Jeremy Piven talks Raw on Regis & Kelly

Thursday morning, actor Jeremy Piven made an appearance on the Regis & Kelly Show in New York. The actor was there to discuss his upcoming movie "The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard", but also spoke about his recent gig hosting Monday Night Raw for WWE. Piven admitted he's got a fear of heights so getting up on the turnbuckle was really all about facing his fears. He also noted that he noticed two signs in the crowd; one read "Ari Gold is God" in reference to his Entourage character. The other sign read "Entourage Sucks", so Piven said he felt loved and hated all at once.

In terms of the jump at Cena, he said it's like every guy's fantasy to be in the wrestling ring, but he wondered what his mom was thinking when she saw it all. Kelly Ripa made the point that Piven could have been injured during the stunt, and Piven talked about Cena throwing Dr. Ken. He said he hasn't heard from Dr. Ken since the incident and Cena needs to watch his back. No word yet if Piven vs. Cena will be headlining Wrestlemania 26.

In his new role, Piven will play a used car salesman. Piven's movie "The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard" opens August 14th and is rated R.

Also see: Raw Revelations: Jeremy Piven & Dr. Ken

Raw Recap 08/03/09

Actor Jeremy Piven to Host WWE Raw

Raw Revelations: Jeremy Piven & Dr. Ken

On the August 3rd, 2009 edition of Raw the WWE Universe was treated to another non-wrestler, celebrity host in TV/movie star, Jeremy Piven. Piven portrays a hilarious role on the hit HBO comedy Entourage as a wheeling/dealing movie agent in Hollywood named Ari Gold, always using tricks and underhanded moves to get his star Vincent Chase a movie role. On Raw, Piven's acting skills definitely shone through, but unfortunately he brought along a sidekick called "Dr. Ken". I'm not familiar with The Hangover since I've yet to see it, but hear it's hilarious. It just seemed maybe we could have done without Dr. Ken at some point in the show. Then again that's probably what lead to his demise at the end of Raw.

The final match of the night was set up by Piven as a Lumberjack match between The Miz and John Cena. Piven added 3 stipulations for Miz if he lost: 1)he's banned from Summerslam (or Summerfest as Piven called it), 2)Miz is banned from Staples Center in Los Angeles, and 3)Miz would be banned from WWE Raw, forever. As the final match hit, Piven came out to the ramp with Dr. Ken again and announced he loved Cena's work, but was a bigger fan of Orton's. Therefore, Orton picked all the Lumberjacks, all heels. Cena had his troubles, as he was beat on outside the ring by guys like Legacy and Chris Masters, but still found a way to get an Attitude Adjustment on The Miz to finish him. What bothers me here was the stipulation for no more Miz on Raw. Maybe I'm in the minority on this, but I found his character to be one of the more humorous and entertaining to come to Raw since the draft. He even gave two great matches against Cena on Raw, including last week's Beat the Clock. Again, what gives with WWE boosting a guy up only to throw him out the window? Let's hope there's a future guest host from MTV's Real World who reinstates Miz, his anti-Cena gimmick was pretty imaginative and his mic skills were pretty good too.

Also on the show, another guy who WWE made a big deal about only to seemingly "demote" is Mark Henry. I understand the squash factor in having him beat Chavo Guerrero, but making him the new pal for Hornswoggle reeks of demotion. Just weeks ago, Henry defeated Randy Orton, yet is nowhere near the title competition. I'm not calling Mark Henry the best wrestler in the ring, but why does WWE seem to spotlight talent only to revert back to the same old?

Speaking of that, we all know what Triple H's really strange promo speech after losing to Legacy means. He dropped the catch phrases "I've got 2 words for ya..." and "are you ready?", which spells out a return of Shawn Michaels & D-Generation X at Summerslam 2009. I wasn't crazy about how Triple H did that promo after his loss, because it made him look a bit weak and foolish in the ring. Having him complain about losing and saying he's just not up to par by himself was quite odd coming from a guy who's completely destroyed people in the ring before. The good news though, seems to be HBK will be back by month's end for the PPV. As of now, they're portraying a bit of story where he's edging more towards retirement and having another job, but HHH will talk him into it as Legacy continues to hound him.

Chris Jericho did a pretty good job on commentary along with Lawler and Cole. Even saw someone say on Twitter that Jericho could replace that duo as the commentary for Raw. Quite possible as Jericho is one of the best on the mic, and pretty funny at times. He and Show destroyed Kofi Kingston after Big Show's DQ loss during the show. I thought for sure that Big Show was leaving Raw as new United States Champion, but instead the match demonstrated his dominant and barbaric nature. Raw also included a Primo vs. Carlito match which was decent with Carlito hitting a late Backstabber to get a clean win, and a divas tag match where Gail Kim & Mickie James lost to Beth Phoenix and Jillian. Not sure why Jillian was brought out for tonight's show rather than Rosa.

