Mike Reviews WWE Raw #611 – Raw Is Japan (7th February 2005)

Happy Saturday Everyone!

We reviewed a crap episode of Raw last week, so let’s redress the balance with a much better episode this week, as Raw travels to Japan in the winter of 2005. I’ve still got a VHS of this somewhere with “Raw Is Japan” written on it, so I’ll go with that as the title for this review, even though the Raw is War Era of the show was long over when this episode happened.

We’ve got some good wrestling on this episode, with Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho hooking it up, Ric Flair battling Shawn Michaels, and Triple H taking on Edge in the Main Event. I remember really enjoying this episode back in the day, so let’s see if Raw Is Japan has withstood the ravages of time.

I believe Scott Keith and Thomas Hall have both reviewed this episode of the show also.

You can view the card for Raw Is Japan by clicking below;

https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=2680&page=3

The event is emanating from Saitama, Japan on the 4th of February 2005 and aired on the 7th of February 2005

Calling the action are Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler

Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff joins us, getting summarily booed by the Japanese fans who are clearly aware of the storylines. Bischoff has a Japanese interpreter there to translate his lines to the crowd, which means he can get booed twice. Bischoff runs down the card, with all of the WWE wrestlers getting great reactions. I think the fans felt like they were being patronised here, hence the boos.

Opening Match
Special Submissions Bout
The Crippler Chris Benoit Vs The Highlight of the Night Chris Jericho

Both these two were babyfaces at the time, but had history of wrestling in Japan so they decided to mix it up here. According to Chris Jericho’s book, he was majorly hungover for this one but still gutted it out in order to have a good match. We get the never-ending lock-up to start, with both tenaciously holding onto the other to show how intense they are. The crowd is really into the wrestling and respectful to both wrestlers as they try and out wrestle one another. It’s very much still a WWE match but it has been tailored for a Japanese audience somewhat, which means there are periods where the crowd are a little quiet but that’s because they are watching intently and respectfully. Eventually both of the Chris’ head butt one another at the same time, which seemingly leads to both of them bleeding to one degree or another.

Obviously there can be no near falls in this one due to the submission stipulation, so instead we get near submissions instead, which can sometimes be just as effective as a near fall if done well. In a nice touch, Benoit goes for the Sharpshooter at one stage but can’t really get it, so rather than sticking with it when it clearly doesn’t look good, Benoit instead switches things up and goes to some suplexes. I wonder how many of the NXT guys in WWE today could be so quick on their feet and deviate from whatever was planned because what they were going for wasn’t working? Each wrestler goes for their respective submission finisher at certain points, with Benoit trying for the crossface whilst Jericho attempts to lock in THE DREADED YOUNG LION BOSTON CRAB. Benoit eventually manages to get his hold applied and Jericho taps out following a struggle.

WINNER: CHRIS BENOIT
RATING: ***

Thoughts: This wasn’t the smoothest match of all time, but it felt like a genuine struggle between two people who were trying to out wrestle one another and the crowd was into it

We get a post-match handshake following that, which the crowd appreciates.

We get to see clips of the wrestlers travelling around Japan, with all of them putting over the fans. This was a good segment that made WWE look like the global company it is.

TripleH and Ric Flair are hanging out backstage, with Flair reminiscing about how good the previous night in Roppongi was. Flair is confident that Evolution will get the clean sweep tonight, but Triple H is thinking about Batista potentially going to Smackdown and whether he should just stay on Raw to wrestle Tri at WrestleMania 21. Flair thinks that Batista should go to Smackdown, as then Evolution will run both Raw and Smackdown. Triple H agrees. This kept the plot moving.

Christian and Tyson Tomko are annoying a Japanese reporter, but he would rather speak to Stacy Keibler because she knows where Randy Orton is and RKO is more interesting than Christian. Christian thinks that Orton is one head injury away from the end of his career and volunteers Tomko for a match with Orton later on. Tomko isn’t thrilled about that. Christian was funny here, especially when he mocked Orton’s lame entrance pose.

Batista is on his way to the ring.

We get a movie parody to hype WrestleMania 21, with Triple H playing the role of William Wallace and Ric Flair pestering a donkey. This was good fun.

