WWE RAW REPORT
FEBRUARY 5, 2007
SIOUX CITY, IOWA
LIVE ON USA NETWORK
REPORT BY WADE KELLER, PWTORCH EDITOR

TOP NEWS FROM SHOW

-Undertaker picked Batista as his WrestleMania opponent.

-Shawn Michaels beat Edge and Randy Orton to earn a title match against John Cena at WM23.

-Ric Flair chewed out Carlito for leaving Raw before the main event, a legit gripe many veterans have about younger wrestlers who feel entitled.

-Vince McMahon read a letter from Donald Trump saying he'd be at Raw in person next week.

-Bobby Lashley retained the ECW Title against Kenny Dykstra.

WHAT HAPPENED: HOUR 1

The final moments of last week's Royal Rumble aired again, then Undertaker appearing before all three World Champions on last week's shows.

As Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler introduced the show, Undertaker came out, which felt strange on Raw. The full ring intros of John Cena, Bobby Lashley, and Batista followed. "The champions just keep coming," said Ross. Taker stood near Cena and stared him and his belt down. Same with Lashley. Then Batista. After Batista, he did the throat slice gesture, indicating Batista was his choice.

Shawn Michaels then came out to his music. He said since Taker chose Batista, he wanted the shot against Cena. Randy Orton came out and said the title shot was his. Edge came out and said it was his shot. Vince McMahon walked out and took a dig at Iowa and the frigid temperature. First he said that nobody had challenged Lashley yet, so if someone steps up during this show, Lashley will have to defend him on the show. He then announced Orton vs. Edge vs. Michaels later, winner gets the shot at Cena at WrestleMania. He said while Donald Trump may have dumped cash on the fans, his giving them the triple threat match was "value." Ross agreed.

Everyone left the ring except Taker and Batista. Taker gave Batista the death-stare. Batista walked up to him and returned the favor, then held his title belt in the air. Taker then grabbed him by the throat and chokeslammed him.

Ross and Lawler were shown on camera as they talked about the ramifications of the first segment.

(1) Carlito (w/Torrie Wilson) & Cryme Tyme beat Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin & Chris Masters in 3:00. Shad clotheslined Masters over the top rope to the floor. JTG dragged Shelton to ringside. Carlito then rolled up Haas, but the ref was distracted by Masters, at which point Shelton hit Carlito with a blockbuster leading to Haas scoring the pin with a pull of tights. (1/2*)

Ross and Lawler plugged Ric Flair vs. Jeff Hardy. After the break, clips aired of the Trump stunt last week. Then backstage, McMahon told Coach that it's crass for a billionaire to drop cash on fans. "The WWE audience doesn't want cash, it wants value," he said. Kenny interrupted. He said he wanted to face Lashley. McMahon said if he wins, he'll become the youngest WWE Champion in history. Coach handed McMahon a letter from Trump. He looked disgusted, then read it: "Dear Vince, I received so many compliments from dropping money on your audience last week, I've decided to up the ante. Next week I, Donald Trump, will be appearing on Raw in person in your very ring. And I have a business proposal that will change your life forever." He wondered what that meant. Coach said he'd tell security to ban Trump from the building. Vince said no he won't. "Just think, two billionaires in a WWE ring," he said. He then suggested Trump would "join a special, elite club, if you know what I mean." He smiled.

Maria interviewed Ric Flair, who hyped Batista vs. Taker and the triple threat Raw main event. He said the passion for the business grows every day. He said he's going after Hardy because if he beats him, he will face him for the IC Title at WrestleMania. He finished with a "whooo!"

Candice Michelle chatted with Melina backstage about her Super Bowl commercial. They both gave insincere faces behind each other's backs. Nitro then walked in and talked about facing Super Crazy.

(2) Umaga (w/Armando Estrada) beat Balls Mahoney in 2:00. Coach introduced Balls and said he was an ECW original, and McMahon had a special opponent for him. Balls took a deep breath when he saw it was Umaga. Total squash. (1/4*)

(3) Super Crazy (w/Mickie James) beat Johnny Nitro (w/Melina) in 3:00. Crazy won clean with a moonsault. (3/4*)

(4) Mickie James (w/Crazy) pinned Melina (w/Nitro) in 5:00. Mickie and Melina went right at it with intensity, yanking on each other's hair and scrambling on the mat. Crazy stopped Nitro from interfering at 4:00. A minute later Mickie rolled up Melina for a leverage pin. Melina threw a fit. Nitro got mad at the paparazzi for shooting pictures of her. (*)

WHAT HAPPENED: HOUR 2

Cena told Michaels to be safe out there because they're tag champs. He said he hopes Edge wins, though, because he knows he can beat Edge, so at WrestleMania, everything would be coming up Cena.

Ross plugged next week's special Thursday Raw at 8 p.m. featuring Donald Trump in person.

(5) Jeff Hardy pinned Ric Flair in 6:00. Hardy sold a knee buckle early, so Flair seized it and worked over Hardy's knee. Hardy came back with a Whisper in the Wind and a Twist of Fate. Later, Flair went for a figure-four. Hardy small packaged Flair for the win. Flair shook Hardy's hand afterward. Ross said that showed class. (*1/4)

Todd Grisham interviewed Batista about being chokeslammed earlier. Batista smugly said with a smile, "I don't have a problem with it. I'm not intimidated. And Todd, payback's a bitch. When, where, that's my business." He then hinted at a heel attitude when he laughed about teaming with Taker at No Way Out.

