WWE Raw on the USA Network
Live 8/4/08 from the University of Tennessee

[Q1] Mike Adamle addressed the crowd from the stage to a series of boos and “you suck” chants. Adamle said Ronald Reagan went from a B-Movie actor to one of the greatest Presidents in the history of the United States. He said his point was that first impressions are not always true. He said he was the man who called Jeff Hardy “Jeff Harvey.”

He pointed out some message board postings asking for his resignation. He said that was their right to post because they live in America, but not in the America he loves. He loves the land of opportunity. He is 5’9” and played in the NFL. He said he booked last week’s match with Michael Cole because he wanted to interject excitement into the match.

Adamle asked the crowd if they wanted one championship match. They cheered. He asked if they wanted two championship matches. They cheered. He said there would be three championship matches. He began to announce the tag team title match when JBL came out to the stage.

JBL kissed Adamle’s ass and called him a born winner. JBL showed everyone the cover of Fortune magazine with his wife on the cover and an article on him. JBL praised Adamle’s announcement of the Cena vs. Batista match at Summerslam and asked him to book himself vs. JBL.

Chris Jericho entered the argument and made his case for being the number one contender. He and JBL argued before Adamle stepped in. He said he anticipated this confrontation and booked a handicapped match for tonight. JBL and Jericho would team to face Punk and whoever scored the pin on Punk would earn the Summerslam title match. If Punk won, neither of them would receive the title match…

Twill’s Two Cents: Adamle was decent here although I wish he would have given being made fun of as the reason he booked Cole to take a beating. I like how he walked the line between face and heel. Did Kane disappear? Why didn’t he join everyone on the stage?

Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler plugged the Shawn Michaels interview and tag team championship match… [C]

[Q2] 1. Kofi Kingston defeated Paul Burchill (with Katie Lea) to retain the Intercontinental Championship in 3:46. About ninety seconds into the match, Katie Lea distracted Kofi, prompting him to attempt to kick her. Burchill used the distraction to take control of the match. Kofi used his feet and his quickness, followed by a high crossbody to score a nearfall. He hit the Trouble in Paradise kick for the quick, clean win…

Twill’s Two Cents: That was odd. Burchill had the advantage, Kofi gained the advantage, and won the match. Poof; just like that, it was over.

After the match, Burchill attacked Kofi after Katie Lea distracted him. With both men on the floor and Katie in the ring, Mickie James made her ring entrance for the women’s title match… [C]

2. Mickie James defeated Katie Lea to retain the Women’s Championship in approximately 3:57. The match was joined in progress. With Katie Lea on the floor, Mickie hit a Thesz Press from the apron before landing several right hands. By the way, HD sound picks up the referees too much. They need to tone it down a bit.

Katie hit a reverse neckbreaker onto Mickie over the middle rope. She scored a nearfall. Mickie turned the tide with a hurricarana and neckbreaker for a two count. Katie hit a jawbreaker out of nowhere followed by a Northern Light’s Suplex for a two count. Mickie pulled the tornado DDT out of thin air for the win…

[Q3] After the match, Beth Phoenix (remember her?) attacked Mickie from behind and laid her out. The camera went in close on her face and she had a weird cold sore looking thing on her face. Santino came out to the stage and applauded. Beth joined him and posed. Santino slapped her on the ass…

Twill’s Two Cents: Good women’s match and I am glad to see Beth focusing on the title again.

John Cena and Cryme Tyme were shown backstage. King called Cena vs. Batista the biggest match in Summerslam history… [C]

Twill’s Two Cents: Cena vs. Batista is not even the biggest match on the show, much less in the history of Summerslam.

They aired a commercial promoting WWE 24/7. Backstage, Mike Adamle thanked Stephanie McMahon over the phone for the job. Santino and Beth approached Adamle. Santino asked for title matches at Summerslam for both him and Beth. Adamle said there was only room for one more championship match at Summerslam.

Twill’s Two Cents: What?!

Santino thought out loud about becoming women’s champion. Adamle made a mixed tag team match at Summerslam with Beth and Santino vs. Kofi and Mickie with both titles on the line. Santino told Adamle he was glad to have a fellow Italian on board…

Cole and King plugged the Punk vs. JBL and Jericho match. On the graphic, it actually said “Adamle original” at the bottom… [C]

[Q4] During Layla’s ring entrance, a WWE.com mobile exclusive showed Layla “dumping” Jamie Noble. She called him a loser and says she does not associate with losers…

William Regal interrupted and came to the ring. He wanted to introduce himself to us in case we forgot who he was. He said he was our king and earned that title by winning the 2008 King of the Ring. Noble hit the ring and brawled with Regal. Layla looked on…

C.M. Punk made his way through the backstage area in preparation for his ring entrance… [C]

Footage of JBL’s win at Saturday Night’s Main Event was shown…

During JBL’s entrance, Michael Cole compared him to Kevin Federline because of how successful JBL’s wife is. That is quite a stretch there Cole. Jericho debuted new short tights. Lance Cade was not at ringside due to breaking his nose. Before the bell, Adamle appeared on the Titantron and said there was a ten minute time limit. If no one won in the ten minutes, the title match at Summerslam would become a triple threat match…

Twill’s Two Cents: Adamle should have made the stipulation earlier so JBL could have lived up to his character and try to get Punk to lay down, so it could be a one on one match with Punk and JBL at Summerslam.

