April 3, 2006
Chicago, IL
*Video Highlights surrounding one of the most shocking Wrestlemania's ever!
*Pyro and Opening Video
JR- Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to WWE RAW! We come to you live from Chicago!!! The site of Wrestlemania 22, where less than 24 hours ago, Ric Flair claimed his 17th World Championship! I'm Jim Ross alongside Jerry "the King" Lawler!
King- That's right JR, and then Flair announced that he was retiring and vacating the title! The locker room is in frenzy, what will go down here tonight???
Here comes the Money!!!$$$$$
Shane McMahon makes his way to the ring. You can see he is still feeling the effects of that vicious chairshot he took from HBK during the Street Fight.
Shane- For those of you who don't know, Ric Flair cashed in his WWE Championship opportunity and won the WWE Title at the end of Wrestlemania. He then, to my surprise, and most likely the rest of the world's, announced that he was vacating the title and retiring. So Ric, come on out here, you want to give up your title. Go right ahead.
WOOOOOOOO!
Flair- WOOO! Last night at Wrestlemania 22, I did it all! WOOOO! I became Mr. Money in the Bank! WOOO! I shocked the world, when I, the Nature Boy, WOO! Won the WWE Championship and became a 17 Time Champion!! But......My gas tank has run out, I'm a 57 year old man. My body cannot take much more punishment. I feel that I am not in good enough shape to honor the WWE Championship. That is why, Shane, all of you in Flair Country, I am vacating the WWE Championship.
Flair proceeds to hand the belt to Shane McMahon, crowd gives standing ovation and loud WOOO! chants
MY TIME IS NOW!
Cena makes his way to the ring, greeted by major heat and a Cena Sucks chant
Cena- Whoa, whoa, whoa........Mr. Wooooo! (Crowd gives a Woooo!) You shouldn't vacate that title, because I want to BEAT YOUR ASS tonight in a rematch, tonight! You screwed me after I beat that Queen of Queens, Triple H and I want my.......
Behold the King! The King of Kings!
Triple H makes his way down to a loud pop, enters the ring
JR- This ring is getting pretty crowded, looks like these egos are on a collision course.
King- Who deserves to be Champion???? The Game is about to speak!
HHH- Shane! I want a shot at that title again! Last night was a fluke, under estimating this poser Cena. The people want me as WWE Champion, so give them what they want. I have carried this company on my back for years, I deserve an opportunity to claim my 11th Championship and go back on my throne!
Cena- HHH, shut the HELL up! (crowd boos) You have no place here, you lost, you tapped out to me. You don't deserve another chance. You and the rest of Chicago can Kiss my ASS! Shane do what's right and give me my title.
You Think You Know Me?
Edge- Hold It! Hold It! Hold It! No, no. Shane, Shane, these two idiots both lost at Wrestlemania! Who was the one that won, I did! I beat a hardcore legend! I am a former champion! I AM MOST DESERVING! The Rated-R Superstar should be WWE Cha.......
Shane- SHUT UP!!!! ALL OF YOU! I have been thinking of a solution of this since Flair announced his retirement last night. Over the next four weeks, we will have a series of matches, a tournament if you will. Numerous RAW Superstars, 16 to be exact, will be in a series of matchups to determine the next WWE Champion!The tournament will conclude at Backlash PPV, where the semi-finals and finals will take place to crown a new champion. All of you are in the tournament, but are not competing tonight. Cena, HHH, Edge, you all have the night off so would you please EXIT or face expulsion from this tournament!
Crowd cheers the announcement of Tournament, but boo's the fact that HHH, Cena, and Edge won't fight. The three stare down as they leave the ring. Flair follows them to a loud ovation and waves goodbye!
JR- Oh my God, King! WWE Championship Tournament! This is huge!
King- JR, I am pumped up! But, with HHH, Edge, and Cena all off tonight, who will be the 8 Superstars competing???
Shane-Ladies and Gentlemen, there will be four matches tonight, All tournament matches with the winners advancing to the Quarterfinals which will be 2 RAWs from now. The first match will be Y2J and this man!
Just Close Your Eyes
Christian appears to loud cheers and makes his way to the ring
Christian- Holla to all my peeps out there, its great to back and I guarantee I will be the next WWE Champion!
Break Down the Walls!
Jericho makes his way to the ring as we will have our first round tournament match when we return!
COMMERCIALS
First Round WWE Championship Tournament Match
Christian vs Y2J
Christian and Y2J have a stare down in the middle of the ring before they lock up. In a test of strength, both men are basically equal. Y2J gives Christian a knee to the gut and puts him in a headlock. Christian counters and throws Jericho into the ropes and clothesline him. Christian and Y2J put on a technical show. Christian gets a near fall after a superplex of the top rope. Christian goes for the Unprettier but Y2J counters into the Walls of Jericho. Mick Foley appears at the top of the ramp with a flaming barbed wire bat! Y2J breaks the hold and starts yelling at Foley when Christian rolls up Y2J for the win!
Winner-Christian by Pinfall
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JR- Christian is the first to advance in the tournament! But King, how do you think Y2J will react to Mick Foley's distraction?
King- Y2J shouldn't have gotten involved in that Hardcore match if he didn't think Foley would remember it
Backstage, Trish Stratus is in the office of Shane McMahon
Trish- I want my rematch with the psychotic bitch Mickie James! TONIGHT!
Shane- You want your rematch Trish, you can have it toni........
Victoria- Excuse me sister, but you lost last night, you have to wait like the rest of us divas had too. Shane, I want a match with Mickie James for the title tonight.
Shane- Tell you what, next week on RAW, it will be you vs Trish Stratus for the #1 Contendership to the Women's Title.
Victoria- What's one more bitch to go through anyway?
Trish- You little ****e!
Trish attacks Victoria as they begin rolling around in Shane's office. Shane just sits back and opens a bag of popcorn.
King-Cat Fight! Or Dog fight with all those Puppies! woohoo!
JR-Shane has just announced the other three matches for tonight. It will be Chris Masters vs Kane, Carlito vs Big Show, and in the Main Event it will be HBK vs Umaga!
COMMERCIALS
Chris Masters is on his way to the ring as we return from break. Masters raises his newly won World Tag Team Title in the air when Pyro explodes and Kane makes his way to the ring.
1st Round WWE Championship Tournament Match
Chris Masters vs Kane
Kane holds nothing back as one can clearly see that he is very angry over losing the tag titles the night before. Kane goes after Masters with strong right hands to the jaw. Kane whips Masters into the ropes and nails him with a huge boot to the face. Kane picks up Masters and goes to whip him into the corner but Masters counters it into a nice splash. Masters sets Kane up for a suplex and nails it! Masters calls for the Masterlock and almost has it locked in when Kane flips him over his back. What pure strength! Kane calls for the Chokeslam and nails it for the win!
Winner- Kane by Pinfall
JR- Kane was purely dominant in this match. I know I wouldn't want to be his opponent in the quarterfinals. He is a man on a mission.
King- After watching this performance, Kane is clearly a contender to win the WWE Championship.
JR-In just a few moments, Carlito will be facing Big Show in our third match of the evening. Last night, (clips of WM22 Match shown) Carlito played a key roll as he gave a Backcracker to Show to keep him from saving Kane who was in the Masterlock.
King- Carlito will need more than a Backcracker tonight to overcome the Big Show.
Welllllll, Well It's the Big Show!
The Big Show makes his way to the ring, with a dark scowl across his face.
I Spit in the Face of People who don't want to be Cool.
Carlito carries an apple in one hand and his World Tag Team Belt in another hang as he makes his way to the ring