Unforgiven 2005 thru WrestleMania 22 & Draft 2006
Writing Began: August 22nd, 2005 (Day after Summerslam 2005)
Writing Finished: September 16th, 2005 (Two days before Unforgiven 2005)
iEvents Going on at the Time:i
Summerslam 2005:
Hulk Hogan defeated Shawn Michaels. Batista beat JBL to retain the World Heavyweight Championship, John Cena defeated Chris Jericho to retain the WWE Championship, and Chris Benoit took all of twenty-two seconds to beat Orlando Jordan for the United States Championship. A returning Matt Hardy was injured early-on in his match with Edge, causing the match to be stopped. Rey Mysterio beat Eddie Guerrero in a ladder-match to win custody of his “adopted” son Dominick. Kurt Angle made quick work of Eugene to win back his gold medals, and Randy Orton got a little help from his father “Cowboy” Bob Orton to beat The Undertaker.
Other Notes:
“Raw”: Eric Bischoff had just hand-picked Kurt Angle as John Cena’s next opponent. Carlito and Chris Masters were trying to make names for themselves at the expense of Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels, respectively. Edge and the recently-returned Matt Hardy were still waging war over Lita, with a cage-match already being announced for Unforgiven 2005. The tag-team of Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch were about to debut, and were setting their sights on the World Tag-Team Champions, The Hurricane and Rosey. Meanwhile Chavo Guerrero was in the process of changing himself into “Kerwin White”, and planned to show everyone that “White is Right” by targeting Shelton Benjamin. Also, Snitsky was trying to prove himself the dominant “monster” in WWE by taking out The Big Show, and Trish Stratus came to the aid of Ashley Massaro, who had been the victim of several beat-downs at the hands of the three-woman team of Victoria, Torrie Wilson, and Candice Michelle.
“Smackdown!”: After being on the losing-side of a months-long feud with Rey Mysterio, Eddie Guerrero finally scored a win over his rival in a cage-match on the September 9th, 2005 edition of “Smackdown!”. Chris Benoit, after beating Orlando Jordan in twenty-two seconds at Summerslam 2005, was trying to show what else he could do in that short span of time, much to the dismay of O.J. and John “Bradshaw” Layfield. Ken Kennedy had just debuted, and was sticking his nose into practically EVERYONES’ business. “Cowboy” Bob Orton was attempting to help his son Randy kill the legend of The Undertaker. Christian began to get very over with the audience, to the point where he seemed to be on the verge of being turned face, until he began to pick a feud with Booker T; he was also recently layed-out by The Mexicools (Juventud Guerrera, Psicosis, and Super Crazy), who were still trying to find their place in WWE. William Regal had a new protégé and tag-team partner in Paul Burchill. Heidenreich was on a leave of absence when - legitimately - his father went missing after Hurricane Rita had leveled New Orleans, but had previously been teaming with Road Warrior Animal in a feud with MNM.
September 2005
UNFORGIVEN 2005 (Raw)
WWE Title: CENA/Angle
IC: CARLITO/Flair
RTag: HURRICANE-ROSEY/Cade-Murdoch
Cage: Edge/Matt
Shawn/Masters
Trish-Ashley/Victoria-Torrie
Show/Snitsky
Shelton/Kerwin
///
Shelton/Kerwin – Kerwin gets the win by hitting Shelton with a golf-club.
Show/Snitsky – Show wins.
Trish-Ashley/Vitoria-Torrie – The heels cheat to win, hitting Trish in the back, followed by Victoria hitting the Widow’s Peak.
Shawn/Masters – Carlito comes out to help Masters, so Flair comes out to even the odds. Shawn hits the super-kick, but Carlito jumps on the apron, distracting Shawn so that he doesn’t go for the pin; Flair pulls Carlito off the apron, and the two get into a shoving match and making threats. Flair and Carlito back-off a bit, only for Carlito to pick up a weapon (steel chair, etc.), and threaten Flair; this prompts Shawn to try to step out of the ring to help, but while he’s stepping out of the ring, Masters (who was recovering during the shenanigans) runs up behind him and puts him in the Masterlock. After a valiant effort, Shawn finally passes out. After the match, Flair chases the heels off, revives Shawn, and helps him to back.
Edge/Matt – Matt is going for the door while Edge tries to climb over the top; Matt is clearly about to win, when Lita slams the door on his head, allowing Edge to win.
Backstage: Flair is tending to Shawn, and says he’s gonna go find a doctor.
Hurricane-Rosey/Cade-Murdoch – Cade-Murdoch win the titles.
Carlito/Flair – They do the ring-intros, but Flair doesn’t come out. They replay his music, but again, no. They then cut backstage, where Flair is once again in a big bloody heap. Carlito has a mischievous “Imagine That” smile on his face, and declares himself the winner. Shawn then comes out, and challenges Carlito; Shawn dominates for about thirty seconds, but Masters runs out for the DQ, and the heels double-team Shawn. Flair then makes his way to the ring and chases the heels off.
Cena/Angle – Cena gets the crap kicked out of him for the most part, only to rally from behind and win, thus showing that he can survive anything, even a super angry raging smash kill destroy robo-Angle.
SMACKDOWN
Eddie is bragging that he FINALLY beat Rey, and says that, now that he has his confidence back, he’s ready to take anyone on – “Batista! I want you out here, now!” Rey comes out instead, and tells Eddie that, even though Eddie beat him once, Rey beat him 8(?) times, so if anybody deserves a shot, it’s Rey. Teddy Long makes one more Eddie/Rey match, with the winner getting the title-shot at “No Mercy”.
JBL, embarrassed by OJ, decides to challenge for the US title himself; Benoit says “anywhere, anytime”. Benoit takes JBL down right away, and JBL taps.
Kennedy continues to squash jobbers, and stirs the pot between Booker and Benoit.
Christian continues to act as a tweener, getting in Booker’s face while battling the Mexicools.
Orton continues to torment Taker.
