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Raw: June 18, 2040
It's the final Raw before Night of Champions! Let's get to it!
Opening Match: Lonny Richards and Leah vs. Caleb Greene and Jamie Roderick
The clients of Nathan Quinn are quite full of themselves here. Leah in particular is making some major strides in getting over. Sadly, Nathan Quinn can't leave well enough alone and helps Richards in scoring the cheap pin after some interference. ****1/2, 91% overall.
In-ring super special talky time with Jason Sorola. He feels like he's been getting overlooked lately and being stuck in the mire with Martyn LaSalle hasn't been helping. Sorola accuses LaSalle of using him to regain his relevance here in the WWE but Sorola isn't having it. Naturally this brings LaSalle himself to contest the issue. LaSalle doesn't want to make anyone feel like they're being held back on his account. Anyone who feels that way is more than welcome to try to take their shot. In fact, that gives LaSalle an idea: why not he and Sorola go one-on-one at Night of Champions? Sorola seems open to the idea. This all attracts the attention of Lisa Benton who appears on the big screen and offers to raise the stakes. She'll not only sanction the match but she'll make it so that the winner receives a match for the WWE Cruiserweight Title!
Second Match: Naomi Bailey vs. Tania
Damn, these two mesh really well. Naomi makes no apologies for what she did to Sonya Braddock on SmackDown! because the champion had it coming with her flapping gums and complete disrespect for the Queen of Queens. Tania shows no fear here and keeps up with Her Majesty. Billie Padgett just can't leave well enough alone, though, and offers a helping hand in the form of a chair to Tania's back allowing Naomi to score a roll-up win. EVERYONE SLOW THEIR ROLE!!! Sonya Braddock is here and looks like she's ready to rip somebody's arms off. Nobody seems willing to test that hypothesis and the ring clears as Braddock stands tall. *****, 94% overall.
Backstage, Kerry Cemenko takes some shots at Xavier Cross ahead of their match to determine who will be next to receive a shot at the Unified World Title. Cemenko admits to being a tad envious of Cross and the lengthy reign he had in addition to headlining WrestleMania. It all makes Cemenko wonder why Cross has to go to such lengths such as beating him down like on SmackDown!? It can't be because he's afraid of being overshadowed, right?
Elsewhere backstage, Faith Connors is warming up in her usual way for her match tonight against Hannah McCormick. Nathan Quinn slides into the picture to try get her attention but in a funny bit she simply performs her parkour stunts around him essentially blowing him off. He yells at her that he simply wants to ask a question which finally gets her to stop and offer her ear. Nathan wants to know if Faith can talk some sense into Jenna Kyle and hopefully get her to reconsider joining his elite club as a client. Faith tells him that she hasn't heard from Jenna since their match last week and isn't sure on what terms the two of them are on. Quinn is barking up the wrong tree. Even if she was on good terms with Jenna, Faith would simply tell her that she made a wise choice staying away from someone like Quinn. Quinn counters that perhaps Faith herself should be a bit more open to Quinn's services, like Leah, for instance. Faith simply tells him that all she needs to know about his clients is that they associate with a sorry sack of crap like Quinn. She demands that he get the hell away from her.
Third Match: The Hunters vs. Salvatore Scabbia and The WWE Unified Tag Team Champions The Future Foundation
More 6-man goodness but with everyone's rivals proper. The faces look to BUILD MOMENTUM here going into Night of Champions. The end comes when Vivian Merrick's feminine wiles backfire on her when she tries them out on Ryan Pattillo and that allows him to hit Julian Merrick with the Shutdown for the win. Afterward, Scabbia locks in the Omerta on Pattillo and refuses to let go as things break down into chaos. ****1/2, 92% overall.
Fourth Match: Faith Connors vs. Hannah McCormick
I love both these women. I really think I've been giving Hannah the shaft but she's a trooper, though. Their quality is on full display here and looks like Connors has this in the bag but Leah runs down to trip her up for the DQ. The heels do the double team as the crowd looks to the entrance ramp for some assistance for Faith, chanting for Jenna Kyle but to no avail. *****, 96% overall.
