End of Raw....who the hell's the champ?

[blair4107]

Okay so the rules of the match were if Batista did not show up to defend his title it would be awarded to Randy Orton...and Batista did not show up. First off how does it make sense that the ref would get to the count of 8 then see the ambulance on the screen and stops counting? Had it been a normal match and Batista was AT the stage he wouldn't stop counting so why? Then when it isn't even Batista why didn't the ref keep counting? Batista didn't show, so by the rules Randy Orton is champ... but he isn't?

I get the whole bringing HHH back idea but shouldn't they at least close the book on Batista? I mean really, they KNOW he is going to be taking time off after only being back for like 2 months, and they leave RAW with him keeping the title? So what was the point in the entire night? I mean if they were going to "injure" him anyway why not let the title pass naturally? Or just have him come out and relinquish the title because he was already injured and it would have been the FACE thing to do.

Next Monday will be the 3 hour RAW, why I have no idea, and all 3 major titles will be competed for so how is this going to work now? Had they let Randy just have the title last night he could defend it against HHH, it's a hard match to call since passing the title to HHH would seem almost seemless from Batista but at the same time if Priceless beats the Colons Monday (just guessing it'll defended monday since they made a point of pointing out they were the number 1 contenders) then I'd bet they'd put the title back on Orton anyway so that Legacy has the major titles but we'll see I suppose.

RAW...no natural finishes to matches since '08!

 

[RatedRKO93]

well my best guess at this moment in time is that batista is still the champ because the ref stoped counting witch was fuckin stupid and im not sure why he did but techniclly randy orten should be the champion via forfiet but im pretty sure its still batista. Next mondey they'll probably announce it being vacent due to batista's injury than they'll have a battle royal for it later on in the night.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

Batista is still the champ because the referee stopped the 10-count as he saw the ambulance was back. I don't know what they are going to do about next week's championship match but it looks like it may be Orton vs. HHH unless Batista makes it out there which I highly doubt.

 

[TheOneBigWill]

Vacant. Obviously.

I thought about writing a Raw review, then thought ya know, it's gonna likely turn into one big rant on how the show ended without a defining Champion being known.

Fact is, the official got to like 8-9, then stopped because he seen an ambulance. The fucking rule stated Batista had to be in the ring by a 10 count. Not possibly pulling into the arena, at the very last fucking second. So unofficially, I'm sure Randy Orton will claim over the week at House Shows that he's the Champion.

But come next Monday night, or even as soon as this Thursday on Superstars (not likely though) regardless, my guess is next Monday we'll either get a huge Multi-man Main Event to crown a new Champion, involving Randy Orton, M.V.P, Triple H and possibly others such as Miz, Cena, Big Show.. I could wishfully hope Edge, but likely it'll be Orton coming out on top.

Which if that happens, would make ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE as to why they went ahead with not just letting Legacy injure Batista inside the Cage, instead of having the title switch hands.

 

[Athena]

I usually just read the posts on here and never actually post myself, but the ending to last night's raw was just so illogical that I had to register.

Onebigwill is right - why in the name of god would the referee stop counting because an ambulance suddenly pulled up in the arena? And if the creative team knew that Batista was going to have to go under the knife on Tuesday, why would they put him over Orton at ER and have him win the title? IT MAKES NO SENSE.

It reminds me of a situation last year, where Boreista beat Jericho for the WWE title, only to lose it to him on Raw the following week. What was the point? A title switch just for the sake of it? It didn't make sense back then, and it certainly doesn't make sense now.

To answer the question, it's probably going to be Orton vs. HHH next week for the title. The match will most likely end up a no contest or a DQ from legacy interference, which will set up a match at the bash (which coincidentally has Batista on the official poster) for the title.

Yawn. Thank god Smackdown's fresh

 

[Collier1505]

Isn't it obvious guys???

Next week it will probably be a match where HHH will face Randy for the WWE title. If not that then there will be a battle royal or Batista will defend which is crazy since he got a torn bicep and needs time off. So those are your two choices...