October 2005
RAW
Basic holding-pattern the next few weeks, until the jump to USA. Bischoff continues to try to stack the deck against Cena, Edge and Matt try to fuck with each other, and Carlito and Masters continue to fuck with Shawn and Flair. One week sees, for instance, Cena/Snitsky, Matt interfere in Edge’s match, Kerwin cheating to beat Shelton, and Carlito and Masters costing Shawn and Flair a title-match against Cade-Murdoch.
DEBUT OF “RAW” ON USA
It’s already confirmed that this show will be 3 hours long, and feature Austin, Foley, and Hogan, as well as Trips’ return.
The show opens with Trips making his return. He issues a challenge to Cena, but Shawn interrupts. He gets in Trips’ face, saying that he doesn’t deserve another title-shot, seeing as he lost 3x to Batista and has been absent for months; Trips takes exception, threatening Shawn, but Shawn doesn’t back down. As they’re bickering, Carlito and Masters come out; they surround Shawn, all the while Trips does his “What you gonna do, now?” look to Shawn. Flair makes his way out, initially to help Shawn, but Trips starts to insult Flair, saying that “you USED to be the man; now you’re just a bitch”. This draws Bischoff out, who sets-up Shawn-Flair/Carlito-Masters, as well as a “tune-up” match for Trips against Eugene, in addition to another Cena/Angle match and Edge/Matt in a strap-match and Cade-Murdoch defending the titles.
Austin comes out, says “thanks for watching ‘Raw’”, yadda, yadda, yadda.
Trips/Eugene – Trips absolutely decimates Eugene. Trips then says that what he just did serves as a warning to all.
Foley comes out, does his schtick.
Edge/Matt – Near the end, Matt gains the advantage and is about to win, but Snitsky runs in and starts pounding on Matt; just as Edge is about to hit the final turnbuckle, the ring-posts shoot fire, and Kane makes his return to chase off Snitsky and beat-down Edge. Matt gets back up, wins, and Matt and Kane give each other cold stares.
Hogan comes out, “Hulkamania will live forever!”.
Cena/Angle – Cena wins, thanks to some old-fashioned “heel miscommunication” with Bischoff.
Bischoff comes out, says that he’s sick of guys like Austin, Hogan, and Foley appearing on HIS show, and wants to know why, as the GM of “Raw”, he has to deal with things like this. Out comes Vince, who’s all “We give the fans what they want!”, ultimately leading to Vince putting Bischoff in his place, and Bischoff being embarrassed and staring angrily at Vince as Vince walks away.
Shawn-Flair/Carlito-Masters – Shawn plays Morton, while the heels run from Flair; near the end, Trips makes his way out to the ring. Shawn finally hot-tags Flair, who then turns on him; Flair, Trips, Carlito, and Masters then beat the crap out of Shawn, thus signifying the newest incarnation of Evolution.
From here, the Shawn/Trips blood-feud reignites, with “Taboo Tuesday” being filled with the obvious matches and stips, which are listed in the next section.
SMACKDOWN
During the final Eddie/Rey match, the Ortons get involved, costing Rey the match; afterwards, Taker comes out to avenge the injustice.
JBL says that he only tapped because Benoit jumped him when he wasn’t ready, but that he STILL lasted more than 22 seconds. JBL challenges Benoit again, and again, JBL taps quickly. JBL then challenges Benoit to a “no submissions” match at the PPV.
Heidenreich returns, and he and Animal resume their feud with MNM.
Regal-Burchill continue to dominate lower-card guys.
The Mexicools make life hell for the cruisers, with Rey ultimately challenging Juvi.
NO MERCY 2005 (SD)
World Title: BATISTA/Eddie
US Title, No Submissions: BENOIT/Jbl
Handicap: Ortons/Taker
STag Titles: HEIDENREICH-ANIMAL/Mnm
Kennedy/Scotty
Booker/Christian
Regal-Burchill/Richards-Holly
Rey/Juvi
///
Rey/Juvi – Rey wins.
Regal-Burchill/Richards-Holly – Just meant to be an exhibition of Burchill’s skills.
Booker/Christian – During the match, Sharmell turns on Booker, giving Christian the win. Sharmell says that Christian is her new boy-toy.
Kennedy/Scotty – Another exhibition match.
LOD/MNM – MNM finally regain the tag titles. Heidenreich is upset, but Animal tells him it’s ok; they hug afterwards and salute the crowd. This is the last we see of Animal.
Ortons/Taker – Lots of cheating and underhanded tactics lead to Randy getting the win after the RKO.
Benoit/JBL – Benoit punishes JBL with suplexes and the like, ultimately getting the pin with the flying headbutt. JBL protests afterwards, so Benoit runs in and slaps the crossface on JBL.
Batista/Eddie – Batista wins.
November 2005
TABOO TUESDAY 2005 (Raw)
Gimmick Choice: Edge vs. Matt [Ladder, Ambulance, I Quit, First Blood, -on-a-Pole]
WWE Title: CENA vs. [Shawn, Trips, Angle]
Battle Royal for a title-shot next week: [Everybody who hasn’t wrestled yet]
RTag Titles: CADE-MURDOCH vs. [Hurricane-Rosey, Val-Vis, Heart Throbs]
IC Title: CARLITO vs. [Anyone]
Clothing Choice: Trish-Ashley vs. Victoria-Torrie [Pick their outfits]
Masterlock Challenge: Masters vs. [Anyone]
Pick-A-Partner: Kane & [Anyone] vs. Snitsky & [Anyone]
///
Kane-?/Snitsky-? – Kane wins either way. If Kane gets a face partner, they get along, but if he gets a heel partner, he beats the shit out of them; vice-versa on Snitsky’s part.
Masterlock Challenge – If it’s a face, Masters wins, and then brutalizes them afterwards. If it’s a heel, Masters wins, but takes it easy on them.
Trish-Ashley/Victoria-Torrie – Trish pins Victoria.
Carlito/? – Either way, Carlito cheats to win with help from Masters.
Cade-Murdoch/?-? – Cade-Murdoch retain.
