What are your thoughts on it?  I haven’t really thought it through yet so what are your ideas so I can steal them and make myself look smarter?

Monday Night Raw
Date: January 19, 1998
Location: Selland Arena, Fresno, California
Attendance: 7,329
Commentators: Jim Ross, Michael Cole, Kevin Kelly, Jerry Lawler

We’re officially on the Road to Wrestlemania now as this is the night after the Rumble. Austin won of course and will face HBK, the winner of the casket match. Unfortunately the winner of the casket match shattered his back and can barely move let alone wrestle. Things would have to be booked properly to make sure this worked right, which was impressive in its own right.

That’s not the most important thing tonight though, as we have one of the most famous moments in wrestling history tonight as Mike Tyson is here. This would, for all intents and purposes, launch Austin vs. McMahon. Just saying that name brings a little smile to my face. They had had some run-ins before this but nothing that would compare to this one. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of Kane vs. Taker. Going into the Rumble there was a belief that Kane might help his brother in the casket match. Kane did appear during the match but turned on his brother (yeah I’m stunned too) and threw him in the casket, locked it, and LIT IT ON FIRE. Footage would later reveal the casket was empty after it was clear Kane had thrown him in there. I’m not sure if that had aired yet though.

Theme song is still awesome. Austin signs all over the place.

Paul Bearer opens the show properly as he comes out to Taker’s old music. Mad heat on Bearer. He says he got us didn’t he. Bearer talks about how awesome he is for a good while and about how it was all a plan with him and Kane and how Kane never really left him. This is some pretty solid gloating indeed. How exactly does Bearer get his face to curve like that?

He says that Taker is gone and never to return. Naturally this brings about a gong and a big pop from the crowd. Druids bring out a casket and of course Kane is in it. JR calls him dastardly so you can tell he’s serious. Paul Bearer says he’s Paul Bearer and you’re not. Thanks for clearing that up fat boy.

Ad for the encore of the Rumble, complete with every single highlight of it.

We talk to DX in the back where HHH says that Owen might want to head south too because he can’t cut it here. Shawn talks about being guilt ridden over the whole incident with Taker last night. He’s going to bring Taker back tonight though.

Disciples of Apocalypse vs. Nation of Domination

The Nation is Farooq, Kama and D’Lo here against the regular three Disciples. One of the twins that we’ll call Skull starts with D’Lo. Never mind as that’s 8-Ball. Brown got a nice run in the Rumble and they were trying to push him as a decent midcard guy around this time which never really got off the ground even with the European Title.

Skull wasn’t in the Rumble as some people jumped him, thinking he was Austin. That was actually kind of creative. Chainz (Brian Lee to you SMW and ECW fans) takes over for a bit before Kama takes him down. Off to Farrooq now who would soon be thrown out of the Nation. By soon I mean a few weeks/months but close enough. The fans are all over D’Lo here so maybe that’s what they saw in him.

He takes down one of the twins with an elbow to give the Nation control again. Why did the Harris Brothers keep getting jobs? They weren’t interesting at all but they managed to keep getting signed. We sing Farrooq’s praises for a bit until Brown misses a moonsault so that Skull (I guess) can make the tag to Chainz. Everything breaks down and it’s a DQ. Rock and Henry run down and it’s a big beatdown. Shamrock comes out to get a piece of Rock and Ahmed Johnson comes out because he existed to fight the nation.

Rating: C-. Pretty boring match here but it was to set up the post match shenanigans. I’m assuming this would set up a big ten man tag somewhere but I don’t remember it off the top of my head. This wasn’t too bad and I’ve long since been a fan of tag matches to start shows so this was fine.

Vic Venom gives us an ad for Raw Magazine. He would eventually go to WCW and become an onscreen character by his real name: Vince Russo. And so it begins.

Tom Brandi vs. Marc Mero

PLEASE let this be their last fight as no one cared about this feud at all. I didn’t realize Chimmel did announcing this early. Ridiculous pop for Sable. Mero puts a robe on Sable that says Property of Marvelous Marc Mero. Brandi is big and Italian. That’s all there is to him really. He jumps Mero to start us off and gets a side slam for two. Big Sable chant starts up as Mero gets a DDT to take over.

He’s starving for attention apparently. Someone brings a bouquet of flowers for Sable and Mero isn’t pleased at all. He beats up the flowers instead of Brandi and sends Sable to the back to great heat. Brandi’s limited offense is in full swing here including a sitout Gordbuster for two.

Brandi speeds things up a bit and gets two off a reversal to a suplex. TKO is countered and Brandi is sent to the floor on the kickout. Sunset flip gets two and here’s Sable to distract the referee and the TKO (Fireman’s Carry into a Cutter) ends this. Mero beats him up with the flowers for fun post match.

Rating: C. This actually wasn’t that bad. It would have been a lot better if anyone actually cared about Brandi but I guess that’s splitting hairs. This wasn’t much of anything but it wasn’t boring which is rather surprising. Decent little match that hopefully ends this feud once and for all.

DX goes off to inspect the hearse which I might have mentioned earlier but I’m not sure that’s here and open the back door. Inside are….women. The pull the guys inside and Chyna shuts the door. And they were in a hearse why?

Shane arrives with Mike Tyson. Maybe that should be switched.

Quebecers vs. Cactus Jack/Chainsaw Charlie

…the heck? What in the world are these guys doing here? Didn’t I suffer enough back in 94? They start on the floor of course and it’s all hardcore dudes in control so far. Jacques, looking about 90 pounds heavier than the last time I saw him, starts with Funk officially. Piledriver by Rougeau can’t keep Terry down for even one.

Off to Pierre who used to be a pirate I think but I might have my guys backwards. Cactus comes in to save Charlie/Terry and throws a Mandible Claw on the referee because he’s a little nuts. That’s good for a DQ but the beating continues post match. Terry, the freaking  crazy man that he is, launches a Vader Bomb off the apron to take out everyone. Cactus clears the ring with a bat despite not really being in trouble. No rating as this was mainly brawling without much of any actual wrestling.

DX is still looking for the Deadman and asks some Mexican midgets. Shawn doesn’t want to bend down that far so Chyna picks him up instead.

Tyson is having fun talking to….Sgt. Slaughter?

NWA North American Title: Bradshaw vs. Jeff Jarrett

Bradshaw is a Blackjack here so he has more or less no chance here. Jarrett has Cornette and the Rock N Roll Express with him which is an odd combination indeed. Cornette gets on commentary because he’s awesome. Cornette rants about the WWF being worse than the NWA and goes about 20 seconds without taking a breath in one long sentence. Nothing impressive for Cornette but awesome for normal humans.

Jarrett controls to start but runs into the future New York Millionaire who launches him with a fallaway slam. Bradshaw went 40 minutes in the Rumble last night. The Express interferes to give Jarrett the advantage but he misses a charge. Gibson takes him down again but there’s what would become the Clothesline From JBL for no cover. BIG powerbomb takes Jarrett down again and has to fight the Express some more. Windham is at ringside and does nothing but accidentally hit Bradshaw to end it.

Rating: D+. This was a mess for the most part but had some entertaining value to it. Bradshaw was a guy that they wanted to push for a long time it seemed but it took six years for them to finally pull the trigger on him for some reason. The NWA angle is one of those that I’m still not sure what the point was but it would die off soon.

The NWA guys beat Bradshaw down post match and Windham turns on him, joining the NWA again. They had a decent little stable going there.

Ads for house shows.

Time for Hour #2 which is where the good stuff happened more often than not.

Shawn rants about not speaking Spanish and not being able to find Taker, and the lights go out. Great you’ve summoned Satan somehow.

Tyson is still walking around in the back.

There’s the gong going off and there go the lights again. Do they pay their electric bills or not? Someone is lowered from the ceiling but you can’t see anyone clearly at all. The lights come up….and it’s Shawn in Taker attire. He’s managing to dance here so I guess his back wasn’t completely destroyed until the next day. Chyna and HHH head to the ring with a grill as it’s time for a cookout.

