WWE TV Reports 7/28 Powell's WWE Raw Live Coverage: Shane McMahon says new general manager will be announced tonight, "hottest free agent" to face C.M. Punk By Jason Powell Jul 28, 2008 - 10:15 PM Email This Article | Printer Friendly Page Send Us News & Results | Back to Main Listing WWE Raw on the USA Network Live from Washington, D.C. [Q1] Highlights aired from last week's Raw of the C.M. Punk vs. Batista match with Kane interfering... Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler introduced the show from ringside... John Cena's entrance music played and he walked to the ring for a promo wearing a "Cenation" shirt. Cena was booed more than usual. The announcers pointed out that they are in Batista's hometown. Cena acknowledged the "mixed reaction" and said he's not perfect. He said he punched Batista last week and that has some consequences. Cena said he was not hiding on the stage or behind the curtain. He invited Batista to join him in the ring. The live crowd popped big for Batista's entrance and he walked out wearing a Washington Bullets jersey. Batista said he saw the video footage and he knows Cena didn't mean to hit him on purpose. "As far as I'm concerned we're cool," Batista said. He added that when he beats C.M. Punk for the World Title, Cena is the first person he wants to defend it against. Cena said Batista has already had two shots at the title. He said he's not sure Batista should be next in line. Batista laughed. He said the only reason he's not World Champion is because people keep interfering in his match. "I know C.M. Punk can't be me and, for what it's worth, neither can you." "It's good to be home, isn't it," Cena said. He said he knew Batista would try to sneak something in on him. Cena said everyone knows that he should face Batista at WrestleMania. "What do you say WrestleMania happens tonight?" Cena proposed facing Batista later in the show to find out who the better man is. Batista was about to accept the match when he was interrupted. [Q2] Shane McMahon's music played and he danced his way onto the stage. Yes, he's still doing that silly little dance after all these years. Shane said he would be introducing a new general manager later in the show. He said the new general manager had already been busy. He said Punk would be facing "one of the most technically sound and hottest free agents in our business today." Shane booked Cena and Batista vs. JBL and Kane... [C] Powell's POV: Free agent? Technically sound? Bryan Danielson? Perhaps MVP since they've acknowledged his "contract issues" on Smackdown in recent weeks. Suddenly I'm more intrigued by the "free agent" than the general manager. No mention of Steph's and Hunter's baby. There are multiple reports online that the couple welcomed a second daughter, but I have been unable to confirm those reports. 1. Santino Marella and Beth Phoenix defeated D-Lo Brown and Kelly Kelly in 2:05. Before the match, Cole introduced footage of Beth telling Santino that their relationship is strictly professional. Santino agreed. Cole pointed out that the men could wrestle against the women in this match. Late in the match, Santino tagged in after Beth roughed up Kelly. He knocked D-Lo off the ring apron and then rolled up Kelly for the win. Afterward, Beth and Santino tried to remain professional. Santino tried to work up the courage to go for a kiss. He gave up and started to walk away, but Beth grabbed him by the back of the head and kissed him. Powell's POV: I was worried for a moment that they were going to try to pass off D-Lo Brown as a free agent since he debuted last week, so I'm happy to see him work this match. My pick for the technically sound free agent? William Regal. After all, he was fired by Vince McMahon and is therefore a free agent from a storyline standpoint. [Q3] Jeff Foxworthy hyped Generation Rescue's involvement in SNME... Backstage, Shane stared at a picture of his father. JBL entered the room and tried to lobby his way into the World Title match at Summer Slam. Shane told JBL to take it up with the new G.M. Shane's phone rang (he uses his theme song as his own ringtone). He told JBL that it was the new general manager and said something about making some changes quickly... Jim Duggan and Jerry Lawler were introduced as the challengers for Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase. However, Lillian Garcia announced that she had just received word from the new G.M. that Duggan was being replaced by Michael Cole. "You gotta be kidding me," Cole said... [C] After the break, the announcers table was empty. Cole was in the ring with Lawler and he wasn't happy. Lillian introduced the tag champs... 2. Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes defeated Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler to retain the World Tag Titles in 3:55. Lawler started the match while Cole stood in the corner. There were no announcers for the match. Lawler held his own, but was bumped into the corner and Cole reached out to help him up. Cody told the referee it was a tag and the ref agreed. Cody dragged Cole into the ring and laughed at him. Cole clocked him and the live crowd cheered. Cody got pissed, clotheslined Cole a short time later, and scored the pin. The trainers tended to Cole in the ring as the show cut to commercial... Powell's POV: Well, Jim Ross is in the building for the Saturday Night's Main Event taping, so it's possible he could take over for the rest of the show. Fingers crossed. [Q4] [C] Good lord. Mike Adamle was sitting at the announcers table. He said he received a call earlier in the week (um, it's Monday) and was told to be at Raw. Jerry Lawler sat down and said it was obvious that the new general manager liked to play games... Jamie Noble and Layla stood in the ring together and he cut a brief promo about his match... 3. Kofi Kingston defeated Jamie Noble (w/Layla) in 1:20. Adamle actually called Kofi's dropkick a "double leg dropkick." In the end, Kofi (or "Coffee" as Noble referred to him) hit the Thunder in Paradise for the win... A shot aired of C.M. Punk walking backstage... [C] Powell's POV: Mike Adamle? Live? For over an hour? WTF? [Q5] JBL joined Adamle and Lawler on commentary... 4. C.M. Punk defeated William Regal in a non-title match in 5:25. Regal wore a shirt during the match. Lawler said he thought the new G.M. might be Regal, but he said that's obviously not the case since he's wrestling the match. Punk suffered a bloody nose early in the match. Regal dominated the match early. Punk came back with a series of kicks, but Regal hit him with a great belly-to-back suplex. However, Punk hit the Go To Sleep out of nowhere and scored the clean pin. Afterward, JBL entered the ring and faced off with Punk. Kane's music played and he walked to the ring carrying his burlap sack. JBL walked toward Kane, who greeted him with an uppercut to the chops. Punk went after Kane, but JBL recovered and knocked down Punk. Kane stared at JBL, who jawed something inaudible... Adamle hyped the final edition of the Highlight Reel for later in the show... [C] Powell's POV: It was comical to hear JBl say he's never seen Regal look better. Um, I don't think he was wearing the shirt because he was in the best shape of his career. By the way, it would be rather anticlimactic if they were to name Regal the general manager now. Jericho walked to the ring wearing a suit with sidekick Lance Cade at his side. He stood in front of the broken television that he ran Shawn Michaels through. He said he's matured and has moved on by taking his career and life to a whole new level. Jericho said he was seen as a performer/entertainer/party host in WWE, and he played that part because he thought that's what the fans wanted from him. [Q6] Jericho said it was a "pathetic mistake" to pander to the fans. "Instead of reaching for the golden ring of another world title, he reached for fool's gold." He said he will never make that mistake again and that's why this would be the final episode of the Highlight Reel. He introduced a video package he put together on someone the fans will never see again. He said it wasn't HBK, rather it was Y2J. Clips aired of the comedic Jericho character. Back live, Jericho said he doesn't miss that guy. "I'm embarrassed to watch that footage," he said. He complained that he could have continued down that path, but the fans never would have idolized him like they do Shawn Michaels. Jericho walked over and said something to Cade. Moments later, Cade took the mic and credited Jericho with saving his career. "I was stuck with a singing cowboy," he said. Cade said Jericho saved him and he'll be forever grateful. Jericho turned his attention to HBK and suggested he stay home and move on with his life. He said HBK should be thankful that he still has some remaining sight. Jericho threw his name in the hat for a title match against C.M. Punk at Summer Slam. He said that by running off Michaels, no one deserves a title shot more than he does... [C] Powell's POV: Gold. Another gem for Jericho. I'm happy to see him throw his name in the hat. I'd really like to see a pay-per-view title match between Punk and Jericho at some point. However, I'm guessing that Jericho will be busy working HBK at Summer Slam. Nothing official, though. Jericho is not a savior, but Jim Ross is. He came out and joined Adamle and Lawler on commentary. He said he received a call and was told to be at Raw. Adamle tried to