Development screwed up. They either...
A) should have let Orton retain and Batista would not have title or
B) let the 10 count happen and there you go Orton will win

 

[Lee]

Isn't it obvious guys???

Next week it will probably be a match where HHH will face Randy for the WWE title. If not that then there will be a battle royal or Batista will defend which is crazy since he got a torn bicep and needs time off. So those are your two choices...

I count three, but I am just nitpicking.

WWE.com says that all three titles will be on the line next week, so I do see some sort of major match maybe a mini tournament. I checked what wwe.com said about the current champion and it says batista, however it does say the colons are still tag champions.

 

[bluejt16]

I count three, but I am just nitpicking.

WWE.com says that all three titles will be on the line next week, so I do see some sort of major match maybe a mini tournament. I checked what wwe.com said about the current champion and it says batista, however it does say the colons are still tag champions.

what are you on about? why wouldn't the colons be champs? they didn't have a title match...

 

[blair4107]

Vacant. Obviously.

I thought about writing a Raw review, then thought ya know, it's gonna likely turn into one big rant on how the show ended without a defining Champion being known.

Fact is, the official got to like 8-9, then stopped because he seen an ambulance. The fucking rule stated Batista had to be in the ring by a 10 count. Not possibly pulling into the arena, at the very last fucking second. So unofficially, I'm sure Randy Orton will claim over the week at House Shows that he's the Champion.

But come next Monday night, or even as soon as this Thursday on Superstars (not likely though) regardless, my guess is next Monday we'll either get a huge Multi-man Main Event to crown a new Champion, involving Randy Orton, M.V.P, Triple H and possibly others such as Miz, Cena, Big Show.. I could wishfully hope Edge, but likely it'll be Orton coming out on top.

Which if that happens, would make ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE as to why they went ahead with not just letting Legacy injure Batista inside the Cage, instead of having the title switch hands.

Exactly my point, even if you give the ref the benefit of the doubt on waiting to see if Batista were back there is still no excuse for him to not go back to counting once Batista ISN'T even there. I mean really is the ending "oh shit, it's the GAME, LETS GET OUT OF HERE!" C'mon, please.

I assumed since they were showing the ambulance they'd at least have Batista near the stage, but once the ref saw that he wasn't there was no conceivable way Batista could get to the ring in time, he had literally 2 seconds. Instead he waited, saw HHH, then high-tailed it for NO reason.

They easily could have had Vickie put Edge in the match as a triple threat, somewhat guaranteeing a new champ and then just having Vickie somehow get fired. They could have postponed the "divorce" one week and just had Edge win the title, move to RAW, then have HHH come out and do EXACTLY what he did to Orton. Punk takes Edge's heel spot on Smackdown and RAW gets another heel to face undoubtedly John Cena unfortunately, although it would be perfect timing to bring M.V.P. to the stage (after losing the US title in a clean match to Kofi Kingston and showing respect) and had M.V.P. vs Edge for the WWE Title coming up. Or possibly even have Christian move to RAW as well after losing the ECW title to Tommy Dreamer. There, easily fixed, both titles matches taken care of and a guaranteed match between HHH and Orton, just not for the title; but no, instead they go with something that you can't even understand. I literally had to check WWE.com to see if Batista was still officially champ.

 

[Lee]

what on earth, I could have sworn it was a tag title match last night.

Anyways wwe is saying Batista is the champion, so by that logic Batista is the champion. It's stupid that they've done it like that, changing the rules of the match afterwards. It's almost as in, right Batista has 10 seconds, unless of course Triple H interferes then way can keep him the champion.

 

[Sykes]

I normally dont post either, but I have to let out how idiotic this was...

RAW was actually pretty well, a good opening assaulting Batista, Edge getting pops after pwning Vicky (which was funny as hell!), and the night went well except for after the tag match (legacy v colons).

most of you already said it yourselves..the ref stopped the count, and saw the titan (HHH) comes, and so he runs out..and then Rhodes and Dibiase goes at him one at a time..yeah, thats such an ambush right there.. and then HHH maraudes Orton and practically destroys him, and the titan roars and stands defiant. Wonder where this will now go...

