Monday, January 21, 2008

The road to the Rumble is not always paved with gold!

The Heartbreak kid is the first superstar to make his entrance tonight on the new and improved Raw in HD! He will face Mr. Kennedy. The fans are on their feet for HBK tonight (as always of course!). Kennedy is looking pretty good tonight as he quickly counters all of Shawn's moves. Nice reversals and turnovers ensue. Kennedy pulls off a great bridge to get out of a three count. Very impressive. Mr. Kennedy has definitely brought his aggressive game and brutality to the squared circle tonight, but Shawn doesn't take it for long, he powers back and gets a nice swinging neck breaker on Kennedy. Both men are down but Shawn is on his feet first. Fists and chops begin and Shawn gets a nice inverted atomic drop. Shawn goes up top and lands a huge elbow into Mr. Kennedy! Fans are going nuts cause they know what's coming next. The band is tuning up and Mr. Kennedy just narrowly escapes sweet chin music. Shawn leaps out of the ring and lands right on top of Mr. Kennedy on the outside. Mr. Kennedy tosses Shawn face first into the ring post and gets the upper hand yet again in this match up. A boot to the face driving the head of Michaels into the ring post adds insult to injury. Shawn slowly starts to get to his feet, but does he have what it takes to take control back in this match? A huge clothesline from HBK gets both men on the mat having to fight to get back to their feet. Kennedy makes it up first this time. Kennedy gets HBK trapped on the top rope and tries to power him off onto the mat, however Kennedy is the one on his back in this situation. When HBK takes the leap, Kennedy pulls his knees up and Shawn takes them right to the face. Kennedy goes for a cover, but Michaels gets his shoulders up just in time. Again Kennedy misses the sweet chin music however, HBK thinks quick and gets one right into Mr. Kennedy's face. Third time's a charm Shawn! HBK wins this match!

Randy Orton is backstage talking to Mr. McMahon about the "handshake" that will take place between Orton and Jeff Hardy later tonight. Orton is barely able to move and he's not very happy about having to meet up with the rainbow haired warrior tonight. "There is no way I'm shaking his hand" Orton claims. Vince says to deal with it and carry some hand sanitizer if it bothers him that bad. Vince says it might make Orton look "good" to show that he's the better man. This man sure has a way with pep talks. Orton still looks apprehensive, but he'll do it because Vince makes it sound so good!

Beth Phoenix the women's champ makes her way to the ring. She will be facing Mickie James tonight. It's a non title match up, but Mickie wants to prove that she can at least beat the Glamazon since she's in her home state! Beth Is powering right over Mickie for just a moment, then Mickie powers back and shows that she has some power of her own. Mickie gets knocked to the outside then gets her back pushed right into the ring. Beth brings her back into the ring but Mickie powers out of the hold that the Glamazon puts her into. Mickie is really showing some fantastic heart and ability tonight! A huge fisherman suplex from Beth keeps Mickie down for the count and the Glamazon wins this match with barely any effort.

Todd Grisham is backstage with Triple H talking about the qualifying match that he will be in tonight. Triple H has no idea who his opponent will be tonight, not like it matters Triple H will have no issue making it count when he needs to. He will go to the Royal Rumble, there is no doubt about that! It's not just a promise it's a guaran-damn-tee! The Game sure knows how to put things into perspective!

Hardcore Holly is backstage talking with Brian Kendrick and Cody Rhodes. They are talking about Holly's match tonight against Carlito and he's asking if Cody has his back. Cody and Brian make comment about "at least you don't have to dress up like Carlito tonight". Holly gets disgruntled and says that if anyone gets in his space, including Cody, he will throw them out.

Hornswaggle and Finlay make their way to the ring they will take on the Highlanders Rory and Robbie! Irishman vs. Scotsman who will be victorious tonight? Finlay and Rory start off this match up. Rory grabs Hornswaggle and gets himself bit. Hornswaggle then gives Robbie some tiny little boots to the face to make sure he doesn't get involved in the match up. Hornswaggle goes up top and Finlay helps him land a huge leap right onto the body of Rory. Irishmen win this one quick and clean! The luck of the Irish prevails again!

Chris Jericho makes his way to the ring to comment on the brutal attack the he suffered two weeks ago at the hands of JBL. Last week Jericho was at home recovering from the attack, having suffered a bruised larynx. His voice is a little gravelly but he does comment. A coward is a man "who threatens another man's children!" His sons saw that episode of Raw last week, now there is some doubt about their Daddy's ability in their little minds. This just means that Jericho will fight harder to make sure that JBL pays for what was done. "You made a mistake not finishing the job! I am still here!" Jericho has prevailed in this one because he has overcome this obstacle and he's the one standing in the ring tonight. Sunday at the Royal Rumble will not be about having a good show it'll be about the fight! The look of determination is in Jericho's eyes and he's not going to let JBL get away with this!

