WWE Raw on the USA Network
Live from Salt Lake City, Utah.

[Q1] A shot aired of the arena while Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler introduced the show... John Cena's entrance music played and he walked onto the stage. He picked up the phone set up on the side of the stage for the money giveaway and played to the live crowd. Ross noted that we're 13 days away from the Night of Champions pay-per-view.

In the ring, Cena told the crowd that he loves WWE and believes it provides the best entertainment that money can buy. He said it occasionally provides moments that transcends time. He asked the crowd to think back to when Hulk Hogan bodyslammed Andre the Giant, when the boyhood dream came true for Shawn Michaels, and the first time Steve Austin whipped someone's ass.

Cena said another such moment will occur at Night of Champions when one man stand in the ring and proclaims, "The Champ is..." Triple H's entrance music interrupted Cena and he walked to the ring with the WWE Title belt draped over his shoulder. "You're right Cena, it's going to be a moment, a moment that no one will forget," Hunter said.

Triple H said he's been trying to convince himself that his match with Cena isn't personal, but he's having a hard time believing it. He warned that "it's going to get real personal, real fast," if Cena gets involved another one of his matches. Cena defended himself and pointed out that Hunter knocked him off the announcers' table last week.

Hunter said Cena shouldn't have been on the table showboating. "I did you a favor. I've been in the ring with you and I've seen you wrestle and the fact is you're so uncoordinated you probably fell off the table before anyway." Hunter pointed out that was two years ago and said a lot has changed. "No, no, no, nothing has changed," Cena said. He said two years ago everyone was talking about Cena vs. Hunter and he said they are still the main attraction. Um, yeah, that's kind of the problem, John.

Hunter said the difference is that this time around he is the WWE Champion. "Until you beat me, you're nothing," Cena said. Hunter said it was going to be a long night and began mocking him. Cena shoved Hunter and took his own shirt off. Hunter dropped the WWE Title belt and removed his shirt.

Vince's "Money" music played and he walked onto the stage and said they couldn't go at it until the pay-per-view. Vince said he's giving away one million dollars and is in a good mood. He revealed the password is "Watch Raw and Win." Then he booked Cena vs. Umaga in a street fight. He acted like it was something he just came up with even though it was announced on the company website yesterday.

Powell's POV: Well, they have to try to make Hunter vs. Cena feel like a major event. It's a logical move to make it seem like it's as big as some of those monumental moments that Cena mentioned, but they have a lot of work to do to sell that in the next 13 days. Good start, though.

1. John Cena defeated Umaga in a street fight in 10:00. Umaga got the better of Cena to start the match. He headbutted him and then knocked him off the ring apron before the commercial break.

[Q2] [C] The fight continued out of the ring after the commercial break. Umaga hit a Samoan Drop on the entrance ramp and then dragged Cena back to ringside. Cena made a comeback and grabbed the house mic from Lillian Garcia. He smacked Umaga with it, but then took the sidewalk slam.

Later, Umaga grabbed a chair from ringside and slid it into the ring. Cena recovered, grabbed the chair, and rammed it into Umga's gut. Cena clutched at his lower back and then went for the FU, only to collapse under Umaga's weight. Umaga dominated for the next few minutes. He grabbed a piece of the ring steps, held them over his head, and walked right into the FU. Cena made the cover and scored the pin...

Vince McMahon stood on the stage and announced that he was going give away $125,000. He somehow managed to misdial even though they set him up with one of those old people phones with the giant numbers. The contestant knew the password. For some reason, Vince had the man bark like a dog. No, really. Then he introduced a "bikini beach blowout." Maria and Eve made their entrances and the show cut to commercial...

Powell's POV: I guess Vince asking the man to bark like a dog is WWE's idea for making these more entertaining. How great would it have been if the guy would have told Vince to go f--- himself?

[Q3] [C] HIghlights aired from last week of Charlie Haas making out with Maria and then being molested by Mae Young...

Powell's POV: I missed it last week, but Ross said, "The girls of AARP gone wild," when Mae was doing her thing.

In the ring, Vince's favorite wrestler Charlie Haas hosted the bikini contest with Melina, Maryse, Lena, Layla, Jillian Hall, Eve, and Maria. Lawler misprounounced Lena's name. Ross responded by asking, "Who am I working with, Adamle?" Hilarious. Jillian wouldn't take off her robe and instead tried to sing until Charlie cut her off. Maria got the most crowd reaction and therefore won the contest...

Powell's POV: Haas did well in this role.

