Aired live on pay-per-view
San Diego, Calif.

A brief video opened the show and hyped the extreme rules element of the show... Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler opening the show...

1. Jeff Hardy defeated Umaga in a falls count anywhere match in 9:20. Good action from the start. They didn't last long in the ring. The set is designed to look like a construction site. Hardy whipped an orange piece of the set at Umaga and then struggled to make a fire extinguisher work. He eventually sprayed it at Umaga while Lawler wisely yelled, "Hit him with it." They brawled into the backstage area.

They fought their way up a flight of stairs. Hardy went to the top and slid down the railing before diving onto Umaga in a really cool spot. Later, they fought their way outside the building and climbed onto 18-wheeler. Umaga followed and was booted off by Jeff, who followed up with a Swanton for the win...

Powell's POV: The camera only showed Hardy dive off the top of the truck. They didn't show Umaga's bump or Hardy hitting the Swanton. Lawler acted surprised when they showed them both on the blacktop for the pin. Very corny looking since no one thinks they actually landed on the pavement. Disappointing.

Ross and Lawler turned it over to Michael Cole, who quickly introduced Mick Foley at ringside. Foley explained the stretcher match rules and noted that the stretcher could be used as a weapon. He also pointed out the finish line for the match.

Powell's POV: I hate the finish line. I wish they'd use the "close the ambulance door" rules. Oh well.

A shot aired of Chargers linebacker Shawn Merriman at ringside...

Powell's POV: I'm still bitter the Vikings passed him over for Troy Williamson. Former head coach Mike Tice wanted him and other members of the staff thought he was just being loyal to Maryland, where both men went to college. Idiots.

Mike Adamle and Tazz discussed the Singapore Cane match. There are canes on a pole in each of the four corners. Vince Russo must be sporting wood if he's seeing all those gimmicks on a pole...

2. Big Show defeated C.M. Punk and Chavo Guerrero (w/Bam Neely) and John Morrison (w/The Miz) and Tommy Dreamer in a Singapore Cane match. The canes came into play quickly. At ringside, Chavo swung at Punk and accidentally struck Merriman. The kick ass linebacker sold the injury, asked Punk for his cane, and then got revenge by striking Chavo with the cane. Nice.

Big Show picked up the ringside steps to use them as a weapon, Morrison cut his legs out from under him and Show dropped the steps on his own head. Show was bleeding when he stood up. He went Sharmell Huffman (see TNA PPV) on everyone by whipping their asses with Singapore cane shots.

Show was especially tough on Dreamer. He beat him with cane shots and then stood over him with one leg on top of Dreamer while making the pin. A backstage shot aired of Kane watching the match on a backstage monitor. Kane laughed...

Powell's POV: Show would have lost this match if it were fought under the silly First Blood rules. Anyway, good action and it was cool to see Merriman get involved. For non-NFL fans, he is a big time defensive star for the Chargers. Oh, and he was suspended for steroid use and he has the same surgeon as Rey Mysterio. Just saying.

A Raw preview teased the Vince McMahon giveaway and vowed that details would be available tomorrow night... Ross and Lawler spoke briefly about the giveaway...

Backstage, Todd Grisham interviewed Vince McMahon, who said he is going to be giving away one million dollars of his own money "each and every week on Raw." He dubbed it "McMahon Million Dollar Mania." He said he would provide all the details tomorrow night on Raw and told Grisham that WWE employees are not eligible for the contest. As Vince went to walk away, Ron Simmons entered the picture. After a longer than usual pause, Simmons delivered the "Damn!"...

3. John Cena beat JBL in a First Blood match in 14:30. They brawled to ringside early and JBL struck Cena with a mic, but no blood. Later, JBL rammed Cena head-first into the ring post. JBL picked up the ring steps and threw them toward Cena and missed. The announcers were quick to point out that the steps caused Show to bleed. Nice call.

Later, JBK rammed Cena into an exposed turnbuckle. Still no blood. JBL pulled out a chain, but Cena fought him off and hit the FU. Maybe he was hoping for internal bleeding. Cena got caught in the ropes and JBL pulled out a freaking bullwhip. No, really. He walked toward Cena, who kicked him in the gut. Cena broke free and locked in the STFU with a chain wrapped around JBL's neck. JBL bled from the mouth immediately and the ref called for the bell.

Powell's POV: Cena has a red patch on the back of his pants and for a moment I thought rectal bleeding was going to be the finish. No, I don't have an excuse for noticing a red mark on Cena's ass. The finish was ridiculously quick. Between the opening match finish and the finish for this match, it's starting to feel like WCW Uncensored.

