Taboo Tuesday
October 19th 2004
-This is a review that I promised TSM readers I would write over a year ago, when I did my first review for the 2004 Great American Bash.
-The opening video package is kind of cool. Taboo Tuesday is heralded as the “ultimate in fan participation.” Fans get to vote on match stipulations online and will also choose the challengers for the Intercontinental and World Heavyweight titles.
-Our hosts for the evening are Jim Ross and Jerry “The King” Lawler. Jonathan Coachman is taking care of the polls in a control center near the stage.
Intercontinental Championship: Chris Jericho © vs Shelton Benjamin
Just about all of the Raw mid-carders were eligible for voting. Shelton Benjamin was the top choice with 37%, beating out some tough contenders including Batista and Christian. The two superstars briefly tie up, with Jericho gaining an arm drag over Benjamin. Benjamin delivers some arm drags of his own and puts Jericho into an arm lock. Benjamin clubs Jericho on the shoulder and reapplies the hold. The interesting thing about this match is that it is pure improvisation in that Jericho did not know who his challenger would be. Jericho corners Benjamin with some chops, and chokes him on the second rope. Jericho whips Benjamin, who counters and tosses Jericho over the ropes to the outside. Benjamin hits Jericho with a baseball slide, and tosses Jericho back into the ring for a cover attempt. Benjamin puts Jericho into a sleeper. Jericho fights out of it, but gets thrusted into the corner by Jericho. Jericho bounces back with a big boot and hits a running enziguri on the challenger. Jericho hits a back suplex on Benjamin, and follows with a series of elbow drops. Jericho goes for the cocky pin, which somehow does not work. Benjamin fights back with some shots to the gut of Chris Jericho. Benjamin misses a drop-kick, and hits the mat hard. Jericho capitalizes with a stiff shot to the lower back of Shelton Benjamin. Jericho hits a backbreaker, and turns it into a stretch. Benjamin is stuck in the hold, and endures some shots to the chest. Jericho breaks the hold and whips Benjamin into the ropes. Benjamin reverses and goes for a pin, but Jericho breaks out. Jericho heads to the top rope, but Benjamin cuts him off. Benjamin suplexes Jericho off of the top rope, and this wakes the dead crowd up. Both men are down for several seconds, as the referee counts to seven before Jericho gets to his feet. Benjamin gets up and trades punches with Jericho before putting him down with a big clothesline. Benjamin hits a big back suplex and then a spinning kick, and goes for an unsuccessful cover. Benjamin keeps on the offense, cornering Jericho with some punches. Jericho reverses a whip and hits a running bulldog. Jericho misses a lion sault attempt. Benjamin heads to the tope turnbuckle and connects with a big lariat. Benjamin goes for the cover, but Jericho kicks out at two. Benjamin corners Jericho, and misses his Stinger splash. Jericho goes for the Walls of Jericho, which Benjamin counters into an inside cradle roll-up. Jericho kicks out and hits a clothesline on Benjamin. Jericho goes for a second lion sault and hits it this time. Jericho takes his time going for the cover, and Benjamin kicks out. Jericho goes for a second cover attempt, even though that never works, and Benjamin gets a shoulder up again. Jericho kicks Benjamin in the head a couple of times, and chops the life out of the challenger. Benjamin reverses a whip, and Jericho bounces off the turnbuckle. Benjamin catches Jericho in mid-air and hits a T-bone suplex on Jericho and pins Jericho for the title at 10:57! This was a solid match up, provided some good action, and was impressive considering that Jericho and Benjamin pretty much had to work on the fly. *** After the match, Jericho returns to the ring and puts the championship on Benjamin’s shoulder, which is a rather classy thing for Chris Jericho to do.
Winner and NEW Intercontinental Champion: Shelton Benjamin
-Backstage, Todd Grisham is standing by with Edge, Chris Benoit, and Shawn Michaels. These three men are in the running for a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship, depending on who the fans vote for. The two who are not selected will challenge La Resistance for the World Tag Team Championship. Each man makes a case for why the fans should vote for them to face Triple H tonight. Edge states that the fans owe the title shot to him. Chris Benoit reminds the fans that he has not lost to Triple H since returning to Raw. Shawn Michaels admits that he is injured and that he does not want sympathy votes from the fans. Back in the arena, Coach polls the fans for who they want to see face Triple H, and they seem to favor Shawn Michaels. They turn to the internet voting and Shawn Michaels wins with 39%, with Edge in second place with 33%, and Chris Benoit in last place. Benoit congratulates HBK and shakes his hand, but Edge just storms off.
