This week’s edition of Raw, comes to us live from Wachovia Arena in Wilkes-Barre, PA

CM Punk vs JBL

We hear an energetic crowd, as CM Punk makes his way to the ring for the first match of the night against JBL.  Never mind a traditional tie-up, this match starts off with JBL smashing his way through Punk, then applying a side headlock.  Punk answers back with a few stiff shots to JBL’s legs and a high dropkick to the head.  The crowd chants “CM PUNK, CM PUNK,” as he dropkicks JBL in the corner.  JBL is then sent to the outside and Punk dives through the ropes with both men crashing in front of the announce table.  The action makes its way back into the ring, as Punk dives off the top rope with a cross body.  Soon enough JBL turns the tide; he applies a bearhug and begins to target Punk’s lower back with an abdominal stretch.  (Lawler called an ab stretch an interesting move, is it that bad that they can even say the names of the holds? What are ya doin’ on the other side of that ear piece Vinnie Mac) JBL continues to dish out the pain as he hits Punk with some elbows and applies a variation of the torture rack.  Punk begins to mount some offence, as he leaps forward only to have JBL catch him and slam him down to the canvas.  JBL then positions Punk on the top turnbuckle and nails him with three hard shots (you can hear the smack and see Punk’s body shrivel).  Punk manages to counter one of the strikes, and delivers a lucha-style tornado DDT.  Punk begins to switch into high gear with his Muay Thai combo, a cross-body and then a clothesline for a two count.  Punk executes the high knee bulldog combo but gets another two count.  He goes for the GTS but JBL squirms out, hits the Clothesline from Hell, but Punk manages to stay alive as he gets a rope break on JBL’s pin attempt.  A frustrated JBL goes for a chair, but since it’s early in the night, the referees are still awake and the chair is removed from the action.  As JBL argues with the referee, Punk sets JBL up for the GTS as he executes it this time for the victory.

Winner: CM Punk

They need to stop playing with the idea that Punk still needs to prove himself as Champion.  There is no reason to portray him as an underdog every time he defends his title.                       

GM Mike Adamle comes out to address the fans about John Cena and we see footage from Summerslam.  This video package was edited specifically to show that Batista’s powerbomb was the result of Cena’s herniated disk in his neck.  Adamle tells the fans that Cena’s M.R.I results reveal damage in a disk, thus he is out of competition.  Therefore, Cena will have to be replaced in the Championship Scramble at Unforgiven.  

Next up is a promo, as we see Kane from a close-up shot on a hand-held camera.  Kane tells us that what Batista did to Cena is nothing compared to what he did to Rey Mysterio.  This promo was better than the one we heard last week.  However, Kane still manages to win the crappiest line of the week with “a spirit broken makes me salivate” (I wonder if Freddy Prinze Jr. had anything to do with that one?) 

We cut back to Adamle, as he encounters Primo Colon backstage and apologizes for last weeks actions.  Primo accepts the apology, and mentions that he is nothing like Carlito.  Michaels suddenly appears as grim as ever, looking for Chris Jericho.  As Michaels is about to leave, Adamle asks about an update on Rebecca Michaels and only receives an overdramatic stare from Michaels before he decides to leave for the second time.  

Kelly Kelly vs Beth Phoenix w/ Santino Marella

The match begins with some minor exchanges; things really start to pick up when Beth shows tremendous strength, as she sits Kelly on the top turnbuckle.  Kelly gets the upper hand when she puts on the breaks as Beth attempts the back body drop.  In that instant, Kelly busts Beth open with a kick to the face followed by a leapfrog maneuver.  At this point, Beth’s nose is bloodied up and she reacts by stomping down Kelly.  Things turn around again, when we see Kelly perform a back flip reversal followed by a drop-toe-hold into the turnbuckle.  Kelly sets up for a handspring elbow, but Santino leaps to the apron and pulls Beth out of the way.  A distracted Beth begins to argue with Santino, thus allowing Kelly to score the roll up for the victory.

Following the match a visibly frightened Santino tries to explain his actions to Beth.  Abruptly Beth spears and pounds on him, until he runs up the entrance ramp like a scolded eight-year-old.  

Winner: Kelly Kelly

Kelly Kelly has been racking up the victories with two straight wins on Raw.  Could this victory over the current Women’s Champion lead to a title shot in the near future? I think it is very possible to see a feud between Kelly Kelly and Beth Phoenix following this match.  With the help of Santino, it could make for a comedic series of promos leading up to a big match between the divas.