An ad aired for the Night of Champions for June 29... Backstage, Randy Orton approached Batista and wished him luck in his match against Shawn Michaels. Batista wasn't buying it. Orton pointed out they could be on the same brand following the draft lottery. Orton asked Batista to join forces. Orton said he would be champion and Batista would be at his side. Batista thought about it for a second and then walked away without displaying any emotion... Cole hyped the poll for the HBK vs. Batista match...

Powell's POV: This would have been a lot more intriguing had Orton not snuck in the part about Batista serving as his henchman.

4. Beth Phoenix beat Melina in an "I Quit" match in 9:10. Ross noted that this was the first time there has been an "I Quit" match involving two women in WWE. Beth dominated the opening minutes of the match and then they took turn applying submission holds. Melina caught Beth in an arm bar. Beth sold the move for a while and then picked up Melina and tossed her across the ring. In the end, Beth locked Melina in the reverse cowgirl position until she gave up. Hot. Very hot.

Powell's POV: Good match. Melina got more offense than I expected she would. It was more of a submission match than an "I Quit" match, though.

Backstage, Cena asked the doctor to leave the room so that he could talk to Mickie James. You know, because the doctor is way more intrusive than guy holding the television camera. Mike Adamle entered the room and played the third wheel. He invited Cena and Mickie to join him and former American Gladiator Nitro for a night on the town. Cena said he was cool hanging with just Mickie. Adamle handed Cena a bottle of Mamajuana and delivered the sales pitch.

Powell's POV: Jesus Christ, they're doing boner juice commercials in the middle of the pay-per-view. Don't get me wrong, Adamle was funny here, but I still don't want to see commercials for JBL's love potion in the middle of a pay-per-view.

At ringside, Foley thanked Rev Theory for providing "his" official song for the pay-per-view. Not cool, Mick... A video recapped the Shawn Michaels and Batista feud...

5. Batista beat Shawn Michaels in a stretcher match in 17:00. HBK dove at Batista to start the match. Later, They fought at ringside, where HBK jumped into Batista's arms again, but locked in a chokehold. At 9:15, HBK hit Sweet Chin Music. He placed Batista on a stretcher (there is more than one stretcher at ringside, and there are two referees), but Batista fought his way off. The announcers noted that the first stretcher was no longer stable. HBK rammed it into Batista twice. Batista stopped his third attempt. He picked up the stretcher and then slammed it down, causing the other end to come up and hit HBK in the chops.

Back in the ring, Batista went Goldberg on everyone by spearing HBK and then doing the Goldberg followup jump and pose. Oh, and then he broke into Ultimate Warrior by shaking the ropes. Batista placed HBK on a stretcher. Chris Jericho ran out and shouted encouragement to Michaels. One of the two referees ordered Jericho to leave the ringside area.

Once Jericho left, Basita tossed Michaels back inside the ring. Michaels grabbed at Batista's trunks in an attempt to stay on his feet. He performed an intentionally lousy superkick and fell to the mat. Batista picked him up, looked at Shawn, and said, "I just want you to do know that I do not love you and I am not sorry," and then powerbombed him. Batista placed HBK on the stretcher and started wheeling him to the back. Jericho either came back out or was still at ringside.

Jericho stood on the other side of the stretcher and blocked it while shouting encouragement to HBK. Batista headed back to ringside and grabbed the top piece of the ringside steps. He picked up Michaels and performed the spinbuster on the steps. Batista placed Michaels on the stretcher and wheeled him over the finish line to win the match.

Powell's POV: Really good match. The Jericho teases were well placed and kept his storyline with HBK alive. I'm surprised to see HBK lose in such a clean, decisive manner. The "I do not love you and I am not sorry" line was fantastic. Best match of the night so far and it's not even close.

A video hyped a Steve Austin pay-per-view (Austin's latest DVD airing on pay-per-view... The announcers introduced a Randy Orton vs. Triple H video...

6. Triple H defeated Randy Orton in a Last Man Standing match for the WWE Title in 13:30 At 5:30, Triple H set up for the Pedigree on the announcers' table, but Orton slipped out. Orton went for the RKO, but Hunter pushed him off the table. Moments later, Orton DDT'd Hunter off the table and onto the floor.

