Official RAW Thread 5/10
 

<table width="480" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tbody><tr><td colspan="3" align="left" valign="top">http://raw.wwe.com/images/header_preview.gif</td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="3" align="left" valign="top" height="7">http://raw.wwe.com/images/spacer.gif</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="18" align="left" valign="top">http://raw.wwe.com/images/spacer.gif</td> <td align="left" valign="top" width="440" class="general"> BISCHOFF EXERTS HIS AUTHORITY;
ANNOUNCES FIVE HUGE MATCHES
May 10, 2004
General Manager Eric Bischoff has already announced several blockbuster matches for Monday Night RAW, airing live at 9/8 CT on Spike TV. Undoubtedly, the RAW brand has not seen a lineup this loaded since the Backlash pay-per-view.When the members of Evolution complained vehemently after a six-man tag team match that kicked off the May 3 episode of RAW, Bischoff immediately signed three matches for this coming Monday. First, Triple H will try to beat Shelton Benjamin, finally, as the former World Heavyweight Champion will go one on one with the youngster from Orangeburg, S.C. -- who has quite a winning streak going, particularly over the members of Evolution, including consecutive wins over The Game himself. Be sure to tune in exactly at 9/8 CT, as the Triple H/Benjamin match will kick off the show. Also, Batista will try to exact revenge when he takes on Tajiri, who sprayed the green mist in the eyes of the powerhouse.

<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="right"><tbody><tr><td><script language="javascript"><!-- OAS_AD('Top1'); //--></script>
</td></tr></tbody></table>

Bischoff also announced that the Intercontinental Championship will be on the line, as Randy Orton will defend against the man who pinned him in the six-man tag match, Edge. This match will mark the first time the Intercontinental Championship has been defended on RAW since February.

After announcing those three huge matches, Bischoff dropped another bombshell: Chris Jericho will be able to get his hands on Christian without the threat of outside interference. That's because Trish Stratus and "problem solver" Tyson Tomko will literally be blocked from the ring by a 15-foot-high steel cage! That's right -- Y2J and Christian battle in a Steel Cage Match this Monday on RAW!

And there's more: Eugene will make his anxiously anticipated in-ring debut as he tangles with Rob Conway of La Resistance. The American turncoat, who recently relocated to Quebec, is coming off a huge win over The Hurricane, which Conway said was a preview of what's in store for Eugene. However, Eugene appeared to be a quick study -- indeed, he seemed to have uncanny strength, and he took to the mat like a fish to water -- during a training session with William Regal.

To reiterate, five HUGE matches have already been announced for RAW:
Triple H vs. Shelton Benjamin
Batista vs. Tajiri
Randy Orton vs. Edge for the Intercontinental Championship
Chris Jericho vs. Christian in a Steel Cage Match
Eugene Dinsmore vs. Rob Conway

Plus, what will Matt Hardy and Lita have in store for Kane, and vice versa? What will Shawn Michaels have to say after Triple H cost him the World Heavyweight Championship?

All this and more on Monday Night RAW, 9/8 CT on Spike TV.

***

</td></tr></tbody> </table>

Well I was gonna be flippin back and forth between Raw and hockey, but the Flyers are kickin ass already. Looks like the game will be pretty much decided by the time Raw starts.

I'll still switch back a few times though because its in HD and looks sweet :love:

SHOULD be a good Raw tonight. A couple of big matches, it's been a wihle since we've had a good ol' fashioned cage match (as far as I can remember Lita/Victoria was the last one).

Dude you're like always the first person to post in the raw thread wtf. Nothing bad though.

Am I? I guess I'm just always around on Monday nights. If Raw was on some other night I probably wouldn't be in the thread as much.

where the **** is everybody

I'm here. Just thinking what new lows the WWE will stoop to next... I'm thinking a Rico vs. Eugene match might be able to top it off.
That would proablly create an outcry and absolute outrage! So, I wouldn't be surprized if we saw it one of these days. Oh and this has got nothing to do with tonights RAW. RAW should be good though.

How did the WWE writers manage to put together one show in a week (Raw) that looks better than a PV that they had months to put together? (Judgement Day) :nono:

Also, its 5:30 here, Im still at work..screw all of you.

