Official RAW Thread (3/5/2007): Special Ref?, Womens Title: Mickie vs. Melina
 

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The road to WrestleMania takes another turn when Raw rolls into Phoenix on Monday night.

Last week, Donald Trump chose ECW World Champion Bobby Lashley as his representative for WrestleMania 23. Lashley will face Mr. McMahon’s representative, Intercontinental Champion Umaga. Moments after the announcement was made, the two champions locked up in the ring, sparking a vicious brawl that was nearly uncontainable. With WrestleMania still a month away, will these two powerful Superstars clash again before they reach Detroit?

Mr. McMahon also announced on SmackDown that on Raw, the WWE Board of Directors will name a special guest referee for the Battle of the Billionaires at WrestleMania. Who will the Board choose to put in the middle of Lashley and Umaga on April 1?

Last week, World Tag Team Champions John Cena & Shawn Michaels defeated Rated-RKO to retain the titles. Monday night, the two teams will be in one-on-one action against each other, as WWE Champion Cena will face Edge and Michaels will square off with Randy Orton. In fact, HBK vs. the Legend Killer will kick off Raw right at 9/8 CT. Will the World Tag Team Champions continue their mastery of Edge & Orton, or will Rated-RKO individually one-up The Champ & HBK?

It was also revealed last week that Mickie James’ contract guarantees her a Women’s Championship rematch against Melina and allows her to choose the stipulation. Mickie has chosen a Falls Count Anywhere Match, and will face Melina for the gold Monday night. Will she be able to recapture the title?

Find out live Monday night at 9/8 CT on the USA Network.

Wow, just realized it's like Wayne Brady vs. that fat kid from Mighty Ducks.

Little early but I should be here tonight.

Who R U?

Rocky Balboa of course.

Oh, I thought you were The Rock of SmackDown!...

I made this early because I'm watching TV with someone in the other room. Be back by Raw.

And you didn't want to have your thunder stolen.

I'll be here on and off, Black Donnelleys is on tonight also.

Mickie James beats Melina with some woman-beating help from Johnny Nitro and maybe Joey Mercury. :drool:

Shawn Michaels vs. Randy Orton, John Cena vs. Edge and the segment where they announce Stone Cold should be pretty good segments. Could be a pretty watchable show, overall. :y:

There's a better chance of Ron Artest staying out of jail than Mickie James winning tonight.

I hope either Umaga or Bobby Lashley drops their Title before WrestleMania. In a perfect world, they'd both lose and WrestleMania would have title matches elsewhere.

Perfect died with Curt Hennig.

Hmm, I'm trying to think, but I don't think truer words have ever been spoken on these forums.

It's DAMN true.

Oh, it's REAL!

Spoiler question in black.

How many Stunners do you think Austin will dish out tonight?

Spoiler answer in black.1 possibly 2

It's DAMN real!

My guess, if the segment goes according to my picture of it, 1, but it wouldn't surprise me if they Popeye'd half the roster out there for Austin.

WHAT THE FUCK?

Thank you for ruining Austins return, thank you for ruining what would have been my only mark out moment in a year.

WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU TYPE "SPOILERS" WHEN YOU TYPE WHAT THE SPOILER IS RIGHT BESIDE IT!!!!!!!!!

Now I know Austin is confirmed, he is my favourite wrestler, hearing his damn music hit would have made me mark out so bad, but no, you have to fucking ruin it, couldn't you make the title "Wrestlmania 22 major spoilers" alone? Seriously man, use your goddam brain. Why mark for spoilers when the spoiler is right beside where you mark for spoilers.

Fuck this shit, you're not the only one who does it, so many people do, i am out of the fucking wrestling forum besides for tipsters until Wrestlemania is over, see you all April fourth. [/Xero Limit 126]

Evening, all.

Am I going to lie and say no? Nope. Gonna steal someone else's thunder.

*Cheap Post*

Tonight's double shot main event would be good if we hadn't seen these matches a thousand times before, especially Cena vs Edge. Even if they had done it the other way round (HBK vs Edge, Cena vs Orton) it would be slightly fresher.

Good evening, fellas.

Swerve us all and have the Ref be Rocky. <3

I bet the referee will be Steve Austin.

