-The state of the show.
-Today, Project 45 lands in the year 2007 as we look at the New Year's Day 2007 edition on Monday Night Raw from the WWE.
-WWE Monday Night Raw was shown on the USA Network on January 1, 2007 from the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. There were 15,169 in attendance.
-WWE intro.
-Flashback to Kevin Federline on Raw and attacking John Cena and Challenging John Cena.
-Raw Intro.
-Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler welcome us to Raw. JR has mentioned that he asked for the night off in order to go see Oklahoma play Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl only for Vince McMahon to tell him that it had to be all hands on deck for the important match up of John Cena vs. Kevin Federline.
-John Cena's music hits and he comes out to a big ovation. Kevin Federline gets booed heavily when he is introduced. When he comes out though, not much reaction. He gets up on the stage and says Hey Cena, I've got some news. He says he's been talking to Coachman and there has been a little change in their match. He says he doesn't want anything to stop him from beating Cena's ass. So tonight, it's going to be no DQ. He then brings out his trainer and friend, Johnny Nitro. They come to the ring.
-No Disqualification match. John Cena vs. Kevin Federline with Johnny Nitro: Federline and Cena face to face in the ring. A Cena chant goes out. Federline goes over to his corner and warms up throwing punches to Nitro's hands. Federline puts in a mouth piece as a we want Britney chant goes out referring to Mr. Federline's other half at the time. Federline putting on padded gloves. Cena getting upset as the crowd starts to chant K-Fed sucks. Federline then takes his robe off and puts headgear on and they are really milking this thing for all that it's worth. The bell finally rings and they circle each other. Cena bends over and tells Federline to take a free shot at his head. Federline puts Cena into a side headlock. Cena picks Federline up and throws him off. Nitro gets up on the apron and says time out, so he and Federline confer. Federline then throws the gloves away as the Cena chants go out again. Nitro slides a chair into the ring. Federline says something to referee Mike Chioda, who then talks to Cena who motions to go ahead, so Chioda sets the chair up in the middle of the ring. Cena sits in the chair and Federline does the Master lock Challenge on Cena. He gets him in the Master Lock or the Full Nelson I guess since it isn't Chris Masters doing it. Cena easily breaks the hold and pushes Federline away. Federline then takes the headgear off and takes out his mouthpiece. Nitro tries to pump him up in the corner. Federline comes to the center of the ring and asks for a test of strength. Cena grabs one arm and then Federline takes the other arm and forces Cena down and gets a cross arm breaker on Cena. Cena then gets up with Federline still on his arm. He then sets Federline on a corner turnbuckle. Nitro comes in and Cena clotheslines him and tosses Nitro out of the ring. Federline takes advantage and comes up behind Cena and hits him with a low blow. Cena then gets up and gets Federline up on his shoulders for the FU, but Umaga comes in and attacks Cena. Armando Alejandro Estrada grabs the WWE Championship and hands it to Umaga. Umaga hits Cena with the WWE Championship. Estrada then yells see you on Sunday, Cena. Federline then covers Cena nonchalantly to get the pin. Federline and Nitro celebrate as they leave and the crowd boos them. When they return from commercial break, JR and Lawler recap what just happened.
-Federline is shown in the back with Nitro and a group celebrating his victory. They go into his dressing room. Maria comes over and knocks on the door to try to get an interview. Melina comes up to her to ask her what she is doing and they start arguing. Melina then challenges Maria to a match and then slaps Maria before walking away.
-JR and Lawler talk about Rated RKO attacking DX a couple of weeks ago and then DX is shown in the back.
-They go back to Kevin Federline's dressing room and everyone is celebrating when the Coach comes in and says he can't believe it. Kevin Federline defeated John Cena. He just can't believe it. Coach then addresses Johnny Nitro and Melina by saying Cena has made a habit out of humiliating all of them in the last year. He says well this year is time for payback. He says you see John Cena's night is not even close to being through. He says you see we need a main event, don't we? So tonight, what he has decided is it's going to be John Cena vs. Umaga plus his partners Armando Estrada, The Coach, and Johnny Nitro in a four on one handicapped match. He said Kevin Federline started all of this and they are going to finish it. you see John Cena's in for a very Happy New Year.