pimp tickets for an event and said tickets are on sale. Ross quickly corrected him and said tickets are available. That didn't take long... [Q7] 5. Mickie James defeated Jillian Hall in 2:35. The announcer bickering continued when Adamle used the old, "Look at that move" line. "That's a cradle, Mike," Ross quipped. Adamle said he was doing fine with Lawler and asked if Ross was trying to take over. Adamle pointed out that MIckie's father Stuart was in attendance. After she won the match with a DDT, she headed to ringside and hugged her father. Katie Lea Burchill ran out and attacked Mickie briefly. She walked onto the ramp and met Paul Burchill, who handed her a mic. She said that was for the new general manager and hoped the mystery G.M. would take note... The Smackdown Rebound recapped the Edge and Vickie Guerrero segment, including the Undertaker announcement... Backstage, Todd Grisham sucked up to Shane by saying he was happy he was there. Grisham asked for the inside scoop on the new general manager. Shane implied that the person could be male or female, then added that the new general manager was already in attendance... [C] Powell's POV: Maybe the new G.M. is Murphy Levesque. No, not really. I just wanted to point out to those of you who are reading live that IGN.com confirmed the story regarding Steph giving birth to her second daughter. There's a story listed on the Dot Net main page. The announcers ran through the Summer Slam lineup. They ran through the same three matches we knew heading into the show. Adamle said he hoped the new G.M. would reveal the World Hvt. Championship match later in the show... Another Generation Rescue spot aired... Powell's POV: I know it's for a good cause, but shouldn't they at least hype a match or two? Backstage, Cryme Tyme offered to watch John Cena's back. He told them he'd be cool. Batista showed up and traded glances with Shad. After Cryme Tyme walked away, Cena said they should just get through their match. Batista said he doesn't trust Cena, and he knows Cena doesn't trust him either. He told Cena to stay out of his way during the match... [Q8] [C] The announcers hyped that Shawn Michaels will be interviewed next week for the first time since he suffered his storyline eye injury... 6. Batista and John Cena defeated Kane and JBL in 12:20. Cena and JBL started the match, so apparently JBL is no longer afraid of Cena like he was at the beginning of last week's match. The babyfaces cleared the heels from the ring and then stared at one another as the shot cut to commercial just 90 seconds into the match. [C] [Overrun] Cena sold for the heels and then made the hot tag to Batista, which got a big pop from the hometown crowd. It didn't last long, though, as Kane pulled down the top rope, causing Batista to tumble to ringside. Later, Kane locked the dreaded leg scissors of doom on Batista. Wow, I haven't seen that one in a while. Batista punched his way out of it. The heels continued to work over Batista in their corner. JBL swung at Batista, but he ducked and JBL struck Kane accidentally. Kane entered the ring and grabbed JBL by the throat. Meanwhile, Cena tagged Batista and FU'd Kane for the win. The live crowd, which had been tough on Cena all night, cheered the pinfall... After the match, Shane's music played and he walked onto the stage. "Ladies and gentlemen, without further adieu, the new general manager for Raw...Mike Adamle. WTF again? Adamle was standing in the ring with Cena and Batista. He announced that they would face one another at Summer Slam and wished them good luck to close the show... Powell's POV: Are you kidding me? Is this how they're going to take Adamle off ECW play-by-play and still justify his salary? Wow. That's horrible. The live crowd was more surprised than angry. I think they thought it was a joke. I'm sure the Dot Net Forum will be buzzing about this one. I'll have a lot more to say about the show in the Dot Net Audio review later tonight, as well as in the WWE Raw Hitlist tomorrow. BOOKMARK DOT NET AND ADD US TO YOUR RSS • HELP DOT NET: TAKE OUR ADVERTISER DEMO SURVEY CLICK TO RETURN TO MAIN LISTING OR SELECT A LINK BELOW FROM THIS CATEGORY WWE TV Reports Latest Twelve Articles 11/18 Twilling's ECW Live Coverage: Matt Hardy, Kofi Kingston, and Finlay vs. William Regal, Mark Henry, and Cody Rhodes; Jack Swagger vs. Tommy Dreamer in an Amateur Wrestling Challenge 11/17 Twilling's WWE Raw Live Coverage: Stephanie McMahon holds a Wrestler's Forum; Shawn Michaels and Rey Mysterio vs. The Miz and John Morrison; Randy Orton vs. C.M. Punk 11/17 Powell's WWE Raw Live Coverage: Stephanie McMahon answers wrestler questions, Randy Orton vs. C.M. 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