Also, did anyone else notice that Legacy was still laying on the ramp during the rest of the scene..10 mins laying there after getting 1-shotted with the sledgehammer?

 

[WOLFPACK0524]

I wonder if MVP knew HHH was coming back. He wanted to be in the title hunt for the 3-for-all but with HHH back and no GM, what will be Raw's future champ and GM. All these Raw changes, you wonder what is really going on?

Is anyone really surprised that there were holes in the storyline? There were mistakes all over Raw last night. Lillian with the IC announcement instead of Kofi being US champ, Michael Cole saying the wrong Diva title in the match and saying the wrong competitor in the ring during the 6-man match.

The Diva Title match was sloppy at the end with the Maryse cover. Really?!

The MVP pinning of Matt Hardy seemed a bit sloppy too. Has anyone also gotten tired of MVPs ring attire (not the thread for it, just had to say).

It also seemed like the camera man was not in place for the BIG reveal. I think the final scene was supposed to have the camera right there with the ambulance backing up and the back getting kicked open to show HHH. The camera running to the ambulance was a big error in the reveal. he ref stopping the count was a big error too. It reminded me of the WCW first blood cage match where (I think) Hogan bled in the first minute and the announcers changed the stipulation mid-match.

If something in the WWE reminds anyone of WCW, there is a problem.

 

[[email protected]]

You are all right for all intents and purposes Batista is sitill champ... And didn't Michael Cole Mention about 3 1/4's of the way through the program that each title will be defended in a scramble style match? I guess I heard two difeerent sentences strewn together since I was on my way out the door to go work... If they were smart (creatively that is) maybe they shold prolong this maybe to Summerslam and have a WM4 style tournament, but if they do we all know who it will come down to Orton vs. Triple H, although IMO i think it should be MVP the next guy to go up but that is just me...

 

[Megadeth]

I think something got really screwed up in the timing of the end of Raw. If they had waited to hit Batista's music until the ref had got to 8 or whenever he quit counting and that being the reason he stopped then I could kind of understand. The music starting would imply he was on the way to the ring and be slightly more reasonable then just seeing an ambulance on the tron. Either way the ref should have kept counting but the again they rewrite the "rule book" whenever it is convenient for storyline purposes so I am not really surprised. They must be setting up for something big on RAW next week. I see a tournament happening but that is only my guess. It is the only reason I can understand why they gave it to Batista in the first place so they can officially have the title vacant for a tourney.

 

[Kip The Fury]

I dont know if this was explained or not but was Orton supposed to win the title on a count out? I thought the title couldnt change hands on a DQ or count out unless it was specified as a stipulation.

Edit : Maybe i should read up a bit first, apparently it was stipulated.

But anyway moving past my little blonde moment, it seems stupid that the ref would stop counting when he saw the ambulance pull up at the arena, Batistas not the kinda guy who could sprint to the ring and make it before the count. Technically the ref should have finished the count and let orton do the cowardly heel bit and flee the arena. But as seems the norm these days HHH needs to feed his ego and pummel legacy for the 95th time...

 

[Sykes]

I dont know if this was explained or not but was Orton supposed to win the title on a count out? I thought the title couldnt change hands on a DQ or count out unless it was specified as a stipulation.

It was specified that he would win the title by countout/forfeit; but taht obviously didnt happen..

 

[blair4107]

Yeah, it was requested early on by Orton, accepted about halfway though by Vickie right before she quit and got dumped, and then Orton RESTATED it right before the match. He even had the stupid title there, there was no good reason not to either have the title change or have Batista return. HHH's return and subsequent attack shouldn't have any effect on the stipulations of the match.

Honestly it was a stupid match to set up after the attack anyway and then they abandon it in the last 10 minutes of the show.