Battle Royal – Any heel mid-carder.
Cena/? – Give them ten minutes. At the end, if it’s Trips, Angle interferes, if it’s Angle, Trips interferes, and if it’s Shawn, Trips AND Angle interfere. Whatever happens, the person interfering is attacking the person who got voted-in out of jealousy, and Cena wins.
Matt/Edge – Lita’s interference backfires (she accidentally knocks over Edge’s ladder, she accidentally hits Edge, etc.), giving Matt the win.
RAW
The Trips/Shawn feud continues to boil, but with the inclusion of Angle as a kind-of 3-way battle for title-shots – each one thinks that they deserve it more than the other two. Cena continues to get booked in “impossible-to-win” matches and feud with Evolution. Shelton will get a shot at Carlito’s IC title (which Evo will interfere in), thus prompting a feud between them. On one show, Masters and Carlito beat-down Shelton, but Rob Van Dam returns and makes the save.
Matt, Edge, Kane, and Snitsky all continue to screw with each other; Matt doesn’t trust Kane.
Kerwin challenges Show, and Conway torments Eugene. Cade-Murdoch feud with the thrown-together teams for a little while longer.
Angle gets one last shot at Cena, but doesn’t get it done; Bischoff is pissed, and punishes Angle, leaving him off of “Survivor Series”.
SMACKDOWN
Eddie is upset that he didn’t get the job done, but insists that, if they were to ever wrestle again, he can GUARANTEE victory. Batista is quick to oblige.
The Mexicools attack Heidenreich during a match, which prompts a small Heidenreich/Mexicools feud; the Mexicools seek out Regal, who allows them to use Burchill as back-up. Holly picks a fight with Regal.
Kennedy continues to stir the pot between Booker and Benoit; Booker approaches Benoit, who tells Booker that he’ll give him a shot anytime he wants. This leads to Booker beating Benoit for the title one week, and then Benoit regaining the title the next week, with both matches featuring the two shaking hands after the match. During a third match, Christian and Kennedy interfere, throwing the match out.
JBL, disgusted with OJ, fires him; Teddy Long sets-up Benoit, Booker, Taker, and OJ vs. JBL, Christian, Kennedy, and Orton at SurSer.
Holly and Richards make a make-shift team, they challenge MNM.
SURVIVOR SERIES 2005 (I)
Shawn, Cena, Shelton, Rvd vs. Trips, Flair, Carlito, Masters
World Title: BATISTA/Eddie
Show/Kerwin
Benoit, Booker, Taker, OJ vs. JBL, Christian, Kennedy, Orton
Matt-Kane/Edge-Snitsky
STag Titles: MNM/Holly-Richards
Eugene/Conway
Rey, London, Funaki, Heidenreich vs. The Mexicools & Burchill
///
Cruisers – Heidenreich is eliminated early by the heels’ cheating ways. The match comes down to Burchill and Rey, with Burchill ultimately winning.
Conway/Eugene – Conway wins.
MNM/Holly-Richards – MNM win.
Matt-Kane/Edge-Snitsky – Matt is visibly upset at tagging with Kane before the match even begins. During the match, Snitsky pushes Kane into Matt (who is facing the other way), which prompts Matt and Kane to go at it. The match is thrown-out, and Edge and Snitsky walk to the back, while refs try to pull Matt and Kane apart.
SD Match – Taker is eliminated by Kennedy cheating, which leads to Taker kicking the shit out of Kennedy, getting him counted out. Orton is next, followed by Booker. Benoit eliminates Christian, leaving Benoit and OJ vs. JBL. Benoit and JBL face-off in the middle of the ring, and OJ slowly climbs into the ring, behind Benoit; he charges Benoit from behind, but Benoit ducks, resulting in OJ running into JBL, knocking him down. Benoit takes OJ down, and locks him in the crossface, making him tap; the ref is really confused, but eventually signals for the bell, citing that, technically, Jordan *DID* submit, so he’s eliminated. JBL tries to capitalize, but Benoit takes him down and makes him tap.
Kerwin/Show – Kerwin cheats to win.
Batista/Eddie – Batista wins.
Faces/Evo – It comes down to Cena and Shawn against Trips and Flair; Trips and Flair cheat to eliminate Shawn (sledge-hammer, whatever), leaving Cena to fend for himself. Trips and Flair take turns hammering on Cena (triggering a blade-job), until Cena gets a small-package out of nowhere on Flair. This leaves a bloody and exhausted Cena with the much fresher Trips. Trips toys with Cena a little, but the ref gets bumped during Cena’s come-back; Kurt Angle comes out of the crowd, hits the Olympic Slam on both, and then leaves. Cena recovers first, but Trips kicks out; Trips goes for the Pedigree, but Cena reverses into the FU, and gets the pin.
December 2005
RAW
The first episode after “Survivor Series”, Trips opens the show, complaining that the only reason he lost last night was because of Angle, and then calls Angle out. Angle comes out, and the two start going at it right away. Refs pull them apart, and Bischoff comes out and announces that at “New Year’s Revolution”, Trips and Angle will fight for the right to face Cena at the “Royal Rumble”. Shawn then interrupts, saying that he wants another crack at them, so it’s made into a 3-way.
Also, Kane cuts a promo in the ring, basically saying that, after losing Lita, he finally realized what he had done to Matt; he thought that he was being kind by allowing Lita to go home and see him when they weren’t on the road [this fixes the whole “on TV” problem, and gives the idea that Kane and Lita WERE married, but he only forced her to be with him while they were traveling; she was free to do what she wanted during time off], and he apologizes to Matt. Matt comes out, pulls a hammer out of his baggy pants, and attacks Kane, setting-up some Matt/Kane matches over the next few weeks. Over the course of the month, Bischoff approaches Kane, asking him if getting hit in the face with a hammer helped him regain his killer instinct; it takes a few weeks, but Kane regains his edge and becomes a full-fledged heel again who sets people on fire and stuff. Bischoff rewards Kane with a shot at Cena at NYR.
