WWE Judgment Day (May 2007)

Original Airdate: May 20, 2007

From St. Louis, Missouri; Your Hosts are Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield, Joey Styles, and Tazz

Opening Match: Ric Flair v Carlito: They slug it out to start, with Flair dominating through chops. Backdrop sends Carlito bailing to the outside, but he manages to snap Flair's arm across the top rope when Ric goes after him. Inside, Carlito works said arm for an extended period, doing all sorts of basic (but effective) stuff. Dropkick to the arm gets two, and a (sloppy) hammerlock-slam gets two. Overhead armbar, but Flair escapes, so Carlito dropkicks him for two, then rams the arm into the corner. Flair throws chops to finally fight him off for a bit, but a corner whip is reversed, and Carlito backdrops him for two. Armbar grounds Flair again, and Carlito wrenches at the part. Ric throws more chops, and manages a snapmare to set up a stomp to the chest. Flair with more chops and a backelbow, followed by a backdrop. He clips Carlito's knee, so the young'un goes to the eyes, but Flair blocks the lungblower. Figure Four is applied, and we're done at 15:35. This was really long for what it was, with Carlito working the arm for what felt like forever. Not a BAD match, but one that overstayed its welcome by a good seven minutes - especially considering that all the arm work built to absolutely nothing, and Flair didn't have much other than chops for his comebacks. ¾*

ECW World Title Handicap Match: Vince McMahon, Umaga, and Shane McMahon v Bobby Lashley: Lashley cleans house right away, and beats the hell out of all three heels, before quickly finishing Shane off with the running powerslam at a brisk 1:15. Hey, at least it didn't drag on and on like the Backlash match. And so, Lashley celebrates with his new title - only for Vince to quickly inform him that the title can only change hands if he beats VINCE, since he was the defending champion. He must feel like Roddy Piper at Starrcade '96. This was less a match than an angle. DUD

Elijah Burke v CM Punk: Punk is sporting taped up ribs here. He works a headlock to start, so Burke swipes at the ribs to escape, but Punk keeps coming with right hands. Snapmare sets up a kick to the shoulder blades, and a bodyslam follows for two. Punk works a chinlock, but Burke is able to pound the ribs to escape. He tries a slam, but Punk blocks, and delivers an exploder suplex for two. Cross corner clothesline and a hanging vertical suplex get two, and CM goes back to that chinlock. Burke slugs free, but a cross corner whip gets reversed, and Punk hits a springboard bodypress for two. Burke goes to the ribs to shake him off again, and a backdrop ends with CM down on the outside. He beats the count onto the apron, so Burke tries a suplex him in, but Punk slides between his legs into a sunset cradle for two. He grounds Burke in a side-headlock, then up for the GTS, but Burke blocks. Punk responds by dropkicking him out of the ring, and he dives out after him with a tope. Back in, that gets Punk two, but an attempt at coming off the top gets him matslammed down. Burke capitalizes by working the ribs, and a vertical suplex is rolled into a side suplex for two. Bodyscissors, but Punk won't quit, so Burke tries a small package for two. Upstairs, but Punk brings him down with a vertical superplex, and starts throwing clotheslines. Leg-feed enzuigiri gets two, but Burke blocks a bulldog by running Punk rib-first into the corner - only to miss the follow-up charge. GTS, but Burke is able to counter with a clothesline for two, and a cross corner running double-high knee gets two. Reverse Russian legsweep, but Punk counters with the GTS for the pin at 17:12. Very watchable. ** ½

Shawn Michaels v Randy Orton: Shawn is selling an earlier attack from Orton, and is groggy on his way to the ring, looking like that middle-aged guy you see drinking at a college bar on a Wednesday. The referee doesn't want to ring the bell to start the match, but Michaels insists, so Orton gets right into the swing of things by punching him in the head. Rope-hung DDT gets two, as Shawn is kicking out on instinct alone. Orton starts stomping on his head, but Michaels blocks the RKO off the top, and dives with a flying elbowdrop. It takes him a while to get to his feet to set up the Superkick, but he ends up collapsing before he can execute it, and the referee stops the damn match at 4:30. This was another one tonight where it was more an angle than a match. Afterwards, they try to get this over by having Shawn's real life wife come down in tears, but it isn't connecting. Like, no one believes this is legit when Orton is still beating on him after the bell, and having his wife come out to try and blur the lines between fiction and reality just comes off desperate. They did a much better version of this in 1995. This would, of course, likely be the last concussion angle you'll ever see in the WWE. ¼*

World Tag Team Title Match: The Hardy Boyz v Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch: Matt Hardy starts with Cade, and they feel each other out. Criss cross goes Cade's way with a hiptoss for two, and he works the arm, but runs into a backelbow, followed by an elbowdrop. Over to Jeff Hardy with a slingshot kick for two, so Cade passes to Murdoch, and they have their own feeling out process. Jeff with a pair of armdrags, and he tags Matt in for Poetry in Motion for two. Matt pounds Murdoch's arm, and a 2^nd rope flying elbowsmash gets two, but Lance gets a blind tag, and he blasts Hardy with a lariat for two. Dropkick gets two, but Matt fights Murdoch off, and gets the tag to Jeff before they can really settle into cutting the ring in half. Jeff with the Whisper in the Wind for two, so Cade runs in without a tag, but Matt is there to cut him off, and the Boyz clean house. The challengers milk the count out there, before the dust settles on Jeff and Trevor again. Reversal sequence in the corner ends in Murdoch getting dumped again, but he's able to sidestep a somersault plancha, and Jeff wipes out on the floor. Murdoch rolls him in to get a two count out of the deal, and the challengers cut the ring in half. Jeff fights them off long enough for the hot tag to Matt, and Roseanne Barr the door! Side Effect on Cade gets two, but Matt runs into a modified spinebuster from him for two. Matt fires back with the Twist of Fate to set up a Swanton Bomb from Jeff, and Trevor can't save in time at 15:05. Nothing really special, but nicely paced, with lots of effort here. ** ¾

