WWE Week In Review XXXI
November 30, 2008- December 6, 2008
Welcome to the thirty-first 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.
The 810’th edition of Monday Night RAW came to you, live, from the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. Confirmed for the main event was World Heavyweight Champion John Cena returning to action on RAW to face Kane. Also, the final opening rounds of the Intercontinental Title Tournament would take place as Rey Mysterio would take on The Miz & Finlay would take on John Morrison. Melina would also be in action against Jillian.
Monday Night RAW
Good Week For: Chris Jericho (Got His Revenge And Then Some Over John Cena)
Bad Week For: Santino Marella (Got "Split" Mocking Melina & Got A Massage From Goldust)
It Will Be Interesting Next Week For: The WWE Roster (To See Who Takes Home A Slammy Award)
Best Mic Work: Santino Marella
And In Other News…
-RAW opened with the #1 Contender for the World Heavyweight Title- Chris Jericho, Jericho tells the fans that, unlike Cena, they are worthless to him. He goes on to say that he needs to save his son from being a John Cena fan and that he bans his child from watching the WWE anymore, but that he will lift that ban at Armageddon when he goes home his son’s new hero and new World Heavyweight Champion.
-The opening match of the night was slated to be Rey Mysterio Vs. The Miz in an opening round match of the Intercontinental Title Tournament, but as Rey made his way down the ramp, his path was blocked by Mike Knox. As Rey backed away from Knox, he stumbled and hit his arm hard on the steel rampway. Knox then further assaulted Rey. It was later revealed by Stephanie McMahon that Rey tore some ligaments in his elbow and may not be able to compete at all on RAW.
-The actual opening match of the night was a non-title bout that saw World Tag Team Champions CM Punk & Kofi Kingston (both of which advanced in the Intercontinental Title Tournament last week) defeated Cody Rhodes & Manu.
-In her one-on-one return to action, Melina defeated Jillian.
-JBL also made an appearance when he came to the ring and gave Shawn Michaels an ultimatum- either accept his offer or face him in a Street Fight right there and then. Michaels came out and JBL revealed the mystery offer he had offered Michaels. JBL stated that he was offering Shawn Michaels to come work for him, as opposed to wrestling anymore. JBL claimed that Michaels had nothing left due to the struggling economy. JBL then demanded that Shawn Michaels give him an answer and if Michaels superkicked JBL, that would be Michaels refusal. Instead of superkicking JBL, Michaels exited the ring and the arena, leaving an ecstatic JBL in the ring.
-The hometown boy was also in action as Batista defeated Dolph Ziggler (who made his in-ring debut). After the match, Randy Orton came out and Batista informed Orton that he had spoken to Stephanie McMahon and made a match for Armageddon- Batista Vs. Randy Orton, one-on-one.
-Backstage, Chris Jericho unsuccessfully tried to get Kane to take out Cena before Armageddon. It wasn’t until Jericho caught up with Randy Orton that he had The Legend Killer interested.
-In an opening round of the Intercontinental Title Tournament, John Morrison defeated Finlay to advance to the Semi-Finals to face CM Punk next week.
-Stephanie McMahon also announced the nominees for "Superstar of the Year" for next week’s Slammy Awards- WWE Champion Edge, Triple H, Batista, Chris Jericho, Jeff Hardy, & World Heavyweight Champion John Cena. She also announced that all six nominees would face each other next week as Edge would take on John Cena in a WWE Champion Vs. World Champion match, Triple H would take on Batista, and Chris Jericho would take on Jeff Hardy.
-In the final opening round match of the Intercontinental Title, an injured Rey Mysterio made his way to the ring and was able to defeat The Miz to advance to the Semi-Finals to face Kofi Kingston next week.
-In the non-title main event, John Cena defeated Kane, despite some assistance from Chris Jericho. After the match, Cena went out to attack Jericho, but in the middle of his assault, Cody Rhodes & Manu joined the fray, attacking the champion. Cena was able to hold his own until Randy Orton joined in and blasted the champion, then propped Cena up on the steel rampway and DDT’ed The Champ on the concrete floor. Jericho then locked in the Walls of Jericho to a lifeless Cena. What condition will Cena be in next week?
The 130’th edition of ECW on Sci-Fi came to you from the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. Confirmed for the main event was ECW Champion Matt Hardy taking on MVP in non-title action.