Primo Colon vs Charlie Haas (Charlito)

Charlie Haas is going through the Stevie Richards imitation phase, as we see him dressed up as Carlito.  Primo Colon makes his way to the ring shaking his head as he sees the hybrid in the ring.  The match starts with Haas slapping Colon in the face, but Colon answers with a flying hurricanranna (what a way to retaliate from a slap in the face!)  Haas then gets the advantage with a cheap shot and a high knee lift as he yells, “is that cool”.  Haas then goes to the corner to grab an apple and begins to chew it, but before he can spit it out, he eats a big right hand and is thrown to the corner.  Colon attacks with a monkey flip, throwing Haas’ wig off.  Haas tries for the backstabber, but Colon blocks it and goes to the top rope for a flying crossbody and gets the pin.  

Winner: Primo Colon

This is a complete turn around for Primo Colon compared to what we saw last week.  It was a good effort for his debut match, and he accentuated his positives by demonstrating his high-flying skills and agility.  Conversely, one has to wonder what the WWE is implying with the spoof on Carlito.  As it has been noted in the past, Carlito has been unhappy with the direction that the WWE has taken with him.  There has also been minimal use of his character, and at one point he had requested a heel turn but remained face.  Carlito has been known to be vocal about these occurrences and has been reprimanded on several occasions.  For those of you who remember, prior to Wrestlemania 23, Ric Flair blew up on Carlito during a live backstage segment on Raw and it is speculated that it was not a work.  Apparently it was done in an effort to motivate Carlito however we did not see any changes with his character.  This week’s situation could be another one of those cases.

Shawn Michaels music hits as he receives a decent pop from the crowd on his way to the ring.  Michaels grabs a microphone and takes off his hat as he is about to address the crowd (wow! Talk about a receding hair line, hopefully he will not emulate Paul Heyman’s hairdo.)  Michaels starts by saying that his wife and children are hurt due to Jericho’s actions.  He expresses his anger towards Jericho’s speech last week when he said that it was the fans, Rebecca’s and Michaels’ fault for what happened at Summerslam.  At this point, Jericho shows up on the titantron and tells Michaels that he is lucky he is not in attendance.  Jericho threatens Michaels by telling him that if they have another match, he would do more than just damage his left eye.  Jericho provokes Michaels, as he tells him to back away because he damaged his eye and his wife’s face.    At this point, both Michaels and Jericho outdo each other in communicating levels of violence for an upcoming match that Michaels requests and Jericho accepts.  Michaels concludes this segment by telling Jericho he will never forgive him and that he will apply the rule, “an eye for an eye.”

Once again the promo chemistry between these two is phenomenal.  Michaels and Jericho are able to excite the crowd by raising their levels of intensity, as the promo reaches climax.  Jericho plays the heel role so well, especially since he is so calm when talking about the excessive amount of violence he wishes to inflect on Michaels (very psychotic and sinister).  Accordingly in this feud, Michaels portrays the role of a man who has nothing left to lose, he demonstrates this by showing how Jericho gets under his skin.  An example comes from the way Michaels becomes so quick tempered when Jericho mentions anything about his family.  Right away, Michaels seems to lose focus and becomes filled with blinding rage.  The phrase “an eye for an eye” obviously fits due to Michaels’ injury while at the same time; there are elements of barbarism involved because it suggests that he wishes to inflict the same damage on Jericho.  The result of this loss of focus comes into play when Michaels demands to fight Jericho.  The characteristic of the man with nothing left to lose is apparent when Michaels revolts against his family’s mutual choice to retire do to injury.  By adding these elements to the storyline, one can see how they are trying to reach something on a personal level and Michaels and Jericho definitely bring justice to these roles. 

Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase vs Jerry “The King” Lawler & “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan 

We see video footage from a month earlier with Rhodes and DiBiase ridiculing Duggan.  Lawler intervenes in an effort to teach the young wrestlers respect, and smacks Rhodes in the face thus setting up this match a month later…

The match starts with DiBiase and Lawler giving each other back body drops with Lawler getting a slight advantage.  Rhodes tries his luck with Lawler who after a few snapmare takeovers tags in Duggan.  Duggan hits a few clotheslines but eventually succumbs to the Million Dollar Dream followed by a leg sweep, granting Rhodes and DiBiase the victory.

