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The Big News: Randy Orton is presumably the champion again, and Vickie Guerrero got quite the sendoff.

Show Analysis:

Batista came out to celebrate his title win at the start of the show. He said he did it for the people who are sick of Randy Orton. He added that Orton has hurt a lot of people and he is going to hurt Orton. Batista said he will take Orton’s pride, his dignity, and then got cut off before finishing. I’m pretty sure he was going to add that he would take Orton’s integrity, his manhood, and whatever’s left, because Batista always gets his man. Ah, nothing like a joke based on one random promo from 17 years ago.

Randy Orton came out, and Legacy jumped Batista from behind. They went after Batista’s shoulder. They put Batista’s arm in a chair and stomped away. While this was going on Batista said that “this will never be over” and “you’ll never get rid of me,” which to me came across as cheesy, inauthentic and scripted. If you have the faculties and energy to articulate that sentiment, you’re going to devote that energy to trying to stop them rather than lying there cutting a talking point promo.

In any event, Orton finished Batista off by yanking his arm backwards. Orton left the title, while Batista left the building in an ambulance. Last night I was down on the idea of switching this title given Batista was going to be out and they have been switching the titles way too frequently. But after seeing what they did on Raw, I think WWE was right after all. The way they did this helps keep Batista stronger than he would have been failing and leaving injured yet again. And Orton probably gets more heat out of the situation than if he had just beaten Batista. So it was a smart move by WWE.

Kofi Kingston beat William Regal. Regal said prior to the match the last thing we need is a Jamaican as US champ. Or even worse, it could be someone from Ghana. Personally, I think only Americans should be able to hold the US title. You’ve got these foreigners taking our jobs, owning our companies, taking our championships, and then turning up their noses at us. I’m looking at you, Georges St. Pierre. Regal worked over Kofi. Kofi came back with the high double leg drop and trouble in paradise for the pin. This was a disappointment, short and kind of sloppy.

Randy Orton backstage said that Batista is done. He noted that as the former champion, he has a rematch clause and will use it later in the show. He said that either Batista comes back or Orton wins via forfeit. I realize that they tried to pass on the heat over this to Vickie Guerrero, but to me it sets a really bizarre precedent. Edge can just run over CM Punk with a car, challenge him to a rematch, and he’s champion again.

Maryse beat Kelly Kelly. Mickie James did commentary. Kelly hit a crossbody off the ropes, but when she went up again Maryse pulled her off and hit the implant DDT for the pin. Mickie and Maryse blew kisses at each other after the match. I didn’t think it was possible for blown kisses to be so sexy.

Backstage, Maryse and Miz had another great segment. Miz came onto Maryse and Maryse blew him off. Miz said he’s awesome and Maryse rolled her eyes. I’ve thought Maryse has good heel mannerisms for a while, but at some point she has become unbelievably awesome. She has main event star presence. Given she isn’t much of a wrestler, I’d advocate sticking her with a main event wrestler. She could be a successful part of a top of the card act, like Edge and Lita.

Santino, Goldust and Festus beat Chavo Guerrero, The Brian Kendrick and Jamie Noble. The faces dominated early, with Festus hitting an avalanche, Santino using a leg trip and Goldust landing a lariat. The heels worked over Goldust, who tagged Santino. Santino came in with punches on Noble and a judo throw. Noble went after Hornswoggle but Hornswoggle stomped his foot and Santino rolled up Noble for the pin. This was fine.

Miz came out for a match with John Cena that never took place. Miz has a new t-shirt with Cena’s name crossed out on the front and “I’m awesome” on the back. If they put that shirt on sale to the public, I predict it sells huge. Miz said he has called out Cena week after week and Cena has done nothing. He said that Cena has no excuses now and he will get his.

Cena came out. He wasn’t angry at Miz for taunting him for weeks. No, he came out smiling and amused, like Miz was totally beneath him. Well that totally buried Miz. Big Show then came out. He gave Cena a choke slam and camel clutch. An angry Miz then came in and hit Show with a series of chair shots. He gave one to Cena as well, before Show got up and Miz left. They presented Miz as more of a threat at the end here, which redeemed him to a degree.

