face-to-face. Well, actually, Batista was looking down at Jericho. He shot him a snide smile and then walked away... [C] [Q2] Ross and Lawler hyped the Judgment Day replay... The lights went out and when when they came back on, Lillian Garcia introduced William Regal. He announced that Hardy vs. Umaga will meet in a falls count anywhere match at the One Night Stand pay-per-view. Regal introduced Randy Orton and JBL as a shot aired on the big screen of the duo standing together. Regal announced that they would meet Triple H and John Cena later in the show. He said if they win, they'll get singles rematches at One Night Stand in the extreme rules matches of their choosing. However, If Cena and Hunter win, they'll face each other at One Night Stand in an extreme rules match of Regal's choosing. Regal said farewell to Orton and JBL. Mr. Kennedy's music played. He walked to the ring and challenged Regal to a singles match at One Night Stand. Regal said he's above Kennedy and therefore he would not accept his challenge. He added that the next person who interrupts him will be fired on the spot. In a surprising moment, Vince McMahon's entrance music played and he walked to the ring. Kennedy said Vince shouldn't done that. "Go ahead, fire him," Kennedy told Regal. Vince told Kennedy to shut up. Vince recalled giving Regal his endorsement. Since then, he said, they've received more viewer complaints than ever. Vince said he and Regal don't care about the fans, but Vince cares about the money. Vince said Regal kills ratings. He said the minute-by-minute ratings reports prove that people tune out when Regal appears and they continue to go down while he's onscreen. Vince said he doesn't like Kennedy, and the ratings show that the people want Regal gone. He booked them in a match for later in the show and said the loser would be fired... [C] Powell's POV: Nice segment. I'm not sure how effective the One Night Stand hype was when it was sandwiched in with the announcement of two Raw matches, but they overall segment with the Vince surprise was well done. I don't like the way Kennedy just takes Vince's abuse, though. I know Vince is the boss, but it's hard to respect Kennedy when he lets the old man boss him around. [Q3] Melina joined the announcers on commentary and performed the splits on their table. Lawler lost his mind... 2. Beth Phoenix defeated Maria at 2:10. Melina didn't really come off like a heel or a babyface on commentary. She complained about Beth attacking her for simply making a mistake and she added that Beth won't break her. In the ring, Beth broke Maria with a Glam Slam and a surfboard type submission maneuver. Afterward, Melina attacked Beth from behind. She took off her own boot and used it as a weapon, but Beth eventually flipped Melina off her back on onto the entrance ramp... Powell's POV: The crowd reacted to Melina's attack as if she was a babyface, but she stated earlier that she turned down Playboy because she's not that type of girl. Only heels say things like that in WWE. Ross and Lawler hyped Jericho vs. Batista, and Hunter and Cena vs. Orton and JBL. Ross said the latter match could be the tag team match of the year... [C] Ross and Lawler hyped the return of Piper's Pit... The Jimmy Kimmel Live skit with Roddy Piper and Santino Marella aired... Backstage, Katie Lea told Mickie James that she'd be a classier WWE Women's Champion. Katie accused Mickie of trying to sleep her way to the top by going out with John Cena last week. Mickie said it was just as friends and added that Cena was a gentleman. Katie said Cena would have more than just a little fun if he came out with her and her brother... Shawn Michaels entered Regal's office to mock him over being able sit back and watch him wrestle for a change. Regal booked Michaels against the winner of the Batista vs. Jericho match in a stretcher match for One Night Stand... Ross hyped Batista vs. Jericho for after the break... [Q4] [C] Ross trumpeted WWE winning the Corporate Patriot Award... Footage aired of the award ceremony with Cliff from "Cheers," Leeann Tweeden, and the dude who presented the award. Plus, Ric Flair accepted the award on behalf of WWE... 3. Batista defeated Chris Jericho in 13:30 to earn a stretcher match against Shawn Michaels at One Night Stand. Ross questioned what type of shape Jericho would be in given the match he had with HBK last night. Batista raised the same point during his backstage segment with Jericho. At 2:00, Batista whipped Jericho into the corner and he fell to the mat. He held his left knee and rolled outside the ring. Batista smiled in disbelief as the crowd booed and the show cut to break. [C] After the break, Jericho continued to sell the injury. Ross said Batista dominated while they were away. Moments later, Batista charged at Jericho, who pulled the top rope down, causing Batista to tumble to ringside. Batista came up hold his left knee. Jericho shot him the skeptical look that he does so well. [Q5] Jericho took control and Ross noted that it appeared Jericho made a fast recovery from his injury. Jericho stopped selling his injury and worked over Batista's knee for the remainder of the match. Later, Jericho avoided the Batista Bomb by grabbing the ropes. He went up top and jumped into a clothesline for a nearfall. In the end, Jericho went for a Codebreaker, but Batsita caught him and turned it into a Batista Bomb for the win. Afterward, Michaels walked onto stage and had a stare down with Batista, who remained in the ring... [C] Powell's POV: Really fun match. Batista and the announcers went out of their way to give Jericho an excuse to lose the match. They probably foreshadowed a little too much by having Batista and the announcers talk about Jericho working last night, but it was still really good and the live crowd was super hot. There appeared to be a simultaneous "Batista" and "Y2J" chant going on late in the match with the edge going to Jericho fans, but the place still popped when Batista won. By the way, there's a crowd sign (regarding the Mickie and Cena storyline) that reads, "If Cena scored, we riot." Funny. Backstage, Regal asked Vince for the reason behind his match with Kennedy. Vince started to