Scott's Blog of Doom

WWE Raw Recap, August 31, 2009
Live from Detroit, Michigan
By Alexander Coleman

-WWE intro.

-Raw intro.

-Pyro. Your hosts are Michael Cole and Jerry “The King” Lawler.

-Cole and Lawler hype a couple of matches. Wrestling? On Raw? Kofi Kingston's U.S. Title is in grave jeopardy: he must defend it in a Fatal Fourway against The Miz, Jack Swagger and Carlito. Well, that road to the U.S. Champion for those three was fast. You gotta love those Raw writers, they know how to hotshot promising angles. And!: Mark Henry vs. The Big Show. Reinforce that ring, fellas!

-Lilian Garcia introduces “The American Dream,” Dusty Rhodes. His “Common Man” theme hits and he casually strolls down to the ring, taking his time and enjoying himself. He's obviously into this, and that is a great sign, and hopefully a good omen for this telecast. When they have a guest host who is there for baser reasons, it helps to kill the show. Rhodes says “Hello” to Detroit. He introduces himself and tells the fans he is the host tonight. “Not too long ago right down the road here in Detroit City, two years ago, I was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.” Dusty talks about how it made him think of a working city that never quits, of a blue-collar working city called Detroit, Michigan. He then says he's proud of his son, Cody Rhodes. Dusty says that there is “nothing a father would not do for his son.” He repeats the line to emphasize it. Dusty says that he hopes his son sees the light one day, and maybe that light will shine tonight. Dusty then shills Breaking Point, proving that he hasn't lost a step from the days when he was saying Roddy Piper vs. Hollywood Hulk Hogan at Halloween Havoc '97 was going to be an epic battle. Dusty says John Cena won't challenge Randy Orton at Breaking Point in a submission match; he'll challenge Dusty's own son, Cody. Why? Because tonight it will be Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton for the WWE Title! “Oh yeah, and I'm gonna be in his corner!” Dusty yells out. Special referee? None other than JC himself. “John Cena!” Dusty bellows.

Suddenly, Randy Orton's music hits and the man who hears voices in his head slowly walks down to the ring. Orton has his grade-A game face on tonight. Looks like he's (secretly) happy to be confronting someone from the business. Orton has a mic, because what are you if you don't have one? “I think it is obvious, Dusty Rhodes, that you are jealous of me... You are jealous because your son, Cody, looks up to me more than he has ever looked up to you.” Orton says Dusty's booking is the most shameless act he has ever seen. Well, we haven't seen Cody beat him for the title only for the decision to be reversed yet, so let's not be too rough on Dusty's booking yet. Dusty counters Orton's verbal onslaught by saying he will raise his son's hand after Cody defeats Randy tonight. Orton wants one good reason why he shouldn't kick Dusty in the skull like he did two years ago. “Come on, tell me old man. One... good... reason.”

And, just like that, the Legacy music hits and out comes Cody Rhodes. If any of you enjoyed The Shield you know that Cody is like the Ronnie Gardocki of Legacy, so it's nice to see him get the spotlight for once. “This man, this man, you kicked in the head two years ago... This man happens to be my father. I mean, his... Legacy in this industry runs much deeper than mine, than yours. Randy, I mean, we're associates. I'd like to think perhaps we're even friends. But this is a golden opportunity, Randy. This is something I cannot and will not pass up. Just like you, I intend tonight to become the youngest WWE champion in history. And, Randy, it isn't personal. It's strictly business.”

Orton calculates the dangers for his WWE Championship. Orton realizes that he must take on Cody, with Dusty in Cody's corner and none other than John Cena serving as the referee. “...The fix is in,” Randy remarks. Dusty gets the final word in: “You betta believe it, Randy. The fix is in.” Hmmmmm...

-Backstage: Six “Smart, Sexy, Powerful” Divas are being talked to by a referee. They will have a Six-Diva Battle Royal when we return! Winner challenges Mickie James for the Diva's Championship later in the night.

-Commercial break.

