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
Tag Titles: CADE-MURDOCH vs. Mystery Opponents
IC Title: CARLITO/Shelton
Richards/Masters
///
Richards/Masters – Masters wins.
Carlito/Shelton – Mama interferes, but Shelton doesn’t notice; he wins the title.
Cade-Murdoch/Hurricane-Rosey – Cade-Murdoch win pretty decisively. Hurricane is upset, and the loss here – after being set-up as “mystery opponents” – is what sets-up Helms for his any-second-now heel turn.
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 crap out of the already-exhausted Matt, giving Edge the win.
Trips/Shawn/Angle – Usual 3-way with the multiple finishers and stolen moves. After about twenty/twenty-five minutes, Vince makes his way down the ring to distract Shawn, which allows Trips to hit the Pedigree on Angle for the win. Shawn is pissed, but does not get into a physical-altercation with Vince.
RAW
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.”
The Spirit Squad debuts. They really don’t do anything for right now.
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, The Heart Throbs, Val-Vis, Shelton-Richards, and two slapped-together teams are in it. Matt Hardy decides that he wants to be in it, because he’s tired of being overlooked and screwed out of title-shots, but he needs a partner – RVD returns to answer the call. 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.
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.
One of the semi-final matches is Shelton-Richards/Carlito-Masters, and Shelton walks out on the match (at his mother’s behest), giving the win to Carlito-Masters.
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 runs down, then Show, then Cena. 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
Reality time, again: Batista suffers his second injury in as many months, and has to relinquish his title. The thing with Angle jumping and winning the title is kept (but without Daivari) as it was done both out of necessity and respect; the only thing I’d do differently is keep Angle heel, and continue to book him as super-intense in the ring, but over-the-top out of it. During the Battle Royal that takes place, Angle last eliminates Booker, giving Angle the win, and setting Booker up as his first challenger.
Unfortunately, Booker is injured soon after, and is put on the shelf. Bob Holly is quickly inserted in his place, saying that “you can’t just walk in and take the title, you have to EARN it”.
Mark Henry returns as an upper-card heel. The Gymini debut, and are kept in the lowcard for a while. Finlay debuts, and squashes low-carders. Heidenreich quits.
Juvi is fired, so he drops the title to Rey. Kash then challenges Rey at the PPV.
ROYAL RUMBLE 2006 (I)
I - Royal Rumble (Shawn, Trips, Flair, Show, Eugene, Shelton, Masters, Carlito, Kane, Conway, Helms, Snitsky, Richards, Viscera, Coach, Benoit, JBL, Taker, Orton, Burchill, Chavo, Grenier, Simon, Doug, Lashley, Boogey, Finlay, Henry, Funaki, Regal)
S - World Title: ANGLE/Holly
R - WWE Title: CENA/Edge
S - Cruiser Title: REY/Kash
R - Tag 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.
Rey/Kash – Kash cheats to win.
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.
Angle/Holly – Angle wins.
RUMBLE
1 – Flair
2 – Orton
#1 is Ric Flair, #2 is Randy Orton. The announcers note their past in “Evolution”. They fight back and forth for a while.
3 – Chris Masters [Masters, Orton, Flair]
Flair and Masters double-team Orton, but Orton hangs on.
4 – Chavo [Chavo, Masters, Orton, Flair]
Chavo runs in and starts hitting everyone, but the heels begin to triple-team him. In the melee, Orton grabs Masters from behind, throwing him out, but then Flair grabs Orton from behind, and throws HIM out. Orton is pissed. Flair and Chavo square off.
5 – Conway [Conway, Chavo, Flair]
Conway is in, and the heels double-team Chavo.
6 – Grenier [Grenier, Conway, Chavo, Flair]
The heels triple-team Chavo, tossing him. Flair thanks them for their help, but Grenier and Conway turn on him, tossing him out. Grenier and Conway do a stare-down, but instead of going after each other, they agree that they should pose for the fans, which they do until the buzzer sounds.
7 – Kane [Kane, Grenier, Conway]
Kane rushes the ring. La Res are able to get the advantage for a moment, but Kane fights back, ultimately chokeslamming both of them. He signals that he’s gonna toss them out, but the buzzer sounds; the lights go out, the gong hits, and Taker is standing in the middle of the ring.
8 – Taker [Taker, Kane, Grenier, Conway]
Taker and Kane do a stare-down, with La Res hanging near the ropes. Taker and Kane toss La Res, and then concentrate on each other. They battle back and forth, with neither man getting the advantage.
9 – Viscera [Viscera, Taker, Kane]
All three men battle each other.
10 – Mark Henry [Henry, Viscera, Taker, Kane]
Henry tosses Viscera right away, and then fearlessly goes right to Taker, clobbering him in the face. Henry and Kane double-team Taker, but Taker hangs on as the buzzer sounds.
11 – Shelton [Shelton, Henry, Taker, Kane]
Shelton comes out, but doesn’t get into the ring, preferring to let the other three monsters work each other over. Once Taker is juuust about over, Shelton rushes around to the other side of the ring, and pulls Taker over. Shelton runs into the ring to hide, but Taker follows him in, delivering a chokeslam to Shelton, then leaving. Kane picks Shelton back up, and gives him a chokeslam of his own; Kane goes to toss Shelton out, but Henry attacks him from behind, and the two go at it.
12 – Lashley [Lashley, Shelton, Henry, Kane]
Kane and Henry stop fighting each other long enough to welcome Lashley into the match. Henry goes after Lashley first, but Lashley dumps him rather easily. Kane then tries his luck, but he, too, is dumped rather quickly. Lashley is about to pick the still-unconscious Shelton off the floor to dump him, but stops when he hears the entrance music of the next entrant.
13 – Show [Show, Lashley, Shelton]
Show enters the ring, looks at Shelton lying there on the ground, picks him up, gives him his THIRD chokeslam, and tosses him out. Show and Lashley then square off, with neither man getting the advantage.
14 – Burchill [Burchill, Show, Lashley]
The three men do a brief staredown, with Burchill looking like he’s going to focus on Lashley, but then deciding to go after Show instead; Burchill rushes Show, and gets him over the ropes without much of a problem. Burchill then rubs it in Lashley’s face, like “you couldn’t do that”. The two square off with neither man getting the advantage.
15 – Coach [Coach, Burchill, Lashley]
Coach climbs into the ring, but stays far away from the Lashley/Burchill contingent; he pretty much just sits in the corner, clinging to the ropes.
16 – Doug Basham [Doug, Coach, Burchill, Lashley]
Doug goes to help Burchill toss Lashley, but Lashley reverses and tosses Doug. Burchill and Lashley continue fighting, with them ending-up leaning against the ropes when the next entrant comes in.
17 – Trips [Trips, Coach, Burchill, Lashley]
With Burchill and Lashley on the ropes, Trips merely strolls over and dumps both of them. Coach goes to congratulate Trips, but when he realizes that Trips is all business tonight, he runs away. Trips chases after him for a bit, but before he can hit him, the buzzer sounds.
18 – Benoit [Benoit, Trips, Coach]
Benoit and Trips go at it like the two old rivals they are, and Coach goes back to hiding in the corner.
19 – Carlito [Carlito, Benoit, Trips, Coach]
Carlito and Trips double-team Benoit for a while; Benoit, however, is able to reverse just long enough to toss Carlito out, but then gets hammered from behind by Trips. Trips continues to dominate.
20 – Funaki [Funaki, Benoit, Trips, Coach]
Funaki goes after Trips, but Trips tosses him right away.
21 – Shawn [Shawn, Benoit, Trips, Coach]
Shawn goes right after Trips, and Shawn and Benoit just absolutely kick the crap out of Trips for a while. Coach continues to hang on the ropes.
22 – Boogeyman [Boogey, Shawn, Benoit, Trips, Coach]
Boogey gets his full entrance, which causes the action in the ring to stop. Boogey goes straight for Coach, shoves worms in Coach’s mouth, tosses Coach, taunts Triple H, eats worms in front of Benoit and Shawn, eliminates himself, and continues to torment Coach all the way to the back, all the while Trips, Benoit, and Shawn look on completely horrified. After Boogey leaves, Trips continues to stare in disbelief, only to be brought back to reality by a Shawn-Benoit double-team.
23 – Helms [Helms, Shawn, Benoit, Trips]
Helms goes after Benoit, while Trips and Shawn continue brawling.
24 – Regal [Regal, Helms, Shawn, Benoit, Trips]
Regal heads towards Benoit, and gets absorbed in the Benoit/Helms brawl.
25 – Richards [Richards, Regal, Helms, Shawn, Benoit, Trips]
Richards gets involved with Shawn and Trips, meaning we have Shawn and Richards double-teaming Trips on one side of the ring, and Helms and Regal double-teaming Benoit on the other side.
26 – Finlay [Finlay, Richards, Regal, Helms, Shawn, Benoit, Trips]
Finlay tosses Richards and Helms in rapid succession. He then helps Regal double-team Benoit. Shawn and Trips continue fighting on the other side.
27 – Eugene [Eugene, Finlay, Regal, Shawn, Benoit, Trips]
Eugene immediately tries to help Benoit, going straight for Regal and Finlay; Regal and Finlay figure it should be easy to eliminate Eugene, but Eugene avoids their moves, and grabs them for a “double noggin knocker”. From there, he scoops Finlay up into an airplane spin, and then eliminates him. Regal then tries the sympathy card, playing up their past together, but Eugene doesn’t fall for it, and eliminates him, too. From there, Eugene and Benoit join Shawn in triple-teaming Trips.
