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The show started cold in the arena with a steel cage looming. Inside were WWE champion Randy Orton, Ted DiBiase, Jr., and Cody Rhodes. Orton held his WWE Title belt high in the air before beginning his promo about defending his title against Batista in a cage at Extreme Rules on Sunday. He said he can do whatever he wants to do on Sunday against Batista – throw him into the cage, rake his forehead against the cage, etc. Orton said Vickie Guerrero allowed him to book a cage match for Batista. He pulled out a coin. Heads is Rhodes. Tails is DiBiase. Winner gets Batista tonight. Orton flipped, but the camera didn’t zoom in tight. Orton simply walked over to Cody and told him congratulations. Night off? Orton told Cody what to do. Cody said he knows exactly what to do. Cage matches are in his blood and he has no problem giving Big Dave a preview of this Sunday. Orton gave his own preview: him walking out of the cage door and still WWE champion.
Suddenly, Ric Flair’s music interrupted and Flair strutted out on stage in a suit. He flung his suit jacket away and Whoo’ed! to all sides of the arena before strutting like a peacock. Flair said he’s out here to tell Orton what he’s going to do to him tonight. Orton said Flair doesn’t get it that he can’t compete anymore and he’s irrelevant. Flair cut him off that Orton is a punk and he can’t compete, but he’s going to come out here every week and call him out until he grows a set and accepts his challenge.
Orton asked Flair what part he doesn’t understand about being retired. Flair asked him…whoo…what part he doesn’t understand about being punked. Flair called him out to a parking lot fight. A Fight Without Honor…oops… too soon… a Fight to The Finish. “Punk, Punk, Punk, Punk, Punk!” Flair shouted. Orton accepted and Flair excitedly threw down his mic. Orton with a parting shot that it will be a night to remember, but too bad Flair won’t be able to remember it. Orton sneered toward the stage after Flair ran off to the parking lot.
Batista vs. Cody Rhodes — steel cage match
Batista pounded Cody left and right to start things off, so Cody tried to climb the wall to get out, but Batista yanked him back down to the mat. He landed a spear at 2:00, then Orton slowly made his way down to ringside as the kiddos near the arena mic screamed in horror at the sight of Orton ringside. Cody tried to take advantage of Orton’s distraction to escape by climbing out, but Batista grabbed him and delivered a Batistabomb out of the corner. Batista made the cover for the pin and the win. He then paraded around the ring before staring down at Orton to give him a warning message.
Winner: Batista at 3:15.
Backstage, Ted DiBiase asked Orton why he’s doing this. DiBiase said this is a Fight to the finish in a parking lot. Anything goes, bro. DiBiase said Flair is desperate for the spotlight and hates himself for being retired, so he will do everything and risk everything. Orton said he will be in complete control. No worries, son. Orton told DiBiase it will be a preview for what Batista has to go through on Sunday. DiBiase shot him a line: “That’s exactly what Cody said.” Whoa. DiBiase walked off, then Orton stared down at the ground.
Backstage, They showed Randy Orton walking down the hallway in anticipation of the parking lot brawl.
Parking Lot: Randy Orton was slowly walking around looking for Flair. There was some noise in the background as Orton paced around. He hopped over a guardrail near a row of cars. Wish they were in a circle like Eddie vs. Cena from six years ago. Flair then snuck up behind Orton and lightly pushed him into a metal garage door. Flair landed a chop or two and kicked Orton before ripping open his t-shirt to blast him some more. Orton came back with a kick, but Flair with a chop. Flair then put Orton on a portable trunk with wheels and wheeled Orton into a wall. Flair with another chop as they moved closer to the Gorilla position.
They made it through the curtain and the camera picked up a brief arena shot. They were in the equipment area and Orton put Flair in a headlock before taking him to the floor area near the Raw HD stage. Orton stomped on Flair’s forehead before landing a round of punches. He flung Flair onto the stage and stood over Flair’s prone body before starting the Orton Stomp. Orton wanted to chuck Flair off the stage, but Flair landed a mule kick and the crowd came to life Whoo’ing for Flair.
Flair started kicking and punting Orton in the gut to move him across the stage. Flair chopped him down the entranceramp before stomping on his hands. Side note: Is Orton being manhandled by 40-something Shane McMahon or 60-year-old Ric Flair worse? Anyways, Flair took Orton ringside and continued to take Orton apart piece by piece. Flair nearly chopped him over the guardrail into the front row as Orton bled from the chest from all of the chops. Of note: cage was still down around the ring after Cole and Lawler hyped the PPV. Flair cleared the announce desk before chopping Orton onto the table. Flair landed more right hand blows to the forehead, then he climbed on the desk. Flair measured Orton and stomped him right between the legs. Crazy Ric continued to beat on Orton before slapping on the figure four on the freakin’ announce desk.
Suddenly, DiBiase and Rhodes jumped Flair and assaulted him ringside. They rammed Flair into the cage wall before whipping him into the guardrail. Wild action as Legacy took Flair inside the cage. Crowd chanted for Batista as Legacy beat up Flair inside the cage. They executed a double-team suplex as Orton shouted from ringside to keep pounding on Flair. Orton entered the cage and told Legacy to leave the cage and lock it up. Cody, apparently not proficient in cage-locking, struggled to lock it. Batista suddenly stormed ringside and chased off Legacy. He couldn’t get in the cage, though. Batista tried ripping the lock off, but to no avail. Orton started measuring Flair for the RKO as Batista started climbing the cage. Orton nailed the RKO in center ring as Batista cried out to Ric.
Batista continued to pace around the outside of the cage as Orton stared down Batista. Batista vowed to break Flair in half. Orton lightly kicked Flair to check for life as Batista screamed out to Orton, who slowly backed away from Flair inside the cage. Batista saw what was coming and sold it with his eyes. Orton bounced and bounced around before landing The Punt on Flair. Maybe grazed Flair’s forehead, as he missed him 95 percent. Orton sold it, though, and got within inches of Batista while foaming at the mouth. Batista could only grip the cage wall from the outside as Orton stared back at him with that Classic Orton Venom Look. Show ended with Batista cussing Orton, but it was bleeped. Think he called him a sick f—. Fade out to Sunday. PYB (3) time: 14:55.
Closing segment thoughts: Tough to gauge the effectiveness of selling Sunday’s PPV on the merit of this segment. Orton’s vicious. He had the final word after taking a pounding from Flair before his cronies helped him in typical fashion. Batista wants to rip Orton apart to avenge Flair. Fine. Good. Dandy. But, there wasn’t emphasis on the WWE Title, which may or may not be a big deal since WWE was selling this on the personal issue between Orton and Batista, the cage match format, and potential for mass chaos in the ring. A lot of elements in play and it really depends on whether the viewer (a) wants to see Batista get revenge on Orton or (b) cares so much about Flair that they want to see Orton get his comeuppance. WWE was hoping to cast a wide net to capture WWE viewers who could turn into PPV buyers on the merit of one or both points. Tough sell, though, when the casual audience perhaps doesn’t have as much of an emotional connection to Flair as the centerpiece of the storyline because the overall message on Flair to the casual audience is that he’s this crazy old man who’s trying to take back the spotlight. Does Flair’s involvement help or hurt? That’s the key. Orton is so good as a vicious heel, though, that he might have cancelled out Flair as a possible distraction to sell the PPV on seeing Orton get his comeuppance.