-ECW TV: See Shawn Michaels, Mr. WrestleMania, go at it with the man who wields the Streak, The Undertaker!

-We return with a shot of the Government Motors building. General Motors, I mean.

-Garcia introduces Kelly Kelly and Gail Kim to the ring. Then out comes Beth Phoenix. Rosa Mendes follows. Jillian Hall is next. Alicia Fox strolls down the ring.

-6-Diva Battle Royal

Three pairings emerge with Beth beating on Kelly, Alicia targeting Jillian and Gail and Rosa going at it. Beth throws Rosa out of the ring. Kelly with forearms to both Jillian and Alicia. A clothesline sends Jillian down. Alicia with a scissorkick to Kelly. But Alicia is thrown out by Gail. Beth simply tosses Kelly out of the ring. Gail with a dropkick to Beth. Beth holds onto the middle rope on the apron. Gail tries to force her off the apron and then knocks her head into the turnbuckle. Gail and Jillian trade toss attempts with one another. Gail goes for a springing crossbody off the middle turnbuckle but misses. Gail and Jillian trade forearms. Jillian holds Gail, placing her butt on the top rope but Gail won't go out. Gail with a rana attempt but Jillian awkwardly holds onto Gail and prevents it. Jillian tries to throw Gail out but Gail once again holds on. Crowd is completely, utterly dead for this. Gail with a headscissors takedown from the apron over the top rope, sending Jillian down. But Beth returns OUTTA NOWHERE and knocks Gail down to the floor.

Winner: Beth Phoenix in approximately 4:30. The pacing was awful, and it was probably wrong to start the wrestling with a diva's match, but it's understandable considering the stipulation of a shot at Mickie later in the evening. (¼*)

-Lawler and Cole hype Beth vs. Mickie for later.

-Chris Jericho's music hits and he walks down to the ring. He sneers at the parasites attending.

-Commercial break.

-We return with Jericho in the ring, his shifty eyes on the fans. Replay from last week shows the heinous crime that occurred with Floyd Mayweather handing MVP the brass knuckles to knock Jericho out. And, right on cue, Jericho holds his jaw the moment the replay concludes. Guess the psychological pain from the replay caught up with him. MVP comes down to the ring and we're set for what should be a darned good singles match.

Chris Jericho vs. MVP

And our ref is Lil Naitch! MVP with a takedown and they spend about forty-five seconds going into takedowns and front chancery attempts on one another. Headbutt by Jericho. Whips MVP into the corner. A stomp. “Come on, MVP. Where are those brass knuckles, huh? Where are those brass knuckles, huh? Where are they?” Haha. Jericho in control with some stomps. Good “MVP!” chant from the crowd. Back suplex by Jericho and he goes for the pin, getting a two count. MVP back up with some punches and forearms. MVP with stiff right hands sending Jericho down consecutively. Greco-Roman toss by MVP, followed by a facebuster attempt that is caught by Jericho, who immediately goes for the Walls of Jericho. MVP fights back with some rights and he kicks Jericho away into the corner. Jericho with a lariat attempt, MVP with a Chono boot attempt, Jerihco holds the ropes but Jericho runs right into the Chono boot anyway. One, two, no. MVP with a forearm. “MVP!” chant continues. Big flying clothesline by MVP and he hooks the leg but Jericho kicks out at two. MVP measures Jericho for a big Chono boot in the corner but Jericho moves away, MVP is hung up in the corner with his leg on the top turnbuckle, and we get the beautiful middle rope springboard dropkick from Jericho that sends MVP down all the way to the floor.

-Commercial break.

