Judgment Day

Sunday, May 20th in St. Louis, MO

– Video highlight package opened the live broadcast.
– Pyro went off; Jim Ross welcomed us to the show. Lawler and JR are ringside, as are ECW announcers Joey Styles and Tazz and Michael Cole and JBL from Smackdown.

(1) Carlito vs. Ric Flair. JR noted that Carlito is now living in Miami. Your referee is Jack Doan. Carlito rammed Flair’s shoulder into the ring post. Carlito then drop kicked Flair into the ring post from the outside of the ring. Fans started a “Nature Boy” chant. Carlito applied an arm bar to work on Flair’s arm and shoulder. Ross talked about the rotator cuff surgery the Nature Boy underwent. Flair took the back body drop. Carlito again grounded Flair with another arm bar. Flair hair is looking thinner by the day. Flair regained control with hard chops to the chest. Flair chop blocked Carlito, which set up the figure four leg lock. Carlito, caught in the middle of the ring, tapped out at 15:35. Flair struttered in the ring for the fans after the match.

– JR plugged AT&T text voting.
– Backstage, Todd Grisham interviewed Shawn Michaels. Grisham started off by showing highlights of the Michaels-Orton encounter from Raw Monday night. Michaels said he was rumored not to be here tonight. Orton attacked HBK from behind. An agent attended to a downed Michaels and Orton walked away.
– They showed highlights off the Vince McMahon vs. Bobby Lashley saga.

(2) ECW World Title match: Vince McMahon (ECW champion), Shane McMahon, and Umaga vs. Bobby Lashley in a 3 on 1 handicap match. The McMahons and Umaga were introduced first. Tazz stated that he is an ECW original, and has no problem with Mr. McMahon being the ECW champion. Match starts off with Lashley getting his hands of Mr. McMahon, but saved by son Shane, who is sporting a Shane O Mac jersey. Lashley speared Umaga. Running powerbomb on Shane, and Lashley wins at 1:14! Mr. McMahon walked away from the ring, without his durag – he revealed his hair is growing back. Umaga attacked Lashley after the match with Samoan Spike! On the mic, Mr. McMahon said Lashley won the handicap, but didn’t win the ECW title since he’d have to beat him for the strap.

– They aired a promo of Ric Flair and the Four Horseman on PPV.
– Backstage, a doctor told HBK he wasn’t allowed to wrestle tonight.

(3) CM Punk vs. Elijah Burke. Punk is wrestling with his ribs heavily wrapped up. Not much crowd reaction early on in in this match, as Burke worked on Punk’s bruised ribs. Delayed vertical suplex by Punk on Burke. Near fall by Punk after a cross body block. The referee is John Cone. Punk dove through the ropes onto Burke on the arena floor. On the mat, Burke applied the leg scissors on Punk. Fans started a “JBL” chant during the match. Fans just don’t care about this one, and with the current New Breed storyline, who can blame them? Punk superplexed Burke. Burke blocked a bull dog attempt, and rammed Punk into a turnbuckle. Burke missed the Burke Express. Elijah Experience, but Punk gets his left shoulder up. Elijah Express delivered by Burke as Punk was tied up in a corner. Punk still kicked out. Punk wins the match at 16:51 via the GTS.

– Backstage, Kristal interviewed Edge. Kristal said Edge has been on a roll, and Edge said he has had the greatest two weeks ever. Edge said the Rated R era has begun.
– Randy Orton comes out to the ring. JR and Lawler wondered what is going to happen now. Orton told Justin Roberts to declare him the winner, as the doctor won’t allow him to wrestle. As Robert’s started his announcement, HBK’s “Sexy Boy” music started.

(4) Randy Orton vs. Shawn Michaels. A weary HBK came down to compete. The referee tells HBK that he doesn’t have to do this tonight. HBK tells the referee, Marty Elias, to ring the bell, which he does. Orton goes right after Michaels. Orton hits a quick DDT, but HBK kicks out, twice! Elias again tells HBK he doesn’t have to do this. HBK blocks an RKO attempt. Michaels hits the elbow drop from the top rope, but is unable to cover Orton. HBK tried to tune up for sweet chin music, but just falls down. Elias stops the match at 4:31 when he decides Michaels can not continue the match. After the match, Orton hits the RKO. Shawn’s wife Rebecca (ex-WCW Nitro Girl Whisper) runs into the ring. Medics come into the ring to attend to HBK as Rebecca screams in horror. They place Michaels on a gurney and wheel him from the ring. Someone shouts “Nitro Girls Rock” as he is wheeled away with Rebecca following closely behind.

– They show highlights of the Orton-HBK match.
– Grisham interviewed The Great Khali (with the WWE champoin over his shoulder). Once again, Khali has his translater to translate what he is saying. Khali said John Cena stands no chance tonight, as if Cena wants some, come get some.
– Ring announcer Tony Chimel introduces the next match, even though it features three Raw superstars.