3. JBL pinned C.M. Punk in a handicapped match with Chris Jericho as his partner to earn a World Heavyweight Championship match at Summerslam in 9:59.

[Q5] As expected, Jericho and JBL tried to eliminate each other to get the pin. This is basically a triple threat match right here. Punk tried to superplex Jericho but Jericho pushed him off and hit the side elbow for a two count. JBL and Jericho broke up pin attempts by each other.

Punk hit the GTS on JBL but Jericho broke up the pinfall just in time. Punk slingshot Jericho into JBL and nearly pinned him off the rebound. Jericho locked in the Walls but Punk did not tap out. With time running out, Jericho used the top rope to closeline JBL. JBL accidentally fell onto Punk and scored the three count…

Twill’s Two Cents: That was a good match and although the finish was pretty orchestrated, at least they timed it correctly. Once again, where is Kane?

Shawn Michaels was shown being fitted with a microphone for his upcoming interview… [C]

[Q6] A Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho video package aired, of course showcasing the damage Jericho did the Michaels’ eye…

Cole asked Michaels, who spoke from his home in San Antonio, how he was doing. Michaels said there was severe damage done to his eye. He ran down his list of injuries and said it was not Jericho alone that put him out. He said he would address his future live at Summerslam.

Michaels said he would listen to the doctors for the first time in his career. If they tell him he can perform, even on a limited basis, he would. If they told him to walk away, he would. He said he has loved performing for WWE fans but he loves his family more. He may take Jericho’s advice and move on with his family. King thanked Michaels and told him to do what was best for him…

Twill’s Two Cents: Interesting. Now we will have a Michaels vs. Jericho confrontation of some kind at Summerslam but they can save their actual match for another PPV.

Cole and King plugged tonight’s main event once again… [C]

Cole reminded the fans of Matt Striker and his story. Striker thanked Adamle for allowing him to finally wrestle as a member of the Raw roster. He “loosely” referred the University of Tennessee as an esteemed university. Kane’s music hit and he came out with his bag in hand…

Twill’s Two Cents: Striker? They give Kane Striker? Kane needs a new agent!

4. Kane defeated Matt Striker in 1:31. Kane won with the chokeslam in a complete squash. After the match, Kane approached the announce booth but grabbed a mic instead. He said he had been in a bad place but he is better now because “he” is dead. He held up the bag and teased opening it…

In case you did not know, there is a world tag team title match tonight… [C]

[Q7] WWE Mobile sponsored the Smackdown Rebound, focusing on Edge and Mick Foley…

Twill’s Two Cents: Who writes that check and to whom is it written?

Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler ran down the entire updated Summerslam card. This was a segue into a Batista video package. Cena watched the video and was interviewed by Todd Grisham. Cena gave a good promo about thinking back to years ago at Wrestlemania 21 that one day he would face Batista. Cena said he hopes they win tonight but he will be ready for anything… [C]

[Q8] Backstage, Mike Adamle was approached by Kelly Kelly, who looked phenomenal. She congratulated him on doing a great job and said Kane was scary. Adamle said the next “Adamle Original” would be next week where he would find out what was in Kane’s bag, even if he had to take it from him. He invited Kelly to watch the main event with him and she agreed…

Twill’s Two Cents: This “Adamle Original” thing is old already. I hope Adamle doesn’t make out with young girls like Vince did.

The tag team champions made their entrance to their cool theme music. Cena came out first for his team, followed by Batista. The entrance area is on the opposite side this week…

5. Batista and John Cena defeated Ted Dibiase and Cody Rhodes to become the World Tag Team Championships in 14:12. Batista allowed Cena to start without an argument. Cena got the best of Dibiase before both men tagged out. Cody tried to be aggressive but Batista’s power was too much for Rhodes to overcome.

Batista showed off a leapfrog during an Irish whip sequence. Batista went for the Batista Bomb but Dibiase broke it up. He charged into the corner but missed and hit his shoulder on the post… [C]

The champs continued to work on Batista’s arm but he was quickly able to tag Cena. Cena had Rhodes up for the FU but Dibiase made a blind tag and dropkicked Cena in the back. Rhodes hit a DDT before leaving the ring. Dibiase threw Cena into the ring steps on the floor.

They scored a nearfall after a double vertical suplex. They continued to make multiple tags. Dibiase hit his dad’s slow drop punch and not one announcer has made mention of it yet. Rhodes came in and hit a very nice dropkick followed by a Russian leg sweep.

[Overrun] Rhodes and Dibiase scored multiple nearfalls. Cody locked in a sleeper on Cena. Cena reached for a tag and Batista elected not to reach for Cena’s hand. Dibiase came in and locked in a sleeper himself but Cena reversed it.

Cena was able to get to his corner and Batista reached for a tag this time. Cena slapped Batista in the face. Batista looked pissed but took his anger out on the champs. Batista hit the Batista Bomb on Dibiase and Cena took out Rhodes. Batista scored the pinfall and we have new tag team champions…

After the match, Batista grabbed both belts. He gave one to Cena and they took turns posing with the belts. Cena smiled into the camera like a goon…

Twill’s Two Cents: When Cena and Michaels were tag team champions at Wrestlemania 23, they did not even come to the ring with the belts. I hope this will not turn the belts into more of an afterthought. This match was a very good match and I hope Rhodes and Dibiase will look strong in winning their titles back.

How did you feel about round one of Adamle? I will have more to say about the show later but your feedback is welcome. Email me at dotnetrich@gmail.com.

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