-Shaq and some members of the Miami Heat are shown in the crowd.
-Cryme Time Shad and JTG and The Highlanders Robbie and Rory vs. Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch and Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin: Cade and Robbie start. They lock up and drive to a corner. Cade drives some knees into Robbie's midsection. Cade then with a forearm to the back to drive Robber to his knees. Cade with a corner whip and Robbie hits him with a back elbow when he charges him. Robbie with a crossbody to Cade from the second rope for a one count. Robbie with a wrist lock and JTG tagged in. He comes in and tells Cade to come on and Cade responds with a kick to the midsection and a forearm to knock JTG down. Cade runs the ropes and JTG hits him with a nice drop toe hold. JTG with an arm bar. Cade with a forearm to break the hold and Haas and Rory arguing in a neutral corner and the referee is over trying to get them back to their respective corners. JTG with a forearm to Cade and runs the ropes, but gets tripped by Murdoch when he gets to the ropes. Cade takes advantage by dropping an elbow on JTG. Haas tagged in and corner whips JTG into the turnbuckle and he falls to the mat. Haas with a double arm suplex and he gets a two count. Haas with a front face lock and tags Benjamin in. Haas then runs JTG into a Benjamin knee. Haas then clotheslines JTG before he gets out of the ring. As Benjamin goes by, Murdoch slaps Benjamin's back to tag in and Benjamin gets mad and asks Murdoch what he thinks he's doing? Murdoch comes in and scoop slams JTG. Cade then tagged in. He grabs Murdoch as if to atomic drop him, but instead slams Murdoch's leg down on JTG. Cade goes up to the second rope and comes off with an elbow drop, but JTG moves. Shad and Murdoch both tagged in. Shad clotheslines both Murdoch and Cade. A big boot to Cade knocks him out of the ring. Shad with a back suplex to Murdock which gets a two count, but Benjamin and Haas come in to break up the pin attempt. The Highlanders come in and start going at it with the World's Greatest Tag Team. Robbie spears Haas to the outside and Cade clotheslines Robbie out after Haas. Rory backdrops Benjamin to the outside. Cade then rushes Rory to dump him to the outside, but Rory grabs the top rope and drops down and Cade spills to the outside. Murdoch then hits Rory from behind to knock him out. Shad blocks a shot from Murdoch and hits him with a Jaw Breaker. Murdoch staggers back and JTG hits him with a reverse Hot Shot to allow Shad to pin Murdoch.
-WrestleMania Recall moment of Hulk Hogan slamming Andre the Giant at WrestleMania III.
-Jeff Hardy vs. Rob Conway: Hardy is the Intercontinental Champion here, but Lillian Garcia doesn't say it's a title match. Hardy out first. Conway then comes out to the stage with a mic and says this is a brand new year and Rob Conway is tired of being everyone's whipping boy. So he made himself a New Year's Resolution, from now on, he's going to be a winner. So what that means is if he can't beat Jeff Hardy tonight, he will quit Monday Night Raw. He then comes down to the ring and gets in. The bell rings. They go to lock up and Conway with a boot and a forearm to knock Hardy down. Then a series of forearms as a Hardy chant goes out. Conway with a corner whip and then charges Hardy, who lifts up and rolls Conway up to pin him. That was quick. Hardy celebrates. Conway complains to referee Mike Chioda that it was just a two count.
-Vince McMahon's music hits and he comes out. He gets in the ring with a mic and Conway shakes his hand. McMahon says it's that time of the year where people make New Year's Resolutions, but by the end of the year, 99.9% of them will have broken their New Year's Resolutions. He then tells Conway it took him around a minute to break his New Year's Resolution. McMahon then says he has a couple of resolutions himself and everybody knows that he doesn't break his. He says he will share a couple of them. He's going to stop being so damned nice. He's going to stop letting people take advantage of him. Such as his good friend and fellow billionaire Donald Trump. He says Donald actually has his troubles and has his hands full as of late and they show an unflattering picture of Rosie O'Donnell on the screen as this was the time of the Rosie/Donald feud. McMahon doesn't help matters by saying it's Yokozuna! He then corrects himself to say it's Rosie O'Donnell. McMahon then says that Donald Trump is credited many times with a certain phrase that he uses on his hit show, The Apprentice. Everybody knows that Donald did not originate that phrase. That phrase originated right here on Monday Night Raw. He then says to Rob Conway, I'm not going to allow you to quit Monday Night Raw. He says Rob Conway, you're fired and Conway looks mortified. McMahon then leaves.