28 – Simon Dean [Simon, Eugene, Shawn, Benoit, Trips]
Simon goes after Eugene, figuring he’ll be the easiest, while Shawn, Benoit, and Trips continue on the other side.
29 – Snitsky [Snitsky, Simon, Eugene, Shawn, Benoit, Trips]
Snitsky quickly eliminates Eugene and Simon, but then gets Super Kicked out.
30 – JBL [JBL, Shawn, Benoit, Trips]
JBL squares-off with Benoit. After a few minutes, Vince makes his way out, and distracts Shawn, allowing Trips to come from behind and eliminate him. Shawn is pissed, but restrains himself from actually punching Vince. Trips and JBL go to work double-teaming Benoit for a while, but, out of nowhere, JBL hits Trips with the Clothesline From Hell. Benoit takes the opportunity to toss JBL, eliminating him. JBL is pissed, and refuses to leave the ringside area, which draws Shawn back out to even the odds. Trips and Benoit end-up near the ropes closest to JBL; JBL grabs Benoits arm and begins to pull. Shawn begins to run around to the other side of the ring, but stops, allowing JBL to pull Benoit out and give 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.
Shawn Michaels announces that, due to the personal hell that Vince is putting him through, and his own disappointment in his recent losses, he is quitting. He apologizes to the fans, and walks off.
Vince McMahon makes a surprise appearance, and, after commenting on Shawn’s departure, makes one of his patented “earth-shaking announcements” – “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!”
Greg Helms floats around for a while, around the same level that Conway is.
Flair challenges Orton for WrestleMania.
Kane begins to turn face, again.
The Heart Throbs are released. Goldust is added.
Basic holding-pattern until after SD’s “No Way Out”.
SMACKDOWN
Teddy Long opens the first show after the Rumble. Chris Benoit, JBL, Randy Orton, and Paul Burchill are all standing in the ring with him. “As you know, Vince promised a big surprise tonight, and I don’t want to waste any time, so here it is: At ‘No Way Out’, we will have a match to determine the #1 contendor for the World Heavyweight Title! And that match will be the very first “Smackdown” Elimination Chamber match! Now as you know, there are six men in this match, and those men will be: Chris Benoit! JBL! Randy Orton! Paul Burchill! The Undertaker! And this man…” There is a bit of silence, and then we hear the familiar drums and “Oh, Oh Shawn”. Shawn Michaels makes his way to the ring, and thanks Teddy for giving him a fresh start. The five wrestlers stare daggers at each other, and Teddy ends with “Now if you’re down with that, give me a holla holla!”
Booker returns and challenges Angle. About two weeks before the PPV, Booker is in the ring cutting a promo, when Angle interrupts; Angle comes out carrying a big bag, and stands in the entryway as he cuts his promo. “Booker, I gotta hand it to you. You’re a tough man. You’re a very tough man. You came back from your groin injury extremely quickly, quicker then most men would be able to. And I’m not afraid to admit that I’m a little bit nervous about fighting you. I mean, you’re tough, you’re a world class athlete, and you’ve been wrestling for long, long time, you’ve seen them all. So I thought to myself, ‘Kurt, what you need is a manager. Somebody who can help you scout your opponents. Somebody who can help you formulate game-plans. Someone who can motivate you to work even harder, and make you even better than you already are.’ And I think I found that person.” Kurt waves to the back, and SHARMELL makes her return to television by Angle’s side, all the while Booker is angry and upset. Sharmell: “Hey baby!” Booker asks why she’s doing this, and she responds that it’s because she wanted a real man, she wanted a guy who’s into kinky stuff, and because “he deserves a Gold Medal for EVERYTHING he does! Oh, it’s true, it’s DAMN true! I mean, your recovery wasn’t the only thing ‘quick’ about your groin.” Angle then gets back on the mic: “And after I beat you at No Way Out, I’m gonna celebrate by having wild animal sex with your ex!” Angle then opens up the bag, and pulls out the head of a horse-costume (the old cliché kind where two people fit inside the costume) and puts it over Sharmell’s head; Sharmell turns her back to Kurt and proceeds to bump and grind against him, while Kurt spanks her ass and makes “Whoo-hoo” noises. Booker finally has enough and chases after them. The next week, a backstage skit is done where the audience sees Angle emerge from his dressing room, covered in sweat, talking to himself about what a great warm-up he just had; ready for his match, he yells “Hurry up, I’m up next”, and Sharmell comes-out of the dressing room wearing a chicken-suit.
Hulk Hogan makes an appearance early in the month, basically saying 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.
Orton says that he’d accept Flair’s challenge for WM, but he has bigger plans: namely winning the Elim-Cham match at NWO and winning the title at WM. He apologizes for not having “time” for a “has-been” like Flair, but he’ll gladly kick his ass after that.
The Mexicools pick a feud with Boogey-Lashley. Henry picks a feud with Chavo.
Finlay and Regal begin teaming together. They begin bullying Paul London, but Bob Holly makes the save.
The Dicks are released.
NO WAY OUT 2006 (SD)
Elimination Chamber for WM Title-Shot: Shawn, Benoit, Burchill, Taker, JBL, Orton
World Title: ANGLE/Booker
Tag: BOOGEY-LASHLEY/Mexicools
An appearance by Hulk Hogan
Cruiser Title: KASH/Rey
London-Holly/Finlay-Regal
US Title: CHAVO/Henry
///
US – Henry wins.
London-Holly/Finlay-Regal – London provides the high-spots, the rest provide the stiffness. Finlay pins Holly for the win.
Kash/Rey – 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 Randy Orton comes out. Orton is glad that Hulk’s here, so that he [Hogan] can witness a “real” star. Hulk starts to threaten Randy, so Randy backs down, and offers to shake hands; Randy actually breaks cleanly, and begins to walk-off, but as soon as Hogan turns his back, Randy spins him around and hits him with the RKO.
Tag Titles - Mexicools win when Melina distracts the Boogeyman, allowing MNM to help the Mexicools 4-on-1 Lashley.
Angle/Booker – Lots of outside antics, as Angle and Sharmell do a bunch of suggestive poses and such. Booker gets so flustered that, in his rage, he makes a mistake, and when he turns his attention to Sharmell, Angle is able to sneak-up from behind and hit the Angle Slam for the pin.
Backstage: Shawn Michaels is in the hallway, doing some last-minute stretching before his match; he turns around, and Marty Jannetty is there. Shawn is happy to see him, and the two reminisce for a bit. Marty wishes him luck, and Shawn leaves for his match. As Marty is walking away, though, Kurt Angle walks up to him and gets in his face; Marty won’t take any crap, though, and gets right back in Angle’s face, which causes Angle to smirk and walk away.
Elim Cham – Benoit and JBL start; it’s evenly matched with no clear-cut advantage. Burchill is the next in, and the heels double-team Benoit; Benoit can’t fight back, but is able to avoid a blind-charge by Burchill, and takes the opportunity to take JBL down in the Crossface, which leads to JBL tapping. Orton is next in, and he goes right for Benoit. Again, the heels double-team Benoit. Shawn is the next one in, and evens the odds by going after Orton, as he’s fresher. Taker is the next and final person in, and acts as an equal-opportunity ass-kicker, hitting whoever is closest to him. Benoit and Shawn take a moment to breathe as the heels attempt to double-team Taker; Taker has the advantage initially, but the heels eventually take over. Burchill and Orton take turns beating on Taker, but when Taker makes his eventual comeback, Burchill pushes Randy into Taker’s path, which allows Taker to chokeslam and pin Orton. Taker then goes to work on Burchill, but when Orton gets up to leave the cage, he sneaks-up behind Taker and hits him with an RKO, which allows Burchill to get the pin; Taker then sits straight up, and chases Orton to the back, leaving Benoit, Shawn, and Burchill. After a while, Burchill hits the C4 on Benoit, but showboats too long, and gets some Sweet Chin Music from Shawn, leading to his elimination. Shawn then covers Benoit, but Benoit kicks out. The two battle back and forth for a few more minutes, and then, out of nowhere, “No Chance” hits the speakers, and Vince makes his way out. Shawn and Benoit take their attention off each other, and focus on Vince, both yelling “What are you doing here?” Vince yells back, telling Benoit to mind his business, and Shawn “I told you I’d screw you”. Benoit and Shawn are leaning on the ropes as they’re yelling; Shawn, realizing their positioning, takes a step back and Super Kicks Benoit from the side. Vince is shocked as Shawn gets the cover and the win. Vince is pissed that Shawn won, and storms to the back. In the ring, Shawn is visibly upset about the way he won, he’s not happy about his win at all, but it’s obvious that he had to do what he had to do; he helps Benoit to his feet. Shawn offers a handshake to Benoit, and, while Benoit is pissed at first, he realizes that Shawn was only trying to win the match, and the two shake hands as they go off the air.
Early 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.
A few weeks ago, Flair challenged Orton, and Orton brushed him off, saying he’ll be in the title-match at WM, and won’t be able to fight Flair. Flair is pissed, and challenges Orton again, mocking him for not winning the Elim-Cham. Orton will then accept Flair’s challenge. Foley will make a surprise appearance on “Raw”, basically just to say “hi” to the fans; Flair will interrupt him, and the two will argue about the pot-shots they’ve taken at each other, and the two will begin shoving, only for officials to break it up. After that, on “Smackdown”, Orton says that if Foley wants to get involved, he’d be fine with a 3-way at WM, as “I’ve kicked both your asses before, and I’ll gladly kick them both again.” However, just as the words leave his mouth, HULK HOGAN comes out seeking revenge on Orton; Orton runs, with Hulk challenging HIM to a match at WM. Eventually, it’s announced that it will be a 4-way match at WM.
