Mike Reviews Shows Considered To Be Stinkers – Monday Night Raw #835 (Kennedy Gets Fired)

Happy Stinky Saturday Everyone!

Back with another Stinker Review this week, where I look at a show with a bad reputation and decide whether that reputation is fair or not. This month we’ve got an infamous edition of Raw from 2009, where Vince McMahon rages against the Denver Nuggets and Ken Kennedy has his WWE career brought to a cruel end.

However, is this episode really THAT bad or has its awfulness just been exaggerated over the years? Was Mr. Kennedy really hard done by? Did Vince really make such an Arsenal of himself in regards to Stan Kroenke? Lemon Curry? Let’s watch on and find out!

You can view the card by clicking below;

https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=39697&page=3

And you can check the archives for other Stinker Reviews

Raw is emanating from Los Angeles, California on the 25th of May 2009

Calling the action are Jim Ross and Michael Cole, because Jerry Lawler is working the Main tonight

The Raw theme from this period is good at least

Ric Flair will confront Randy Orton later on

Someone comes out pretending to be E. Stan Kroenke, who was the Denver Nuggets owner but is probably better known by folks in the UK as the owner of Arsenal Football Club. So the story here is that this show was originally supposed to take place in Denver, but because The Nugs were playing in the NBA playoffs, Raw had to be moved to Los Angeles instead, as the Lakers were facing the Nuggets and thus their arena would be free, because it’s not like The Clips were going to need it (I say this as a long suffering Clipper myself). Vince McMahon of course got super angry about this, owing to him being a psychopathic evil billionaire, and went on the warpath against Kroenke. In a bit that certainly hasn’t aged well, we get a graphic showing Vince as an angel and Kroenke as a devil, which leads to the fake Kroenke stating that Vince McMahon is anything but an angel. Oh fake Stan Kroenke, us folk in 2024 know that one all too well. This angle drags on anyway, with “Kroenke” cutting a Heel promo on the crowd until Vince McMahon joins us to insult him, the extent of which leads to Vince pointing out that the “E” in Stan’s name stands for “Enos”, which apparently passes as high comedy to the WWE script writers. How did Vince have Mike Enos under contract and just make him a Beverley Brother if he found his surname so hilarious? And why didn’t he decide to bring in Jermaine Jenas for a bit as a commentator? He would have had a field day! Anyway, Vince eventually shoves the fake Stan down, which leads to The Miz joining us and winding the fans up by wearing a Cleveland Cavaliers jersey and saying they will win the NBA that season. You were a few years too early there Mizbet. Miz appears to be feuding with John Cena at the time, as he targets Cena with his promo, which leads to John Cena joining us to run down and do battle with Miz. However, Ted Dibiase Jr and Cody Rhodes attack Cena, leading to Batista making the save. Big Show runs down to help the Heels, which means we get Jerry Lawler of all people making the save, as this is turning into a Paul Heyman ECW special, with half the universe running down. Lawler gets swatted aside by Big Show, but that allows Cena and Batista to clear the ring and stand tall. The Vince stuff was awful, but once it got into the everyone brawling segment it picked up a bit.

We get clips from last week, where Maryse cost Mickie James a match with Kelly Kelly.

Match One
WWE Divas Title
Champ: Maryse Ouellet Vs Kelly Kelly

Maryse and Kelly were both hot blonds, so naturally they feuded, because in wrestling you either team up with people that look like you or you try to destroy them in some bizarre Highlander styled battle to ensure that there can be only one. Kelly mocks Maryse’s hair flip taunt to start, which causes Maryse to assault her. There’s a reason Revolver Ocelot never trusts a Frenchman, even the Canadian kind. Kelly manages to fight back, getting a nice handspring elbow, although the follow-up dropkick looks pretty sloppy. We get a cat fight following that, which leads to the fight heading to the floor, where Maryse flings Kelly over the announce table for a DQ.

WINNER: KELLY BY DQ (MARYSE RETAINS)
RATING: 1/2*

Thoughts: This was short and I don’t think the finish really worked as a DQ, but Kelly did a couple of nice athletic looking moves before the match ended.

Kelly fights back and sends Maryse from the ring following the bout.

The Bella Twins are flirting with a fake Jack Nicholson backstage, which leads to Goldust and Hornswoggle making a cameo, because of course Goldust has to meet an actor. Goldust and Hornswoggle then ruin a scene from A Few Good Men, as “hilarity” ensues. The fake Nicholson is awful by the way, and doesn’t sound anything like the real person.

Last week on Raw, Ric Flair tells Randy Orton that he’s booked against Batista in a cage at an upcoming pay per view. This leads to Orton punching Flair, as you do. Flair is calling out Orton later on, despite Batista’s protestations.