Let the wiener jokes begin. Chyna has a salami which may or may not be a joke. HHH offers Owen (The Mr. Hanky of WWF, which was the tenth episode of South Park and the most recent at the time so that really was a new idea at the time) a title match next week despite having a bad knee. He also says why would you want to ride Space Mountain (throwing in a WOO here) because it’s old and broken down. I wonder if Flair ever called him out on that later.

Shawn says he’s still awesome and wanted to give Taker one more shot but he’s gone. He wants to know who’s next for the title shot and says the name Stone Cold, drawing the biggest pop of the night by far. He goes over Austin’s resume and points out that he has done all those things as well, although he leaves out being one of the three people to win a pair of Rumbles. Shawn says that the Heartbreak Kid lays down for absolutely nobody, which seemed like it was taking a lot of effort to say for some reason.

Tyson is talking to the LOD which is so awesome it’s beyond words. Sunny shows up to hit on him which gives Hawk a rush. Ok then.

Los Boricuas vs. Owen Hart/Taka Michinoku/Headbangers

Honky Tonk Man of all people is on commentary here. Has anyone ever explained why Los Boricuas aren’t Las Boricuas as they should be? Miguel (don’t worry about who is who. Only Savio ever meant anything) starts with Taka and actually beats up the champion a bit. Off to Mosh and Jesus now and there are a lot of leapfrogs. JR says Jerry and Honky are talking like cousins, wink wink nudge nudge.

The Puerto Rican gang beats on Mosh for awhile and Savio WOOs at the crowd which seems to be a theme for the night. Owen comes in to a BIG pop, which means nothing though and he should be fed to HHH of course, and the Sharpshooter ends one of the unimportant guys with relative ease.

Rating: C-. Just barely long enough to pass here but it wasn’t too bad. These matches aren’t very good but when you have three minutes and eight guys, how much can you get in there? The point was for Owen to look good and he ran through the four guys with ease at the end so it did its job and wasn’t terribly boring so I’ll let it pass.

Owen accepts HHH’s challenge for next week.

Tyson is talking to the Nation now.

Austin is still to come. If you couldn’t figure out the ending already you’re an idiot.

Rocky Maivia vs. Ahmed Johnson

They’re alternating between Rocky Maivia and The Rock at this point. Ahmed rushes the ring and Rocky takes him down almost immediately. Ahmed could have been awesome but he couldn’t stay healthy. Rock hits an elbow drop which is just a flashy move here and nothing special at all, not even having a name yet.

Crowd HATES Rocky here. Ahmed blocks a suplex and here he comes (To save the day! Save the day!). Big clothesline takes the Great One down and we hit the floor. Rocky into the steps but here’s Mark Henry to run interference. He grabs a chair as Rocky takes a spinebuster. It’s time for the Plunge but there’s the chair to Ahmed’s back and the Rock Bottom (no name either) ends it. Really short so no rating again.

Shamrock runs down to get a piece of the Rock but he bails.

We get a clip of last night with Shawn standing over the open casket and Taker grabbing his balls. Odd moment.

Tyson is chilling with DX.

Tag Titles: Godwinns vs. New Age Outlaws

The Outlaws are still fine tuning things here and wouldn’t join DX for over two more months. Road Dogg does the big long intro as he’s coming to the ring. They’re in overalls here to make fun of the hog farmers I guess. And the fight is on almost immediately with the big men taking over early. The Outlaws had a tendency to get destroyed for the vast majority of their matches before somehow escaping with the belts.

Billy gets his overalls ripped off to be left in blue tights. Ross is pimping the heck out of that replay. As I predicted the Outlaws are getting destroyed here. Phineas goes Japan by launching some kicks at Billy’s ribs. No Road Dogg in yet. We’re talking about Tyson more or less non stop here which is fine for once. This has been completely one sided.

Road Dogg has to break up a pin while Lawler talks about how everyone in his family is a boxer, except for his aunt who is a Doberman. Funny line. Billy tries to fight back which gets him nowhere. Wheelbarrow slam gets two by Henry. It all breaks down and Road Dogg gets a shot to Henry with a bucket for Billy to get the pin to retain. Road Dogg was never in the match. There was a brick in the bucket, as I guess the METAL BUCKET wasn’t enough to knock Henry out.

Rating: D. This was just bad. The Outlaws were awful in the ring at this point and the Godwinns were never good in the first place. This didn’t work in the slightest with there being one Outlaw in the match the entire time and the ending being pure Outlaws trash. Boring match overall and a weak main event. Granted that’s not the most important part of the show in the slightest.

And here it is. Vince brings out Mike Tyson for a major announcement. This was one of the major blows against WCW as this got WWF mainstream media coverage and in turn got fans watching. Tyson and the Attitude Era fit perfectly together and WCW was in trouble and knew it. Tyson lists off some of his favorites: Don Leo Jonathan (never wrestled for WWF) and Nikolai Volkoff (WTF???).

Vince starts to make the announcement that at Mania, in this very ring….CUE GLASS SHATTER! Security (read as Slaughter and referees) come out to stop him and the ring is completely full now. Austin says that he’s tired of Tyson shaking everyone’s hands and he won’t shake Tyson’s hands. This is an awesome moment if you can’t tell.

Austin says he wants a piece of Tyson. Get a room dude. It’s the famous scene of Austin saying that he’s the toughest son of a gun on the planet and that while he respects what Tyson has done in boxing, he’s in Austin’s world now. Austin says that if his words aren’t working he has some sign language for Tyson and flips him off. Tyson shoves Austin and it’s a big brawl.

The goons finally get Austin out of the ring and we get the famous shot of Vince shouting down to Austin that he ruined it, morphing into Mr. McMahon for the first time I believe. Austin flips Vince off and apparently hit one of Tyson’s guys. The crowd noise is ridiculously loud. After a quick break, Vince is seen begging Tyson to stay as we go off the air.

Overall Rating: B-. The wrestling is bad and the matches were pointless, but that’s the key word: pointless. This wasn’t about wrestling as it was clearly about making Austin look like a major deal. It was incredibly clear that Austin was getting the title at Mania. What wasn’t clear was how he was going to do it. Adding Tyson in was a perfect blend of mainstream and wrestling and its importance can’t be overshadowed. This was a fairly decent Raw for the most part but the ending was excellent. Good show overall.

Monday Night Raw
Date: August 15, 2011
Location: San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego, California
Commentators: Jim Ross, Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler

It’s the night after Summerslam and there are a lot of questions to be answered. Alberto Del Rio is the new WWE Champion after cashing in MITB on CM Punk. However, when Punk pinned Cena to become official champion, Cena’s foot was on the rope. Also, Kevin Nash attacked Punk to cost him the title to Del Rio. Was Del Rio the one that hired Nash? We’ll find that out tonight in theory. Also Del Rio has to defend against Rey Mysterio. Let’s get to it.

After a brief recap of last night Nickelback opens us up.

Here’s HHH to open the show. He says he made a mistake last night and he’ll tell that to Cena’s face later. If he hadn’t screwed up he’s not sure who would have won but he would have had no problem raising the hand of CM Punk. HHH assures us he had nothing to do with it though. He’s friends with Nash and all he did was leave Nash some tickets to the show. There’s an invitation for Nash to be here tonight. As for Del Rio, that’s just how Money in the Bank works. There’s only one WWE Champion, and here he is.

Cue Alberto who talks about how awesome he is and he talks about destiny. He says he’s going to be a great champion and he’ll be in the lobby all night signing autographs and taking pictures. That’s the kind of champion he’ll be: a champion of the people. For his first title defense he’s going to beat Rey. That took him a few minutes to say for some reason. The people need to change their area code because after tonight he’ll be their new hero. This was oddly not full blown heel.

HHH goes into Cena’s dressing room.