We return to in-ring action. Lawler immediately shills Mayweather's fight on September 19. Jericho has MVP grounded with a rear chinlock, MVP sends Jericho to the corner but a charge finds Jericho's boot. Jericho goes for a double axe handle from the corner but MVP knocks the air out of Jericho's midsection with a fist. MVP with a running forearm, sending Jericho down. MVP charges into a kick to the gut and Jericho hits his running bulldog. Cole and Lawler talk up Jericho's resourcefulness ancd pedigree within the WWE. Jericho with a Lionsault attempt but MVP rolls away. MVP with a low dropkick to the side of Jericho's head. MVP feeds off the fans' energy and connects with the Ballin' Elbow. One, two, no. Playmaker attempt by MVP is reversed into the Walls of Jericho—but no!—MVP reverses the Walls of Jericho into a small package. Both men get back up and Jericho, OUTTA NOWHERE, hits the Codebreaker. One, two, three.

Winnner: Chris Jericho in 9:00. All right! Very good television match, especially for the Raw brand. Jericho being on this show is a godsend. He and Big Show shouldn't drop the tag titles until Survivor Series at the very least. In any case, Jericho truly needed this singles win here. He had just jobbed for John Cena on two consecutive Raw broadcasts (well, technically the first time it was interrupted but it was obviously headed in that direction) and he needed a clean, singles win. MVP looked good and that finish was the kind of “counter-for-counter” wrestling, to quote our Guest Host from his WCW broadcasting days, I was hoping for from these two. (**¾)

-Backstage: The two members of DX are conversing with Dusty Rhodes, who happens to be standing before a large layout for the Rise and Fall of WCW DVD. HHH with a rather good Dusty Rhodes imitation. HHH says Cody and DiBiase are disgraces to their fathers' legacies. Dusty says that after Cody wins the WWE Title, he'll try to make sure he lets one of the DX guys have a shot. HHH's eyes light up and HBK points out the truth, HHH has had so many shots at the WWE Title. The interweaving of kayfabe and smarkiness is increasing here with HHH and HBK back. HBK shills the WCW DVD, Dusty shills his Dusty Rhodes DVD and HHH shills the new DX DVD. They want to watch the WCW DVD right now. “Um, shouldn't we be watching Raw?” HBK wonders aloud. They decide not to, because the show is so crushingly predictable. The creative team on Raw must be howling with laughter.

-Hornswoggle is sighted WALKING backstage. But he's not just walking, he's wearing cowboy gear. He's going to be in a Texas Bull Rope match! I can't imagine who his opponent is!

-Commercial break.

-He... Has... Risen. The Undertaker returns to WWE TV this Friday night on Smackdown!

-Just For Men aids WWE in showing us what occurred last week: that evil, terrible man named Chavo Guerrero cheated and slammed poor little Hornswoggle. But OUTTA NOWHERE (okay, that's the last one for this recap), Evan Bourne ran out and assaulted Chavo!

-Lilian introduces us to the concept of the Texas Bull Rope match. Hornswoggle and Chavo are introduced. Chavo is wearing a cow costume.

-Hornswoggle vs. Chavo Guerrero in a Texas Bull Rope Match

The referee demands Chavo put on a cow head to complement his cow costume. And it's a female cow, just to ensure that the humiliation is complete. Hornswoggle with some early offense and a hogtie attempt but Chavo puts his boot up and knocks Hornswoggle down. Chavo takes his cow head off and goes to the top rope, looking for that Frogsplash on Hornswoggle that will, to quote 1999 Y2J, never, eeeeever happen. Evan Bourne runs out to distract Chavo and Horny gets up puts Chavo's cow head on backwards and hogties the hapless Chavo for the victory.

Winner: Hornswoggle in 2:00. Bourne celebrates with Hornswoggle in the ring. Chavo attacks Bourne from behind, then goes after Horny but his shoulder smashes into the ringpost. Horny bites Chavo in the ass and Bourne knocks Chavo down. Bourne encourages Horny to go to the top turnbuckle, he puts the cow head on Horny and a giant “MOO!” echoes throughout the building. Hornysplash on Chavo. Chavo is down on the floor as Horny and Bourne have fun with one another. (n/a)

So, rather than get to Bourne-Chavo, we have Bourne playing Horny's big brother of the month. Could he demand to go back to ECW? Raw's just not the place for him.

-Next: The Big Show and Mark Henry do battle! Their statistics are shown for our edification. They both be biiig.