Match Two
#1 Contender Status to the WWE United States Title
William Regal Vs Matthew Hardy Vs Kofi Kingston

I think Matt was a Heel at the time. He certainly was at WrestleMania 25 anyway, and that was a couple of months prior to this show. Matt was doing the Bob Orton injured arm routine at the time it seems, as he comes out with a cast on his arm that he had apparently been using as a weapon. Regal and Kingston supposedly had a hard hitting match on Superstars the prior week, hence why they don’t like one another. Matt bails to the floor early on, leading to Regal and Kingston doing a bit together, which is quite good. Kingston gets the better of that, but Matt grabs his leg to put a stop to that and then comes in to attack both Regal and Kingston like the nefarious cheating Heel he was at the time. US Champ MVP comes down to watch the match as we take a break.

Back from the ads, Regal is in control of Kingston whilst Matt sells on the apron. Both Heels fight over who gets to try and make pins on Kingston, which leads to them essentially switching out at certain times whilst Kingston sells. Kingston’s selling is good, so this works well enough. Regal eventually decides to go after Matt’s injured arm, which takes Matt out of the discussion for a moment and allows Kingston to come off the top with a dropkick onto Regal for two. Kingston makes the full comeback on Matt, which leads us to the home stretch, with everyone having chances to win it. Kingston eventually ducks a cast shot from Matt and picks up the win with Trouble in Paradise.

WINNER: KOFI KINGSTON
RATING: **

Thoughts: This was an okay TV match. Nothing really to complain about here

Kingston and MVP face off respectfully following that

Ric Flair joins us, mad about Randy Orton attacking him last week, so he keeps it short and demands that Orton head down for a fight. Randy Orton does indeed join us, saying that he doesn’t want to lower himself to attack an old man, which leads to the two having a yelling match. Orton gets the burn saying that Triple H only kept Flair around in Evolution because he felt sorry for him. Flair slaps Orton in the face following that, and the fight is on, with Orton delivering some punches until Batista chases him off. Flair has a Flair freak out following that, as Mr. Kennedy makes a surprise return from injury, complete with a Ron Waterman styled beard. Kennedy reveals that he’ll be in the Main Event later on, and after that he’s coming for Orton’s WWE Title. The crowd responded well to Kennedy showing up, and that was a decent segment.

Match Three
“The Glamazon” Beth Phoenix and Chavo Guerrero Jr w/ Rosa Mendes Vs Mickie James and “The Milan Miracle” Santino Marella

Phoenix and Marella used to be a couple, but they’ve since split after Marella’s twin sister, Santina, defeated Phoenix at WrestleMania 25 to become Miss. WrestleMania. However, Vickie Guerrero has since won the crown from Santina thanks to William Regal, so Chavo is looking to do his aunt’s bidding here. Vickie and Santina will meet at Extreme Rulz, and the winning team here will get to select the stipulations for that epic battle. I think it ended up being a hog pen match.

Santino of course gets battered by both Heels in the early going, but things turn around a bit for the babyfaces once James is able to get in there, with Phoenix and James doing their usual good match together for the brief time they’re allowed to. Phoenix gets distracted by Chavo and Santino and that leads to James rolling Phoenix up for the three count.

WINNERS: JAMES & MARELLA
RATING: *

Thoughts: This was too short, but what we got was serviceable pro wrestling

Santino grabs the mic following the match, but Vickie Guerrero interrupts before he can name the stipulation. Vickie looks suitably dumb in the tiara and sash, which is likely why WWE put her in it. Vickie states that Chavo will be in her corner at the pay per view. Santino isn’t afraid, as he’s been thinking of a Leaning Tower of Pizza match, but he indeed settles on the previously mentioned hog pen match. That announcement got ZERO reaction by the way, with the crowd completely no selling it. I think they would have rather seen the pasta Alfredo on a pole match that Santino was teasing

Big Show confronts Miz backstage and tells him that he doesn’t like him. Ironically they would eventually go on to become Tag Team Champs.

Match Four
Festus and The Brian Kendrick Vs Goldust and Hornswoggle

There are some random matches on this episode of Raw. Festus would be better known as Luke Gallows, doing a gimmick where the ring bell makes him angry. TBK had been given a decentish push at first once he got this gimmick, but the bloom is now off that rose. Goldust was the resident wacky babyface, so teaming him up with a leprechaun seems par for the course to be honest. Apparently Goldust and TBK had failed to defeat The Colon brothers last week (Carlito and Primo) so they have found different partners for a match this week, with The Colon’s sitting in on commentary.

Festus is wearing a Clippers jersey here (Hey, screw you, WWE) which is supposed to make him a Heel, even though they played in the same venue at the time and would largely be the better team when they were able to get Blake Griffin and Chris Paul in during the 10’s (they of course blew that golden era, because Clippers, but still, it was nice to be #1 in LA for a bit). Hornswoggle actually gets in and wrestles here, with TBK enjoying the chance to actually be bigger than someone. However, Hornswoggle catches TBK with a DDT and tags in Goldustin, leading to a nice hot tag segment. TBK and Festus end up falling out, and that leads to Goldust getting a twisty suplex on TBK for three.

