Raw is War
Penn State
June 12, 2006
An extreme awakening makes Cena snap
By Ed Williams III
June 12, 2006
Simply put, at ECW One Night Stand, John Cena was screwed. The former WWE
Champion has reigned victorious in steel cages, I Quit Matches and even the
Elimination Chamber, but this was his first Championship defense in an ECW Rules
Match. Cena was able to overcome the ravenous, sold-out crowd at the Hammerstein
Ballroom, but he couldn’t endure a spear by Edge through a table and a
three-count by non-referee Paul Heyman. At the end of the night, Rob Van Dam was
crowned the new Champion. Cena has been through a lot during his time on RAW.
But after what happened at One Night Stand, he finally snapped on RAW. A new,
more vicious, blood-thirsty Cena, hell-bent on revenge was unveiled. It was as
if ECW had awoken a sleeping dragon.
At the top of the show, Paul Heyman announced that despite all of the
controversy swirling around One Night Stand, Rob Van Dam was the new WWE
Champion. Because the match was an ECW Rules Match, everything that occurred in
the match was legal. As reported earlier by WWE.com, Cena was already scheduled
to face Edge in a one-on-one match. But upon hearing the news, Cena had even
more reason to want to get his hands on the Rated R Superstar.
As soon as he hit the ring, however, Cena turned into a tornado of lefts and
rights, backing Edge into a corner. Lita tried to break things up, but it only
seemed to anger Cena more. Edge ran away through the crowd, but not everyone was
safe. Stevie Richards, Balls Mahoney and Justin Credible of ECW were ringside to
cheer on Edge, and they had nowhere to run. Cena pulled them out of their front
row seats and over the guard rail and started swinging a steel chair like a man
possessed. Taking a page out of his ECW enemies, Cena left all three members of
the new brand laying motionless after the maniacal onslaught. Perhaps Cena put
it best when he addressed the crowd after his own personal demolition derby.
“At One Night Stand, I got an awakening as to how ECW does business,” said Cena.
“According to them, anyone can show up, and when they get there, they can do
whatever the hell they want. And you know what…I think I like it.”
But that wasn’t all Cena said. Tuesday night ECW will be debuting on the Sci Fi
Channel at 10/9 CT. Earlier in the evening Paul Heyman invited everyone and
anyone to join ECW in a big party where Rob Van Dam will rechristen the WWE
Championship as the new ECW Championship. The slogan for ECW is “a new breed
unleashed”, but it looks like at the same time they have unleashed a new, more
aggressive, more vicious John Cena. And the former Champion is looking forward
to showcasing his new demeanor on the Sci Fi Channel Tuesday night.
“Tomorrow is the television debut of ECW, and I’m gonna show up,” said Cena
Monday night on RAW. “And when I do, I’m gonna do whatever the hell I wanna do.
So, Paul Heyman, thank you for throwing this party tomorrow night because John
Cena will have an ‘extremely’ good time.” Cena already decimated three ECW
wrestlers on RAW. What will the enraged former Champion have in store for
Tuesday night?
While John Cena unveiled a new attitude on RAW, two other Superstars turned back
the clock a bit and reverted to their old ways. You could almost say that Triple
H and Shawn Michaels went through a bit of a degeneration.
Last week on RAW, Triple H embarrassed Mr. McMahon like he had never been
embarrassed before. The Chairman explained what happened, and what the
repercussions would be in his State of the WWE Address earlier in the evening.
“It is one thing to establish a Kiss My Ass Club, but it’s another thing for
someone to drive me down to the canvas exposing my derriere on an involuntary
basis – there are children watching this show…Triple H needs to be taught a
lesson.”
To teach Triple H that lesson, Mr. McMahon put The Game in a 5-on-1 Gauntlet
Match against the entire Spirit Squad. The match started as a one-on-one match,
but at Mr. McMahon’s call, another Squad member joined the match. Triple H held
his own for a while, but when it became four on one, the Squad started to
dismantle the King of Kings, just as The Chairman had wanted. Mr. McMahon
instructed the Squad to place a chair around Triple H’s neck so they could
injury him, much like they did with HBK’s knee. But when Mr. McMahon called for
the fifth member of the squad, Mitch was thrown across the stage.
The Chairman looked on in bewilderment, but that feeling soon turned into rage
as Shawn Michaels, who was thought to be out with a knee injury, came to Triple
H’s aid. HBK and Triple H cleaned house of the Spirit Squad and punctuated it
with Sweet Chin Music on Kenny and a Pedigree on Johnny. And then, for the icing
on the cake, a reunited HBK and Triple H delivered a series of double crotch
chops to the Chairman. Then Triple H added insult to injury when he pulled down
his trunks and mooned Mr. McMahon. The rebel group that first terrorized any and
all authority figures durring the Attitude era was back – D-Generation X was
reunited.
Incensed at what occurred, Mr. McMahon, who was backstage with the Spirit Squad,
declared that at Vengeance, the entire Squad would face Shawn Michaels and
Triple H in a 5-on-2 Handicap Match, and DX would be gone once and for all. DX
has never let anyone in a position of authority get the best of them before, but
will this be a different story?
That wasn’t the only match announced for Vengeance, though. When Paul Heyman
declared that Rob Van Dam was officially the WWE Champion and would be
re-christening the gold as the ECW Championship, he also noted that ECW still
recognizes Edge as the No. 1 Contender. So, at Vengeance, Rob Van Dam will
defend his Championship against Edge.
There will also be a battle of legends at Vengeance. Mick Foley came to the ring
to address his WWE fans to let them know that the old Mick Foley was back – the
lovable, human muppet was back. But before Foley could get much further, he was
interrupted by none other than the Nature Boy Ric Flair. And then, three years
of pent up frustration completely boiled over.
