The Katz Files – Arnie Katz
RAW (1/21) Recap
The Kingfish Arnie Katz brings you a recap and analysis of the 1/21 RAW television show.
After a brief tribute to Martin Luther King, footage reprised the incredible main event from last week’s show in which Jeff Hardy pulled off a truly eye-popping stunt.
Jim Ross welcomed fans to the Hampton Roads (VA) Coliseum and explained that this would be the first episode of RAW to be telecast in HD. He also told fans that Mr. McMahon had ordered a mandatory reconciliation between Randy Orton and Jeff Hardy for later in the evening.
JR thought that it was appropriate to have Shawn Michaels be the first WWE superstar to be seen in high definition. Yeah, Michaels’ heavily lined face must’ve been quite a revelation to those accustomed to seeing him on regular TV.
Shawn Michaels d. Mr. Kennedy
Qualifying Match (for HBK only)
Mr. Kennedy came to the ring before Michaels’ completed his pre-match preening. Jim Ross pointed out the injustice of Mr. Kennedy receiving a spot in the Royal Rumble from William Regal while Shawn Michaels has to qualify,
Mr. Kennedy tried to break a stalemate with a Clothesline. He missed, but succeeded on the second try after bouncing off the ropes! Kennedy Armdragged HBK to the mat, but Michaels got free and used a Leg Trip Takedown to set up a Facelock. When HBK covered, Kennedy did a really impressive bridge to rise off the mat.
Kennedy twisted HBK into an across-the-knee Backbreaker and poured on the pain!
After a Collar-and-Elbow tie-up, Kennedy blasted HBK with three rapid knees. He set up too soon for a Back Body Drop, though, and took some punishment from HBK coming off the ropes. When Michaels tried to use the ropes again, Kennedy took him out with a Back Elbow.
Kennedy used a Neckbreaker to a modified Backbreaker, focusing on Michaels’ neck. Michaels attempted to elbow his way to freedom, but Mr. Kennedy kept the hold. Kennedy covered, but the Show stoppa didn’t let the show stop right there.
Kennedy stomped him into the mat and kicked him repeatedly in the corner. Kennedy fired him into another turnbuckle. Michaels backed up Kennedy with a series of Knife-edged Chops. Kennedy stopped that offensive run, but his own Suplex attempt failed – and HBK scored with a DDT!
Both men rose slowly to their feet. They hacked away at each other without mercy until Michaels unloaded a Flying Forearm and a Reverse Atomic Drop. Michaels connected with a second Reverse Atomic Drop and then a Bodyslam!
After Michaels hit Kennedy dead center with the Flying Elbow, he began tuning up for Sweet Chin Music. Kennedy rushed directly at Michaels and, with this unusual strategy, negated the maneuver. Kennedy left the ring, but Michaels smashed him to the arena floor with a beautiful out-of-ring Cross Body Fly!
Back from commercials, the tables had turned. Kennedy stomped Michaels in the corner and dealt HBK a hideous kick to the temple! HBK looked a little disoriented, but he still had the innate savvy to kick out of the cover.
Michaels chopped Kennedy in the corner, but the blond reversed and shot Michaels into the opposite turnbuckle. Michaels did an acrobatic flip and roared back out of that corner! He flattened his foe, but he didn’t have the energy to fully exploit it.
Kennedy went for the Mic Check, but HBK threw him off. Kennedy bulled Michaels into the corner and set him up on the top turnbuckle., He laid in a few punches and then climbed the ropes to position HBK for a Superplex!
HBK fought desperately to avoid the Superplex and eventually succeeded in sending Kennedy to the mat! Michaels connected with the Flying Elbow as the fans went wild for the favorite!
Mr. Kennedy not only rose from the mat, but he picked up Michaels on his shoulder and banged him to the canvas with a Somersault Slam! Michaels kicked out a split second before Marty Elias tapped the mat for the third time!
Michaels went for his new submission finisher, but Kennedy had it well scouted. What the blond didn’t expect, though, was a short-range Sweet Chin Music that knocked him flat and let Michaels cover for the pin and the win!
Grade: A (great work from both men)
“Let me get this straight,” Randy Orton said to the Boss, “you want me to go out there and shake his hand?” Mr. McMahon said that though Orton was hurting, that’s exactly what he wanted him to do.
The irate champion reminded Mr. McMahon, and the fans, about the remarkable events of last week’s RAW. “There’s no way I’m shaking his hand,” Orton protested.
Vince pointed out that he had shaken the hands of many people he didn’t like. “Perception is reality,” Mr. McMahon claimed, and then went on to say that there might be an advantage to Orton in his continuing battle against Hardy if he lulled Jeff into a sense of security.
Mr. McMahon indicated that the handshake might rattle the Rainbow Warrior by making him wonder what he has to do to eliminate his nemesis.
