WWE Raw Recap 11.26.07

Raw recap from Charlotte, NC:

Raw opened with highlights from last week's "Torch Passing" ceremony held by Randy Orton. Chris Jericho intercepted the marathon runner carrying the torch backstage, clothslining him down. Y2J then made his grand entrance to the top of the ramp and claimed he is back to save the WWE from Randy Orton and take his WWE title.

Jeff Hardy & HHH vs. Umaga & Snitsky

Last week's highlights shown when Triple H came to Hardy's aid during an attack from Snitsky and Umaga.

Hardy and Snitsky squared off with Jeff getting shoved to the mat. Jeff went for a headlock and Snitsky shoved him off, causing a tag to HHH. Triple H came in to grapple with Snitsky getting him to the corner. Snitsky tried to run at HHH but he moved and Snitsky hit shoulder first to the corner. With HHH in control a tag to Jeff allowed him jump off the ropes and hit Snitsky. Jeff tried to run off the ropes but Snitsky was able to knock him to the mat and Jeff rolled outside the ring. Snitsky went out and tossed him back in and Jeff used the ropes to dropkick Snitsky outside the ring. Umaga came at him and Jeff pulled the top rope down. Jeff then tried to jump off the apron but both men were able to catch him outside the ring. Triple H jumped off the apron landing on top of them all. With Umaga and Snitsky layed out Raw went to commercial break.

Raw returned with Jeff coming off the ropes to hit Umaga followed by a dropkick. Jeff ran off the ropes again and jumped but this time Umaga caught him for the vicious side slam. Snitsky tagged in and started to punish Hardy around the ring. Umaga and Snitsky kept Hardy isolated and away from HHH using various moves to try to wear him down. Hardy got away from Snitsky and jumped over to tag in HHH. HHH came in and began beating up Umaga, avoiding him in the corner then throwing him into it. HHH took control and prepared to Pedigree Snitsky, but Umaga came in to kick HHH in the head. Snitsky spilled out of the ring and HHH went out to attack, leaving Jeff and Umaga in the ring. HHH knocked Snitsky out into the crowd.

Umaga knocked Jeff into the corner and ran for a hip splash, but HHH was able to pull Jeff away from outside the ring. Jeff scored a Whisper in the Wind, HHH scored a Pedigree and then Jeff won the match with the Swanton Bomb.

Winners: Jeff Hardy & HHH win via pinfall over Umaga & Snitsky.

William Regal came out to the ramp to congratulate both men on their win. Regal said he wants to see HHH and Jeff Hardy in action at the new WWE PPV. Regal then announced Jeff Hardy vs. Triple H for Armageddon.

A limo was shown arriving in the back garage area and out stepped the Nature Boy Ric Flair who began walking on his way to the ring.

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Ric Flair made his way down to the ring to address the crowd. Flair said there's a reason he hasn't been On Raw for 6 months because his wrestling career can't go on forever. Flair said he's been involved in new marketing promotions and politics during this time. Flair then announced that he will never retire. Flair said he won't retire until he is dead in the ring. Flair emphatically said he loves the business and he's going nowhere. As Flair and the crowd were celebrating, all of a sudden Vince McMahon came out from backstage and made his way down to the ring.

Vince told Flair he's happy to hear he'll never retire. Vince said he hopes Flair goes on forever, as long as he keeps on winning. Vince made a stipulation that the first match Flair loses will end his wrestling career with WWE. As Vince was about to exit the ring out came Randy Orton carrying his belt. Orton thanked Flair for all he's done for him during his career. Orton then said he wants to thank him for the pleasure tonight of ending his career. Vince then announced Orton vs. Flair for tonight.

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Super Crazy, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Cody Rhodes & Hardcore Holly vs. Cade & Murdoch and the Highlanders

Super Crazy and Hacksaw worked on Robbie early knocking him to the mat. Hacksaw took control and tagged in Cody who jumped off the ropes to elbow Robbie. Robbie escaped to tag in Cade who kicked Rhodes down to the mat. Cade forced Rhodes down in a hold before tagging in his partner Murdoch. Murdoch tried to wear Rhodes down on the mat with an arm hold but Rhodes got to his feet and escaped from Murdoch in the corner. Rhodes got over to tag in Holly and Rory came in. Holly began to knock Rory down off the ropes several times and dropkicked him down. Holly went for a cover and all 8 men got into the ring to fight. Everyone wound up outside the ring except Holly and Rory, allowing Holly to do the Alabama Slam and grab the pinfall win.