World Heavyweight Title Match: Edge v Batista: Batista dominates him in the early going, with Edge running scared. Batista drills him with a backelbow for two, so Edge tries raking the eyes, but gets tossed over the top while attempting a follow up. Batista follows out to ram him into the apron, but a trip into the steps is reversed. Edge tries to capitalizes, but again is shrugged off, this time with a spinebuster into the apron. Back in, Edge manages to dropkick Batista's taped up leg, but the challenger keeps coming, so Edge clips the knee to make sure he gets the message. Figure four, but Batista blocks - only to miss a charge. That hurts the shoulder, and Edge capitalizes with a fujiwara armbar, but Batista starts powering up. Edge tries to save it with a hammerlock to keep him grounded, but Batista powers through, and unloads on the champion in the corner. Suplex, but Edge is able to use Batista's injuries to block - only to have his dive off the middle rope blocked with a clothesline. That leads to a slugfest, and Batista delivers a backdrop, then corner clotheslines the champ. Powerslam gets two, and a scrapbuster is worth two. Front-powerslam, but Edge counters with the Edge-o-Matic for two. Spear, but Batista reverses for two, and delivers a running powerslam! Batista Bomb looks to finish, but Edge blocks, so Batista settles for a spinebuster - only to aggravate his leg in the process, and allow Edge a schoolboy at 10:39. I really enjoyed the storyline of the match, with Edge trying to exploit Batista's injuries, but the Animal powering through, until the damage finally overwhelmed him. ** ½

WWE United States Title Two-out-of-Three Falls Match: Chris Benoit v Montel Vontavious Porter: The initial lockup ends in both guys spilling to the outside while trying to control, then both hustling back in to try and get the high ground. MVP makes the mistake of slapping the champion, so Benoit sweeps him down into the sharpshooter, then into the Crippler Crossface, but Porter blocks both. Chris responds with a pair of armdrags before going for the Crossface a second time, but Porter has the ropes before he can get it locked on. Montel grounds him in a side-headlock, but Chris powers up with a side suplex to escape, so Porter shoots at the leg to take the Crippler down. He hooks a waistlock, and Benoit is actually forced to use the ropes to escape. Porter clips the leg and starts pounding the knee, hooking on a leglock. Chris tries fighting him off with chops, and he manages the three-alarm rolling German suplex, but the knee gives out at the end. That allows MVP to recover, but Benoit manages to drop into the Crossface to block a charge, and Porter nearly taps out before getting the ropes. Montel starts kicking at the bad leg to shake Benoit off, but a corner big boot misses, allowing Benoit to apply the sharpshooter, but the knee gives out. Porter goes for it, so Benoit throws a leg-feed dropkick, and a leg-feed enzuigiri to buy time. He tries going up, but the leg slows him down tremendously, and Porter is able to attack it before he gets anywhere. Chris tries countering a springboard with an electric chair, but the leg isn't cooperating, and Porter is able to counter with the Playmaker for the first fall at 8:32. Nice sequence there. The referee takes time to check Benoit's leg between falls, and Porter shoots right at it once cleared, but Chris blocks a takedown, and hammers the challenger on the ropes. MVP responds by sliding to the outside to sweep Chris down, and he batters the leg on the apron, then rolls back in to get a few two counts out of it. Tree of woe allows Porter to blast the knee with a big boot for two, and he tries a grapevine, but Benoit starts throwing chops. He goes for the Crossface, but Montel counters into a modified leglock, and Chris needs the ropes to save himself again. Playmaker looks to finish, so Chris counters to the Crossface, but MVP blocks on the mat, and turns it into a cradle for two. Chris tries shifting to the sharpshooter, but Porter targets the knee to block, and hooks a small package to win the title at 14:28. Finish looked a little messed up. And this would mark Benoit's final pay per view appearance. I know obviously it wasn't, but this was almost booked like it was his last match on the way out of the territory, with the story focusing on how battered and beat-up he is, and Porter beating him clean for two straight falls. *** ½

Main Event: WWE Title Match: John Cena v Great Khali: Cena is the champion, but Khali is in possession of the physical belt, after stealing it from John on a RAW leading up to this. Cena comes at him all fired up at the bell, but Khali swats him down in short order, and sends the champ to the outside with a right hand. Khali follows to send John-boy into the steps, and back inside, an arrogant cover gets two. Khali with a bodyslam and a legdrop for two, followed by a corner whip. Legdrop again, but John dodges this time, and delivers a sloppy Throwback for two. He charges, so Khali kicks him out of the ring, then back in for a nervehold. Cena powers out, and a pair of jumping shoulderblocks leave the challenger tied up in the ropes. John unloads, but runs into a boot. The crowd is more into all of this than you'd expect. Khali tries a tomahawk chop, but Cena manages to block, so the challenger dumps him to the outside again. He follows, but this time John manages to dropkick the stairs into Khali's knee, and Cena comes off the top with a flying rocker dropper on the way back in. STFU is applied, and Khali taps at a brisk 8:15. They make a big deal about the submission, but there was almost no buildup to it to make it feel important. I mean, Cena had, what, like, three offensive moves the whole match, and Khali taps on the first pin/submission attempt of the match? This was the basic Hogan/monster formula that worked so well in the 1980s. Of course, this was 2007. ¼*

BUExperience: A pretty lackluster show – one that’s not especially memorable, or historically significant, but isn’t bad either. It is what it is.

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