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Last night's Raw featured a Chris Jericho-Shawn Michaels rematch, the debut appearance of Ted DiBiase Jr., and two big announcements from the WWE owner.
The broadcast opened with Vince McMahon addressing the Raw audience. Vince said that WWE fans deserved appreciation from the company and promised to make an epic announcement by the end of the night. The Chairman revealed during the final segment that in addition to another WWE draft in four weeks’ time, he would be awarding viewers one million dollars each week on Raw. No additional details were offered, although I assume this will lead into a weekly contest of some sort in an attempt to boost Raw’s declining ratings. Ah, I get it - when all else fails (“all else” meaning everything other than providing fans with better booked characters and more entertaining angles), try bribery. We’ll see how this idea progresses, but I honestly don’t believe that throwing money at the television audience will improve numbers to the extent the company is hoping.
WWE Champion Triple H and Randy Orton held a face-to-face promo segment six days before their Last Man Standing Title Match at One Night Stand. This was really just a basic interview spot, but the delivery from both men was fantastic and went a long way toward selling a PPV main event that most people feel is stale and uninspiring.
World Tag Team Champions Cody Rhodes and Hardcore Holly successfully retained their belts against Paul London and Brian Kendrick. Post-match, The Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase introduced his son, Ted DiBiase Jr. (although the latter part of the surname was dropped), who vowed to Holly and Rhodes that he would take their belts in his debut WWE bout.
Intercontinental Champion Chris Jericho - yearning to avenge his Judgment Day loss to Shawn Michaels - was granted a non-title match against HBK by Vince McMahon. This was another great outing for Y2J and Shawn, which ended with both men being counted out of the ring when the I-C Titleholder refused to release Michaels from his Walls of Jericho Boston crab. Jericho teased a steel chair attack following the decision, but instead opted to help Shawn to his feet.
In other news, John Bradshaw Layfield and Umaga defeated John Cena and Jeff Hardy when JBL cleanly pinned Hardy after a Clothesline From Hell and Paul Burchill attacked Mr. Kennedy following his victory over Carlito in retaliation to Kennedy "retiring" William Regal last week.
This was another enjoyable episode of Raw, although - aside from the Triple H/Randy Orton segment - the build toward One Night Stand seemed lacking (especially for a go-home show). I’m particularly surprised that Batista did not make an appearance to push his match against Michaels at the PPV.
Match Results: Melina over Jillian Hall via submission … World Tag Team Champions Hardcore Holly and Cody Rhodes over Paul London and Brian Kendrick via Holly’s pinfall on London … JBL and Umaga over Jeff Hardy and John Cena via JBL’s pinfall on Hardy … Mr. Kennedy over Carlito via pinfall … Intercontinental Champion Chris Jericho wrestled Shawn Michaels to a double-countout in a non-title match.
Views: 647
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