Raw 9-21

Last week I thought Raw was a great show. Trish Stratus was a fantastic GM and even got in the ring. I believe Cedric the Entertainer will disappoint me tonight. I hope I am wrong but when it comes to wrestling I am usually correct. No matches have been announced but you know it will be a heavy DX Legacy and Orton Cena show gearing up for their respective Hell in a Cell matches in a few weeks. One reminder this will be Lillian Garcia's final Raw which sucks if I do say so myself. Welcome to Raw is J Call.

Raw starts out with a limo arriving and the Bella twins and Cedric the Entertainer along with a bunch of people get out of lime. Some football players, a farmer with a goat and an old lady. WTF? Raw is already pissing me off. Roll music and lets go.

Alright something exciting for the real start of Raw. Yes DX I am ready to be entertained. DX makes their way to the ring for an opening contest. HHH will start Raw with a match. HHH and HBK with mics in hand. Trips asks the question twice. He asks Shawn who was in and who won the first hell in a cell? HBK was. Shawn then asks who has won the most Hell in a Cell matches? Triple H has with 5 victories. I will give you a mini candy bar if you can tell me who they are? HBK reminds us that Legacy has never been in a hiac match. DX first and only Hell in a Cell together was against Vince, Shane and Big Show. DX won that match up in a brutal match. Ironically, HHH and HBK were in a Hell in a Cell match against each other at Badd Blood 2004. The other 3 opponents were Mankind, Chris Jericho, and Kevin Nash. Damn I am good, didn't even have to look that up. Cody Rhodes is HHH opponent for tonight's Raw. HHH is punishing Cody with a crossface but Cody got to the ropes. Cody rolled to the outside and Triple H hit him and Dibiase with a clothesline before the break. Cody has a standing cross face on when Raw comes back on the air. HHH battles back until Cody hits a neckbreaker for a 2 count. Dibiase gets a cheap shot on HHH when the ref was distracted by Cody. Great heel work there. Side russian leg sweep by Cody for another 2 count. Lawler says he has never seen a tag team hell in a cell. Didn't Triple H just say DX was in a hell a cell match. DX fought Vince, Shane, and Show. What the hell does the WWE have amnesia? Triple H backdrops Cody to the outside right in front of Shawn. Cody slaps HBK and Shawn takes the bait. Dibiase hot shots HBK into the announcer's table. Cody rolls back in and almost takes a pedigree. Dibiase interrupts that and nails HHH with 2 chair shots. Cody hits his finisher cross Rhodes on a defense less Game. Dibiase picks him up for dream street. Legacy put a chair on HHH head and went up to the top. Shawn grabbed a sledgehammer and the heels retreated. A great start for Monday Night Raw. I am very happy with Legacy looking stronger. Now that DX is out of the way tonight, we should be seeing some other feuds besides the big 2. They announce Swagger vs Kofi for the US title later tonight.

I just saw a Hardee's commercial about a 3 patty burger and immediately my left arm went numb and thought I was having a heartattack. My god, no wonder why we have shows called the Biggest Loser. Speaking of losers, here comes Cedric the entertainer. Cedric says this is going to be off the chain. He says he is a real WWE fan. I am too but I don't see why WWE doesn't call me. Cedric starts doing some stand up. He calls Mark Henry the illegitimate son of the Kool Aid man. I found that funny. Santino comes out and calls Cedric, Fredric the Entertainment. Santino says he is following a calling cuz he wants to be a comedian. Santino makes fun of fast food, he must have just read that on my blog. Chavo comes to spoil the party. Cedric says Chavo knows comedy having a leprechaun beat him every week. Santino whispers Chavo is not letting him beat him. Chavo says this whole celebrity is embarrasing. Chavo wants to wrestle Cedric tonight. Santino ends up accepting for Cedric. Oh god, Chavo is going to lose yet again.

Miz in the back holding the United States title that doesn't belong to him. Miz says he walks, talks and acts more like a champion than Kofi. Miz goes on to talk some smack and Kofi blindsides Miz and takes his belt back. I like that little segment there. Kofi needs to show the fans he is not just a happy go lucky guy. If Kofi develops character and depth it will only help him get more over with the fans. Good job WWE.