(5) World Tag Team title match: Matt and Jeff Hardy vs. Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch. JBL and Michael Cole is calling the action for this match. Jeff Hardy got a good reaction when he was tagged in at the three minute mark. JBK said Cade reminds him of a younger version of himself, just not as good looking. The Hardy’s clear the ring at the eight minute mark, which got them a pop from the St. Louis crowd. Referee Chad Patten started to count out the challengers, until Murdoch re-entered the ring to square off with Matt. Stiff boot to the head by Murdoch to Jeff nearly ended the match. Cade and Murdoch worked on Jeff, until he made the hot tag to his brother. Matt does the double team bulldog/clothesline , followed by a side effect. Cade hit a spine buster on Matt, but he kicked out at 2 1/2. Side effect by Matt on Cade. Jeff does the swanton bomb on Cade for the win at 15:04. After the match, the tag teams shake hands.

– They aired a promo for the 6/3 One Night Stand PPV with extreme rules.
– In text voting, fans picked Batista as the most likley to win a championship tonight.
– JR said HBK had been taken to a medical facility and wished him well.
– Chimel directed our attention to the titan tron for a special Edge highlight video package. The package briefly included footage of Lita. They played the Ozzy Osborne Judgment Day music throughout the package.

(6) World Heavyweight title match: Edge vs. Batista. Are they really going to put on Cena vs. Khali last? In the ring, Edge went down to his knees and kissed the heavyweight title belt. JBL called Edge the greatest of all time, and asked Cole to dispute it with facts. Referee Mickie Hensen went over the rules with both them, and asked if either hand any questions before ringing the bell to start the match. Edge shoved Batista’s knee into the ring steps on the outside. In the ring, Batista missed Edge and rammed his shoulder into the ring post. On the mat, Edge worked on Batista’s leg arm and shoulder. During the night, someone keeps holding up a “Vince is my Idol” sign. Is that Stephanie? Edge went for the spear, but Batista answered with a spear of his own. Edge kicked out at two. Spin buster by Batista, but Edge took advantage of the injured leg and rolled up the challenger and scored the pin fall victory at 10:38 to retain the World title.

– They aired a promo for the Wrestlemania 23 3-DVD set.
– Backstage, the Kristal conducted a poll of her own by interviewing the divas. All the divas picked a winner for the John Cena vs. Great Khali title match. Candice said Cena is hot. Jillian said Khali is hot, and made her want to sing. Maria picked Batista, uh, yeah. Khali sounds like Kelly Kelly, so Kelly Kelly picked Khali. Kristal predicted pain. What a waste of time.

(7) United States title match, best two out of three falls: Chris Benoit vs. MVP. Charles Robinson is the referee for this one. Benoit went for an early crossface, but MVP escaped. MVP is working on Benoit’s left knee, which was worked on by Finlay on Smackdown Friday night. Benoit hit a series of German suplexes, but his knee gave out. Benoit applied the crossface, but MVP made it to the ropes. Sharpshooter by Benoit, but MVP again makes it to the ropes. Playmaker by MVP, and MVP wins the first fall at 8:13, so its 1 fall to none for MVP. As the second fall started, MVP worked on Benoit’s knee. Stupid fans chanted “This is boring.” Leg submission attempted by MVP, but Benoit made it to the ropes. Benoit attempted the crossface, but MVP wouldn’t allow it. MVP rolled up Benoit at 14:10 to win straight falls and the United States title. After the match, MVP celebrated with the U.S. title belt, as Benoit walked gingerly on his knee.

– JR and King plugged the 6/3 PPV, and its only TWO WEEKS AWAY. Geesh.
– They aired a Cena-Khali highlight package, if you want to call it that.

(8) WWE title match: John Cena vs. The Great Khali. Cena came out first. Khali came out with the WWE title, and hoisted it up in the air. Still no Lilian Garcia to do the ring announcing. Bell rings to start the match at 10:31PM ET time. Khali hits a big clothesline to start the match after Cena opened working on Khali’s mid section. On the outside, Khali rammed Cena into the ring steps. Khali tossed Cena back in the ring, and covered him with a boot, but Cena kicked out. Khali leg dropped Cena. Mike Chioda is the referee. Khali hit another clothesline, but missed a leg drop. Again on the outside, Khali rammed Cena into the Raw announce table. Khali got tied up in the ropes, and Cena started pounding on the challenger, but Khali quickly recovered. The action again turns to the outside. Cena drop kicked the ring steps into Khali’s knee. Cena hits a leg drop from the top rope. STFU by Cena. Khali taps out at 8:15. Cena retains the title, and is given the championship belt by Choida. After the match, they showed highlights of the match. Cena celebrated in the middle of the ring with the spinning belt as the PPV ended at 10:42PM.