The cage match is said to be good.

I dont see how Christian-Jericho could be bad.

The Observer reported th the word this past week was that they would debut "Kenzo" tonight (formerly known as Hirihito) with a gimmick that sorta resembles Berlyn from WCW. We'll see if that still happens.

Should be a good show tonight, Tajiri-Batsita will likely be lousy and Kane-hardy-Lita bores me to tears, but the HHH, Orton and Jericho matches should all carry the load and make for an entertaining show.

Maybe they'll plant the seeds for Kane-Benoit at the PPV...that'll be good, right?

Since the 'lottery draft' I have found RAW absolutely intolerable. I have not watched RAW since the draft. Too much Triple H.

I've regularly watched Smack Down! though. Besides for a few incidents (jacqueline's cruiserweight championship reign) I've been quite entertained with Smack Down! Especially Guerrero, JBL, Undertaker, Booker, RVD & Mysterio, the Dudleys. BUT the ratings show that people are thinking otherwise. They need to make Smack Down live!

But what I was going to say before I got distracted was that you're right when you say this RAW card looks about 10 times better than Judgment Day.

Did they officially decide to drop the Hirohito thing? I must have missed that one.

I'm calling it now... Maybe not tonight, maybe not next week, but Eugene is going to cross paths with Kane... What will happen? Kane will be buried deeper, losing to a retard who cries over stuffed bunnies and loves Pyros... (Actually, pyros are fun! Boom! Pow! Pshh!)

Is this week #2 or #3 of Trips opening Raw?

LOL @ Gumby in the front row.

LMAO! Just noticed him...

This thread is dead tonight. Rrg

I'm more of a SD fan in general, and I've enjoyed some of the shows since the draft, but Raw just seems to have more of a direction. I mean, the undercardat Judgment Day is a joke. They had two months and what are we going to see? Chavo v Jackie? seriously? When you have more than a month to build feuds and you can't put togethe a PPV that doesn't look as strong as one on free TV, you should be fired. Yeah, Steph, I'm talking to you.

Yep :(

3 I think

DID HE SAY CHINK!?

Cause it sounded like it when it was beeped :shifty:

Best part of that match was HHH's horribly fake tan. Too bad they didn't give us the full match, I was looking forward to it but it makes sense

World Heavyweight Championship - Chris Benoit vs. Triple H next week

About 2 months too late. Benoit looks like a chump! Its still the F'N Triple H & HBK show!!!!!!!!!!! I'm not watching this anymore. see-ya laters

gumby is in the 3rd row hahahaha :rofl:

Nidia.... :eek:

Undertaker returns to the ring for the first time since Wrestlemania (because nobody watched Smackdown last week) at Judgement Day.

Great time for a commercial.... :mad:

Look for Shawn Michaels to obviously cost Triple H the title next week.. which will lead to the PPV battle between Michaels and Hemsley.

Edge is so 2002! Great match though. Awesome match. Orton is a star!

as i expected.. Orton gets savd by Flair.

Heh looks like it's gonna be a 2 page raw thread today....

Edge isn't as impressive as he was the night he won the tag team titles with Benoit. Edge is brawling too much, and not doing enough grappling. Randy Orton on the other hand has a diverse move set and wrestled to his full potential in that match. Good IC title match to say the least, glad to see that a worthy champion has finally defended it.

the WWE writing team is making this thing too predictable.

Well to be fair, the ending of last weeks Raw pissed off quite a few (and rightfully so).

any chance of Molly Holly turning face? The wig thing is about the dumbest stupidest thing I have seen.

Gail's submission finisher she did was pretty awesome.

Right now RAW is redeeming itself with well booked matches and decent promos.

they are well booked matches but at the same time they are too predictable on the storylines.

Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!
Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!
Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!
Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!
Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!
Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!
Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!Eugene!

now the Trish/Lita angle was great...

Not really, I was 60% sure Edge was going to defeat Orton, and thank God he didn't. :cool:

I wasn't suspecting Gail Kim to pull off another impressive win over Victoria for the second week in a row.

And the only thing I can predict about the cage match tonight is that Tyson Tomko is going to interfere and piss the **** out of me cause he's green, and Christian doesn't need him.

