Needless to say, Test lost again and Lashley retained. The match was same old same old but it got mildly interesting when Undertaker showed up but who really thinks he is going to challenge Lashley for the ECW title. Not me.

McMahon showed up to basically make fun of the old ECW and declare Elijah Burke as the future of the promo (I sure hope not). The ECW originals beat him down thank goodness.

In the other matches of the night Matt Striker topped CM Punk and Hardcore Holly beat Rob Van Dam.

Post from: EveryJoe

Third Time is Not the Charm for Test, ECW

Mr. McMahon will make his first appearance on the “New Breed” tonight in a apparent continuation of Fan Appreciation Night from last night’s Raw. Not sure what he will bring to ECW but I sure hope it’s some excitement.

Kelly Kelly is expected to “perform” again but other than the main event to match announcements have been made yet.

Post from: EveryJoe

ECW Preview

First of all lets get to the non-wrestling action of the show. As I said before hand last night was Mr. McMahon fan appreciation night and to commemorate to occasion he autographed his picture from the cover of Muscle and Fitness magazine. Donald Trump then appeared on the screen of the arena to declare that Vince wasn’t giving fans what they wanted, value in the form of money! Thousands upon thousands of Donald’s dollars were dropped from the ceiling infuriating Mr. McMahon.

Shawn Michaels opened the show discussing his disappointment at losing the Royal Rumble but his optimism that he would still be able to win the WWE Title. John Cena then came to the arena to defend his title while Edge and Randy Orton closely followed. Before a brawl erupted McMahon announced that Rated RKO would face Cena and Michaels for the Tag Team Titles.

Before the main event Ric Flair warned Cena that Michaels might try to give him Sweet Chin Music after the match to show his intentions for the title. Cena hit the FU on Orton to get the pin and to make both him and Shawn Michaels the new WWE Tag Team Champions. After the match Michaels and Cena exchanged words before the Undertaker appeared on Raw. The Dead Man threw into doubt his Wrestlemania opponent as he stared Cena down as Raw went off the air. We will just have to wait and see who Undertaker will face at Wrestlemania: Cena or Batista?

In the match for the Intercontinetal Championship the Great Khali landed a chop on Jeff Hardy that left him outside of the ring unable to answer the 10-count. Despite winning the match Khali failed to win the title since he won by countout rather than pin or submission. I would expect to see a rematch of this one next week on Raw.

Cryme Tyme fell to the World’s Greatest Tag Team of Charlie Hass and Shelton Benjamin. The loss was their first since joining the Raw roster. After stipulating the match as a No. 1 contenders match Melina topped Maria to become the No. 1 contender for the women’s title. Umaga beat Val Venis in singles action in his first match since his loss to Cena at Royal Rumble. Carlito and Super Crazy beat Kenny and Chris Masters in a tag team match.

Post from: EveryJoe

Cena and Michaels Become Tag Team Champs

Cena took down Umaga meaning their feud is over?!?! Whether it is over or not will play a big role in what goes down from here to Wrestlemania but I would expect to see a new feud spark up in the next few weeks, perhaps with Shawn Michaels.

The WWE has announced tonight as Mr. McMahon Appreciation Night for tonights Raw. How will the Chairman get involved in the action and what impact, if any, will it have on the rest of the Raw storylines.

The only a announced match for tonight is Jeff Hardy against Khali for the Intercontinental title. This is a logical movement for putting Khali into the Raw storyline and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him win the title eventually, but maybe not tonight.

Seeing what storylines emerge tonight will give us an early idea who will be involved in Wrestlemania action.

Post from: EveryJoe

Raw Preview

10:43 pm: Undertaker just got busted open by a chair from Orton and got speared by Edge. Michaels eliminated Randy Orton and Edge. Final two are Shawn Michaels and Undertaker.

10:40 pm: The Miz is eliminated. RVD and CM Punk are both eliminated by Khali as is Hardcore Holly, Carlito, and Chavo Guerrero. Undertaker eliminates Khali and MVP. Final four are Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Randy Orton, and Edge.

10:32 pm: Last three competitors into the competition are The Great Khali, The Miz, and The UIndertaker as numbers 28-30. Finlay was eliminated by Shawn Michaels, a gang of wrestlers eliminated Viscera, and Johnny Nitro eliminated by Chris Benoit. Kevin Thorn then eliminated Benoit. Chris Masters was eliminated next by RVD.

10:27 pm: Viscera, Johnny Nitro, Kevin Thorn, Hardcore Holly, Shawn Michaels, Chris Masters, Chavo Guerrero, MVP, and Carlito added into the mix as numbers 19-27 respectively. Jeff Hardy eliminated by Edge and Orton, King Booker and Kane eliminated eachother as the 8th and 9th out of the Rumble. Shawn Michaels eliminated Shelton Benjamin for number 10 out of the competition. Super Crazy is elimated.

