WWE RAW Preview: “Punk’s Not Dead”

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Source: WWE.com

Preview: Punk’s Not Dead
July 21, 2008

For weeks, Monday Night Raw has been embroiled in a wave of unpredictability that continued through to The Great American Bash, as CM Punk retained his World Heavyweight Championship in a match against Batista.

The title was retained not by a pin or submission, however, but only after a double-disqualification due to outside interference from Kane. This is the second time that the Big Red Monster has attacked the Straightedge Champion outside of an official match — what can Punk expect from the unstable Kane next? And with The Animal’s quest for championship gold thwarted, will Monday night find him directing his fury toward the Big Red Monster?

Also at The Bash, Chris Jericho continued to direct his fury toward Shawn Michaels’ right eye, originally wounded by Y2J on an episode of the Highlight Reel. The contest was called off due to Michaels’ injuries, but not before Jericho did severe damage to HBK’s eye. Y2J emerged later to claim that Michaels’ retina was detached, and that it was a career-ending injury. Will Shawn Michaels be able to recover from this injury like he has so many others, or is Chris Jericho right? Has he truly ended the career of one of sports-entertainment’s greatest performers?

Another punishing match actually took place outside Nassau Coliseum: A NYC Parking Lot Brawl between John Cena and JBL. Recent weeks had seen Cena & Cryme Tyme deface the self-made millionaire’s limo, and JBL attempting to run over the Chain Gang Commander in retaliation. Cena has claimed that the thing between he and the self-proclaimed “wrestling god” isn’t just a match, but war. Will the events of The Great American Bash have been enough to settle things, or have we only witnessed an opening skirmish between these two Superstars?

For the answers to these questions and more, be sure to tune into Monday Night Raw, live at 9/8 CT, only on USA Network.

WWE News: Next Saturday Night’s Main Event Location Confirmed, FCW TV Taping Notes, Free Cena Meet & Greet

source: PWInsider.com.

– As expected, WWE.com has confirmed that the next edition of Saturday Night’s Main Event will be taped before Monday Night Raw on July 28th at the Verizon Center in Washington D.C (which I’ll be attending from the second row). The show is scheduled to air the following Saturday on NBC at 9 p.m. Thanks to Devin Cutting for passing on the note.

– Tonight’s inaugural Florida Championship Wrestling television taping sold out within 30 minutes after tickets went on sale at 4:00 p.m. Fans were lining up as early as 7:00 A.M. to get in, and it was raining all day too. A number of fans were turned away from the event as the building only holds 235 fans. Additionally, in a change from earlier plans, they actually plan on taping television each and every Thursday, instead of every other Thursday. Batista, Matt & Jeff Hardy, and Maria are scheduled to appear at next week’s show. Even though they have the shows in place, they don’t appear to have an actual television deal yet as nothing has been announced. The FCW show is expected to air on Tampa’s CW affiliate, but we haven’t heard anything new on that.

– John Cena has a free meet and greet scheduled for Thursday, August 7 at the Herald Square GNC store in New York City. For more details on his upcoming appearance, call (212) 279-2820.

WWE News: Former WWE Star Talks About Taking Steroids & Never Getting Suspended; Randy Orton, Jerry Lawler

– SLAM! Wrestling has an interview with former WWE star Sylvain Grenier, who is currently the French language commentator for TNA Impact. He hasn’t been doing a lot of indy shows since his departure from WWE last year because his back is hurt. “I haven’t done a lot of independent dates because I have been hurt twice, back to back three months off each time. I took time off and was doing the TV show every week,” Grenier said. He also comments on Pat Patterson discovering him in November 2002 while modeling in Florida even though he had next to no wrestling experience, his lengthy WWE career, being frustrated with the Quebec Ambassador gimmick WWE gave him in 2006, his release, what he’s up to now, and more. You can read the interview at this link.

Grenier also comments on his name coming up as a customer of the Internet drug firm Signature Pharmacy — which is a direct violation of WWE’s drug testing policy as wrestlers are prohibited from purchasing illegal drugs online. Grenier was released from WWE on August 13, 2007, and had he lasted with the company through September, he would have been most definitely been suspended alongside eleven other wrestlers including Mr. Kennedy, John Morrison, Chavo Guerrero, Chris Masters, Edge, Funaki, Gregory Helms, Booker T, Charlie Haas, Umaga and William Regal. Regarding this, Grenier said that he even though he used steroids during his time in World Wrestling Entertainment, he never got suspended, never tested positive on a WWE drug test, never did anything illegal, and didn’t get fired for it either. He believes there is nothing wrong with being a patient of an online doctor — albeit an illegal one. “That was weird. I am not a big Internet guy but someone told me about it. At one point when I started at WWE I was told I needed to get a personal doctor [in the U.S.] because I was Canadian. I asked around about a good doctor and ended up using a doctor that was associated with the pharmacy. There was nothing illegal about it,” Grenier said. “There was a big issue about a lot of things because of the steroids, but I never got suspended, never did anything illegal, never tested positive on any of the tests and didn’t get fired because of it. I don’t think there is anything against me on that. I was just a patient of that doctor.”