Fulfill Your Fantasy Battle Royal for the Women’s Championship: Trish Stratus © vs Jazz vs Nidia vs Gail Kim vs Molly Holly vs Victoria vs Stacy Kiebler
The fans voted for what the divas would be wearing for this match up and the school girl outfits won. This match is significant to me in that it was the last outing of the old women’s division before WWE fired pretty much all of them. Jazz, Nidia, Gail Kim, and Molly Holly were all released shortly after this event. All of the divas are dressed as school girls, which does not suit well for Jazz. This is a basic battle royal. Molly goes after Stacy to start things off, as Jazz takes on Nidia. Jazz pulls off Nidia’s shirt and throws her out of the ring in less than a minute. Victoria attacks Jazz and drop-kicks her out of the ring, eliminating her. Gail Kim leaps up on Victoria, going for a hurancanrana, but Victoria drops her out of the ring. That was sure disappointing. Victoria goes on to fight Molly Holly, while Trish Stratus is busy choking Stacy. Stacy fights back and puts her boots to the face of Trish. Molly is in control of Victoria and does her little cartwheel routine. Trish and Molly double team Stacy, trying to suplex her out. Victoria saves Stacy for some reason. Stacy takes down Trish with some kicks. Trish hits a reverse elbow on Stacy, moves on to take down Victoria, who had Molly cornered. Trish and Molly join forces to beat up the stronger Victoria. The evil duo flings Victoria over the top rope onto the floor. We are down to just Trish, Molly, and Stacy. The evil divas double team the sweet and innocent Stacy Kiebler, and the crowd just does not like this. Trish focuses her attack on the knee of Stacy, before allowing Molly to throw Stacy around. Trish chokes the life out of Stacy using her school girl tie. Finally, Stacy hits a reverse elbow on Molly Holly, but it is not long before the double teaming returns. Stacy goes to throw Trish out of the ring, but Trish is barely able to hang out. Stacy meanwhile is eliminated by Molly, leaving just the two evil divas. Trish sneaks up on Molly and eliminates her, saving her title at 5:34. This match was less boring than I remembered it, ½* Trish stays in the ring, celebrating her win and providing us with a moment that has been relived several times by Scrooge McSuck in his signature.
Winner and STILL Women’s Champion: Trish Stratus
-Backstage, Todd Grisham is standing with Rob Conway and Sylvain Grenier, the World Tag Team Champions. Conway is upset that they have to face Chris Benoit and Edge and blames this on the “corrupt U.S. voting system.” Grenier is protesting the title defense for later tonight.
Weapons Match: Kane (with Lita) vs Gene Snitsky
This match had one of the most bizarre builds out of any I have ever seen. Basically, Kane stalked Lita until she finally gave in and had sex with him. She became impregnated by the evil Kane, and was eventually forced into a marriage with him. Months later, a debuting Gene Snitsky pushed Kane into Lita, which forced her to have a miscarriage. Since then, Snitsky has insisted that the ordeal “wasn’t his fault.” However, Snitsky used the controversy to land himself a gig on Raw, mocking Kane for losing his baby. This has resulted in this match, where the fans have voted for what weapon is legal in the match. Suddenly, Lita is on Kane’s side and wants to support her rapist husband. The winning weapon is a steel chain.