Match Two
The Animal Batista Vs Maven Huffman

Batista was the Royal Rumble winner and getting really over at the time, despite still ostensibly being a Heel in the Evolution stable. Maven had recently gone Heel prior to this and was actually quite a good smarmy bad guy. These days he runs an excellent YouTube channel that’s worth a look if you’ve never watched it and are interested in stories from this time frame. Maven thinks he would have won the Royal Rumble had he been in it, and then he stupidly jumps Batista during his entrance, which only serves to annoy Batista and set Mr. Huffman up for a right shellacking. Demon Spine Buster and Batista Bomb leads to Batista getting an easy win. Imagine flying Maven out all the way to Japan just for that?

WINNER: BATISTA
RATING: SQUASH

Thoughts: This made Batista look like a big powerful scary dude who could win either respective major belt, so it achieved it’s goal

We get footage played on the Titan-tron of Big Show making derogatory remarks about Batista. Batista heads backstage and complains to Eric Bischoff about it, which leads to Sleazy E saying he’ll deal with it before giving Batista the big sales pitch for staying on Raw. Batista seems to be thinking about it. You can see why WrestleMania 21 did so well at the box office as they did everything right with Batista that they did wrong with Randy Orton, and thus the crowd was really into seeing Triple H and Batista go at it.

Match Three
Raw Tag Team Titles
Champs: La Resistance (Robert Conway and Sylvan Grenier) Vs Yoshihiro Tajiri and William Bloody Regal

Regal had been Tag Champs with Nick “Eugene” Dinsmore, but Eugene had suffered an injury and that had led to La Resistance defeating the makeshift team of Regal and Jonathon Coachman on a House Show to win the belts. Regal has recruited former ally and Japanese wrestler Tajiri as his new partner for a rematch here, which the Saitama crowd are of course very happy about. Tajiri doesn’t get a proper hometown here, just being announced from the amorphous “Japan”. I mean, if you were ever going to give Tajiri a proper hometown in his WWE career, then you’d probably do it for Raw is Japan.

Conway was a very good in-ring mechanic who just never managed to get above the mid-card in WWE, even though he had one of the cheesiest entrance themes of all time at one stage. Seriously, how can you have THAT as your entrance music and not get over?! The Champs work some heat on Regal after a brief shine from the challengers, so as to build to the big hot tag spot for Tajiri. Tajiri does eventually get the tag and runs wild, taking out both of La Resistance with kicks before getting a bulldog onto Grenier for two. La Resistance did a solid job bumping for all of that, and they made Tajiri look good in the process.

Things breakdown following the hot tag, with Regal delivering a big suplex to Conway on the floor. Grenier tries to clobber Tajiri with the Quebec flag in the confusion, but Tajiri manages to dodge it and spits some mist into Grenier’s eyes before following up with a kick for the three count and the belts.

WINNERS AND NEW CHAMPIONS: REGAL & TAJIRI
RATING: **1/2

Thoughts: This didn’t get a lot of time, but it was good fun whilst it lasted with them surprisingly making Tajiri look really strong in his home country, which isn’t always guaranteed when WWE comes to town.

The new Champs celebrate in the crowd following that, turning this into a memorable moment.

Akebono (a big sumo dude who eventually moved into Pro Wrestling) is sitting in the crowd.

We look at the Hall of Fame class for 2005, which will include Paul Orndorff, The Iron Sheik, Nikolai Volkoff, The Bodyguard Ace Cowboy Bob Orton Jr. and Jimmy Hart. The big inductee for that one ended up being Hulk Hogan, which made sense as Hart is his best friend and the other guys were all famous members of his rogues gallery.

Match Four
The Nature Boy Ric Flair Vs The Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels

I’m not sure if there was much of a storyline reason for this one outside of these two just really wanting to wrestle one another. Hey, that works for me! Both wrestlers are over like rover, which you’d expect. We of course get some chops being thrown in the early going, as Shawn overcomes the initial assault from Flair to get in his babyface shine, with Flair taking his trademark back body drop bump both in the ring and also out on the floor. The crowd doesn’t even boos Flair when he begs off and jabs Shawn in the eyes as they’re enjoying his Heel shenanigans. Japanese fans can be funny like that, as sometimes they’ll boo a bad guy something rotten if they cheat (such as EVIL), but sometimes they’ll really have fun with it (with guys like Toru Yano being a good example).