explain, but Ted DiBiase knocked on the door. Vince laughed and greeted DiBiase with a handshake. Vince asked Regal to leave the office so that he could have a conversation with Ted. Once Regal left, they sat down on a couch and Vince said, "If we take my money..." Powell's POV: Was this just a cameo or the beginning of Ted DiBiase's Jr.'s introduction to WWE? The Piper's Pit music played. Santino Marella came out dressed like Piper with a pillow under his shirt. Santino introduced himself as Rodney the Piper and said he beat an overweight transvestite at WrestleMania 3 in his retirement match. Santino introduced the Kimmel footage (again). [Q6] Santino called Jimmy Kimmel's cousin Sal to the ring. Sal came out wearing a Piper t-shirt. Santino said Sal grew up worshipping Piper. Sal got the better of Santino on the mic by saying that Maria told him that he was hung like a fourth grader. Santino said fourth graders today maturing at a very fast rate. "I have pictures, I mean, I've seen an article," Santino said. Funny. Santino said he wanted an apology from Sal and then unveiled a big "I'm sorry" birthday cake. Santino picked up the cake. The real Piper entered the ring from behind and put his arm around Santino. Sal shoved the cake into Santino's face. Piper threw Santino out of the ring. Santino asked for a match against Sal. Piper agreed. Sal looked worried... [C] A backstage shot aired of Mr. Kennedy... Powell's POV: For what it's worth, they showed a photo on Kimmel of a younger Sal wearing a Piper shirt. Probably legit, but you never know what's photoshopped these days. The live crowd enjoyed the angle, but there was no pop for the mention of Sal wrestling Santino. Does anyone care about Jimmy Kimmel's cousin? I'm not a late night talk show person. Am I missing something? Highlights aired of Lance Cade attacking Trevor Murdoch on last week's show... At ringside, Ross said the word in the locker room is that Cade and Murdoch are no longer a team... Kennedy did his intro in the ring this week. He vowed that there would be no more tea and crumpets or fish and chips. [Q7] 4. Mr. Kennedy defeated William Regal in 6:05 in a loser is fired match. At 3:30, Kennedy missed with one kick but then spun around and connected with a second kick in the same motion. Cool spot. A minute later, Regal took the mic from Lillian at ringside and announced that he was making it a no DQ match. Regal took his brass knuckles from one of the ringside attendants. He rammed Kennedy into the ring steps and then threw him back inside the ring. The crowd chanted for Kennedy. Regal, still holding the mic, put on the brass knuckles and swung at Kennedy, who ducked it. Kennedy came back with the Mic Check and scored the pin. After the match, the live crowd mocked Regal, who looked at them wish disdain. The crowd chanted "USA" at Regal. Ross said he assumed there were some people smiling backstage. Regal backed his way all the way to the top of the stage and the crowd taunted him the entire way... [C] Powell's POV: The crowd was really into Kennedy tonight. Some of the credit has to go to Regal, who is such a great pure heel. I'm not sure where they're going with it, but this was a fun angle. I'm fine with Regal being fired as a G.M. as long as it means he's going to wrestle more often. Backstage, Regal knocked on his locker room door and begged for Vince to let him inside. The door opened slowly and Regal looked surprised when he saw the person who opened it. Teddy Long emerged with a big smile on his face. He patted Regal on his arm and said, "What's up, player?" Long walked away, leaving Regal with his jaw dropped... In another part of the backstage area, Todd Grisham interviewed Triple H. Hunter said it's no great surprise to anyone that he and John Cena aren't best of friends (didn't I just read that in J.R.'s blog?), but he said it's no big deal because he doesn't think JBL and Orton go on lunch dates. Hunter said it was obvious that there was a lot of change going on in WWE tonight, but he's the one constant... Powell's POV: Wait, I thought Penny was Desmond's constant? In all seriousness, there have been some changes in WWE tonight. The camera shots are different and tonight's show has featured nothing but top over acts (and Sal). It's been very entertaining thus far. [Q8] Randy Orton and JBL made separate entrances... [C] Hunter and Cena made separate entrances. There was a great close up of Orton sneering at Hunter while he spat water into the air as part of his entrance routine... 5. Randy Orton and JBL defeated Triple H and John Cena in 10:00. Hunter whipped Orton into the ropes and Cena pulled them down, causing Orton to tumble to ringside while the ref was distracted. The show cut to another commercial less than 90 seconds into the match. [C] [Overrun] Cena went for the FU on Orton, but JBL snuck in and nailed him with a big boot to the head. Later, Cena locked JBL in the STFU. Hunter ran in to break it up, but Orton stopped him and then punted Cena's head. JBL rolled over and scored the pin. After the match, Hunter tried to hit the Pedigree on Orton, but JBL caught him with the Clothesline from Hell. JBL picked up Hunter and Orton hit the RKO. JBL took the mic and announced that he was going to face Cena in a first blood match. The crowd offered no response. Orton took the mic and said he was going to take back his WWE Title the same way he won it from Hunter in the first place, in a Last Man Standing match... Powell's POV: What a difference a night makes. This was an enjoyable, newsworthy show with a hot crowd. The pay-per-view rematches don't do much for me. I can live with the Cena vs. JBL match (even though their match last night was nothing to write home about), but I'm bored with the Hunter vs. Orton feud. However, with less than two weeks before the pay-per-view, they didn't have much time to set up anything else. First blood? Ugh. That's such a weak match stipulation for JBL vs. Cena. It just doesn't mean what it did in the old days. I'll have a lot more to say about the show in tomorrow's WWE Raw Hitlist. Find out what Rich Twilling thought of the show by clicking here. 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