LOL with Xtian's "baby goes to sleep" line. Looks like Hardy will be pushed for another little while after the Kane fued with Xtian. So who will Jericho fued with next then?

Hopefully Chris Benoit, but it's highly unlikely due to his recent face turn, and the possibility of Shawn Michaels turning heel in the next few weeks.

Man I forgot how awesome Jazz was before that match tonight, I really wish they could find a reason to use her.

I dunno I think that the whole women's division is lacking, I mean they have 5 great talents (Victoria, Trish, Gail, Jazz and Molly) and Lita is over but they aren't using them right. Aside from Trish and Lita I think that all the women need a change in direction

Jericho to me doesnt seem to have a formidable fued other than the Christian angle with Tomko. I sort of wish Tomko would turn on Christian.

Is the cage match for the #1 contender after next week?

Ok here we go.. the match we've been waiting for!

I heard Benoit will fued with Kane at the next RAW PPV supposedly.

That's the buzz right now, but the general consent is that it'd be better if it was HBK.

He hulked up! :wtf:

I was thinking the same thing with the moves.. Hulk Hogan wannabe. LOL!

That was great, its stuidly offensive/funny but its playing out really nicely

Wow! Eugene, the New King of Old Skool.. I'll admit I thought it wasn't going to work but the past weeks have surprised me including this.

i wonder if they will give him a win streak like goldberg

They should do it, just to piss him off.

is it me or is it Triple H's turn to take the back seat for awhile... I can see a vision with Triple H vs Eugene in a PPV.

lol

Great vid. and great song by Finger Eleven for Benoit.

20 Man Battle Royal for the #1 Contender's spot??? :eek:

Who will be in it? :?:

So now we know how Kane gets back into the title scene.

I guess Bischoff screwed up somewhere cause he said that HHH had the heavyweight title shot next week earlier and the winner of the battle royal would fave Benoit for the title at Badd Blood

As long as someone equivalent to Jacqueline doesn't win then it sounds like a good thing :D

Is it me or are they not giving this cage match much time at all?

Didnt he say.. the Triple H would have the opportunity to get the World Heavyweight Title?

Jericho is going to take it and become number 1 contender.

Triple H might not be fighting Eugene anytime soon because of the movies he has to film, though it might be in trouble so who knows. Oh, and why is Grandmaster in the battle royal.. as if he will win.

Christian looks like the man.

I can see Eugene costing Triple H the title shot in the battle royal which would really stir things up

OH MY gOD! (in Joey Styles Fashion) on that Jericho jump.

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO hows the cage match goin?

Tomko gone from ringside. Thats better

Christian obviously isnt much without Tomko around... Jericho kicking butt

Xtian w/ crimson mask! Doub. Arm Suplex from the top rope! This match is awesome!

What a great match!

Jeriko finally wins the next-to-the-big one! I want the Y2J armbands J has on.

So how did the end go down? Have pity on those of us stuck at work!

Great finish to Raw.. and this time no intereference... guess the WWE Raw writers learned their lesson not to screw with a great headliner match.

Raw actually wasnt too bad, Kane-Hardy thing gettin a bit boering to me but other then that, even the Eugene Segment was booked exactly right now u have a Eugene/Regal Fued down the line, the cage match wasnt long enough but still very enjoyable

The ending was great, and looks like the fued between Xtian and J might be over now.
Ref. sent Tomko to the back because he threaten J from the outside. After that, it was all Jericho: Clothesline from top of the cage to Xtian, Double Arm Suplex from top rope, and alot of slamming CLB to the cage. And J also got some revenge on Trish as she tries to enter the cage and gets a Boston Crab. Xtian tries to escape, then J spinebusts him from top of cage to Boston Crab. Xtian,bloody face and all, struggles for a while but finallys taps for win. J then climbs the top, looking down on the losing team to end the show.

oh... and :lol: at Christian trying to leave while trish in walls

For all the hype, I thought the show kinda felt flat.

Shelton-HHH was bait and switch at its finest. One day companies will stop doing that, or will they? And Who-hoo HHH vs HBK part 456,789....feel the excitment!!!

Batista-Tajiri was pretty well done actually, they did what they should, make Batista look scary.

