Live from Staples for WWE’s Monday Night Raw

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Since Denver’s Pepsi Center booted World Wrestling Entertainment’s planned Monday night Raw event out on its ear, payback is scheduled tonight at Staples Center when Denver Nuggets and Pepsi Center owner Stan Kroenke is expected to be the butt of at least one skit scheduled at the show’s opening.

We hear impersonators of NBA Commissioner David Stern, Lakers owner Jerry Buss, Jack Nicholson and ‘some bimbos’ will also color the skit, aimed at embarrassing Kroenke for double booking WWE and Game 4 of the Nuggets-Lakers Western Conference finals series tonight.

Staples officials are expecting a limited-venue capacity of near 9,000 fans for the event, pleasing them given that the event was only finalized last week.

Still, coming to WWE on a Lakers night was a tough call, admitted many fans dressed in Lakers garb.

‘To get an opportunity to bash on the Denver Nuggets is worth it,’ Juan Gutierrez, 24, of Los Angeles said, dressed in a Pau Gasol jersey. ‘It was a hard decision, but I got TiVo on the game, and I’ll get updates when I get a chance.’

One of the segments Monday at WWE will be a 5-on-5 playoff featuring stars John Cena, Big Show and others going at it in Lakers and Nuggets jerseys. It’s expected that Cena’s team will have a mystery guest, Mr. Kennedy, who has recovered from a torn labrum that’s caused him to miss five months of action.

‘We all know who’s going to win that one, the Lakers team,’ Gutierrez said.

We’ll have more on this event later at latimes.com/sports. ‘Monday Night Raw’ airs on the USA network at 8 p.m.

--Lance Pugmire

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