WWE Raw is War

Dallas, Texas
January 29, 2007

Has he made his decision?
By Noah Starr
January 29, 2007

Dallas was Raw’s first stop on the Road to WrestleMania, and it was a night full of surprises in the sold-out American Airlines Center. As Raw went off the air, Undertaker rose up from the ground amidst smoke and flames. The Deadman locked his gaze on John Cena, leaving WWE fans to wonder -- has Undertaker set his sights on the WWE Championship?

That wasn’t the only surprise for Cena, who got one from Shawn Michaels as well. Less than 24 hours after his incredible performance in the Royal Rumble Match, HBK (who fell one (dead) man short of winning the match) spoke to the capacity crowd.

“Last week I said that no mere mortal man was going to stand in my way of winning the Royal Rumble Match and going on to the main event at WrestleMania. The problem is, in the Royal Rumble Match there were 29 mortal men… and the Undertaker.” He went on to claim, “I will somehow be the next WWE Champion at WrestleMania.”

At that point, Cena blasted towards the ring, closely followed by World Tag Team Champions Randy Orton and Edge, Mr. McMahon appeared on the TitanTron to stop a brawl between the four powerful Superstars, and the WWE Chairman stunned the crowd and kicked off his Fan Appreciation Night by announcing a World Tag Team Championship match that would pit Rated-RKO against Cena & Michaels later in the night.

Before the main event started, Ric Flair warned Cena that some Sweet Chin Music from Michaels could very well be in the Champ’s immediate future. When the four Superstars reached the ring, the fists flew and WWE fans were treated to a match of epic proportions. After a string of near falls, Cena nailed Orton with a thunderous FU to pick up the three count. In the same night he claimed that he furthered his intentions to become the new WWE Champion, HBK joined the current champ to become one of the most unlikely pairs of World Tag Team Champions in history. Moments after their victory, Cena and Michaels engaged in some heated words. Was HBK planning to knock out Cena?

Last week on Raw, Mr. McMahon left WWE fans scratching their heads after he announced that he had a big surprise in store for them. This week, the Chairman tried to live up to his claim that the evening would be Fan Appreciation Night by emerging with a blown-up picture of himself on the cover of Muscle and Fitness magazine. The Chairman then went on to personally sign the picture for one lucky female fan. Needless to say, WWE fans weren’t impressed. Just then, the entire TitanTron was engulfed with the magnificent golden locks of none other than Donald Trump. Trump made it clear that he knew what WWE fans wanted – cold, hard cash. The Donald then had buckets of his own money dumped into the arena, leaving Mr. McMahon fuming. The bad blood between these two brilliant billionaires is sure to continue.

A day after eliminating a whopping seven Superstars during the Royal Rumble Match, The Great Khali challenged Intercontinental Champion Jeff Hardy for his gold. Khali used his incredible size and strength to dominate the talented Hardy during much of the match. After receiving a brutal chop from the 420-pound Punjab Warrior, Hardy hit the ground hard outside the ring and failed get back in before the referee’s 10 count, giving Khali a countout victory. Because the match resulted in a countout, the Intercontinental Championship did not change hands.

In other Raw action, Cryme Tyme suffered their first loss on Raw to The World’s Greatest Tag Team, and Melina became the No. 1 Contender to the Women’s Championship after manipulating Mr. McMahon into giving her a match against Maria. Also, Umaga, who still bore the rope burns from his Last Man Standing Match with John Cena, used his pent-up fury to bulldoze his way to a quick win over Val Venis, and Carlito & Super Crazy (who remains both Super AND Crazy) successfully teamed up to defeat the cocky duo of Kenny Dykstra & Chris Masters.

Matches

The World's Greatest Tag Team def. Cryme Tyme

Melina def. Maria

Umaga def. Val Venis

Carlito & Super Crazy def. Kenny Dykstra & Chris Masters

The Great Khali def. Intercontinental Champion Jeff Hardy (Countout)

WWE Champion John Cena & Shawn Michaels def. World Tag Team Champions Edge & Randy Orton (New Champions)