NEWS: It was the first RAW of the new year and the last RAW before New Year’s Revolution…

RAW starts with Lillian Garcia announcing Vince McMahon. McMahon comes out and reiterates his “Zero Tolerance” policy of not taking any “crap from anybody.” Translation, “No more Mister Nice Guy.” Vince says everything he has done in his professional life is for the fans and now he his done with that. Now everything he does will be for his personal amusement. Vince whispers in
Lillian’s ear and she then introduces both Kane and HBK for the first match of the night. Before HBK can do his pose, Vince cuts the music off and says there’s a special stipulation for the
match: If HBK uses the Superkick then he is disqualified.

The match starts and HBK & Kane exchange blows and chops in the corner. HBK goes for an early small package, but doesn’t get the pin. HBK goes for a sunset flip but cannot get the pin. Kane
chokes HBK with his foot, gives him right hands and chokes him some more all over the ring. Vince, who is sitting at ringside, has a smirk on his face and is pleased that Kane is hurting HBK. Irish whip by Kane and Kane charges HBK but runs into a boot. HBK fights back and clotheslines Kane out of the ring. HBK leaps over the top rope and splashes Kane. Vince gets up from his chair and approaches HBK. HBK tells Vince that he has given him everything, but Vince says it’s just not enough. Commercial. When we come back, HBK is choking Kane but Kane counters with a belly-to-back suplex. Kane goes for an elbow drop but HBK rolls out of the way. HBK quickly climbs to the top and jumps off, but Kane nails him on his way down. Kane kicks and chokes HBK some more. The fans get behind HBK and he fights to his feet and exchanges blows with
Kane. Knee lift by HBK and some hard chops. HBK bounces off the ropes but Kane grabs his throat. Kane goes for the chokeslam, but HBK slides out of it mid air. HBK fights back with a flying forearm, a DDT and neckbreaker. HBK is gaining steam but runs right into Kane’s boot. Kane ascends to the top rope and goes for a flying clothesline, but HBK rolls out of the way. HBK knocks Kane down and delivers the flying elbow drop. This is usually the point where HBK tunes up the band, but the Superkick is banned. HBK tunes up the band anyway and Vince gets up. Vince says if HBK uses the Superkick then he is disqualified and he will also be out of the Elimination Chamber. HBK cannot believe it and turns around right into Kane’s chokeslam. Kane covers HBK and gets the pin, much to Vince’s amusement. Vince walks up the ramp and Todd is called down. Vince whispers into Todd’s ear and then he proceeds down the ramp. Vince continues to the back as we go to commercial.
When we come back, footage is shown of what happened during the break. We see that Todd informed HBK that Vince made him the #1 entrant in the Elimination Chamber. HBK cannot believe what is happening to him and just walks to the back.

Footage is then shown of Gregory Helms accusing King of holding him back in the company. Helms accuses King of bad mouthing him on live TV every week which is hurting him. Helms comes out to
the ring and calls out King. The two get face to face in the ring and exchange words. It escalates to the two exchanging blows, but Helms quickly rolls out of the ring. King challenges Helms to a match at New Year’s Revolution as Helms retreats to the back.

Backstage, Vince & Mickie James are interrupted by Angle & Daivari. Daivari comes in yelling, but Vince tells him to shut up. Vince tells Angle that he is not interviewing for new GM’s tonight.
Angle tells him that he not here for the GM spot, but is concerned about the officiating of his First Blood match tonight. Vince says he doesn’t give a damn about that. All he is concerned with is seeing blood tonight. Angle says he will make Cena bleed tonight and he will even make HBK tap this Sunday.

Backstage, we see Trish working out. Todd approaches her and asks her about Mickie kissing her last night. Trish says it was uncomfortable, but she is focused on her Women’s Title match with Mickie this Sunday. Todd goes back to the kiss and asks Trish whether she thinks Mickie is playing mind games with her. Trish is not sure what it meant and goes back to the locker room for a shower.

Back in the arena, Maria is in the ring hosting the kiss cam. Suddenly, Victoria, Candice & Torrie come out. Victoria is in a neckbrace thanks to Carlito, but she blames Maria for it.
Victoria belittles Maria and then attacks her to start the match. Maria is unaware of the match but a ref runs down to make it official. Victoria wipes the mat with Maria. At one point, Maria is hung up on the ropes and Torrie rubs her dogs’ butt in Maria’s face. Victoria continues to dominate Maria and throws her into the corner. Victoria goes for a splash, but Maria moves, rolls her up and gets the win. Candice, Torrie & Victoria strip Maria and then kick her into the mat. To Maria’s aid comes Ashley. Ashley takes out all three women, but she is eventually falls to them when she is given a double DDT.