Winner: Hardcore Holly, Cody Rhodes, Hacksaw Jim Duggan & Super Crazy win via pinfall.

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Backstage Todd Grisham talked to Jeff Hardy about the impending matchup with HHH at Armageddon. Jeff said he didn't want the match to damage their recent friendship. HHH came up and said he doesn't do well with the "friends" thing and that Jeff needs to know at Armageddon he should know he's stepping in the ring with "The Game".

Highlights shown from last week's Raw where Mr. Kennedy and Shawn Michaels got into it. Backstage, Mr. Kennedy held up the new 3 disc Shawn Michaels dvd saying it spans HBK's entire career. Kennedy spoke about Michaels betraying every tag partner he's had and HBK coming up short in big main event matches. Kennedy said HBK also loses his smile and it's heartbreaking to see. Kennedy said on there are more talented individuals out there who have surpassed Michaels. Kennedy then shoved a bunch of HBK items off a nearby table full of merchandise and angrily talked about Michaels going against him.

Flair shown backstage with Barry Windham and Arn Anderson discussing the stipulations.

Chris Jericho made his way to the ring to discuss the second coming of Y2J. Jericho said he hasn't heard a response from Randy Orton but most likely because Orton didn't understand his question. Jericho then said "Me want title match". Jericho then presented a visual on the Titantron with pictures to represent "Me + Want + Title + Match". Jericho said he's not leaving the ring until he has an answer about a title match. Just then, Santino Marella came walking out with a microphone.

Santino told "KYJ" he doesn't just walk into the ring and demand a title shot. Jericho then said he doesn't know who Santino is and the two began to go back and forth. Jericho took off his shirt and told Marella to beat him up. Jericho asked for a ref so they could start a match. Marella rolled out of the ring claiming he needed to warm up first, then told Jericho he wanted to give him something to think about. Marella went over and attacked Jerry Lawler at the commentator table knocking him out of his chair. Marella continued to punch away before leaving up the ramp. Jim Ross said Jericho and Marella would fight when Raw returns.

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Santino Marella vs. Chris Jericho

When Raw returned Marella entered the ring and the match started. Jericho locked up Marella in a headlock. And Marella tried to shove him. Jericho chopped Marella down then later used a suplex to drop him to the mat. Santino rolled out onto the apron at one point, but Jericho did a kick off the ropes knocking Marella to the crowd barrier. Jericho continued the attack outside of the ring. Back inside, Jericho continued to dominate until he tossed Santino to the ropes. Santino held himself with the ropes and a Jericho dropkick missed allowing Marella to take control. Marella applied a hold around Jericho's neck/chest on the mat, but Jericho managed to get up and come off the ropes. Jericho gained momentum using an atomic drop and a facebuster. Jericho finished off Marella by grabbing him and bringing him down face first into Jericho's knees.

After the win Y2J encouraged Jerry Lawler to get into the ring. Lawler pounded on Marella and knocked him around the ring. Jericho grabbed the headset at the commentator table to discuss the beatdown with JR.

Winner: Chris Jericho wins via pinfall over Santino Marella.

Backstage Ric Flair was lacing up his wrestling boots as Shawn Michaels entered. HBK said he's not sure if he can deal with the industry without Ric Flair. HBK said Randy's on a roll but Flair is in his hometown tonight. Flair said he's going to give everything he has and more tonight and at the very worst will "go out in a blaze of glory".

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Brian Kendrick vs. Mr. Kennedy

Kendrick put a headlock on Kennedy but got shoved down to the mat. The two pushed each other and Kennedy slapped Kendrick. Kendrick tried to come off the ropes at Kennedy but was clotheslined down hard. Kennedy then catapulted Kendrick neck first into the bottom rope. Kennedy followed up with a finisher and a quick pin for the win.

Kennedy took the mic from overhead after the match. Kennedy said that was a sample of what you can see live at Armageddon when he and HBK face off. Kennedy then announced that he will be the victor at that match.

Winner: Mr. Kennedy wins via pinfall over Brian Kendrick.

