WWE Week In Review XVIII

WWE Week In Review XVIII
August 31, 2008- September 6, 2008

Welcome to the eighteenth edition of the WWE Week In Review. Feel free to contact me on TWO or Wrestling 101 anytime with comments, questions, and anything in between. Also, check out my blog on Wrestling101.com.

With only a week to go until WWE Unforgiven, Monday Night RAW emanated from the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, MO.

WWE Monday Night RAW

-The show kicked off with St. Louis’ own, Randy Orton. The injured former World Champion ran down the list of RAW’s champions, calling Women’s Champion Beth Phoenix a "love-sick teenager", Intercontinental Champion Santino Marella the "weakest Intercontinental Champion in WWE History", and calling the World Tag Team Champions Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase simply "worthless".

-Randy Orton then progressed to RAW’s top dog- the World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk. Orton called Punk’s reign as champion "pathetic", telling the Straight-Edge Champion that if he was not injured, he would challenge Punk for the World Title right then and there. This brought out the World Champion, who told Orton to try and call Punk pathetic after the World Heavyweight Championship Scramble this Sunday at Unforgiven. These two would not see the last of each other on this night.

-As one conceded personality made his exit from ringside, another entered as JBL made his entrance and told Punk that he will win the World Title at Unforgiven and he won’t even have to pin Punk to do it. The Insane Kane then interrupts and tells the opposition in the ring that Rey Mysterio is in "hell" and won’t ever be coming back, not tonight and not an Unforgiven. Batista interrupts, but does not need, nor does he bother to say a word, as he speared and laid out all three- Kane, JBL, & champion CM Punk. Speculation still ran wild whether or not Kane was telling the truth about Rey Mysterio. Can Batista possibly be the new World Heavyweight Champion come Unforgiven or was this a case of Batista catching the opposition by surprise?

-The opener saw former Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston defeat The Gimmick Jobber Charlie (who was a formidable John Cena this week).
 
-As per a special deal between RAW General Manager Mike Adamle and ECW General Manager Theodore Long, ECW was represented on RAW in the form of a 5-Man Battle Royal, featuring the participants in this Sunday’s ECW Championship Scramble pitting World’s Strongest Champion Mark Henry against Finlay, The Miz, Chavo Guerrero, & Matt Hardy.

-Mark Henry dominated the Battle Royal, eliminating all four of his contenders to win the match.

-In 6-Diva Tag action, Women’s Champion Beth Phoenix teamed up with Jillian & Katie Lea Burchill to take on Mickie James, Kelly Kelly, & a returning Candice Michelle. Candice was able to roll up The Glamazon for the upset

-In non-title action, Intercontinental Champion Santino Marella was able to narrowly pull out a victory over D-Lo Brown, via a missed frog splash.

-Then it was time for RAW’s Battle Royal, featuring World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk facing his four Unforgiven challengers in Kane, JBL, Batista, & Rey Mysterio. It had appeared as if Kane was right when he said that Rey would not be returning, as Rey did not participate in the match and the match started without The Ultimate Underdog.

-Speaking of underdogs, champion CM Punk was able to narrowly eliminate both Batista & JBL, but in the end, it was the demented Kane who last eliminated Punk to win the bout.

-After the match, Kane got an unexpected and unwanted surprise in the form of Rey Mysterio. Rey completely dominated The Psycho Machine and laid out Kane for a little measure of revenge. Just when you thought that it could not get any bigger than the return of Candice Michelle.

-CM Punk also added an exclamation point to his war of words with Randy Orton, as he threw water into the eyes of The Legend Killer, who was stationed at ringside.

-It was then time for the official contract signing for the Unsanctioned Match pitting intense rivals Chris Jericho & Shawn Michaels in a No Holds Barred environment at Unforgiven. The two quickly signed the contract to make the stipulations official, but then Jericho ushered the ringside security away, as well as Jerry "The King" Lawler (who was moderating the event) and the lawyers overseeing the signing. Jericho told HBK that he prohibited his family from watching Unforgiven, so that they would not have to witness what Jericho will do to Michaels come Sunday. Michaels responded by telling Jericho the same. Michaels told a remorseless Jericho that HBK will never forgive Jericho for what he has done, but hopes that God can forgive him in time. After an intense face-off, Jericho’s protégé Lance Cade attempted to blind-side Michaels, but HBK was able to spot Cade and absolutely assault Jericho’s backup plan, as Jericho & Michaels stared each other down one last time before Unforgiven. What will Michaels do to get his revenge on Jericho this Sunday at Unforgiven? Will we ever see either of these two legendary superstars after this Sunday? What about the World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk? Can even Punk manage to come out on top in the World Heavyweight Championship Scramble with the 80% odds saying he can not keep his title this Sunday? Will the pure hatred between Kane & Rey Mysterio cost the two former World Champions their opportunity to win the gold?