Beth Phoenix d. Mickie James
Jim Ross reported that Mickie James vowed to beat the champion in this non-title match.
James Cartwheeled nimbly out of Phoenix’s Wristlock and came up with a Hammerlock. The champion used pure strength to force James to the mat and nearly got the pinfall.
Beth Phoenix picked up Mickie James, but the fan favorite wriggled out of her grasp and paid her back with a Short-arm Clothesline.
Mickie James dropped kicked her foe in the corner and rained down punches! Phoenix reversed – and laid in some punches of her own before throwing Mickie completely out of the ring. At first it looked like James caught herself on the apron, but Phoenix shoved her all the way to the floor!
The champion rammed James into the side of the ring. She hauled her back inside the ropes and tried, unsuccessfully, for a quick pin.
The muscular blonde applied a Rear Chinlock, but James forced her way to her feet as she turned into her foe to break the hold. James rolled Phoenix up with a Small Package that nearly got the pin!
Mickie used knees and punches to set up a Flying Forearm off the ropes! The champion threw her into the corner and connected with a Shoulder Block. Mickie came out with a Huracanrana and then another Flying Forearm! The cover came close, but still didn’t seal the deal.
Mickie James looked like she was about to execute a Suplex, but the Glamazon lifted her into the air and nearly broke her in half on the top rope!
Beth Phoenix uncorked a Fisherwoman’s Suplex and covered for the victory!
Grade: B-
Todd Grisham talked with Triple H about his qualifying match. The Game didn’t bother to hide his displeasure at having to qualify, but he also said that nothing would keep him out of the Royal Rumble.
“It’s not just a promise,” HHH said. “It’s a guaran-damn-tee!”
Cody Rhodes told Bryan Kendrick how excited hie is to be in this year’s Royal Rumble, because he grew up watching it.
Hardcore Holly joined them and asked if Cody would have his back tonight. Holly said that no one, even his tag partner Cody, would stop him from winning the Rumble.
“That guy is a grouch,” Kendrick observed.
“That’s him on a good day,” Rhodes quipped.
Randy Orton narrated a short video biography that including both vintage clips and scenes of his WWE matches.
A video retold Hornswoggle’s adventures enroute to his spot in the Royal Rumble.
Finley & Hornswoggle d. The Highlanders (Rory & Robby)
Finley and Rory started out with a Collar-and-Elbow, but the Highlanders were soon double-teaming the Fighting Irishman in the corner. Finley came back and blitzed Rory with a Kneedrop, but Robby attacked him from the apron.
Although Hornswoggle was not yet in the match, only standing on the ring apron, Robby grabbed him! The little guy skittered away and avoided the heel until Finley took out Robby with a Clothesline. Hornswoggle kicked his would-be tormenter out of the rig.
Finley clocked Rory with a Fisherman’s Suplex. Hornswoggle added the Tadpole Splash and made the winning cover.
Grade: C
A grim-faced Chris Jericho walked down the hall toward the entrance to the arena.
A lengthy video reminded fans of the JBL-Jericho feud.
Jim Ross commented that Jericho was very subdued earlier, before the show.
In a memorable interview, Chris Jericho said that he wasn’t going to rant, because he knew that Leyfield was afraid to enter the building.
He went on to talk about how JBL had humiliated him in front of his family, He recounted how his four-year-old son had asked if he was a coward and the doubt he had seen in the child’s eye.
“You said you didn’t want to make this personal, but you did,” Jericho stated.
He added that he wasn’t looking for a “good match” on Sunday. It is going to be a fight.
“Don’t you ever risk somebody’s life like you did last week,” Mr. McMahon warned Jeff Hardy in a backstage conference.
The Boss told Hardy that it would be like two boxers touching gloves before they fight.
Jeff Hardy agreed to go out to the ring, but he said that he would “give everybody something to talk about.”
Umaga d. Bryan Kendrick
Royal Rumble Qualifier (for Kendrick)
Bryan Kendrick had barely gotten into the ring when William Regal, speaking from his office, began to berate him and disparage his ability. The General Manager told Kendrick that, to get into the Royal Rumble, he would have to beat some who’d already qualified.
… and out came Umaga!
Umaga immediately demonstrated his power by jolting Kendrick with a Clothesline. He then smashed Kendrick in the head with an overhand right that leveled the smaller man.
Umaga threw Bryan Kendrick into the corner, but he missed the follow-up corner charge. Kendrick targeted Umaga’s legs with kicks and then connected with a Flying Forearm off the ropes, but the Samoan Bulldozer refused to fall down.
Umaga put Kendrick in the Bodyslam position, but instead rammed him into the turnbuckle! Umaga tried a cross-ring Flying Headbutt, but Bryan lifted himself out of harm’s way!
