Raw Recap 04.14.08

Raw recap from London, England:

Raw opened showing Regal backstage sipping tea when JBL entered. Regal got up and JBL said he feels Regal is a spineless puppet for allowing Cena and HHH to be in the title match at Backlash. Regal asked JBL what he wanted, and JBL said he wanted a charter flight back to NYC. Regal said that it was time for him to show more authority as GM and scheduled JBL in a 1 on 1 match against HHH, for the first time ever.

Jim Ross announced that over 17,000 fans were in attendance for tonight's show. Just then, the Heartbreak Kid, Shawn Michaels made his way down to the ring. Michaels got into the ring and spoke to the crowd and Batista about their feud. HBK discussed that Flair and most other wrestlers felt closure over what happened to Flair. Michaels said Batista isn't over it, but it's obvious Batista just has a problem with him. Michaels said he's returned from injury and exceeded expectations. As HBK continued to talk about Batista's claims, all of a sudden, Ric Flair's music hit. HBK waited for Flair to make his way to the ring, but the music kept playing. Just then, Chris Jericho came out from backstage and the fans booed him.

Jericho called HBK a phony and said that's what Batista thinks too. Y2J said Shawn Michaels loves himself too much and deep down inside he enjoyed retiring Flair. Jericho also reminded HBK how he was responsible for screwing Bret Hart. Jericho told HBK to admit it to Batista and he may get more respect. Y2J asked Michaels if he suggested the Flair retirement stipulation to Vince McMahon to begin with. Just then, HBK delivered a huge Superkick to Y2J's face, then picked up the mic and said "I admit this, that felt pretty darn good".

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Jim Ross announced that next week's 3 Hour special will include the King of the Ring tournament with competitors going at it to find out who will be King of the Ring. Lillian Garcia announced the next tag match will determine #1 contenders for the tag titles.

Paul London & Brian Kendrick vs. Carlito & Santino

In this match, the winners would become #1 contenders for the tag team titles. Early on Carlito tagged himself in for Santino, but Kendrick and London dominated. Carlito eventually turned the tides on Kendrick, with Holly and Rhodes shown watching backstage.

Carlito continued hammering away on Kendrick and pulled him to the corner to tag in Santino. Santino kept beating up Kendrick as well. Santino and Carlito continued to play keep away with Kendrick, until Kendrick kicked Santino away then tagged in London. London took control as he quickly ran around the ring and knocked down Carlito with a hurricanrana. London hit a kick on Carlito off the corner ropes. Santino got into the match but Kendrick entered and ran at him. Santino pulled down the top ropes and Kendrick fell out of the ring. London dropkicked Santino out also, Carlito took advantage of London looking away and did the Backstabber on him to pick up the win.

Winners: Santino Marella & Carlito win via pinfall over Kendrick & London to become #1 contenders for the tag team titles.

JR and Lawler discussed the match later tonight with HHH facing JBL. Lawler also said Mickie James will challenge Beth Phoenix for the Women's title, next.

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Jim Ross and Lawler discussed the 1st issue of WWE Kids magazine which debuts tomorrow with Rey Mysterio on the front cover.

Mickie James vs. Beth Phoenix
WWE Women's Championship

Early on in the match, The Glamazon grabbed Mickie on her shoulder then rammed her to the turnbuckle. After a failed pin, Beth started kicking Mickie and then put her in a headlock down on the mat. Mickie stood up to deliver some knees to Beth's face. Beth recovered and suplexed Mickie against the top rope to slam her back to the mat. Beth locked a serious Chicken wing style submission on Mickie, preventing her from tapping out. Mickie eventually escaped and slid off Beth's shoulder then tossed her to the corner.

Mickie seemed enraged and started to take it to Phoenix, using a headscissors and several other moves to knock Beth down. Mickie signaled for her finishing DDT, but Beth rammer he to the corner to escape. Phoenix started to stomp away at Mickie in the corner, and the ref warned Beth to stop. Beth sat Mickie up in the corner, but Mickie kicked her back then jumped off the ropes onto her. Beth kicked out of the pin and then took control, hoisting Mickie up by holding her arms behind her back. Mickie pulled a quick move to flip Beth down to the mat into a rolled up pin. Mickie with the surprise win to become new WWE Women's Champion!

