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2/7 RAW BRAND RESULTS FROM ANCHORAGE, AK

By Kristopher Nuttall on 2008-02-08 09:34:40

Tony Chimmel started the proceedings.

He introduced William Regal. In his capacity of Raw Manager, Regal listed the feature matches of the evening, and then announced that Triple H would not be appearing due to a family emergency.

John Cena appeared at this point, noting that with Triple H's absence, Randy Orton had no challenger that evening. Cena humbly volunteered his services.

Regal teased that he liked the idea, and that the audience might like the match (the audience roared its approval). He said he would make the match... if Cena won a 15 man Battle Royal that would begin ... right now!

An incomplete list includes John Cena, Mr. Kennedy, Chris Jericho, Umaga, Jeff Hardy, Carlito, Snitsky, Cody Rhoades, Hardcore Holly, Cade and Murdoch, D.H. Smith, Val Venis, Brian Kendrick, and Charlie Haas. John Cena won the match.

The next match was Mickie James and the Glamazon, Beth Phoenix. Good back and forth match with Phoenix winning with her finisher.

Then came my personal favorite match, William Regal vs. D.H. Smith. Excellent chain wrestling, with Regal working stiff, and lots of classical wrestling moves. Well told story of young up-and-comer against the crafty old veteran. Regal wins with a knee to the head. After the match, both contestants shake hands, to the applause of the more knowledgeable fans.

After that was the tag-team championship match featuring Rhoades and Holly vs. Cade and Murdoch. Okay match with Rhoades pinning Murdoch after getting the hot tag. Murdoch had the best line of the night when he told a heckler that he "ought to know the yellow out of your teeth!"

Then came the Career Threatening Match with Ric flair vs. Umaga. Flair got the loudest pop of the evening. Both men worked very hard for a satisfying match. Umaga managed to power out of Flair's finisher, but flair managed to win by count-out when both men were injured by falling out of the ring, with Flair beating the ten count. The crowd went nuts.

Then came intermission.

After the intermission, Candice Michelle came out to give away t-shirts. She got the second loudest pop of the evening when she announced that she had one last t-shirt to give away -- the one she was wearing!

Then came Carlito vs. Jeff Hardy for the Intercontinental Title. Lots of exciting action, with Jeff Hardy getting the clean pin after hitting his finisher.

The penultimate match was between Ken Kennedy vs. Chris Jericho. Kennedy gave a great promo promoting his feud with Ric Flair, pushing the upcoming episode of Raw to see if Flair would answer Kennedy's challenge. Then the match started. It got off to a slow start, and maintained a slow pace right up to the final minute, when the action picked up and Chris Jericho got the clean submission with his Walls of Jericho.

Finally, Randy Orton vs. John Cena for the title. Good back-and-forth, lots of action, with Orton being disqualified after laying out one too many referees.

John Cena ended the evening with a nice promo thanking everyone for showing up, and stated that while he was glad for winning, he was unhappy that Orton was still champion. Cena encouraged the crowd to tune in to the next time he goes up against Orton, when he would make use of the lessons learned that evening.

All-in-all, a very entertaining match, with a hot crowd.

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