-Todd Grisham interviews Kenny Dykstra. Grisham says Ric Flair tried to extend his hand and shake Dykstra's hand and Dykstra says that Flair is trying to save face. He beat Ric Flair and now Flair wants to turn it around and make the story be about how much of a classy guy Ric Flair is. Dykstra says well that's not what the story's about. The story is about Kenny Dykstra. He's not even 21 years old. He's the future of Raw. He asks Grisham if he has heard that death comes in threes and Grisham says yeah. Well, he's going to show you how death comes in fours. James Brown, President Ford, Sadaam Hussein, and now Ric Flair's career. Dykstra then leaves.
-JR and Lawler talk about Ric Flair being decimated by Team Rated RKO and then Rated RKO decimating DX two weeks ago. DX is then shown walking down a hallway.
-After a commercial break, DX comes out to a tremendous ovation. They get in the ring and HHH says speak to me, Miami, are you ready? The crowd cheers wildly. He says then for the thousands in attendance and the millions watching at home and Shawn Michaels grabs the mic and says I cannot do this. I can't come out here and pretend what I just saw didn't happen. Randy Orton and Edge for the last 5 years, HHH or myself individually or collectively have faced everybody this company have put in front of us. Good, bad. Talented. No talent. The ones he likes best are the futures of the WWE or the stars of tomorrow. His favorite of all time is the greatest in ring performer of his generation. He is still waiting to face that guy. You want to know what all those guys have in common? Either they're no longer here or they're jerking the curtain someplace. While HHH and the Heart Break Kid, Degeneration X, stand the test of time right here in the WWE. And then, finally, he doesn't know whether to be ecstatic or thrilled, but finally a couple of guys come along who at least appear to have a set. Randy Orton and Edge, several weeks ago, you jumped Ric Flair from behind. You drag his nearly lifeless, bloody body out here in front of the world and you nearly beat him within an inch of his life and that new-found set of juevos that you have seemed to grow even bigger and then you do the unthinkable. You managed to drop Degeneration X. You take the Heart Break Kid, double RKO on a chair, split his head open, and then you take the Game. You lay him out on that announce table. You give him a double conchairto, and you split him from ear to ear. Doing something to us that nobody's ever done, and that set grows bigger and bigger. Randy Orton and Edge, this Sunday, New Year's Revolution, you're going to find out there's a big difference in having a set and knowing what to do with them. Because this Sunday, DX is going to take yours and kick them down your throat. HHH takes the mic and says he's disappointed tonight. Because he thought they were going to fly all the way down here from Miami on New Year's Day and get themselves in one hell of a fight. But the two girls, Edge and Orton, didn't show up. He shrugs his shoulders and says it happens. Double yeast infection is what he heard. Yikes that is uncomfortable right there and didn't age well. But HHH knows that they're going to be there Sunday for the PPV because they think they've got DX right where they want them. They think they've got DX in the palm of their hand. Do you know what happened to the last guy who thought he had them in the palm of his hand? They beat him bloody and then shoved him up Big Show's ass, talking about Vince McMahon. He says you see, Edge and Orton can't figure out that they're different. They're not like your regular group of guys. They've got different sides, they're kind of like frosted Mini-wheats. They've got two different sides. You've got the frosted side where you get the sugary goodness. Michaels says he likes the sugary side. HHH says everybody likes the sugary side, Shawn. It's sweet. It makes you laugh, it entertains you, You have a good time. That's the sugary side, but then there's the other side. There's the side that Edge and Orton are going to get. There's the side where the two most ruthless bastards to ever set foot inside this ring live. Edge, Orton, welcome to the other side. We are going to beat your ass on Sunday. We are going to tear flesh, we are going to break bones. We are going to make you bleed. And we are going to leave you lying in a broken, twisted, bloody heap in the middle of this ring because we are the Heart Break Kid, Shawn Michaels. The Game, HHH. We are Degeneration X and if you're not down with that, we've got two words for you and the crowd says suck it.