Mr. McMahon is backstage talking to Jeff Hardy about taking too many risks. He is telling him about shaking hands with Orton tonight. "I'll be out there and I'll make sure I give everyone something to talk about!" Hardy looks scary mad and I'm sure that a handshake isn't all he has in store for Orton tonight.

Brian Kendrick makes his way to the ring for his royal rumble qualifying match tonight. William Regal pops onto the Titan Tron and says that Brian will be fighting Umaga tonight because he was too busy getting Triple H's match ready tonight to find Kendrick an opponent. Umaga starts off strong and dominates Kendrick at first. Will Kendrick's speed help him win this match tonight? Umaga puts Kendrick into the ring post upside down and back first, but Kendrick moves just in time to make sure that Umaga doesn't get that running start at him. Kendrick is trying so hard to fight against Umaga, but Umaga lands the Samoan drop on Kendrick and lays him out cold. A mid air Samoan spike wins this match for the Samoan Bulldozer. Kendrick will not be going to the Rumble this year. (Poor guy!)

Mickie James is backstage and is crying and so upset that she lost to Beth tonight. Maria is there to try to console her. Ashley comes up too. Of course Santino Marella interrupts them. He overhears Ashley make a comment about the Playboy mansion. He thinks that Ashley is offering Maria a free subscription for him of Playboy magazine and makes some comment about "why buy the cow when you have someone who lets you milk them for free?" I about died when he said this. Man why does Maria put up with his stupidity? She could do so much better!

Carlito makes his way to the ring for his match against Hardcore Holly tonight. Santino Marella and Maria accompany Carlito to the ring. Hardcore Holly comes out accompanied by Cody Rhodes. This match gets started and Holly appears to have the upper hand right off the bat. Carlito fights back. He's getting some nice near falls in on Holly tonight. Holly starts to power back and gets a near fall of his own on Carlito. These two keep powering back and forth with each other one getting the upper hand then the other powering back. It's a pretty even split of a match tonight. Holly goes for the Alabama slam but Santino gets on the apron like he's going to do something about it. This distraction allowed Santino to get the back stabber on Holly and wins Carlito the match. I'm sure Holly isn't happy about his loss especially when Cody was supposed to have his back.

Triple H makes his way to the ring for his match tonight. Keep in mind this man won the Royal Rumble in 2002 beating Kurt Angle for the win. William Regal comes out and says that Triple H will face three opponents tonight in an over the top rope gauntlet match. What a bastard. Triple H's first opponent will be Snitsky. These two men start this match off brutally. Triple H gets Snitsky to the rope but can't manage to get him over. Snitsky is dominating Triple H and almost gets him over the rope, but Triple H makes it back in the ring. Regal is at the top of the ramp watching. Snitsky goes over the top rope. Regal looks livid. Smackdown's Mark Henry is the Game's next opponent. Can the cerebral assassin beat the world's strongest man? Henry is manhandling Triple H like he weighed nothing. Twice the game escapes from being put over the top rope. Triple H tries to pick up Mark Henry, but Henry falls on him (ouch!). Triple H looks devastated. Triple H gets to his feet and pulls that top rope down as Henry runs at him. Over the rope Mark Henry goes. Regal runs to the ring and is the third opponent against Triple H tonight. Regal has Triple H on his shoulders and tries to put him over the top, but to no avail. Triple H powers back and tosses Regal over the top rope to secure his spot in the Royal Rumble. Never underestimate the power of the King of Kings!

Mr. McMahon makes his way to the ring to oversee the handshake between Jeff Hardy and Randy Orton. Orton comes out first. Jeff Hardy is called out next and the fans are on their feet again. It's obvious who the fan favorite is. These two eyeball each other like they are seeing the other's death. Vince mediates about the viciousness between Orton and Hardy as of late. Who will be victorious on Sunday at the Rumble. Will Orton remain champ or will Hardy become the third man to hold both the Intercontinental belt and championship belt at the same time. Vince gives the guys a chance to make last minute comments to each other. Orton takes the mic. Orton says his is relieved that Hardy is his opponent at the Rumble because Hardy has never come close to being the WWE champion. However Orton says he underestimated Hardy's ability especially after last week. Orton says that he has a respect for Hardy now, that he didn't have a few weeks ago. Hardy takes the mic and says he doesn't care about earning Orton's respect. "I didn't hit a 30 foot swanton to impress you, I did it to hurt you. I did it for my brother Matt, I did it because I will do anything to be the WWE champion!" Jeff leaves the ring and shakes the hands of Lillian Garcia, JR, King and various audience members. All before he shakes the hand of Randy Orton. "I respect these people more than I respect you". Orton offers his hand but it gets him a twist of fate! Hardy will not play by anyone's rules, because he makes his own! It's on come Sunday and yes I will be watching from the edge of my seat!

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