WWE 2007: Putting the Edge back in

Credit: PW Insider

- Expect Vince McMahon's announcement to revolve around the new RAW general manager. There were plans to either continue the Vince McMahon death storyline or to introduce a new McMahon to the "family". Thse plans have been scrapped as many of the wrestlers and backstage staff did not think the idea would get over with the crowd. Vince McMahon, for once, listened to them.

- Current plans are for either William Regal or Stephanie McMahon to take the RAW general manager spot. There are also plans to further the Cena/ Orton storyline.

- There are numerous plans to bring in a number of new wrestlers onto the WWE roster. These include calling up development workers, and signing new wrestlers. We here at PW Insider can exclusively report that the WWE are in talks with Chris Jericho to return before Summerslam, and maybe face Triple H when he returns.

- The WWE have offered developmental contracts to both Rebecca Knox and Jigsaw.

Monday Night RAW Results

Dark Match's
William Regal defeated Sandman in 6:50 by pinfall with a Regal Cutter. (B-)
Shelton Benjamin defeated Rory McAllistair in 4:35 by pinfall with a T-Bone Suplex. (C)

Main Show

RAW kicks off with Vince McMahon making his way to the ring. There are no mentions of the fake death angle at all. Vince makes a few cheap pops about the fans, before announcing that he is hear tonight on RAW to announce the new general manager of the RAW brand. He says that it was obvious who to choose, before introducing Shane McMahon as the new General Manager of RAW. Shane thanks his father, and also announces that tonight's main event will be the WWE Heavyweight Champion John Cena teaming up with Mr. Kennedy to take on Randy Orton and Carlito. Before Shane and Vince can leave however some familiar music hits as Stone Cold Steve Austin comes out, which gets a massive reacion from the crowd. Austin tells Vince that Shane does not have what it takes to run the show, and that he is going to prove it (The crowd chant WHAT! throughout). Austin then proceeds to hit both McMahons with the Stone Cold Stunner, before having a beer bash in the middle of the ring.


Snitsky defeated Cody Rhodes in 7:38 by pinfall with a Big Boot.
A decent match considering who was in it. Cody Rhodes put on a good performance, but was essentially jobbed out to Snitsky.
Rating: C

The camera goes backstage, where Bobby Lashley is shown arriving, much to the surprise of everyone in the crowd.

Jeff Hardy is interviewed backstage by Maria Kanellis, where he hypes his match against Umaga later tonight for the Intercontinental title.

Val Venis defeated Santino Marella in 12:33 by pinfall with a Money Shot.
A suprisingly great match. The action was back and forth, and it looked like anybody could win. Venis looked good, and put on the better performance. Venis also got a suprising win over Santino.
Rating: B-

Post Match, Val Venis is celebrating his victory in the ring. Santino Marella snaps and attacks, beating Venis down into the mat, before grabbing a chair. Marella blasts Venis in the arm multiple times, leaving him in pain as Santino leaves.

A hype video for the return of Triple H plays, hyping his in ring return at Summerslam.

King Booker comes out, and calls Jerry Lawler into the ring. Booker insults Lawler, but before Lawler can do anything, King Booker pulls a sledgehammer from under his royal robe, blasting Lawler in the head with the sledgehammer. Booker then screams at Lawler that he would end his career next week.

London & Kendrick defeated Cade & Murdoch in 10:50 when Brian Kendrick defeated Trevor Murdoch by pinfall following interference from Cryme Time.
A good tag team match, although it was basically power against speed. The match was back and forth, until Cryme Time made their way to the ring, holding Cade & Murdoch's bags. Cryme Time proceeded to auction Cade & Murdoch's stuff, which distracted them long enough for Kendrick to roll up Murdoch for the pin.
Rating: B-

Bobby Lashley's music hits, and he comes to the ring to a huge cheer. Lashley talks about Mr. Kennedy trying to end his career last week, before saying that it did not work. Lashley then challenged Mr. Kennedy to a match, there was no sign of Mr. Kennedy however. Lashley stormed backstage to look for Kennedy.

