Raw Recap 07.28.08

Raw recap from Washington, DC:

Raw opened with highlights of last week's main event match between Batista and CM Punk for the World Heavyweight title. The match was scheduled by Batista as a rematch, since Kane had interfered in the title match at Great American Bash. During the rematch on Raw, Kane once again showed up before the match could even start, and beat up Batista. Punk seemed to have an advantage during the match with Batista, but Batista started to gain momentum. Eventually, JBL ran down to the ring to cause a DQ. John Cena came down to fight off JBL, but accidentally punched Batista. Raw ended after Cena and Batista had gone at each other.

Raw started with John Cena arriving to the ring, seeming to be on a mission. Cena admitted he's not perfect and that he made a mistake by punching Batista in the mouth last week. Cena called out Batista so they could settle their differences. The Animal soon appeared from backstage and made his way to the ring. Batista told Cena that he saw the footage of last week's incident and realizes Cena didn't mean to hit him. Batista told Cena it's cool and he respects him to the point he's going to give Cena the first shot when he wins the World Heavyweight title. Cena laughed and told Batista he's already had his 2 chances at Punk. Batista said wrestlers keep interfering in his title match, and that he knows neither Punk nor Cena can defeat him.

Cena said that he and Batista should be headlining Wrestlemania, but offered the idea they fight it out tonight instead. Batista said he'd love to beat Cena around the ring tonight in front of his hometown fans. Just then, Shane McMahon's music came on and Shane appeared at the top of the ramp. Shane said he and Stephanie have appointed a new GM for Raw who will be introduced later tonight. Shane said the GM has already scheduled matches for tonight's Raw. Shane informed Cena he will partner up with Batista later on to face JBL and Kane. Batista and Cena stared one another down as Raw went to commercial.

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Highlights were shown of last week's romantic interaction between Santino Marella and Beth Phoenix. Despite losing to D-Lo, Marella wound up facing Beth in the ring. The two grappled for a bit, but eventually embraced, then gave one another an odd look.

D-Lo Brown & Kelly Kelly vs. Santino Marella & Beth Phoenix

Footage was shown prior to the match with Santino and Beth discussing last week's kiss backstage. Beth told Santino he was the one who kissed her, and to keep their relationship strictly professional.

In the inter-gender tag match, Santino and D-Lo faced off for some time, until the two divas tagged in to fight it out. Beth Phoenix gained the upperhand on Kelly, and then Santino began demanding a tag saying he could finish the match. Santino tagged in to face Kelly and went for an elbow drop. Kelly rolled away and began to crawl towards D-Lo for the tag. Santino charged at D-Lo and punched him off the apron, then rolled up Kelly Kelly for the pin.

After the match, Santino requested a kiss but Beth didn't seem to go for it. After some time, Santino turned to leave the ring, but Beth grabbed him and planted a passionate kiss on him before leaving the ring.

Winners: Santino Marella & Beth Phoenix win via pinfall over Kelly Kelly & D-Lo Brown.

Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole reminded fans of the JBL/Kane vs. Cena/Batista match for later on, and said tonight will also be Chris Jericho's final Highlight Reel.

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Comedian Jeff Foxworthy spoke about Autism and promoted Jenny McCarthy as part of Saturday Night's Main Event for this coming Saturday at 9PM EST on NBC.

Backstage, Shane admired a picture of his father in an office. JBL walked in and told Shane that Batista doesn't deserve a third chance at the title and that Cena's been beat. Shane told JBL he should take it up with the new General Manager of Raw. JBL started to ask Shane about changing his tag team match for later, but Shane received a phone call and left the office.

Hacksaw Jim Duggan & Jerry Lawler vs. Cody Rhodes & Ted Dibiase
World Tag Team titles

Highlights were shown from last week's confrontation between Rhodes/Dibiase and Duggan/Lawler. Lawler gave Rhodes an example of how it went when he slapped Andy Kaufman on the Letterman show years ago.