(6) Bobby Lashley beat Kenny Dykstra in 11:00 to retain the ECW Hvt. Title. Lashley did the Tito Ortiz high-knee leaps during ring intros. Dykstra wore intentionally ridiculous hot-pink trunks and shin pads. Lashley punched Dykstra, who bumped over the top rope to the floor. Dykstra took over and applied a sleeper on the mat mid-ring. Dykstra kicked Lashley to ringside and they cut to a break. Lashley missed a shoulder tackle and hit the ringpost. Dykstra returned to a mat hold. A "boring" chant could be heard. Lashley powered out and executed a delayed vertical suplex. Dykstra met a charging Lashley with a boot. Lashley came right back with a powerslam for the win. (**)

Orton wrapped his wrists backstage. Edge approached him. Orton told him to stay away because his only goal is to win and go on to face Cena at WM. Edge said he knows they aren't working together as a team, but they need to be sure the winner is not Michaels.

Carlito and Torrie headed toward the exit. Flair lectured Carlito for leaving before the triple threat main event. Carlito said he's not in it, so why does he care. Flair said that's why guys like him aren't in the main event. He went on an intense rant (based on reality, by the way).

(7) Shawn Michaels beat Edge and Randy Orton in 14:00. Orton and Edge doubled Michaels early. Orton teased an early surprise RKO on Edge. Edge pulled Orton off of Michaels in a pin attempt after an RKO. He went for the pin himself. Orton and Edge had a mid-ring shoving match afterward. They took a deep breath, shook hands, but then punched each other. Orton leapfrogged a spear attempt to avoid it. After a mid-air collision between the heels, Michaels recovered and hit Edge with a top rope elbowdrop. Michaels sidestepped an Edge spear and threw him into Orton, then superkicked him and scored the pin. Good match. Served it's purpose well. (**3/4)

Michaels and Cena had a staredown. Batista walked out onto the stage. Ross wondered why. Taker then showed up stage left and the show closed with a staredown between them.

WHAT WORKED

-Flair's rant, while a bit out of the blue and aimed at a babyface, was a memorable moment based in reality. Where they take it from here will be interesting.

-Lashley vs. Dykstra wasn't anything special, but it was one of those matches where you wonder if in five years they'll be headlining WrestleMania if things go their way.

-The Edge-Orton dynamic is one of the bright spots of Raw each week.

-Crazy's continued surprise push is nice to see since he is fun to watch wrestle.

-Batista's smug interview about Taker fit his persona, but also tipped the scales to Taker as the face in their upcoming WM23 match.

-Vince's rivalry with Trump is played with just the right tone and isn't being overplayed.

WHAT DIDN'T

-Having Balls get squashed by Umaga didn't really accomplish much, but it takes an ECW niche brawler down a notch for no reason.

QUOTEBOOK

Jim Ross: "This is as big a sports entertainment as the Super Bowl was last night, and it's not raining."

Jim Ross: "Raw is brought to you by fruity, delicious, delicious, oh my god their fruity, fruity Skittles."

Ric Flair to Carlito: "Have you ever stopped to think there's a reason guys like you aren't in the main event? Because maybe you're a lazy underachieving son of a bitch. Lucky to be walking the halls of this building, lucky to be on the Raw roster, lucky to be here at all. You're really pissing me off right now. Guys like you have no passion, no guts. You have all the money, all the glory, want to fly first class. You don't deserve it. You haven't worked for it. You haven't paid the price to be here. That's what's driving me crazy. I'm walking the hall trying to figure out why guys like you are taking my spot. I've been here forever and I'm going to work my ass off to stay here. McMahon told me today if I want to stay, I've got to prove it to him. If you want to stay, you have to prove it to yourself."

WWE RAW FLASHBACK 10 yrs. ago (05-06-02): First Raw under new "WWE" name, Impact feel with Hardy & RVD tandem, Flair and Hogan centerpieces

FLASHBACK - Lou Thesz dies at age 86 (10 yrs. ago - 04-28-02): Torch Cover Story on "greatest, most respected wrestler of middle 20th century"

WWE SMACKDOWN FLASHBACK - 10 yrs. ago (04-25-02): Orton WWE TV debut, Jericho-Hunter main, Hogan, Angle, D-Von, Edge, Tensai previous gimmick

WWE RAW FLASHBACK - 1 yr. ago (04-11-11): Edge announces sudden retirement week after WM27, Cena says Rock-Cena at WM28 will be for WWE Title, Sin Cara debuts

LESNAR FLASHBACK - Lesnar-Cena Origins: How Cena's ascension to WWE's top star coincided with 2003 Smackdown feud with Lesnar

LESNAR FLASHBACK - Why did Brock Lesnar leave WWE in 2004?, Report on WWE/Lesnar fall-out

LESNAR FLASHBACK - Raw (03-18-02): Lesnar makes WWE TV debut night after WrestleMania 18 ten years ago

LESNAR FLASHBACK - WrestleMania 20 (03-14-04): Brock Lesnar's final WWE match eight years ago; John Cena's first Mania match

PWTORCH FLASHBACK: Edge Retires As Champ - shocking announcement made live on Raw (Cover Story one year ago)

MITCHELL's Definitive Ric Flair & Four Horsemen Collection - audio listing & columns covering careers of 2012 WWE HOF'ers, review of "once in a lifetime" Horsemen Reunion