I'm not completely down on this guest celeb episode of Raw, as it still ranks above the ZZ Top episode. Next week we'll get Sgt. Slaughter, who's used to calling shots on Raw (and calling heels "maggots"). But last night's show definitely included a ton of previews for that new Piven movie "The Goods". Looks funny, but not sure if Piven jumping off the turnbuckle at Cena will dropkick his movie to stellar box office returns..

Raw Recap 08.03.09

Raw Recap from Uncasville, CT:

Lillian Garcia introduced Raw's special guest host, Jeremy Piven. Piven came driving out near the ramp in a car, then got out to slap hands with fans. Piven went back to open the car's trunk to let out a guy dressed as a pimp. The pimp character who Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole said was Dr. Ken from the Hangover movie, started throwing dollar bills out into the crowd as they went down to the ring. The two introduced each other to the crowd, then Piven ran up the ramp to let pyro explosives go off.

As Piven was announcing tonight's matchups, The Miz came out to interrupt. The Miz asked Piven if he was having a good time making a mockery of the show. Piven reminded Miz that he was on a show where they all drank adult beverages and fell asleep in hot tubs. Piven kept calling Miz "Les Miz" to mock him. The Miz eventually told Dr. Ken to shut up and then ordered Piven to schedule a match for him against John Cena. Miz started to try to bully Piven, but just then Cena's music hit and Cena came down to the ring.

Cena told Piven that last week he defeated Miz in 2 minutes, so Miz isn't all that good. Cena hyped up Piven's new movie, and said Piven needs to make the Miz match interesting tonight. Cena said people need to remember that pive delivered "The Goods". Piven said since Miz seems to be trying to hide a lot from Cena lately, that tonight he'd face him in a Lumberjack Match. Then Piven started to add stipulations. First that if Miz loses, he was banned from Summerslam. Next, if he lost he'd be banned from Staples Center in Los Angeles. And finally, if Miz loses to Cena, he's banned from Raw, forever. Miz was rattled as he left the ring, while Cena, Piven and Dr. Ken chanted "na na na na hey hey hey goodbye".

---

The Raw Rewind showed footage from last week's Beat the Clock match where Evan Bourne pulled off the upset pinfall win against Jack Swagger, preventing him from advancing to Summerslam.

Evan Bourne vs. Jack Swagger

Swagger managed to take control of things late in the match after delivering a vicious running boot to Bourne's face. From there, Swagger delivered the Gutwrench Powerbomb to finish him off. After the pinfall, Swagger continued to punish Bourne, doing several splashes after running to the corner, then splashing onto Bourne. Swagger got ready for another Powerbomb, but MVP came rushing to the ring to prevent it, causing Swagger to leave.

Winner: Jack Swagger wins via pinfall over Evan Bourne.

---

When Raw returned they revisited last week's appearance by Shaq as the guest host for Raw. ESPN's Sportscenter picked it up for highlights. Shaq ended up booking a match between Jericho/Big Show & Cryme Tyme, and made himself the special guest enforcer. During that match, Show ended up going in the ring illegally and attacking Cryme Tyme repeatedly. The bell rang for the DQ, and Shaq eventually got into the ring with Show. The two men stared each other down before locking on chokeslams on each other. Finally, Cryme Tyme ran over to kick Show, breaking it up. Shaq ran and shoved Show down, causing him to go out of the ring. Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler told fans to log on to WWE.com to vote who would win a match between Big Show & Shaq.

Backstage, Jeremy Piven was schmoozing with some of the divas on a couch when his assistant Dr. Ken came up acting silly. Piven stood up to tell him to switch up his role for Mohegan Sun, and then suggested he go one on one with Big Show. As Dr. Ken was joking around, all of a sudden Big Show was in the office standing behind him. Show asked Piven to bring Shaq in tonight so he could humiliate him. Piven said to forget about him and focus on going to the next level. Instead, Piven booked Show to take on Kofi Kingston for the US Title tonight.

---

When Raw returned they showed a clip from Piven's new movie "The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard".

Mickie James & Gail Kim vs. Jillian Hall & Beth Phoenix

Mickie James was pretty beat up but managed to escape to tag in Gail Kim. Kim had control against Jillian, until she pulled her down into the bottom rope. Gail recovered but Jillian elbowed her to the corner. Jillian tried her handspring move to splash Gail, but Gail moved away. With Jillian stunned in the corner, Beth made a blind tag in. Kim set up for a kick move on Jillian, but Beth came in and clubbed Gail down from behind. Beth then did her finisher to win it.