MVP beat Matt Hardy. Matt was in control early. MVP came back with balling, but missed the running yakuza kick. Matt hit the scorpion death drop and tried to hit MVP with the cast. MVP stopped that and hit the playmaker for the win. Matt is really missing something with his current character. I feel like they need to either switch up his character or turn him back face, because he seems like less of a star every week these days.

Vickie Guerrero came out. Earlier they showed a video package with her covered in mud and slop. Jerry Lawler made a bunch of big noises as she came out. Vickie cried about this. She said she has never been so humiliated, and she saw the people laughing at her. She announced she is resigning as GM of Raw.

That brought Edge out. That post-draft brand split sure lasted long. Edge said he was going to apologize for what he said Sunday, but then Vickie quit. Edge said now he doesn’t need to apologize or continue their marriage, because he only married her for power and now Vickie is worthless. Edge said when he went out in public with Vickie, people thought she was his mother. He said he has movie star looks, so how could he be in love with a she-beast. She cried.

Edge continued by saying that when he kissed Vickie he had to rush to the bathroom to dry heave. He added that the only saving grace was they never consummated the marriage. He said he wants a divorce, and left her screaming and crying.

This segment came across so malicious. Vince McMahon in general comes across as a miserable human being who loves humiliating people with less power than him just because he can, and this segment drove home that perception like few segments I can ever recall. You’ve got the widow of a wrestler who died at a young age, and this is her final segment.

On her way out, she is portrayed as a stupid, manipulated, beastly, disgusting, pig. If they went after her for reasons related to her character, that would be one thing. But this was basically an assault on her looks, and I find it hard to imagine that she and her family could take this as anything less than utter public humiliation.

It’s not like they even have a storyline justification for it, either. Edge is a heel going forward, and if they presented her with some dignity Edge would get heat out of being so mean to her. Instead, they basically encouraged people to laugh at the disgusting pig lady, and a lot of the crowd reacted to this segment by laughing at Vickie and joining in with Edge. I’ve talked before about advertising rates and the public perception of WWE, and this was the sort of segment where if you showed it to someone who doesn’t watch wrestling they would conclude this is entertainment for the real scum of the Earth. If you then explained who Vickie Guerrero is, they’d think even worse.

On the plus side, now is the perfect opportunity to elevate Tiffany from interim general manager of ECW to permanent general manager of Raw.

Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes beat the Colons to earn a title shot. They worked over Primo, who hit an enzuigiri and tagged Carlito. Carlito hit a springboard clothesline, knee lift and dropkick. The heels then gained an advantage on Carlito and worked him over. He got the tag to Primo, who came in with punches, elbows and a springboard crossbody. However, Rhodes snapped Primo’s neck on the top rope and DiBiase hit Dream Street for the pin. This was a good match, although the crowd didn’t react much.

Randy Orton came out in the main event for his match with Batista. Batista didn’t come out. They showed an ambulance arrive, but HHH got out instead of Batista. Orton was never presented with the title, but presumably he is now. Legacy was with Orton, but they devised the brilliant strategy of attacking HHH one by one. HHH took out Rhodes and DiBiase with no effort, and then went after Orton.

Orton and HHH fought, and in the end HHH dropped a chair on Orton’s neck as revenge for Batista. Orton sold it huge. This was a hot angle, although HHH vs. Orton is just as stale as Batista vs. Orton. I’m at the point where I desperately want something new for the top program.

Final Thoughts:

With the exception of the Vickie Guerrero segment, I thought this was a pretty good show. Hopefully HHH vs. Orton doesn’t go on too long and they segue into something fresher.

Next week, WWE announced a big three hour Raw with all three brands. And we’ve got a big announcement too in regards to next week’s Raw report. Oh yes. Excitement is coming. Shapiro.

Todd Martin
ToddMartin4L@aol.com
toddwmartin.blogspot.com