The man with the most exciting finisher in the WWE, Evan Bourne takes on the Miz. I don't see Miz losing here but Evan needs to win a match here and there. Evan with a sick fall on the ropes and a big boot by Miz for a 2 count. Miz with some stomps and throws Bourne into the turnbuckle face first. Bourne counters into a sweet looking pin for 2. Miz hits a neckbreaker then a suplex for 2. Nice simple but effective moves by Miz. I realize it is hard to imagine a wrestling match with simple wrestling moves. Miz dominating and pulls Evan to the apron to hit a running knee. Miz with a double under hook in the middle of the ring. Evan gets up and runs Miz into the turnbuckle. Miz with his running clothesline into the corner. Miz on top but Bourne counters. Evan goes for a top rope hurricarana and hits it but Miz didn't take it well. Evan goes for the shooting star press but laids on his feet, incredible. Miz lands his finisher for the 3 count. Cole and Lawler talk about how good Miz looked. In all fairness, Bourne made Miz look good. I can not believe he landed on his feet from the SSP.

Legacy in the back. Orton gives the other two the night off. He says it is just a contract signing and he has this. I don't know what to make of that but it is next. Before the commercial break, Smackdown's decade celebration is in 2 weeks. I want to pick up that DVD. I did buy the WCW last week. I watched that over the weekend. The Rise and Fall WCW DVD is a great watch for any wrestling fan. I went back and watched some of the old matches as well. I have to say I would love to have the Monday Night Wars come back. WCW had a good product. If TNA was smart, which they have never been accused of, they would try and recreate that magic next year after the NFL season is over with. TNA should get rid of that 6 sided and go to the regular squared circle as well.

Lawler is in the ring for the contract signing. The Legend Killer and former WWE champion Randy Orton is first to be introduced. The video of last weeks match with Batista is recapped. Randy has not looked well in the past week or so. Cena made him tap and took his belt. Batista beats him up the following night on Raw. Orton should look good tonight. The Champ is here. A tremendous ovation for the WWE champion John Cena. Cena is now a 6 time world champion. Both men are now sitting on opposite sides of the table. Lawler mentions there is a no physicality rule. Orton has 2 choices, face Cena in a Hell in a Cell or give up the right for an automatic rematch. Randy signs the contract and tells Lawler to get out of the ring. Orton looks into the eyes of Cena and tells him he thinks he has Orton all figured out. He will do whatever it takes to get his title back. Randy mentions he has been in a Hell in a Cell match. True he faced the Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell match back at Armageddon 2005. Cena has never been in this kind of match. Cena says he wasn't listening. Cena plays the ending to the Breaking Point match when Orton quit. Cena is trying to be funny. Cena talks about Randy has done more damage to him then any other WWE superstar. John says the funniest part is it is official after he signed the contract. Orton doesn't get another opportunity if he does not win at Hell in a Cell. Cena says that is the funny part. Cena tells Orton he knows what he is capable of but Orton doesn't know what Cena is capable of. Cena goes on to say he will destroy Randy Orton. Randy says Cena's confidence has made him hated by several people ever since he came into the WWE. Jericho and Show come down to the ring. Cena is trapted in the ring with the tag champs. Show and Jericho start to nail Cena. Henry and MVP come to make the save. I smell a 6 man tag match. Cedric is shown on the tron. Cedric makes a 6 man tag match. I never saw that coming. What a shock.

Alicia Fox is ringside for the Mickie James Beth Phoenix match up. I wish this was the match at the next pay per view and was given time. Mickie leaps off the top rope to the floor onto Beth. Mickie gets distracted by Alicia and allows Beth to gain the upper hand. Beth tosses her back in the ring and hits her finisher. Wow that was strange. Why make the champ look so easy to beat? Alicia hits the axe kick to finish the segment. I am at a loss on this one. Mickie is the Diva champ so why have her get beat by Beth when she is not in the Diva hunt? WWE confused me on this one. Why not choose someone else like uh, well that maybe the problem. They didn't have anyone else to choose from for Mickie to beat. Wait, Jillian could have been Mickie's opponent and she could have gotten beat by the champ. Questionable to say the least in this segment.

