By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

WWE Raw Live Report
June 29, 2009
Live from San Jose, Calif.

Note: Thanks to a sudden thunderstorm here in Houston, I lost power for the first hour of Raw on TV.

Second Hour

Superstars plug: World tag champ Edge vs. World Hvt. champ C.M. Punk in a singles match.

In-ring: Lilian Garcia announced a First Round Night of Champions tournament match, leading to John Cena coming out first to face The Miz. Winner gets Triple H, who beat MVP earlier tonight, in the finals. Winner of the tournament gets Randy Orton for the WWE Title at Night of Champions. Also on the show, Chris Jericho & Edge retained the Unified tag titles over the Colons.

3 -- JOHN CENA vs. THE MIZ

Announcers really tried to cover for Miz losing decisively to Cena last night by saying Miz has a chance to learn from his mistakes. Miz was the aggressor early on, but Cena came back with a high back body drop and a reverse chinlock. Miz then came back with a neckbreaker to begin working over Cena. Miz was in control with Cena gasping for air going to break.

[Commercial Break]

Miz continued to be aggressive coming out of the break. Miz even blocked Cena's traditional Five Knuckle Shuffle comeback. Miz then blocked a top-rope FU and hit an electric chair drop for a two count. Announcers very focused on getting over Miz here. Miz with another cover for a two count. He then bounced off the ropes, but Cena with a drop toe hold into an STFU attempt, only to have Miz escape and hop on Cena's back for a sleeper hold. Cena teased passing out, then made his full comeback with the Five Knuckle combo. Cena delivered the Shuffle, then he went up top for a guillotine leg smash and connected with Miz in position. Cena then slapped on the STFU center ring. Miz fought, but then tapped out just like last night. Announcers quickly pointed out Cena vs. Hunter next week with the winner getting Orton at Night of Champions.

WINNER: Cena via submission in 14:00. Exact same finish as last night with Miz showing no resistance to Cena's finishing sequence. Miz had more offense and the announcers had plenty of time to get over Miz's offense, but at the end of the day, Cena with two clean wins over Miz on back-to-back nights. (**1/2)

-- Torch reader write back: What did you think of how Miz was booked the last two nights? Did he benefit at all or do the two clean losses hurt more than being booked in two spotlight matches against Cena?

[Q6]

[Commercial Break]

Announcers: Cole and Lawler talked up the Cena vs. Hunter match next week with Lawler pulling a Mike Tenay by saying it's the biggest Raw main event he can ever remember. Hype hype hype.

Backstage: Cody Rhodes talked up Randy Orton in the locker room, then Ted DiBiase, Jr. walked in and said he had some great news. His dad will be the guest host on next week's Raw. DiBiase was giddy, but Orton wanted to know how that will help him tonight when he faces three mystery opponents. DiBiase didn't have an answer.

In-ring: Lilian announced a fatal four-way divas match. Winner gets a Divas title shot against Maryse. Kelly Kelly, then Mickie James came out. Divas champion Maryse came out for commentary before a commercial.

[Commercial Break]

4 -- KELLY KELLY vs. MICKIE JAMES vs. BETH PHOENIX vs. ROSA MENDES

Match featured the usual multiple-persons spots with several nearfalls in scramble-style. Beth had a pin on Kelly following an implant-buster, but Mickie broke it up. [Q7] Beth was then knocked to the floor before Mickie caught Rosa with her signature DDT. Mickie covered Rosa for the pin and the win. After the match, Maryse and Mickie had a stare down to promote their Night of Champions title match. I think we've seen this scene eight times in the last three months.

WINNER: in 6:00. Lengthy divas match with the women given more time than usual to put together a half-way decent match. Maryse vs. Mickie lined up again.

Backstage: They showed Big Show walking down the hallway.

[Commercial Break]

In-ring: Big Show came to the ring, followed by U.S. champion Kofi Kingston. No apparent reason why this match is happening, then Cole filled us in that Show gets a future title shot if he wins.

5 -- U.S. champion KOFI KINGSTON vs. BIG SHOW -- non-title match

Show dominated early with overpowering offense to ground Kofi. Show settled into his "move, walk around, move" sequence, but missed with an elbow drop off the ropes. Kofi tried to come back with kick strikes and uppercuts, then he went up top and hit a missile dropkick that finally took Show off his feet. Kofi followed with the boom boom leg drop for a two count with Kofi bench-pressed across the ring on the kickout. Kofi tried to leap onto Show in the corner for ten punches, but Show chucked him over the top rope hard to the floor. Camera focused on the ref making his ten count, so you know he's coming into play. Kofi shoved Show into the ringpost to block a lawn dart toss, then ref reached a ten count with both men on the ground. Double count-out. Post-match: Show was pissed off, so he just walked away from ringside.

