The Big News: Where to start? Batista made his return. The draft is next week. Vickie Guerrero is the new permanent Raw GM. And Ricky Steamboat is still great.

Show Analysis:

Randy Orton came out to start the show. He said that the sledgehammer use at WrestleMania was illegal, but that was the last we heard about that. Orton said HHH can’t beat him on his own and that he’ll take the title in a rematch. There were RKO chants. He threatened Linda and the McMahon grandchildren. Vince McMahon came out, and Orton for some reason bailed. Vince announced Legacy vs. Vince, Shane and HHH for Backlash. Vince said Orton is scared to fight without Rhodes and DiBiase and without them he is a failure. Orton challenged Vince to a match and Vince accepted.

Carlito and Primo Colon beat Miz and John Morrison in a lumberjack match to retain the unified tag titles. Primo dropkicked Morrison outside early, and the face lumberjacks attacked him rather than throwing him back in. Usually that’s a heel spot. Miz and Morrison worked over Primo briefly, but he tagged Carlito. Carlito came in with a knee lift and the roll of the dice on Miz.

They went for a superplex spot but both men fell off the top rope in different directions. Morrison then did a 450 press to the floor. Someone may be looking for a singles push. Carlito went for the back cracker but Miz slipped out and covered for two. Miz then got Carlito in electric chair position but Carlito slipped out into the back cracker for the pin. This was sloppy but they worked very hard for a TV match.

They talked up next week’s draft a ton early in the show. It’s a very hard sell as something monumental when the major stars have been working all the shows pretty much every week for months. Really, it’s kind of insulting to act like fans can’t figure that out.

Mickie James, Kelly Kelly, Melina, Layla and Jillian Hall beat Maryse, Maria, Gail Kim, Natalya and Eve Torres. Jerry Lawler referenced Gail Kim as a newcomer. I’m not sure if that means he forgot she used to work for the company or if we’re supposed to forget that period. The heels worked over Melina, who tagged Mickie. Natalya gave Mickie the Alabama slam, but Mickie responded with a tornado DDT for the pin.

Ricky Steamboat, John Cena, Rey Mysterio, Jeff Hardy and CM Punk beat Chris Jericho, Matt Hardy, Edge, Kane and Big Show in a fun 10 man tag. They did a spot early where Jeff tagged in and the other legal man Matt quickly ran to tag out. Steamboat came in with a chop off the top rope, a dropkick and an ax handle off the top on Kane. Kane gave him a side slam and worked him over. Steamboat eventually got the tag to Punk, but the heels quickly regained the advantage on Punk.

Kane went for a choke slam, but Punk reversed with a DDT. He then made the hot tag to Jeff. Jeff used the inverted atomic drop, dropkick and whisper in the wind on Edge. He tagged Cena, who went for the FU. Show came in to stop that and Cena tagged Rey. Rey gave Edge a springboard senton and spinning head scissors. He went for the 619, but Jericho cut him off. Rey reversed and gave both Edge and Jericho the 619. Steamboat hit a crossbody off the top on Edge and Rey hit a top rope splash on Jericho for the pin.

Vickie Guerrero came out to announce that when she became the interim general manager of Raw, she was given the option to eventually stay on as the permanent GM or to return to being full time Smackdown GM. She has elected to become permanent GM of Raw. She then announced an Edge vs. John Cena title rematch for Backlash, and that the other title will be on the line in the 6 man tag. If someone on HHH’s team wins he retains and if someone on Orton’s team wins Orton will become champion.

Vickie left but then returned a minute later to say that she made a mistake and that Edge-Cena would be last man standing. I realize this happened on the fly, but they should have just called an audible and had her announce it later rather than making her look so bad like that.

Santina Marella, who debuted last night at WrestleMania, came out to Billy and Chuck’s old music. She said that Santino’s heart was broken when he couldn’t participate in the battle royal, but now his heart can be mended because his twin sister won. An angry Beth Phoenix came out with Rosa. Santina introduced herself to Beth, but Beth said Santino was embarrassing herself. The crowd booed her for that. Beth accused Santina of throwing her out. “It’s every girl for herself, honey,” Santina replied.

Beth challenged Santina to a match. Santina said that Beth is jealous that Santina is more of a woman than Beth will ever be and accepted the match. A referee came out. Beth landed some punches and tried to spank Santina. She went for a slam but Santina fell on top for the pin. Santina was absolutely hilarious here. She’s a tremendous performer. She may even be better than Santino. It’s a shame they didn’t bring her in earlier.

Randy Orton beat Vince McMahon via DQ. Vince was in control early with punches and kicks. He rammed Orton into the announce table. Then Orton hit a clothesline and the RKO in a hurry. He set up for the punt, but Shane McMahon ran in to stop him. Legacy came out and attacked them 3 on 2. HHH joined the fray but Legacy retained control. The crowd was shockingly silent for all of this again. I think it’s just a sign that HHH and Randy Orton should switch roles. HHH as McMahon in-law is a natural heel character.

The crowd picked up, however, when Batista’s music played. Batista made his return in a nice surprise. He made the save and fought off Legacy. Cody Rhodes received the Batista bomb. The show concluded with Vince announcing that Batista will take his place in the 6 man tag at Backlash.

Final Thoughts:

This was a fun show. It had a lot more hits than misses. Hopefully next week’s draft show will focus on putting a bunch of young stars in the position to move up the card. That to me should be the top priority these days for WWE.

Todd Martin
ToddMartin4L@aol.com
toddwmartin.blogspot.com