Winner: Mickie James wins via pinfall to win the WWE Women's Championship.

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Raw returned with Maria and Ashley on the ramp celebrating with Mickie for winning the Women's title. Todd Grisham interviewed Mickie and asked her how it feels to win the title again. Mickie said she knew she could do it and beat Beth, then planted a huge kiss on Grisham's lips causing him to fall down on the ramp.

Mike Adamle spoke to William Regal backstage, asking why he decided to take on Randy Orton. Regal said because he wants to prove he's the very best. Chris Jericho came in and demanded that Regal put him in the match with HBK and Batista at Backlash. Regal told Jericho he can be special guest referee. Jericho explained he wanted to wrestle, so Regal told him he could wrestle Umaga later tonight, and defend the IC title.

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Footage was shown behind the scenes of the brand new movie Anamorph, which features Mick Foley and William Dafoe. Dafoe is a detective investigating a series of murders. Dafoe said fans of Foley will enjoy him in this move. Anamorph opens in select theaters Friday, including NYC.

JTG vs. Trevor Murdoch

JTG had Big Shad in his corner while Murdoch arrived with Lance Cade. Prior to the match, Cade was shown motivating Trevor backstage, despite their recent flare up at one another.

Murdoch was able to get JTG down on the mat early and slap a headlock on. JTG got to his feet, but Murdoch slammed them both back to the mat. With Cade cheering him on, Murdoch was able to climb the corner ropes, then splash JTG off the corner. JTG rolled Murdoch up after the cross body and stole the win.

Cade got into the ring with Murdoch staring at him. Cade patted Murdoch's shoulder then left the ring and exited up the ramp.

Winner: JTG wins via pinfall over Trevor Murdoch.

Randy Orton shown backstage with the WWE title over his shoulder as he prepared to walk to the ring for the match with Regal.

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Advertisement shown for next week's Raw, the King of the Ring tournament. The ad stated that superstars from Raw, Smackdown and ECW will compete in the tournament to be named King.

William Regal vs. Randy Orton

Prior to the match, Orton picked up a mic and said fans think he got lucky at Wrestlemania, but he's still WWE champion. Orton said at Backlash he'll beat JBL, Cena and HHH all in the same night, but tonight he gets to beat the Raw GM in his own country. Orton then reminded fans we are all living in "the age of Orton".

Regal received a huge welcome from the fans as he entered and made his way to the ring. The fans were behind Regal as both men grappled to the corner. Regal began to punch away at Regal in the corner. Orton was able to get Regal in the wristlock, forcing him down, but Regal used a trip move and brought Orton back down. The two grappled again, with Orton flipping Regal over him, but Regal able to squeeze his legs around Orton's torso. Orton writhed in pain, then slammed Regal's head back to the mat several times.

Orton was able to grab Regal from off the ropes, then slammed him down with a quick back breaker. As Orton walked over, Regal started to kick him away. Orton began to punch and strangle Regal, despite the ref's warning. Orton slapped a headlock on Regal, until Regal stood up and slammed Orton back. Regal was able to land a suplex on Orton, but then failed at a pin. Regal started to slam Orton around to the delight of the crowd, then hit him with a running knee. Orton got a leg on the bottom rope for the pin. Regal started to stomp away at Orton's leg, but the ref forced him away. Just then Orton got up and hit a quick RKO to drop Orton to the mat, then scored the 3 count.

Winner: Randy Orton wins via pinfall over William Regal.

A restless Umaga was shown backstage staring at the camera. Umaga then began yelling in his language, finishing off with a yell as Raw went to commercial.

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A commercial was shown to announce Batista vs. the Undertaker on this Friday's Smackdown.

Umaga vs. Chris Jericho
Intercontinental Title match

Umaga started off by punching away at Jericho, knocking him to the mat, then stepping on his face. Jericho tried to flip Umaga down for a pin from the mat, but Umaga tried to sit on him. Jericho got out of the way and scored a dropkick. Y2J began a quick strike attack, until Umaga leveled him. Umaga stood Y2J up and chopped at him, then headbutted him back down. Jericho got up again and had brief momentum, but after running off the ropes, Umaga elbowed him down.

