20 YEARS AGO – WWE LIVE EVENT REPORT (9-3-2006): Edge vs. John Cena for WWE Title, Jeff Hardy vs. Johnny Nitro for the IC Title, plus Mickey James, Umaga, Spirit Swuad, Kane, Triple H & Shawn Michaels

PWTorch features unmatched archives of live wrestling reports (not just results, but match details, context, and analysis). The following is a report originally published here 20 years ago this week…

WWE Raw Live Event Report
September 2, 2006
Dothan, Ala.
Report by Kurt Bensch, PWTorch.com correspondent

First off, the Fink came out and let everyone know that Mr. McMahon ordered DX to run the gauntlet tonight which got a big pop.

(1) The Highlanders beat The Spirit Squad. The Spirit Squad came out to some pretty decent heat. They did a cheer to play to the crowd. The Highlanders came out next to a nice reception. Good action back and forth. The turn came when the ref had his back turned and the other 3 Spirit Squad members starting attacking one of the Highlanders. The ref turned and The Squad starting acting like they were helping him out. They said they were tying his shoes and etc. The ref ejected them. HUGE POP! Crowd chanted NAH NAH NAH NAH HEY GOOD BYE!! Some more action until a hot tag by the Highlanders which led to them doing their flapjack finisher for the win. Good match.

(2) Umaga beat Kane. Immediately after the match, the Spirit Squad left the ring and Umaga’s music hit. He destroyed the Spirit Squad and the Highlanders. Then ARMANDO ALEJANDRO ESTRRRRRRRADA cut a promo about Kane. He referred to him as the Big Red Makine (Machine) HAHA. Great promo. Kane interrupts and the match starts.  Kane is destroyed by Umaga. Umaga wins after the spike to Kane’s throat. Umaga gets some decent heat.

(3) Mickey James & Melina beat Candice & Maria in a Tag Team Bra and Panties Match. What else would you expect? Crowd was pretty quiet for this one. Some “we want puppies” chants broke out. Candice and Maria win and then pull the rest of their clothes off to show their bra and panties. It was funny because the kid next to me was like 9 and he was shouting to see bras and panties.

(4) Oleg beat Val Venis. Squash match. Oleg’s finisher looks like a torture rack but instead of being a submission he drops to his knees in some kind of back breaker maneuver. Venis loses even though he got a huge pop. After the match Venis was slow getting up. He was holding his back. It took him around 5 minutes just to get up off the mat. He couldn’t even climb out of the ring as he needed to roll out. He limped to the back.

Next up was the intermission where we were reminded to go buy overpriced t-shirts.
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(5) Johnny Nitro lost via DQ to Jeff Hardy to retain IC Title. I was really pumped for this one. Nitro gets the most heat up to this point. They do their little entrance. I think my buddy and I were the only two cheering for Nitro. Out comes Hardy to a nice pop. Great action all around. The end comes when Melina hits Hardy with the belt for the DQ. After the match, Hardy attacks Nitro and hits a Swanton for a HUGE pop.

(6) Harry Smith beat Chris “Masterpiece” Masters. When they announced Harry Smith the crowd went dead. Nobody knew he was The Bulldog’s son. He looked to be in good shape. Masters said he only needed five minutes to beat him. He said it was pathetic that Smith was trying to make a name for himself off of his Pops’. Slow action as you would expect from Masters. The Fink initiated the countdown. The last 10 seconds Smith made a comeback but Masters hooked on the Masterlock. Smith didn’t submit and lasted the 5 minutes. Masters gets the mic and says he wants another 5 minutes and they give it to him. But before he knows it, Smith rolls him up for the three count. Decent pop.

(7) DX beat Charlie Haas & Big Vis. Triple H comes out to the biggest pop of the night. He plays to the crowd. He gets on the mic and talks about how they got their ass kicked Monday night. He then says that because of the ass kicking Michaels wouldn’t be there but for one night only he found a partner that fit the “DX Mold”. Ric Flair comes out to a great reception. They do the “Are You Ready” which gets another big pop. At this time, Triple H started to try to get some girls to flash the crowd. Then Flair gets the Mic and says, “Hey champ, you know before DX there was this group called the Four Horsemen. When the Horsemen came to town the women already had their JUGS out.” Triple H responds by saying,” Yeah and I bet their jugs were hanging down around their knees too.” Great back and forth. Vis and Charlie come out. Triple H and Charlie start it off but before any action Triple H gets the mic and tells Charlie that headbands went out in the 80’s. Charlie goes nuts. Back and forth action. Flair gets isolated. At one point, Charlie Haas kicked Flair in the back and Flair screamed,” F— YOU!” Anyway, Triple H hits the Pedigree on Haas for the win. Big pop!

(8) DX beat Murdoch & Cade. Damn Cade is HUGE. Once again, they singled Flair out and worked him over pretty good. Flair’s bump taking looked awful tonight. Some back and forth action and then a hot tag to Triple H. Triple H cleans house and wins the match by Pedigreeing Cade for the win. Good match.

(9) Edge beat John Cena to retain the WWE Title. Edge comes out first to draw some major heat. Of course, my buddy and I were about the only two cheering for him. Edge says he shouldn’t even be in this dump which is why he told Lita to stay home. Cena comes out to HUGE POP!! I boo him unmercifully and a couple other people join in. Someone even had a sign that said ‘If Edge Wins We Riot’. Idiot. Cena chases after Edge and the brawl into the crowd and disappear backstage. They return the ring where Edge takes over. Good back and forth action with too many Cena chants. I started a “Cena Sucks” chant. Few joined in and the rest of the crowd looked at us like how dare you! Finish came when Edge accidentally hit the ref with a clothesline. He then hit Cena with the belt and another ref hits the ring for a near fall. Edge goes crazy and knocks out that ref and brings in a ladder. He sets it up in the corner and prepares to spear Cena. Cena stands up and moves away from the spear. Edge puts on the brakes and Cena tries to FU him. Edge escapes and rams Cena into the ladder. Edge wins by pinfall! After the match, Edge tries to do some more damage, but Cena FU’s him for a big pop.

Notes: Overall great card. Best match: Cena-Edge. Worst match: Masters-Smith.

BIGGEST POPS
1. Cena
2. DX
3. Hardy

MOST HEEL HEAT
1. Edge
2. Spirit Squad
3. Nitro

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