WWE BEST OF RAW 2006
Instead of the Tribute to the Troops show, WWE have decided to show us here in the UK this, the highlights of the last year of Raw. So, what does WWE see as the 'Best of Raw' over the last twelve months? I suspect their ideas will differ from mine. The show is hosted in the studio by Todd Grisham. Not many people would associate Todd with the best of anything, but I'm a fan. That's right, I said it.
Newbies: If this is really all the newcomers to Raw that there has been this year, then that says a lot about the recruiting policy. We have: The Spirit Squad; The Highlanders; Cryme Tyme; Johnny Nitro & Melina; Super Crazy; Arrrrrrrrrrrmando Alejandrrrrrrrrrrrrrrro Estrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrada & Umaga; and...
Jeff Hardy: Ok, so this I can agree with. Jeff Hardy coming back to WWE after however many years elsewhere has brought me great joy over the last few months. Like all, I was worried about whether he would manage to stay around for very long, and if he would just be too sloppy for Raw, but he has shown consistency, a level of dedication to the sport that was missing at the end of his last wwe run, and some natural chemistry with Johnny Nitro. Their feud has been a rare example where the endless rematches have been a positive to the show.
"His first match back he beat the WWE champ Edge, his second match he beat Randy Orton, which put Jeff Hardy in line for a shot at the Intercontinental Championship". Yes Todd, thank you for that, all you have to do these days to get a shot at the IC title is beat the WWE champion. Or you can just be either Carlito or Shelton Benjamin in which case you can get unlimited attempts for no apparent reason.
Jeff Hardy Vs Johnny Nitro (Raw, October 2nd): (Intercontinental Title) We join the match a few minutes in, and here's what I originally wrote for the match: "JR mentions that Melina likes three-way-sex. Lawler volunteers. We have a loud crowd tonight, and they react well to the back and forth early action. After an early break, Nitro avoids the Whisper in the Wind and takes control of the match. The crowd fire up for a Hardy comeback and both men go down. As they rise, Jeff kicks his way into the match and hits a successful Whisper in the Wind. Nitro kicks out and Melina pulls him to the outside, but Hardy baseballs slides through the ropes and runs the rails taking out both Nitro and Melina. Nitro and Hardy fight to the top rope, where Nitro is back body dropped to the canvas and Hardy scores with the Swanton. We have a new champion."
Winner: Jeff Hardy (10:36)
A good match in front of a hot crowd, with a monster pop for the title change. A good start to this 'best of' show. Also, it helpfully sets up their cage match for the IC Title at New Year's Revolution.
Divas: September 17th, Trish Stratus defeats Lita with the Sharpshooter to win the Women's Title and retire as the seven-time champ. Trish's retirement leaves us with a vacancy that only a tournament can fill. Lita wins it. Then she decides to retire, and wants to go in the same fashion that Trish did. It wasn't quite the same kind of send-off.
Lita Vs MICKIE JAMES (Survivor Series, November 26): (Women's Championship) As we join the match, Lita is in control, with a sleeper and a legscissors on the mat. Mickie gets to the ropes, so Lita breaks the hold and goes to the top. The crossbody attempt is avoided, but Lita stops Mickie from doing some top rope climbing of her own and back suplexes her off of the second turnbuckle. Despite this, it's Ms James who wins the punching duel and dishes out the knockdowns, then the kicks, including that beautiful back roundhouse kick (type of thing). That all gets a two, so Mickie goes for her bridging Fisherman's suplex. Another two count from that, and it's MickieDT time, except it isn't as Lita backs her into the corner. Mickie looks for the Mickiecanrana out of the corner, but Lita forces Mickie down, leaving her prone for the deadly Litasault. Luckily, Lita lands this one pefectly and noone is afraid of any permanent facial injuries, but Mickie James is still able to kick out. An incredulous Lita attempts a DDT, but Mickie holds onto the ropes to block it, and Lita crashes down to the canvas. They trade near falls from roll-ups and the like, before a successful MickieDT sends the Title around it's rightful waist, and Lita into retirement. Thankfully, there is no mention of the post match suckage involving Cryme Tyme.
Winner: Mickie James (8:18)
Well, they had to look to a ppv match to find something worthy of a 'best of' show, but I have no complaints because this was a fine example (it's all relative). Naturally, they segue into Victoria being built back up to a credible challenger by steamrollering through the rest of Raw's Divas (all three of them) leading to Vickie Vs Mickie at NYR, which I'm looking forward too. No, really.
Overseas Tours: It's only wise and proper that they bring these up, as they have been an area of real success throughout the year, bringing in lots of revenue for the company. We see some footage from UK; Mexico; The Philippines; Japan; Australia; and Italy.
