This first RAW of the New Year starts with the clip of Vince telling Flair he has to win to continue his career. Then Regal tells HHH if he loses against Flair he won’t be participating in the RR. Video from the match between Flair and HHH. Flair gets HHH into the figure four, but HHH is able to get to the ropes. HHH hits the pedigree but has trouble getting to Flair to cover him. Just as HHH covers Flair, Regal grabs Flair and hits him with the brass knucks. Flair wins and HHH is out of the RR.

Out back Regal is pacing. Vince comes in and Regal says he needs to speak to him. Vince says not now. It’s the first RAW of 2008. The fans expect something innovative, and they’re going to get it. People will be wrestling who don’t know that they are. Others don’t know the stipulations. He pulls the cover off the wheel of matches.
Regal says he’s sorry about not hitting Hornswoggle last week. That’s why he took HHH out of the RR match.
Vince says he does like that, but it would be better if HHH was injured too. HHH will be facing Regal tonight. Vince spins the wheel to see what type of match it will be. It almost stops on Steel Cage, but goes a bit further to be a First Blood Match.
Regal leaves the back office and immediately gets attacked by HHH. A table gets flipped, Regal goes flying and refs break it up. HHH is screaming at Regal.

HBK’s music and he comes down to the ring. Video of Kennedy beating HBK on last week’s RAW. The fans are going wild for HBK who poses on the corners. Kennedy comes out to the ring looking totally pissed. His eyes lock on HBK and stay there as he comes down the ramp and enters the ring. Kennedy taunts HBK with his win over him last week.
Kennedy is about to talk on his mic but Vince is on the tron. He spins the wheel and it’s a Strange Bedfellows Match. Kennedy and HBK will be tag team partners!

– Commercial

Kennedy is in the ring with Haas. A neck breaker on Haas and Kennedy covers for two. “HBK” chants and HBK gets a blind tag. HBK enters, attacks Kennedy and tosses him from the ring. Haas then gets tossed from the ring and ½ crawls under the ring. He comes out wearing a mask and says “Now it’s time.” (He did this same thing on the most recent episode of Heat.)
Haas posses in the ring but Murdoch attacks HBK from the apron. HBK’s gets clotheslined to the mat. Murdoch then tags in an takes HBK down. “HBK” chants.
Haas tags in, climbs, jumps to the mat, landing on his feet, and then splashes HBK for two. HBK goes for the tag but Kennedy jumps off the apron and won’t tag. HBK rips Haas’ mask off and slams him down over and over with clotheslines and punches. HBK climbs and hits his flying elbow. HBK hits sweet chin music on Murdoch who falls from the apron. HBK tunes up the band and hits sweet chin music on Haas. Kennedy tags himself in, slams HBK to the mat face first and covers Haas for three.

– Winner: HBK & Mr. Kennedy

Kennedy gets down on the mat, in HBK’s face, grabs his face and yells smack at him.

– Commercial

A Trading Places Match – They must dress as each other!?!? Carlito comes out dressed as Hardcore Holly with a really bad blond wig. Santino comes out to the ring with him. Carlito’s music and out comes Hardcore with an apple and huge ‘fro wig. Holly looks like he’s having fun with it. Cody is laughing as he walks out with him.
The bell rings and Holly stops things for a second. He takes the wig off and hands it to Cody, the fans boo. He takes his Carlito shirt off, then puts the wig back on. The fans cheer. Now he’s ready for the match.
Carlito attacks Holly and beats him down in a corner. The ‘fro wig comes off. A snap suplex to Holly. Holly gets bounced face first off the corer. Holly gets whipped and then a back suplex for two. Carlito locks on a two arm hold with a knee in Holly’s back. Holly gets up and out but slammed back to the mat. A chop to Holly in a corner. The second chop is ducked by Holly who reverses it and hits chops of his own. Back body drop to Carlito. Holly hits a standing drop kick on Carlito. Santino gets up on the apron and distracts the ref. Cody tosses the apple to Holly who takes a couple bites and then spits it in the face of Carlito. Holly gets Carlito up, spins him around and hits the Alabama slam. Carlito’s wig still stays on!