Winners: Beth Phoenix & Jillian Hall win via pinfall over Mickie James & Gail Kim.

Cole and Lawler revisited HHH's Beat the Clock match last week against Cody Rhodes. Dibiase appeared on the apron as distraction which prevented HHH from beating the clock.

HHH was shown walking on his way out to the arena for the next match.

---

Triple H vs. Cody Rhodes & Ted Dibiase
2-on-1 Handicap match

Early on HHH started against Rhodes, and when backed into their corner, alternated with shots on Dibiase and Rhodes. HHH took it right back at rhodes with a barrage of moves, until Rhodes got in a kick to tag Dibiase. Dibiase met a quick clothesline, but was able to kick a charging HHH in the corner. HHH was able to clothesline Rhodes over the ropes at one point, then tossed Dibiase out onto him.

When Raw returned, HHH was able to get to his feet against Rhodes, but as Rhodes went against the ropes, Dibiase tagged in. Legacy did a high-low to take down HHH, and Dibiase started to stalk him on the mat. Later still, Rhodes distracted the ref while Dibiase choked HHH from the outside. The duo made quick tags in and out to do doubleteam moves.

HHH eventually gained the advantage against Rhodes, and Rhodes tried to crawl back to tag in Dibiase. HHH mustered up strength and ran over to knock Dibiase off the apron. HHH went to the outside and whipped Dibiase into the crowd barrier. Back in the ring, HHH was able to gain control of Rhodes, but Dibiase got back on the apron. HHH whipped Rhodes into him, and then continued the fight on Rhodes. As HHH finally got ready for a Pedigree, Dibiase was quickly back in and hit Dream Street on him. The ref warned Dibiase to leave the ring. Rhodes went for the cover on HHH, with HHH able to kick out at 2.

Rhodes waited for HHH to get up and then hit him with the Cross Rhodes move to plant HHH into the mat. Rhodes made the winning pinfall afterwards.

Winners: Rhodes & Dibiase win via pinfall over Triple H.

After the match, Rhodes & Dibiase went up the ramp pleased with their win. HHH got on the mic and started to groan about losing, questioning if he was that bad. HHH said he's not so good at this gang warfare these days. HHH suggested maybe he needed to start a group or bring one back, like Evolution. HHH nixed that idea saying Batista's hurt, Randy's a jerk and Flair's signing autographs at a VFW. HHH then said maybe he'll just make one phone call and if Legacy's not down with that, he's got "2 words for them...."

---

Raw returned with Jeremy Piven backstage with a bunch of the divas on a couch. Chavo Guerrero came in and was starstruck but then misidentified Piven as a few other actors. Piven called him Charro, and said that he put him in a regular match against Hornswoggle tonight that he could win. Chavo was revved up and turned to see Dr. Ken, then thought he was "the guy from Heroes".

Primo vs. Carlito

Early on, Primo took it right at Carlito with kicks and punches near the ropes. Carlito escaped with a kick after coming off the ropes, then tried to toss Primo out of the ring. Primo held onto the ropes and stayed on the apron, then came back to take it at Carlito. At one point, Primo was able to toss Carlito to the outside then ran to jump out onto him.

The match continued on, with Primo able to do a move where he flipped Carlito from his legs across the ring. Carlito got up in the corner, and avoied a charging Primo. Primo hit the ringpost shoulder first. Caralito went for the Backstabber, but Primo reversed into a sunset flip pin. Carlito kicked out, then kicked Primo and finally hit the Backstabber.

Winner: Carlito wins via pinfall over Primo.

---

Hornswoggle vs. Chavo Guerrero

Michael Cole announced that Chavo is 0-4 against Hornswoggle from the various matches they've had. Highlights from last week's Blindfold stipulation match were shown, where Chavo missed on a Frogsplash and then Horney hit the Tadpole Splash.

Before the match could start, Piven came up on the Titantron saying that Hornswoggle can't make it due to adult chicken pox, so instead they substituted in Mark Swoggle. Mark Henry came out wearing a green leprechaun hat, with Chavo looking shocked.

Henry took control from the start and manhandled Chavo. Henry at one point picked up Chavo in his arms and walked around to show off his strength. Henry finally hit World's Strongest Slam to win it. After the match, Henry went to the outside smiling, then pulled up the apron cover and Hornswoggle came out. Hornswoggle started running around Henry, until they finally went into the ring. Horney got on the corner and did his Tadpole Splash down onto Chavo. After that, they celebrated with an Irish jig and then Mark Henry did the heel kick like Hornswoggle does.