Snitsky has bad-ass music. I just had to mention that. Kane is actually confused that Lita is in his corner willingly. Kane and Snitsky stare each other down, and Kane has an evil smile on his face. They both lunge for the chain and play tug of war. Kane breaks it up with some punches and corners Snitsky. Kane fires away with a series of punches, and then leads Snitsky to the opposite turnbuckle to further the attack. Snitsky rolls out of the ring for a breath of fresh air. Kane takes this time to grab the steel chain. Kane tries to whip the chain against Snitsky, who dodges the attack. Snitsky hits some punches on Kane, and throws him back into the ring. Snitsky rolls the chain into his fist and tries to hit Kane, but Kane dodges and punches Snitsky. Kane wraps the chain around his fast and hits Snitsky with it. Snitsky stands up and gets hit again with chain. Kane hits Snitsky with the chain so hard that Snitsky falls out of the ring, and tries to escape. Kane catches Snitsky and decides to punch him some more. I am a little sick of the punching. Snitsky reverses an attack by Kane and pulls Kane’s head into the turnbuckle. Snitsky takes control and kicks the fallen Kane. Snitsky wraps the chain around his own fist. They return to the ring and Snitsky whips Kane off the ropes and into the chain. Kane goes down and Snitsky begins to whip Kane with the chain over and over again. Snitsky wraps the chain around Kane’s neck and chokes him with it. You just knew that was coming. Lita looks on in concern, but she isn’t concerned to get involved… not yet at least. The ref forces Snitsky to stop the choking, giving Kane a chance to get his head back into the game. Kane hits some punches before Snitsky takes control again, and chokes Kane with his boot. Snitsky pushes Kane into the corner and hits some… punches! Kane reverses an Irish whip and clotheslines Snitsky in the corner. Kane builds some momentum, until getting caught with a boot to the throat from Snitsky. Snitsky hits a scoop slam on Kane, and drops some elbows onto the fallen Kane. Snitsky goes for the first cover of the match, but only gets a two count. Kane gets to his feet, only to suffer some more punches from Snitsky. Kane hits some reverses punches, but is soon whipped into the ropes and runs into another clothesline. Snitsky goes for another cover, but Kane kicks out again. Snitsky goes back to the chain and decides to whip Kane with it some more. Snitsky wraps the chain around Kane’s neck for some more choking. Am I suffering déjà vu or did this happen already? The referee allows it and is actually looking to see if Kane will tap out or not. Kane aggressively fights out of the choke, but fails to regain the advantage. Snitsky tries to whip Kane again, but Kane fires back with some desperate punches. Snitsky hits a reverse Irish whip on Kane and goes for a sidewalk slam. Snitsky goes for a third cover attempt, but it fails and Kane gets right back to his feet. The two monsters fire away at each other with some more exciting punches. The both go for a big boot at the same time and they both fall on their asses. Snitsky makes it to his feet first, but Kane sits straight up. Lita grabs the chain from the ring, keeping it from Snitsky. Kane catches Snitsky in a Chokeslam position, but Snitsky fights out of it. Kane throws Snitsky over the top rope, by the throat, and Snitsky is down. Kane goes for the chain again, wrapping it around his evil fist. Snitsky saves himself by pushing the steel stops into Kane. Snitsky clubs away at Kane, and keeps on the punch/kick offense. Snitsky finds a steel chair and nails Kane with it. The referee allows it, which he shouldn’t do since it ruins the gimmick of the match. Snitsky continues the assault with the steel chair, focusing on Kane’s throat. Snitsky goes back to the chain and decides to choke Kane with it again. Snitsky takes the chair and continues the choking series. Snitsky unfolds the chair and puts it around the neck of Kane. Snitsky climbs up the turnbuckle and jumps off of it, ramming his foot into the steel chair! Kane is now bleeding from the mouth, and looks to be in serious trouble. Snitsky taunts Kane and follows this up by… leaving the ring. Am I wrong or did Snitsky forget that he was supposed to go for a cover. Snitsky returns to the ring and goes for the cover, at last. Snitsky rolls up Kane for the victory at 14:03, ending this brutal assault on my intelligence. The match did not need to be 14 minutes long ¼* Snitsky is finally satisfied and leaves, while Lita looks on in concern as paramedics attend to Kane.
Winner: Gene Snitsky
Eugene vs Eric Bischoff
This was the blow-off to the legendary Eugene/Bischoff feud. The loser of this match will have to suffer the embarrassment of having their head shaved. The fans voted on the stipulation of the match, which included the loser having his head shaved, having to wear a dress for a month, or having to be the winner’s servant.
Eric Bischoff starts off the match with stiff martial arts kicks to Eugene. Bischoff keeps control for several seconds, trying to keep Eugene from having an outlet for offense. Bischoff knocks Eugene’s head into the turnbuckles, which fires Eugene up. Bischoff handles this by faking a leg injury before kicking Eugene in the head. This just makes Eugene mad, and he hammers Bischoff in the head. Eugene puts Bischoff through an airplane spin, before becoming too dizzy to continue. Eugene kicks Bischoff in the chest and hits a Hogan legdrop on Bischoff for the win at 2:13. Well, at least it was short ½* Eugene celebrates by wrapping Bischoff’s black belt around his head.
Winner: Eugene
-The next several minutes are devoted to Eugene shaving Bischoff’s head and Vince McMahon forcing Jonathan Coachman to wear a dress. My heart goes out to anyone who ordered this show live and did not have benefit of being able to skip over this painfully long segment.
-Backstage, Shawn Michaels is having his injured knee looked at. Edge busts in and tells HBK that he should have dropped out of the running for the title shot. Edge feels that if HBK had back out, he would have won and would be facing Triple H for the title. Edge calls HBK a “selfish son of a bitch” and storms out.