Tuesday Night’s ECW kicked off with a Scramble Edition of The Dirt Sheet featuring ECW Champion Mark Henry, Finlay, The Miz, Matt Hardy, & Chavo Guerrero.

ECW

-Former WWE Tag Team Champions The Miz & John Morrison mocked absolutely every participant in the ECW Championship Scramble at Unforgiven, which led to a brawl that ended in ECW General Manager booking an 8-Man Tag for the night, where Matt Hardy, Finlay, Evan Bourne, & Tommy Dreamer would take on ECW Champion Mark Henry, Chavo Guerrero, The Miz, & John Morrison.

-The opening match of the night saw Super Crazy defeat the newest professional jobber Gavin Spears.

-Speaking of which, Ricky Ortiz brought his undefeated streak to 5-0 by defeating SmackDown’s Ryan Braddock, who looks a little bit too much like Kevin Thorn- remember him?.

-In the main event, Matt Hardy was able to pin the ECW Champion Mark Henry en route to Unforgiven to gain momentum heading into the Scramble this Sunday, as well as getting the win for his team. Will Mark Henry suffer the same fate this Sunday at Unforgiven in the ECW Championship Scramble or will Tony Atlas save the title for Henry yet again?

The last stop on the road to Unforgiven was WWE Friday Night SmackDown, which eminated from the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, MO and would feature Triple H Vs. The Great Khali in a Lumberjack Match (with the Scramble opponents serving as Lumberjacks). United States Champion Shelton Benjamin would also face MVP in a non-title match and Jeff Hardy would take on The Brian Kendrick for the first time ever.

WWE Friday Night SmackDown

-Friday Night SmackDown kicked off with the WWE Champion Triple H. Triple H discussed the Championship Scramble at Unforgiven and made light of the new match throughout the night. It didn’t take long for United States Champion Shelton Benjamin to interrupt and tell the King of Kings that the Scramble was not about The Game, but about Shelton Benjamin (of course). Of course, MVP would interrupt and get in the face of Shelton Benjamin. Triple H then broke down what a "promo" is for the sake of the two. This prompted The Brian Kendrick to attack Triple H and leave him laying (with the assist of Ezekiel Jackson). As the Scramble opponents stomped The Game, Jeff Hardy made the save for Triple H, only to get beat down for his troubles. Triple H then attempted to save Jeff Hardy by wielding a steel chair at Zeke, but it did no good and Kendrick called off his dog.

-The opening bout saw R-Truth squash ECW’s Bam Neely with the Axe Kick.
-U.S. Champion Shelton Benjamin defeated MVP with the Pay Dirt.
-Maryse defeated Maria with her DDT and then faced off with Michelle McCool. The two will have a match for the Divas Title at Unforgiven this Sunday.
-The Brian Kendrick utilized Ezekiel Jackson to get an upset win over Jeff Hardy.

-The Undertaker made an appearance on SmackDown, stating that The Deadman would be at Unforgiven for Vickie Guerrero’s soul and that he would send her to "hell" with her husband, Edge. Strange, I didn’t know hell was in Tampa. Vickie would later come out and respond by saying that she is no longer afraid of The Undertaker’s threats and that she will get her apology from The Undertaker this Sunday. Vickie got booed for her entire presentation here, but it may’ve been piped in.

-Super Crazy continued his odd winning streak by defeating Ryan Braddock with a moonsault. Apparently, he’s a SmackDown Superstar. I lost track a couple of weeks ago, but for argument’s sake, we will say that him getting drafted to ECW did not happen.
-Brie Bella made a repeat of last week by rolling up Victoria for the win after taking a siesta under the ring and magically had a second wind and managed to look different in the process. It’s almost as if she has a twin, but who’d buy that?

-The main event saw WWE Champion Triple H defeat The Great Khali in a Lumberjack Match. The heel Lumberjacks (all of them except Jeff Hardy) attacked Triple H, while Jeff Hardy made the save. At the end of the night, Jeff Hardy laid out Triple H with a Twist of Fate. What a shocking development.

The Rundown for Unforgiven
-WWE Championship Scramble: Triple H © Vs. Jeff Hardy Vs. MVP Vs. Shelton Benjamin Vs. The Brian Kendrick
-World Heavyweight Championship Scramble: CM Punk © Vs. Batista Vs. Kane Vs. JBL Vs. Rey Mysterio
-ECW Championship Scramble: Mark Henry © Vs. The Miz Vs. Finlay Vs. Matt Hardy Vs. Chavo Guerrero
-Unsanctioned Match: Chris Jericho Vs. Shawn Michaels
-The Undertaker To Make An Appearance
-Divas Championship: Michelle McCool © Vs. Maryse
-World Tag Team Championship: Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase © Vs. Cryme Tyme

 Superstar of the Week: Jeff Hardy