WWE Raw Recap 10.08.07

Raw recap from Grand Rapids, MI:

Raw opened with Chairman Vince McMahon strutting down the ramp to the ring. Vince McMahon told the crowd he made good on his word as a new WWE champ has been named and there were 3 WWE title matches last night. Vince then had them cut to the footage of last night's No Mercy matches involving Triple H. First Triple H beat Randy Orton for the WWE title, then later he successfully defended against Umaga. Vince then put Triple H in a Last Man Standing match between Orton and HHH. Orton ended up winning the WWE title back to close the event.

Vince then said history would be made tonight on Raw and asked every superstar on the roster to come out and shake the hand of the new WWE champion. Vince said Orton's first title defense is at the next Pay Per View, Cyber Sunday where fans will make the match decisions via the internet. Just then, HHH's music came on and The Game came down to the ring looking angry.

Triple H said just like Orton did last night he is invoking his rematch clause tonight. Vince said he didn't think this was in HHH's best interest but then announced a match. Triple H will face Randy Orton and his tag-team partner tonight, Umaga in a handicap match.

---

Jim Ross discussed last night's No Mercy event and said WWE.com has all the latest.

Beth Phoenix, Melina & Jillian Hall vs. Candice Michelle, Mickie James & Maria

A six diva tag match featuring the new Women's champ, Beth Phoenix. Melina attacked Maria early to start the match off, but Maria escaped to tag in Mickie. Micke used a baseball slide dropkick on Melina then tried to climb the corner to punch her. Beth Phoenix came over on the apron and yanked Mickie down. With Mickie stuck in the ropes Melina began to kick and attack her. Phoenix came in to continue the assault.

Beth tagged in to stretch Mickie out down on the mat, then Melina returned to beat Mickie up even more. Mickie eventually escaped a double team by Jillian and Melina and was able to tag Candice in. Candice started attacking Jillian, dropping her down to the mat . Candice tried a bridge pin but Phoenix came in to attack her. With Jillian and Candice alone in the ring, Jillian whipped Candice to the corner. Jillian went for a springboard move at Candice, but Candice got on her shoulders and then took her down for a quick pin!

Winners: Candice Michelle, Mickie James and Maria win via pinfall over Beth Phoenix, Melina and Jillian Hall

---

Footage shown of the hottest selling action DVD, Stone Cold Steve Austin's The Condemned (Widescreen Edition).

William Regal and Coach shown talking in an office backstage. Coach noted that Regal has redecorated the office. Coach discussed getting attacked by Cena and how now Coach has to walk using a cane. Coach remarked about the pics Regal had in his office of various British "queens". Vince McMahon entered the office and discussed the welfare of his son Hornswoggle. Regal said he's taking a nap right now but everything is fine. Regal then yelled at Coach as his assistant to look after Hornswoggle. Regal told Coach to go check on Hornswoggle in the closet, and Coach came back saying he was nowhere to be fine. Regal ordered Coach to go find him.

Jim Ross discussed the Cyber Sunday PPV which will be October 28 in Washington DC. A promo commercial was shown of various past matches that fans voted to happen at the event. Included in the footage were a cage match between Ric Flair and Randy Orton and a divas lingerie match.

---

Ad shown for Friday's Smackdown where Undertaker and Kane will team up to go against Matt Hardy and MVP.

Footage shown from last week where Val Venis interrupted Santino's movie critic show in the ring. Venis insulted Marella in front of Maria, prompting Marella to attack him, setting this match up.

Marella rolled under the bottom rope before the match even started. Marella asked for the mic and hugged Lillian, introducing her to the crowd. Marella then groped Lillian and told Venis he can't fight him tonight, but has another opponent for him. Snitsky's music came on as he came down to the ring.

Snitsky vs. Val Venis

The two grappled with Snitsky taking control from the start. Snitskiy began attacking Venis' knee which Santino hurt last week. Snitsky tossed Venis to the corner for some abuse, then slammed him down center of the ring. After an elbow drop, Snitsky picked up Venis who began to fight back. Snitsky delivered a solid boot to Venis in the face knocking him down. Snitsky applied a hold on Venis then tossed him to the mat hard. A slam from the shoulders was used to finish off Venis in a relatively quick match.

Winner: Snitsky wins via pinfall over Val Venis.

Jim Ross said Evander Holyfield will be looking to make this Saturday night on pay Per View. Footage was shown of Holyfield's involvement in the Saturday Night's main event match, boxing with Matt Hardy. Holyfield was MVP's representative to fight Hardy, but ended up clocking MVP at the end of the match, leaving him face down on the mat. Holyfield will face Ibragimov as he looks to become Heavyweight boxing champ.

