WWE Raw on the USA Network
Live 8/11/08 from Richmond, VA

[Q1] Lengthy footage aired of Mike Adamle announcing John Cena vs. Batista at Summerslam, followed by Cena and Batista winning the tag team titles last week...

Live in the arena, Cena's music hit as Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler welcomed us to the show. Cena said he has never had a problem or issue with Batista. He said he talked to Adamle today and although he mispronounced Cena's name six times, the general manager wanted to know how to further hype the match at Summerslam.

Cena made fun of the broken glass arm wrestling match and after some bad jokes, Cena said he told Adamle that all they needed was Cena and Batista in the same ring. Batista's music hit and he came out to the ring. Batista said, "You wanted me, you've got me."

Cena said this match was six years in the making. He said he has watched Batista for six years and he watched him get groomed by two of the best of all time, Ric Flair and Triple H. Cena said they both have answered a lot of questions but they have never answered the question of who is better between the two.

Batista said he has watched Cena too. He said they had both done it all; they both won Royal Rumbles, they both won Wrestlemania main events, and they were both world champions. He said Cena has received standing ovations and been booed out of the building. He said Cena never changed and Batista respected that.

Batista said he would never be caught dead doing some things Cena does, and he mocked the five knuckle shuffle. Hilarious. He said he knew that most people over the age of fifteen want to see Batista beat Cena senseless. Batista said he would answer the question at Summerslam and the answer would be him. Cena and Batista shook hands as Cena took off up the ramp...

Twill's Two Cents: Cena is very passionate on the mic but when he talks like he is going to war, he sounds ridiculous. Despite that, I enjoyed the promo and both men were very good.

[Q2] Tonight's text message poll asks you who the bigger star is between Cena and Batista. King plugged tonight's tag team title main event... [C]

The CINE Awards, who has honored screen legends such as Steven Spielberg and Ron Howard, gave WWE two awards for Wrestlemania and their work with the troops. Congratulations WWE...

1. Beth Phoenix (Santino Marella) defeated Kelly Kelly in 2:10. Does Lillian Garcia ever announce the person who accompanies a wrestler out to the ring? Seriously. Kelly slapped Beth in the face but that pissed her off. Santino joined Cole and King on commentary. He said the media referred to him and Beth as "Glamorella." Nice. Beth scored the pinfall with a reverse double underhook into a faceplant...

Santino came into the ring and told Beth to do another move, "That one I like where you pick her up, do that thing, and crush her." Kofi Kingston and Mickie James broke up the party. Santino looked into the ring and made a challenge. Kofi accepted the challenge but Santino was talking to Mickie. Mickie, in her hometown, accepted the challenge. Santino said when he was done with her, she would be back in the kitchen where she belongs... [C]

Twill's Two Cents: Decent women's match and good post match segment. Fun stuff.

[Q3] 2. Mickie James (with Kofi Kingston) defeated Santino Marella (with Beth Phoenix) in 2:16. The match was joined in progress. Santino missed a knee drop and faked an injury. Kofi and the referee got involved, allowing Beth to interfere and fire Mickie into the ringpost. Santino rolled her up for the win...

After the match, Santino did victory laps around the ring and jumped into Beth's arms...

Twill's Two Cents: Nice job building interest in this Summerslam match.

A shot of Ronald Reagan was shown as Adamle was talking to Todd Grisham. Kane entered and wanted to know what Adamle wanted with him. Mike said that since the Summerslam card is full, he was booking Kane vs. Chris Jericho for tonight. After the match, he wanted to know what was in the bag because since kids were going back to school soon, Adamle did not want them mimicking Kane by carrying around a burlap sack and freaking out their classmates and teachers. Kane said Adamle was making a huge mistake... [C]

Twill's Two Cents: I am sure the kids will also mispronounce things on purpose, throw people through TVs, and push over other kids in wheel chairs.

WWE 24/7 showed footage of 1979 when Tito Santana and Ivan Putski defeated the Valiant Brothers for the tag team titles...

Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase cut a backstage promo saying their careers were further along than anyone else at their age. Dibiase said he and Rhodes could be headlining Summerslam next year. He said they would take back their titles tonight...

Twill's Two Cents: Good promo and Cody is definitely Dusty's son.

Cole and King plugged "A Summerslam match on Raw" between Kane and Chris Jericho. Also, JBL is going to challenge C.M. Punk to something tonight and JBL claims it is a challenge that Punk cannot win... [C]

[Q4] 3. Cryme Tyme defeated The Highlanders in 1:58. Cryme Tyme has their own show on WWE.com called "Word Up." Apparently, everyone on the roster has some sort of show. Shad scored the pinfall after a Rock Bottom/leg sweep combination...

Twill's Two Cents: Cole sounds like a goon when he tries to use Cryme Tyme's terminology. The Highlanders? They still have jobs?

On WWE.com, you can read an interview with Randy Orton regarding his motorcycle accident...

With a covered table setup in the ring, JBL came out to the ring, followed by the World Heavyweight Champion, C.M. Punk. Punk looked at the table and wondered what was going on.

[Q5] JBL called Punk's title reign pathetic. Punk interrupted and told JBL to shut up. Punk said he was tired of hearing the same old argument that he was not the typical champion. Punk said he earned it. He said he has seen every Summerslam event and would retain his title in the crowning achievement of his career. He said he would prove to Batista and Cena that he is the man.