Shelton and RVD feud with Masters and Carlito, which then segues into Shelton/Carlito and RVD/Masters.
With everything so out of control with Edge and Matt, Bischoff announces that they will face each other for the last time at NYR… “HELL IN A CELL!!!”. Edge says he’s fine with it, but Matt questions how much he REALLY wants to fight him again; Edge says he wants to fight him more than anything, and eventually Matt talks Edge into putting his “Money In The Bank” contract on the line.
It is HurriRosey’s turn to wrestle Cade-Murdoch again, so that happens at the PPV.
SMACKDOWN
Eddie wants one more match against Batista, but JBL interrupts, saying that Eddie blew his chance, and that if anybody deserves another shot, he (JBL) does; Eddie reminds Batista that he blew all his opportunities, too, PLUS, he’s lost consistently to Benoit, so he shouldn’t be talking. Batista says that he’ll gladly take on both of them. Over the next few weeks, Batista takes on Eddie and JBL in singles matches, with the other man running in. Batista is pissed, and says he’ll take on both of them, leading Teddy Long to make a 3-way with Batista/Eddie/JBL at “Armageddon”. Eddie and JBL don’t forget the wars they went through with each other, so they’re glad to get to fight each other, too.
Also, JBL is pissed at OJ, basically saying “You’re REALLY fired this time!”
Kennedy is pissed at Taker, Taker responds in his usual way.
Holly and Heidenreich team-up as a “wacky” team, with Holly wondering what is wrong with Heidenreich.
Rey and Orton finish their feud on TV, with Juvi costing Rey a match, which segues into Rey/Juvi, and Orton moving into the US-title scene.
Nunzio gets more TV-time, basically saying that there’s no competition; Teddy Long sets up a one night, 8-man tournament for the Cruiser-title at “Armageddon”.
Benoit and Booker double-trade the US title again, but during the third match, Christian and Orton run-in, screwing it up.
ARMAGEDDON 2005 (SD)
Title: BATISTA/Eddie/Jbl
STag: MNM/Holly-Heidenreich
US Title: BENOIT/Booker/Christian/Orton
Taker/Kennedy
Cruiser-Title Tourney: Rey/Crazy, Scotty/Psicosis, Funaki/Juvi, London/Nunzio
///
Rey/Crazy – Rey wins.
Scotty/Psicosis – Psicosis.
Taker/Kennedy – Taker.
Funaki/Juvi – Juvi.
London/Nunzio – London.
MNM/Holly-Heidenreich - MNM
Semi: Rey/Psicosis – Rey.
Semi: Juvi/London – Juvi.
US Title – Christian pins Booker to win the title.
Finals: Rey/Juvi – Juvi wins in a perfectly clean match, reversing the momentum of a top-rope Hurricanrana to pin Rey.
Batista/Eddie/JBL – Batista wins.
January 2006
NEW YEAR’S REVOLUTION 2006 (Raw)
Title Shot at Rumble: Trips/Shawn/Angle
HIAC For “MITB” Contract: Edge/Matt
WWE Title: CENA/Kane
RTag Titles: CADE-MURDOCH/Hurricane-Rosey
IC Title: CARLITO/Shelton
Rvd/Masters
///
RVD/Masters – Masters wins, and keeps RVD in the hold after the bell rings.
Carlito/Shelton – Masters interferes, but Shelton is able to rebound and win the title.
Cade-Murdoch/Hurricane-Rosey – Cade-Murdoch win pretty decisively. Hurricane is upset.
Cena/Kane – Cena wins.
HIAC – This will be the last Edge/Matt match for a looong time. Just as Matt is about to win, Snitsky comes out from under the ring, and kicks the shit out of the already-exhausted Matt, giving Edge the win.
Trips/Shawn/Angle – Usual 3-way with the multiple finishers and stolen moves. Trips wins after a long, grueling, bloody battle.
RAW
Now that the whole Edge/Matt thing is FINALLY over, Edge and Matt can move on to other feuds, and Lita can move on to a feud with Trish, with the twist being that, for the first time, Trish is the face and Lita is the heel.
On the first “Raw” after the PPV, Trips opens the show, putting himself over and talking about what he’s gonna do to Cena. Edge interrupts, however, and says that he’s tired of waiting – he’s cashing in his MITB-contract at the “Royal Rumble”. Trips gets in Edge’s face, “I beat Shawn Michaels and Kurt Angle; you only beat Matt Hardy”, to which Edge replies that not only has he, too, beaten Shawn Michaels and Kurt Angle, but he had to beat FIVE people to originally win the MITB-contract. They get in each others’ faces, but Bischoff comes out, and – choosing his words carefully – says that, “Well, Edge DID earn his shot first, so… he kinda has the right to do it.” Trips then threatens Bischoff, so Bischoff responds, “You’re gonna threaten me? Then I’m DEFINITELY giving Edge the shot.” Bischoff leaves, Edge laughs at Trips, and Trips is furious. Later, Trips storms into Bischoff’s office, and threatens him again; Bischoff tells him that he (Bischoff) can’t do anything, but there IS something Trips can do – enter the Rumble. Trips is furious, but tells Bischoff “Oh, I’m gonna enter the Rumble… and I’m gonna win… and then you can take that win, and shove it up your ass.”
Cade-Murdoch complain that they have no competition, and announce that they got Bischoff’s permission to hold an 8-team tournament (the 4 opening matches the first week, the 2 semi-finals the next week, and the finals the third week), with the winners getting a shot at their titles at the Rumble. Hurricane-Rosey and The Heart Throbs are in it, maybe Val-Vis if they’re still around, and then the rest can be just your usual slapped-together teams. RVD decides that he wants to enter the tourney, cuz he’s tired of being overlooked and screwed out of title-shots, but he needs a partner – Matt Hardy answers the call, citing the reasons that RVD just stated. In response to this, Trips forces Carlito and Masters to enter the tournament, citing that they have to make-up for Carlito losing the IC title. RVD-Matt and Carlito-Masters are placed on opposite sides of the brackets.