-Big Show is walking backstage!

-Commercial break.

-How can Christian survive Regal's Ruthless, Rapacious, Repugnant Roundtable? Find out by tuning in to ECW TV tomorrow night.

-Did You Know? John Cena is a swell guy and he does Make A Wish.

-The Big Show and Mark Henry are given full intros.

-The Big Show vs. Mark Henry

I'm getting Earthquake-Adam Bomb flashbacks. Big Show slaps Henry in the face. Show lunges in Henry's direction but Henry moves away. MASSIVE test of strength occurs. Show looks strong to start but Henry is the World's Strongest Man, after all, so the test of strength is being won by him by the time Show gives Henry a knee to the gut. Headbutt attempt hurts Show as much as Henry. Henry gives Show one of his own headbutts. Show wants his “Shhh” Slap of Death in the corner but Henry doesn't comply and Henry applies a side headlock. Eventually they move around some more and Show levels Henry with his spear. Show with a front chancery and he pushes Henry into the corner. Show runs into a big elbow to the head. Henry with some punches. Show is caught in the corner and Henry gives him his chest bumps in the corner. Henry with a third chest bump in mid-ring and Show goes down. Henry with the World's Strongest Splash and that gets Henry two. Big Show lets Henry run into an elbow of his own. Big Show unties the top turnbuckle and he lets the charging Henry run right into the uncovered STEEL of the turnbuckle. Henry rebounds and gets punched out by Show. Ref disqualifies Big Show.

Winner: Mark Henry in 5:00 via disqualification. Anyone wanting a fast-paced match should be sticking around for the Fatal Fourway. This was about two giants going at it, and they made it work well considering the limitations. (*¼)

-Randy Orton, backstage, tells Cody Rhodes that tonight's match between the two “isn't personal. It's just business.”

-Commercial break.

-There's the home of the Detroit Tigers! And did you know that Breaking Point is presented by Batman: Arkham Asylum?

-Backstage: The Fingerpoke of Doom that began the death of WCW is shown on a TV. Dusty says that was the beginning of the end. DX agree. They pick on Dusty, but Dusty points out that their good friend, Kevin Nash, was the man who orchestrated it. HHH and HBK disown Nash, answering my question from last week, and they say if they had been there they would never have allowed him to do that. HHH, HBK and Dusty argue about WCW vs. WWF, er, WWE, and the Monday Night Wars. Dusty points out the inconvenient truth that WCW was kicking McMahon's ass for two solid years. HHH and HBK say, yes, that happened, but, you know, right after WrestleMania XIV, WWF turned things around and the good guys won the war. Dusty wonders when HBK was on top in WWF. “Well, uh, like, my first championship reign was in 1996.” Dusty calculates that HBK standing as one of WWF's biggest stars coincides with the drop in business for the company and WCW's dominance. And when did HBK depart wrestling for well over four years? Well, his last match at the time was at... WrestleMania XIV. HBK missed the Attitude Era. HBK then goes into a tirade about horrible that was for him, and he runs away in a huff. HBK says the Attitude Era was his idea and while everyone was rolling around in the dough, he was sitting at home doing nothing! HHH wonders whose stupid idea it was to create the Johnny B. Bad gimmick for Marc Mero, who HHH proceeds to badmouth. Dusty confesses that it was all his idea. Mero is HHH's favorite whipping boy. Not that he doesn't deserve it or anything.

-Jack Swagger vs. Carlito vs. The Miz vs. Kofi Kingston in a Fatal Fourway for the United States Championship

All four men are given introductions. Miz is your cowardly heel so he ducks out of the ring to let the other three go at it. Dropkick from Kofi to Swagger. Kofi with forearms to Carlito and he mounts Carlito in the corner. Swagger with a belly-to-belly suplex to Kofi. Swagger celebrates so Carlito dropkicks him out to the floor. Pinning attempt by Carlito broken up by Miz, who throws Carlito out to the floor. That wily Miz. Miz with some punches to Kofi. You know, Kofi is probably as natural a babyface as I can think of. He just sells like a face should sell, for one thing. Miz runs around while Kofi does his multiple jumps in the middle of the ring spot and he leaps over the charging Carlito, who is backdropped to the floor onto Swagger by Miz. Kofi clotheslines Miz out to the floor. Kofi measures himself, runs and leaps over the top rope onto the three heels on the floor. Kofi back into the ring to celebrate as we cut to break.