Vince immediately took over on the stage to give away another $100,000. Ross noted that Vince now has dialing music. The man knew the password. Vince asked the man who "the most handsome, well known individual" ever to be born in North Carolina. The man responded Ric Flair. Awesome! The announcers told viewers that Vince was born in North Carolina... [C]

Powell's POV: The announcers have been enjoying themselves the last two weeks. They've been hilarious and loose on commentary because Vince is too busy being a game show host to produce them constantly.

[Q4] Backstage, Chris Jericho rubbed baby oil on himself while bragging to the makeup woman about what he did to Shawn Michaels last week. The announcers spoke over him so we weren't supposed to hear the conversation... A video recapped the Jericho and Michaels storyline...

Back live, Ross said Michaels has some ongoing issues with his eye sight. He added that they'd hear Jericho's side of the story later in the show... Vince called Jim Duggan to the stage to help him made the next call. Duggan walked out wearing a tuxedo with a two-by-four that was dressed in a mini-tuxedo. Vince said Duggan cleans up so nicely that Ron Simmons would say, "Damn."

Duggan dialed a number and it went to voice mail. Vince said he's been waiting for this to happen. He left a message telling the man that he missed his chance to win $50,000 because he wasn't home watching Raw. Duggan dialed another number and this time the DX theme played for the man's ringtone. Vince said he liked it. Wait, he hates DX. Anyway, the guy knew the password and won $50,000. He tried to deliver the "We got two words for you..." bit, but Vince cut him off. Funny...

Jeff Hardy made his ring entrance and the show cut to commercial... [C]

Powell's POV: If nothing else, the Vince segments have been going better this week and they're have been some unintentionally(?) funny moments so far.

A "Did You Know" graphic noted that WWE ran over 300 events including 75 international dates last year...

2. Jeff Hardy pinned Carlito in 5:50. The announcers hyped the upcoming draft. Lawler asked how it worked and who has the first pick. Ross had to admit he doesn't know. The crowd chanted Hardy's name when he took control of the early offense.

[Q5] The announcers questioned whether trades would be allowed. Ross said there was a lot to iron out before next Monday night. Yeah, no kidding. In the end, Hardy hit the Twist of Fate and followed up with a Swanton Bomb for the win...

Powell's POV: No punishment for Carlito in this match. He got more offense than I expected. I was also pleasantly surprised to see the match go longer than three minutes.

On the stage, Vince called another contestant. The Minnesotan knew the password. Vince made the man sing a few versions of the national anthem. I thought he was going to get the booby prize, but Vince gave him $175,000...

Chris Jericho's music played as soon as Vince was finished and he walked to the ring for a promo. Jericho introduced video footage of his attack on Michaels. Jericho said what happened to HBK last week wasn't his fault. Rather, he blamed the fans. He said he came back to WWE to save the fans, but they don't want or deserve to be saved.

He said people connect with who they like and it's obvious they connect with a backstabber like Michaels. He said he hasn't changed. It's the fans who changed "by becoming morally corrupt." Jericho said he doesn't want the fans to cheer for anymore. "I didn't do what I did to Shawn for personal reasons," he said. "I did it because all of you forced me to. And now I'm punishing Shawn for your sins."

Jericho encouraged the crowd to chant HBK in hopes that he would come out. "Well, sorry to disappoint you, but I don't think Shawn MIchaels is going to come out here tonight," Jericho said. Suddenly, Ric Flair's entrance music played and he walked onto the stage with a serious look on his face. The crowd went bananas. Ross said it was an amazing moment. The show cut to break with Jericho and Michael staring at one another. [C]

Powell's POV: Good promo. Jericho spoke in a normal voice and never went over the top with his delivery. The Flair appearance is a surprise. Nice way to lead into a commercial break.

[Q6] After the break, Flair was standing in the ring glaring at Jericho. Ross said the crowd gave Flair a three minute standing ovation. I don't think he was overstating it based on the way the crowd was still standing. "What do you got to say now," Flair asked. Jericho responded by saying, "Just take it from me, alright?"

Sure enough, Flair took the mic from jericho. Flair said Michaels wasn't there. He said he couldn't wrestle Jericho, but he could still fight him in the parking lot. Flair whipped off his jacket and dropped an elbow. He rolled out of the ring and called for Jericho to join him in the parking lot. Jericho followed Flair backstage.

Along the way, Jericho mocked Flair by asking if he was retired. "Yeah, I'll show you retired," Flair said. Jericho walked through an exit door and ran into Triple H, who said Jericho has caused enough problems lately. He said Michaels is home picking glass out of his eye and now he wants to go after Flair. Hunter said he's been looking for an excuse to fight Jericho ever since he came back to "save us." He stressed that he wasn't fighting other people's battles, he just wants to fight Jericho... [C]

Powell's POV: I really didn't need Hunter getting involved in that segment. I wonder if this is WWE's way of working Jericho into the Triple H vs. Cena pay-per-view match somehow?