Kendrick went airborne with three Dropkicks in quick succession. The first hardly caused a ripple, the second made Umaga take a backward step and the third actually seemed to bother the behemoth.
The former tag team champ went aerial once too often, though. When he tried it again, Umaga caught him and executed a lightning-quick Samoan Drop!
Umaga lifted Bryan Kendrick into the air with one hand around his throat and finished him off with the Samoan Spike!
Looks like there’ll be no Royal Rumble for Bryan Kendrick this year.
Grade: C (not really competitive)
Mickie James sat crying as Maria tried to comfort her. The former Women’s Champion was broken-hearted at her continuing inability to defeat Beth Phoenix.
Ashley joined the other two. She was just starting to explain am idea she said Hugh Heffner had for the Divas when Santino Marello barged into the scene. He rejected the idea, unheard, and left with Maria.
A video promoted Vince McMahon’s forthcoming appearance on Celebrity Apprentice.
Do you think Vince liked hearing Donald Trump say that he and Vince had put on WrestleMania together?
When they returned to the announcers after showing Triple H preparing for his match, Jerry Lawler was wearing a pair of those red-and-green glasses they pass out at movies. Jim Ross made fun of him for not knowing the difference between 3D and HD.
A video starring Jeff Hardy put hi over as “The Extremist.” They certainly have the footage to back up that claim.
Carlito (with Santino Marello & Maria) Hardcore Holly (with Cody Rhodes)
This is a rematch from the “Trading Places” fight a couple of weeks ago, won by Holly.
Hardcore Holly, starting strongly, battered Carlito with chops and worked him over in the corner. When Holly’s corner charge misfired, Carlito tried to steal the match with a quick cover, but it didn’t work.
Carlito punched away at Holly and then dished out a Back Elbow when Holly bounced off the ropes to his position at center-ring. After some stomping, Carlito grabbed a Chinlock. Holly regained his footing and broke the hold with a barrage of right-hand blows to the midsection.
Holly followed his foe across the ring, dishing out the Knife-edge Chops, before adding a Suplex. The cover couldn’t get it done.
The crowd groaned as Carlito chinned Holly on the top rope and then stomped him into the canvas! Carlito tried a Sitting Crucifix, but Hardcore Holly’s superior arm strength made it impossible to keep him in the hold.
Hardcore scored with a Clothesline and capitalized on that with a Back Body Drop! Holly went for the Alabama Slamma, but his concentrate was poor and the maneuver didn’t work very well. Carlito bounced up and surprised Holly with the Backstabber. It led to the pin and the win.
Grade: B-
After Triple H’s ring entrance, William Regal appeared on the upper stage.
He divulged that Triple H might have to face as many as three opponents before he could lock up that spot in the Royal Rumble. HHH must defeat each of the three men by throwing them over the top rope.
Triple H went right after his first adversary, Snitsky, and quickly forced him into the corner. Snitsky’s knee to the stomach stopped his momentarily, but he almost immediately came back with a Back Elbow Block off the ropes.
Snitsky punched his way out of The Game’s first attempt to toss him over the top rope and surprised HHH with a Side Slam! He added an Elbow Drop and then picked up Triple H in the Bodyslam position. The Game held on tight and Snitsky could not quite get him over the ropes to the floor.
Snitsky’s Running Kick got him fouled up in the ropes. Triple H Clotheslined him out of the ring.
Mark Henry was the next to challenge The Game.
The World’s Strongest Man shrugged off Triple H’s punches and dealt a couple of vicious Forearms in response. Henry tried to throw out HHH and got him teetering on the top rope, but The Game somehow ended up with both feet inside the squared circle!
Mark Henry nearly broke Triple H in half with a Backbreaker, but the multi-time champion simply wouldn’t allow himself to be eliminated.
When Mark Henry missed a charge into the corner, Triple H picked him up, Henry shifted his weight and landed on top of The Game instead of going to the outside! When Henry Splashed The Game in the corner, the fan favorite crumpled to the mat like he’d been hit by his signature sledgehammer!
Henry went for a cross-ring Bull Rush. The Cerebral Assassin low-bridged him and then it was two down and one to go!
The final competitor turned out to be the General Manager himself! Regal whipped off his suit coat and headed to the ring.
William Regal, still fresh, used that to his advantage and was soon pummeling Triple H with rights and lefts in the corner. Regal tried to throw out HHH, but The Game held on and kept fighting until Regal lost his taste for the idea.
Triple H caught Regal napping with a Spinebuster! The Game quickly stampeded Regal over the ropes to earn his place in the Royal Rumble!
Grade: B- (uneven; Snitsky did the best job of the heels)
Overall Grade for This Show: C+
– The Kingfish Arnie Katz
Editor-in-chief
ProWrestlingDaily.com
(1/23/08)
– The Kingfish Arnie Katz
Crossfire4@cox.net
(1/23/08)
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