-Melina vs. Maria: Maria comes out holding her face from the slap and wants to start before the bell rings. Before they start, Victoria comes to the ring and sits down at the announce desk as the bell rings and the match gets started. They attack each other and roll around on the mat. They go back and forth and Melina gets a front face lock on. Maria reverses and runs Melina face first into the mat. Victoria says she has done everything for this company and keeps getting screwed over by other divas so she has a blank space on her list for another name. Melina with a forearm and a kick to Maria. Melina ties Maria's hair up in the ropes and then attacks her again. Melina then rushes Maris, who gets her boot up at the last second to knock Melina down. Maria then runs Melina throat first into the ropes. Maria attacks Melina with kicks and slaps and then Irish whips Melina. She goes to dropkick Melina, who holds on to the ropes and Maria falls to the mat. Melina with a roll up for a two count. Melina then rolls Maria up again and gets the pin. Victoria then gets up in the ring. Melina leaves the ring and Victoria suddenly gets out of the ring and attacks Lillian Garcia. She throws Lillian into the ring. She goes to put Lillian up in the Widow's Peak, but gets attacked by Mickie James. James with an Irish whip to Victoria, who bails out of the ring. Victoria says she will see James at New Year's Revolution.
-Recap of the Tribute to the Troops from the week before.
-Ric Flair and Carlito with Torrie Wilson vs. Chris Masters and Kenny Dykstra: Carlito and Dykstra start and Dykstra with a kick to the stomach. Dykstra attacking Carlito with right hands. Dykstra with an Irish whip and Carlito ducks a clothesline attempt and hits Dykstra with a hurricanrana. He then stomps on Dykstra and starts to go after Masters in the corner. He turns back to Dykstra, who then kicks Carlito and slams the back of Carlito's head down to the mat. Masters tagged in. He goes to drop an elbow on Carlito, but Carlito moves. Flair tagged in. He chop blocks Masters in the knee and then chops Masters several times. He then gets Masters in a figure four. Flair gets a two count until Dykstra comes in to break up the hold. When they come back from commercial break, Masters has Carlito in a backbreaker. They show Masters tripping Carlito for his team to gain the advantage during the break. Carlito and Dykstra going back and forth in the middle of the ring. Dykstra with a front face lock and Masters tagged back in and hits Carlito with a double ax handle from the second rope. he then gets Carlito down and drags him back to the corner and Dykstra tagged back in. Dykstra makes a cover and Carlito kicks out. Dykstra with a rear chin lock. Wilson on the outside cheering Carlito on trying to get him to come back. Carlito makes it back to his feet, breaks the hold, and chops Dykstra. Carlito runs the ropes, but Dykstra hits him with a stiff looking back elbow. Dykstra gets a two count. Dykstra then drags Carlito over and Masters tagged in. He drops an elbow on Carlito. Masters then drops down on Carlito's back. Masters drives Carlito into the heel's corner and hits him with several right hands while Dykstra holds Carlito's trunks behind the referee's back. The referee gets Masters away. Flair tries to come in, but the referee holds him back. Carlito punches Dykstra down to get out of the corner and starts brawling with Masters. Masters pushes Carlito back into the corner where Dykstra guillotines Carlito on the top rope. Masters then hits a double underhook suplex. He gets a two count. Masters then gets a headlock on Carlito. Carlito gets back to his feet and hits Masters with some elbows to the stomach to break the hold. Carlito again runs the ropes, but Masters catches him and military presses Carlito. He gets another two count. Carlito up and Masters hits him with a forearm and Irish whips him and Carlito comes back with a springboard back elbow. Both men down and a double count going. Dykstra comes in and runs across the ring to knock Flair off the apron. Dykstra then goes out after Flair and runs him into the ring steps. Back in the ring, Masters hits Carlito with a hard clothesline. Masters then signals for the Master Lock. He gets the move on Carlito The crowd and Wilson cheering on Carlito to break the hold. Carlito appears to be fading. Flair comes in and clips Masters leg so that he falls down and frees Carlito and the crowd loves the