WWE Monday Night Raw - 9/11/06

I took notes on this show while I watched it live. Everything you see here is pretty much how I wrote in down my notebook. Let’s see what happened …

Show starts with a moment of silence for the victims of the 9/11 terror attacks. Fink introduces the USMC color guard and Lilian who sings “America the Beautiful”. JR and King welcome us live and we start off with a Backlash rematch.

1) Ric Flair vs. Umaga (w/ AAE) – 1
Flair starts with chops. Umaga wins by DQ after about two minutes when Flair uses a chair. Samoan drop on Flair on the floor post-match. Umaga and Kane then brawl. Kane throws the ring steps from the ring and clonks Umaga in the head.

NYPD pipes and drums are introduced as the play The Highlanders and Roddy Piper to the ring! Piper pimps the new WWE magazine special and has a slapping contest with Highlanders. Squad interrupts and berates everyone’s kilts. Piper challenges Squad to a six-man. Squad accepts.

2) The Highlanders & Roddy Piper vs. The Spirit Squad (Johnny, Kenny, & Mikey) – 3
Joined in progress from commercial. Highlanders are straight out of the 80s. Squad controls until hot tag to Piper. Squad gets worked. Highlanders double team with nice slingshot reverse vertical suplex. Piper pins Johnny for the win.

Johnny Nitro rambles about something while Jeff Hardy paints something in the background. Nitro gets pissed and knocks over the painting. Hardy gets pissed and throws blue and yellow paint all over Nitro and Melina. Nitro looks like a Michigan Wolverines superfan!

3) John Cena, Jeff Hardy, & Carlito vs. Randy Orton, Johnny Nitro, & Edge (w/ Melina and Lita) – 4
I fucking hate the spinner belts!! Edge cuts another worthless promo before the match and attempts to rap. Cena gets a mixed reaction from the NYC crowd which is super hot. Orton screws up going over the top via clothesline. Hardy totally fucks up a jump over the top when he slips off Carlito’s back. Carlito lands hard after going through the ropes. Decent match with some slow builds and good time. Cena and Edge never touched legally during the match. Cena makes Nitro tap for the win. Orton can’t sell Carlito’s back-cracker worth a damn.

Cryme Time vignette. They chase a white guy who gets lost in the hood and steal his wallet. This is touted as endurance training. The dry narrator was amusing. I’m looking forward to their debut.

Vinnie Mac spews something about his legacy. He calls NY sports teams losers for some cheap heat. Why are the McMahons still polluting my TV every week?

4) Chris Masters (w/out steroids) vs. Super Crazy (w/out lawnmower) – 3
Crazy comes out to zero reaction and the crowd is super dead. It’s almost like the McMahon thing before the match sucked the life out of the crowd. Crazy accidentally knees Masters in the stomach while attempting a standing moonsault. Crazy beats Masters again. Decent match but not as good as last week’s encounter. Masters is much leaner now since he was back earlier in the year. Hopefully that means he’ll be able to put together a decent match. Crowd didn’t care but I smell a third match at the pay-per-view.

More pimping for The Marine. I kind of wanted to see this movie until they pushed the shit out of it. Now, I couldn’t give two halves of a fuck about it.

5) Mickie James vs. Trish Stratus – 3
Trish has a scrolling marquee for a belt buckle. Nice headscissor takeover by Mickie. Trish’s forearms are weak shit. Lita interferes and Trish uses her as a springboard on the Stratusfaction for the win. I’ve seen better matches between these two (i.e. WrestleMania). Just so everyone knows, the women’s division, or what’s left of it, will be totally dead after the pay-per-view.

JR and King hype the pay-per-view on Sunday.

Cade, Murdoch, Shane-O-Mac, and Big Show attack DX in the back. HHH gets his head slammed in a car door. Vinnie Mac makes the main event a no holds barred match.

6) Vince McMahon vs. Triple H – No Holds Barred Match – 0
Vince’s chest looks like it could explode at any minute. HHH bleeding bad from the ear after the backstage assault. Vince’s top is bright red and looks really stupid. Vince controls early. Vince runs the ropes and looks like shit. Interference by Shane, HBK, and Big Show. Same old shit from every week this crappy feud has been going on. Vince wins and no one gives a shit. Hopefully the pay-per-view on Sunday is the end of this crap because this whole thing started with Vince and HBK last fucking December!!!

This was a good show until the main event. Hot crowd mainly for the six-man tag with Cena. Very solid build for the Unforgiven pay-per-view on Sunday.