-Commercial break.

We return with Swagger in control on Kofi with a modified standing single-legged Boston Crab. Lawler says The Miz is sneaking around on the floor. Miz gets up into the ring and he knees Swagger in the head. Neat falling neckbreaker by Miz on Swagger. Carlito is swatted away. Miz with a cover on Swagger but Kofi breaks it up. Miz kicks Kofi around. Kofi whipped into the corner by Miz but just as Miz was going to charge at Kofi, Carlito delivers a springing missile dropkick from the top rope onto Miz. Carlito with a pin attempt but Kofi breaks it up. Miz whips Carlito into a boot by Kofi and he then takes both heels down with a top rope double lariat. Pin attempt on Miz, broken up by Swagger. Swagger throws Kofi shoulder-first into the ringpost. Swagger with clotheslines on the other two heels in respective corners. Vader Bomb to Carlito gets an unbroken two count. (All but Swagger are down on the mat.) Swagger goes for the Vader Bomb on Miz but Miz gets his knees up. Kofi with a running dropkick sends Miz down to the floor. Kofi scoop slams Carlito onto Swagger and Kofi delivers the Boom Boom Boom double legdrop on Carlito and Swagger. Cole says Kofi calls it either the Boom Drop or the Moon Drop, it's difficult to tell, but I'd bet on it being the Boom Drop since that makes some sense. Kofi covers Swagger but Miz interrupts it at two. Miz throws Kofi to the floor. Miz with his running clothesline into the corner on Carlito. Swagger goes for his Gutwrench Powerbomb on Carlito, but Carlito squirms out of it. Miz hits the Skull-Crushing Finale (otherwise known as the Stroke) on Swagger, gets two from the ref but Carlito pulls Miz off and hits him with the Backstabber. And, then Kofi returns to the ring and gives Carlito Trouble in Paradise for the victory.

Winner: Kofi Kingston in 9:00. Good match that could have used some more time for it to be more than spot-after-spot, but the finish was admittedly quite exciting. Raw still needs midcard feuds to elevate these guys, but I appreciate the focus on the U.S. Championship despite the Raw writing team's severe lack of patience in building up their programs, title-based and otherwise. Anyway, all four guys looked good, but especially Miz and Kofi, who for whatever reason, seemed to be the hungriest. (**¼)

-Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton with John Cena as the referee... Tonight!

-Commercial break.

-Please, do not try any of this wrestling business at home.

-Beth Pheonix vs. Mickie James for the Diva's Championship

Cole says Beth is completely refocused now after the Santino, or Santina, affair concluded some months back. Translation: Raw's creative team finally remembered that angle from some months ago and have decided to have Beth “refocused.” In any case, it's a smart move to push Beth. Mickie gets up in Beth's face for no particular reason before the match. Bell sounds and Mickie gets a rollup on Beth for two. Mickie with a side headlock. Beth shrugs her off and goes for a possible bodyslam but instead she rams her “kidney-first,” according to Cole, into the top turnbuckle. Beth with some good-looking stomps on Mickie. Beth with a baseball slide dropkick that sends Mickie's head right into the ringpost. Good, convincing spot. Mickie very slow to get back up. Beth with a shoulderblock smash sends Mickie down to the canvas. Beth with a vicious shoulderbreaker to the left shoulder. One, two, no. Beth with some well-executed knee strikes to Mickie's shoulder and arm. Beth with a shoulderlock, Mickie fights out and she gives Beth a few kciks and then punches. Beth runs into an elbow. Mickie, favoring her left side, punches and forearms Beth. Dropkick to Beth's left knee. A couple of clotheslines with the good arm. Mickie with her trademark headscissors from the top. Micke tries to go to the top again but Beth knocks her down to the floor. Beth throws Mickie down, shoulder-first, into the guardrail. Beth pushes Mickie back into the ring and goes for the pin. Mickie kicks out at two. Mickie acting like she's in a world of hurt. Beth goes for a huge powerslam but Mickie hits a quasi-tornado DDT to save herself. Beth sells that she's completely knocked out. One, two, three.