WINNER: Double count-out in 4:00. Just a filler match to spotlight Kofi. Came across like a pointless ordeal, though. Follow-up will hopefully shed some light on what they're doing with Show in the U.S. Title picture.

[Q8]

[Commercial Break]

Announcers: Cole and Lawler plugged "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase guest hosting Raw next week.

In-ring: WWE champion Randy Orton came out on stage for the main event handicap match. Orton hobbled down the entrance ramp selling injuries from last night's PPV main event while contemplating the match tonight. Big sign facing the hard camera said "Age of Boring." After a pause, Orton's first opponent came out as ... Evan Bourne. Bourne has now been traded to the Raw brand. I'm afraid he'll get lost in the shuffle, but hopefully I'm wrong on that. Gauntlet-style, so we start with Orton vs. Bourne.

6 -- WWE champion RANDY ORTON vs. EVAN BOURNE

Orton clobbered Bourne across the back to start things off, but Bourne came back with a flying forearm. Of note, Bourne without the taped ribs this week. Bourne continued an attack on Orton with kick strikes, but Orton nailed him in the throat to begin an attack. Orton smartly went to the ribs and punished his mid-section before doing the Orton Stomp to the body. Bourne suddenly whipped Orton to the mat and nailed his standing moonsault for a one count. Bourne kicked Orton in the head as Lawler talked up Bourne. Bourne nailed a sweet top rope double knee smash before teasing the Shooting Star Press, but Orton got up and crotched the ropes. Bourne, crotched, then took a running top rope RKO. That was awesome. Cole, not paying attention, called it a bulldog. Orton with the pin for the win. WINNER: Orton in 4:00. Good showing for Bourne, who looked better than Miz against Cena if comparing young vs. established star match-ups.

Jack Swagger came out second. Swagger is now on Raw. Another mass exodus of ECW talent. Barring another young star burial on Raw, Swagger is going to make WWE some serious money now that he's on Raw. Bell sounded and Swagger took Orton down with a waistlock. He then slowly left the ring and stood on the apron. Swagger smiled at the ref, who began a ten count. Orton didn't know what to make of it. Swagger smiled as the ref reached a ten count. WINNER: Orton via count-out in 1:00. Apparently Swagger auditioning for a spot in Legacy.

Swagger then took the mic and walked over to a confused and hurting Orton. Swagger said he's always liked and respected Orton, so on his first night on Raw, he wanted to leave a lasting impression. Swagger shook Orton's hand and walked out of the ring, giving Orton something to think about.

[Q9 -- over-run]

With Bourne and Swagger out of the picture, we're down to one more opponent for Orton. Out as the final opponent, Mark Henry. Orton went from confident to feeling a little sick. Henry had a mic in hand. Henry said he's always liked Orton himself and he has a lot of respect for him. Just like Jack Swagger, he came here on his first night on Raw to make an impression and it's going to be a good one.

Bell sounded and Henry wasn't in the mood to take the night off. Henry tossed Orton across the ring, then he walked over to the apron. Ref started a ten count just like Swagger. Fans not happy with this turn of events. Suddenly, Henry stopped the ref at five and smiled. Orton didn't know what kind of smile that was. Henry then re-entered the ring and smiled. Orton got down on both knees and begged off, but Henry picked him up and tossed him across the ring. Henry got this look in his eyes and stalked Orton for another round of power offense. Henry called a spot for Orton to get a comeback, but Henry came back with a headbutt to the face. Crowd in Henry's corner as he finished off Orton with the World's Strongest Slam. Henry with the pin for the win and an apparent babyface turn? Henry celebrated in the ring and played to the crowd, asking them to get pumped up. Never would have guessed this show ends with Henry standing tall.

Post-match: Batista came out on stage in his suit with the Kevin Nash brace over his left elbow. Batista smiled and stared back at Henry, who smiled back at Batista. Cole and Lawler then closed the show plugging Hunter vs. Cena in the #1 contender match with Ted DiBiase as special guest host.

WINNER: Henry in 4:00. You could have given me 1,000,000 guesses for how Raw would have ended and I never would have picked Henry as a babyface winning a match. It was one of those endings where it felt like there should have been something more like a run-in or a Chris Jericho promo or something to end the show on a different note. As for Orton, wow. Lameduck is too soft a word to describe his standing as WWE champion right now. It's one thing for a heel to be in jeopardy, but he's reeling on every single show now.

We welcome your 0-10 score and comments on this show for a "WWE Raw TV Reax" feature in the Torch Feedback section of PWTorch.com. To contribute your thoughts on Raw, email to pwtorch@gmail.com using our Feedback form

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