Smackdown rebound shown with Vickie Guerrero yelling at Edge in her office about how he interrupted the Hell in a Cell match. Vickie then told Edge he can have a title match against Batista next week. The two ended up kissing as they revealed they are working together and an item. Later on the show, Batista came out to confront Edge in the ring and shoved Edge down. Batista left and then Undertaker arrived in the ring behind Edge. As Edge rolled out of the ring it left Vickie alone with Undertaker. Taker grabbed Vickie and despite Edge pleading, Taker delivered a Tombstone piledriver.

Backstage Vince was talking to Hornswoggle in his office. Vince said Hornswoggle is a lucky guy for winning and surviving all his recent matches. Vince said they can give Finlay just what he wants now, a match against Great Khali one on one. Vince then told Hornswoggle to go get them some ice cream sandwiches. As Hornswoggle left, Vince called someone on a walkie talkie. Hornswoggle was shown walking backstage where he found an empty ice cream sandwich box on the ground. He spotted a door which said "Free Ice Cream Sandwiches" and went in. As the door closed, it was Carlito in the locker room and he told Hornswoggle he was going to pay for last week. Hornswoggle retrieved a can of black spray paint and sprayed a door type opening on the wall. Carlito told Hornswoggle that wouldn't work, but Hornswoggle ran around and revved himself up then managed to run through the hole in the wall. Carlito looked puzzled and tried to run in after him but hit the wall and fell back holding his head. Ron Simmons entered the room and looked at him on the ground before yelling "DAMN!"

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Melina vs. Mickie James
(#1 Contender's Match)

Beth Phoenix watched from ringside as Melina grabbed Mickie's wrist early. Mickie kicked out and the two divas punched and kicked back and forth. Mickie whipped Melina to the corner and tried to run at her, but Melina kicked her. Melina sat on the ropes with Mickie going over to punch her and toss her off. Mickie ran across the ring and jumped on Melina to start punching. Melina regained control briefly but Mickie was able to head scissor her from the corner. Mickie followed up with a huge DDT on Melina to capture a rather quick pinfall victory. Mickie James will now head to Armageddon to face Beth Phoenix for the WWE Women's Title.

Winner: Mickie James wins via pinfall over Melina.

Flair was shown backstage making his way out to the ring. Flair stopped as he came up to most of the faces from the Raw roster and other WWE staff applauding him. Triple H walked up to shake Flair's hand and hug him before Flair left for his match.

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Ric Flair vs. Randy Orton
Career Threatening Match

The stipulation for this match is that if Flair loses, he must retire from the WWE.

Orton grabbed Flair's arm but Flair began to chop at his chest then tossed him to the ropes. Flair continued the chest chops in opposite corners of the ring and against the ropes. Flair caught Orton with an elbow off the ropes then stomped on him. Orton finally gained control and tossed Flair up over him off the ropes. Flair kicked out of a pinfall attempt and Orton continued to attack. Orton stood up to suplex Flair and Flair reversed to roll him up for a pin. Orton escaped and continued to beat up Flair by stomping on him. Orton went for a knee drop and Flair rolled away.

Flair tried to gain momentum but Orton dropkicked him as he came off the ropes. Orton applied a headlock as he kept Flair down. Flair got up and Orton managed to knock him out of the ring. Orton went out and the two started to fight back and forth. Orton suplexed Flair landing on the outside area. Orton got back in the ring as if he had finished off Flair. Flair got up and grabbed the bottom rope and was able to roll in to beat the ref's count. Orton pulled him to the center of the ring and dropped a knee on him followed by a side headlock.

Flair and Orton got to their feet and Orton went for an RKO. Flair shoved him away and started to gain momentum. Flair was able to hit Orton's leg from behind and take him to the mat. Flair followed by dropping Orton's knee onto his own and then slapping a Figure Four on. Orton stretched and finally grabbed the rope. Flair went for another Figure Four but Orton escaped then got up to RKO Flair down. Orton rolled on the mat clutching his hurt leg for a moment. Orton finally got over to make a pin but Flair grabbed the rope before 3. Orton continued to dominate and prepared for another RKO. This time Orton held Flair in position and showed each section of the crowd. Just then, the side apron lifted and out came Chris Jericho which distracted the ref and Orton. As both looked at Jericho jumping on the apron, Flair delivered the low blow to Orton. As the ref turned back, Flair grabbed the pinfall victory.

Orton lay on the mat as Jericho came in to check on Flair. Flair left the ring holding his head as he walked up the ramp. As Raw ended Jericho stood at the bottom of the ramp and stared at Randy Orton in the ring.

Winner: Ric Flair wins via pinfall over Randy Orton.