Before the match started, a second referee rushed to the ring carrying a note which he gave Lillian Garcia. After a moment, Lillian announced the new Raw GM had changed the match. It was announced that Hacksaw would not be Jerry Lawler's partner, but instead it would be Michael Cole. Cole looked shocked as Raw went to a commercial break.

Michael Cole was in the ring in his suit as the tag champs came to the ring. Lawler started things off with Cole on the apron and nobody commentating the match. Lawler fought for most of the match against Dibiase, then Rhodes, but Rhodes managed to reverse a Powerbomb attempt and elbowed Lawler to the corner. Cole helped Lawler up since he was nearby. The ref told Cole he had officially tagged in to the match. Cole tried to protest, but Rhodes dragged him in. With Lawler already knocked out of the ring, Cole struck Rhodes in the face. Rhodes took hold of Cole and finished him off, laying him out on the mat for a pin.

Winners: Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase win via pinfall over Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole.

Jerry Lawler and WWE officials checked on Cole as Raw went to commercial.

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As Raw returned, Mike Adamle joined Jerry Lawler for commentary, with Michael Cole missing. Adamle said he received a call to be in Washington for Raw tonight but wasn't sure why exactly.

Jamie Noble vs. Kofi Kingston

Jamie Noble was in the ring with Layla and told everyone to realize he's the rising star on Raw. Noble referred to Layla as an associate/part-time girlfriend. Noble said he's the next Intercontinental champ, and challenged Kofi to a match tonight.

After a lot of offensive momentum from Kingston, Noble scored a near pinfall on him. As Noble placed Kingston on his shoulders for a finisher, Kofi slid off then delivered a roundhouse Buzzsaw kick to finish off Noble.

Winner: Kofi Kingston wins via pinfall over Jamie Noble.

CM Punk was shown walking backstage on his way out for a match against the "hottest free agent on Raw", by order of the new General Manager.

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William Regal vs. CM Punk

JBL joined Mike Adamle and Jerry Lawler to watch the match. After Punk arrived to the ring he and JBL stared at one another, before Punk awaited his opponent. William Regal made his return to Raw after being fired months ago.

Punk scored a barrage of punches and kicks at one point to bring Regal down to the mat, but couldn't capture the pinfall. Regal followed up with a quick back suplex type move to snap Punk to the mat. Regal put a headlock on Punk down on the mat for a bit, but Punk was able to stand then hoist Regal up on his shoulders. Punk connected on the GTS to win it with JBL looking on. Punk appeared to have a bloody nose. JBL got up from his commentary position and entered the ring to confront Punk, but just then Kane arrived from backstage.

Kane came to the ring carrying the mysterious burlap sack he's had for quite some time. As Kane entered the ring, he walked up and gave a shot to JBL. Punk delivered a kick to Kane to drive him back to the corner. As Punk turned around JBL delivered a huge boot to his face to drop him to the mat. JBL and Kane then stared at one another knowing they will be tag partners later on.

Winner: CM Punk wins via pinfall over William Regal.

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Chris Jericho came to the ring for his final "Highlight Reel" show in the ring. Lance Cade accompanied Y2J to the ring. Jericho continued to chastise the fans yet again saying he tried to please the fans for way too long and avoided going for the WWE title. Jericho said tonight is the last Highlight Reel and he's put together a special video to commemorate a legend whose career he personally ended, not Shawn Michaels, but Y2J. A highlight video was shown of various Jericho antics and matches. After the video ended, Jericho said he was embarassed to see the video but has since matured from being the guy who was in those highlights.

Jericho continued talking about how fans idolized a guy like he used to be, and even idolized the liar that Shawn Michaels was. Jericho discussed injuring Michaels in the ring, and those highlights mean the most to him, because it meant he destroyed the fans with Michaels. Lance Cade took the mic saying it's obvious fans don't appreciate Jericho but he does. Cade told Jericho he saved him, unlike Shawn Michaels. Cade said he's forever grateful to Jericho. Y2J suggested that Michaels stay home and move on with his life. Jericho finished by saying he is the one who deserves a title match against Punk the most at Summerslam.

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Piers Morgan was shown doing a promotional video for Jenny McCarthy, Saturday Night's Main Event and her Autism case.