Winner: Mark Henry wins via pinfall over Chavo Guerrero.

---

Randy Orton payed a visit backstage to Jeremy Piven. Piven offered Orton to be the guest ring announcer for the Cena Lumberjack match, but Orton took exception to that. He ended up going off on Piven and his sidekick, slapping a pacifier out of his hands. Orton stormed out. Dr. Ken told Piven this was fun until now. Piven put his arm around him and said they'd figure this out.

Big Show vs. Kofi Kingston
United States Championship

Big Show came out to the ring with Chris Jericho. Michael Cole and Lawler revealed the results of their WWE.com poll, with 83% of fans voting that Shaq would beat Big Show in a match. Jericho joined Cole and Lawler for commentary.

Show manhandled Kofi Kingston in the ring, as Jericho talked up his partner. Cole said Show was bullying Kofi, and Jericho said he can do whatever he wants at his size. Show delivered hand chops to Kofi in the corner. Kofi tried to kick his way out of the corner, then did a reverse jump but Show caught him for a slam. Show managed a pinfall, with Kofi able to stick a foot on the ropes to stop it. Show continued to punish Kofi and used the ropes to choke him in a Camel Clutch. The ref broke it up. Show got on the corner, but Kofi got up and exploded to kick Show.

Kofi did an impressive series of kicks to take Show down, then did a double leg drop on him off the corner. Show threw Kofi off him during the pin. As Kofi got back up, Show was up and tackled him down. Show started to hammer away on Kofi in the corner, and the ref finally after warning him called for the DQ.

After the bell, Show kept stomping on and beating on Kofi. Jericho got in the ring to applaud his work, then yelled at Kofi that he's nothing compared to Big Show.

Winner: Kofi Kingston wins due to disqualification of Big Show.

---

Cole and Lawler revisited the 2-on-1 Handicap match from earlier where Legacy defeated HHH. Cole alluded to the strange comments by HHH after the loss, saying he'd make "one phone call, and if they're not down with that he's got 2 words for..."

Backstage, HHH picked up a phone in the locker room to make "the call". HHH talked to someone about having a job for him, then realized the person was working at a job. HHH said to forget all that because he needs him back. HHH asked the person if he saw what just happened to him, then said he had one question for him "Are you ready?" There was a dialtone indicating the person HHH called hung up on him. HHH hung up looking frustrated.

Another preview clip for "The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard" was shown.

---

Lawler and Cole announced that next week's special guest host will be Sgt. Slaughter.

John Cena vs. The Miz
Lumberjack Match

Jeremy Piven and his sidekick Dr. Ken got on the ramp. Piven said he had news for Cena, that he's a big fan of his, but he's a bigger fan of Randy Orton. Piven said he handpicked the Lumberjacks for tonight. Randy Orton came out next, then motioned backstage for more Lumberjacks. Legacy, Jack Swagger, Chris Masters, Chavo, Carlito, Orton, Piven and his sidekick all surrounded the ring.

Miz took the early opportunity to pound away on Cena, but Cena got out of it. Cena was tossed out and immediately the heel Lumberjacks went after him. Miz got tossed out, but Chavo helped him up to make sure he was ok. At one point, Cena went to the outside where Masters grabbed him in the Masterlock for several minutes to squeeze life out of him. Miz failed at the pin opportunity in the ring.

Cena seemed outnumbered as he was beaten in the ring by Miz, but outside the ring by all the Lumberjack heels. Cena built some momentum with running shoulders on Miz and a backdrop, then went for Five Knuckle Shuffle. As Cena ran to go off the rope, Orton pulled the rope down and Cena fell out of the ring. Orton and Legacy started to beat on him unmercifully, tossing Cena into the steps and crowd barrier. Orton repeatedly stomped away on Cena, and then legacy finally tossed him back in for Miz. Dr. Ken handed a cane to Miz with the ref distracted. Miz came over to try to swing at Cena, but Cena grabbed him and quickly hit Attitude Adjustment for the win.

Legacy tried to rush into the ring with Cena fighting them off. Cena realized he was surrounded. All of a sudden, Jeremy Piven had climbed up on the top turnbuckle and jumped at Cena. Cena caught Piven in the air. As heel Lumberjacks rushed into the ring, Cena used Piven to swing at them and knock them away. Dr. Ken came in and tried to hit Cena with his cane from behind. Dr, Ken tried to pretend he didn't know what happened and hugged Cena for the win. Cena pretended to offer a handshake, but then picked up Dr. Ken and threw him over the top rope onto several heels outside the ring. Orton and Legacy stared down to the ring after what just happened.