Shawn says that he realizes he’s been on a bit of a losing-streak as of late, but he guarantees that he’ll win the Rumble. Cena basically reaffirms that he’s a fighting champion and will fight anyone. The two of them are kept busy with Bischoff’s stable of Kane and Angle.
In the opening of the tag-tourney, Hurricane and Rosey lose to some slapped-together team; Hurricane is pissed, and attacks Rosey afterwards. The next week, Hurricane trashes his superhero costume, and goes back to being Greg Helms; he finishes Rosey off the next week (Rosey is kept off of TV for a while after this), and then attacks Tajiri the following week.
The finals of the tag-tourney - RVD-Matt/Carlito-Masters – takes place the week before the Rumble; Trips and Flair try to interfere, but Shawn and Shelton counter them. RVD-Matt eventually beat Carlito-Masters, sending Trips into a tizzy, and everybody brawls. Kane and Angle run down, which then prompts Show and Cena to run down. Traditional pre-Rumble mega-brawl, but everybody spills out of the ring, with brawls going on outside the ring, up the aisle, etc. Cena climbs back into the ring, but Edge surprises him from behind; a spear, a finishing move or two, and several clubs in the head with the briefcase, Edge is standing over Cena’s fallen body amidst all this chaos.
SMACKDOWN
Basic holding-pattern until the Rumble. Regal is given a few wins – with help from Burchill - over some midcarders, and then steps up and challenges Batista at the Rumble.
More mix-and-match matches between Benoit, Booker, Christian, Orton, JBL, Kennedy, etc. Not just singles matches, but tag matches, as well.
A Juvi/Rey rematch is set for the Rumble.
ROYAL RUMBLE 2006 (I)
I - Royal Rumble (Shawn, Trips, Angle, Flair, Show, Eugene, Shelton, Masters, Carlito, Kane, Conway, Kerwin, Helms, Dupree, Snitsky, Benoit, JBL, Taker, Booker, Eddie, Christian, Kennedy, Orton, Holly, Burchill, Heidenreich, Richards, Grenier, Simon, Doug)
S - World Title: BATISTA/Regal
R - WWE Title: CENA/Edge
S - Cruiser Title: JUVI/Rey
R - RTag Titles: CADE-MURDOCH/Rvd-Matt
///
Cade-Murdoch/RVD-Matt – RVD and Matt win.
Backstage: Bischoff and Teddy Long are backstage; Bischoff comments “Now THAT’S how you kick-off a PPV!” Teddy: “I’ll tell ya what, playa, you’re right, that was a HECK of a match. That RVD and Matt Hardy, they’re some talented cats!” They then get into a debate over which show has better tag-champs.
Juvi/Rey – Juvi wins again, this time with help from Psicosis and Crazy.
Backstage: Teddy comments how great the cruisers are. Bischoff says “Ya know, I used to have a pretty good Cruiser division when I ran ‘Nitro’.” “I remember, that was some fly, fly stuff, lemme tell ya.” “You know, I have a couple cruiserweights on ‘Raw’.” “Is that right, playa?” “I think you and I have some stuff to talk about.” “Ya know, playa, I think we do.”
Cena/Edge – There are a TON of near-falls in this one; Cena wins, however, in a very clean, interference-free match.
Batista/Regal – Batista wins.
RUMBLE
#1 is Ric Flair, #2 is Randy Orton. The announcers note their past in “Evolution”. They fight back and forth, until Chris Masters comes out as #3. Flair and Masters double-team Randy, until Booker T comes out as #4. Booker lays into everybody, but the heels triple-team him. Booker briefly gets the upper-hand, tossing Masters out; Booker, Orton, and Flair trade-shots, until #5, Shelton Benjamin, comes in and evens the odds. The four move into separate corners, feeling each other out, but Randy quickly hits the RKO on Flair, and then tries to convince the others to dump him out; instead, Shelton and Booker attack Randy, dumping him, and then try to dump Flair over, but Flair hangs on to the ropes for dear life. #6 is Christian, and he and Booker go at it right away, with Shelton still working on Flair. #7 is Conway, who quickly helps Christian eliminate Booker. Christian then goes to work on Flair while Shelton and Conway fight. #8 is Grenier, and he and Conway eliminate Shelton. #9 is Dupree, and the La Res guys try to control the ring.
#10 is Stevie Richards. Flair helps La Res dump Richards and Christian, but then La Res dumps Flair, too. With the ring cleared, La Res starts to pose for the fans, but Kane is #11. Kane dominates at first, but La Res quickly takes control; they almost get him over the ropes, but he hangs on as the clock counts down… 5-4-3-2-1… the lights go out, the gong hits, and The Undertaker is #12. Taker and Kane do a stare-off, but decide to take out La Res instead before going at each other. #13 is Greg Helms, who bravely tries to go toe-to-toe with both men, but gets eliminated quickly. #14 is Simon Dean, who also gets the old “Mo” treatment. Snitsky is #15, and we got ourselves a 3-way monster-fest. Snitsky and Kane briefly put their problems aside, and double-team Taker, but Taker fights back; he boots Kane in the face, leaving him stunned, and is about to get Snitsky over the ropes as the buzzer goes off. Heidenreich comes in as #16, and goes after Taker, saving Snitsky from being eliminated; Taker is pissed, and tosses Heidenreich out. Heidenreich, heartbroken, asks Snitsky why he didn’t help; as Snitsky is answering him, Kane throws him out. #17 is Kurt Angle, and he goes right to work on Taker. Angle and Kane double-team Taker, but Taker holds on until #18, Eddie Guerrero, makes his way in. The three heels triple-team Taker, hitting a Tombstone, Angle Slam, and Frog Splash in succession; Angle is about to throw Taker out, but decides to hit Taker with one more Angle Slam, just for the hell of it, before tossing him. Big Show is #19; he cautiously enters the ring, but cannot compete with the odds. Kane hits the Choke Slam, Angle hits the Angle Slam, but as Eddie climbs the ropes to hit the Frog Splash, Angle pushes him off, eliminating him. As Angle is celebrating, Kane tries to come up behind him and throw him out, but Angle reverses and throws Kane out, too. Reality sets in for Angle, though, as he can’t get Show off the ground to throw him out. He pulls and pulls on Show’s limbs, trying to lift him, but no go.