Footage shown from last week's Raw, the unfortunate injury to John Cena. Jim Ross said there will be a live interview with Cena, next.

---

Cryptic commercial with various numbers and music shown again. No word given by JR and Lawler on the ad's meaning, which many speculate is a promo for Chris Jericho.

John Cena was shown on the Titantron in a sling live from Tampa, Florida. Cena said he is 5 or 6 days off the surgery table and it will probably take 7 to 12 months to get back. Cena said his #1 focus now is getting better and back to the ring. Jerry Lawler asked Cena about Orton saying it was good Cena got hurt to avoid the Last Man Standing Match. Cena said Orton shouldn't just worry about Cena or HHH, but tonight Orton has to face all of the other Raw superstars. JR and Lawler wished Cena well on his recovery.

Randy Orton came down the ramp to the ring with the WWE belt on his shoulder then hoisted it up for the fans to see as Raw went to commercial break.

Triple H vs. Umaga and Randy Orton

Umaga and Orton stared out from the ring ready for HHH as he came down the ramp.

Triple H went at Umaga early then at Orton as he attacked from behind. Orton went for a quick RKO but HHH shoved him into Umaga, knocking Umaga out of the ring. HHH tried for a pin but Umaga got up to pull him out of the ring. Outside the ring, Umaga began to pummel HHH, attacking him viciously and tossing him back in. Orton began to attack HHH inside the ring hammering away at him. HHH's forehead began to bleed from the attack. Orton held HHH down allowing Umaga to drop a headbutt into HHH's gut. The 2 then attacked HHH in the corner. The doubleteam continued in the center of the ring, with Orton picking up HHH so Umaga could slam him backwards. Orton then told Umaga to climb the ropes, as Orton held HHH's legs.

Umaga got on the ropes, but HHH kicked Orton into the corner, causing Umaga to lose balance and fall. HHH gained major momentum and began to fight Orton. HHH was just about to go for the Pedigree, but Umaga attacked from behind. HHH was able to elude Umaga as he came at him with a clothesline. HHH pulled the top rope down, causing Umaga to spill out of the ring. HHH then focused on Orton again and got him set in the Pedigree. Umaga got back into the ring with a steel chair which he smacked across HHH's back causing a DQ.

After the bell, Umaga and Orton continued to attack HHH, with Orton delivering a RKO, then Umaga dragging HHH to the corner. Umaga did two hip splashes followed by a big splash onto HHH off the top ropes. Umaga then stood up HHH and delivered a Samoan Spike, causing HHH to fall to the mat completely beat up. Referees attended to HHH as the crowd chanted for him and he finally was helped to walk up the ramp. HHH shoved the refs away and began to walk up the ramp by himself then collapsed at the bottom of the ramp as Raw hit commercial.

Winner: Triple H wins over Umaga and Randy Orton due to disqualification.

---

Raw returned with 3 WWE refs helping Triple H up the ramp and backstage. Replay shown of what happened to Triple H in the handicap match. Refs shown backstage helping Triple H. Just then, Vince McMahon came running up asking what happened to Triple H. Vince then said whatever happened he better be the first wrestler out to shake Randy Orton's hand, even if it's on a stretcher.

Kendrick & London vs. The Highlanders

Footage shown from weeks ago on Raw when Highlanders interfered in Kendrick and London's match with Cade & Murdoch.

Early on London and Kendrick cleared the ring of the Highlanders then leapt over the top ropes onto them, crashing outside. Once back in the ring London took slight control until get distracting by Robby. The Highlanders began to doubleteam London, keeping him down on the mat as he struggled to escape. London finally escaped from Robby and tagged in kendrick. Kendrick began to use high impact quick movesaround the ring and went for the pin. Rorie entered to break things up, but was tossed from the ring. London jumped out onto him. Kendrick then ran at Robby in the corner. Robbie was able to dodge the move and slam Kendrick down, then put his feet on the ropes to get the pin.

Winners: The Highlanders win via pinfall over Kendrick & London.

2007 WWE Diva Search contest shown with interviews with the contestants. The next competition is the Search and rescue which will be on WWE.com tomorrow. Voting continues at WWE.com for the next diva where another diva has been eliminated.

Coach shown backstage looking for Hornswoggle. He came up to a WWE staff member backstage and described Hornswoggle to him. The man asked Coach what he's been smoking. Coach bumped into Cody Rhodes and Rhodes said he hasn't seen him either. Regal came up to Coach angry and asked where Hornswoggle is. Regal told Coach to try harder to find him.

---

Footage shown for the Encore presentation of No Mercy which will be all week long.