Winner: John Cena wins via pinfall over The Miz to banish Miz from Summerslam, Staples Center and WWE Raw.

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Raw Preview 08.03.09

Once again WWE Raw will see a special guest celebrity host take the helm to guide tonight's action. Tonight's host will be movie & TV actor, Jeremy Piven, who is well known for the HBO show Entourage. Jeremy will be there to promote his new movie, "The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard", and also to make sure the WWE Universe gets an entertaining show once again. On last week's show, Shaq provided one of the most entertaining guest host spots so far, complete with him stepping into the ring with the Big Show. What sorts of things will Jeremy Piven have in store for tonight's episode of Raw at Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut?

One match we already know will take place will be Triple H in a 2-on-1 Handicap match as he faces Legacy's Cody Rhodes & Ted Dibiase. Triple H was fuming last week after losing his Beat the Clock challenge match against Rhodes, thanks to interference from Dibiase. HHH was unable to make a pin before the clock expired, as Dibiase had been on the apron to waste time distracting The Game. Triple H completed a Pedigree, but was unable to score the pin and therefore failed to win the chance to face Orton for the WWE Title at Summerslam. Backstage, HHH claimed that he needed to get rid of Legacy to really get to Orton, because once Rhodes and Dibiase are gone, it'll render Orton weak again. Will Triple H's plan work tonight? Or will Legacy dismantle the Game in their handicap match?

As fans know, John Cena was the big winner of last week's "Beat the Clock" challenge. Cena managed to get past The Miz' tricks and traps during their main event match, to eventually score a winning pin. Cena's pin came under 6:49 minutes which was the previous best time set by Mark Henry. Now Cena gets the WWE title match against Randy Orton at Summerslam. Orton was ringside to watch Cena win, but only briefly got into the ring to show off his gold hardware. There hasn't been an encounter yet, but we all know Orton is "The Viper", ready to strike his opponents when they least expect it. Will Orton spring into action against Cena tonight? What will Cena have to say regarding Orton's comments on WWE Superstars?

Catch Monday Night Raw tonight at 9PM EST on USA!

Poll: Raw Guest Hosts?

When Donald Trump purchased Raw he not only initiated a huge 15 superstar trade amongst Smackdown, Raw & ECW, but he also added in a new caveat for the Raw show. Each week the show would get a unique celebrity guest host, whether it be a beautiful model, an actor or actress, sports or music star. So far we've seen WWE wrestler Batista, former WWE wrestler The Million Dollar Man, actor Seth Green and rock band ZZ Top all take control of Raw, flipping the show upside down. Some weeks have been entertaining while others have flopped. On 7/27 Raw will be hosted by the always interesting NBA star, Shaquille O'Neal, and on 8/3 actor Jeremy Piven will take over.

So that brings us to this latest Pro-wrestling poll. If you could choose from among some of the biggest names in entertainment, music and sports who would you put as guest host of the WWE Raw show? Choose from the list here, and feel free to leave your comments regarding the latest format for WWE's Raw TV show!

Which of these celebs would you like to see guest host RAW?
	Heidi and Spencer
	Oprah Winfrey
	Paris Hilton
	Lebron James
	Adam Sandler
	Snoop Dogg
	Keven Federline
	Verne Troyer aka Mini Me
pollcode.com free polls

Actor Jeremy Piven to Host 8/3 WWE Raw

It's been recently announced that actor Jeremy Piven (Entourage) will have the honor of guest hosting Raw on August 3rd, 2009. Piven has an upcoming movie promotion as well for "The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard" in which he plays Don Ready, a used-car liquidator, who is hired by a flailing auto dealership to turn a 4th of July sale into a profitable event. The movie hits theaters on August 14, 2009. Piven is best known for his role on Entourage as the agent Ari Gold.

According to PWInsider.com, the guest hosts will continue for some time, as it appears many celebs have contacted WWE to be part of the show:

As I noted earlier this week on my Elite Hotline, don't expect the Raw celebrity guest hosts to fizzle out anytime soon. WWE has been contacted by a number of celebrity
fans who want to get in on the act as well as film and TV projects looking to use the guest host role to promote themselves, which is how Jeremy Piven ended up the host of Raw for 8/3.

The good news is that Piven can act, as he's wonthe "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series" Emmy for the HBO comedy Entourage three straight years now. Based on the way he plays his Entourage agent, sarcastic and scheming Ari Gold, it could be a pretty entertaining show for fans. Next week, July 27th, we'll see NBA All-star and recent Cleveland Cavalier, Shaquille O'Neal as guest host for Raw starting at 9PM EST on USA.