– Winner: Hardcore Holly

Holly celebrates in the ring with his ‘fro wig back on. He seems to be having a blast with the whole thing. Totally not his normal stoic self.

Vince is out back with Maria who gets to spin the wheel for the Diva’s match. It come up on a Submission Match. Vince has her close her eyes and tells her to imagine being out to dinner with Santino. He goes on and on while moving the wheel to Lingerie Pillow Fight. She seems lost about the match, so he explains it to her. He says the Divas wear lingerie and bring their pillows to the ring. He says that there can’t be any foreign objects in the pillows. She says that’s no problem as her pillows are all natural.

– Commercial

Video replay of some of the feud between Orton and Jeff Hardy. Jeff says he can beat Orton. Jeff was in the ring last week when Orton attacked a not fully recovered Matt Hardy out back.

Grisham is out back with Jeff Hardy. Grisham asks about Matt. Jeff says Matt’s not good. He spent New Years in the hospital with Matt. Matt’s been with him since he was born. Every minute on this earth, Matt’s been there for him. He’s not only going to take Orton’s title, he’s going to take Orton out.

JR and King say Jeff’s facing Umaga in a Steel Cage Match tonight.

Hornswoggle is running around the wheel out back. Vince gets down on one knee and talks to him, but the audio is out of whack and he can’t be understood. They finally cut away from it and King apologizes for it. They talk about the Diva Lingerie Pillow Fight.

– Commercial

The re-try the backstage segment. Vince says he wouldn’t have let Regal hit him, it was just a little test. He asks Horney if he knows who won the RR in 1999. Horney points at Vince. Vince says right, a McMahon and a McMahon could win this year. Horney just needs to win his tag match tonight. He needs to find a tag partner because Finlay is in Ireland. If Horney and his partner win their match tonight they’re in the RR. If they loose, their opponents are in the RR.

Melina comes out in red bra and panties with gold coin bra cover and belt to give her a belly dancer look. Jillian comes out in fuschia and black bra and micro-mini. Maria comes out in black boy short and a black bra with a white bra over it. Mickie comes out in a pink a blue bra with matching micro-mini. Her hair is in pigtails. They are about to start and Ashley comes out in a black and pink bra and pink ruffly panties.
They all start bouncing on the bed and Melina gets tossed off. They start hitting each other with pillows. A couple of them pull the bedspread off and hid in a corner. It’s Jillian and Melina. A couple of the girls pull it off and attack them with pillows. Maria hits a bronco buster on Jillian. Ashley gets kicked in the face and stays down for quite a while. She finally gets up and back in the fray. Melina and Jillian double team Ashley and work her over until Mickie comes to her rescue. Mickie and Maria double team Melina.
Maria and Mickie hold Jillian across the bed. Ashley climbs and hits a flying elbow. Ashley covers Jillian on the bed for three.

– Winner: Ashley

Pillows start flying in from outside the ring. Melina keeps tossing them in. Ashley hits her with a pillow as she climbs on the apron. Lots of hugs for Ashley from the face Divas. Ashley is now sporting shoulder length very blonde hair with a couple of black and pink streaks in the front.

– Commercial

Super Crazy says to Horney that he’s super, but not that crazy. He won’t tag with Horney.

Time for the First Blood Match. Regal comes out in wrestling gear and a robe this week. He’s actually ready to wrestle. Video of HHH attacking Regal out back earlier tonight. “You suck” chants at Regal. HHH come out to huge pop to face Regal.
Regal goes to punch HHH, but HHH gets the first punches in. HHH hits a lot of punches. Regal falls and rolls from the ring. Regal gets bounced off the stairs. He has the knucks, but they fall off before he can use them. Regal’s head gets bounced off the announce table a couple times. HHH scrapes Regal’s head across the stairs. Over at the other set of stairs, HHH gets the top part off and tosses them at Regal, Regal ducks. Regal tries to kick HHH’s head into the ring post, HHH doesn’t hit the post. “Regal sucks” chants from the whole arena. Back in the ring Regal hits a suplex and takes the top turn buckle pad off the corner. HHH gets slammed face first into the exposed bolt. The ref checks HHH, but no blood. Regal drops a knee on HHH. Slams Regal face first into the bolt a couple times. HHH goes for the pedigree, but Regal reverses it and HHH gets snake eyes into a different corner. A kick to HHH’s face.
“Regal sucks” chants. Regal leaves the ring and gets his brass knucks. Back in the ring HHH hits a spinebuster. HHH mounts Regal and throws a bunch of punches to Regal’s head. HHH is able to bust Regal open.