 

[AndarielHalo]

Idiotic? RAW? Nevar! [/sarcasm]


Since the ending is in doubt, I think you should play it safe in saying Triple H is WWE Champion now. Then next week it will change hands again. Maybe a Scramble match a few weeks later for a half-dozen more changes. By the end of the year, expect the Big Show to have it, and be feuding with Mike the Miz and Triple H

 

[thelcon21]

The end of Raw was terrible and predictable. All I know is were about to get another boring and predictable Triple H and Randy Orton feud. Come on Vince this has been done 100 times already and about 50 times this past year. Do we need to watch Triple H make Legacy look like chumps again? The poor ratings isn't Randy Orton's fault it is the terrible product the WWE is putting out every Monday.

When I read that Batista was hurt I really was hoping that Shawn Michaels was going to return this week to give a fresh face to Raw. Instead we had the same ending to Raw that we had leading up to Wrestlemania and post Wrestlemania. I just hope this doesn't result in another long boring Triple H title run. Seriously how many title reigns are they going to give this guy? If they don't want the title on Randy Orton than have a battle royal for the title and give it to someone new and see if you can develop another main event star. If they can't tell from their ratings post Wrestlemania people don't care to see Triple H, Batista, John Cena and Randy Orton always in the damn spotlight. How many times can we see Triple H vs Orton or Orton vs Cena or Big Show vs Cena or Batista vs Orton?

 

[BigDaddyDawg]

Ok, last night's RAW was indeed VERY sloppily done overall. That's a shame, since it happened in my home state of Louisiana and in a city where I used to live, Lafayette.

Here's what I saw that led to my opinion:

1) Throughout the entire show, neither Lawler nor Cole made reference to Lafayette. EVER! They said the event was at The Cajundome, which it was, but you saw no exterior shots of the arena or the city, like you do on other broadcasts. And they never referenced the city at all. That's a shame, because Lafayette is a great city and should have gotten some rub.

2) During the Batista attack segment to start the show, when Orton first came out, he looked like an idiot with that wide-eyed/scared/glazed look on his face. If he's going for the totally psycho angle, he's doing a half-ass job at it. He needs to change his facial expressions, IMO. He needs to be more evil or "viper" like, as they're calling him.

3) Lillian Garcia fumbled throughout the night - 1) Referring to Kofi Kingston as the INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPION when he's the U.S. Champ. 2) Hesitating on the Miz's and John Cena's intros for their match and not handing the mic over to Miz for his rant. I don't know if she was caught off guard legit, but it looked horrible. 3) Announcing for the Orton-Batista match that it was Orton calling in his rematch clause. I've never heard that announced by a ring announcer EVER for a title rematch. We know it's a rematch clause stip.

4) During Vicki Guerrero's resignation, Edge coming out to the ring to ask for a divorce was wrong. Vicki was already resigning supposedly for the reasons stated (even though we know now that she's legit leaving the company), and the divorce angle was teased earlier. Maybe Edge appearing on the TitanTron or something, but Vince needs to make up his mind about this "keeping the brands separate" deal we keep hearing about. Edge is on Smackdown. Vicki could have appeared on SD to tell Edge she quit as Raw GM and then he could have dropped the "divorce" bomb there. I do admit that they played it right that Edge broke off the "marriage" because he was using her for her power, but that admittance almost... almost... made Vicki out as a face on her way out. Personally, I'm glad she's gone. She was a good heel character, but damn she is annoying and can't really act.

5) The whole ending segment was unnecessary and confusing. As discussed earlier, they totally disregarded the forfeit rules angle of the match, which are legit because they've done it before. But when the ref stopped his count at 8 just because the ambulance shows up, that was wrong. The ref should have counted up to 10 and given Orton the belt back, because Triple H never technically interfered. So, no DQ. Either Triple H should have come out of the crowd and attacked Orton before the 10 count for a DQ or Triple H could have gotten out of the ambulance (just cutting away to a head shot of him all of a sudden was stupid, stupid, stupid and took the drama out of his return) and proceeded to beat the holy hell out of Legacy. I figured they'd bring Trip back early with Batista's legit arm injury, but having him come back and decimate Legacy was wrong. They should have had him come out and attack, maybe catch Orton and then tell Orton that at the 3-hour Raw next week, it will be he and Orton for the title (even though I don't agree with that, but he's the boss' son-in-law, so of course he gets to run roughshod and do whatever he wants in creative, so it will probably happen).