World Tag Team Championship: Sylvain Grenier and Robert Conway © vs Chris Benoit and Edge
La Resistance had actually been enjoying a solid run as tag team champions at this point. They had won the titles from Benoit and Edge back in June, and even retained the titles against them at Bad Blood. Sylvain Grenier takes a mic before the match and proceeds to sing the Canadian national anthem… badly. Normally, the music of his opponent cuts him off in the early going, but this time he makes it through the entire song before Benoit’s music plays.
La Resistance has the advantage in this match, since Edge doesn’t even want to be there. Edge and Conway start the match off, with Edge aggressively punching away at the French sympathizer. Conway reverses Edge into the corner and punches away. Edge reverses, and hits a hard Irish whip into the corner on Conway. Edge tags Benoit in, and holds Conway still for Benoit to kick him in the gut. Benoit chops Conway into the corner and aggressively clotheslines Conway. Benoit hits a snap suplex and makes a cover attempt. Benoit tags Edge back in, and Edge is full of punches tonight. Conway takes control and hits some punches. I sure do love these punches. Conway tags Grenier in, who kicks and stomps away at a floored Edge. Grenier hits a suplex on Edge, but misses an elbow drop. Edge clotheslines Grenier. Edge hits a suplex of his own on Grenier and heads to the top rope. Edge changes his mind halfway through so he can go argue with a fan at ringside. La Resistance capitalizes, attacking Edge at ringside. Edge and Grenier make it back into the ring, and tie up. Edge tags Benoit in, who soon hits a back suplex on Grenier. Benoit goes for a failed cover, but hits a back breaker. Benoit goes to flapjack Grenier, who botches his landing. Benoit punishes Grenier with some ultra stiff chops. Benoit makes the tag to Edge, who brings on the punches. Grenier reverses a clothesline and tags Conway back in. Conway stomps away at Edge and for some reason feels that a cover attempt would be appropriate. Conway whips Edge off the ropes, but is caught with a flying clothesline. Conway is down and uses the ropes to stand up. Edge spears Conway off the apron, onto the mat. Edge goes to capitalize, but Grenier gets involved. Benoit rushes to Edge’s aide, allowing Edge and Conway back into the ring. Conway tags Grenier in, who hits a knee drop on Edge. Grenier puts Edge into a rest hold. Edge fights out of the hold, but is taken down by a flapjack. Grenier goes for a cover, but it doesn’t even get a two count. Rob Conway tags back into the match, and La Resistance hits a double suplex on Edge. Conway goes for the cover, but Edge kicks out. Conway is frustrated, and Grenier takes a moment to wave the Quebec flag. Conway chokes Edge on the second rope. Conway tells Edge to “fight back like a man” and Edge is more than happy to oblige. Conway rakes the eyes of Edge and hits an elbow drop. Conway tags Grenier back in, and they double team Edge. Edge fights back against Grenier with a clothesline, and desperately needs a tag. Benoit tags in, and he cleans house on Sylvain Grenier. Benoit hits some chops, before Grenier hits a stiff shot to the back of his head. Grenier stomps away at Chris Benoit, and goes for a foolish cover attempt. Conway is tagged back in, and La Resistance double teams the Rabid Wolverine. Just for the record, I challenge any of you to find a more boring Chris Benoit match since he came to the WWE. Conway puts Benoit into a front head lock, which Benoit fights out of. Benoit chops Conway hard and misses an enziguri. Conway misses an elbow drop and gets caught in a German suplex. Benoit barely makes the tag to Edge, but the referee did not see it. Edge is so furious with the referee’s decision that he just walks out of the match, leaving Benoit helpless to La Resistance. Edge turns around to see Benoit being choked on the ropes, and leaves anyway. Benoit realizes what has happened, and looks furious. In the backstage area, Edge grabs his backpack and leaves the arena. Back in the ring, Benoit is the victim of a headlock by Sylvain Grenier. Benoit withstands the hold and fights out of it. Benoit reverses an Irish whip. Grenier goes to the top rope, but Benoit cuts him off and hits a big suplex. Grenier makes a desperate tag to Conway, who aggressively stomps away at Benoit. Benoit pushes Conway off and hits a German suplex. Grenier tries to get involved, but Benoit tosses him out. Benoit hits some rolling German suplexes on Conway and puts him into the Crippler Crossface! Conway finally taps out at 16:13, ending the most boring Benoit match of 2004. Benoit and Edge win the tag titles, even though Edge walked out. The match was solid enough as far as tag team wrestling goes, but Benoit and Edge sure phoned this one in. *
Winners and NEW World Tag Team Champions: Chris Benoit and Edge
-Backstage, Todd Grisham is standing by with the World Heavyweight Champion, Triple H. Grisham asks Triple H what strategy he will use since HBK is injured. HHH states that he will not need a strategy. HHH does not believe HBK is really injured and that he is just hoping HHH will let his guard down for an easy victory. HHH says that if HBK’s leg isn’t broken, it will be by the time HHH is through with him.