JBL comes in at #20, and the two of them try to lift the unconscious Show off the ground, but Show grabs them both by the throat, and “clunks” their heads together. With Show back on his feet, he manages to fight back, until Kerwin White comes in as #21. The heels triple-team Show, with JBL ultimately hitting the Clothesline From Hell on Show, knocking him over the ropes. The three heels are cautious of each other, but Angle yells “Let’s do this for Raw!” to Kerwin, but Kerwin doesn’t trust him; Angle then tries “Let’s do this for middle-class America!”, and that does the trick. Kerwin and Angle struggle to get JBL out, but eventually do. Kerwin realizes what happens now, though, and clings onto the ropes for dear-life, until the next person enters. #22 is Paul Burchill, who actually goes toe-to-toe with Angle, while Kerwin clings onto the ropes on the opposite side of the ring. #23 is Triple H, who immediately disposes of Kerwin, and then moves on to Angle and Burchill, who are wrestling on the ropes; the two get dumped rather easily by Trips, who then waits in the ring for his next victim. Hardcore Holly is #24, and the two go at it for a bit, but he, too, is quickly thrown out. #25, Eugene, is also easily disposed of. Trips waits patiently for the buzzer. 5-4-3-2-1… HOLY CRAP! IT’S BROCK LESNAR!!! WHAT THE HELL IS BROCK LESNAR DOING HERE??? The two brawl back and forth, with no clear-cut advantage. Trips is dominating as the buzzer sounds, and Carlito is #27; however, just as Carlito actually gets in the ring, Brock gets the advantage back, rushes Carlito, F5s him, and tosses him out ASAP. Benoit is #28, and the three all fight. Shawn Michaels is #29, and the brawl continues. #30 is Mr. Kennedy, who makes his way down to the ring with a mic. Kennedy gets into the ring, and begins doing his spiel; the others all stop to look on in amusement, as Kennedy just keeps going on and on, until Shawn Super Kicks him right in the mouth, sending him over the top rope.
It comes down to Trips, Shawn, Brock, and Benoit, with the announcers noting that they are all relatively fresh. The three of them team-up to take Brock out, and Brock is pissed. The announcers mention the history here, as these three headlined WMXX. The three battle on the ropes, with Shawn ultimately being thrown out. Trips and Benoit stare daggers at each other, and then go at each other full-steam. Another long ending sequence, as they both do several teases at being tossed-out. Brock makes his way back down to the ring, and taunts/threatens both men; every time they get near the ropes, Brock teases that he’s gonna get involved. Shawn makes his way back down the aisle, and stands on the opposite side of the ring as Brock. Trips and Benoit are trying to push each other over, when Brock grabs Benoit’s arm; Shawn starts to run over, but stops, letting Brock pull Benoit over, and giving Trips the win.
February 2006
RAW
Brag, brag, brag… that’s what Trips’ agenda is. The next month will be the standard six weeks of build, basic tag-matches, 6- and 8-man tag-matches, handicap matches, cheap shots, run-ins, interference, etc.
Now, this part can’t be pinned on a certain week to begin, but I’m sure it can be done: Shawn Michaels, looking a little upset, a little pissed off, comes out to the ring to cut a promo. He says that he’s disappointed in himself… that the year hasn’t been kind to him… he lost to Angle at WM21… he lost to Hogan at “Summerslam”… he lost at “New Year’s Revolution”… and he didn’t win the Rumble… But he wants everyone to remember “that through it all, I gave you the show of your lives. That even in defeat, Shawn Michaels came out on top!” He begins going into cocky dickhead mode now: “That no matter what, I am the Show-Stopper, the ICON, the Main Event! I’m the one that you people pay to see, and I’m the one that gives you your money’s worth! I am the greatest wrestler to ever step foot into a ring, and nobody – NOBODY- can say any differently!” Shawn throws down the mic, and goes to leave the ring. IF YOU SMELL…!!! The Rock returns, does his “standing on the turnbuckle” schtick, etc. Shawn: “Is that supposed to impress me?” The two then begin to duel on the mic, with Rock basically telling Shawn he’s arrogant and full of shit, and Shawn calling Rock a sell-out. Rock then tells Shawn: “Let’s not dance around the subject… Rock, Shawn, WrestleMania.” “You’re on, Mr. Hollywood; at WrestleMania, I’ll show you that ACTORS shouldn’t get in the ring with WRESTLERS, especially when that actor is you, and that wrestler is ME!” They begrudgingly shake hands, and we go to commercial. Shawn fills-in for Rock’s absence by cutting lots of great heel-promos.
Vince McMahon makes a surprise appearance, with another “earth-shaking announcement” – “It’s time once again to shake things up around here! Now, usually, we do this after ‘WrestleMania’, but I just can’t wait this year… after hearing what Eric Bischoff and Teddy Long had to say to each other at the ‘Rumble’, I think I have another one of my great ideas. We’re gonna do some more trades. But we’re not gonna trade people, necessarily, but we’re gonna trade things. Yes, ‘things’. I’ve consulted with Eric and Teddy, and our first big move will actually happen this week on ‘Smackdown’, and then from there, we’ll actually have a couple big moves AT ‘WrestleMania’. Stay tuned, folks, it’s gonna be a wild ride!”
Kurt Angle says that he had a revelation at the Rumble – “My gold medals are NOT the most valuable thing in all of professional wrestling. Oh, I know what you’re thinking, what could POSSIBLY be worth more than my medals? I’ll tell you what: Immortality. And there’s only one way to attain immortality at WM – to beat the Dead Man. I’ve done everything there is to do in this business, I’ve beaten everyone there is to beat, I won the WWE title in my rookie year, and I’m an Olympic gold-medalist, but the only thing I haven’t done – the only thing I haven’t done YET – is end the Undertaker’s WM streak. Deadman, I want you at ‘WrestleMania!” From there, Taker does all those cool magic-trick mind-game things.