That's just my opinion.

 

[AndarielHalo]

BigDaddyDawg, you put into sane words what I would end up being infracted for jibbering incoherently. The whole end segment did less for "OMG Triple H is back!" and more for "Wait, who's champion then?", and that is not good.

And Lilian Garcia has always been terrible, be it calling such names as "Shawn Michael", "Craaime Taaaime", "Sean Cenah", or her piss-poor recordings for the SvR video games that leads to all Raw matches featuring stilted announcing with lines sounding like they were recorded months apart, without any context behind them.

 

[xXxLuckyXIIIxXx]

After watching Raw this past monday I was not shocked... nobody was. Its getting repetitive this hole storyline with batista and randy orton could have ended with CM Punk cashing in the MITB and destroying batista it would have explained the injury and left room in the future for a new Punk/Batista fued . it also would have made a great heel vs heel fued betwwen a newly crowned heavy weight champion in CM Punk and the viper Randy Orton looking for revenge. With vicky gone they could have pooled Matt Hardy Regal and Punk to fued with Priceless.

 

[Nate DaMac]

Something nobody is mentioning, so if Batista was to make the 10 count they would have a match right? So with that being said, why were Ted and Cody still standing in the ring? When has a match ever started when there was other people in the ring? I didn't mind the end of Raw. I already said if they give the title right back to Orton I was done with Raw again. I'm glad they are going a different route. I think Big Dave will come out and relinquish the title, setting up a tourney or a battle royal. I am not a fan of HHH, but man did I enjoy that beatdown.

 

[Razor]

Triple H returned, attacking The Legacy and causing WWE Champion Batista vs. Randy Orton to end in a no contest

This^^^ I didn't read all the posts, because I'm not a mod and I don't have to. But yeah. As of now, Batista is champion.

Which, I'm sure, will end up on Monday with McMahon announcing some bumfuck ******ed Battle Royal for the title. Because, you know, we just have to hand the title to Orton. Instead of, say, having a King of the Ring tournament for the title. Would actually make the King of the Ring tournament mean something other than just giving a stuck Mid-carder a forced repackaging as "King," and the now obligatory feud with Lawler.

 

[CJ The Pirate]

Why does everything have to be spelt out for you simply... just let the mystery intrigue you in regard to which direction they're gonna go in.

Worst case scenario would be Orton Vs Triple H next week, winner takes the title. That could possibly work if they have a segment where Batista names Triple H as his surrogate combatant or something but how they'd do this I'm not sure. Batista looked weak last night and they don't need a hospital bed scene to add further damage. The character has enough trouble getting over as it is. There is no GM either so unless one is named (which I can't expect to be a quick procedure... and illogical as all the McMahon's are apparently incapacitated - forgetting the McMahon/Nuggets thing of course) but short of that, Triple H just getting a title shot would be ridiculous. He's beneath MVP and the Miz in the pecking order at the minute.

Another option I immediately thought of, and has been mentioned by a previous poster, would be a Battle Royal similar to the one where the Great Khali won the WHC a few years ago on Smackdown! The end result would be Triple H and Orton as the final two... possibly a rerun of the Royal Rumble (Lame but feasible)

I'd love it to come down to MVP and Matt Hardy or something and have one of the two take it. Although I don't actually think MVP is ready yet, he will be in a year or two and a reign now might benefit him... CM Punk has significantly improved since his first reign and I'm looking forward to this time around. It'd be quite refreshing to see WWE actually give both World titles to the future stars rather than relying on the experience of Triple H, Batista, Orton, Edge or Cena and others I can name and I'm sure you can. I'm sure it'd do wonders for the youth talents confidence in their company seeing their company put confidence in them.

That won't happen. But I'm happy with a vacated storyline... added to a potential Inmates running the asylum thing with No GM. It might be worth watching. Good weekend of wrestling for me.