Lingerie Pillow Fight: Christy Hemme vs Carmella
This match was the finale to the dreadful 2004 Raw Diva Search. Before the match, we get a tedious segment where the divas find out what they will be wearing for the match. Jim Ross reminds us that neither woman has had any wrestling training, which is a great reminder for the fans who paid 34.95 to see this. They are basically wrestling in lingerie and the ring is filled with pillows. Christy pulls some padding out of Carmella’s bra, and has a jolly good laugh. Carmella is upset and pushes Christy down. They each grab a pillow and begin to pelt each other with them. The ring is soon filled with feathers. Christy tackles Carmella, badly, and attempts to choke the life out of her. They roll around a bit, as a I stifle a yawn. Christy grabs another pillow and destroys it while knocking it into Carmella’s head. Christy suddenly pins Carmella at 1:50 for the victory. Wow… that was awful beyond words. DUD. This was Carmella’s last WWE appearance and Christy was just recently released by the company. I have two words for that: good riddance.
Winner: Christy Hemme
World Heavyweight Championship: Triple H © vs Shawn Michaels
There are two kinds of Triple H vs Shawn Michaels matches: the really good ones full of great action and drama… and the really boring, 45 minute ones where I fall asleep. Which one will this fall under? Let us wait and see. HBK has a legitimate ankle injury in this match, and took a few months off after this event. WWE officials were actually hoping that HBK would not win the voting for the title shot, which would have put him in a safer spot in the tag title match.
The match starts off slow, with the two men leveling each other out. HBK backs into a corner, for his own safety, and HHH aggressively fires away at the injured challenger. HBK hammers back with some right fists of his own. HHH backs off, realizing he had underestimated HBK. HHH thrusts his shoulder into HBK’s guts, and HBK pushes him off. HBK is using the ropes to stand up. HHH cools off outside the ring for a few second before returning. HHH and HBK tie up again, and HHH hammers a hard fist into the injured left leg of Shawn Michaels. HHH stomps away at the injured leg, leaving HBK rolling around in agony. HBK defends himself with some chops and punches, but he is clearly limping. HHH drives his knee into HBK’s injured leg, and HBK is down again. HHH continues the bloody assault on HBK’s injured knee. HHH is quite a monster. Michaels backs into the corner, and kicks HHH with his good leg. HBK hits some chops, but HHH effortlessly ground him yet again. HHH drops an elbow on HBK’s injured leg a couple of times. HHH arrogantly circles the ring, surveying the damage. HHH goes back to work on HBK’s injured left leg, applying an interesting leg lock. HHH gets bored with the hold and puts HBK through a series of elbow drops, stomps, and knee drops onto the injured leg. HHH reveals his master plan and puts HBK into the figure four leg lock! HBK is in agony as he desperately tries to roll over to reverse the hold. HBK refuses to submit. The referee wants to ring the bell, but HBK grabs him by the shirt, begging him not to. Triple H keeps the hold locked on, as HBK tries to reverse the figure four yet again. When that doesn’t work, HBK notices that the ropes are within his grasp. He makes it to the bottom rope and HHH is forced to break the hold. HHH wastes some time arguing with the referee. HBK tries to stand up, but HHH grabs him and drags him to the turnbuckle. HBK reverses and HHH’s head bounces off the ring post. HHH returns to the ring and walks into a chop from the challenger. HHH kicks HBK in the gut. HBK reverses a figure four attempt and HHH is catapulted into the corner, with his head bouncing off the ring post yet again. Both men are down as the referee starts the ten count. They both regain their ground, and HBK hits a trilogy of inverted atomic drops on HHH. HBK hits a desperate clothesline on HHH, and uses the ropes to pull himself to his feet. HHH is back up and gets caught by another chop from HBK. HBK goes for a cover, but HHH gets a shoulder up. Triple H comes back with a kick to the gut. HHH goes for the pedigree, shoving the referee out of the way. HBK hits a low blow on HHH behind the ref’s back, and hits a DDT on the champion. A very confident Shawn Michaels heads to the top rope and hits a flying elbow! HBK shakes around in pain, and signals the Sweet Chin Music! Batista runs in and attacks HBK, but is knocked down. HHH is caught by a desperate Sweet Chin Music from HBK, but HBK is too hurt to capitalize. Suddenly, Edge is in the ring and he hits a spear on HBK while the referee is busy dealing with Batista. Edge shouts “it should’ve been me” and exits through the crowd. Triple H meanwhile crawls over to HBK and covers him. Triple H pins Michaels for the win at 14:04. I must say, this was quite the gutsy performance by Shawn Michaels, and a much more enjoyable match than their 45 minute snooze-fests. *** The match told a good story. Shawn Michaels receives a standing ovation from the audience after the match.