John Morrison vs. R-Truth

This is falls count anywhere. Morrison says he’s going to give the Little Jimmys something to cheer about. Also Truth has what sounds like a rock/instrumental version of his old theme song. Morrison takes over to start and we go to the floor quickly. Big corkscrew dive takes Truth down for two. Moonlight Drive (I know that’s probably not the name of it but who cares) off the railing gets the same.

Truth fights back and hits a sitout gordbuster for two as we take a break. Back with Truth getting two on the floor off a move we don’t see. A replay shows that he dumped Morrison off the top while Morrison was punching him. Total dominance by the Jimmy Hater extraordinaire. We go into the crowd and Truth sends Morrison sprawling onto the concrete for two.

Coming back to ringside though Morrison gets a big kick to the head which was nearly a Pele and nearly gets the three. Truth rams him into the steps to take momentum right back. He grabs a rolling chair but a clothesline stops it. Morrison suplexes Truth onto the chair and hits a running knee to the head for the pin at approximately 11:00. The ending was kind of sudden.

Rating: B-. Well Morrison is certainly better in gimmick matches. This is what he was made for: wild brawls that he can hit his offense out of nowhere in. That’s what the whole Parkour stuff fits in with so it makes perfect sense. Also good to see him get a win because he hasn’t done much of note since coming back.

Punk is here.

Here’s Miz who is rocking a suit. He wants to talk to someone famous tonight: it’s Jared from Subway. Jared is sitting in the front row with a sandwich in his hand. Miz says he should be the pitchman for Subway and steals the sandwich. He gives a well scripted commercial for it and then tells the Subway executives to thank him for putting the chicken sandwich or whatever on Twitter as a trending topic. He’ll be a champion again, catchphrase and he’s out.

Nash is here.

Trace Adkins is here.

Kelly Kelly/Eve Torres vs. Bella Twins

Kelly takes let’s say Brie down and does the stupid Stink Face. Kelly gets double teamed and beaten down for awhile. Brie does something painful looking as she bends Kelly’s leg all the way to the point where her boot is touching her own face. Something resembling a flapjack allows the tag to Eve. She cleans house and the moonsault ends this at about 3:00. Not much at all here.

Rating: C. Not a horrible match at all here and the potential Eve heel turn seems like a distinct possibility. This was fine as the match wasn’t great or anything but they’re getting better. There’s some thought to the matches now rather than go out, do signature moves, Kelly wins. That’s a step in the right direction.

Post match here are Beth (rocking a black dress) and Natalya. They stare the good girls down and that’s about it.

Here’s Kevin Nash after a list of his accomplishments. No music though. The hair and beard are both dark. He thanks HHH for letting him come here and explain his actions. He talks about being friends with HHH for years and mentions that HHH is the godfather of Nash’s son. Nash talks about how HHH left him some tickets as a favor. Just before the main event last night, there was a text from a friend (doesn’t say any names) asking Nash to take out whoever wins the title. Nash did it as a favor and says to Punk that it was just business. He implies that HHH knew about it but doesn’t say it was HHH that send the text.

Nash goes to leave and here’s Punk. Punk talks about how HHH and Nash were clearly in on this together because HHH keeps talking about what is good for business. Punk asks Nash if he’d jump off a bridge if it was good for business, because Punk thinks it would be good for business. He says Nash being there is HHH’s version of “good for business”. Nash says they’ve never talked before but Punk needs to watch his mouth. Punk says this is his world and Nash says your world just changed.

Punk says maybe HHH is telling the truth and maybe Nash is the liar. Nash offers to show the text from his phone. Punk offers a text from his sister, saying that she thought Nash was dead. Punk says it’s just Nash’s career that is dead. He says he’s mad at a lot of people but Del Rio isn’t one of them because that’s something he’s done. One person he is mad about is HHH for bringing his cronies back. Nash says HHH shook things up around here. Punk says he did that and Nash calls him an indy-rific wannabe.

Nash talks about Punk loses the title so fast he doesn’t have time to keep it. Punk says it’s 2011, not 1994. Nash says if you want to go back to the past, let’s go back to 1996 and what he and Hall did (no Hogan or NWO reference) and how it made everyone a bunch of money. Can’t argue there. Nash says go hit the weights and take a shower because you look like a short order cook from a Pikeville (KENTUCKY) Waffle House. Punk: “I like Waffle House.”

CM makes fun of the past gimmicks of Nash, such as Oz and Vinnie Vegas. Punk says that’s enough talk so let’s fight right here in San Diego. He goes to the ring but security steps in to stop him. Punk says that’s because of HHH so he’ll go talk to the COO himself because Nash is in the ring and can’t watch HHH’s back at the moment. Punk won this one as Nash was looking for answers at times near the end.

We get more highlights of Rey’s world title wins as they’re trying to play up this as a huge moment for him.

Nash goes into HHH’s office but he’s not there. Johnny Ace is there and is as slimy as ever. He wants to talk to Nash about something in private. Nash shakes his head but goes with him.

We get a recap of Ziggler and Vickie arguing last week.

Alex Riley vs. Jack Swagger

When we come back from the recap Dolph and Vickie are on commentary and arguing. Basic stuff to start as the couple argues at ringside. Vader Bomb hits and Swagger puts on a double chickenwing. They argue about Vickie’s bad breath which results in Vickie complaining about not getting enough kisses. Key lock goes on and Dolph says Vickie knows her role. Even Cole is laughing at Jerry’s jokes here.

Spinebuster puts Swagger down as JR desperately tries to talk about the match. Vickie gets up and steals JR’s hat for no apparent reason. Riley gets in a kick to the head as Vickie….puts the hat on the referee. Riley is distracted and it lets Swagger botch the gutwrench bomb twice before the third attempts ends this at 4:24.

Rating: C. We’ll call this average because the point of this was the Dolph/Vickie stuff. The ending makes a bit more sense now as it was about getting Riley distracted to let Swagger get the win. I’m curious to see where this is going but hopefully it leads to Vickie leaving Dolph or vice versa because he doesn’t need her at all.

Post match Dolph stomps on the hat.

After a break Swagger comes up to Vickie and suggests she expands the people she manages, implying he wants her to manage him.

Same video package from last night about WWE being in LA.

Punk goes into HHH’s locker room and finds Stephanie. She says he didn’t actually win last night which is true. She says people always get what they deserve and leaves with a kind of evil look on her face.

Kofi Kingston/Evan Bourne vs. David Otunga/Michael McGillicutty

The champs have new music and McGillicutty is in a skull cap. Shawn Michaels tweeted about Nash and it’s kind of implied he might be back. Kofi vs. Michael starts us off. That doesn’t go anywhere so it’s off to Bourne who gets beaten down. Make that gets beaten down for a very long time. I’m kind of stunned by the fact that the tag champions have held the titles for the longest stretch in over a year.

We talk about Hillbilly Jim for no apparent reason and it’s hot tag to Kofi. He beats up his former NXT Rookie but stumbles on the top rope cross body. He manages to shift it into a clothesline though so it’s nowhere near as bad as it could have been. McGillicutty gets a dropkick to Kingston’s back but is knocked into position for the Shooting Star Press which ends this at 4:40.

Rating: C-. A little boring but the Shooting Star is always worth seeing. Also it’s nice to see the champions actually having a challenge for a change. I’d go with the Usos because there’s an actual feud there but whatever. Nothing great here but it adds a little story to the division which is all you can ask for anymore.

Raw World Title: Alberto Del Rio vs. Rey Mysterio

The new champ rolls out in a bright red Ferrari. Rey is the hometown boy so he gets a huge pop. It seems to be the Undisputed WWE Championship now. We continue the old school weapon checks but don’t even get big match intros. Fast paced stuff to start but it’s pretty basic. Rey sends him to the floor as we take a break. The bell rang at 10 until 11pm so they don’t have a ton of time.

Back with Rey in a body vice and he pulls half of the mask off. Alberto takes him up to the top which doesn’t work at all as Rey takes him down with a tornado DDT. Wicked one too. Spinning cross body gets two. Rolling sunset flip gets two. Rey gets taken down for a bit but takes to the air, sending Alberto to the floor. Gorgeous Asai Moonsault takes both guys down.