WINNERS: GOLDUST & HORNSWOGGLE
RATING: 3/4*

Thoughts: The tag division must have been pretty sparse at the time if Goldust and Hornswoggle were a pushed team. The match itself was over very quickly, but Goldust looked okay for the brief amount of time he was actually allowed to wrestle. Like with the other comedy on tonight’s show, this didn’t land

TBK tries to batter Festus with a chair following that, but Primo rings the bell and that brings Festus back to life long enough to chase TBK away.

Main Event
Basketball Tag Contest
The Denver Nuggets (Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, Ted Dibiase Jr, The Big Show and The Miz)
Vs
The Los Angeles Lakers (John Cena, Batista, Jerry The King Lawler, Montel Vontavious Porter and Mr. Kennedy………….KENNEDY)

Why the Heels would want to play ball and indulge Vince in his vendetta here isn’t really explained. I’m guessing all of them just liked an excuse to wind up the folks of LA? As someone who doesn’t support either team, I’m hoping for a draw caused by hail storm here. They have who I assume is the usual pre-match announcer for Lakers games introducing the wrestlers in a nice touch. Everyone is wearing basketball jersey’s here too, which again doesn’t really make sense for the Heels because there’s no real reason why they’d go along with all of this, and it makes the babyfaces look like they’re pandering. Batista actually gets top billing on his team, coming out last, which makes sense as he was getting a Title shot on the next pay per view so you want to make him come across as a big deal. Batista is the only one to fully commit to the bit as well, as he’s actually wearing basketball shorts to go along with his jersey, whilst everyone else has their normal gear on underneath.

The fans do actually buy into this, chanting “Let’s Go Lakers” for the babyfaces, with Lawler clearly getting a kick out of it all. The Faces get a brief shine to start, but then MVP gets cut off when Orton blindsides him, leading to our heat segment. MVP sells well during that, and we get some decent hot tag teases where MVP almost makes it before getting cut off again. Despite the inherent silliness of all this, they are wrestling the bout straight and the action has been solid. Kennedy eventually gets the tag and runs wild, looking good in the process, with Miz doing a solid job of bumping and feeding from him. Miz looks totally fine here, which surprises me a bit as I thought he didn’t quite get good until a year or so later. Kennedy ends up getting trapped in the Heel corner following that, giving us our second heat segment of the match. The crowd actively chants for Cena now, which you didn’t always get during this period. I guess dressing up in the local sports team’s jersey was the secret ingredient to stop people hating him this week?

Kennedy sells well enough whilst getting worked over, with the Heels looking good on offence for the most part, with Rhodes and Dibiase Jr doing some particularly good tandem offence, which makes sense as they were a regular duo at the time. The crowd continues to chant for the Lakers, showing that they’re in on the gag, as this match has had sustained crowd reactions throughout. We eventually get the moment the match is most remembered for, as Kennedy manages to catch Orton with a back suplex, but he drops him far too high on his head and neck, which leaves a clearly infuriated Orton trying to swipe at him before remembering he has to sell the double down. Orton was coming off shoulder issues at the time and he was NOT best pleased at Kennedy dropping him like that. In fairness, it was a botch from Kennedy, but Orton’s petulance about it definitely played a part in the Kenton Bomber getting his marching orders following this event.

It’s hot tag Cena following that. with Cena running wild and looking good whilst doing so, with both Rhodes and Dibiase Jr feeding him well. Cena and MVP share some tandem offence of a Five Knuckle Shuffle and Ballin’ Elbow respectively on Rhodes, leading to MVP getting the Play of the Day onto Rhodes for a three count. I have to say that finish was pretty cool, as Cena actually gave another babyface the rub by working with him and it leading to the babyface victory. That was nice to see. It was a pretty abrupt finishing sequence in all honesty, but there’s no need to linger if you can finish things nice and quickly and still pop the crowd, which is what happened here.

WINNERS: THE LAKERS
RATING: ***

Thoughts: This was a good match, with consistent crowd heat and solid wrestling (Kennedy’s botch aside). The stuff with the jerseys worked for the crowd, although I’m not sure it made too much sense for the Heels to wear them throughout the match

We get a wild brawl following that, with the babyfaces standing tall after Cena and Batista team up for a Vertical Suplex on Big Show. The babyfaces celebrate together following that, with Lawler again beaming throughout, as it seems like he had lots of fun doing this match

Is It Really A Stinker?

All of the Kroenke stuff was as awful as a I remember it being, as were all the other lame attempts at comedy throughout the show. However, when they actually tried to present a wrestling show, such as the stuff with Orton, Flair and Batista or the triple threat match, it was “perfectly cromulent” as Scott Keith would say. For that reason, I won’t go with this being a full on Stinker, but there was a enough bad stuff on it that I’ll slide it into the Stinky category, as the negatives outweighed the positives in the end.

Final Rating – Stinky
(Ratings done on a scale of Stinker/Stinky/Odourless/Pleasant/Fragrant)