At 8:30, Orton slammed the ring steps (because we haven't seen enough of the ring steps tonight) into Hunter's head. Hunter barely beat the count at nine. Orton brought an extension cord into the ring and eventually used it in an attempt to choke out Hunter. Orton went for the RKO, but Hunter tossed him over the top rope. Orton came up holding his left arm, which Hunter worked on very early in the match.

Lawler said he believed Orton was hurt badly. He said he thought he heard Orton tell the ref that his collarbone is broken. Hunter grabbed a sledgehammer from underneath the ring and slammed it into Orton's head. Orton was unable to answer the 10-count and lost the match. Ross stated afterward that he also believes Orton broke his collarbone. The trainers tended to Orton at ringside after the match...

Powell's POV: Orton took a nasty spill on the RKO attempt when he was dumped to ringside. It looked painful and he landed hard on his left shoulder. Ouch. Nice work by the announcers to call it. They were really on their game with this one.

A Night of Champions PPV video aired... Orton stood up and held the sore left arm at his side. The announcers pointed out the noticeable bump on Orton's rear shoulder area... A video recapped the Edge vs. Undertaker storyline...

7. Edge defeated Undertaker in a TLC match for the World Hvt. Title in 23:30. If Taker loses, his WWE career is over. Taker dominated the opening minutes of the match. He set up a chair over the ring post so that the top was positioned over the top turnbuckle. He tried to throw Edge in, but Edge reversed it. Taker came back and whipped Edge into the other corner. Taker set up a ladder and went for the hanging belt. Edge recovered and shoved Edge off the top of the ladder and onto the ladder in the corner.

At 9:00, Taker slammed a chair across Edge's back. With Edge's neck draped over the ring apron, Taker went for a legdrop. However, Edge placed a chair over himself and Taker hurt his leg on impact. Edge set up a ladder over the ring and guardrail. Taker caught him and set up for the Last Ride on the ladder, but Edge slipped out.

Edge nailed Taker with a sick chairshot to the head at ringside. Edge remained on offense. He wrapped the ladder around Taker's leg and slammed a chair onto it. Edge creamed Taker with two ridiculous chairshots to the head. Edge placed the chair under Taker's head and rolled to ringside. He grabbed a second chair from ringside and went for the Conchairto. He took his sweet time and Taker responded with a punch to the balls.

Taker chokeslammed Edge off the ring apron and onto the ladder that was stationed over the ring apron and guardrail. Taker climbed the ladder, but Zach Ryder and Curt Hawkins ran and and stopped him. They beat up Taker and placed him on a table while Edge recovered at ringside. They placed a second table over Taker, who recovered and tossed Hawkins over the top rope and through a table at ringside. Taker chokeslammed Ryder over the top rope and through another table at ringside.

Edge recovered and speared Taker. Edge remained in Dr. Evil mode in that he could have climbed the ladder, but he chose to set up two tables on top of one another inside the ring. Finally, Edge climbed the ladder. Taker recovered and caught Edge on the ladder. Taker performed the Last Ride off the ladder and through the two tables for a huge pop.

Taker started to climb the ladder, but Chavo Guerrero and Bam Neely ran out and stopped him. Taker ducked their Conchairto attempt and struck them both with chairshots to the head (both guys blocked them to some extent with their hands). Taker climbed the ladder, but Edge recovered and pushed the ladder over, which sent Taker crashing through four tables at ringside. Huge bump. Edge slowly scaled the ladder and grabbed the belt for the win. The crowd was silent.

Vickie Guerrero walked out and hugged Edge. La Familia posed together at ringside and pyros went off behind them. The announcers tried to sell we may have seen the last of Taker, but they weren't very convincing. Foley even used the words "may have" while discussing the possibility.

After Edge and his crew left, Taker slowly stood up and the crowd politely applauded. Not a huge ovation at first. The lights went down and a spotlight followed Taker to the back. After a minute or two of silence, Cole said, "The career of Undertaker is dead, but his legacy will live forever." Taker walked toward the back and stopped. He turned around and faced the crowd. He nodded and then limped to the back after getting a nice ovation.

Powell's POV: Big surprise. Love the result and the match, but hated those chairshots to Taker's head. Taker went hard through the tables and landed just as hard as Orton did on his shoulder. Excellent gimmick match main event. Both guys worked their asses off. They did a nice job of selling it as if this was Taker's final match. Overall, a strong show despite some quirky moments early and the Orton finish. I'll have a lot more to say about this show in the WWE "One Night Stand" Hitlist on Monday.

You are welcome to send a paragraph or two of post-show comments to dotnetjason@gmail.com.

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