JBL said something about building the business. He said that although Punk had talent, he only had six days remaining as champion. He called Punk Cinderella and said midnight would strike at Wrestlemania. JBL pulled up the table cloth and exposed a bottle of Jack Daniels. He poured a shot and said Punk would win the contest if he took the one drink.

JBL masked the challenge as Punk taking the drink in correspondence with his willingness to check his body at the door to win at Summerslam. Punk said he would do anything to win but would not compromise his beliefs that have gotten him this far. He said he did not want to be another JBL.

JBL took the shot and toasted Punk's title reign. Punk said he changed his mind and only the champ would do the toasting. He toasted JBL and said sometimes what is important is what you do not do. He threw the drink in JBL's face and followed that up with a high knee in the corner. Punk celebrated as JBL recuperated...

Twill's Two Cents: This match needed this segment. Punk put over himself and the title. JBL put over himself and the title. This very good segment added some fuel to the waning fire that is this match.

Cole plugged Jericho vs. Kane... [C]

Footage aired of last week's interview with Shawn Michaels amidst footage of what Chris Jericho has done to him over the past few months...

[Q6] 4. Chris Jericho (with Lance Cade) defeated Kane in 4:32. Cole reminded us not to call Jericho Y2J anymore. Technically, that should have ended about eight years ago. If Adamle wanted to know what was in the bag so badly, why not threaten to fire Cade and have him steal it?

Cade distracted Kane while he stood on the apron, allowing Jericho to hit the middle rope springboard dropkick to take the advantage in the match. Jericho went to the second rope but was met with a huge uppercut. Kane hit a side suplex and went to the top but Jericho met him there. Kane pushed him off and hit the top rope closeline.

Adamle and about a hundred security people came down to the ring. Instead of grabbing the bag, they just stood there. Kane picked up the bag and stared at Adamle. Jericho took advantage of the distraction to hit the Code Breaker for the win...

Twill's Two Cents: Sloppy match. Kane was a little off with his moves and his selling.

After the match, Adamle stepped into the ring and told Kane he was there to help them. He said he knew what was in the bag and he knew who Kane was referring to when he asked, "Is he alive or dead?" Adamle said "he" was Kane. Adamle told Kane that he made a horrible normal person.

Adamle said Kane could lead a normal life and all he had to do was give him the bag. Adamle said that by Kane saying "he" is dead, that the monster Kane was dead. Uh oh Mike, you have backwards buddy. Adamle compared Reagan saying "Take down that wall" to him saying "Hand me that bag." Wow.

Kane said there was a mask in the bag and the man who wore it was scarred and damaged beyond recognition. He said it was not his mask. He opened the bag and pulled out Rey Mysterio's mask. Kane did his evil laugh and took off... [C]

Twill's Two Cents: That was disappointing as hell. I wanted the obvious here and wanted Kane to re-mask. Rey vs. Kane? Whoopee. Adamle was good though. When he-speaks-really-slowly, he does a nice job.

[Q7] 5. William Regal defeated Jamie Noble in 1:20. What is the deal with that weird ass shirt that Regal is wearing. I mentioned it last time but that thing is still horrible. Noble hit a nice running somersault plancha onto Regal as he was lying in the corner. He hit a high crossbody for a nearfall. Regal scored the pin out of nowhere with a running knee...

Twill's Two Cents: That was quick; thanks for coming Jamie.

The Smackdown Rebound aired and if you missed it, Edge laid out La Familia... [C]

Cole and King ran down the entire Summerslam card. Cena vs. Batista is being treated as the main event. Ask Ric Flair what he thinks of anything but the world championship (either of them) main eventing a show. Cena won the text message poll with 73% of the vote...

John Cena and Batista made their ring entrances for tonight's main event... [C]

[Q8] 6. Ted Dibiase and Cody Rhodes defeated John Cena and Batista to win the World Tag Team Championships in 8:04. Cena and Batista argued over who would start. Cena relented and looked like he was going to cry.

When the bell rang, Cena tagged Batista and entered the match. Rhodes scored the first nearfall with a Russian leg sweep. Cena sent Cody to the mat and started to perform the five knuckle shuffle. He hesitated before walking over to Batista and doing the "you can't see me" gesture to his face... [C]

Dibiase had Cena down in a reverse chinlock coming back from commercial. Batista received the hot tag and obliterated Dibiase. Batista was about to hit the Batista Bomb but Cena came into the ring and threw Dibiase away to go face to face with Batista. Rhodes snuck in and took out Batista's knee from behind.

Batista made it to his corner and slapped Cena in the face. Cena stared at Batista. Dibiase pushed Cena into Batista and rolled him up for the win...

After the match, Cena and Batista stood and eyeballed each other in the middle of the ring. Both men were attacked by the new champions. They disposed of them before Cena took off. Cena decided to come back to the ring but Adamle's boys stood in between them. Both men fought through the security in order to fight each other...

Twill's Two Cents: Obviously the match was secondary to the Cena vs. Batista blowup, but at least Dibiase and Rhodes were able to main event for two consecutive weeks. I will have more to say about the show tomorrow.

On a show that was designed to push the Summerslam pay-per-view, I thought it did a fantastic job (I did not love the show, but it did its job). Every Raw match taking place this Sunday was heavily pushed in one way or the other. People are complaining (I am one of them) that Batista vs. Cena is being done without enough buildup. That is true, but they are making the match as meaningful as they can. Feel free to send your show thoughts to me at dotnetrich@gmail.com.

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