– Winner: HHH

Regal is a bloody mess on the mat and HHH drops a knee on his forehead. HHH gets Regal to his feet and hits a pedigree. HHH poses on a corner. (They have such good in-ring chemistry and it’s obvious watching them that Regal taught HHH a lot all those years back.)

– Commercial

Horney is out back with Santino. He says he’d have to be insane to risk his RR spot with him. Plus, small people creep him out. Santino leaves and Horney looks downtrodden.

JR and King talk about the JBL Y2J feud. Video of JBL attacking Y2J in the ring at the PPV. Y2J then wants to know why. JBL, on the tron, says Y2J put his hands on him. You don’t cross JBL or you get burned. Y2J says he’s going to SD! to see JBL. JBL says if Y2J messes with JBL he won’t get another title shot. Y2J says JBL has become irrelevant and a wrestling afterthought. JBL is pissed and leaves the SD! announce table to go to RAW and wrestle. JBL makes a huge RAW debut and Y2J comes out and attacks him. They fight outside the ring until refs break them up.

Y2J’s music and he comes out in his new and funky wrestling gear. Vince is out back and spins the wheel.

– Commercial

Lillian says she’s just been informed that this is a Handicapped Match. Snitsky is first out to the ring. JBL’s bells and he comes out in his limo to join Snitsky to face Y2J.
JBL goes around the ring to distract Y2J. JBL gets in the ring, the bell sounds and Snitsky attacks him. Y2J then goes after Snitsky. A bunch of punches and a flying forearm, but Snitsky takes him down with a clothesline. A suplex to Y2J. Y2J is able to hang Snitsky up on the top rope the painful way. A dropkick knocks Snitsky from the ring. JBL rushes in and tosses Y2J from the ring. JBL follows Y2J out. JBL gets his face bounced off the announce table a couple times. JBL then grabs the ring bell and hits Y2J in the face with it.
The ref calls for the bell, but JBL keeps attacking Y2J. JBL grabs one of the cables at ringside and wraps it around Y2J’s neck in a slipknot. He chokes Y2J with it while the ref tries to stop it all. JBL drags Y2J around the ring by the cable. A couple kick to Y2J’s head and JBL drags him up the ramp. JBL tosses Y2J into the hard metal security barrier by the stage before dragging him some more. JBL kicks Y2J in the head. “Y2J” chants. He drags Y2J some more and slams him into a piece of scaffolding. JBL climbs a couple feet up the scaffolding and loops the cable up there trying to hang Y2J. Finally they get enough people out there to get JBL away from Y2J. Y2J still has the cable around his neck when the show fades to commercial.

– Commercial

Video replay of the mugging JBL perpetrated on Y2J before the commercial.

King and JR talk about JBL’s attack on Y2J and how they will meet at the RR. King goes on WWE.com to show who’s already qualified for the RR.

Highlanders are in the ring. It’s a RR qualifying match. Horney comes out B.H. Jordan. (He’s scrawny and looks like Eric Young.) Mick Foley’s music! He comes out and gets in the ring. Horney is smiling ear to ear. Foley kicks Jordan from the ring and Foley is tagging with the little guy.
Robbie and Foley lock up. An arm bad on Foley but Robbie punches out. Foley throws punches and covers for two. Horney tags in an hits a drop kick. Rory tags in and grabs Horney by the back and slams him down. Rory covers but Foley breaks up the count. Horney goes through Rory’s legs and tags out. Punches to Rory in a corner and comes out with a little “bang, bang.” A knee lift to Rory and Robbie grabs Foley’s hair from the apron. Rory punches Foley into the heel corner. Robbie tags in and beats on Foley. Rory tags in. Robbie tosses Rory shoulder first into Foley. Rory telegraphs and gets kicked. Rory gets tossed out fo the ring. Foley gets out Socko. Rory returns to the ring only to get a mouthful of Socko. A DDT to Rory and Foley tags in Horney. Horney climbs and hits a tadpole splash on Rory. Horney covers for three. They are both in the RR!

