Raw is War
Anaheim, California
October 31, 2005
Tricks and treats
October 31, 2005
On this special Halloween edition of Monday Night RAW, the WWE Superstars pulled
out all the tricks in an attempt to gain the upper hand on their Taboo Tuesday
opposition.
Not even WWE Champion John Cena was immune from a dastardly Halloween trick.
After tapping out to Kurt Angle’s ankle lock last week, Cena was put in a match
against Shawn Michaels this week by General Manager Eric Bischoff. HBK, along
with Big Show and Kane, are up for the final spot in the WWE Championship Triple
Threat Match at Taboo Tuesday against Cena and Angle. So, this not only gave HBK
a chance to soften up Cena before his match at Taboo Tuesday, it gave him
another shot to leave a favorable impression on the voters’ minds heading into
the event.
HBK controlled the match early on, but Cena showed his trademark perseverance
and fought back. HBK was able to stave off the comeback. After a series of
moves, Michaels went up top for his flying elbow. Cena still had enough in him
to move out of the way. Then, with both men still down on the mat, Angle
attacked. The Olympic gold medalist put the boots to both Michaels and Cena, but
he couldn’t keep them down. Cena recovered and got Angle up for the FU, but
before he could execute the maneuver, HBK got to his feet and laid them both out
with a dose of Sweet Chin Music. Could this be a sign of things to come at Taboo
Tuesday?
The tricks started early in the night, however. Bischoff came to the ring with
Chris Masters in the beginning of the show, and they called out SmackDown’s Rey
Mysterio to take part in the Master Lock Challenge. Before the challenge could
start, though, Mysterio attacked Masters with the microphone and slammed him
face-first onto a steel chair. Bischoff called for some RAW reinforcement as
Edge, Lita, Snitsky, Trevor Murdoch, Lance Cade, Kerwin White and Nick Nemeth
answered the call. Theodore Long, who had accompanied Mysterio to the ring, also
called for reinforcements as Matt Hardy, Hardcore Holly, JBL and Christian ran
through the Anaheim crowd and stormed the ring. Mysterio hit the 619 on Masters
as the RAW troops retreated. Bischoff berated his RAW soldiers, Edge and Masters
in particular, and said that he refuses to lose to Long and his SmackDown at
Taboo Tuesday. Edge and Masters will face any two out of Mysterio, JBL,
Christian, Holly and Hardy. You can vote on who you most want to see in the
match now.
The Coach decided to get into the Halloween spirit and came to RAW dressed up as
Stone Cold Coachman. Complete with a Stone Cold t-shirt, jean shorts, two black
knee braces and a couple of beers, he once again called out Stone Cold. He also
said that he would lay his cards out on the table and brought out his backup –
Goldust. After the bizarre one came out, Mr. McMahon informed Coach that Stone
Cold had an accident and won’t be at RAW or at Taboo Tuesday the following
evening. McMahon said that since Coach is the No. 1 announcer on RAW, his new
opponent for Taboo Tuesday would be SmackDown’s No. 1 announcer – Funaki. Funaki
ran to the ring, but Goldust made short work of him. Coach told McMahon that he
can handle anyone from the SmackDown roster, so with that, McMahon laid out an
open challenge to anyone on the SmackDown roster. It didn’t take long for
someone to answer, as the World Heavyweight Champion Batista answered the
challenge. Batista laid out Goldust with a spinebuster, but then he was
blindsided by another surprise backup plan in Vader. Vader held Batista while
Coach laid in an insulting slap to the face before leaving the ring. So, at
Taboo Tuesday, it will be Jonathan Coachman, with Vader and Goldust by his side,
taking on World Heavyweight Champion Batista in a verbal debate, an arm
wrestling contest or a Street Fight.
Also at Taboo Tuesday, Ric Flair will defend his Intercontinental Championship
against his former best friend Triple H. A video package was shown on RAW
documenting the long relationship between Flair and The Game. Following the
package, Flair came out to the stage, and once again asked the fans to put him
in a Steel Cage Match against Triple H.
Later in the evening Triple H faced off against the massive Viscera. Despite
giving up a couple hundred pounds to Big Vis, Triple H made short work of the
world’s largest love machine and put him away with the Pedigree. The Game showed
his ruthlessness after the match when he knocked Viscera over the railing with
the steel ring steps.
Eugene and Rob Conway also went at it in a one-on-one matchup. Eugene, who was
scheduled to team up with a WWE Legend to take on Conway in a Handicap Match at
Taboo Tuesday, went to work right from the bell. Irate that Conway had
embarrassed some of his favorite legends over the past couple of weeks, Eugene
tore into the Con man. Conway was frustrated by how the match was going and
blasted Eugene with a steel chair causing a disqualification. The three legends
who the fans can vote on – Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Superfly Jimmy Snuka and Kamala,
made the save and got the best of Conway. Jerry “The King” Lawler even got in on
the fun and hit his trademark fist drop off the second rope. Later on, Bischoff
said that he had been waiting to get revenge on Eugene for last year’s Taboo
Tuesday when his nephew defeated him in a Hair vs. Hair Match. And his revenge
will be coming in the form of Tyson Tomko. At Taboo Tuesday, Tomko will team up
with Conway to take on Eugene and the fans’ choice of either Duggan, Kamala or
Snuka.
In addition to all of the tricks, the fans also enjoyed some treats during the
Diva Halloween Costume Contest. Ashley was dressed as a dark angel, Maria was
dressed as a Victoria’s Secret angel, Candice was dressed as Cat Woman, Victoria
was dressed as a baseball player, Mickie James was dressed as Trish Stratus, and
Trish Stratus was dressed as Wonder Woman. Before the fans could finish voicing
their opinions on who should win the contest, Mickie James interrupted and said
that it was obvious they should choose Trish. Victoria told Mickie she needed to
calm down and before you could say “Trick or treat,” all hell broke loose.
Candice was quadruple-teamed by Ashley, Mickie, Trish and Maria. These six
participants will mix it up on pay-per-view in a Fulfill Your Fantasy Battle
Royal for the Woman’s Championship at Taboo Tuesday.
Carlito said he had a surprise for Mick Foley, so Foley came up with a surprise
of his own. In a video message, Dude Love, Cactus Jack and Mankind all told
Carlito what would happen if they were chosen to face him at Taboo Tuesday.
Big Show and Kane, who could end up teaming together at Taboo Tuesday as well,
took on The Heart Throbs in a Texas Tornado Match. They tried outdoing each
other move for move and eventually finished things off with a double chokeslam.
Kurt Angle was also in action as he defeated Tajiri by making him tap out to the
ankle lock.
Matches
WWE Champion John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels (no contest)
Women's Champion Trish Stratus vs. Victoria vs. Candice Michelle vs. Maria vs. Ashley vs. Mickie James (no contest)
Big Show & Kane def. The Heart Throbs (Texas Tornado Match)
Eugene def. Rob Conway (DQ)
Triple H def. Viscera
Kurt Angle def. Tajiri