WWE RAW

Chicago, Illinois
August 18, 2008
Results thanks to wwe.com

Hometown Heartbreak

By: Aubrey Sitterson
August 18, 2008

CHICAGO – When Raw rolled into World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk’s hometown on Monday night, the Straightedge Superstar was riding high after his successful title defense against JBL at SummerSlam. By the end of the night, however, things were looking more grim. Not only did General Manager Mike Adamle set an unprecedented “Championship Scramble” with Punk facing off against John Cena, Batista, Kane and JBL at Unforgiven, but the Straightedge Champion also suffered a defeat at the hands of Chris Jericho.

With no remorse
Though Raw’s main event saw him defeat the World Heavyweight Champion in a non-title match, Chris Jericho made an appearance earlier in the night as well. WWE’s first-ever Undisputed Champion addressed the events of SummerSlam, during which Jericho accidentally clobbered Shawn Michaels’ wife with a punch meant for HBK. Jericho urged The Showstopper to concentrate on comforting his family and stay at home.

Currently, it is unclear whether Michaels will take his rival’s advice. Following SummerSlam, in an exclusive interview with Michael Cole, HBK made clear his plans to go home and comfort his family, but seemed to have something else in mind as he intensely added “and then … then …”

Kane’s pRey
One of World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk’s most lethal Championship Scramble opponents, Kane, continued his reign of terror on Raw, and admitted to brutalizing Rey Mysterio, whose mask the Big Red Monster had been carrying around in a burlap sack. Kane claimed to have attacked the Master of the 619 for being a “fungus that grows in the marshes of your psyche.”

Soon after, Mysterio’s former tag team partner and good friend, Batista, rushed the ring and attacked the Big Red Monster. In spite of The Animal’s fury, Kane managed to gain the advantage due to Batista’s injured leg. Though he was unable to get the upper hand with Kane, Batista did fight through the injury sustained against John Cena at SummerSlam to defeat Paul Burchill in a match-up earlier in the night.

It takes a thief
Also picking up momentum leading up to the Championship Scramble was John Cena, who beat the odds by defeating World Tag Team Champions Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match. Before the match even began, Cena’s allies, Cryme Tyme, emerged and stole the coveted titles from the champions. Though they outnumbered the Chain Gang Commander, Rhodes & DiBiase’s arrogance got the best of them, allowing Cena to pick up the win and gain some matter of redemption following his SummerSlam loss to Batista.

Battle of the loudmouths
JBL, the fifth participant in the Championship Scramble also competed on Monday night, as the Longhorn Loudmouth faced off against another Superstar who loves to sound off: Jamie Noble. Though Noble brought his characteristic ferocity and tenacity, it wasn’t enough to defeat the self-proclaimed “wrestling god” JBL, who landed three powerful Clotheslines from Hell and was awarded the win after the referee was forced to end the match.

Electric “Glamarella”
Following their win at SummerSlam, the couple known as “Glamarella” are decked out in championship gold, with Santino Marella holding the Intercontinental Title and Beth Phoenix wearing the WWE Women’s Title around her waist. Santino was unable to continue his winning streak however, as he lost to D-Lo Brown by disqualification when The Glamazon interfered in the match, brazenly slapping D-Lo in the center of the ring.

Afterward, as chaos broke out, former Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston took revenge on Santino for his SummerSlam loss, doling out a beating to the Italian Superstar. Before the match, in a WWE.com exclusive, Santino and Beth gave their gold acceptance speech.

Also on Raw
Though they have both recently suffered defeat at the hands of Beth Phoenix, the team of former Women’s Champion Mickie James & Kelly Kelly rallied and defeated their opponents, Katie Lea Burchill & Jillian, putting an end to Jillian’s tone-deaf singing. Also, appearing for the first-time on Raw, Carlito’s little brother, Primo Colon spoke briefly with Mike Adamle before the GM rudely ran off to speak to John Cena.

Matches

Batista def. Paul Burchill

Mickie James & Kelly Kelly def. Katie Lea Burchill & Jillian

JBL def. Jamie Noble

John Cena def. World Tag Team Champions Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match

D-Lo Brown def. Intercontinental Champion Santino Marella by disqualification

Chris Jericho def. World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk in a non-title match