– Winners: Foley & Hornswoggle

Video of Foley’s DDT and Horney’s splash. They celebrate together in the ring.

The steel cage starts lowering to the ring.

– Commercial

Jeff Hardy comes out for his Steel Cage Match. Jeff gets on top of the cage and poses. Umaga comes out to face him. Umaga shakes the side fo the cage before slamming his hands on the stairs and getting in the ring. Orton’s music and out he comes staring a hole in Jeff. Orton slowly goes part way around the cage and grabs hold of it staring at Jeff. Orton goes over by the ring bell.
Umaga tosses Jeff to the mat a couple times. A shoulder block and Jeff goes flying. Jeff tries for a sunset flip but Umaga won’t go down. Umaga tries to slam down on Jeff, but he moves. A low drop kick to Umaga and Jeff covers for one. “Hardy” chants. Jeff gets whipped but moves and Umaga flies to splash him but eats cage. Jeff kind of has the upper hand but then gets flung over Umaga into the cage. Jeff somehow catches himself and climbs! (Beautiful and amazing to watch!) He’s high but Umaga grabs his foot. Jeff tries to get away but can’t. Umaga pulls Jeff down so he slams hard to the mat.

– Commercial

“Hardy” chants. Orton is outside the ring glaring. During the break Jeff got slammed to the mat hard. Nerve hold on Jeff while Orton eggs Umaga on from outside the cage. Orton is staring so close his nose is almost against the cage. Jeff is still on the mat in the nerve hold. Jeff struggles but works on getting to his feet. He manages to get up and out. A kick to Umaga’s face but then Umaga hits a back body drop on Jeff – into the side of the cage. Jeff is standing on the apron and Umaga hits a couple of head butt on him. Umaga splashes into Jeff, squishing him against the cage. Jeff crumbles and Umaga comes. Jeff manages to get his foot on the rope to break stop the count.
Orton starts tossing chairs over the top of the cage into the ring. I think three of them make it in. Umaga grabs a chair and hits Jeff across the back with a chair. Umaga covers Jeff who somehow manages to kick out after two. Umaga climbs a corner and starts walking the top rope. Jeff slams into the ropes knocking Umaga to hang on the top rope the painful way. Jeff set up a chair and uses it for poetry in motion. After Umaga gets back into the center of the ring Jeff tries for a twist of fate, but he gets pushed off and runs into the Samoan spike.
Jeff ends up sitting in a corner. Jeff manages to move before betting a bum slam. Umaga tries to splash Jeff in a corner, but Jeff moves. Jeff throws a chair at Umaga’s face and hits a DDT on Umaga on a chair. Jeff covers for two. Jeff tries to leave the cage by the door but Orton slam the door on his head. Umaga covers but Jeff is able to kick out. Umaga goes for the Samoan spike but Jeff hits the twist of fate.
Jeff pulls of his shirt and climbs the cage. Orton is waiting for Jeff to come down from the cage. He’s ready to attack Jeff. Jeff changes his mind and hits a whisper in the wind from the top of the cage. Orton looks at Jeff in absolute shock. Jeff covers Umaga for three.

– Winner: Jeff Hardy

Jeff climbs to the top of the cage in a corner. He holds the cable and stands up for the fans. Orton is below Jeff, pacing back and forth, looking up at him in rage. Video clips of important parts of the cage match, including Jeff’s whisper in the wind off the top of the cage.

Biggest pop
HBK
HHH
Foley
Jeff Hardy

Biggest heat
Regal
Kennedy
Orton