10:17 pm: Tha Sandman, Randy Orton, Chris Benoit, and RVD join in the 15-18 spots. Sandman is eliminated by King Booker. Matt Hardy taken out by Orton and Edge.

10:08 pm: Tommy Dreamer is 3rd eliminated followed by Sabu both of which got eliminated by Kane. CM Punk, King Booker, Super Crazy and Jeff Hardy are the 11th through 14th wrestlers into the match.

10:01 pm: Gregory Helms, Shelton Benjamin, and Kane are competitors 8-10 in the match.

9:57 pm: Edge eliminated both Ric Flair and Kenny. Tommy Dreamer and Sabu, both from ECW, just entered the match. New competitors are joining every 90 second this year.

9:55 pm: First 5 entrants into the Rumble are (in order): Ric Flair, Finlay, Kenny Dykstra, Matt Hardy, and Edge. No ECW wrestlers into the match yet.

9:42 pm: John Cena defeated Umaga in a last man standing match to retain the WWE title. After a bunch of near 10 counts Cena finally got the win after hitting the STFU twice and using the ring ropes to choke Umaga disabling him from getting up and earning Cena the win at just over 23 minutes. (Results: John Cena (c) def. Umaga – 10 Count)

9:05 pm: Throughout the entire match between Mr. Kennedy ana Batista a “knee injury” to Batista was being sold. Kennedy slammed him into the ring steps and worked on his knee throughout the entire match but with a Batista Bomb and the pin Batista got the win at 10:30 and retained the title. He continued to sell the injury after the match so I would expect this one to show up on this weeks SmackDown. (Result: Batista (c) def. Mr. Kennedy – Pin)

8:50 pm: In the match everyone saw this past Tuesday on ECW Bobby Lashley defeated Test after Test refused to get back in the ring. Test basically just walked away from the match much to the dismay of the fans who booed it pretty bad. Lashley brought Test back for a powerslam but the match was just over in just 7 minutes. (Result: Bobby Lashley (c) def. Test – Countout)

8:30 pm: MNM v. Hardys is first match of the night. Crowd was pretty dull through this one even though there ar 16,000 fans in the standium. Matt Hardy hit the twist of fate and Jeff with the Swanton Bomb on Johnny Nitro. Three count at 15:27 and the Hardys win. (Result: Hardys def. MNM – Pin)

8:09 pm: Welcome to Jab and Grapple. We will be posting the results from the Royal Rumble as they happen in this post so keep refreshing the page to get the latest news out of one of WWE’s premiere PPVs of 2007

Post from: EveryJoe

Royal Rumble Results

The Hardys v. MNM

This fight has been in the makings since before Armageddon when Nitro and Jeff Hardy were going back and forth for the IC title. Armageddon directly set this match up when a botched ladder move busted Mercurys face open and the rest is history. Expect a good match here with the Hardys being rather experienced and high flying wrestlers not to mention that we get to see Melina’s entrance.

Prediction: MNM via pinfall w/ help from Melina

ECW World Title: Bobby Lashley v. Test

This match by far has the least fan support so I suspect (or hope) it will be a quick match. Not sure what WWE plans to offer for us here that we haven’t seen on ECW that past few weeks but particularly Lashley’s win this past week in the exact same match.

Prediction: Lashley retains

World Heavyweight Title: Mr. Kennedy v. Batista

Although this fight has been building up for long before the SmackDown Beat the Clock Sprint that timed two episode challege set this match up several weeks ago. Kennedy is a potential champ but with Batista winning the title not long ago combined with the shows storyline Kennedy probably has little chance. Should be a good match however since both wrestlers usually put on a good show.

Prediction: Batista retains. There is a rare chance that Kennedy wins the title only to have Batista win it back before Wrestlemania.

WWE Championship: John Cena v. Umaga

Yeah like there is any chance of Umaga taking the title from Cena. I mean sure there is the outlying possibility that he could but I don’t forsee him ever becoming more than a Somoan Bulldozer, not a champion. It will be interesting to watch what develops not only with this feud but whether Shawn Michaels emerges as a contender for the championship.

Prediction: Cena retains

The Royal Rumble

The 30 man royal rumble is the staple of the event and sets up matches and storyline for the next 2+ until wrestemania and beyond. Even though there are 30 competitors only a handful are real contenders.

This year the WWE departed from doing qualifying matches and instead opted to do tuneup over the top challenges this past week instead. Also this year ECW has been added to the mix.