Flair targets Shawn’s leg after going to the eyes, with Shawn selling that well and Flair doing a good job of believably targeting the appendage. Figure Four Leg Lock looks to end things, with it still being a dreaded finisher in Japan when used by the right people, but Shawn manages to roll it over after doing a big sell job. Sadly Flair doesn’t submit, thus denying us of one of the few wrestling finishes I don’t think we’ve ever seen, and both wrestlers are soon on their feet again, with Shawn countering a suplex into an O’Connor Roll for two. Shawn does his best Yoshinari Ogawa impression by running through all of the roll-ups he knows before taking down Flair with an Enziguri for the double down.

We get another big chop fest following that, with Flair conceding that battle by kicking Shawn in the leg and heading up top. That goes about as well as you’d expect for The Nature Boy, leading to Shawn making the comeback before dropping the big elbow from the top rope and TUNING UP THE BAND! These days Flair would either counter the Sweet Chin Music, or kick out at 2.9, giving us 5 minutes of near falls or something, but this was 2005, so Shawn just kicks Flair and pins him clean following his comeback. And you know what; I am fully on board, as they had a great match and didn’t need to do anymore. It’s refreshing to see a bit of restraint sometimes.

WINNER: SHAWN MICHAELS
RATING: ***1/2

We get some filler courtesy of an American themed women’s fashion show, with Maria Kanellis dressed as a cowgirl, Victoria as a biker and Christy Hemme wearing a bikini to represent American beaches. Hemme was using Walk Idiot Walk by The Hives at the time here, but WWE haven’t bothered paying for the rights for the Network/Peacock, so instead they dub in something that sounds like it could be a track from a Namco racing game. Simon Dean interrupts as he sees a chance to hawk his famed Simon System, because the people of Japan are taking their love for sumo wrestling a little too far by starting to look like them. This leads to a tease of Akebono getting in the ring, but Dean backs off and instead targets the women with lame insults. Jerry Lawler takes umbrage with all of this and distracts Dean long enough that Hemme can clock Dean right in the Super Nova’s in order to bring the segment to a merciful end.

Evolution are consoling Ric Flair over his defeat, and then Triple H tries to manipulate Batista into going to Smackdown. It seems to be working.

Jonathon Coachman is backstage with Edge, who is bitter and spiky about something. In other news, water is wet. Edge says he’s sick of being overlooked and that he’ll take his rightful place as World Champ later on. He’d have to wait another 11 months yet.

We get more clips of the Japanese fans enjoying meeting the WWE Wrestlers.

Match Five
The Problem Solver Tyson Tomko w/ Christian Vs Randal Keith Orton

Orton was in the last vestiges of being a babyface here before going Heel again for WrestleMania 21. Seeing Orton as a hand slapping jovial babyface just seems so bizarre, as even when he does play babyface these days he goes for the cool bad ass approach, which suits him much better. Tomko was a big dude who had been in the system for years and had finally gotten onto TV as a heavy for Christian. He was a solid enough big guy wrestler and ended up doing okay for himself in both TNA and Japan once his stint in WWE was done with.

Orton gets the better of things in the early going, until Tomko hits Orton in the head to set his concussion issues off again. I doubt you’d see a storyline like that today, but this was pre-Benoit. Christian drags Stacy Keibler down to ringside so that she can watch Tomko put a clobbering on her storyline fudge buddy. Orton sells well and Tomko looks believable as a big slugger, so the match is acceptable television fare and the crowd claps for Orton in a more American-like style whilst he tries to fight back to his feet and start up a comeback.

Orton eventually manages to catch Tomko with a back breaker and clubs away on Tomko with forearm shots, which the crowd enjoys. Orton of course busts out a big dropkick at one stage, which means we’re just waiting on a high crossbody to really tick all of the generic babyface boxes. Tomko regains control but Orton manages to catch him with a quick roll-up OUTTA NOWHERE for the three count.