Winner: Mickie James in 5:00. Beth Phoenix's offense looked more brutal than just about all of the other divas in the company put together. Crowd was quiet, but I think some of the audience was truly worried about Mickie. Both women played their parts exceedingly well here. The new push for Beth is very much welcome. (**)

-Backstage: DX and Dusty talk some more WCW. Dusty brings up War Games, Sting and Magnum T.A. HHH wonders why The Shockmaster wasn't included in the WCW DVD. See, you just can't please everybody. HBK is ignorant of The Shockmaster, so HHH tells him all about it. But as he does, a cheesy, goofy “scary” voice says HHH and HBK's names. Then a strip of pyro hits backstage and an ostensibly big fat guy wearing a helmet crashes through a paper-thin wall. The voice, we find out, is Ole Arn Anderson, caught red-handed with a microphone and a script. Dusty wonders who The Shockmaster is and it's Santino Marella. Dusty says, “It should've worked!” Santino: “I know! I loved the ah, Shockmaster.” Oh, that Santino. Dusty's over-the-top, exasperated stare into the camera reminds one of Elmer Fudd.

-Commercial break.

-Michelle McCool has made The Undertaker rise again.

-Last Monday, Raw was watched by over 2,000,000 females, beating every show on CW, Lifetime and Oxygen.

-Backstage: Josh Matthews wants the audience to welcome his guest at this time, John Cena. Matthews points out that tonight the WWE Title is in Cena's hands.

Cena: “Josh, tweet your friends, update your facebook, we got a hell of a story tonight! You see, I know what you're after. You're a reporter and you're after a story. And, actually, tonight with me as the special referee for a match for the WWE Championship... I do control the fate of the WWE Championship. And the WWE Universe, they know I don't exactly like Randy Orton. So picture this: Cody Rhodes, with his father, Hall of Famer, The American Dream, Dusty Rhodes in his corner, watches as his son Cody defeats Randy to become the youngest WWE Champion in history! Josh, a story like that is so big, well, it could finally prove to Cody that he does not need to live in somebody else's shadow! A story like that is so EPIC, it could be the collapse of Legacy as we know it. A story like that would be so embarrassing to Randy Orton, well, it might send his career crumbling to pieces. But a match of this much importance, if I go out there and I choose a side, well, tomorrow the story simply is, John Cena gives Cody Rhodes the WWE Championship. And, I, uh, I can't do that. If Cody wants to win tonight, if he wants to make history, he will do it on his own by being the better man—and if it's not his time, well then it's not his time... And if tonight, Randy Orton wins and he retains the WWE Championship, well so be it. Because at Breaking Point, the WWE Champion runs into a brick friggin' wall. I WILL NOT QUIT! I have tasted victory, I have been stung by defeat, but I WILL NOT QUIT. I have been broke down, knocked out, busted up, busted open but I WILL NOT QUIT. And when it's gut-check time and your heroes are measuring heart instead of bloodline, guess what, you're in my house, because I WILL NOT QUIT. You want a story? Here's a story: Tonight Broadway Joe is being played by John Cena—I guarantee victory at Breaking Point because I WILL NOT QUIT!!!”

Pitch-perfect heroic babyface promo by Cena.

-Cole and Lawler hype up Breaking Point. Cena-Orton, Taker-Punk and JeriShow-MVP/Henry!

-Lilian introduces Randy Orton, who walks down the ramp. Orton is the official ambassador for Halloween in the WWE with his black and orange. Orton just looks more amped up than he has been recently.