Winner and STILL World Heavyweight Champion: Triple H
-Backstage, Eric Bischoff is walking around furious that he had his hair shaved, exposing his gray hairs.
Steel Cage Match: Randy Orton vs Ric Flair
This match came about when Orton spoke up to Flair about how he was tarnishing his legacy by being Triple H’s errand boy. They tie up and Flair pushes Orton into the ropes. They tie up again, and Flair corners the younger star with some fierce chops. Orton reverses and hits some punches. Flair reverses with a chop, but is caught into a big back body drop. Flair tries to climb out of the cage, but Orton follows him up to the top rope. Flair pokes Orton in the eye and pushes Orton down to the mat. Flair comes back down and hits a hard punch of Orton. Flair hits a low blow on Orton, right in front of the referee, but it is legal as this is a cage match. Flair throws Orton face first into the steel cage, and is busted wide open. Flair punches away at Orton’s bloody forehead, which only makes it worse. Flair hits some chops on Orton, and corners him with some punches. Flair tosses Orton into the ropes again, and proceeds to grind Orton’s forehead into the cage. Orton is stuck between the cage and the ropes and is the victim of some more chops. Flair continues to shove Orton’s face into the cage, making the third generation superstar suffer. Orton rolls back into the ring and Flair drops a knee into the head of Randy Orton. Orton is at Flair’s mercy for the time being. Flair hits some more chops, grounding Orton yet again. Flair positions Orton into the turnbuckle for some more chops, but Orton comes back, reverses an Irish whip, and sends Flair flying into the steel cage. Flair’s head hits the support beam, busting him open. Orton fires away at Flair’s forehead. Flair tries to escape, but Orton stops him by grabbing him by the tights, exposing Flair’s 55 year old butt to the arena. Orton hits Flair in the head, and Flair falls helplessly to the mat. Both men are bleeding quite heavily. Orton corners Flair and punches Flair in the head. Orton climbs up the cage to kick Flair, but gets hit with another low blow. Flair is in control again, and hits a chop on Orton. Orton fights back with some punches and ground Flair. Orton chokes Flair, but he is in a daze. Flair is now between the ropes and the cage and has his face shoved into the cage by Orton. Orton drop-kicks Flair into the cage, and both men are down again. Flair climbs to the top turnbuckle, but Orton catches him and tosses the veteran to the mat. Orton climbs to the top turnbuckle and hits a flying crossbody into a cover, which Flair kicks out of. Orton hits an inverted neckbreaker on Flair and goes for another cover, which Flair gets a shoulder up. Flair fights back with a couple of hard shots. Flair crawls towards the door, but Orton grabs him and pulls him back into the cage. Orton drops a hard forearm to the back of Flair’s neck. Flair has slipped on some brass knuckles and nails Orton in the face with them. Flair goes for the cover, and Orton somehow kicks out! Flair decides to try and escape again, but Orton grabs him by the ankles. Orton twists Flair’s ankle against the ropes, but Flair grabs a chair from ringside. Orton ducks a chair shot and hits the RKO on Flair. Orton goes for the cover and it’s over at 10:39! This was much better than it had any right to be ***1/2. Both men are battered and bruised. Flair and Orton embrace after the match, in a rare moment of sportsmanship from the dirtiest player in the game.
Winner: Randy Orton
Final thoughts: This show began and ended on high notes. There are a couple of good matches here, but the majority of the card was complete crap. The divas battle royal and lingerie pillow fight were a complete waste of time, Kane/Snitsky provided the world with a cure for insomnia, and even Benoit phoned it in for a completely boring (and overly long) tag match. There are some good matches here, but the good does not outweigh the bad.
Recommendation to avoid.