Backstage, we see Edge & lita heading to the ring to show the world some exclusive footage of Ric Flair’s road rage incident.

Courtesy of WWE Unlimited, we see that Vince made a new match for New Year’s Revolution. At Revolution there will be a Bra & Panties Gauntlet Match.

Backstage we see Trish behind a curtain taking a shower. Mickie comes in and grabs the towel off the hook. Trish reaches out for the towel and does not feel it. She opens the curtain and is
shocked to see Mickie standing there. Trish covers herself up with the curtain and asks for the towel. Mickie says she’s been trying to call her all weekend and wants to apologize. Trish, who is extremely uncomfortable, shrugs it off and once again asks for the towel. Mickie holds up the towel for Trish and says “Nice boobs Trish.” Trish grabs the towel and Mickie leaves.

Back in the arena, Edge & Lita come out to the ramp. Edge says everything he’s been saying about Flair over the past few weeks are true. And to prove it, Edge airs some “exclusive footage” of
Flair’s road rage incidence. The footage plays and we see Edge dressed up as Flair giving the Figure Four to a “motorist.” Back in the arena, Edge & Lita look pleased with themselves and Edge
says he will take the Intercontinental Title away from him this Sunday. Suddenly, Edge looks to his right and sees Flair come out. The two scuffle and fight into the ring. Flair is beating down
Edge so Lita jumps on him. Flair throws down Lita and locks on the Figure Four. Edge, who is retreating up the ramp, turns around and gets Lita out of the ring.

Footage is shown of Stacy Keibler practicing for her performance on Dancing with the Stars.

The next match of the night is Shelton Benjamin vs Chris Masters. Match starts with Shelton attacking Masters fast. Masters overpowers Shelton and gives him a hard clothesline. Masters and
Shelton exchange blows and Shelton hits a splash, a forearm and a loud knee lift. Shelton hits a straight kick to Masters head and goes for the pin. Masters gets his foot on the ropes and Shelton cannot believe it. Shelton continues his offense, but Masters fights back. Masters grabs Shelton and puts him in the Master Lock but Shelton quickly reverses it in a modified backbreaker. The two go back and forth, but Masters once again puts on the Master Lock. Shelton does everything he can to fight out of it but he eventually loses.

HHH comes to the ring and says his attack on Show at the contract signing was premeditated and was meant to send a message. Since Show got in HHH’s business with Flair, Show got hurt. Big Show comes out with a huge cast on his right hand. HHH grabs a chair and swings, but Show uses his cast and punches it away. HHH grabs a monitor, but once again Show slams his cast into it and knocks it to the ground. HHH is scared and runs away to the back. Show gets into the ring and just stares him down as he raise his huge cast in the air.

Backstage, Shelton is surprised to see his Mom. She tells Shelton that she raised her better than that and he is getting soft and so now she is going to be on him.

The main event of night is here, John Cena versus Kurt Angle in a First Blood Match. Cena comes out and raps about Carlito, Masters and Angle. But before Cena can finish, Angle cuts him off with his entrance. The match goes back and forth with plenty of interference by Daivari. Daivari exposes the top turnbuckle and now Angle and Cena try their hardest to slam each others head into it. Angle is getting beat down so he grabs a chair and blasts Cena with it. At this point the ref has already been knocked out and doesn’t see a thing. The camera focuses back on Cena and he is bleeding everywhere. Blood is dripping from his face as Angle continues to beat him down. Angle lifts up Cena onto his shoulders and goes for the FU, but Cena fights out of his own move and locks on the STFU. At this point, Daivari revives the ref and brings him over to Cena. He sees Cena is busted open and calls for the match as Angle is tapping out. Angle is the winner. After the match, Carlito & Masters run down and aid Angle & Daivari in stomping Cena. Suddenly, Masters turns and puts Angle in the Masterlock and everyone starts fighting with each other. Kane joins the fight and chokeslams Masters, Carlito and Daivari. After the third chokeslam, Kane is Superkicked straight in the face by HBK. HBK eyes up Cena for another Superkick, but Cena grabs him and delivers the FU!!! All six men are layed out as RAW goes off the air.

I’ve been out of the wrestling scene for a few weeks now, but I think this was a good build up to Revolution. When a bunch of wrestlers are involved in a PPV main event, you really can’t go wrong with a huge brawl between them before the PPV.

Was RAW good? Yea….but not good enough to build up an entire PPV. Only some match were build up well, others were not. And what the hell is the point of Helms feuding with King?