Raw Recap 04.28.08

Raw recap from New Jersey:

Monday Night Raw opened with highlights from last night's Backlash Fatal Fourway elimination match between John Cena, JBL, Triple H and Randy Orton. It came down to Triple H vs. Orton for the WWE title, with Triple H scoring the Peigree and pinfall for the win! Triple H is now the new WWE champion, with a historic 12th time as champ.

After the opening pyrotechnics, the brand new WWE champ Triple H's music hit and the Game made his way to the top of the ramp. HHH ripped open a leather jacket to reveal the WWE title wrapped around his waist. After posing from the corners of the ring, HHH took the mic and announced "the age of Orton is now dead!" Triple H's victory speech was cut short as ex-champ, Randy Orton's music came on and Orton came down to the ring.

Orton informed HHH he'll be using his rematch clause for Judgement Day to get his title back. Orton bragged he had the WWE title for 6 months. HHH told Orton the difference between them is "when HHH told people he was great he was telling the truth". HHH told Orton to get the hell out of his ring, but Orton said he wasn't moving and got into HHH's face. Finally, Triple H had had enough of Orton and smacked him in the mouth with a mic. An angry Orton erupted outside the ring on the ramp and yelled "Forget Judgement Day!" Orton said HHH's title reign won't last 24 hours, because he's invoking the rematch clause tonight.

12 Diva Tag Match
Backlash Rematch

Kelly Kelly, Cherry, Maria, Ashley, Michelle McCool & Mickie James fought in a rematch against last night's winning team of Beth Phoenix, Melina, Jillian, Victoria, Layla and Natalya. The divas all faced each other in the ring and began an all out brawl, with the ring being cleared except for Kelly and Beth. Beth blindsided Kelly and began to attack, ramming her into her corner. Victoria tagged in to continue the beating.

Kelly managed to escape finally against Jillian with an elbow, then tagged in Mickie. Mickie had serious momentum and ran over to punch Beth on the apron. Mickie ran to the corner, flipped over onto the apron and then back in to headscissor Jillian. Layla got a cheapshot on Mickie as she ran against the ropes, but Mickie managed to duck a Jillian clothesline and then used a bridge pin to win the match. No other face divas besides Mickie and Kelly were involved in the match.

Winners: Kelly Kelly, Cherry, Maria, Ashley, Michelle McCool & Mickie James win by pinfall.

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Robbie of Highlanders vs. JBL

JBL entered the ring clearly angry over last night's loss, and began glaring at Robbie. JBL started off delivering serious boots to Robbie in the corner, then slammed him back to the mat hard. JBL repeatedly elbow dropped on Robbie with Rory looking on from ringside. The Clothesline from Hell quickly finished off Robbie. JBL then stared down Rory, telling him to get into the ring. Rory backed away up the ramp, and JBL went out to the commentator's table, picking up a headset. JBL told Jim Ross that Robbie should have been John Cena, who robbed him last night. JBL said he is challenging the winner of tonight's WWE title match and will also destroy John Cena. JBL ripped off his headset and threw it onto the table, then stormed off up the ramp.

Winner: JBL wins via pinfall over Robbie of the Highlanders.

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WWE Slam of the Week was last week's roll up pin by JTG on Trevor Murdoch. Afterwards, Lance Cade got into the ring to confront his partner over what happened.

London & Kendrick vs. Cade & Murdoch

Cade started and took control of Paul London, holding him to the mat as he tagged in Murdoch. London was isolated and Murdoch used an elbow to drop him to the mat. Cade & Murdoch began to kick away on London. London finally managed to escape and tagged in his partner, who started to fly around the ring knocking both Cade and Muroch down. Cade managed to hit Kendrick into the corner into Murdoch. Murdoch fell off the apron temporarily. Cade knocked Kendrick face first ot the mat then tagged in Cade. Cade went to finish off Kendrick, sending him to the ropes, but as Kendrick came back at him he scored a rollup pin for the victory.

An angry Lance Cade got in the ring to ask Murdoch what went wrong. Murdoch rolled out of the ring, walked over to Lillian Garcia and took her mic. Trevor stood up on the commentators table and began to sing the country song "Friends in Low Places" to Lance who stood in the ring. Murdoch received a mixed reaction from the crowd from his song which was a good acapella rendition.

Winners: Kendrick & London win via pinfall over Cade & Murdoch.

Highlights were shown of Shawn Michaels wrenching his knee during last night's match against Batista. Michaels still managed to pull off a win after using Sweet Chin Music. Tonight, HBK will be the guest on Chris Jericho's Highlight Reel in the ring.

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Jim Ross discussed last week's pre-recorded messages from John McCain, Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama and how it has been reported on in the New York Times.