dirtiest player in the game. Dykstra tagged in. Corner whip to Carlito, who moves out of the way of a Dykstra splash attempt and Dykstra hits the corner post. Flair tagged in. He comes in and chops Dykstra down. He then gets Dykstra in the corner and hits him with left and right hands. He then chops Dykstra down to the ground and the crowd absolutely loves it. Dykstra up and Flair Irish whips and chops him down again and JR says it is shades of Wahoo McDaniel. Masters tries to come in and Flair chops him down for his troubles. Flair chops Dykstra down and goes to put him in the figure four, but Masters comes in and clotheslines Flair down. That brings Carlito into the ring and he clotheslines Masters to the outside the ring. Carlito and Masters start to fight up the ramp. Dykstra goes to put Flair into the figure four, but Flair kicks Dykstra off. Flair comes after Dykstra, who gets Flair down and pins Flair using the ropes for leverage. Dykstra gets out of the ring, lifts his arm in celebration, and then leaves. Flair grabs a microphone and gets back in the ring. Flair says it's not over yet kid, if he wants Flair's respect and you want the respect of the audience, then he needs to get out there and keep this going. Edge and Randy Orton appear out of the crowd. Edge distracts Flair while Orton comes up behind Flair and hits an RKO on Flair. They then go outside and grab some chairs. They slide back into the ring with the chairs and put Flair's head on one of the chairs and do a horrible looking conchairto to Flair. They then get out of the ring and leave through the crowd as they chant you suck to Rated RKO.
-They replay what happened to Flair after the commercial break. JR and Lawler talk about what happened and run down the card for New Year's Revolution. K-Fed comes back out with his arms up. He gets in the ring and grabs a mic. He says he doesn't like to say he told you so, but two weeks ago, he told everyone that the real Kevin Federline never backs down from a challenge, overcomes every obstacle, and takes pride in shocking the world, when he beat John Cena. The crowd boos. He says he had such a good time earlier, he's going to take a seat at ringside and watch Cena get his ass beat again. He then says Cena, I can see you, but you can't see me. K-Fed then joins commentary.
-Four on One Handicapped Match. Jonathan Coachman, Johnny Nitro, Armando Estrada, and Umaga vs. John Cena: Cena comes out last and gets a great reaction. Cena runs to the ring and he and Umaga exchange right hands in the middle of the ring. Coach tries to attack Cena from the apron, so Cena takes a shot at his other three opponents who all get down off the apron. Umaga tries to rush Cena in the corner, but Cena moves and hits Umaga with a running shoulder block. He gets a one count. Umaga rushes Cena again, so Cena drops down and grabs the top rope and Umaga spills to the outside. Nitro comes in and tackles Cena and hits him with some right hands until Cena flips Nitro off him. Cena follows that up with a clothesline and then another clothesline and a suplex. Cena then throws Nitro into a corner post. Cena turns around only to get hit with a Samoan drop from Umaga. The crowd chants Cena. Umaga drags Cena over to the corner and goes to do a version of the Banzai drop on Cena, who gets his knees-up. Nitro comes in and Cena hits him with a clothesline. Cena then grabs Coach and brings him in. He then brings Estrada in. Another clothesline to Nitro to knock him back down. Cena then grabs Coach and hits him with a big right hand. He then hits a drop toe hold to Umaga and gets the STFU on. Estrada comes in with a chair. Cena kicks him and gets the chair and hits Umaga in the head with it to get disqualified. Umaga doesn't go down from the chair shot. Another chair shot to Umaga. He falls out of the ring and lands on his feet. Nitro tries to attack Cena and gets hit with an FU. Coach then gets an FU. Cena then goes outside and grabs K-Fed and throws him into the ring. He hits K-Fed with an FU. Cena then grabs the WWE Championship and points at it while screaming at Umaga, who Estrada is holding back on the top of the ramp. Cena then holds the WWE Championship up high. They replay what happened before signing off from Miami.
-Final Thoughts:This was interesting. The Federline stuff was to bring in viewers on a high profile and busy TV night. They do a good job setting up New Years Revolution but I would rather watch that than this.