It's Hot Button time with everyone's favorite host the WWE Cruiserweight Champion, Former Cruiserweight Champion-Elect Michael Hotbody! He apologizes for not being on SmackDown! but he's been meeting with his lawyers AROUND THE CLOCK looking to make the cage match between he and Jordan Demiras null and void! As much as Hotbody pays his lawyers, he expected results and he expected them days ago! Sadly, Hotbody is surrounded by morons! He's not giving up though because he has one last card to play and it's one that he had hoped to not use but there aren't that many options left. Appealing to Demiras is a waste of time because he's so full of nonsense self-righteous indignation that he won't listen to reason. So with that said, Hotbody is asking Lisa Benton to come out right now and hear him out and she had better not think about casting him aside because he'll sit in the middle of the ring and hold up the show!
Lisa Benton eventually comes out, not in the mood to put up with anymore of Hotbody's nonsense. She lets him know that everything is already official. The ink is dry, the tickets have been sold, and the cage is on its way. There's no getting out of it unless Hotbody wants to surrender the belt so he needs to quit wasting everyone's time. Hotbody is undeterred because he really, really, really, REALLY doesn't want to go through with it. Benton needs to consider the harm that might come to Demiras being trapping inside a cage with Hotbody, with nowhere to go! Loverboy will be quite useless to Benton and it will all be on her head!
"THAT'S IT! I SWEAR TO GOD ALMIGHTY IF YOU SAY ONE MORE WORD ABOUT ME AND DEMIRAS HAVING AN AFFAIR I WILL STRIP YOU OF THE TITLE AND FIRE YOU RIGHT NOW! YOU got yourself into this mess and YOU can get yourself out of it if you're the great champion you tell everyone you are! I AM SICK OF THE WHINING! You WILL go through with this match on Sunday or you can find yourself another job. END OF STORY!"
With that she slams her microphone down and looks to leave but Hotbody drops on the ground and grabs her leg refusing to let go and actually BEGS to cancel the match. It's quite the pathetic scene. Finally, Benton kicks him off and simply shakes her head. Hotbody is FURIOUS. "You know what? Forget favoritism and incompetence; the main reason you're doing all of this is because YOU'RE A VINDICTIVE BITCH!!!"
Benton walks back towards Hotbody and leans into his mic and simply says, "And don't you forget it." With that she takes her leave ignoring Hotbody's continued pleas. Finally he gives up and turns his attention to Zed Jones and puts the blame on him. "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! All you had to do last week was beat Jordan Demiras! THAT'S ALL YOU HAD TO DO! YOU HAD ONE JOB!!! I'M SURROUNDED BY MORONS!" Zed gives Hotbody an annoyed look but Hotbody isn't finished. "DON'T LOOK AT ME THAT WAY! YOU SCREWED UP!!! YOU SCREWED ME!!!" Zed looks really uncomfortable and simply walks away from Hotbody leaving the champion alone and in disbelief.
Fifth Match: The Royal Effect vs. The Wasteland
How about some quality tag team action after all of that drama? This is designed for The Royal Effect's benefit as they look to bounce back into the thick of things. McKay gets the pin on Drakken after the Mass Effect. *****, 97% overall. I mean...damn,
Sixth Match: WWE Intercontinental Champion Brandon Reigns vs. Mathias
Reigns also wants to BUILD MOMENTUM going into his title defense on Sunday. He mouths off from time to time at Kyle Jacobs via the cameras. He gets a count out win here but doesn't have time to celebrate as Kyle Jacobs makes an appearance and chases him out of the ring. ****1/2, 91% overall.
MAIN EVENT: Quentin McDaniels vs. Haven
Two of the participants in Night of Champions' main event go head-to-head here. McDaniels makes it a point to call out Haven on his lack of a singles title to his name in contrast to the other competitors and continues to claim that he's not afraid of him. It's a moot point as Haven does a good job of simply pounding the shit out of McDaniels regardless. It's a nice dramatic affair that ends when Haven looks for the Sting of Solace but Butch Fleming drags him out for the DQ. McDaniels is NOT happy with this and gets in the face of the champion. They put aside their squabbling to deal with a recovering Haven but Noah Carmichael runs down to make things crazier and we have ourselves a four way brawl! *****, 94% overall.
Overall show rating: 91%
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