Super Crazy vs. Paul Burchhill

Katie Leigh took the mic prior to the match and said King William Regal granted them their request for a 2 on 1 Handicap match. Katie Leigh went for a kick on Super Crazy then backed off as he and Burchhill fought. Crazy started to gain the advantage and knocked Paul away, then Katie ran over to attack. Crazy tossed Katie to the ropes, and Burchhill attacked soon gaining momentum.

After whipping Super to the ropes, Burchhill tried to whip Katie into him. Crazy moved out of the way and Katie crashed. With the match in his hands, Super crazy went for a moonsault on Burchhill. Burchhill moved away and Crazy hit the mat hard. Burchhill soon used his knee to the back move, smashing Super Crazy face first into the mat. Katie Leigh turned Super Crazy onto his back and took the pin.

Winners: Katie Leigh & Paul Burchhill win via pinfall over Super Crazy.

Todd Grisham interviewed Randy Orton backstage, addressing him as former champ. Grisham asked Orton if he was having second thoughts about invoking his rematch clause for tonight. An angry Orton stared down Grisham, then blurted out "NO!"

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Official King's Coronation

In a darkened arena, William Regal was seated in a gold throne in the middle of the ring wearing a suit. Regal spoke on the mic saying he does not plan to give up his role as General Manager of Raw. Regal said he is the most powerful entity in all of WWE. Regal said all fans of WWE will have to respect and fear him, as he is their ruler and their better. Just then, Regal was interrupted by "KENNEDY!" as Mr. Kennedy made his way down the ramp from backstage.

Kennedy got into the ring and stood in Regal's face. Kennedy said he'd love to be the first guy out of all the brands to congratulate him, but he just can't do it. Kennedy told Regal he's the biggest star who wasn't invited to be in the tournament. Kennedy said he wants to challenge Regal 1 on 1 to find out who the real king is. Regal interrupted Kennedy's yelling out of his name. Regal said no one talks to him without an appointment, then suggested Kennedy apologize. Kennedy yelled out his Mr. Kennedy name again, but when he went for the repeat, Regal punched him in the face.

Kennedy fell out of the ring, but quickly re-entered. He and Regal began to go at it, falling to the mat punching each other. 4 referees quickly came into the ring to break things apart and held the two men away from each other.

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Raw Rewind showed last week's confrontation between Santino Marella, Carlito and the tag champs Cody Rhodes & Hardcore Holly. Rhodes ended up clocking Santino on the head with the microphone, and then the tag champs tossed Carlito and Santino out of the ring.

Santino Marella w/Carlito vs. Cody Rhodes w/Hardcore Holly

Prior to the match, Santino took the mic and said he doesn't like New Jersey or the Sopranos because of their Italian stereotypes. Cody Rhodes theme music came on to interrupt Santino from saying any more.

Santino took control early as he knocked Rodes down and kneed his back, then worked on him i nthe corner a bit Rhodes was able to elbow his way out of the opposite corner then tried to fly back at Marella who moved away. Santino put a headlock on Rhodes after a failed pinfall. Rhodes managed to stand up and roll up Santino in a quick pin, but Marella escaped then used a hiplock to bring Rhodes back to the mat. Marella put a Camel Clutch on Rhodes down on the mat.

Rhodes was finally able to stand up and delivered the Electric Chair slamming Marella to the mat. Both men got to their feet, punching back and forth until Rhodes connected on a dropkick. Rhodes took control slamming Marella face first to the turnbuckle. Marella escaped Rhodes' bulldog attempt and tried to pin using the ropes. After the ref stopped the fradulent pin, Rhodes gained the advantage and delivered a quick DDT to finish off Santino. A disgusted Carlito looked on from ringside as Rhodes got into the ring with the mic. Rhodes mocked Santino's Italian accent as he spoke, but Carlito snuck into the ring and delivered the Backstabber on Rhodes. Holly rushed into the ring to check on his partner.

Winner: Cody Rhodes wins via pinfall over Santino Marella.

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Chris Jericho's Highlight Reel

Jericho arrived to the ring in a tuxedo then said he was presenting an award tonight for "Best Acting Performance" in the WWE. Jericho presented the nominees. First was Don Muracco and Mr. Fuji for their roles in an old skit called "Fuji General". Next was Michael Cole for "Deliverance 2" when he was pushed up against a wall and intimidated by the wrestler Haydenreich from 2004. The final nominee was Shawn Michaels for pretending to have a knee injury against Batista at Backlash. Y2J ripped open an envelope then said the award goes to his guest tonight, Shawn Michaels. Jericho began applauding as Shawn Michaels limped down the ramp to his theme music.