-Backstage: Dusty gives his son Cody a pep talk.

-We return to seeing Orton in the ring.

-Commercial break.

-See one of the greatest WrestleMania matches of all time tomorrow night on ECW TV. The Show-Stopper! The Phenom! Mr. WrestleMania! The Streak! Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker! Tomorrow night on ECW TV!

-Bob Barker will guest host next week on Raw! So Vince is clearly reaching out to the octogenarian demographic.

-Cody Rhodes gets his intro, flanked by his father.

-Both Legacy members stare at each other and await the special referee. Shouldn't the ref come out first? Lilian Garcia wants the audience to please welcome the special guest referee, John Cena. And Cena's music hits and he comes down to the ring. “Your time is up, my time is now.” Lyrics have extra meaning if you consider Cena wrestling's top dog following Austin and The Rock.

Cena checks Cody and Orton.

Dusty grabs the mic and says, “Hold it, hold it. Like I said, there's nothing a father wouldn't do for his son. John, I'm sorry, buddy.” And just like that Cody and Orton jump Cena together in the middle of the ring. Cole says he believes that Dusty Rhodes has set John Cena up. That Cole, he's so quick. Cena is doing well, though, fighting them off, but Ted DiBiase, Jr. runs down to the ring and delivers Dream Street to Cena. “This is a mugging!” Cole remarks. Lawler: “You remember, Dusty Rhodes said earlier 'the fix is in,' and I guess it was!” DX runs down to the ring to their music. They do well fighting Legacy. HHH looking for the Pedigree on Cody but Dusty Rhodes walks into the ring with his cowboy boot and he hits HHH over the head with it. Nice connection to that St. Louis attack. Guess HHH's kryptonite is a cowboy boot to the head, even if it's wielded by an old man. Cody gives HBK Crossroads. “What a low-down scheme on the part of the American Dream!” Lawler remarks. Orton, Dusty, Cody and Ted all hold their arms up. Lawler says it must be one of the most devious and elaborate plots ever devised. What about Undertaker's Higher Power? That was an insidious master plan.

Orton gives Dusty Rhodes an RKO, proving that you cannot trust a viper. Cody loses his composure. He's unhappy with Randy Orton giving his father an RKO. Cody sells mixed emotions. Orton flashes a truly evil look in Cody's direction. Orton is just “on” tonight. Show concludes with a note of ambiguity as Orton looks at Rhodes, who is still displeased by what has transpired, and DiBiase looking at the other two. Legacy still stands over the fallen babyfaces and poor Dusty Rhodes.

-WWE logo up, and we're out.

Summary: Well, maybe I'm just in a bizarrely good mood this week, but this certainly seemed to be a much stronger edition of Monday Night Raw than I've grown accustomed to in the last couple of months. A few good matches, some well-built storylines and a swerve ending that in retrospect should have been totally, unmistakably obvious, particularly with all of the hints (“It's just business,” for one, as well as “The fix is in,” etceteras) all make for a Raw that was actually worth watching. And it looks like WWE is committed to rebuilding Randy Orton, but the next two weeks will let us know for sure. The final segment raises some interesting questions concerning Legacy.

Related Posts:

• Raw Recap, 9/14/09
• Raw Recap
• The Return of the Raw Recap, 1/04/10
• Superstars Recap
• Over the Limit Recap

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Tags: Arn Anderson, Attitude, Batman, Carlito, Chris Jericho, Dusty Rhodes, DVD, ECW, Fingerpoke of Doom, Heroes, HHH, House, Hulk Hogan, John Cena, Lost, Michael Cole, Mickie James, Miz, MMA, Monday Night RAW, Monday Night Wars, Randy Orton, RAW, Roddy Piper, Santino Marella, Shawn Michaels, Smackdown, Sting, The Rock, TV, Undertaker, Vader, WCW, Wrestlemania, WWE, WWF

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 1st, 2009 at 12:37 pm and is filed under Rants. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.