– A close-up of Jerry “The King Lawler’s face, 58, is the cover of July/August 2008 edition of Memphis Sport magazine. The magazine features an article on “The King” discussing the greatest moments of his career, his thoughts on different celebrities such as Andy Kaufman being involved in wrestling, and why wrestling (or according to WWE.com, “sports-entertainment”) became so popular in the Memphis area. You can see the cover at this link.

– Randy Orton is on the cover of the latest issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated. The headline reads, “Take It Like A man, Orton! – A Real Champion Knows How To Lose.” You can see the cover at this link.

WWE News: Match Added To Great American Bash, Storm Rips Raw & Chris Harris, Styles Answers Fans’ Questions

– WWE.com announced earlier today there’s going to be a WWE Tag Team Championship Fatal Four Way match at The Great American Bash this Sunday. WWE Tag Team Champions John Morrison & The Miz will be defending their belts against Finlay & Hornswoggle, Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder, and Jesse & Festus. {Match Preview}

– Lance Storm absolutely ripped this week’s edition of Raw – or rather the JBL/Cena car crash angle – on his website. “That was the worst bloody ending to a wrestling show ever. Did WWE hear about the crap finish to the TNA PPV and decide to top it with something even dumber? This ruined the entire show for me and I am mad beyond words,” Storm wrote. He goes on to pick apart the angle, calling it the “Worst angle since Papa Shango put a voodoo curse on the Ultimate Warrior.” He also reviewed last week’s edition of ECW and took aim at former TNA wrestler Chris Harris’ lackluster television debut. Storm wrote, “Speaking of huge wastes, quite the debut for Braden Walker. I don’t know Chris Harris but anyone who shows up for their WWE debut in the worst shape of their career, deserves to be fired. Wellness policy aside, I don’t believe the treadmill is on the banned substance list!” You can read Storm’s comments at this link.

– Joey Styles is holding a live blog answering questions from fans Friday at 1:00 p.m. on the WWE Fan Nation site. You can view the blog at this link.

WWE News: Randy Orton’s Wife Gives Birth, Evan Bourne Profiled, More Melina Hotel Room Photos

– Randy Orton himself did a post on the Randy-Orton.com message board early yesterday saying that his wife gave birth to his daughter, Alanna Marie Orton, last Saturday night. Here is what Orton posted:

Alanna Marie Orton was born Saturday july 12th at 924 pm. she was 8lbs 10 ozs, and 22.5 inches long. she is absolutely flawless from head to toe, and a very content baby. sam and i brought her home yesterday (tues) and it has been wonderful acclimating her to our home.

rko

– After debuting in the company on 6/13, WWE.com finally added a profile on Evan Bourne yesterday, which you can view at this link.

– WWE.com has posted the fourth installment of Melina posing for photos inside of a hotel room. You can see them at this link.

WWE News: No Mention Of John Cena’s Condition On ECW, More On ‘World’s Greatest Dad’, USA Network No. 1

– Sans a video package of John Bradshaw Layfield’s attempt to crash an automobile into John Cena on Monday’s edition of Raw, there was no mention made of his condition and/or possible storyline murder by the announcers on Tuesday’s night edition of ECW. When the announcers were running down the card for next Sunday’s Great American Bash pay-per-view, they simply plugged Cena’s upcoming “New York City Parking Lot Brawl” match with JBL and added nothing else, acting as if nothing happened on Monday night. According to WWE.com, Cena was simply “grazed” by the oncoming automobile and that he’s okay enough to fight Layfield at next Sunday’s pay-per-view. On another note, the video package that aired on ECW featured a camera shot not seen on Raw from inside the car that JBL struck, and as luck would have it, the owner of the vehicle just so happened to have a camera recording inside and precisely pointed in the direction of the forthcoming crash. On the other hand, perhaps JBL planted the camera inside the car because he wanted to videotape his own attempt at murder.

– As reported earlier, a Michigan man was arrested on Tuesday for attempting to meet what he thought was a 14-year-old girl for sex. When he was arrested, he just so happened to be wearing the WWE “World’s Greatest Dad” T-Shirt, which ShopWWE.net put on sale last month for their Father’s Day promotion. Due to the “World’s Greatest Dad” slogan on the WWE shirt, it looks like this story is going to be garnering some mainstream headlines. The Associated Press is now reporting the story, and FoxNews.com has posted the article alongside a picture of the Internet predator sporting the WWE “World’s Greatest Dad” T-Shirt. You can check it out at this link.

– Thanks in large part to Monday Night Raw, the USA Network once again claimed the top spot in the prime-time cable network ratings race for the week of July 7-13. USA finished slightly ahead of the Disney Channel for the week. Spike TV, featuring TNA Impact, finished in seventeenth place. {Article link}

WWE News: An Update On John Cena Following Car Crash Angle On Raw

In WWE.com’s Raw results, they’re saying that John Cena was simply “grazed” after John Bradshaw Layfield appeared to have crashed an automobile into him at the end of the show. Cena is fine enough in the storyline to fight JBL in their NYC Parking Lot Brawl match at The Great American Bash next Sunday.

Here is what WWE.com wrote regarding Cena:

“After knocking Cena unconscious, Layfield propped him up and attempted to smash a car into the prone Superstar. Luckily, John Cena managed to escape at the last minute and was only grazed, meaning that Cena vs. JBL will still take place on Sunday night.”