Mama Benjamin gets in Big Show’s face, saying that her son could beat him; this sets-up an IC-title match at SNME.
SMACKDOWN
JBL is out with a hand injury/infection.
Mark Henry begins taunting Lashley, saying that he’s (Lashley’s) no match for the “World’s Strongest Man”. Later on, Lashley and Boogey take on MNM, with Henry getting involved in the match; Lashley successfully fights him off, but gets caught with a Snap Shot. Lashley segues into the US-title scene.
Angle and Shawn are on for WM. Marty serves as Shawn’s “back-up”, but Shane makes his return to aid Angle and Vince. However, when Jannetty is fired, Benoit takes his spot.
All of the Juniors are released.
Two inter-brand matches are announced for SNME: First, to give us a little taste of the upcoming brand-change for the tag-straps, Raw’s Cade-Murdoch will get a shot at SD’s tag-titles, held by The Mexicools, and then in an interpromotional “Bra and Panties” Match, a face woman from Raw and a face woman from Smackdown will take on a heel woman from Raw and a heel woman from Smackdown.
SATURDAY NIGHT’S MAIN EVENT (I)
R – Cena, Foley, RVD, & Matt vs. Trips, Flair, Carlito, & Masters
S – Shawn-Benoit/Angle-Shane
I – Bra and Panties Tag Team Match
R – IC: SHELTON/Show
I – SD Tag: MEXICOOLS/Cade-Murdoch
S – Booker, Lashley, & Rey vs. Orton, JBL, & Finlay
///
6-man – Orton pins Booker after an RKO.
Cade-Murdoch/Mexicools – Mexicools win.
Show/Shelton – After several high-flying moves that leave Show staggering, Shelton is on the verge of an upset win, when Mama decides to involve herself; Show gets upset and threatens Mama, which causes Shelton to forego trying to win the match to help her, which allows Show to chokeslam Shelton for the win and the title.
Bra and Panties – Ken Kennedy will be the special ring announcer and guest commentator for the match. The faces win very quickly, but, after the match, Burchill comes out and threatens the women; just as he’s about to attack, Kane comes out. Burchill shows no fear, and the two do a stare-down, but then THE BOOGEYMAN comes out. Burchill, realizing he’s outnumbered, exits the ring. Boogey does his dance, and Kane looks on in confused fascination; Boogey dances away, Kane is left baffled, and we go to commercial.
Shawn-Benoit/Angle-Shane – Benoit pins Shane.
8-man – After about fifteen minutes of back-and-forth action, Randy Orton runs in and hits Flair with an RKO. This causes everyone to gang-up on Orton, which prompts the SD roster to hit the ring, which then, in turn, prompts the Raw roster to hit the ring, and a giant brawl erupts. After a minute or two of carnage, the lights go out, the gong hits, and Taker makes his way to the ring; Taker clears the ring, and is the last person we see as we go off the air.
Late March 2006
RAW
Shelton is upset about losing the IC-title, but Mama convinces him that he should focus on something even bigger: Taker’s WM-streak. Shelton, nervously, challenges Taker.
Edge, out to prove that he can beat the biggest and the baddest, challenges Show for the IC-title at WM.
The women’s title will be defended.
Rosey is fired.
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
Benoit beats Regal in a 1-on-1 match. Finlay tries to “one up” Regal by challenging Benoit to a match, but ends-up losing that match. This causes tension between Finlay and Regal, and an eventual implosion; this sets the stage for a 3-way at WM.
On the very last show before WrestleMania (3/31/06), Kid Kash, fearing that he’ll be left off the card, pleads with Teddy Long to give him a match. “Let me face Kurt Angle.” “He’s got Shawn Michaels.” “Then let me fight Hulk Hogan.” “He’s got a match, too.” “John Cena?” “He’s on Raw, dawg.” “Oh, yeah.” Eventually, he talks Teddy into giving him a match, tonight, against the Mexicools for the tag-titles. He pays Burchill to be his partner, and the two of them win the titles, setting up Kash-Burchill/RVD-Matt at the PPV.
WrestleMania 22 (I)
R – WWE Title: JOHN CENA vs. Triple H
S – World Title: KURT ANGLE vs. Shawn Michaels
I – Randy Orton vs. Hulk Hogan vs. Mick Foley vs. Ric Flair
S – Tag Title Unification: Kid Kash & Paul Burchill vs. Rob Van Dam & Matt Hardy
R – IC Title: BIG SHOW vs. Edge
S – Chris Benoit vs. Fit Finlay vs. William Regal
R – Womens Title: X vs. x (TRISH/Mickie?)
I – Shelton Benjamin vs. The Undertaker
S – US Title: MARK HENRY vs. Bobby Lashley
R – 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.
Henry/Lashley – Lashley wins by over-powering Henry.
Shelton/Taker – Back-and-forth match, as Shelton uses his quickness and unique offense to keep Taker off balance. Mama tries to interfere early, but Taker catches her, and the ref sends her to the back. They continue to go back-and-forth; Shelton goes for a springboard, but Taker catches him by the throat, chokeslam, Taker wins. After the match, Taker extends his hand to Shelton, and Shelton accepts it. Shelton later turns face, and “Mama” is dropped.
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 (who is unable to wrestle due to injury, but should be able to walk to the ring and pose) 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.
Womens – Whoever is the face at the time.
Benoit/Finlay/Regal – Benoit wins in a hard, stiff match.
In-Ring: JBL comes out, saying that it’s a crime that he doesn’t have a match at the biggest PPV of the year. He then says “what kind of idiot thinks I don’t deserve to be at WM?” and, right on cue, Eugene comes out. JBL teases him a bit, but Eugene reminds him of his recent string of losses. JBL goes to attack, but Eugene ducks and pokes him in the eye and kicks him in the shin. JBL, embarrassed, rolls out of the ring.
Show/Edge – Edge wins cleanly.
In-Ring: Teddy Long announces the newest members of the SD roster, RVD and Matt.
Kash-Burchill/RVD-Matt – RVD pins Kash.
In-Ring: Backstage, Booker congratulates Benoit, and then walks away; he encounters Snitsky and Tomko oiling each other up. Snitsky says to Tomko “make sure it you really rub it into my thighs”, which triggers Booker’s “Tell me he didn’t just say that” line.
Orton/Hogan/Foley/Flair – Pretty much everybody in the match has history with everybody else, with the exception of Hogan and Foley. Orton hits the RKO on Hogan to win.
In-Ring: The Spirit Squad comes out, and does their thing. Boogeyman interrupts them, scaring them all off.
Angle/Shawn – Back-and-forth match, no clear cut advantage. After about twenty minutes, Vince makes his way down to the ring. Shawn is furious, but Angle has a huge grin on his face. Vince throws a chair into the ring, but Shawn intercepts it. Vince climbs into the ring, and Shawn waves the chair at him, but then turns around and clocks ANGLE with the chair. Vince looks shocked at first, but his open jaw soon makes way for a huge smile, as does Shawn’s, and HEEERE’S the double-turn! Shawn continues to beat the hell out of Angle with the chair, while Vince makes sure the ref doesn’t call for the DQ; Benoit runs out for the save, but Shawn wallops him with a chair, too. Shawn eventually makes the cover, and the ref makes the reluctant 3-count. It’s rare that a double-turn can be done effectively, but I think this would be one of those rare instances: Shawn is the new SD champion, and Angle is the new top face of SD.
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 Hogan, Foley, and Taker 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-WM22
After WrestleMania, McMahon decides that he is going to move the Cruiser division to Raw, and move several “tag-team specialists” to SD.
From Smackdown to Raw:
- Crazy, Psicosis, Noble, Nunzio, Daivari, Simon, Scotty, Funaki, Melina, Jillian
From Raw to Smackdown:
- Snitsky-Tomko, Cade-Murdoch, Dupree-Conway, Goldust, Maria, Candice, Torrie
Notes:
Melina and Jillian are added to the women’s division. “Raw” now has all the female wrestlers, while “SD” has all the non-wrestling “divas”.
Goldust will form a faction with Tatanka and Road Warrior Animal, as a kind of “retro” team, called “TAG-90” (Tatanka, Animal, Goldust, 1990) Dupree and Conway will form a faction with Grenier, but with the twist being that they are now no longer French sympathizers, but rather just three good-looking guys with huge egos; their faction would be called “The Hottness” (Dupree will serve as a manager until he heals). Snitsky-Tomko would continue their “ambiguously gay duo” gimmick, and be turned face via constant comedic skits.
April 2006
RAW
Ric Flair announces that, after WM, he has a new-found respect for Cena, and would like to take Cena under his wing. Cena, and the audience, is skeptical, but Flair seeks to prove himself to Cena. Bischoff makes a match which puts Flair’s honesty to the test: at “Backlash”, Cena and Flair will take on Trips and Edge, with both Cena’s WWE title and Edge’s IC title on the line, and with the provision that if either of them are pinned, the person who covers them wins that title. Trips and Flair get into several verbal confrontations, but not any physical ones.
Bischoff welcomes the cruisers to “Raw”, and informs them that he wants them to make an impact. Taking that advice, The Mexicools attack Show and Kane, individually, on consecutive occasions, leading to tag match at the PPV.
Shelton, Carlito, Masters, and Richards continue to battle in the midcard, setting-up a 4-way elimination at the PPV.
Striker begins picking on Eugene, and Viscera confronts Daivari about his big mouth.