Shelton continues to defend the IC title.
Greg Helms floats around for a while, around the same level that Conway and Kerwin are.
Basic holding-pattern until after SD’s “No Way Out”.
SMACKDOWN
Teddy Long opens the first show after the Rumble: “Now, everybody knows that big things are always happening here on ‘Smackdown’, and with that in mind, it is my pleasure to introduce to you, a man that always makes headlines, the one, the only, Brock Lesnar!” Brock makes his way to the ring, and gets on the mic; he disingenuously says that he’s “sorry” for leaving, and that he only did it because he felt that there was nothing left for him to do. “I mean, I’m the best thing that’s ever happened in wrestling, right? However, I was wrong; while I was sitting at home, I realized that there WERE things I still had to do. Since I’ve been gone, I’ve seen other people try to step up and claim that they themselves are ‘the next big thing’ in wrestling. Cena, Orton, BATISTA… sorry guys, but none of you can do what I can. None of you are as good as me. None of you rose to prominence as quickly as Brock Lesnar did. You only reached the heights you’re at because I wasn’t around. Well listen up, chumps, I’m back, and I’m taking over!” At that moment, Chris Benoit’s music cues up, and he makes his way out; he basically gets in Lesnar’s face about how he doesn’t have any respect for the business, that he wants things handed to him, etc. Lesnar responds “Hey, if you want to talk about not doing things the way they should be done, weren’t you supposed to face ME at WM20, only to chicken-out and jump to ‘Raw’?” Benoit responds that he wasn’t afraid of Lesnar then, and he’s not afraid of Lesnar now. “You’re gonna hurt me, Chris? You and what army?” Teddy Long steps in, and says that, before things get out of hand, he has another announcement to make, and for that, he needs Eddie, JBL, and Orton to make their way to the ring. The three of them do so. Teddy warns them that he will not have any physicality right now. “As you know, Vince promised a big surprise tonight, so here it is: At ‘No Way Out’, we will have a match to determine the #1 contendor for the World Heavyweight Title! That match will feature Brock Lesnar! Chris Benoit! Eddie Guerrero! JBL! Randy Orton! And The Undertaker! And this match will be the very first ‘Smackdown’ Elimination Chamber match! Now if everyone’s down with that, give me a holla holla!” Cut to commercial.
Hulk Hogan makes an appearance early in the month, basically saying that Teddy Long is a lot cooler than “that whacked-out weirdo Eric Bischoff”, and that it’s a pleasure to be working with an honest GM like Teddy Long. He pimps “Hogan Knows Best”, promises that “Hulkamania will live forever”, etc. He also says that he’s gonna be at “No Way Out” so he can watch the Elimination Chamber match.
Taker accepts Angle’s challenge for WM.
Burchill is given a few Goldberg-esque wins over some low-card guys, and challenges Batista at NWO, to avenge Regal’s loss at the Rumble.
The Rey/Mexicools rivalry keeps going. Also, Juvi decides that the Mexicools need more gold, so he sends Psicosis and Crazy after MNM.
Kennedy and Booker feud, prompting a 3-way with Christian at the PPV.
Grenier picks a feud with Heidenreich.
NO WAY OUT 2006 (SD)
Elimination Chamber for WM Title-Shot: Brock, Benoit, Eddie, Taker, JBL, Orton
Title: BATISTA/Burchill
Tag: MNM/Psicosis-Crazy
An appearance by Hulk Hogan
Cruiser Title: JUVI/Rey
Heidenreich/Grenier
US Title: CHRISTIAN/Booker/Kennedy
///
US – Booker wins the title when Kennedy and Christian can’t get along.
Heidenreich/Grenier – Grenier wins.
Juvi/Rey – The Mexicools try to interfere, but Rey wins.
Hogan makes his way to the ring, and basically says that, since “Smackdown” is the best show with the best wrestlers, it’s only natural that the biggest star of all time be there, too. Hogan goes into “Hogan-mode”, relating stories from 20 years ago; he’s deep in thought, when all of a sudden *CRASH!!!*, the glass shatters, and Steve Austin makes his way to the ring. He agrees with Hogan that it’s much nicer to work with Teddy Long than Eric Bischoff, and he also agrees that “Smackdown” is the show to be on. However, “I do have to disagree about one *small* little thing… for what it’s worth, and this is strictly my opinion, but you’re not the biggest star in the history of our business. From where I sit, I think ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin is the biggest star in the history of our business! Now, I’m not trying to start any trouble, I’m not here to get into a fight or anything… I’m just… stating a fact.” They keep the debate friendly, and agree to meet at WM. Unlike the Rock/Shawn feud, both Austin and Hogan remain face.
MNM/Psicosis-Crazy – The Mexicools win.
Batista/Burchill – Match is about ten minutes long with Burchill surprisingly holding his own. The end comes when Regal goes to interfere, costing Burchill the match.
Elim Cham – Benoit starts off with Eddie; it’s evenly matched with no clear-cut advantage. JBL is the next in, and the heels double-team Benoit. Benoit dodges a blind-charge by Eddie, takes JBL down, and JBL taps. Brock is the next in, and he goes right to work on Benoit; Benoit hangs on, but is unable to get an advantage. Taker is next in, and he goes right to work on the heels; Eddie gets eliminated by a massive choke-slam. Orton is the next in, and he goes right after Taker, but is unable to get the advantage. Brock works over Benoit on the “outside”, while Taker dominates Orton. With Benoit down, Brock sneaks up behind Taker, waits for him to turn around, and nails him with the F5; Orton then picks Taker back-up, hits the RKO, and pins him. When Taker finally gets up, he Tombstones Orton and chokeslams Brock before leaving. Benoit tries covering them, but they both kick out. The heels recover, and dominate Benoit for a while, until Benoit suplexes Orton into Brock – Benoit then suplexes Orton a few more times, and locks on the Sharpshooter (while facing Brock), making Orton tap. The rest of the match is completely clean; the finish sees Brock and Benoit trading reversals until Brock gets Benoit into the F5 and hits it for the win.