Umaga stood Jericho up again and slammed him into the corner, then whipped him to the opposite. Y2J fought back, until Umaga clotheslined him down hard. Jericho kicked out of a pin, then got up and ran at Umaga to dropkick him. Umaga staggered a bit, so Jericho tried again. This time Umaga flipped him up over the ropes and out of the ring, as Raw headed to commercial.

Raw returned with Jericho slamming Umaga face first to the ring corner, then climbing the ropes to punch away at him. Umaga shoved Y2J down then took control. Umaga began to squeeze Jericho's shoulder muscle down on the mat. Umaga charged at Jericho near the ropes, but Y2J pulled the rope down and Umaga fell out. Y2J used a slide dropkick to kick Umaga into the crowd barrier. As Y2J came outside, Umaga was recovered and clothesline Jericho down. Umaga tossed Jericho back in for the pin, but Y2J got out again. Umaga tried to drop off the ropes onto Jericho, but Y2J put both knees up hitting his groin. Jericho went for the slam, and got Umaga up, but the weight was too much causing Umaga to fall back on him.

Umaga continued to dominate Jericho around the ring, whipping him from corner to corner hard. With Y2J layed out, Umaga drug his limp body to the corner, punched him some more, then ran at him with the hip splash. Jericho got himself out of the ring before Umaga got there, then jumped off the top corner to hit Umaga from behind. Jericho hit Umaga with a low dropkick, then went for the Walls of Jericho. Umaga punched Y2J in the face to get out of it. As Y2J ran at him again, Umaga slammed him back for a pin. Jericho impressively kicked out. The match continued at a fast pace with Umaga going for a Samoan Spike. Jericho ducked it. After Umaga hi the corner charging at Y2J, Y2J was able to take the pin and use the ropes for leverage.

Winner: Chris Jericho wins via pinfall over Umaga to retain the Intercontinental title.

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Hacksw Jim Duggan vs. Paul Burchhill

Burchhill made his way to the ring with his sister Katie. As the bell rang he immediately ran at Hacksaw and kncoked him to the mat, then started using a knee to choke him against the ropes. Burchhill continued to dominate the veteran Hacksaw, ending the match with a clothesline in the corner, then shoving Duggan down to stomp him face first into the mat.

Winner: Paul Burchhill wins via pinfall over Hacksaw Jim Duggan.

Todd Grisham interviewed Triple H backstage about his first ever match against JBL and how he will prepare. Triple H said it wouldn't be very cerebal to come backstage and tell his game plan before a match. Triple H said JBL should have stuck to his announcer job because tonight it's time to play the Game.

JR and Lawler discussed the Backlash card, with Chris Jericho added in as the special guest referee for the Batista vs. Shawn Michaels match.

Promo shown for Tuesday night's ECW which will feature the Brothers of Destruction in Tag Team action.

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JBL vs. Triple H

Prior to the match, JBL's theme music and arrival interrupted HHH before he could pose on the apron. Raw took a break as JBL headed to the ring for the match. Raw resumed with JBL seeming to be in control, knocking HHH down. Triple H was able to get a headlock on JBL, then knock him down off the ropes. The fans got behind HHH as the two men grappled to the corner. The ref broke it up and they stood nose to nose briefly. JBL managed to get a cheap shot kick in on HHH, but Triple H clotheslined him down.

JBL whipped HHH to the ropes and The Game tried to get a quick Pedigree. Bradshaw flipped HHH up and then took control of hte match, eventually getting Triple H into a sleeper hold/Full nelson. Triple H fought back and used his strength to break the hold. HHH was able to fight back and clothesline JBL out of the ring. HHH continued to beat up JBL near the crowd barrier, until all of a sudden Randy Orton came running down the ramp. Orton brought HHH into the ring, but HHH managed to counter. HHH hit a Spinebuster then went for the Pedigree. By then, JBL had recovered and came in the ring to deliver a huge boot to HHH, knocking him down. JBL and Orton began to pummel Triple H from there. JBL and Orton then began to discuss Orton doing a run and kick as JBL held Triple H in place.

JBL seemed to go along with Orton, until Randy started to run. JBL quickly dropped HHH then delivered the Clothesline from Hell, knocking Orton to the mat. JBL waited for HHH to stand up, then gave him the Clothesline from Hell. Both men were layed out as JBL posed with the WWE title as Raw ended.

Winner: Triple H wins due to disqualification when Randy Orton interfered.

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