This Week in WWE (updated July 17, 2004)
Ohh, what a tangled web we weave…
Deception once again rears its ugly head this week in
WWE. Those whom we thought were are
friends, leave us nearly unconscious in the middle of the ring, and those whom
we thought were crippled climb up a side of a steel cage as if they were bitten
by a genetically modified spider. Well
the masks, both figuratively and literally, have come off, but we still have
some questions to be answered. Who can
we trust and who can we rely on for help?
In the squared circle one can’t take anything for granted….
Raw Wrap-Up:
On
the night after a disappointing performance at Vengeance, Evolution was out in
force to redeem themselves for leaving Hartford with no gold strapped to their waists. The show began with Batista having a taste
of his own medicine in his non-title match with the newly crowned
intercontinental champion Edge. Near the
end of their grueling match at Vengeance, Batista pinned Chris Jericho and got
the win as the referee was not aware of Jericho’s foot on the bottom strand. A day later in his match with Edge, the ropes
did not play in Batista’s favor as Edge used their leverage to hold Batista
down for a three-count after a roll-up.
Fellow Evolution member and best selling author Ric
had a bit better luck than he did the previous night at the PPV. Flair was able to fight off an early flurry
by the Hurricane to soundly defeat him with his patented figure-four leg lock. This, however, was not the last we had heard
of Evolution for the night. Though
Heavyweight Champion Chris Benoit had just successfully defended the title
against Triple H in an outstanding match less than 24 hours earlier, Eric
Bischoff had ordered Benoit to defend the title against Evolution’s “special”
member Eugene. This night’s main event
showcased the athleticism of both Superstars, with Eugene coming within a hair’s length of defeating the Rabid
Wolverine after a Rock Bottom. While
prematurely celebrating a supposed victory over the champ, Evolution stormed
the ring and delivered a vicious beat down to the prone Benoit. After having their fill, Evolution turned
their attention to Eugene, who Evolution blamed to have cost Triple H the World
title the previous night. After Orton’s
RKO and a Batista Bomb, Triple H delivered a devastating pedigree to his
biggest fan. The show ended with a
bloody Eugene watching his former friends celebrate his
misery. Time will tell whether Eugene will stand up to his running buddies or beg for
forgiveness in a last ditch effort for acceptance.
In
other RAW action, Rhyno with Tajiri
defeated Robert Conway with Sylvain Grenier, possibly
setting up a World Tag Team title match between the two teams in the near
future. Tyson Tomko
with Trish Stratus beat Maven with Nidia, possibly
leading to a mixed tag match between the Tomko and
Stratus team against the winners of Tourgh Enough I. Chris Jericho won
by DQ over Kane in an impromptu match that began during Jericho’s Highlight Reel and ended with a low blow from the
Big Red Machine.
Smackdown! Wrap-Up:
On Thursday Night Smackdown! tore
the roof off of the Dunkin Donuts Center. John Cena once again was the target of several Superstars making
him possibly the most targeted man in WWE.
Cena, during an altercation with Kurt Angle
concerning the stripping of the good doctor’s US title, drove Luthor Reigns
through a wall, this how ever would come back to haunt him later in the
evening. Angle forced Cena to face Booker T, Rene Dupree and Kenzo
Susuki in a 3-on-1 elimination match. Susuki eliminated
himself by DQ and seconds later Cena rolled up Dupree
for a three count. The opposition got
stiffer with Booker T working on the worn out Cena. With the referee distracted, Reigns appeared
at ringside and did a number on Cena. Booker took advantage, hitting a scissor kick,
pinning Cena, apparently putting himself in
contention for the US title. The
cage match for the WWE title was off the hook.
Both Eddie and JBL came else to taking it home on many occasions. Moments after an awe-inspiring frog splash
from the top of the cage, El Gran Luchadore
once again made his way to ringside. As
Eddie and JBL were perched on the top of the cage, duking
it out, the “champion of Mexico” tugged on Eddie’s leg, allowing JBL to land in the
arena floor and keep his title reign intact. Unable to escape the cage through the chained
door, El Gran Luchadore was
unmasked to be none other than Kurt Angle!!!
Yes, the same wheel-chair bound, indefensible Kurt Angle…
Next Week:
On Monday night, Raw should get interesting as Eugene must decide who are his true
friends. The Lita-Kane-Matt
Hardy situation is also heating up. Will
Kane snap? Or will it be Matt who loses
it? Rhyno and Tajiri have been quite a tandem as
of late, are these two ECW alums gearing up for a title shot? Monday night might have some answers.
On
the next SmackDown!, Angle has some explaining to do as to his miraculous
recovery after his career ending “injury” and his interference in the
JBL-Guerrero cage match. Cena will face Reigns one-on-one in the ring,
maybe we’ll get Cena’s thought on the Angle charade
and its impact on the US title situation.
The Dudley’s are angry, so London and Kidman had better watch their backs. Paul Heyman seems
to have a new charge in Jon Heidenreich, what’s going
on here and with whom will they align? SmackDown! seems
to be heating up as the road to SummerSlam
approaches…
Thanks for reading,
J.P. ---The Newsletter Guy