March 2006
RAW
Vince announces that, starting at WM, “Raw” and “Smackdown” will switch divisions – “Raw” will become the exclusive home of the Cruiser-Division, while the tag-titles will be unified at WrestleMania, and become the exclusive property of SD. WrestleMania will serve as Rey Mysterio’s first night on “Raw”, while RVD and Matt Hardy will officially begin work on SD that night. Bischoff decides not to name Rey’s opponent.
Trish and Lita will meet for the women’s title.
Edge picks a feud with Shelton.
Carlito and Masters are left off of the card, because, as Triple H puts it, they “have to put all their energy into helping bring the title home to Evolution”.
SMACKDOWN
Booker and Benoit have one more match for the US title; Benoit wins, and then is challenged by Eddie.
Randy Orton, fearing he’s lost his edge, challenges the living legend Ric Flair to a match at WM; “plus, it’ll be nice to show them just how far I’ve come since Evolution.”
It’s the last show before WM, and Christian still doesn’t have a match; fearing that he’ll be left off the card, he challenges The Mexicools to a tag-title match, and then pays Burchill to be his partner. They win the titles, setting up Christian-Burchill/RVD-Matt at the PPV.
WRESTLEMANIA 22 (I)
WWE Title: JOHN CENA vs. Triple H
World Title: BATISTA vs. Brock Lesnar
Hulk Hogan vs. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin
Womens Title: TRISH STRATUS vs. Lita
Tag Titles Unification: Christian & Burchill vs. Rob Van Dam & Matt Hardy
Kurt Angle vs. The Undertaker
Shawn Michaels vs. The Rock
IC Title: SHELTON BENJAMIN vs. Edge
Ric Flair vs. Randy Orton
US Title: CHRIS BENOIT vs. Eddie Guerrero
Cruiser Title: REY MYSTERIO vs. Mystery Opponent
///
In-Ring: Bischoff opens the in-ring action, basically saying this: “I was going to say that the only way to start WM would be with a ‘Raw’ match, but I’m beyond that type of thing. However, it does give me great pleasure to introduce to you, the NEWEST MEMBER OF THE ‘RAW’ ROSTER, Rey Mysterio!!!”
Rey/Helms – Back-and-forth match, which Rey ultimately wins cleanly.
Benoit/Eddie – Benoit retains.
Flair/Orton – Orton wins to continue the “legend-killer” schtick.
Backstage: Heidenreich knocks on the door of Bischoff’s office; Bischoff wants to know what the hell he wants, cuz he’s busy. Heidenreich says that he just wants to wish him luck with the rest of the night. The camera pans over to Snitsky, and Heidenreich gets all shy; Bischoff wants to know what the problem is, and Heidenreich says that he saw someone that he USED to know. Heidenreich leaves, looking upset.
Shelton/Edge – Edge wins the IC title.
Shawn/Rock – Rock.
In-Ring: Ken Kennedy introduces divas from both brands; they do all sorts of sexy poses for a while, but are interrupted by Rob Conway, who claims that HE’S the sexiest thing on either roster. Sylvan Grenier then comes out, and says HE is. Rene’ Dupree then comes out, claiming HE is. The three of them pose, and Kennedy notes that there was always something funny about those La Res guys. La Res then tries to hold the show “hostage” by posing and threatening the girls. BOOM! Kane arrives, citing that HE’s the sexiest thing on either roster, and the heels bail. Kane leaves, and the girls go back to dancing.
Angle/Taker – Taker wins to keep his streak alive.
In-Ring: Teddy Long announces the newest members of the SD roster, RVD and Matt.
Christian-Burchill/RVD-Matt – Regal is in the heels’ corner, and tries to interfere but Booker counters that, giving RVD-Matt the win.
Backstage: Kerwin is in Teddy Long’s office, explaining all the reasons that “White is Right”.
Trish/Victoria – Trish wins.
Hogan/Austin – Austin wins, in a sign of respect as the one guy who out-drew Hogan.
In-Ring: JBL comes out, and bitches and complains that he should be on the card. Big Show comes out and chokeslams him.
Batista/Brock – After about fifteen minutes, Brock picks Bats up for the F5, but Bats powers out and reverses into the spine-buster. Bats signals for the powerbomb, but just as he gets Brock set into position, Paul Heyman runs out from the crowd and cracks Batista with a chair; Brock hits the F5, wins the title, and celebrates with Heyman.
Cena/Trips – After about fifteen minutes, the ref gets bumped, setting up the Evolution interference Masters and Carlito run in (Flair is already there) and start beating on Cena, but Austin, Rock, and Hogan make their way to the ring to even the odds. Eventually, Evo and the three faces brawl their way up the aisle and into the back, out of sight. As Cena is watching what is going on outside, Trips grabs the sledgehammer from under the ring, and then sneaks up behind him; when Cena turns around, Trips hits him in the stomach with the sledge and sets him up for the Pedigree, but Cena reverses into the FU. The ref starts to regain consciousness at that exact moment, slowly crawls over to the cover, and makes the groggy 3-count; Cena celebrates, holding his abs with one hand and the belt in the other.
Post-WM
Instead of another “random” draft, they will solidify having the Cruiser-title on “Raw” and the Tag-titles on “SD” by officially trading the following people:
From SD to Raw:
Rey, London, the Mexicools, Nunzio, Funaki, Scotty, Holly, OJ, Vito, Melina, McCool.
From Raw to SD:
RVD, Matt, Cade-Murdoch, Heart-Throbs, Val-Vis, Danny Basham, Rosey, Snitsky, Torrie, Maria.
Rosey and Dean will team-up as a classic “oddball” gimmick.
Snitsky and Heidenreich will team-up as a “wink wink, nudge, nudge” duo.
Mercury and Nitro will woo Stacy Keibler, who will become their manager. Their name? SNM.