“You standing up for WWE is crap. You’re a glorified stuntman,” said an enraged
Flair. “For 10 years guys like the Nature Boy, Triple H, The Rock, Stone Cold,
Undertaker and Kurt Angle have wrestled their way to greatness. And you know
what bugs me? People come up to me and say that the coolest thing they ever saw
was Mick Foley falling off the top of the cage and through the announce table at
Hell in a Cell. That pissess me off. We have bled and wrestled our way to
greatness. You just fall off a cage, and you’re great.”
Foley wasted no time in responding to the Nature Boy’s heated words.
“What pisses you off is that they (the fans) don’t care about you vs. Harley
Race at the first Starrcade. They don’t care about you vs. Ricky Steamboat. They
don’t even remember you vs. Terry Funk in the I Quit Match,” said Foley. “To WWE
fans, to my WWE fans, you’ll never be in my same league. And you know more than
anything else that you can’t do anything about it, because the glorified
stuntman will rip you apart just like that.”
Flair promptly ripped off his jacket and dared Foley to take a shot at him, but
Foley backed off. The Hardcore Legend said that due to blurry vision and sever
lacerations from One Night Stand, he couldn’t do it on RAW. But he would do it
at Vengeance. To make matters even more interesting, Vengeance will be in
Flair’s hometown of Charlotte, N.C. And to try to rub it in, Foley wants to beat
Flair at his own game.
“I won’t need thumb tacks, ladders or barbed wire. I’ll outwrestle you at
Vengeance in your hometown of Charlotte,” said Foley. “And I’ll do it your way –
in a 2 out of 3 Falls Match.”
Flair wasted no time in accepting, so the two legends will battle in an epic
clash in less than two weeks.
The Intercontinental Championship will also be defended at Vengeance. Shelton
Benjamin will have to defend the gold in a Triple Threat Match against Carlito
and Johnny Nitro. Carlito went one on one against Nitro, and Benjamin was on
hand to provide guest commentary. Benjamin said that it takes two men to even
compete with him. The comment is interesting considering that Carlito recently
defeated the Champion in a non-title match, but Benjamin blamed that on getting
dust in his eye. Regardless, Benjamin interjected himself in the match on RAW
and prevented Nitro from falling victim to the Back Cracker, helping him get the
win. But Benjamin will have to be careful at Vengeance, because if Nitro can pin
Carlito again, or vice versa, the Champion can lose the gold without even being
involved in the decision.
A Vengeance challenge was also laid out. In a backstage interview with Todd
Grisham, Randy Orton issued a challenge to ECW's Kurt Angle. Orton, who came
back from a broken ankle at the hands of the Wrestling Machine, tapped out once
again to Angle at One Night Stand. But after facing Angle on his home turf,
Orton wants his nemesis in a WWE ring, with WWE rules. Will the Wrestling
Machine accept the challenge?
RAW’s newest Superstar Randy Orton had the first match of the night, but it
didn’t last long. He went one on one with Kane, and before long, the two
Superstars battled up the ramp. Battering Orton with rights and lefts, Kane was
relentless in his pursuit, resulting in a double count-out. After blocking an
RKO on the stage, sending Orton down hard on the steel, Kane was once again
confronted by the mysterious figure resembling the Kane of old. After a couple
of thunderous punches, the unknown assailant sent Kane crashing off the stage.
Who is continuing to terrorize Kane, and what is the reasoning?
Umaga also continued his reign of terror of RAW. One week after being blindsided
by the Samoan Bulldozer, WWE Legend Hacksaw Jim Duggan had a one-on-one match
against the undefeated Umaga. The brave Hacksaw was no match for the seemingly
unstoppable Umaga. The Samoan Bulldozer even took Duggan’s trademark 2 x 4 and
broke it over his head, showing no ill-effects. After the match, Umaga tied
Eugene up in the ropes and made him watch his tutor, Hacksaw, endure even more
punishment. Can anyone stop the Samoan Bulldozer?
Last week on RAW, Charlie Haas, amped up for his match against Nitro, ran
full-throttle into the ring and sprang off the ropes. Unfortunately, he did not
see ring announcer Lilian Garcia on the apron, and knocked her to the floor.
Lilian suffered a strained and sprained wrist due to the incident. Haas came out
and tried to apologize to Lilian, but before she could reply, Viscera came out.
Lilian’s one-time boyfriend, who seems to be smitten with her once again, said
that Lilian may accept Haas’ apology, but he didn’t. With that, Viscera
decimated Haas and finished him off with a thunderous splash. Lilian just looked
on with a confused look on her face. Are Lilian and Viscera back together?
It was also a night of firsts on RAW as there was the first-ever Wet and Wild
Water Match between Torrie Wilson and Candice. Water guns, buckets of water and
even water balloons could be used, and the winner of the match would be on the
cover of the WWE Summer Special Magazine. In the end, after soaking each other
with water, Torrie was able to take Candice down for the pin. After the match,
Torrie celebrated by throwing some left-over balloons at Good Ol' J.R. at the
announce booth.
Also, in a backstage interview with Todd Grisham, Mickie James noted that it
seems pretty ironic that every time someone has an issue with her, they get
hurt. Ashley called her psycho, and she ended up with a broken leg and is now on
SmackDown. Trish Stratus tried to win back her Women’s Championship, and her
shoulder popped out. And now Beth Phoenix has a broken jaw. Mickie also revealed
that she has known Beth ever since grade school. She said that they were friends
growing up, but then Beth just started to become mean. But what exactly happened
between the two Divas to make them such bitter enemies?
And the Highlanders are on their way to RAW. A video highlighting the Scotland
natives was revealed showing them walking the unfamiliar streets of New York.
They were shocked to be in a place that had more people than sheep.