A win by an ECW extremist is unlikely at best although having CM Punk in a wrestlemania title match might get a good fan response. Most likely WWE will opt to go with either Khali or Undertaker for the win because of the recent hype they have been giving the wrestlers recently. I would expect to see them in the top 5 if not the top 2.

Prediction: Undertaker. SmackDown has been hinting at a Batista/Undertaker title match at Wrestlemania and I think this is the year that Undertaker finally wins the rumble to move on to Wrestlemania.

Post from: EveryJoe

Royal Rumble Preview and Predictions

Batista took on Gregory Helms in a non-title match with Batista coming out on top after hitting the Batista bomb. Later in the night Mr. Kennedy took to the mic to defend his skills and reiterate that he will win at the Rumble this weekend. Batista came to the ring to confront the young phenom and as a heated exchange ensued the arena darkened and Undertaker appeared. He attempted to kick Kennedy from behind but the superstar moved out of the way and the boot hit Batista instead.

WWE has been hyping a Batista/Undertaker feud in recent weeks and this really put the icing on the cake. I would not at all be surprised to see Undertaker win the Rumble to set up a match with Batista for the title at Wrestlemania in a few months.

Each of the competitors in the six man over the top challenge had a singles match on the episode as well. Chris Benoit took on The Miz with Benoit coming out on top after Miz tapped to the crossface. King Booker and Finlay’s contest ended in a no contest after the referee was knocked out leading to a double DQ. Kana and MVP met in their first rematch since their Inferno match at Armageddon. The match ended in a no contest after MVP tried to light Kane on fire only to be chased off by the big red machine.

In other action before the main event MNM topped Brian Kendrick, Paul London, and Ashley in a mixed tag team match. After back and forth action MNM got the three count and the win leading into their rematch with the Hardy’s on Sunday. Deuce and Domino were again victorious after beating Adam Evans and Wes Adams.

Now for the main event. After the match went for a while and Kane had been eliminated a new competitor entered the competition under the cover of darkness. Undertaker entered the match and eliminated all of the other competitors with a flurry of tombstones and chokeslams to win the over the top challenge and to set him up for a potential victory at this weekends Royal Rumble.

Post from: EveryJoe

SmackDown Recap

Tonights main event will be the six man over the top challenge between MVP, Kane, Chris Benoit, Finlay, The Miz, and King Booker although spoilers indicate there will be a seventh participant in the match.

Other matches for tonight include an non-title match between Gregory Helms and Batista, Chris Benoit against Miz, and King Booker vs. Finlay. These matches are all made to hype the Royal Rumble this weekend so expect them to fulfill on that. MNM will take on Paul London and Brian Kendrick, not sure if this is a title match or not but I would lean towards it being a non-title match.

Hopefully tonights SmackDown does a good job of hyping the matches for Royal Rumble and that some good feuds get set up because I have a feeling they will.

Post from: EveryJoe

SmackDown Preview

Shelton Benjamin
Chris Benoit
Carlito
Tommy Dreamer
Kenny Dykstra
Edge
Finlay
Ric Flair
Chavo Guerrero
Jeff Hardy
Matt Hardy
Gregory Helms
Hardcore Holly
Kane
King Booker
Chris Masters
Shawn Michaels
The Miz
Johnny Nitro
Randy Orton
Montel Vontavious Porter
CM Punk
Sabu
Sandman
The Great Khali
Kevin Thorn
Undertaker
Rob Van Dam
Viscera
Super Crazy

Full preview to come on Sunday…

Post from: EveryJoe

The Last Competitor in the Royal Rumble Is…Super Crazy?

Anyways, Test tried to use the turnbuckle on Lashley but he avoided it and eventually speared Test in return to get the win. I am not sure how Hardcore Holly fits into all of this but I guess he has reached main event status and will be getting involved in the competition for the title.

The other big match of the night was a five man Over the Top Rope challenge with Rob Van Dam, Kevin Thorn, Sabu, Tommy Dreamer, and Sandman going head to head. All five of the extremists will be competing this weekend at the Royal Rumble. With just Thorn and RVD left in the ring RVD kicked Thorn off the ring apron to clinch the victory.

Kelly Kelly did an extreme expose on the show with Layla and new Diva Brooke taking part. I don’t really know how the who strip dancing thing fits into extreme wrestling but it will be interesting to watch as the new bread is realligned into more of an upper level developmental territory.

Apparently ECW decided to change “Marquis Cor Von” to “Marcus Cor Von” but in either case the new extremist beat another jobber. In the other match of the night CM Punk topped Elijah Burke with Matt Striker sitting at the announcers table.

Post from: EveryJoe

Lashley Tops Test in Pre-Rumble Matchup