Seated Senton hits and he gets Alberto into the 619 position. Alberto takes his head off with a clothesline though and complains when it only gets two. Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker gets the same result. Corner enziguri gets two. Rey grabs a rollup out of nowhere for two to break up the armbreaker.

Dropkick puts Rey down and he goes for the arm again. Rey reverses into an electric chair position and into a rana for the 619 position. The call connects (hate that term but whatever) and it’s top rope splash time. Jerry declares it over which seals Rey’s fate. The splash hits knees and Alberto gets a small package for the pin at 12:50.

Rating: C+. Pretty good match here and Alberto wins clean which is something that he certainly needs. These two have chemistry and this was no exception to it, which is probably due to them having so many matches together over the past year. Good stuff here and it worked rather well for a TV main event.

Post match Alberto goes for the arm and snaps it on the rope then puts the armbreaker on. Cena runs out for the save and wants a mic.  He rants about how much his weekend sucked and is all kinds of serious.  he says Alberto cashed in a briefcase and got lucky.  One days he’s going to have to defend it (kind of like he just did?) and if it’s against Cena, he won’t be so lucky.  Serious Cena works very well and this was one of those moments.

Overall Rating: A-. This show was about drama and it certainly worked I think. We still have a lot of questions and it’s interesting TV. The lack of wrestling hurt it but at times you need to have some drama out there and there’s nothing wrong with that at all. This was a good show and it built up very well towards the big main event and the drama helped that a lot. Good show overall and I want to see next week’s show now.

Results

John Morrison b. R-Truth – Running knee to the head

Eve Torres/Kelly Kelly b. Brie Bella – Moonsault

Jack Swagger b. Alex Riley – Gutwrench powerbomb

Kofi Kingston/Evan Bourne b. Michael McGillicutty/David Otunga – Shooting Star Press to McGillicutty

Alberto Del Rio b. Rey Mysterio – Small Package

Monday Night Raw
Date: February 13, 1997
Location: Memorial Auditorium, Lowell, Massachusetts
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

This is another special Raw show called Thursday Raw Thursday. This was another special request and my first one through e-mail actually. Anyway the idea here is that there’s either tennis or the stupid dog show on Monday so Raw is on Thursday this week. Don’t ask me why they say the day twice but it’s Vince so I think that explains it. This is famous for two reasons: Rock vs. HHH in a LONG match (for the time frame) and this is where Shawn lost his smile. Let’s get to it.

We open with a video on Shawn who is vacating the title, meaning that the winner of the Final Four this Sunday will be the new champion. The opening video is about Sid vs. Shawn which was supposed to be the rubber match tonight. Naturally they say Thursday Raw Thursday about a million times in between this.

Intercontinental Title: Rocky Maivia vs. HHH

HHH is champion here and Rocky is a glorified rookie. Also tonight there’s Sid vs. Austin and Bret vs. Vader. For no apparent reason Undertaker is fighting Savio. This is live it seems. It’s still Hunter Hearst Helmsley here so there’s no HHH name yet. The curtseying future Game gets a hip block to start us off and is very confident. They do some nice mat stuff which I’ve never seen before. They have some leg locks and head scissors with impressive counters. Cool stuff.

Off to a chinlock by HHH here but Rocky fights out and hits a dropkick to send him to the floor. A charge misses and Rocky hits the post. Back inside with HHH working on the arm. Rocky fights up but HHH gets a single arm DDT for two. Some chops hit in the corner as we take a break. Back with HHH still in control and just going OFF on Rocky’s head with right hands.

Honky Tonk Man comes out for some reason. He was looking for a protégé or something like that. He wound up picking Billy Gunn who became Rock-A-Billy as one of the dumbest gimmicks of all time. HHH has dominated the vast majority of this with a jumping knee to the head and then a sleeper. Rocky tries to reverse into a sleeper of his own but gets rammed into the buckle.

Rocky starts his comeback with right hands (called a chop by Vince for no apparent reason). Top rope cross body, more or less Rocky’s finisher, is rolled through by HHH for two. Facebuster sets up a neckbreaker by HHH for a close two. HHH is getting frustrated. Piledriver gets two AGAIN as Vince and Jim can’t believe it. Superplex gets two and no one knows what to think.

HHH sets for the Pedigree but Rocky can’t stand up long enough for it to go on. Rocky falls flat on his face and is more or less dead. Honky shouts ROLL HIM OVER! HHH finally tries to do just that and gets rolled up by Rocky for the pin and the title in perhaps the biggest upset of all time up to that point.

Rating: B-. This was good but it’s really just Rocky hanging in there until the end for the one small package to win the title. That being said, the resilience thing with HHH being all stuck up and not going for the kill when he could have makes this work more than it should. Also it’s Rock vs. HHH so it’s hard not to like it at least a little bit.

Rocky cuts his best Boy Scout promo after the match, saying he’ll make his fans and family proud.

Ad for Final Four which was a great main event.

Here’s Sunny, poured into a little white dress. Ah she’s ring announcer.

Headbangers vs. Bob Holly/Aldo Montoya

Montoya is more famous as Justin Credible. We see some clips of some WWF guys on a country music show. Road Dogg got to sing his song on there and Hillbilly Jim played some guitar. Also there was a “match” with the Godwinns vs. Jarrett/the host. Who thought this was a good idea for a match? Mosh vs. Holly to start us off. Holly doesn’t so much do things well as much as he doesn’t do things well.

In case you can’t get it, this is a terribly boring match. It’s not that it’s bad but there’s no point to having it and yet it’s here anyway. We’re talking about Shawn Michaels anyway which is far more interesting so that helps. I mean really, does anyone want to watch these four guys have a match? The announcers aren’t paying a bit of attention to this which I can’t blame them for at all.

The Headbangers hit a double Gordbuster on Holly as they take over. Yeah I don’t care about this match at all either. The idea is that Shawn might have to have reconstructive surgery. In reality the knee was slightly injured but he could have gone without the surgery but that would have meant losing the title at Mania which he just wasn’t going to do.

We might have talked about this match for 20 seconds combined of four and a half minutes. Thrasher misses a moonsault and it’s off to Montoya. We’re talking about Brett Favre now. I can’t escape this guy. Finally the Headbangers win with a powerbomb/leg drop combination. Sunny says Mosh and Thrash just won. Even she wasn’t paying attention.

Rating: D. The match was ok I guess but at the same time this was one of those times where no one cared in the slightest and everyone knew it. WWF in 97 was just bad at some points and this is one of them. Who in the world thought this was something people would want to see? Bad match, but now let’s get to something that matters.

Vince introduces Gorilla Monsoon who is going to accept the WWF Title from Shawn Michaels. Shawn limps out and is very sad. Here’s the basic idea: Shawn was supposed to return the favor to Bret and lose the title to him at Mania 13. However Shawn didn’t really want to do that and “hurt his knee” and couldn’t do it. He claimed the doctors said it could be career ending when it was really minor. In short, Shawn didn’t want to lose so he forfeited the title and was back in the ring by May. This is the famous Lost My Smile speech and not a lot of the guys in the back bought it to put it mildly.

Shawn gets all teary eyed and talks about his body being beaten up and all that jazz. HUGE We Want Sid, the guy that might have been winning the title that night depending on who you ask. No one has had to endure the schedule that Shawn had over the years etc. This is rather sickening knowing what’s actually going on here. Do I think he was hurt? Yeah he was somewhat hurt but at the end of the day he was looking out for himself here far more than anyone else when Shawn as a heel could have worked very well but he was afraid of doing it.

He talks about how he’s not going to be around the title for a long time. The doctors aren’t sure where his knee is and he may be beyond reconstructive surgery at this point. Shawn talks about riding in leer jets and limousines as I have a feeling like I’ve heard this before. You also have to remember that the WWF was in real trouble at this point and had it not been for Austin they would have been dead. He hands the belt to Monsoon and says he’s going back home. Shawn says that somewhere along the line he lost his smile. Oh dear.