Lillian Garcia performer a pop/rock song "Quiero Vivir" with a band at the top of the ramp. The song comes from her new album of the same title. Quiero Vivir is available at Amazon.com.

As Lillian received praise from the crowd, Santino Marella came out onto the ramp. Marella said great performance then told Lillian and her band to "beat it". Marella said he'd give them some real music. Marella then sang a spoof of the Amy Winehouse song, "Rehab" about "The Condemned". Marella sang a chorus of "tried to make me watch the Condemned, I said No No No". Marella thanked the jeering crowd before exiting backstage.

---

Ad shown for next week's Raw saying Cody Rhodes will take on Hardcore Holly to earn his respect.

Mr. Kennedy vs. Jeff Hardy

Kennedy grabbed the mic from above and said he will prove to everyone he is the future of sports entertainment. Mr. Kennedy put Hardy into an early headlock, then Jeff reversed to wrap up Kennedy. Kennedy pushed off the ropes and began to knock Hardy down. Hardy gained momentum after eluding Kennedy and dropping him down to the mat. At one point Jeff Hardy speared Kennedy through the ropes and both men crashed outside the ring onto the floor. Kennedy tossed Hardy back in eventually, and then Jeff was able to dropkick Mr. Kennedy before he could enter. Jeff went up off the top rope and jumped at Kennedy. Kennedy moved and Jeff hit against the crowd barrier as Raw went to break.

Raw returned with Kennedy holding Jeff down on the mat, then putting him in a half Boston Crab. Jeff kicked his way out but Kennedy picked him up and whipped him to the corner. Jeff was able to kick his way out of things and climbed the corner ropes. Kennedy came over and dropkicked Hardy, causing him to fall from the ropes. Kennedy again put Hardy in the half Boston Crab until Jeff grabbed the bottom rope. Kennedy tried to go to the outside and grab Jeff's leg under the ropes, but Jeff kicked him into the crowd barrier. Kennedy was able to get back into the ring and knock Jeff down again, clipping his leg, but then failed at a pin.

Kennedy tried another pin but put his feet on the ropes and the ref noticed, stopping the count. Hardy was able to do a legsweep snapping Kennedy back to the mat. As Kennedy got to his feet Jeff went for the Twist of Fate. Kennedy countered and tried to get Jeff on his shoulders, but Jeff slid off and did a brain buster. Hardy then climbed to the top rope and went for the Swanton Bomb as Kennedy moved away. Kennedy tried to roll up Jeff for a pin, but Jeff reversed it and scored the pinfall victory!

Winner: Jeff Hardy wins via pinfall over Mr. Kennedy.

Backstage, Vince McMahon told William Regal he expects everyone to be present for Orton's title ceremony. Vince asked where his son was, and Regal said he's taking an extended nap. Coach came running in saying he couldn't find him. Vince told Regal and Coach they better not be talking about his son. Vince left and Regal told Coach to make sure Hornswoggle is there. After Regal left Coach, a nearby blue chest opened and Hornswoggle popped out yawning. Coach went to grab Hornswoggle, and the leprechaun slammed the crate door on his hands. Hornswoggle then got out of the chest and grabbed Coach's cane. Hornswoggle began hitting the cane onto Coach's hurt leg, laughing.

Wrestlers began to line up at the top of the ramp for the Randy Orton title ceremony.

---

WWE Title Ceremony

Randy Orton came down to a ring decked out in red with Vince McMahon present. Vince shook his hand first and the fans began to chant "You Suck". Orton began to speak about his greatness as the new WWE champ. Orton said he has the perfect combo of size, speed, strength and skill. Orton said he can see a lot of jealous faces up on the ramp and that he will be WWE champ for a long, long time.

Orton told the wrestlers to put their feelings aside and come to the ring to say "Good Luck champ". Vince said it was time to start and then demanded to know where HHH is. Vince said HHH needs to be the first to the ring to shake hands. Vince said if HHH doesnt show up to the ring, Randy Orton will go backstage and drag him out to the ring. Orton began to head up the ramp towards the back. Just then the music of HBK, Shawn Michaels began to play from the speakers. Michaels came walking out from backstage as the fans went wild. HBK continued to walk towards the ring causing Orton to back up.

Orton scrambled to get into the ring and grabbed his WWE belt. Michaels slid under the rope and went at Orton. Orton charged at HBK with the belt, but Michaels speared Orton down. HBK began to punch away at Orton down on the mat, then got back up. As Orton stood up, HBK delivered a Sweet Chin Music Kick to Orton's face, causing the champ to fall face first on the mat. Raw went off the air with HBK standing in the ring looking at the fallen Randy Orton.