A cruiser match (Rey/Nunzio) is interrupted by the Spirit Squad, setting-up a 10-man at the PPV. Also, Bischoff decides to pick on Rey, asking him why he never wanted to be a part of “Raw”, especially after all the success he had on ‘Nitro’, to which Rey responds that he doesn’t like Bischoff; in retaliation, Bischoff makes him work double-duty at the PPV, not only as part of the 10-man, but also defending his title against Helms.
Backlash 2006 (Raw)
WWE, IC, Winning Pin-Fall Wins Title: CENA-Flair/Trips-EDGE
Cruiser Title: REY/Helms
Show-Kane/Mexicools
Viscera/Daivari
4-Way Elimination: Shelton, Carlito, Masters, Richards
Eugene/Striker
Rey-Nunzio-Noble-Scotty-Funaki/Squad
///
10-Man – Lots and lots of high-flying action in this one. Rey scores the pin.
Eugene/Striker – Striker wins rather easily.
4-Way – Richards is the first out, then Masters. Shelton beats Carlito for the win.
Vis/Daivari – Viscera wins.
Show-Kane/Mexicools – The Mexicools keep the big men off-balance with lots of high-flying and quick tags; every time Show or Kane get the advantage, the outside man (Crazy or Psicosis) springs in with a quick move to tip the balance back in their favor. After a while, they manage to get Kane to the outside, and then double-team Show with several spring-board dropkicks and other aerial moves; Psicosis hits the top-rope leg-drop, Crazy hits the moonsault, Psicosis dives onto Kane while Crazy covers Show, 1-2-3, the Mexicools get the upset win.
Rey/Helms – The Spirit Squad distracts Rey, allowing Helms to get the pin and the title.
Cena-Flair/Trips-Edge – Flair and Trips taunt each other. After about fifteen minutes, Flair, from the outside, “accidentally” bumps the ref; Cena tags Flair in, but Flair gets a big smile on his face, and sides with the heels. Edge and Trips double-team Cena, with Edge hitting the spear on Cena, and then Trips hitting the Pedigree on him. Edge and Trips then argue over who will cover Cena, which quickly degenerates into a brawl; as they’re brawling, Flair ducks outside the ring to grab a chair, and then yells at them to stop fighting. Flair motions that he’s gonna smack Cena with the chair, and the heels wait until Cena, who has been stirring a bit during the commotion, to get back to his feet; once Cena is up, Flair lifts the chair over his head, but turns around and whacks EDGE with the chair. Trips is shocked, and Cena, seeing his opening, tackles Trips to the ground; Flair revives the ref, covers Edge, Flair is the new IC champion! Cena is confused, but goes to congratulate Flair, and Flair says to him (caught on camera) “I told you I had your back”. Cena puts the title around Flair’s waist and raises his arm, while Trips furiously stomps to the back.
SMACKDOWN
Angle wants an immediate rematch with Shawn, but Vince McMahon comes out and informs him that no such rematch will take place. Vince now makes it his mission to screw with Angle for a while, costing him matches, etc. Shawn and Vince feud with Angle and Benoit.
RVD-Matt defend the titles against lower teams like The Gymini and Snitsky-Tomko.
Lashley gets the “Goldberg” push, defending against lower guys like Regal, Henry, Vito, etc., as well as a solid defense against upper-carder Fit Finlay.
Miz debuts as a heel; normal “intro” matches for him, as he’s more about running his mouth than having a great win/loss record.
Nitro and Mercury continue using the “MNM” name, despite Melina’s move to Raw.
Booker hooks-up with Kristal, Kristal and Sharmell exchange words.
May 2006
RAW
Vince makes a surprise announcement, that being that, in addition to all the “shaking up” that was done last month, there will, in fact, be another draft. He notes that there are five weeks between “Judgment Day” and “Vengeance”, and that for each of those five weeks, each brand will draw another name.
Trips is furious that Flair betrayed him, saying that they had a plan, but Flair’s ego got in the way.
Edge invokes his rematch clause for “Vengeance”; Flair/Edge is set in stone for the PPV.
Flair successfully defends the IC title against Carlito and Masters.
Helms defends against Scotty, Funaki, and Nunzio.
Rey feuds with the Spirit Squad. On an episode of “Raw”, the Squad challenges Rey to a 5-on-5 match, and Rey can pick anybody he wants to team with; come match time, Rey says that he didn’t have time to find four partners, but he was able to get two: out walk Big Show and Kane to be his partners. During the 3-on-5 match, the Squad manages to cheat their way to victory, pinning Show while keeping Kane and Rey busy on the outside. Show is upset, and challenges the Squad to a 5-on-1 handicap match the next week, which the Squad accepts. Show loses that match, too, and then gets beat-down afterwards; Kane runs out to make the save, prompting the Squad to run, but Show doesn’t want his help, and pushes him. The two giants get into a shoving-match, so Rey runs down to try to reconcile things; Show, furious and embarrassed, tosses Rey out of the ring, and he and Kane go at it, tumbling to the outside; Show grabs a chair, and wallops both Rey and Kane before stomping up the ramp.
SMACKDOWN
Vince and Shawn continue to mess with Angle and Benoit, with Vince eventually deciding that he wants a piece of Angle; at the PPV, it’s Angle/Vince in street fight. Shane gives Vince advice about facing Kurt in a street fight. In addition, Benoit will get a shot at Shawn’s title; Shawn says that he “doesn’t sweat Canadians”.
JBL and Booker trade wins back and forth, with Teddy Long deciding that they’ll meet at the PPV in a “Number One Contendor” match.
Burchill dominates lower-card guys, and moves into the US-title picture.
MNM get a shot at the tag-titles at the PPV. In the mean time, they decide that they need a new name, and are announced with a different name each week, such as “MN”, “NM”, “M and N”, “N and M”, “Mercro”, and “Nitrury”.
Kash picks a feud with Chavo.
London-Kendrick beat The Gymini, Snitsky-Tomko, and The Hottness (Grenier-Conway), and get a match with Cade-Murdoch at the PPV.
Judgment Day 2006 (SD)
World: SHAWN/Benoit
Street Fight: Angle/Vince
#1 Contender: Jbl/Booker
US: LASHLEY/Burchill
TAG: RVD-MATT/Mnm
Kristal/Sharmell
London-Kendrick/Cade-Murdoch
Kash/Chavo
Animal-Tatanka-Goldust/Hottness
///
6-Man – Mizanin subs for Dupree. Animal pins Grenier.
Kash/Chavo – Kash wins.
London-Kendrick/Cade-Murdoch – Murdoch hits London with a chair from behind, giving the heels the win. After the match, Cade and Murdoch begin beating London and Kendrick with chairs, but Snitsky and Tomko run out for the save; Snitsky and Tomko help London and Kendrick to their feet, which confuses L&K.
Kristal/Sharmell – Boogeyman scares Sharmell, Kristal wins.
Rvd-Matt/Mnm – MNM are announced as “M.A.N.” (“Mercury And Nitro”). MAN win the titles in surprisingly clean fashion.
Lashley/Burchill – After about fifteen minutes, Lashley just about has it won, and goes for the Dominator, but Burchill reverses into the arm-bar; after a valiant struggle, Lashley taps. Burchill is the new US champion.
JBL/Booker – JBL wins after OJ interferes.
Angle/Vince – Typical Vince bloodbath. Angle wins.
Shawn/Benoit – [Personal Note: The original idea was to headline the PPV with Shawn/Marty.] Shawn cheats like all hell to eventually win.
ECW's "One Night Stand 2006"
ECW “One Night Stand 2006”
RVD wins the final match and closes the show as the victor.
June 2006 (Draft)
Raw’s #1 Draft Pick:
JBL makes his way to the ring, and bitches and complains that he better still get his title-shot. Trips interrupts, and tells him that “your little second-rate title shot doesn’t count when you’re on the A-show”, which incenses JBL. The two duel on the mic for a while, leading Bischoff to announce CENA/Trips/Jbl for the PPV.
Smackdown’s #1 Draft Pick:
Edge (with Lita) makes his way to the ring and reminds everyone that he has a match with Ric Flair at “Vengeance”, and that it’s set in stone. Orton interrupts him, and says that he should be embarrassed that he lost to Flair, “I’ve beaten Flair so many times I lost count, so why couldn’t you?” Edge says that after “Vengeance”, Orton can get the first shot at his new IC-title.
Raw’s #2 Draft Pick:
Booker T makes his way to the ring, and basically says that, no matter what show he’s on, he’s here to entertain the fans, and he appreciates their support. JBL comes out to poke fun at him, reminding him how he beat him at “The Great American Bash”, to which Booker points out that he cheated. Yadda, yadda, yadda, CENA/Trips/Jbl/Booker 4-way at “Vengeance”.
Smackdown’s #2 Draft Pick:
Eugene makes his way down to the ring, and does his schtick. Finlay comes out, says that wrestling is a serious business, “not for idiots like you”, and just beats the absolute crap out of him. He beats him in the head with the shillelagh over and over again, until refs come out to stop him; Eugene, completely unconscious and with his eyes rolled back into his head, does the stretcher job.
Raw’s #3 Draft Pick:
It is decided that the next draft-pick will be revealed in a tag match, as Carlito and Masters take on Shelton and… Matt Hardy! Shelton starts off, but when he goes to tag-out to Matt, Matt turns on him, and helps the heels triple-team him. The next week, Matt explains that, after the way he was treated the last time he was on “Raw”, he vowed that, should he ever return, he’d make life hell for everyone.
Smackdown’s #3 Draft Pick:
Burchill defends the defends the US-title against… Carlito! The announcers note Carlito’s history of winning titles on his first night in a promotion. Solid back-and-forth match, with Carlito going for the roll-up with a pull of the tights, but Burchill reverses into his own roll-up, grabs the tights, and wins. Carlito is aghast. On “Raw”, JBL makes sure to rub it in Trips’ face that he lost one of his “little running buddies”.