Speaking of getting pushed. Zach Ryder is getting a big push on ECW. He takes on Christian Tuesday night on ECW for the ECW title. I will have to watch that to see if Ryder can hold his own with Captain Charisma. Kofi takes on Swagger for the US title. Swagger on the attack to start. The match only goes for a minute or two until Miz ran down to steal the title. Swagger rolls out and crushes Miz with a clothesline and Swagger walks out with the US title. What the hell is going on with the United States belt. I guess every heel who takes on Kofi will just take the belt. If I were GM I would make it a rule, you can not steal a belt that is not yours. If you do, you will be fined and never get a shot at that title. Easy enough. I didn't mind it last week with the Miz because that's what a heel would do. 2 weeks in a row with 2 different wrestlers is just boring and lazy writing.

Oooh Chavo you haven't won a match since 2007. Lillian announces Santino is a special guest referee. Cedric put on a cape and some tight spandex pants. Chavo is laughing his ass off in the ring. Cedric puts on a mask with a top hat. The bell rings and they try to lock up once. Chavo stomps on Cedric's hat and pushes him a few times. Cedric rolls out of the ring and under the ring. Chavo goes to look on the other side of the ring but its not Cedric any longer. I believe it's Mark Henry. Santino tells him he's good. The fake Cedric goes under the ring and out comes Hornswaggle in the same get up. The real Cedric comes back from under the ring to win the match. The three people dressed up are dancing in the ring. The mask stays on the biggest one so I am not sure if that was Henry or not. I got another look at him and I don't think it was Henry. It must have been one of Cedric's friends from earlier.

Reverend Al Sharpton will be next weeks Raw GM. Ok whatever I give up complaining on the GM's of Raw. Miz Swagger and Kofi will face off in a triple threat match at the pay per view. Cedric is in the back with Kelly Kelly until Jericho shows up. Cedric turns away from Jericho but Big Show grabs Cedric this time. Lawler announces tonight will be the final night for Lillian Garcia. She is in the ring crying. She says it has been a great adventure. She says it was an honor. She is very heart felt and tearing up the entire time. She says the biggest honor was being there for the fans. We love you Lillian. You have been a very special in ring announcer. A very nice in ring speech from Lillian. Classy move by the WWE. Lillian deserved a nice send off. I heard Thank You Lillian chants and she deserves that as well. I hope she comes back once in a while on special occasions.

Randy, Jericho and Show are in the ring ready for the main event. Jericho says he forced Cedric to up the ante for this match. If the heels lose then Orton faces Cena Henry and MVP in a gaunlet match. If the faces lose then Cena faces Orton, Jericho and Show in his own gaunlet match. Back from commercial and everyone is out and our main event is starting with Jericho and Cena. Orton with a blind tag but Cena catches him until Orton slides out. Jericho cheap shots Cena on the outside and Orton gains the momentum. Powerslam and a knee drop by Orton. Tag to Big Show. Show with a quick tag to Jericho, who nails Cena with a running elbow. Another tag this time to Orton. Hot tag to MVP who throws Jericho. A flying clothesline along with a running knee drop. Here comes the ballin' elbow but Y2J kicks out. Show headbuts MVP from behind. Show gets the tag and goes to work on MVP. Heels back in control with Orton in now. MVP gets up from the sleeper and battles back. Orton trips MVP before the tag. Jericho in choking MVP on the ropes. He runs at him to hang MVP up on the ropes but misses. Y2J quickly tags Orton. Randy stops MVP again from tagging his partners. Finally a tag to Henry. Mark is hitting anything that moves right now. Cena Fu'd Show over the top rope. Jericho clipped Henry's knee and threw Cena over the top. RKO to Henry for the 1,2,3 victory. Randy had to build back after last weeks 2 loses. Cena must face Orton, Show and Y2J next week.

This week's Raw was actually a good outing for WWE. Orton got back some credibility. The United States championship picture was cleared up with the announcement of the ppv match. My only gripe was where was the wrestling? We had 3 matches that actually were decent contests. The main event, Miz and Bourne, and HHH and Rhodes were the only good matches of the evening. I did like having DX start the show. All in all nothing spectacular but not a turd either. Next week with Al Sharpton, oh boy. I will be back Thursday with my NFL picks. I can only go up from last weeks picks.

J Call