Backstage, Vince interrupted a conversation between Hunter and Flair. Vince said he couldn't have Flair disrupting his show now that he's retired. He asked security to escort Flair from the building. Vince mocked Flair by saying he'd talk to him next week. Vince booked Hunter vs. Jericho for later in the show...

Powell's POV: Wow, I'm surprised they're giving that match away on Raw. That's a fresh matchup that should be saved for pay-per-view.

3. Hardcore Holly and Cody Rhodes defeated Cryme Tyme in 0:10. Ted DiBiase walked out toward the ring and that distracted Cryme Tyme long enough for Holly to roll up one of his opponents for a quick win...

The crowd booed Vince again when he walked onto the stage to give away more money. He called another North Carolina resident and she knew the password. He gave her the $16 booby prize. She laughed. The crowd booed. Vince said now they have a reason to boo him...

Powell's POV: I thought Vince would save that line for the promo in which he announces the contest is coming to an end.

[Q7] [C] Highlights aired from last week of the Mr. Kennedy vs. Paul Burchill match...

4. Paul Burchill and Katie Lea defeated Mr. Kennedy and Mickie James in a mixed tag match in 4:00. The focus of this match was all about Katie using a backbreaker to score the upset win over Mickie. The only highlight from the men was Kennedy diving through the second rope to spear Burchill, which sent both men crashing to the floor...

On the stage, Vince spoke to a super excited fan, who said Vince had no idea how much he was changing her life. Vince asked her who the most handsome WWE performer is. "I think you're the most handsome man I've ever seen, sir," she replied. Ross groaned on commentary.

[Q8] Back on the stage, Vince made another call while his dramatic dialing music played. "And the password is..." mocked Ross. The man knew the password and won $75,000... At ringside, Ross and Lawler hyped the pay-per-view...

Powell's POV: The live crowd is totally bored with the Vince segments and I can't blame them. If they do this again, they should make it somewhere between one or three winners total...

Backstage, Hunter exited his locker room and found Cena waiting for him. "I'm going to tell you the same thing you told me," Cena said. "Good luck and don't get hurt"... [C]

Another "Did You Know?" graphic was shown. This one noted that WWE has published 40 books. 22 have reached the New York Times best seller list, and three have reached the top spot...

Vince stood on the stage and said he didn't know how long he's going to keep giving away one million dollars on a weekly basis, but he's going to do it again next week. The crowd didn't care. This time the person who answered the phone said he loves Vince. He knew the password and won $300,000. Vince said he was happy he that no one from Salt Lake City won...

Ring introductions for the main event took place. The announcers hyped the early start time for the draft next week...

Powell's POV: Between the draft and the giveaway, WWE might need a fourth hour just to have a handful of short matches.

5. Triple H defeated Chris Jericho by DQ in a non-title match in 9:50. The bell rang a minute before the top of the hour. The announcers noted that the Night of Champions matches will take place no matter what happens on the draft last week.

[Overrun] Hunter whipped Jericho to ringside and he sold a shoulder injury as the show cut to commercial. [C] Hunter took control of the match and went for a Pedigree, but Jericho slipped out and went on offense for a few seconds. Hunter went for the Pedigree again, but Jericho flipped him over with a back body drop.

Later, Triple H and Jericho brawled to the floor. Lance Cade ran out and attacked Hunter at ringside for the DQ. John Cena ran out and fought off the heels. Hunter recovered and speared Cena. They stood up and slugged it out until the heels attacked them. The heels got the better of Hunter and Cena to close out the show...

Powell's POV: I'm still stunned they gave away Hunter vs. Jericho on Raw for the first time since Y2J's return. Does that mean one of them is going to Smackdown or that WWE creative is more flawed than I realized? I guess we'll find out next week.

I'm all for pushing younger wrestlers, but it did seem odd that an undercard performer came out and helped Jericho get the better of two guys are are supposed to deliver a transcending moment on pay-per-view in 13 days. My guess is that this will set up a tag team match for next week, but it was an odd way to close out this week's show. Don't get me wrong, it was better than going off with another giveaway segment, but it was still odd.

Vince's segments are just overkill and they definitely kill the live crowd. There were a couple of funny moments early on, but the segments were just so repetitive and boring by the end of the show. I'll have a lot more to say about the show on Tuesday in the WWE Raw Hitlist.

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