Raw’s #4 Draft Pick:
Paul Burchill, with the US title, makes his way down to the ring. He says that he’s quickly piling up wins, and that he’s gonna prove that HE’S gonna be the real break-out star, not Lashley, not Carlito, and not any of the young guys in the back. Chris Masters comes out and challenges him for the US title, which draws JBL out to say that nobody wants to see Chris Masters, which draws Trips out. Main-event is a tag match, Trips-Masters/Jbl-Burchill, with Burchill pinning Masters for the win. From here, JBL proceeds to take Burchill under his wing, with Burchill saying he admires JBL for having the longest title-reign in SD history.
Smackdown’s #4 Draft Pick:
Carlito holds a new installment of “Carlito’s Cabana”, with special guests Snitsky and Tomko. Carlito makes some snide remarks about their somewhat ambiguous relationship, which prompts them to get in Carlito’s face; Chris Masters(!) runs in and applies the Masterlock to Snitsky, while Carlito attacks the distracted Tomko from behind. And again, on “Raw”, JBL points out that Trips lost another of his “running buddies”.
Raw’s #5 Draft Pick:
During a throw-away match between Viscera and an indy-worker, Chavo Guerrero runs-in and takes Viscera out.
Smackdown’s #5 Draft Pick:
The Hottness are in the ring, posing, when Kane arrives and takes them out.
S>R – JBL, Booker, Matt, Burchill (w/ US Title), Chavo
R>S – Edge (w/ Lita), Eugene, Carlito, Masters, Kane
///
RAW (Other Stuff in June)
A Cruiser Battle Royal is done on “Raw”, with the winner getting a shot at the CW-title at the PPV. Crazy and Psicosis are the last two men, with Crazy ultimately winning. There are no hard feelings, as Psicosis congratulates Crazy.
Simon picks a feud with Noble.
Shelton and Booker strike up a friendship.
Vengeance 2006 (Raw)
WWE: CENA/Trips/Jbl/Booker
Show/Rey
IC: FLAIR/Edge
Chavo/Viscera
Cruiser: HELMS/Crazy
Simon/Noble
US: BURCHILL/Richards
Shelton/Matt
///
Shelton/Matt – Shelton wins.
Burchill/Richards – Burchill wins.
Simon/Noble – Extemely technical match as they counter each others’ moves, and then counter each others’ counters. Noble wins.
Helms/Crazy – Crazy wins the match and the Cruiser title.
Chavo/Vis – Chavo wins.
Flair/Edge – Edge wins after dominating pretty much the entire match; Edge takes the IC-title to “Smackdown”.
Show/Rey – Show wins.
4-way – This is one fall. Big schmozz as things get out of hand around the fifteen-minute mark, as JBL and Booker brawl on the outside, with Cena and Trips fighting on the inside. Burchill runs out to try to help JBL, but Shelton makes the save for Booker; Matt Hardy then runs in to gain revenge on Shelton, so Steven Richards runs out to help Shelton and Booker. Trips bumps the ref, but then RIC FLAIR runs down to the ring; he crawls into the ring, and delivers a low-blow to Cena, allowing Trips to hit the Pedigree. Flair revives the ref, 1-2-3, Trips is the new champion.
SMACKDOWN (Other stuff in June)
Now that Angle has vanquished Vince, he resumes where he left off with Shawn.
Continue building towards an Edge/Orton, heel/heel showdown.
M.A.N. decide they don’t like that name, and change their name to JNJ (Joey and Johnny), with them arguing over which of their names should go first.
Miz feuds with (and beats) the members of TAG-90.
Basic holding pattern until after “Vengeance 2006”, with mix-and-match matches in the mid-card and tag-division.
Week after "Vengeance 2006"
RAW
The night after “Vengeance”, Trips and Flair celebrate to open the show. Cena quickly interrupts, rushing the ring with a chair; Trips and Flair flee the ring, and Cena grabs a mic, saying that he doesn’t care about a match, he just wants a fight, and he’ll do it two-on-one if he has to. Main event is Cena against Trips and Flair. During the main, Trips and Flair dominate Cena, getting the relatively easy pin. After the match, they continue to beat on Cena, leading Booker to run in and help, which causes JBL and Burchill to run out to beat him down, then Shelton, then Matt, then Richards. Huge melee in the ring, everybody fighting everybody, the lights go out, the gong hits, smoke starts filling the entryway, and The Undertaker walks out onto the ramp. Trips has that surprised “oh crap” look on his face, Taker points to Trips, and we go off the air.
SMACKDOWN
The main-event is Orton vs. Edge for Edge’s (and Smackdown’s) new IC title. Edge has it just about won, when Carlito and Masters come out, but Snitsky and Tomko come out to fight them off, and the four of them disappear into the back. Orton goes for the RKO, but Edge pushes him into the ropes, and hits the spear off of that. Edge is in the corner, preparing to deliver a second Spear, when Ric Flair runs out and low-blows Edge (the ref is watching Randy); Randy recovers, hits the RKO, wins the IC title. Carlito and Masters make their way out, and the four heels beat on Edge. They then unite, raising their arms over their heads. Benoit runs to the ring, but gets taken out quickly; the heels stand victorious over the fallen bodies.
S>R – Taker
R>S – Flair
July 2006
RAW
The month starts off with Taker helping Cena against Trips, but he is quickly side-tracked by the Spirit Squad, who decide they are going to make a name for themselves at his expense. He beats them in individual and 2-on-1 matches for a while.
The mid-card is completely interwoven, as Booker is feuding with JBL, JBL’s protégé Burchill is feuding with Booker’s friend Shelton, and Matt is after Shelton to prove that his loss was a fluke. Rey is thrown into the mix, making it a war between Booker-Shelton-Rey and JBL-Burchill-Matt. JBL helps Burchill with his title-defenses.
Crazy defends his cruiser-title against all comers, with Psicosis taking a back-seat to Crazy, usually just accompanying him to ring-side and cheering him on.
About half-way through the month, it’s decided that a 5 week, 16-man tournament will be used to determine the #1 contendor: four qualifying matches will be held the first week, four qualifiers the second, the four quarter-finals the third, the two semi-finals the fourth, and the finals on the fifth. Cena, Chavo, Rey, Shelton, Booker, JBL, Show, and the Undertaker are all given individual seeds, with their qualifying opponents to be named at match-time.
Week 1 (Qualifiers):
Cena/Simon – Cena wins.
Chavo/Vis – Chavo again wins via cheating.
Rey/Helms – Helms puts up a strong showing, but Rey wins.
Shelton/Matt – Matt cheats to win the match in a surprise upset!
Week 2 (Qualifiers):
Booker/Val – Booker wins.
JBL/Richards – JBL wins.
Show/Funaki – Show wins easily.
Taker/Squad – Taker takes on all five members of the Spirit Squad; he wins.
Week 3 (Quarters):
Cena/Chavo – Cena.
Rey/Matt – Matt again cheats to win.
Booker/JBL – JBL.
Show/Taker – Taker.
SMACKDOWN
Shawn continues to mess with Angle.
Edge, still a heel and still accompanied by Lita, makes his way to the ring, and says that what happened to him is a crime, and challenges Orton to a rematch; Orton, Flair, Carlito, and Masters make their way to the ring, and surround Edge. The four taunt and threaten him, but Snitsky and Tomko, wrapped in bandages, come out to get revenge on Carlito and Masters, leaving Orton and Flair to double-team Edge. After a pretty long beat-down, Chris Benoit comes out for the save. This sets-up an 8-man main-event that night of Benoit, Edge, Snitsky, and Tomko against Orton, Flair, Carlito, and Masters. During the match, Edge is very eager to get into the ring, always tagging himself in and trying to hog the spotlight. The end comes when Edge gets caught in the heels’ corner, allowing them to quadruple team him, with none of the faces coming in to help; Orton hits the RKO to win.
The following week, Edge begins whining about what happened last week, with none of his team-mates helping him. Benoit comes out to confront him and set him straight. Edge: “Oh, if it isn’t Mr. Rabid Wolverine, let me guess, you’re gonna say that I have no right to complain since I’m the one that lost the match.” Benoit nods his head. “Yeah, of course, it’s all my fault, everything’s my fault, it has nothing to do with none of you helping me when I was getting quadruple-teamed in the corner, right?” “Hey, you wanted to wrestle that match by yourself, so we let you.” “Don’t even try that, you could have come in and helped any time you wanted.” “The referee was watching, I couldn’t come in.” “Hey, if you didn’t want to team with me, you didn’t have to.” “Teddy Long made the match, I wrestled the match, that’s it.” “Hey, if you have a problem with me, then why’d you try to help me two weeks ago?” “The only reason I came out was because I didn’t want Orton and Flair trying to take over this company, I’ve seen what Orton’s been doing, I’ve known Flair a long time, and I know you know what Carlito and Masters are capable of. The only reason I ran out was to try to stop them from gaining any power; as far as I’m concerned, you got what you deserved.” “Oh really, and why’s that, because of what we did to Matt Hardy?” Benoit nods his head. Edge: “Oh, listen to Mr. Honesty and Integrity over here, if it ain’t John Wayne himself, white cowboy hat and all, guess what, Mr. Pure Living and Respect for His Sport, I know you aren’t all you claim to be.” Benoit is getting pissed. “Does the name ‘Kevin Sullivan’ ring a bell?” Benoit snaps and starts pounding on Edge. The feud then continues with Edge spinning things to suit his needs (“Benoit stole another man’s wife”), and Benoit spinning things to make himself look like a knight in shining armor (“She was a wonderful woman who was being mistreated, I tried to help her, we fell in love.”); the idea is to give Edge just a little bit of a shoot aspect, but without actually breaking kayfabe, such as saying “Benoit stole another wrestler’s woman”, instead of “The head writer put Benoit into a storyline…”.