I'm not sure though. I give it a 2% possibility.

Sense a swerve? Cena heel turn?

WHY DID THE BROADCAST JUST CUT INTO A PROGRESSIVE COMMERICAL?!

God. I hope tonight is the night HBK kicks Cena's god damn head off tonight.

Evening everyone.

WTF. It just randomly went into a commecial.

Back to Michaels entering the ring. wtf.

yea what hapened

Here we go.

I love Lillian. I am soooo used to her already.

Glad to see we're off to a good start.

WHY IS EDGE WITH ORTON????

This has potential.

This could be good.

Most likely scenario, IF one of them is going to lose the belt, would be for Umaga to cost Lashley the belt.

Lashley won't lose the belt.

I'm not a fan of long opening matches. Even if it's a great match, a long segment (esp if it is interrupted by an ad break) sets a slow pace for the rest of the show.

ouch

bad drop for hbk

Kind of irrelevant to Raw, but is this ECW Originals vs New Breed feud going to translate into a match at WM23 or what? Or is ECW's only representation going to be in cross brand matches?

I don't think there will be enough room on the card tbh.

WALLS OF JERICHO

so sign dude works for the wwe now ok.

Also, reckon we're going to see Ric Flair vs Carlito at Mania? Coz that's the direction they seem to be going, but it doesn't seem like a WrestleMania calibre match to me. But then it's the only thing Flair has on the go right now, and surely they wouldn't leave Flair off the Mania card?

Damn sign guy. What he end up taking home from deal or no deal?

I think it'll be on the card...

HBK vs. Cena
Taker vs. Tista
MITB
Umaga vs. Lashley
Kane vs. Khali
Ashley vs. Melina
New Breed vs. Originals

That's 7 matches, they usually have around 10.

Any guesses on who Khali will crush this week?

Cade and Murdoch maybe?

Or think he will try and call out Kane?

Seeing as this is the opening match, I think Randy Orton will go over, just to build momentum for when he enters MITB, and so people hang around asking "Is HBK going to Cena back for not being there?"

We'll see what happens.

And no, Lashley will not lose the belt, and I will be sad because of it. :(

This Phoenix crowd is hot tonight.

I'm looking forward to marking out later.

Well, it's a four hour PPV. So far, they have announced four matches (HBK vs Cena, Taker vs Batista, Umaga vs Lashley, Money In The Bank). So plenty of room on the card at the moment.

I would assume Ashley vs Melina, Flair vs Carlito and Originals vs New Breed are in the works.

Oh yeah.... Kane vs Khali. Meh.

I don't think they'll include it though.

Chris Benoit vs. MVP, Carlito vs. Ric Flair and London & Kendrick vs. MNM would be my additions. If they juice it up to 11 or 12, throw in a Cruiserweight Title Match between Chavo Guerrero and Jimmy Wang Yang (maybe make it a Triple Threat with Gregory Helms) and a World Tag Team Championship Match.

The World's Greatest Tag Team vs. Ric Flair & Carlito for the World Tag Team Championship would actually be a pretty sweet WrestleMania match. Have Carlito turn on Flair there.

If that's the card that KoOS posted then I'm not ordering.

Break up of RKO?

That was a lame ending.

Ooooooooooooooooooooh. A chair.

Kick his ass Cena.

That's not all of the matches and I'm sure you could tell the lineup from a mile away.

What happened? We in Australia do not get it tomorrow, so we only have text-based sources for our information.

I think they're gonna turn Michaels heel for some reason.

Looking at the WM card on paper like that, it looks shit so far. The main events are about the best they have to offer right now, but everthing else is lacklustre.

Suppose we'll get Benoit vs MVP as well. Another big fat so what?

They need a BIG match added somehow. Love them or hate them, Hulk Hogan vs Mick Foley would certainly be an attraction if they added it. WWE should go all out to cut a deal with those two guys to get them on the card.

Is it just me, or does Orton got some new ink on his right forearm?

Yeah I know, it just doesn't seem like a standard WM card to me.

It was a good ending. It didnt make Orton lose credibility as he was distracted and he got the better of Shawn after the match without Edge. All Edge did was what... toss in a chair?

lmfao, am I the only one who thinks these wrestlemania commercials are ridiculous?