Overall my thought on this is Shawn knew what was really going on and he put his ego over the fans, the company, the title and the rest of his roster. He had no problem taking all the benefits of being champion but didn’t want to do the harder parts of it (like losing) and that to me isn’t right. The fans were mixed to put it mildly on this. This would have been fine at its time, but given that he would be back before the summer kills any sympathy this would have had.

Savio Vega vs. Undertaker

Savio turned heel recently and joined the Nation. Taker was feuding with them for lack of anything better to do. He would win the title at Mania so it seems like he got noticed. After a break we’re back with Taker destroying him. The announcers talk about Bret vs. Vader but it’s not as bad as it was in the tag match. Why in the world am I watching Savio Vega vs. the Undertaker? Who thought this was a good idea?

Taker hits a big boot and stumbles back from it. Leg drop gets two on Savio. Not yet Old School hits as this is one sided for the most part. There are still tickets available for the PPV in Chattanooga. Savio gets a low blow and a set of clotheslines to get two. The other members of the Nation interfere a bit as we’re waiting for Taker to end Savio.

The fans chant rest in peace. My goodness how nice does it sound to be able to take a nap and let someone else do this? Or just to not watch this at all? Savio gets a spinwheel kick to put Taker down for two. Since that’s his finisher the rest of the match is pretty predictable. Taker is finally bored with all this and hits a chokeslam to end it.

Rating: D-. Oh dang it all this was boring. Nothing at all was going on here and it never got interesting. It’s nearly NINE MINUTES LONG. Why in the world did this need nearly ten minutes? It’s Undertaker vs. Savio Vega for crying out loud. Boring match and one of the least interesting things I’ve seen in a good while.

Nation attacks, Ahmed saves, Nation lackeys are hurt.

Psycho Sid vs. Steve Austin

After Austin’s entrance, Gorilla says that the four guys have a golden opportunity on Sunday. Sid will get his title shot and will get it against the winner of the Final Four match this coming Monday. Sid would face Bret and win the title. Sid was mad over to say the least. Austin jumps Sid to start and the fight was on. Jerry picks Austin to win the title on Sunday.

Austin kicks Sid low and does Sid’s taunts as this is a total battle from the bell. Fans are TOTALLY behind Austin which is saying a lot considering how over Sid was at this point. Austin sends him into the post and takes him down in the ring with an elbow. This is pre-neck injury for Austin so he’s a completely different guy than the brawler he would become. Abdominal stretch by Austin but Sid gets a sleeper. And never mind as Austin suplexes him almost immediately.

Off to a front facelock so they can call some spots. JR says it’ll be Austin as well on Sunday while Vince says it’ll be Sid. You know, the guy that isn’t in the match Sunday? Sid hammers him down and misses a legdrop so Austin tries a failed Sharpshooter. Big boot takes Austin down and then Bret comes out to fight Austin and it’s a DQ win for Stone Cold.

Rating: C+. This was a brawl with the fans telling you a lot about what they wanted. You had a crazy dude in Sid and Austin being the anti-authority figure that everyone wanted to see. Thankfully Vince listened and everything turned out well in the end. This was a fun brawl and that’s all it needed to be.

Bret and Sid fight while Austin laughs.

Vader stumbles through an interview where he says he’s beaten everyone in the Final Four match recently.

Lawler talks about sending his mom money for Valentine’s Day. This is being written on the night Lawler faced Miz for the WWE Title at the Elimination Chamber where Lawler was talking about his mother passing away the previous week so that’s kind of sad to hear.

We replay part of the Shawn speech about losing his smile. Did you check under that copy of “How to Fake a Knee Injury?” When Vince hugs Shawn you can see him thinking “You bastard!!!”

Tag Titles: Farooq/Crush vs. British Bulldog/Owen Hart

Bulldog and Hart had the titles forever in one of the longest title reigns in history. No one since has had a longer WWF/E tag title reign that I can remember. That doesn’t count the Smackdown tag titles made in 2002 mind you. Owen vs. Crush to start and the Canadian gets a cross body for two. Over to Bulldog as Crush throws Owen around a bit.

We take a break just after Farooq tags in. Vince says that if anything significant happens while we’re gone it’ll be shown. Nothing is shown so that means nothing of note is happening during a title match. That sounds like blasphemy to Vince to me. Owen and Bulldog had been having issues lately and they do here as well, resulting in Bulldog being in trouble.

Bret is watching the match and says that what Shawn said was sad. We got split screen to do this of course so we can barely see the match. Bulldog is getting beaten down here if you’re curious. Bret says that there’s no way around Vader so Bret will have to do something different than he did last time when he lost. It’s Hitman Time, not Vader Time.

Ah hey it’s the full match rather than the split one. Owen starts a Bulldog chant even though the Bulldog is getting crushed out there. Hey that was funny and wasn’t even supposed to be! I kill myself sometimes. Crush gets a bodyscissors. Vince: “Speaking of body scissors, how would you like to be bodyscissored by La Femme Nikita, coming up next on USA!” That man is a natural salesman if there has ever been one.

The fans chant what sounds like Bulldog/Owen but it’s not really clear. Maybe if it was in a town bigger than Lowell, Massachusetts that would go a bit better. Bulldog reverses a bearhug with a belly to belly but can’t get a tag. Owen gets tagged but it’s not seen in a classic tag team move. Smith finally gets an enziguri to bring in Owen who cleans house. Missile dropkick to Crush gets two and it all breaks down. We hit the floor and Owen might have injured his knee. Injured or HBK-ified, it’s good enough for the count out to end this.

Rating: D+. I just wasn’t feeling this one at all. The idea was to plug the whole fighting amongst themselves champions and while that happened this felt rushed and a big forced. Not a terrible match but it just kind of came and went. The knee injury never went anywhere that I can remember.

The Nation beats down Bulldog post match while Owen tries to fix his knee. Bulldog helps him out but Owen limps back to get the belts. That’s nice subtle heel stuff.

Vader vs. Bret Hart

Main event time here. Before we get started though Taker comes out to watch. Oh and he’s got a loud mic. He hates to interrupt but Taker gets no respect anymore. This is a very un-Deadman like promo. He’s talking fast and sounds more like Biker Taker than Deadman Taker. Vader jumps Bret as Taker leaves and Hart is in trouble early on as we take a break.

Apparently just after they went to a break Austin came out and stomped on Bret some before being sent to the back. Vader goes up and Bret catches him in a POWERSLAM??? WHAT THE HECK??? Bret pounds away and gets a terrible looking Russian Leg Sweep for two. It might have helped if he actually, you know, swept the leg? BRET SLAMS VADER!!!! WHAT IN THE WORLD AM I WATCHING????? He picked him up like he was a cruiserweight and just turned him over for a slam like it was nothing. WHAT THE HECK?????

Bret can’t get the Sharpshooter. Well I guess he was in Power Bret mode or something. Dude Bret Hart slammed Vader. I can’t get over that. Why not a belly to back suplex too? Bret is throwing Vader around like he weighs 180. Bret low bridges Vader and there’s the Sharpshooter but Vader grabs a rope. Austin pops up in the balcony to yell at Bret and Vader drills the Canadian from behind. Vadersault misses and Bret gets the easy pin to end the show.

Rating: D+. Not bad but it was ok I guess. I really can’t get over that slam. Bret Hart just picked Vader up like he was picking up a Slurpie. This was just a match to set up the PPV for the most part with nothing special going on at all. Austin’s interference felt rushed as did Taker’s at the beginning. Either way the match at the PPV was great.

Overall Rating: C-. Well there’s certainly a lot of history here but the delivery isn’t that great. Shawn’s speech doesn’t really mean a lot anymore as he more or less just took a vacation. This wasn’t that bad though and considering the card had to be shuffled earlier in the week as did the PPV, this was pretty solid. Not great, but good enough for what it was.