Flair, Orton, Carlito, and Masters reveal their new name to the audience: “Devolution”, which means “a transfer of power” (not exactly, but close enough that they could spin it as such), with Orton explaining that that’s exactly what we’re seeing, a transfer of power. Flair explains that he always knew Orton had what it took to follow in the footsteps of greatness, which is why he sided with him, and throws in an off-hand comment about how Cena wasn’t fit to be champ, which explains why he set him up to be betrayed. From here, they bring back the old “Evolution” theme and logos, but tweaked to represent this new group, something along the lines of changing the spelling to “Devilution”, and adding horns and tails to the women in the logos.
London-Kendrick and Cade-Murdoch trade wins back and forth, with Cade-Murdoch cheating to win the rubber match. They’ll meet JNJ at the PPV.
Mizanin makes fun of Regal’s accent and personality; Regal turns face by way of calling this loud-mouth punk kid on his attitude problem.
Lashley stands up to Orton.
The Hottness hire Mark Henry to help them against Kane.
Finlay is in the middle of a match, when Dinsmore, with hair pulled back, a neatly groomed beard, and in jeans and a t-shirt, runs into the ring and attacks him; there’s nothing “slow” about him now, as he is now focused and full of rage. Finlay bails, and Dinsmore yells, in a completely normal voice, “Get your ass back here!”, but when Finlay doesn’t return to the ring, Dinsmore runs after him. It is later explained that the head-injuries he suffered at the hands of Finlay affected his brain, and that he’s now of extraordinary intelligence. He’ll wrestle a much more aggressive style now, and speak with an air of sophistication.
The week before the PPV, RVD walks up to Bob Holly backstage. “Hey Bob.” “Hey Rob.” “I don’t have a match for the PPV.” “Me neither.” “You want to have one together?” “Sure.” “Ok, see you Sunday.” Rob walks off.
Great American Bash 2006 (SD)
World: SHAWN/Angle
IC: ORTON/Lashley
Edge/Benoit
TAG: JNJ/Cade-Murdoch
Kane/Henry
Rvd/Holly
Miz/Regal
Finlay/Dinsmore
Carlito-Masters/Snitsky-Tomko
///
Carlito-Masters/Snitsky-Tomko – Carlito and Masters win.
Finlay/Dinsmore – Dinsmore wins a hard-fought match.
Miz/Regal – Regal wins.
RVD/Holly – They start off by shaking hands, but Rob immediately starts cheap-shotting him, and then kicks him over and over when he’s down. Rob is disqualified, and continues the attack; eventually, Paul Heyman heads out to the ring and helps Van Dam pummel Holly.
Kane/Henry – The Hottness try to interfere, but The Boogeyman counter-acts that; Kane wins.
In-Ring: Tony Chimel introduces JNJ: “Ladies and Gentlemen, Double J!” Jeff Jarrett’s old theme hits, but nobody comes out. “Oh, I’m sorry, I meant to say, ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, DOUBLE Double J!’” Jarrett’s theme hits again, and Nitro and Mercury strut out, one in silver shorts, one in the old “five suspenders” outfit, both with lighted sunglasses; they do the strut as the announcers talk about how stupid they look.
JNJ/Cade-Murdoch – Mercury and Cade are brawling on the outside as the ref focuses on Nitro and Murdoch in the ring; Mercury pulls a guitar from under the ring, but Cade grabs it and clocks him with it. Cade signals to Murdoch, who tells the ref to go check on Mercury; the ref checks on the downed Mercury on the outside, while Cade and Murdoch hit Nitro in the face with the broken piece of guitar. Cade-Murdoch win, and then stab them both in the face with broken pieces of guitar. JNJ are then kept off TV to sell the injuries.
Edge/Benoit – Benoit goes for a roll-up, but Edge counters cleanly.
Orton/Lashley – Flair tries to interfere, but Lashley fights him off; Orton hits the RKO from behind to win.
Shawn/Angle – Shawn cheats to win. Angle is so pissed at himself for losing that he just storms to the back while Shawn celebrates in the ring. The celebration is short-lived, however, as Batista makes his return; Shawn bails.
August 2006
RAW
The tourney continues: In the semi-finals, Cena beats Matt, and JBL beats Taker after Show interferes. Before the finals, JBL tells Burchill not to get involved, as he wants him to see what a real winner looks like. Cena wins the match. Cena/Trips is on now.
Shelton, Rey, and Matt all claim a shot at the US title, so it’s a 4-way at the PPV.
Taker is pissed at Show for costing him the title, so that happens at the PPV.
Crazy continues to defend the cruiser title. Eventually, Psicosis gets jealous of all the accolades and TV-time that Crazy is getting, and attacks him. They’re on for “Summerslam”.
SMACKDOWN
The night after “Great American Bash”, Shawn is in top dickhead form, as he runs down Batista, talking about how he’s still a newbie and that he hasn’t faced the likes of Shawn Michaels before. The feud builds with Shawn running his mouth and attacking Bats from behind.
RVD explains that the reason he did what he did was because he wanted to make an impact; that he’s an incredible wrestler, the fans loved him, and he was the centerpiece of ECW, but that STILL wasn’t enough to get any title-shots. Basically, he’s trying a “different approach”, hoping that giving-up the fan adulation will result in title-shots.
Foley makes his return, and gets in Flair’s face over his actions.
Mix-and-match in the midcard, with Teddy Long basically saying that since everything is so out of control, he’s gonna let everyone take their aggression out on everyone: at “Summerslam”, it will be a 10-man tag, with Angle, Benoit, Kane, Boogeyman, and Dinsmore against Orton, Carlito, Masters, RVD, and Finlay.
Edge decides to get in Lashley’s face for no other reason than he feels like rubbing it in his face that he lost to Orton.
Cade-Murdoch feud with the different combos of Animal-Tatanka-Goldust. They are informed that they will face a mystery team at the PPV.
Summerslam 2006 (I)
R - WWE: TRIPS/Cena
S - World: SHAWN/Batista
R - Cruiser: CRAZY/Psicosis
I - Flair/Foley
S - Tag: CADE-MURDOCH/Mystery Opponents
R - US: BURCHILL/Shelton/Rey/Matt
S - Edge/Lashley
R - Taker/Show
S - Angle-Benoit-Kane-Boogey-Dinsmore/Orton-Carlito-Masters-Rvd-Finlay
///
10-Man – This is one fall. Orton pins Angle. Angle’s again disappointed in himself, but Benoit helps him to calm down.
Taker/Show – Taker wins.
Backstage: Trips is backstage getting ready for his match, when Flair enters. They embrace and talk like old buddies. They talk a little about Orton, with Flair basically saying “I know you don’t like Orton, I know you’ve had your problems in the past, but he’s the future, and I want to help him.” They end with Flair basically saying that, differences aside, he’s always there for Trips, which Trips appreciates; they hug, and Flair leaves to let Trips get ready.
Edge/Lashley – Edge goes to hit the spear, but as he’s running, Lashley bends over and grabs him around the waist, lifts him over his shoulder, and slams him down with the Dominator.
US 4-way – Shelton pins Burchill.
Tag titles: Cade and Murdoch are waiting in the ring. The familiar MNM theme cues up, and Mercury and Nitro walk out; however, they stop at the top of the ramp, and motion for someone else to come out with them. That someone is Stacy Keibler. Tony Chimel: “Ladies and Gentlemen, SNM!” [“SNM” = Stacy, Nitro, Mercury.] SNM win the titles fairly decisively.
Flair/Foley – Flair wins.
Crazy/Psicosis – Crazy wins.
Backstage: In the Devilution dressing room, Randy is ready for them to leave, but Flair wants them to stick around a little while longer; Randy realizes that Flair wants them to help Trips, but Randy wants to do nothing of the sort. Flair says that it’d be a personal favor to him, and Randy says he’ll “think about it”.
Shawn/Batista – Batista overcomes Shawn’s cheating to win the title.
Trips/Cena – This will play-off their WM match. After about fifteen minutes, the ref gets bumped, allowing Flair, Carlito, and Masters to run to the ring; they begin beating on Cena, but Batista, Angle, and Benoit run out to even the odds. Eventually, the six outsiders brawl their way to the back. Cena is again watching the outside goings-on, and Trips again grabs the sledge from under the ring, but this time, Cena turns around in time and grabs it out of his hand and tosses it away; Cena’s about to attack, but now Randy Orton runs into the ring. After a bit of thinking, Randy hits Cena with the RKO; Trips tells Randy “hey, you finally did something right”, so Randy hits HIM with an RKO, too, and then leaves the ring. The ref is still out, however, so it’s moot. The two begin to stir, with Cena being the first to get up; he picks him up and hits him with the FU, and then tries to revive the ref. A small skinny guy in all black, wearing a mask, runs into the ring, clocks Cena with a chair, pulls Trips on top, and revives the ref; 1-2-3, Trips is still champ.