Orton-Edge was beyond sloppy for the first 3/4 of the match, but they finally got it together and built to a really nice finish. Again, the right decision, put over Orton, but try to protect Edge. Edge seems really bland as a babyface, he has to work on his offence, its too mid card-ish. Main eventers dont throw leg lariats and they shouldn't jump off the top rope (unless its a finish). Not that I'm a fashion expert, or gay, but he should switch to briefs, again, its one of those visual things that makes you look like a main eventer.

A little off topic, anyone notice the rats in the front row going nuts for Orton and Batista? If I didn't know any better I'd swear they bought a ticket for Space Mountain V2.

Girls segments were bad, that division is really hurting without Trish. And whats with the booking? You have a babyface champ, who is struggling to get over and she's tapping left right and centre. Someone needs to read Booking Babyfaces for Dummies.

Eugiene was what it was, the fans seem to like it for now, its just ashame that when the joke is over the fans will move on but poor Nick Dinsmore's career will be over. Ah well, he can always be a Conquistador. And why are La Resistance not working tag team programs?

Kane-Lita sgement.........snore

And are they going to set up Hardy vs Christian next? Geez I hope not for Christian's sake.

I really liked the Benoit package, but I thought they should have used him on TV. He could have just come out after the package, and then demand to know from Bischoff whats going on with the #1 contender deal. Then they could have just had Benoit put Nitro in the Crossface to get a quick pop. Its just odd that on "the biggest RAw of the year" the WORLD CHAMPION couldn't get a spot.

Main event was a lot like the IC title match, the beginning seemed rushed and sloppy, and then when they finally settled it down for the final 5 it turned into a strong finish. I think they should have given them more time to tell the story more effectively, but thats life I guess.

I hope they come to their senses and dont give the #1 contender spot to Kane, but I doubt it. Jericho-Benoit would be nice as a secondary match at the PPV, but I guess they figure if they're already going to bury the WORLD TITLE why let it be a good match? Hopefully Jericho wins next week, but I wont hold my breath.

Good show overall, but not the blow away show I was expecting given the lineup.

They should have saved the diva tag match for next week (or not at all) and let Jericho/Christian go for another ten minutes in the cage. The two of them are capable of putting on great matches together but they needed more time in the cage I thought.

yeah and its not like it was a bad match, but it seemed to be the end of the feud, so they should have given them a lot more time to tell a dramatic story. I think that finish would have been much better if the match was 10 minute slonger or so.

They could ahve even taken time away from Edge-Orton which didn't settle anything, all it did was keep the title on Orton and probably transition Edge to another program.

It was a good Raw, a bit of a disapointment all things considered but still a solid show.

Batista-Tajiri and Eugene-Conway were perfectly booked and looked very solid.

I see nothing wrong with how HHH-Shelton ended, I think it could've gone longer before HBK interefered but they did what they had to. They couldn't have HHH lose due to interference and Shelton couldn't lose either.

Orton-Edge had an awful start but picked up after the commercial. I'm not feeling Edge as a maineventer, his character and ring psychology have been lacking thus far in my mind. I'm going to chalk up the slopyness to the broken hand and ring rust though

Girls segment and match were okay, I think that the women's divison needs to be reshuffled. Give the girls some new gimmicks and alignments. I'm tired of Gail, Lita, Molly, Jazz, Nidia and Victoria having no distinguishable characters. There are some great wrestlers in the divison, but they aren't going to get over with how they are being booked.

Lita-Trish segment was poorly acted but what do you expect. Same with the Lita-Kane segment, although I thought that it was better than last weeks. I don't know where this is headed, wether its a means of getting Matt over or pairing Lita with Kane, but get it over with.

Backstage segments were really bad tonight, it was confusing with the whole HHH-Christian-Jericho #1 contender thing. Would've made more sense had they shown Christian and Jericho talking to Bischoff or atleast aluding to it better.