Jericho congratulated Michaels on his performance then asked HBK to give a speech. Michaels told Y2J he really is hurt. Jericho said he can come clean now since he did whatever it took to pull out a win. Y2J said nobody goes from pious preacher to backstabber faster than HBK does. Jericho told Michaels to look into the camera and tell Batista "Gotcha!" The fans chanted out H-B-K, and Jericho said kudos to HBK for his performance. As Michaels' theme music came back on, Jericho started clapping as he left HBK in the ring and walked up the ramp. Michaels stared at Jericho then reflected in the ring.

Triple H shown backstage preparing for the upcoming WWE title defense against Randy Orton.

Jim Ross announced that the next WWE Pay-Per-View, Judgement Day will be Sunday, May 18 in Omaha, Nebraska.

Santino Marella was walking backstage and thought he saw a WWE Diva, but it was Rowdy Roddy Piper in his kilt. Piper turned around and a surprised Marella started to make fun of Piper then asked him to do a dance. After Santino mispronounced Cyndi Lauper's name, Roddy Piper laughed then slapped him in the face.

Highlights were shown from last night's Fatal Fourway Elimination match for the WWE title. JBL was eliminated by John Cena's STFU, then Orton quickly kicked Cena in the head and pinned him. It came down to Triple H vs. Orton, with Triple H eventually pulling out the win using his trademark Pedigree. The Game is now the WWE champion.

Randy Orton vs. Triple H
WWE Title Rematch

Orton invoked his rematch clause to try to win back the WWE title he lost at last night's Backlash. The two men grappled against the ropes and into the corner, with the ref prying them apart. Quickly they got right into each others' faces, then backed away. Orton locked a headlock on HHH briefly, before getting shoved to the ropes. Orton came back to throw a stiff shoulder into Hunter, knocking him down to the mat.

HHH recovered to get to his feet, and went to the ropes. Orton leapfrogged him, but HHH came back to clothesline him down. Orton was able to recover though and began to punch away at the Game in the corner. Orton tried to whip HHH to the opposite corner and charge at him. HHH stepped aside then tossed Orton shoulder first to the ringpost. Triple H did it a second time and Orton fell to the mat in the corner. Triple H began to work over Orton's shoulder slamming it against the ringposts and steel steps. Triple H continued wrenching Orton's arm both inside and outside the ring. As HHH tried to get back into the ring, Orton was on his feet and kicked Triple H onto the apron. Orton followed with a DDT off the middle ropes, and Raw headed to commercial.

Raw came back with Orton pounding away on Triple H in the ring. Orton continued the onslaught to the corner, but HHH started to punch back. Orton caught him with a dropkick off the ropes, then went for the cover only getting a 2 count. Orton kept a headlock locked in on Triple H to wear him down more. Triple H seemed to be fading, then got back to his feet and shoved Orton to the ropes. Triple H had a brief sleeper hold locked in, but Orton lifted him up to slam him back. With Orton in control, he took the Game to the outside for more of a beatdown, slamming him to the security wall and steel steps.

Back in the ring, Orton re-applied the headlock on Triple H. Hunter got to his feet and slammed Orton backwards. Both men were stunned a bit as they got to their feet. Orton gave a boot to the head of HHH as he rushed at him in the corner. Orton slammed HHH down on the mat, then stalked him. As HHH stood up, Orton went for the RKO but Triple H shoved him to the corner. Triple H began to use solid right hand punches on Orton, then came off the rope to slam Orton with a facebuster. Orton managed to get a powerslam on HHH off the ropes. The Game got a high knee on Orton off the ropes, but only a 2 count. After the ref warned HHH, Orton delivered an inverted backbreaker. Orton went to the ropes with HHH down. Triple H was up fast and ran over the knock Orton off balance.

Triple H superplexed Orton from off the corner and both men were down. HHH put an arm over Orton, but Randy just barely escaped a 3 count. Orton tried for another RKO, but HHH countered and set up a Pedigree. Orton escaped and grabbed HHH's legs then catapulted him to the corner. HHH came back at Orton as he came off the ropes and tripped him down to the mat for a Crossface Crippler. Orton began to writhe in pain.

All of a sudden, the camera cut to Raw GM, King William Regal in the production room/truck. Regal asked a man sitting at one monitor if he saw how Mr. Kennedy disrespected him earlier. The worker told Regal they were live on the air. Regal told the man that the people don't deserve to see the conclusion of the match, then screamed at the man to "take it off the air now!!!!" All of a sudden the screen went pitch black, with JR's commentary still heard. No clear winner in this one as Raw went off air.

Winner: Match was taken off the air by order of Raw GM and King William Regal.

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