WWE Intercontinental Championship Match
Umaga defeated Jeff Hardy in 13:59 by pinfall with a Samoan Spike. Umaga retains the WWE Intercontinental title.
A pretty uneventful match. Both Umaga and Hardy put on a good performance, and Umaga is improving in wrestling skill. In a good spot, Jeff went for a suicide dive, but it was reversed into a samoan drop. Umaga looked like a monster heel, and the crowd really bought into his performance.
Rating: B

A hype video for Summerslam is played. It hypes the WWE Heavyweight title match between John Cena and Randy Orton, as well as Rey Mysterio's return.

John Cena and Mr. Kennedy defeated Randy Orton and Carlito in 12:42 when Randy Orton was disqualified after hitting John Cena with a chair.
This match was easilly the best of the night. Kennedy and Cena looked like they could work together early on, but that ended when Kennedy blasted Cena with a low blow, which was followed by the steel chair shot from Orton.
Rating: B+

Post Match, Randy Orton, Carlito and Mr. Kennedy attack John Cena in the ring, but Bobby Lashley runs in to make the save before to much damage is done. As RAW ends, Lashley and Cena stare down Orton, Kennedy and Carlito.

Overall Rating: B

Monday Night RAW news

Credit: PW Insider

- The reason for Stone Cold appearing on RAW is to set up a big storyline that will see Stone Cold taking control of RAW. Current plans will see Stone Cold take over RAW, and feud with the McMahons over the coming months.

- Bobby Lashley's injury is not as bad as originally thought. He will not compete in any long matches over the coming weeks, but will feature in interviews and angles. His feud with Mr. Kennedy will not continue, and he will enter into a feud with Carlito.

- Expect to see Val Venis on RAW alot more often from now on. He is being pushed into the midcard, and his feud with Santino Marella is only expected to last a month or two. Marella's heel turn on RAW was a huge success, as he recieved alot of heat from the fans.

- There is still no news on who will take on Triple H at Summerslam. Current plans are for either King Booker or Chris Jericho, who the WWE are currently in talks with.

Credit: PW Insider

- It looks like the WWE will not be extending Mark Henry's contract, which expires in October. The WWE do not have any use for him, so expect him to be written of TV in the next two months.

- Paul Burchill has been called up to the SmackDown brand, and will simply be going under the name Burchill. He will only be used in Dark matches for now, but expect to see him on SmackDown TV very soon.

- WWE have signed Female wrestler Rebecca Knox to a developmental contract. She will report to OVW next week.

- WWE have extended SmackDown's contract with CW for another year.

- The OVW Heavyweight title changed hands last night, as Sylvan defeated Mike Kruel for the gold. This has poured more evidence behind the claims that he will soon move onto the main WWE roster soon. We have been informed by our sources that there are no plans for Kruel to be called up anytime soon.


Credit: Wrestling Observer

- Paul Heyman has officially signed a contract extension with the WWE, with the main reason being that a number of the ECW lockeroom have asked for him to return to TV. His return will be used to push Tommy Dreamer.

- Expect next week's saturday night's main event to feature a CM Punk/ Tommy Dreamer match.

- It looks like the ECW originals will be shown more prominantly on ECW on Sci-fi. They are to be pushed higher up the card, which has been seen as both Tommy Dreamer and Stevie Richards have been pushed recently.

PW Insider

Breaking News: Update on Drug Trial's

We have recieved news on the results from the drug and steroid trials that the WWE recently ordered. The following tested positive for illegal substances:

Balls Mahoney
Bobby Lashley
Dave Batista
Jeff Hardy
Matt Striker
Nick "Eugene" Dinsmore
Marty "Boogeyman" Wright
Randy Orton
Rory McAllister
Sandman

All of these wrestlers have agreed to go into rehabilatation, and will be out of action for at least one month, although it could be much longer for a number of them.

This is another big blow to the WWE due to the recent injury crisis. You can expect to see alot of new talent on your screens in the coming week's because of this.

There will be an official announcement of WWE's official site later today.

Friday Night SmackDown Preview

This week on SmackDown we will find out who will be the new number one contender for the World Heavyweight Champion. Four wrestlers will compete, with the two that win their singles matches facing off at Saturday Night's Main Event. Kane will go one on one with Mark Henry, while Matt Hardy takes on Ric Flair.

Also on SmackDown...
United States Champion Montel Vontavious Porter takes on Finlay.
We will find out who will challenge Hornswoggle for the Cruiserweight title at Saturday Night's Main Event, when Jamie Noble takes on Jimmy Wang Yang and Shannon Moore.