Monday Night Raw
Date: August 8, 2011
Location: HP Pavilion Arena, San Jose, California
Commentators: Jim Ross, Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler

It’s the go home show for Summerslam and we have four matches scheduled.  I’d expect a BIG push towards Cena vs. Punk which is really the only thing that has been built on the entire show.  That’s something this show needs though: a single match to build the whole thing around.  Hopefully the card gets some meat on it tonight.  Let’s get to it.

Here’s HHH to open the show. He says the usual stuff about Sunday: it’s a huge match, it’ll change WWE forever, he can only be trusted so he’s the referee….all that jazz. Tonight we’ll get the contract signing for the match at Summerslam. Both guys are in action tonight and Cena is up first.

John Cena vs. Jack Swagger

We get some clips of Cena talking to HHH during the entrance, saying that it’s an ego thing. HHH says whatever he wants to happen in the ring on Sunday will happen. Swagger takes it to the mat quickly but stops to do his run around the ring. Cena proves to be smarter than the rest of Jack’s opponents and levels him as he does it. The champ busts out a Stinger Splash in the corner and a dropkick for two.

Swagger takes over with a shoulder block and we hit a double chickenwing. Cena wakes up and takes Swagger down. The STF doesn’t work so Cena starts up his finishing sequence instead. Not that any of that matters as he casually picks Swagger up for the Attitude Adjustment to end this clean at 5:30.

Rating: C-. This was fine if not a little boring. Cena was supposed to look solid here and that’s what he did. With Punk being in action later I’d assume we’ll see him in action against Kofi which should be fine. Not much of a match here but that was the point for the most part: making Cena look dominant.

Rey vs. Punk later on.

The Wrestlemania Recall is Bret vs. Perfect in their classic from 1991.

Surprisingly enough it’ll be Alberto facing Punk tonight. He talks about how Punk ran from him to end MITB so tonight we’ll see what would have happened.

We recap Truth vs. Morrison which is what sent Truth over the edge. In the back Truth says he’s a good R-Truth and Josh asks him why he would take advantage of Morrison. Truth says why a lot. Why do hot dogs come 8 to a pack when buns come 6 to a pack? Why does he hate spiders? He’s glad Josh asked that. He hates them because they’re small and silent. No one is friends with spiders. STOP WHATING ME! Truth talks about his grandmother getting vegetables together and making spider stew, but only Little Jimmy would eat it. Truth is crushing a spider later.

Rey Mysterio vs. The Miz

Miz jumps him during the entrance and beats him down. He throws him into the big WWE logo and kicks Rey’s head into it. Referees take Rey out and Miz comes to the ring. Cole talks to Miz about what happened and there’s no match. Miz wants to talk about his match on Sunday but he doesn’t have one and he isn’t happy. He’s all over mainstream TV right now but he’s got nothing going on Sunday. He wants to know why but he also wants a referee to come down here right now and declare him the winner by forfeit.

A referee comes out but won’t raise the hand. Apparently HHH has made a new match.

The Miz vs. Kofi Kingston

Basics to start until Kofi gets a dropkick for two. Miz beats him down into the corner as Cole talks about how great Miz is. Ross talks about having diet cookies with skim milk and barbecue sauce. Kofi gets a Thesz Press and then a suicide dive to Miz on the floor. We take a break with Kofi being all fired up.

Back with Miz holding a chinlock. They trade some strikes and Kofi gets some near falls. Miz goes up and hits a double axe off the top. Kofi tries to speed up and tries a splash in the corner. Miz moves so Kofi jumps to the top and hits a spinning cross body for two that looked sweet. Miz tries a superplex but Kofi counters into a sunset bomb for two. This has gotten a lot better after the break. Trouble in Paradise misses but Miz can’t hit the Finale. Miz drapes him over the top and hits the Finale to win at 10:45.

Rating: C+. This got a lot better after the break once they got into a rhythm. This was some nice back and forth stuff and Miz got a win that he needed. Kofi’s cross body was really impressive too. Again though, can we please get Kofi some direction? He just stumbles around the show all the time and has been for over a year.

Punk says HHH needs to keep his nose out of the match and is doing this for his own ego. Punk beating Cena again is good for business. Oh and he’ll beat Alberto.

Alberto Del Rio vs. CM Punk

Punk is almost turning face before our eyes. The fans are all behind him here even though they’re on all sides of him. Feeling out period to start until Punk charges in the corner and hits his shoulder against the post. Alberto works on the arm as is his custom and the fans are still totally behind Punk. Del Rio tries something off the ropes but slips to the floor.

Punk gets going and hits the springboard clothesline for two. He tries the GTS but Alberto reverses and sends his shoulder into the post again. Alberto tries the cross armbreaker which is reversed into a big old kick upside his head. GTS hits and we’re done clean at 4:45. Kind of surprised it ended that fast.

Rating: C-. Eh this was ok. Punk did almost the same thing as Cena earlier and that’s a nice touch on the show. I’m not sure what to expect on Sunday but this was pretty expected here. Punk’s reactions from the crowd are getting harder to ignore and it’s going to be very interesting to see where they go post Cena feud.

Beth Phoenix vs. Eve Torres

I wouldn’t bet on this lasting long. Eve has a remix of her song which sucks. She does look good in green though. Beth beats on her a lot until Eve gets in a kick to the back. That gets her nowhere but a kick off the middle rope does. Eve goes up but gets dropped. Glam Slam and we’re done at 2:56. Not long enough to rate but Beth looks good in black and Eve has great legs so this was far from a failure.

Post match Beth says she’s going to change the Divas division, basically threatening to take out the sexuality. We’re ignoring her MASSIVE cleavage here I guess. Kelly jumps her and stares her down.

Package on Miz and Cena at the Teen Choice Awards.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Alex Riley

Riley insults Vickie’s breath pre match. Riley takes over quickly and gets a fast two. Vickie is SCREECHING. There’s a sleeper very quickly but Alex breaks it. There’s a spinebuster but Vickie is in the ring. She yells at him a lot and slaps him for the DQ at 1:30. That should set up a rematch for the title on Sunday.

Post match Alex punches Dolph, knocking him into Vickie.

Long recap of Punk vs. Cena, including a narrator about the things at MITB.

We run down the Summerslam card and there are still just four matches.

R-Truth vs. John Morrison

Morrison starts hammering away to start and the C4 hits a few seconds in. Morrison sends him to the floor and hits a big corkscrew plancha to the floor, taking out the referee in the process. This has been more of a beating/brawl than a match. John goes into the crowd and tries to climb onto the barrier.

Truth sweeps the leg and Morrison crashes onto the bacrricade on the back of his neck. Morrison dives in at the last second and is stomped down even more. Off to a chinlock which makes sense in this case. Jump downward spiral misses and here comes Jomo. The second attempts at the jumping spiral (NAME IT ALREADY) hits though and we’re done at 4:00.

Rating: C. Not bad here and Morrison’s dive was cool. The neck work made sense here so I can’t complain on that regard. I’m rather surprised that this didn’t go down on Sunday but maybe it will in a gimmick match or something. Nothing too good but it was fine for what they could do in four minutes.

Next week Rey is using his rematch clause to face whoever the undisputed champion is in his hometown of San Diego.

Here’s Christian to hype the world title match at Mania. Both of them will be fighting on Friday. Christian has an announcement on Friday and says it would be good for HHH to be there.

Time for the contract signing. Punk cuts HHH off by saying this is all for show. We might as well cut to the chase and flip the table over and brawl. He feels like he’s on Conan O’Brien or something and is about to have a clip from his latest movie. He does however have a movie star to explain why he hates Cena. A real movie star that is, not the guy from the Chaperone.

It’s a Rock promo which was released a few weeks ago. He basically makes fun of Cena’s clothes and his entrances plus the dueling chants. Rock calls Cena a phony in this. After the clip, CM says that Dwayne is just as phony as Cena. Cena talks about how he likes it when guys like Rock and Punk talk about him.