Cage Match had a tight finish and lackluster start. Tomko looks really green, that was the second time he's botched that kick in his two attempts

Am I the only person who DOESN'T think there will be a Regal vs Eugene feud??? The way I see it going down is that Eugene will slowly grow on Regal... Eventually, there will be a match that Eugene will easily be destroyed in, I'm thinking Eugene Vs Batista.... I'm thinking Batista goes to destroy Eugene like he did Tajiri, Regal tries to stop, but to no avail... Regal goes to nail him with some brass knucks, but gets stopped... Then Eugene picks up the Brass Knucks, slugs Batista, saves Regal, and everyone is happy.

Yeah, the Jericho/Christian thing has been going on for like 7-8 months now right? They should have gotten like 30 minutes tonite if this was indeed the end of their fued....
Both men have been among the MVP's of RAW, and they should have gotten more time. It pisses me off now that I think about it.

Plus Tomko sucks ass, he's ****ed up twice, and already has a bad rep backstage. Get rid of his ass please!

I can see this happening as well.

Anyone notice how 'over' Eugene was tonight? How long do you think this will last?

I was also impressed with Edge for the first time since he came back.

p.s. I hope Jericho wins next week. Hopefully - this will be the start of a two month long feud between Jericho and Benoit. :drool: :cool:

The problem with HHH-Benjamin was that they used to build the depth of the show, and then they had them work for like 2 minutes and then brought out HBK to get a no contest. Thats bait and switch, yeah technially you saw a match, but in reality it was a swerve to make the show seem more stacked. HHH could have lost that match with an HBK run-in and it wouldn't have hurt him one bit.

I dotn see Eugiene jumping to Batsita anytime soon, I'd expect to see him in lower card feuds for a while, but I agree with the thinking that Regal will eventually come to love him.

Really? I thought Edge looked terrible.

I dunno. I guess I expected him to be even WORSE (and so I was impressed with him :)).

I think I also got caught up in the 'atmosphere' of the crowd. The crowd seemed to be really into the match.

Hopefully - we're not seeing Triple H part II in terms of Edge's return to the ring. I can understand his ring rust for now, but I hope he gets over it soon! ESPECIALLY - if the WWE are going to push him to the moon (the part that worries me, is that the WWE will push Edge ahead of the likes of Jericho, Benjamin, etc., even if he proves himself to NOT be the wrestler that he once was).

Benjamin already has 3 victories over HHH, one more and it would start to get tired.

I wouldn't have booked this match to start with, its unnecesary in my mind. I would've had Benjamin vs Orton match to blow off the Harley Race incident. And Edge and Benoit vs HHH and Ric Flair (if he were up to it), or Edge vs HHH with HBK doing the run in

In terms of the Benjamin/HHH match tonight, I think the WWE played it off perfectly.

As TIOE mentioned, another Benjamin over HHH victory might've looked redundant.

At the same time however, Benjamin was in control of the match....so that made him look good.

BATTLE ROYALE
 

Who do you think will win the Battle Royale Next week?


-I think HBK will interfere with Triple H

-Edge and Orton will probably cancel one another out (Orton/Benoit will probably be saved for a later date, while Edge isn't ready for a World title shot yet)

-Batista won't win. And neither will Val Venis. :eek:


-It would be stupid for Christian to win because there would be no way he'd be booked to beat Benoit (since Christian just jobbed cleanly to Jericho).

-I'm thinking JERICHO. I'm thinking that Jericho will be used to JOB to Benoit a couple of times (the 1st of which, being at the next PPV).

Benjamin looked like a fool. They only went 3 minutes, and the last visual we got was HHH clotheslining Benjamin out of the ring. HHH was on top, and then HBK did the run-in. I dont see how that makes Benjamin look good. As for another win, it wouldn't be redundant, it would just show that Benjamin has Hunter's number. But you can tell by the crowd reactions to him, they've already blown it with him.

In terms of the crowd with Edge, I think thats a problem, Edge gets no heat as a babyface. They did build to a solid finish but I think that had more to do with the fans at ringside who were going crazy for Orton. After the near falls the other fans started to get into it. But in the beginning and the middle the fans didn't seem to have any passion one way or the other for Edge.

But the thing that scares me with Edge is that he doesn't seem to know how to work as an upper level babyface. He doesn't have any velocity in his punches, and he does too many moves that main eventers his size shouldn't be doing.

Its becoming more and more clear to me that they should have brought him back as a heel, but too late for that now I guess.