Edge: Right back to the start of the year, as Edge surprises no-one by cashing in his Money in the Bank title shot at New Year's Revolution, and defeats the fresh out of the Elimination Chamber John Cena to win his first World Title. We all knew he was going to do it, and was very likely to win, but it was still a great moment to watch unfold as the WWE Title went to someone who really deserved it, and who went on to prove throughout the year that he is a true main event performer.
Edge and Cena have fought many times over the year, which was a sensible move, as Edge is one of the few people on the company to consistently have good matches with Cena. Ok, there was the odd shocker too. Edge lost by DQ at Saturday Night's Main Event, then retained his title at SummerSlam in Boston. Moving on to Edge's hometown of Toronto, and the match that is, in Todd Grisham's opinion, the best match of the entire year. And who the fuck are we to argue.
Edge Vs John Cena (Unforgiven, September 17th): ('Tables, Ladders and Chairs' match for the WWE Championship) This is a very small part of what Mr Alvarez wrote about this match. "Edge was super over as a babyface, as you’d expect. They booed every single thing Cena did and cheered every single thing Edge did. This is the best match ever so far....Both guys ended up fighting at the top of the ladder. The idea was that Cena would give him an FU off the top of the ladder through two tables. And that’s exactly what they did. The best part was that to make sure nobody died, they had TWO refs in the ring holding the ladder to keep it steady. I have no problem with this, by the way. Crowd went crazy for the bump even though they hated Cena. He grabbed the belt and is the new champion. The place didn’t riot afterwards, which is always a good thing. Pretty damn good match right there. (****)" I couldn't have put it better myself. Well I probably could, but hey.
Winner: John Cena
They showed pretty much the entire match, and it was a delight to see again. Obviously it's one thing to have a great match with all the gimmicks in the world, but Edge also had a bunch of quality matches over the course of the year, leading him to be my first pick for Wrestler of the Year. Unless Todd Grisham disagrees.
DX Vs McMahons: First it was Shawn Michaels having problems with the boss and his son, including beating Vince in a spectacle at Wrestlemania. Then HHH joined in and things went from the ridiculous (God, anybody?) to the fucking awful. The McMahon feud went on for ever and ever and ever, and the word 'buried' just doesn't do justice to what DX did to The Spirit Squad. For the amount of crap that they put us through, the few high points just weren't worth it.
DX Vs The McMahons & The Big Show: (Hell In A Cell Handicap Match) This would qualify as one of the high points of the feud. Having said that, it was actually one of the worst HIAC matches they've ever done, with some parts of the match frankly being flat out dull. Not something I want to watch again.
Winners: DX
Rated RKO: They start off by showing what was surely Randy Orton's highlight of the year, as he took on Hulk Hogan at SummerSlam. Obviously it wasn't what you would call a 'good' match, but it was entertaining as Hogan almost always is. Except for in the build up to the match which was utter shit. But that was neither Orton nor Hogan's fault. Anyway, this was one step in the road that led to the joining up of Orton with Edge to form Rated RKO. I still don't like the name but I like the idea of the team. Unfortunately, the reason for Edge recruiting Orton was to help him in facing DX, who, as I may have already intimated, hadn't exactly been floating my boat.
Rated RKO have had more success than the Spirit Squad did, but not by far (remember Survivor Series?). We do see footage of Edge and Orton beating a man down to the point of unconciousness, then continuing the attack with steel chairs. Of course, that wasn't actually a DX member, that was Ric Flair, who returned from the beating just a couple of weeks later. We are promised more of this feud later. Yippee.
Kevin Federline: NOW we're getting back on track. Having said that, this 'best of' show chooses not to show his early appearances, which were a revelation. We do see Federline costing Cena the Champions' match at Cyber Sunday, leading to their upcoming match. Which would be next week. I am too excited about that, it's not right. They show K-Fed's promo from last week, about how he's not really K-Fed, he's Kevin Federline. For a non-wrestler (really a non-anything) that was a damn reasonable promo.
Umaga: Just a highlights package of him being introduced by Arrrrrrrrrrmando Alejandrrrrrrrrrrrro Estrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrada and beating lots of guys up. Often using his thumb. Then to join up with the DX Vs Rated RKO feud as mentioned earlier, we get this match from last week.
DX & John Cena Vs Edge, Randy Orton & Umaga: This was a reasonable match, but definitely nothing special and not worth showing, or indeed writing about, two weeks in a row. The after-match was the best part, as Edge and Orton finally show some dominance over DX, leaving them bloody, which we now get to see in beautiful black & white. How arty.
My Thruppence: You know what, I'm gonna save my thoughts about this show, and write a proper piece to appear on f4wonline.com at some point over the next couple of days. Now now people, put t
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