Now it’s time for some truth. Rock is a legit star and he has his millions. No matter what Cena says or how long they battle it out, he’ll never win over the millions. He talks about how people say he needs to increase his workrate or add to the 5 moves of doom (his words not mine) or he needs to let his heel persona shine out. Cena talks about the Yankees line that Punk said last week and how he likes it now because it gets a reaction no matter what. He talks about Punk asking for all of those perks and says if he wants to see a phony, just look in the mirror.

HHH gets in on this and says that Punk more or less held out for more money and a few perks right? Punk goes off on Johnny Ace (he was here too by the way) and asks about the four releases on Friday, asking if any of those were to his face. Punk talks about winning his first title (ECW Title) and having Cena say good job and he had almost give up on Punk. This is an insult somehow.

Yes, Punk held the company up for more perks but everyone else would have also. Cena won his first title in Los Angeles and this Sunday he’ll lose the WWE Championship. He’ll still be a big star and have his fight with Dwayne, but he’ll have nothing. Punk signs and Cena looks at him. He asks if Punk knows how much pressure is on him on Sunday. Punk won one match in Chicago.

Cena wants to know if Punk has thought about what happens if Punk loses at Summerslam. Punk isn’t happy. Cena says win lose or draw he’s facing The Rock at Mania. Punk however needs this match because now everyone is watching him. Everyone is listening to him now because that mic in his hands is a pipebomb. However if he loses, he’s a one hit wonder.

He’ll be known as Buster Douglas, Yahoo Serious (who?) and Milli Vanilli. If Punk loses, it’s all gone. Cena signs and says good luck. Punk says luck is for losers and he’d rather be a one hit wonder than a phony. Cena says the talking is wearing a bit thin and both guys stand up. There go the belts and there goes the table. Johnny Ace splits them up so Punk fires a kick which hits Ace. HHH tries to split them up and Cena accidentally hits/shoves him down. HHH isn’t happy and Punk leaves. Punk wants to know if the fix is in.

Overall Rating: B-. I wasn’t all that into this one but the last segment helped it a lot. This was supposed to build to Summerslam and we started with a card of four matches and left with only a referee added to that. Punk vs. Cena was pushed but nothing happened that made me want to see it more. Some of the wrestling was good but overall this just pushed one match. That’s fine when most of the card is filled out but that isn’t the case here. Kind of a misfire here but nothing was horrible so we’ll call it ok.

Results

John Cena b. Jack Swagger – Attitude Adjustment

The Miz b. Kofi Kingston – Skull Crushing Finale

CM Punk b. Alberto Del Rio – GTS

Beth Phoenix b. Eve Torres – Glam Slam

Alex Riley b. Dolph Ziggler via DQ when Vickie Guerrero interfered

Monday Night Raw
Date: August 1, 2011
Location: Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indianapolis
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, Jim Ross

Tonight we continue the road to Summerslam with the first public statement from the champ (I think) CM Punk. HHH is still in charge and in theory JR will he here as well. We’ll probably start the building to the PPV as there are only two Raws left before the show, which has really snuck up on us. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of what got us to have two champions. I still don’t see why Vince didn’t strip Punk of the title as MITB went off the air or book him in a “champion can lose the title by countout” match with anyone he could find.

Here’s Punk, still with the new song, to open the show. He holds up the belt to a solid reaction and declares that THE CHAMP IS HERE. He has a story to tell us. Punk says he knew for about a year that his contract was going to be up. He loves working in WWE but not the bosses. He spoke his mind and we managed to get some change out of it. Vince has been relieved of his duties and that’s change.

Punk takes some credit but the fans are to be thanked also. Punk is here to make this fun again but he couldn’t do that from his couch in Chicago. He made the call to come back and the timing couldn’t be better. Cena may have a belt but what Punk has is a championship title. This title means that he’s the best wrestler in the world.

Cue HHH who says he brought back Punk because it was good for business. That’s why he brought back JR and Morrison (again, when was he actually gone other than to injury?): business. Personally though, HHH thinks Punk is smug, overrated and believes his own hype too much. Punk says it’s like looking in a mirror.

The champion talks about how Vince has let guys go that are main event level talent: guys like Batista, Foley, Jericho and Lesnar. HHH says if you want to tell the truth, why not do it about why you re-signed? Punk isn’t sure about this but HHH says it’s because he wanted to hear his own voice. Punk has called the microphone a pipe bomb, but what happens if no one is around to hear a pipe bomb? He needs the WWE Universe for the platform.

Punk calls that a 50/50 shot, but the truth is that he’s the WWE Champion. HHH says that’s true but so is Cena. HHH says he’ll fix that tonight and his music plays him out. Punk says cut the music, even though he loves Motorhead. He says he’s just getting warmed up. Punk isn’t going to shut up just because he signed a contract. If Hunter Hearst Helmsley (Punk’s words) wants to talk about egos, let’s talk about HHH’s.

We get references to HHH using his power backstage that he got from sleeping with the boss’ daughter and how he held everyone down. That’s true to a degree but that’s a big debate for later. HHH says because he’s the boss, he can’t break certain rules, even though he wants to take Punk’s head off. “Can you do that, or do you need to go ask your wife first?” Punk leaves HHH who is kind of smiling.

Rey has a tag match later and Morrison dives over him. They get Miz/Truth later.

Oh great there’s a Divas battle royal next.

Divas Battle Royal

Picture every Diva who isn’t champion and they’re in this. Kelly is on commentary here. They’re going out incredibly fast. We’re down to Alicia, Beth, Natalya, Eve and the Bellas. Scratch Nattie from that. This match actually takes a break. Really? Back with more boring Divas action. Alicia is out. There’s nothing to talk about here because they’re just trying to put each other out. Even looks good in pink though. Eve is out and landed pretty badly. Beth puts both Bellas out (one on each shoulder) to win at 7:18.

Rating: D. So? It’s the same stuff as always and it never was very interesting at all. There’s nothing else to say here as most of the match was either rapid eliminations or the commercial. It was what it was and that’s about all there is to say about it. At least Beth can destroy her now.

Post match Kelly goes in to hug her like an idiot and Beth turns heel and kills her, thank goodness.

Truth comes up to Miz and says they’re a lot alike. Miz disagrees so Truth says that having two WWE champions is bad. It’s horrible. It’s…..”A conspiracy?” Miz doesn’t like this and tells Truth to leave. Truth wants to know why HHH had them in a tournament if he was just going to bring back Punk. I guess we’re ignoring Vince making that tournament now.

Cena says his focus tonight is HHH because there are two WWE Champions. The decision is tonight so Cena will be there for it.

The Miz/R-Truth vs. John Morrison/Rey Mysterio

Miz vs. Morrison starts us off. John keeps going after Truth which lets Miz get a shot in. Suplex gets two. Nice leg sweep puts Miz down and it’s off to Rey. Seated Senton off the top gets two. Miz is sent to the floor as is truth. Rey hits a seated senton off the apron to take Truth down and John dives over the top with a corkscrew dive to mostly hit Miz and we take a break.

Back with Truth holding Rey in a camel clutch. During the break the evildoers actually didn’t cheat to take over. Nice to see for a change. Truth continues his old school offense with an abdominal stretch. Rey fires off but it’s off to Miz who gets a seated boot for two and we hit the chinlock. Enziguri puts Miz down but he keeps the tag from being made. Back to the chinlock, this time by Truth.

Big spinning forearm gets two on Mysterio. Rey dives again for the ropes but Miz makes the save again. Nice little story there for the match. Miz hits his corner clothesline but goes up and dives into a dropkick. There’s the hot tag to Morrison who gets a solid pop. See what happens when you build something up?

He cleans house and hits the C4 to Truth for two. He loads up Starship Pain but Miz pulls Truth out of the way. Back inside an axe kick misses and a Pele kick sends Truth into the 619 position. Miz makes the save and sends him into the crowd. Moonlight Drive hits Miz but Morrison walks into that jumping downward spiral for the pin at 11:03.