September 2006
RAW
The night after “Summerslam”, Trips is out to celebrate; he makes some remarks about Randy Orton being a mid-carder, but that it didn’t matter, because he still won. Cena interrupts, pointing out that it took guys from Smackdown, guys from Raw, a steel chair, and “a friggin’ ninja” for Trips to win, and he wants his rematch TONIGHT; the match is granted. In the main event, the ninja again interferes, causing the match to be thrown-out; they double-team Cena, until the Undertaker comes out. Taker evens the odds, but the ninja is able to get out of the ring with his mask still on as we go off the air. The following week, Taker has a match, when the ninja appears in the ring; this time however, there is more than one ninja, as a second, a third, a fourth, and a fifth appear. They all attack Taker, but Cena, Shelton, Booker, and Rey run in to help him fight them off; the faces all pull the masks off the ninjas at the same time, revealing the Spirit Squad. The Squad runs to the back, but Cena, Shelton, Booker, and Rey follow after them. Taker is left alone in the ring, when the ACTUAL ninja comes up behind him and whacks him with a chair; Taker, however, does the “zombie sit-up”, and the ninja runs up the entryway, only to be met by Cena. Cena grabs the mask, revealing Shawn Michaels; Cena, consumed by anger, starts pummeling Shawn, but Shawn breaks free and runs away. It is later explained that, because SD got two extra people during the trades and the draft (Rey for RVD and Matt back at WM, and Lita accompanied Edge in the draft), Eric Bischoff was allowed a free choice of anybody he wanted.
Taker and Cena both want a piece of Shawn, but Taker’s focus shifts when Trips begins threatening him about sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong.
JBL berates Burchill for losing the US title. JBL challenges Shelton to a match, but loses, thus giving Burchill the ammo he needs to fire back at JBL. Eventually, JBL slaps Burchill for Burchill’s “disrespectful attitude”, but Burchill decides he’s had enough and starts pummeling JBL, turning himself face in the process.
Matt challenges Shelton for the US-title.
Show picks a feud with Booker.
Chavo picks a feud with Rey, which segues into Rey and Crazy against Chavo and Psicosis.
Noble, Nunzio, Helms, and Simon feud over shots at the CW-title.
Matt Striker makes his in-ring debut.
Unforgiven 2006 (Raw)
WWE: TRIPS/Taker
Cena/Shawn
Burchill/Jbl
US: SHELTON/Matt
Rey-Crazy/Chavo-Psicosis
Striker/Val
Noble/Nunzio/Helms/Simon
Booker/Show
///
Booker/Show – Booker wins.
4-way – Nunzio wins.
Striker/Val – Striker.
Rey-Crazy/Chavo-Psicosis – Rey and Crazy win.
Shelton/Matt – Shelton is about to win when SHANNON MOORE makes his surprise return; Matt wins the match and the US title.
Burchill/Jbl – Burchill wins.
Cena/Shawn – Cena.
Trips/Taker – Despite all of Trips’ cheating, Taker wins the match and the title.
SMACKDOWN
The night after “Summerslam”, Batista is introduced as the “new Heavyweight Champion”, and is given the floor. He thanks the fans for their support, etc., when Devilution comes out. Orton mentions how it was Batista that put him out for so long with a shoulder injury, and that he was quite happy to see Batista go through the pain he did. Bats gets angry, but the four heels threaten him. Benoit and Angle make their way to the ring, which causes the heels to back off; Orton and Flair then start to verbally attack Angle and Benoit, talking about how they aren’t worthy of being champ, to which Angle gets a bit pissed and fires back with the insults, ultimately needing Benoit to calm him down. Edge interrupts, complaining that they’re forgetting him, which draws Lashley out to remind him that he (Lashley) beat Edge. RVD comes to complain about how HE’S the one that was forgotten. This begins with mix-and-match tag-matches, but Teddy quickly decides that he’s going to make a small tournament using these participants, with the three qualifying matches being Angle/RVD, Benoit/Orton, and Edge/Lashley; the three winners would then proceed to compete in a 3-way match, and the three losers would then compete in a 3-way “second chance” match, with the winners of the two 3-way matches facing each other for the #1 contendorship.
Quarter-Finals:
Angle/RVD – RVD cheats to win; Angle is royally pissed at himself.
Benoit/Orton – Orton wins.
Edge/Lashley – Lita’s interference backfires, allowing Lashley to win.
Semi-Finals:
RVD/Orton/Lashley – Lashley pins RVD to win.
Angle/Benoit/Edge – Edge pins Angle to win.
Finals:
Edge/Lashley – Edge cheats to win.
Elsewhere, SNM defend the titles against all comers.
Dinsmore destroys jobbers and mid-carders, including a hard-fought win over Finlay.
October 2006
RAW
The Taker/Trips feud simmers, with them costing each other matches, etc. Eventually, Taker allows Trips a rematch, but promises that he will make him pay for his sins: at “Cyber Sunday”, the fans will decide if the TAKER/Trips match will be a Casket match, Buried Alive match, or a HIAC match.
Shawn has a change of heart, and apologizes for all he has done. He wants to help the young guys like Cena, Shelton, and Burchill. He then announces that he has to prove to himself that he’s the best he can be, and lays out an open challenge for “Cyber Sunday”, with the fans choosing his opponent.
Now that Burchill is a full-fledged face, he NOW begins using the pirate gimmick, saying that he wants to pay homage to his ancestors. [This idea is being kept, since, as far as I know, it’s something that several higher-ups, including Vince and Johnny Ace, really felt strongly about.]
Crazy will defend the Cruiser-title against any cruiser, and Matt will defend his US-title against a member of an established “wrestler pool”, which consists of Cena, Shelton, Booker, Burchill, Richards, JBL, Chavo, and Striker.
Rey and Show will compete against each other at the PPV in a tag match, with the fans picking their partners from the “pool”.
The Spirit Squad announces they will induct a new member at the PPV, either Val, Vis, or Richards. The women will compete in a battle royal where the fans pick their outfits.
SMACKDOWN
Edge gets on Batista’s bad side.
A tag-match is done featuring Angle-Benoit/Orton-RVD. Orton pins Angle to win. This sets-up Orton/Angle and Benoit/RVD matches for the PPV. The Orton/Angle feud is based around Orton’s mocking of Angle’s recent losing-streak, with Angle saying that at “No Mercy”, not only will he break his losing streak, but also Orton’s ankle.
Angle just can’t believe the losing streak he is on; Benoit tries to make him feel better, mentioning that he can’t help that Orton often has three people helping him to win.
Orton sends Carlito and Masters after the tag-titles.
Miz gets in Lashley’s face about losing in the tourney.
Dinsmore decides to pay Flair a visit, basically asking him “Hey, remember how you used me a few years ago? Made fun of me for being retarded?”, setting-up a match between them.
Kid Kash wants to know why he hasn’t been on TV lately, so in response, Teddy Long gives him a match with Kane. Kane wins that match, but Kash challenges him to a rematch the following week; this time, Kane is about to win, when TEST jumps out of the crowd and takes him out. This draws Boogey’s ire, and a tag match is set for the PPV.
During a 10-man match featuring London-Kendrick and TAG-90 against The Gymini and The Hottness, Tatanka loses the match, and then attacks London out of frustration; when Kendrick goes to attack Tatanka in retaliation, Goldust and Animal attack him. TAG-90 are now heels that are pissed-off that the “young punks” don’t respect them.
No Mercy 2006 (SD)
World: BATISTA/Edge
IC: ORTON/Angle
Tag: SNM/Carlito-Masters
Benoit/Rvd
Miz/Lashley
Kash-Test/Kane-Boogey
Dinsmore/Flair
Handicap: London-Kendrick/Tag-90
///
Handicap – London-Kendrick win.
Dinsmore/Flair – Dinsmore wins.
Kash-Test/Kane-Boogey – Boogey pins Kash.
Miz/Lashley – Lashley wins.
Benoit/RVD – RVD wins.
Tag – Carlito and Masters win the tag titles via cheating.
Orton/Angle – Angle is on an impressive tear, kicking out of an RKO, fighting off Flair, Carlito, and Masters single-handedly, and then locking the Ankle Lock on Orton. Orton fights valiantly, but eventually taps; Angle, however, will not release the hold, and the ref reverses the decision. Angle flips and attacks the ref before storming off to the back.
Bats/Edge – Batista wins.
November 2006
Cyber Sunday 2006 (Raw)
WWE, Pick the Stips: TAKER/Trips [Casket, Buried Alive, HIAC]
4-way with four non-chosen “pool” wrestlers.
Shawn vs. [Pool]
Cruiser: CRAZY vs. [Any Cruiser]
Womens Battle Royal, Pick their Outfits
US: MATT vs. [Wrestler Pool]
Newest Member of the Spirit Squad: [Val, Vis, Richards]
Pick Their Partner: Rey & [Pool] vs. Show & [Pool]
[Wrestler Pool = Cena, Shelton, Booker, Burchill, Richards, JBL, Chavo, Striker]
///
Rey/Show – Rey pins Show for the win.
Squad – Whoever is chosen will have a little fun with the pom-poms, but then the Squad will attack them and beat them down.
Matt – If Burchill is chosen, he will win the US title; if not, Matt retains via cheating.
Women – Doesn’t matter.
Crazy – Crazy wins.
Shawn – If Shelton or Burchill are chosen, they win, with Shawn shaking their hand afterward; if not, Shawn wins.
4-way – Whoever needs the boost the most wins.
Taker/Trips – Whatever stip is chosen, Trips wins, whether by hook or crook.
RAW
Trips gets in Shawn’s face about his new-found facedom: “It’s amazing how you just turn your morals on and off like that.”
Scotty 2 Hotty, sick of being seen as a joke, turns on Rey and Crazy during a multi-man match.
Danny Basham debuts his “darkness” gimmick, and goes straight for Taker, claiming that Taker has forgotten what “real darkness” is all about, especially since losing to Trips at “Cyber Sunday”.