WINNER: RANDY ORTON
RATING: **

Thoughts: This was fine. Tomko was solid enough as a mean Heel and Orton did the best he could as a smiley selling babyface, even though it’s completely counter to what he does best

Christian and Tomko put a beat down onto Orton post-match in order to set up a match between Christian and Orton at a later date. Orton would win that one with an RKO OUTTA NOWHERE and would then go Heel for his feud with The Undertaker.

We get a recap of Tajiri and Regal winning earlier on to tease the idea that we’ll get another NEW Champion in the next contest.

Main Event
Raw World Title
Champ: The Game Triple H w/ Ric Flair Vs Edge

I don’t believe Edge was “Rated R” yet, as he was still ironing out the kinks of his new Heel character. This is actually Heel Vs Heel but is taking place because Edge had defeated Shawn Michaels at the Royal Rumble and had been demanding a one on one shot at the Title, so here we are. Tri and Edge were hardly that friendly with one another in storyline despite both being on the Heel side of the bracket. We get some chain wrestling to start, which the crowd appreciates, and the wrestling itself is decent for the most part. Triple H didn’t always get the chance to do the back and forth stuff on the mat strangely, especially when he got bigger in size at the tail-end of the 90’s and focused more on slugging, but he’s solid at it.

Triple H ends up flinging Edge into the ring post shoulder first a few times, which looks like it will be the cut off, but when we come back from the break we see that Edge had suplexed Tri on the floor during the ads, meaning that Edge is in control when we return. It seems like they are going for a more Japanese styled match appropriately enough, with both of the wrestlers trading momentum rather than one really working heat in order to build for a comeback for the other. This makes sense in that both of the two wrestlers are of the same alignment, so it doesn’t really make too much sense to do the standard seven point structure for the match due to the bout lacking a babyface.

The action is actually really good the longer the bout rages on, with both of the wrestlers trading big moves, as Tri gets a Spine Buster whilst Edge fires off his trademark reverse sit-out DDT move (was that one called the Edge-O-Matic?). There’s a really nice sequence at one stage where Edge preps for the Spear but HHH catches him OUTTA NOWHERE with a big Jun Akiyama like high knee for two, which the crowd really reacts to. Edge tries to win it with his Edge-U-Cater submission hold, with Triple H doing a great sell job for it before eventually making the ropes. The crowd was really getting into that submission tease. They have done a mostly straight match thus far, which is the right kind of match for this market, but then the ref takes a stray attack from Edge and things start getting more WWE-like in a hurry.

Flair tries to come in with a chair to help his man, but Edge deals with The Nature Boy, only to then find himself on the wrong end of a back suplex from Triple H. Both Tri and Edge try and grab the chair, but Batista shows up and takes it away. Edge stupidly stands on the apron to yell at Batista, which allows HHH to knock Edge off the apron onto Batista, which might come up at some point later on. Edge manages to counter the Pedigree into a DDT back inside the ring and preps for the Spear, only for Batista to leap in with the Demon Buster onto Edge to put an end to that. Tri quickly follows up with the Pedigree and that’s the three count.

WINNER AND STILL CHAMPION: TRIPLE H
RATING: ***1/4

Thoughts: This was the right match for Japan, up until the ref bump, then it descended into traditional WWE silliness. They protected Edge well in defeat, as he looked like a genuine contender and it essentially took three people to beat him. It also did a good job of furthering the storyline between Triple H and Batista, as Batista essentially handed the win to Tri but he also took the chair away from him at one stage, which is something that Triple H can be mad about but Batista can just say that he was making sure Edge couldn’t get it as opposed to preventing HHH from using it

Batista stares lovingly at the belt post-match whilst also raising Triple H’s hands, which the crowd responds to. They did such an excellent job building that match up.

In Conclusion

I enjoyed Raw is Japan at the time and it still holds up I think, as the Japanese setting makes things feel fresh and different from a regular episode of the show, whilst the wrestling is mostly good. I’m not sure it needed the filler angle with the women and Simon Dean (why not book a wrestling match between the women instead?) but the angle advancement was there and the wrestling was fun to watch as well, which is just what you want from two hours of TV. Thumbs up for Raw is Japan!

Recommended Show!!