Winners: Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase

Rhodes takes a microphone and calls out Cryme Tyme.  Cryme Tyme is in the balconies with the “borrowed” tag titles and they being to cut the worst promo of the night to challenge for the titles.  Rhodes and DiBiase try to salvage the promo thus adding attention to their title defense at Unforgiven but all is lost as Cryme Tyme stumble through their words only to say “Money, Money, yeah yeah.”  

Here we have two young tag teams that have the opportunity to make names for themselves, due to the fact that they get a reaction from the crowd.  However one of these tag teams can wrestle and cut a promo, while the other can not. I’ll let you guess.

Todd Grisham is backstage with Batista as he collects the Animal’s thoughts on his match with Kane.  Batista starts by commending Cena in their match at Summerslam, then quickly answers Grisham’s question by saying that his match with Kane is personal.

Santino Marella vs Kofi Kingston

In the beginning Santino is reluctant to fight, until Kingston initiates the action.  Kingston gets the advantage, leaps on Santino and drills him with a shot.  For the majority of this match, Kingston has the edge which results in Santino exiting the ring.  Beth Phoenix comes down to ringside and tosses Santino back into the ring.  She trips Kingston which causes him to fall and knock himself out on Santino’s knee which allows Santino the victory.  Beth gets into the ring and corners a frightened Santino.  She leans forward and kisses him, this alleviates him and all is well within the relationship.  

Winner: Santino Marella and his unibrow

WWE Universe cuts a promo with Josh Matthews and Candice Michelle on the Democratic convention in Denver Colorado and reminds fans to Smackdown your vote.  Tune in next week to see them at the Republican convention (JBL’s backyard!)

Adamle addresses the fans regarding Cena’s replacement for the Championship scramble and the winner is…….REY MYSTERIO!

Raw Championship Scramble: CM Punk, Batista, Rey Mysterio, JBL, Kane

Smackdown Championship Scramble: Triple H, Shelton Benjamin, Jeff Hardy, MVP, The Brian Kendrick.  

Batista vs Kane

Batista makes his way to the ring while Cole and Lawler promote Batista on the cover of Muscle & Fitness magazine.  As Kane enters the ring, with Cole and Lawler promoting Rey Mysterio’s involvement in the Championship Scramble and how this will affect Kane.  The match picks up when Kane shoots in on Batista, and we see a good display of amateur wrestling reversals (pretty good for the big guys).  Batista sinks in a rear naked choke, then goes to work on the left shoulder in an effort to wear Kane down.  Both wrestlers get back up to their feet, and we get a back and forth slugfest and Irish whip match until Kane lands on the outside.  A frustrated Kane pushes the steel steps and throws around some chairs and the match cuts to a break.  On the other side of the break, Kane dropkicks Batista’s knee and continues to work on it as he stomps and heel hooks it.  Kane hits a shin breaker and stretches Batista’s leg on the ropes then goes to the outside to stomp his leg on the steel steps (this is an excellent systematic wrestling game plan from Kane).  Batista is really selling the leg injury at this point and doing a good job, as he drops to one knee every time he delivers an impactful blow.  Here is where wrestling tries to appeal to MMA fans; Kane applies an ankle lock then suddenly Batista reverses it with an armbar.  Kane retaliates with a scoop slam but Batista catches Kane with a drop toe hold and a spinebuster.  He sets up Kane for the Batista Bomb, but is unsuccessful as Kane goes back to the injured leg.  Kane slides Batista to the corner and smashes the leg into the steel post repeatedly until he is disqualified for using a steel chair.  

Winner: Batista

This scene continues until Batista kicks Kane in the mouth with his good leg and finds an opening to spear him.  Batista grabs the chair and inflects the same torture he was receiving just seconds earlier.  The show ends with both men riving in pain as a result of the ring post and a now warped steel chair (Salvador Dali-esque).

This match was better than I anticipated, however it did not end the show in an exciting manner.  The show just ended with Batista and Kane rolling around holding their legs.  As the main event, it did not set up any points of intrigue for next week.  On a final note, why wouldn’t they put their champion on last? Granted he may have some critics, he still delivers an interesting match and he is the champion (he shouldn’t be the curtain jerker).  That being said, we did not see anything progress from Jericho’s win last week over Punk.  It will be interesting to see if they get back to that potential feud after Unforgiven (that, I would love to see).