Palumbo debuts as a face, using the gimmick that he’s a blue-collar, hard-working American with a brother in the army.
If Burchill wasn’t voted-in as Matt’s opponent at “Cyber Sunday”, he will enter into a feud with Matt. At this time, Matt will retain his title through a string of self-disqualifications against other opponents.
Cena, Shelton, Burchill, Palumbo, JBL, Show, Matt, and Striker are all mixed-and-matched.
SMACKDOWN
Devilution wages war on Batista, Angle, and Benoit. Orton rubs it in Angle’s face that he lost at “No Mercy”, but Angle reminds him that he actually won the match, and that “the ref only reversed the decision cuz widdle Wandy Owton’s ankle was huwting so bad that he was gonna cwy.” The constant losses, however, trigger something in Angle, as he asks Benoit for a match together, with his reasoning being that Benoit brings the best out of him. Angle clamps the Ankle Lock on Benoit, and Benoit taps as soon as the hold is applied; this causes Angle to feel that maybe Benoit wasn’t giving it his all, as Benoit, being the warrior that he is, should have fought to get out. He challenges Benoit to another match, and wins again, this time with the Angle Slam, but again, he feels it was a bit too easy. Benoit explains that Angle was simply the better man the last two times, and congratulates him on his victories; Angle STILL isn’t buying it. To this, Benoit talks with Teddy Long, and Teddy agrees to let them have one more match at “Survivor Series”, and furthermore, the match will be a #1 contendors match; Benoit reminds Angle how much this sport means to him, and that he’ll always fight even harder than usual if it’s for a shot at the title.
With Angle and Benoit occupied, Kane, Boogey, and Lashley step-up to help Bats against Devilution.
Teddy Long announces a “wild-card” match at SurSer, featuring Dinsmore, Finlay, Kash, Edge, RVD, Miz, Regal, and a Mystery Entrant; the teams will not be known until the PPV.
SNM and London-Kendrick help each other out in 8-man matches, and are given time to shine at the PPV.
Survivor Series 2006 (I)
S - Batista-Kane-Boogey-Lashley/Orton-Flair-Carlito-Masters
R - Taker/Danny
S - Wild Card: Dinsmore, Finlay, Kash, Edge, RVD, Miz, Regal, Mystery Entrant
R - WWE: TRIPS/Shawn
S - Angle/Benoit
R - Rey-Crazy-Noble-Nunzio/Scotty-Daivari-Psicosis-Helms
S - Snm/London-Kendrick
R - Cena-Shelton-Burchill-Palumbo/Jbl-Show-Matt-Striker
///
Cena-Shelton-Burchill-Palumbo/Jbl-Show-Matt-Striker – Cena eliminates Striker. Burchill eliminates Matt. Shelton eliminates Show. JBL catches Cena with a Clothesline From Hell for a surprising elimination. Palumbo eliminates JBL. Shelton, Burchill, and Palumbo are the survivors.
Snm/London-Kendrick – London-Kendrick win.
Backstage: Trips enters the Devilution dressing-room; Orton, Carlito, and Masters are, of course, ready to fight the lone Trips, but Flair intervenes, trying to calm both sides down. Trips wants to make sure that Orton doesn’t interfere in his match tonight, but Orton quickly points out that he doesn’t want Trips interfering in HIS match, to which Trips replies “Oh, like I give a crap about your crappy little match; I just wanted to make sure you didn’t try to get involved in a CHAMPIONSHIP match, ya know, cuz it’s been so long since you were in one of those, I know you try to live vicariously through me.” Flair is the voice of reason, making them agree to bury the hatchet; they begrudgingly do.
Cruisers – It’s down to Rey and Crazy against Scotty. Scotty basically mauls Rey with punches and kicks, then kicks him in the balls to eliminate him. Crazy is able to hit a high-flying move to get the win.
Angle/Benoit – Match starts off completely clean. At ten minutes, Angle gets the Ankle Lock on Benoit, but Benoit claws his way to the ropes; Angle lets go of the hold, but then realizes something was different, and gives a puzzled “Wait a second…” face. At fifteen, Angle hits the Angle Slam on Benoit, but Benoit kicks out at two. Realizing that Benoit is fighting harder than he did in their previous two matches, Angle snaps, and starts bending – and then completely breaking – the rules. Eye-pokes, low-blows, cheap-shots, and then Angle purposely bumps the ref; he hits Benoit with a chair, and then hits him with the Angle Slam again. The ref revives, Angle wins, and he celebrates like he just won the Olympics again.
Backstage: Batista runs into Cena; they hug like old friends, and make a little small talk. Cena congratulates Bats on his title-run, and wishes him luck in his match tonight. Bats says he’s sorry Cena’s match didn’t go the way he wanted it, but Cena acknowledges that ya can’t win them all. They jab each other a bit, with Bats joking that not everyone can be as dominant as he, and Cena joking that he could easily take Bats. They hug again, and then Bats walks away; Cena’s laughter fades, and his face turns to one of disdain.
Trips/Shawn – Trips wins.
Wild Card – The teams are drawn: Dinsmore, Kash, Finlay, and Miz are on one team, against the team of Regal, Edge, RVD, and… MISTERRRRRRRRRRR KENNEDY!!! KENNEDY!!! Kennedy destroys and eliminates Miz to start. Finlay eliminates RVD next. Regal eliminates Kash, but then Dinsmore eliminates Regal. Edge eliminates Finlay, leaving Dinsmore against Edge and Kennedy. Dinsmore gets a surprise roll-up on Edge. Kennedy wins with the Lambeau Leap.
Taker/Danny – Taker wins.
SD Main – Lashley eliminates Flair quickly. Carlito and Masters double-team Kane, eliminating him. Bats eliminates Masters and Carlito in rapid succession, but Masters and Carlito drag Boogey out of the ring, and brawl with him to get him counted out. Orton gets an RKO out of nowhere to eliminate Lashley. This leaves Bats against Orton. Trips makes his way out, which distracts both Bats and Orton. Carlito and Masters make their way back out to confront Trips, so Flair comes out to try to mediate. The ref goes outside to try to get everyone to leave, which allows Kurt Angle to sneak through the crowd and Angle Slam Bats; Orton gets the pin.
December 2006
RAW
During a 6-man match featuring Shawn-Palumbo-Rey against Trips-Jbl-Scotty, Rey pins Triple H. This causes Trips to feel embarrassed, and attack Rey. Rey challenges him for the title, to which Trips replies that Rey “couldn’t even beat Scotty 2 Hotty”. Eventually, it’s set as the main-event of “New Year’s Revolution”.
Cena is upset about being the only one eliminated from his team at SurSer, but tries to keep his head up; he has several tag matches with guys like Shelton and Burchill, and, each time, his partner picks up the win and gets their music played. Ultimately, this ends-up with Cena teaming with Taker, and leaving the ring as Taker goes to tag him. He explains that he’s sick of other people taking the credit for his hard work, and is now out for himself; he reverts back to the hard-edged insult-based raps.
Show picks a feud with Shawn. Striker picks a feud with Shelton.
JBL picks a feud with Palumbo, criticizing him for staying behind while his brother is off at war.
Burchill, if he hasn’t already done so at “Cyber Sunday”, will win the US-title from Matt. After one of Burchill’s matches, he will be attacked from behind by Booker T, who explains that “it’s not fair that the five-time WCW champion doesn’t get a match at ‘Survivor Series’, but a stupid pirate does.”
Scotty runs through the cruisers on his way to a title-shot against Super Crazy.
Danny Basham, realizing that Taker HASN’T forgotten about “real darkness”, takes it upon himself to help Taker punish the “sinners” of wrestling. He basically appoints himself Taker’s side-kick and protégé, and gets himself into situations that are way over his head, with Taker basically having to always come to his aid. His first order of business: the Spirit Squad.
SMACKDOWN
Angle, now a full-fledged heel, is the number-one contender for Batista’s title.
Orton and Edge begin bickering again, with Orton pointing out that Edge lost to Bats; they’re on for the IC title. Orton also reveals that he’s bought a ticket to “New Year’s Revolution”; this upsets Flair, but Orton assures him that he’s only interested in watching the match.
Rob Van Dam decides that it’s time to take SD “to the extreme”, and decides that he’s only going to compete in hardcore matches from now on. He continues the feud with Benoit. Kid Kash gets involved, harkening back to his days in ECW.
Kane and Boogey want revenge on Carlito and Masters.
SNM and London-Kendrick trade wins back and forth, and a ladder match is scheduled.
Kennedy feuds with Dinsmore, based on them being the last two during their SurSer match.
Miz hires The Gymini to be his hired muscle; they target Snitsky and Tomko.
Lashley and Finlay feud.
Armageddon 2006 (SD)
World: BATISTA/Angle
IC: ORTON/Edge
Tag: CARLITO-MASTERS/Kane-Boogey
Dinsmore/Kennedy
Ladder: Snm/London-Kendrick
Lashley/Finlay
Hardcore Rules: Benoit/Rvd/Kash
Snitsky-Tomko-Regal/Gymini-Miz
///
6-Man – The heels win.
Hardcore – This is more of an ECW-style “stiff” contest, based more on hard-hitting hand-to-hand combat than odd (and often surreal) weapons under the ring. RVD wins after laying Kash out with the Van Daminator and then hitting Benoit with the Van Terminator.
Lashley/Finlay – Lashley wins.
Ladder – London-Kendrick win.
Dinsmore/Kennedy – Kennedy wins.
Carlito-Masters/Boogey-Kane – Kane and Boogey win the tag-titles.
Orton/Edge – Edge wins the IC title.
Bats/Angle – Batista wins.