ECW
Good Week For: Jack Swagger (Ended The Undefeated Streak of Ricky Ortiz & Staked His Claim To The ECW Title)
Bad Week For: MVP (Lost Another Match As His Losing Streak Continues)
It Will Be Interesting Next Week For: Jack Swagger (To See If He Is Named The #1 Contender)
Best Mic Work: Mark Henry
And In Other News…
-ECW opened with the undefeated "All-American American" Jack Swagger. Swagger invited General Manager Theodore Long to the ring to name him the #1 Contender for the ECW Title. GM Long came out (with his assistant Tiffany) and denied Swagger’s request stating that there are other competitors with just as much right to challenge for the title. Tiffany mentions Ricky Ortiz and out comes the undefeated Ortiz. Long then announces that Swagger will take on Ortiz right then and there in a "Battle Of The Undefeated".
-The opening match saw Jack Swagger defeat Ricky Ortiz to lay the first loss on Ortiz since coming to ECW.
-ECW also saw an appearance by Finlay & Hornswoggle. Finlay called out the World’s Strongest Man Mark Henry. Henry came out onto the staging area and goaded Finlay into accepting a tag team match that would see Mark Henry team with his manager and WWE Hall of Famer Tony Atlas to take on the father and son team of Finlay & Hornswoggle. Now the question is- when will this match take place?
-Newcomer DJ Gabriel defeated Josh Daniels.
-In the main event, ECW Champion Matt Hardy defeated former rival MVP in a non-title match, continuing MVP’s losing streak.
The 486’th edition of WWE SmackDown came to you from the Times Union Center in Albany, NY. The main event of the evening would be The Undertaker taking on Big Show in a Steel Cage Match. Also, new WWE Champion Edge would be in action and Hurricane Helms would make his return to action.
Friday Night SmackDown
Good Week For: Edge (Got A Win Over Kung Fu Naki & Witnessed His Two Challengers Destroy Each Other)
Bad Week For: MVP (Lost Two Matches In One Week As His Losing Streak Continues)
It’ll Be Interesting Next Week For: Triple H & Jeff Hardy (To See Who Comes Out On Top When They Face Off)
Best Mic Work: Vickie Guerrero
And In Other News…
-Friday Night SmackDown kicked off with the WWE Champion Edge and his wife- SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero. Edge then made his in-ring return to SmackDown by defeating Kung Fu Naki in non-title action. After her husband picked up the win, Vickie Guerrero announced that both Triple H & Jeff Hardy would be in action on SmackDown, as a matter of fact, they would be teaming together to run a Tag Team Gauntlet. The GM proclaimed that the Gauntlet Match will continue until Triple H & Jeff Hardy lose.
-In a non-title match, Maria rolled up Divas Champion Michelle McCool to, no doubt, put herself in the #1 Contender’s spot. While celebrating her big win backstage, McCool confronted Maria and kicked the Diva in the ribs and told Maria that she "got what she deserved".
-SmackDown also marked the return of Hurricane Helms, who defeated the man he has been antagonizing for weeks- MVP.
-In the first match of the Tag Team Gauntlet Match, the dysfunctional team of Triple H & Jeff Hardy soundly defeated former tag team champions Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder. After Triple H hit the Pedigree and attempted to pin Zack Ryder, Jeff came off the top with a Swanton Bomb intended for Triple H, but "The Game" moved out of the way and Jeff hit Ryder instead. Triple H took advantage and pinned Ryder pass the first match.
-The second match went much, much worse than the first as Triple H & Jeff Hardy took on The Miz & John Morrison. The team completely disintegrated after Jeff Hardy landed on everyone, including Triple H, in a plancha over the top rope. Triple H took exception to this and the two brawled on the outside. Meanwhile, The Miz, who was the legal man in the match, rolled into the ring and the referee counted both Triple H & Jeff Hardy out, ending the Gauntlet. However, the two continued to brawl until several referees and members of security broke it up.
-Backstage, Vickie Guerrero revealed a big time main event for next week’s SmackDown (the last stop before Armageddon) as Triple H will go one-on-one with Jeff Hardy. Jeff then entered the locker room of Edge & Vickie and Edge planted the seed in Jeff’s head that Triple H may have been Jeff Hardy’s attacker prior to Survivor Series. As Jeff contemplated the possibility, the accused Triple H entered the locker room and Jeff immediately assaulted "The Game" and referees and security had to break the fight up yet again.
-ECW Champion Matt Hardy was also in action against Chavo Guerrero in a non-title encounter. The match was interrupted by Vladimir Kozlov, who disposed of Chavo and brutally assaulted Matt Hardy with kicks, punches, and several headbutts that left the champion in a heap in the ring.
-It was then time for the much-anticipated Steel Cage Match main event between Big Show & The Undertaker. In a Steel Cage Match that housed over 700 pounds of Superstar, The Undertaker was able to prevail in a grueling battle with Big Show by using Hell’s Gate to force "The World’s Largest Athlete" to tap out.
Superstar of the Week: Edge