Preview: Slight of Champions
June 30, 2008
After Night of Champions, where Raw Superstars suffered three prominent losses, the Monday night brand is left with no World Championship. Perhaps more important, though, is the fact that WWE is currently without its Chairman.
During last week’s Draft, WWE Champion Triple H was randomly selected to SmackDown, taking his title with him. On Sunday night, John Cena had a chance to bring the title back to Raw, but was unable to defeat The Game. Similarly, Batista attempted to win Edge’s World Heavyweight Championship, but couldn’t come out on top against the Master Manipulator.
The one World Title that Raw did hold going into Night of Champions was Kane’s ECW Championship, but in a Triple Threat Match against Mark Henry and Big Show, the Big Red Machine lost the gold to the World’s Strongest Man, who will take the championship back to Tuesday nights with him. With Cena, Batista and Kane all unable to win or hold onto gold, where will these three competitors set their focus next?
Another Raw Superstar that suffered a devastating loss at Night of Champions was Chris Jericho, defending his title against surprise opponent, Kofi Kingston. Y2J and the capacity crowd in Dallas were shocked as the Jamaican Superstar made a huge splash in his first match since joining the Raw roster. Another surprise entrance was made by Shawn Michaels, who was unable to compete due to an eye injury. HBK distracted Jericho long enough for Kingston to take control of the match, pinning Y2J. Following the match, Y2J took brutal revenge against HBK, assaulting him outside the ring. With the Intercontinental Championship acting as Raw’s main singles title, will Kingston and his unorthodox style be able to hang onto the championship? And what is in store for Chris Jericho when HBK returns to in-ring competition?
One of Night of Champions’ biggest surprises came during the World Tag Team Championship Match. For weeks, Ted DiBiase had promised to win the gold from champions Hardcore Holly & Cody Rhodes, along with the help of his mystery partner. On Sunday, the mystery partner was revealed to be Rhodes, who turned on Holly, and helped DiBiase make good on his promise to win a championship in his first WWE match. Why would Rhodes turn against his partner and mentor, and what steps will Hardcore Holly take to get revenge?
While multiple championships changed hands Sunday night, Mr. McMahon’s condition was still unknown following a bizarre accident last week on Raw. At the end of the evening, the stage on which the WWE Chairman stood on collapsed, followed by a ton of lighting equipment crashing down on him, incapacitating Mr. McMahon and causing Million Dollar Mania to be indefinitely suspended. When the McMahon family gives a statement this Monday on Raw, what will we learn about the Chairman’s condition, and how will the landscape of sports-entertainment be affected in Mr. McMahon’s absence?
For the answers to all these questions and more, make sure to tune into Monday Night Raw at 9/8 CT only on USA Network.
Labels: batista, mr. mcmahon, RAW, triple h