Jim Ross arrived down to the commentator's table to join Mike Adamle and Jerry Lawler. Ross said he also received a call that he had to be at Raw tonight.

Mickie James vs. Jillian Hall

Prior to the match starting, Jim Ross and Lawler corrected Adamle for confusing Jillian with Lillian. Jillian managed to gain the upperhand on Mickie James early on. The two divas started to trade punches at one point, with Jillian delivering a knee to Mickie. Mickie came off the ropes to jump on Jillian and began punching away. Mickie continued with momentum and ducked a Jillian clothesline. Mickie countered another move attempt from Jillian and delivered a winning DDT.

Mickie exited the ring and went over to kiss her father in the crowd. Out of nowhere, Katie Lea rushed down to the ring and attacked Mickie leaving her laying outside the ring. Katie walked up the ramp and Paul Burchill gave her a mic. Katie said she hopes the new GM is watching to take note of the next Women's champ and Intercontinental champ.

Winner: Mickie James wins via pinfall over Jillian Hall.

Smackdown Rebound showed footage of last Friday's show where Edge tried to apologize to Vickie in the ring for cheating on her. Vickie dropped the bombshell on Edge that she had reinstated Undertaker to Smackdown and he'll be facing Edge at Summerslam in a Hell in a Cell match.

Backstage, Todd Grisham asked Shane about the new Raw General Manager. Shane told Grisham that the new GM is already there and he'll know as soon as everyone else does who it is.

Jenny McCarthy appeared in a promotional video to promote her cause to fight Autism. McCarthy will be part of Saturday Night's Main Event this Saturday at 9PM EST.

Cryme Tyme was backstage asking Cena if they should be down at ringside to help him in his match. Cena said he's fine just as Batista showed up. Cena asked Cryme Tyme to leave so he could talk to Batista. Batista told Cena it's obvious they don't trust one another. Batista warned Cena to just stay out of his way in their match. Cena said he was thinking the same thing for Batista. The two eyed each other suspiciously as Cena walked off.

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John Cena & Batista vs. JBL & Kane

At one point in the match Cena and Batista managed to clear the ring of Kane and JBL. Cena and Batista came face to face as Raw took a commercial break. Raw returned with JBL getting the best of Cena. Kane tagged in to continue beating up Cena.

JBL and Kane continued to doubleteam Cena in their corner while Batista could only watch. Cena started to fight back against Kane until Kane slammed him with a Sideslam. Kane climbed the corner ropes and jumped at Cena who smartly moved away then DDT'd Kane down. Cena and Kane managed to crawl over and make tags out at about the same time. Batista came in and began to gain momentum, eventually hitting a Spinebuster on JBL. JBL rushed over to knock Kane down, then went back at JBL. JBL was able to whip Batista to the ropes, and Kane yanked down the top rope. Batista fell out of the ring, where JBL eventually went out to retrieve him.

JBL and Kane started to doubleteam Batista in the ring. Batista was able to fight back against JBL and speared him down. As Batista was setting up a Batista Bomb, Kane entered the ring. Batista ran over to fight Kane off, but as he turned JBL delivered a huge boot. JBL ran towards Batista to hit him, but as Batista ducked, JBL punched Kane instead. JBL took Batista to center ring. Kane entered and went to chokeslam JBL. Batista backed away and Cena tagged him from behind. Batista quickly charged and speared down Kane and JBL. Cena got in the ring as the legal man and picked up Kane for the FU to win it.

Winners: John Cena & Batista won via pinfall over JBL and Kane.

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After the win, Batista came in and stared at Cena in the ring. Before the two could go at it, Shane McMahon appeared on the ramp again. Shane said this is the same way Raw started the night with Cena and Batista. Shane said without further ado it's time to meet the new Raw General Manager. Shane introduced the GM, Mike Adamle. Adamle got into the ring with Cena and Batista then nonchalantly told the crowd at Summerslam it will be John Cena vs. Dave Batista. Raw ended with the two superstars in the ring trash talking and staring each other down.