WWE Week In Review XXXIV

Welcome to the thirty-fourth 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 813th edition of Monday Night RAW came to you, live, from the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Four matches were confirmed as the first step in the "Road To The Rumble" series kicked off to determine the #1 Contender for the World Heavyweight Title at the Royal Rumble. It would be Chris Jericho Vs. CM Punk, Shawn Michaels Vs. Kane, JBL Vs. Rey Mysterio, & Batista Vs. Randy Orton.

The night opened with Santino Marella challenging World Heavyweight Champion John Cena to a Mixed Tag Match in the main event tonight and Cena could pick any Diva he wanted to face Glamarella. Originally, John Cena would select Kelly Kelly, however, due to someone trashing her hotel room and stealing some personal items (as alleged by The Miz & John Morrison) had to leave the arena, leaving Cena’s partner in the main event a mystery.

The opening match of the night was a Qualifying Match in the "Road To The Rumble" between Shawn Michaels & Kane. Before the match got underway, Kane said that Stephanie McMahon is forcing him to apologize to Kelly Kelly for his actions last week. Kane gave an agressive and half-hearted apology and told Kelly Kelly that she should apologize to him for lying and leading him on.

Shawn Michaels was able to defeat "The Big Red Monster" Kane to advance to the Fatal 4-Way Elimination Match next week.

Kofi Kingston was also in action, defeating Manu.

In a Divas Tag Match, the team of Melina & Mickie James defeated the team of Layla & Jillian.

Triple H also made a special visit from SmackDown to confront Shawn Michaels backstage. Triple H told HBK that if Michaels needed financial help, he could have asked him. HBK responded by telling Triple H that it owuld negatively affect their friendship. Triple H questioned Michaels’ choice of JBL and Michaels said that he knows what he’s doing. Triple H says for HBK’s sake, he hopes he’s right.

In the second Qualifying Match in the "Road To The Rumble", JBL got a controversial win over Rey Mysterio. As JBL was in place for the 619, Shawn Michaels pulled JBL out of the ring and, after making sure the referee was looking, slapped JBL to intentionally give his employed the win and allow him to advance to the Fatal 4-Way Elimination Match next week.

In another Qualifying Match in the "Road To The Rumble", Randy Orton defeated Batista by forfeit to advance to the Fatal 4-Way Elimination Match next week. Batista was unable to compete due to the vicious punt to the head by Randy Orton last week.

In the final Qualifying Match in the "Road To The Rumble", Chris Jericho earned a hard-fought victory over CM Punk to advance to the Fatal 4-Way Elimination Match next week to face Shawn Michaels, JBL, & Randy Orton to decide the #1 Contender for John Cena’s World Heavyweight Title at the Royal Rumble.

Prior to the main event, John Cena revealed an "early Christmas gift" as his tag team partner- the seven time Women’s Champion and Toronto’s own Trish Stratus. Showing no ring rust whatsoever, Trish Stratus helped John Cena take the fight to Glamarella and was instrumental in the two of them getting the victory.

The 489th edition of WWE SmackDown (the final SmackDown of 2008) came to you from the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Confirmed for the main event was a non-title bout between WWE Champion Jeff Hardy & Big Show. Also, two championships would be on the line as Shelton Benjamin defended his United States Title against Hurricane Helms and Michelle McCool defends her Divas Title against Maryse.

The opening contest saw Triple H get a decisive victory over Chavo Guerrero. After the match, Triple H struck Chavo Guerrero in the chest with his trusty sledgehammer.

The United States Title was also on the line as Shelton Benjamin successfully defended the title against Hurricane Helms.

Backstage, Vickie Guerrero awards Big Show a future title shot if he can defeat WWE Champion Jeff Hardy in the main event. It was later revealed that if Big Show won his match, he would face Edge next week for the #1 Contender’s spot).

One-half of the WWE Tag Team Champions Carlito defeated The Brian Kendrick in one-on-one competition.

Then it was time for a Divas Championship Match that would see the champion Michelle McCool defend against Canada’s own Maryse with Special Referee- Maria. McCool got into an argument with the "official" during the contest and it gave Maryse the opportunity she needed to pin McCool and become the second Divas Champion in history. After the match, McCool brutally assaulted Maria, possibly injuring the Diva’s shoulder after throwing her into the steel ring post.

The Great Khali also defeated MVP.

Vladimir Kozlov continued his undefeated streak by defeating Jimmy Wang Yang. After the match, Kozlov stated that he would win the 2009 Royal Rumble Match and go to WrestleMania to win the title.

In the non-title main event, WWE Champion Jeff Hardy defeated Big Show via count-out, which relieved "The Rated-R Superstar" Edge as he would not have to face "The World’s Largest Athlete" next week for the #1 Contender’s spot. However, Edge’s wife informed him that he will team up with Big Show to take on WWE Champion Jeff Hardy & ECW Champion Matt Hardy. What will happen when The Hardys ride again? Will Edge & Big Show be able to co-exist as a team?

Superstar of the Week: Trish Stratus