WWE RAW Report for April 9th Bridgeport, Connecticut Show

WWE presented Monday Night RAW live from Bridgeport, Connecticut yesterday with a night of action leading towards the Backlash pay per view later this month. Before the show begun, we knew of three matches/segments. Shawn Michaels would battle Randy Orton to determine the number one contender for John Cena's WWE Championship. Mick Foley would have a special Make-A-Wish guest. And lastly, Shane McMahon would confront Bobby Lashley, the man who shaved his father bald.

The show kicked off with Shane McMahon in the ring upset at the recent turn of events surrounding his father. He vowed to restore the pride and respect of the McMahon name and made a match between himself and ECW World Champion Bobby Lashley for the title. It would be the main event. Lashley made his way to the ring and added a stipulation that if he were to win, he would shave Shane's head bald. Umaga tried to get involved in all this by Shane wanted none of it and forced Armando Alejandro Estrada and Umaga away.

In women's action, Mickie James teamed with Candice Michelle against WWE Women's Champion Melina and Victoria. The quick match ended after Mickie DDT'd Victoria (it was a sick looking DDT, similar to the type Tommy Dreamer use to give RVD back in the old ECW). Your winners, Mickie James and Candice Michelle.

Mick Foley made his first appearance of the night, along with Michael Pena. Pena is a young boy who was named honourary RAW General Manager for the night thanks to the Make-A-Wish foundation's relationship with WWE. They interact with Highlanders and Maria backstage.

The next match was another tag, but it was to determine the number one contenders for the World Tag Team Champions. The winners will face the Hardy Boys for the titles at Backlash. Ric Flair and Carlito were in the ring before the bout and hyped the latest Four Horseman DVD. Their opponents were Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch. At the end, Flair was knocked out of the ring and Murdoch and Cade hit their finisher on Carlito. Cade & Murdoch pinned Carlito to win the match and the title shot. After the match, Carlito stood back up and was visibly upset. He stormed out of the ring and backstage.

In the main event of hour one, Shawn Michaels fought Randy Orton. Midway through the contest, Edge came down to ringside. Orton was upset and was constantly shouting at him to leave. This was a surprisingly long TV match, lasting nearly twenty minutes (through commercials). The end came once the original ref was knocked out by accident by Michaels. Both Orton and Michaels ended up on the outside. Orton hit his finisher, the RKO, on Michaels on the outside. Edge hit a spear on Orton and threw him back in the ring. Both guys were back in the ring and out until a new ref came down. Orton and Michaels got back up before the count of ten. Michaels hit the superkick and fell on Orton. The second ref counted to three and pointed towards Michaels as winner. The first ref pointed towards Orton as winner and we had confusion. The point of the end was both guys had their shoulders counted down and Edge was ecstatic as he now thinks he's the real number one contender.

Michael Pena, along with Foley, meets Val Venis, Super Crazy and Cryme Tyme backstage. Johnny Nitro scowls at Foley and storms away from the kid. The Coach comes in and points out he's the one with the power and dismisses the kid. Edge interrupts before Pena and Foley could tell Coach something.

The World Tag Team Champion Hardy Boys defeated Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas in a quick tag. Matt Hardy pinned Shelton Benjamin after his brother Jeff hit the swanton bomb.

Up next was Edge's talk show, "The Cutting Edge" with guest WWE Champion John Cena. Before Cena can come out, Orton and Shawn Michaels enter the ring and proclaim they deserve the shot at Cena at Backlash. Edge feels the same way about himself. The Champ eventually makes his way down and criticizes each of the three challengers. The Coach comes out and makes the main event for Backlash as Cena versus Edge & Randy Orton in a handicap match. The man who gets the pinfall or submission is the new champ. Then, Mick Foley along with young Michael Pena make their way into the arena. Pena as GM for the night changes that plan and makes the official main event for Backlash. John Cena will defend the WWE Championship against Edge, Randy Orton and Shawn Michaels in a fatal four way.

The main event was next with Bobby Lashley defending the ECW World Title against Shane McMahon with his hair on the line. Shane took it to the champ early on until Lashley nailed a big belly-to-belly suplex. Shane McMahon wanted no more and deliberately punched the referee to get the disqualification. Umaga with Estrada and Vince McMahon race down to ringside to attack Lashley. Umaga hits his avalanche on Lashley. Shane McMahon cracked a steel chair on Lashley's skull, opening him up. Umaga punched away and opened the wound even more. Vince McMahon took the mic and proclaimed at Backlash, Lashley will defend the ECW Title against Umaga, Shane McMahon and Vince McMahon in a fatal four way.

Hysterically, at the end of all this, the crowd began chanting "boring." They probably were not happy with the fact Shane McMahon lost, then forgot about the hair stipulation. In any event, it's odd they booked two fatal four ways for titles at Backlash. There was one pretty good match (although with a gimmick ending), Carlito is back being angry and Cena has to contend with three guys at once after his title. Next week, RAW will be live on the USA Network television station from Milan, Italy. It will be the first WWE television RAW show ever from Italy. There should be a great crowd over in Europe (the following week, RAW will take place in London, England).