I'm callng Rick Steamboat for the Hall of Fame tonight. (Or Jim Ross, but that's a bit obvious after Lawler was announced last week.)

Nah, not Steamboat.

It'll be JR or The Wild Samoans.

Andy Kaufman would be logical too for a celebrity.

I'm still sticking to the my theory that legends from Smackdown vs. Raw 07 are going in.

On a side note, if Foley ain't gonna be at 'mania, why is still getting airtime for his book?

Notice Vince has started going back to the loud suits recently? He used to be know for his ridiculous attire and colour schemes back in the 70s and 80s. Lately, he's been getting a bit kookier again.

SPOILERS: KHALI is being inducted into the HOF tonight.

Because WWE are publishing it, therefore benefit financially if it sells well.

FRUITY FRUITY BAH GAWD THEY ARE FRUITY!

Hmmm... could this be the Umaga title dropping that was mentioned earlier?

Uh. UUUUUUUUUMMAAAGGAAAA Hardy again?

This should be quick.

Umaga looks like a fat drunken tart in leggings from the waist down.

UJ*$UJH*D&YH$&DGHEYGD FUCKKKK YESSSS

I bet Umaga loses the belt tonight.

Maybe he's dying? You know, how a cockroach scurries around after you spray it? :|

Andy Kaufman should be announced for the celebrity wing of the Hall of Fame. I'd love to see Ricky Steamboat in, I really would. He wasn't on the rumoured list of names, though. The Wild Samoans aren't really that well known are they? They could be announced the same night as Kaufman, just so they have a big week to keep interest.

I would assume there is no way they would put Hardy over Umaga what with Umaga being so heavily featured at Mania.... unless SOMEBODY costs him the match.

JEWWWWMAAGAAAA

JR is pretty terrible TBH

Umaga needs to start doing a bronco buster

Firstly, :lol: at the idea that Vince is dying. I don't know why.

Secondly, they seem to save the announcement of the lesser known names until the end. Last year, the Blackjacks and Verne Gagne were among the last announced (if memory serves me right) and I don't even remember William Refridgerator Perry being announced on TV at all, maybe just on WWE.com.

Retarded

They should not hot-shot the belt back to Hardy. Not another WrestleMania where the IC Champ is in the MITB. Come on, at least give it to Flair or Carlito. Fuck, a surprise Val Venis or Eugene win would make more sense.

Wow, nevermind.

I take it Umaga won?

Replace Jim Ross with MAX BRETOS~! He could be pretty horrible, but he's followed wrestling since childhood, and used to call soccer. He'd be quick on his feet and know the moves and going-ons. Bretos for play-by-play commentator for RAW!

He did.

Shows how much WWE thinks of Jeff Hardy. Here's a man who will never be considered seriously by the office for a main event level player. Okay, they need to keep Umaga strong for WM23, but he obliterated Hardy there. Hardy's got a WM match too, ya know!? Oh yeah, there is no McMahon involved.

I remember at the end of last year reading that JBL would be involved in a match at WM, wonder what happened to that.

MORE ads?? Jeez.

That was just about a squash match though. Terrible idea.

Virtua Fighter 5 is a really great game.

I was kind of hoping for a Gregory Helms vs. JBL match. That was back around Royal Rumble time, when Helms was the longest reigning Champion in SmackDown! history. Helms could have ended The Boogeyman's streak at the show where JBL lost in like two minutes. JBL would then slowly become bitter towards Helms on commentary all of a sudden, while Cole would warm up to him. Snap! JBL costs Helms the Cruiserweight Title, and a match between the two is set for WrestleMania.

That squash of Jeff Hardy was really brutal booking by the WWE. Jeff Hardy has no momentum heading into Money in the Bank, and Umaga really doesn't look that good from it. It just makes Hardy look back. If they wanted Jeff Hardy to bounce around for a bit, they should have had Matt come in for the save, and given Umaga the DQ win, but had The Hardys stand tall and then tease tension for WrestleMania.

Better yet, Umaga could have squashed someone like Eugene or Val Venis in the first place. Guys the WWE is fond of, but really isn't going to use for anyting but getting beaten.