Rating: B. See, THIS I can get into. They built up the hot tag all match and the payoff for it was a solid reaction from the crowd. Things can be so simple and yet can still work very well. I liked it rather well here and Morrison’s mistakes were played up well by Miz and Truth, who caught him in his mistakes. Nice to see and it’s called psychology. Makes me all tingly.

Post match Truth hits Morrison with a bottle of water and Morrison takes the Finale.

HHH says nothing of note.

Summerslam Recall is Warrior taking the title from Honky in probably the best Summerslam moment for the vast majority of the series.

Here are Dolph and Vickie. I’m still not sure on the song. Vickie says her catchphrase a lot and wants to know why Dolph hasn’t been getting enough attention. Dolph says he’s more of a man than anyone in the arena and anyone in the back. Cue…..Alex Riley? I think I can work with this. Riley wants to know when Ziggler is going to accomplish something without Vickie. Dolph has Vickie step aside….and leaves.

Santino Marella/Zack Ryder vs. David Otunga/Michael McGillicutty

This is non-title and the Nexus name has been dropped it seems. King mentioned Ryder’s show before the breaHe gets the hot tag to a ROAR but gets beaten down after a brief flurry. Santino is sent to the floor and Ryder misses the Rough Ryder. He gets caught in something like a Demolition Decapitator at 2:22. This was fine.

We get some of the earlier exchange between the Game and Punk.

Punk says he’s the champ.

Alberto Del Rio vs. Evan Bourne

Bourne runs into a boot to start and the beating begins. Del Rio’s arm work is great as the psychology of the match is perfect for him. His finisher is an arm hold so why would he work on anything but the arm? That’s basic psychology for you: why would you do something to say Bourne’s back if you’re going to work on the arm to end it? Bourne makes a brief comeback and the armbreaker ends this at 2:30.

Post match he puts the hold on again and Kofi comes out for the save.

Here’s HHH for the big announcement on who should be champion. He’s about to say it but John Lauranitis (you try to spell it) comes out and says executive VP and in charge of signing talent. HHH doesn’t look happy here. Johnny Ace (see why he got that name?) says Vince would want Cena stripped of the title. That brings out Cena who says that Ace never thinks and is the yes man that Punk was talking about.

Cena says that he’s not going to strip the title because it would devalue the title. He talks about how he wants to hit Ace again because that was his favorite part about Money in the Bank. HHH: “I don’t have any problem with that.” Ace leaves and HHH says he’s not stripping the title. Punk only came back to WWE when Cena was pinning Rey and said to hit his music. HHH again says he won’t strip the title and that brings out the other champion.

Punk doesn’t like the idea that HHH is going to strip him of the title which he has a legit claim to also. HHH says that’s not what he was going to do and tells them to quit whining. Also to Cena, it’s not Hunter. He’s Cena’s boss. At Summerslam it’s the rematch for one undisputed champion. Kind of lackluster the way he said it but it’s the only way they can do it.

HHH leaves and they stare each other down. Punk holds up his title and his music plays us out. Scratch that as Cena holds his up and that music plays us off. Punk goes onto the ropes and now HIS song plays. This is kind of awesome. Now Cena does the same but Punk’s is the last one heard after it changes like 8 times total.

Overall Rating: B. This was a hit and miss show. The HHH and Punk stuff was good and the tag match was good, but the rest of the show was building to other shows later in the future, which is ok but a little boring for a TV show. Summerslam is looking better now though as you can see a lot of the matches coming into focus. Good sign and a good building show here, but not great due to the wrestling being subpar.

Results

Beth Phoenix won a Divas Battle Royal

The Miz/R-Truth b. John Morrison/Rey Mysterio – What’s Up to Morrison

Michael McGillicutty/David Otunga b. Zack Ryder/Santino Marella – Middle rope elbow/backbreaker combination to Ryder

Alberto Del Rio b. Evan Bourne – Cross Armbreaker

Monday Night Raw
Date: May 24, 1999
Location: Kiel Center, St. Louis, Missouri
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

This is the Owen Hart tribute show. The previous night Owen Hart fell to his death at Over the Edge in a botched stunt as the Blue Blazer. That was one of the hardest shows I’ve ever had to review so I know this isn’t going to be easy either. Tonight isn’t about angles or titles etc but about celebrating the memory of Owen Hart. Let’s get to it.

We open with everyone on the stage and in the aisle as you might expect. Big Owen chant starts up. We ring the bell ten times in a moment of silence. The place goes QUIET for this too. Everyone applauds at the end with an Owen chant. We get a video tribute on the Titantron.

Vince narrates and talks about how great a person Owen was outside the ring as well as in it. Owen was a prankster and was more than just one of the wrestlers. He was a friend and a brother to everyone. This is interspersed with pictures of him in the ring and with his family. He was 34 years old.

JR more or less says this isn’t about wrestling tonight and it’s about Owen. There will be ten matches tonight and that’s about it. The ratings for the matches aren’t going to be judged on the normal criteria as that’s not fair in the slightest. Almost all of my criticisms in this shouldn’t be taken as seriously as it’s not like these guys can think clearly for the most part.

First interview is Foley who says that his son’s favorite wrestler is Owen Hart. His son kept getting his hair cut like Owen and Mick was proud of him for it. These aren’t promos and aren’t from characters but rather from the people portraying them. Foley says there’s probably a special place in Heaven for Owen.

Bradshaw talks about how cheap Owen was on the road but he did it because he wanted to retire early and spend time with his family and kids. He hopes Owen’s kids know what a great father they had.

Jeff Jarrett vs. Test

Jarrett says Owen wasn’t a nugget. There’s an address given if you wanted to make a memorial tribute to Owen which would go to the Alberta Children’s Hospital which was Owen’s favorite charity. Nothing wrong with that at all. Jeff hammers away at the member of the Union. Lawler hasn’t said much at all until JR asks him something. Test takes over with a slam. House shows have been canceled apparently. Top rope elbow misses and Jarrett gets a single arm DDT. Jarrett gets caught in the gutwrench powerbomb for two but hits the Stroke and the Sharpshooter ends this in less than two minutes.

Mark Henry reads a poem about dying. All of these interviews are in the back in front of a basic blue screen. He starts crying as he says this.

Droz says that he only knew Owen for about a year but he was the only person that could walk into a locker room and make everyone smile. Owen loved ribbing people no matter what it made him looking like.

Tag Titles: Kane/X-Pac vs. Edge/Gangrel

Kane and X-Pac are tag champions. Rather surprising they would do a title match on a show like this. Kane has the Owen armband on too. Christian is with the challengers here. We don’t know much about them at this point but they fight using the Freebird Rule. Pac and Edge start us off. Edge hasn’t been around that long and is under 26 which is odd to hear.

Pac goes down to a spin kick and Edge takes over. Pac seems a good bit off as you would certainly understand here. Who would have thought Edge would become a far bigger star than Kane? Off to Gangrel and Kane now and a double DDT takes Kane down for about a second. Kane takes over and hammers away on everyone and it’s off to X-Pac. Christian’s interference gets them nowhere so Kane cleans house again. Bronco Buster to Edge and a chokeslam/elevated splash ends Gangrel to retain the titles.

Rating: D+. This was just a squash for the tag champions so there isn’t much to talk about in it. Of the ten matches tonight, this is the longest at 4:02. Nothing special at all but it’s not supposed to be. I never liked Gangrel though so this was never going to be that much at all.

HHH and Chyna talk about Owen. Chyna talks about a hair thing she and Owen had going on. HHH breaks down while talking but says you never saw bad things out of Owen for the most part. He implies that Owen shot on him at the Rumble one year. This takes awhile to get through.

Dave Hebner tells some Owen stories.

Hardy Boys vs. Kaientai

The Hardys don’t mean much at all and are low level heels with Michael Hayes managing them. Kaientai rushes the ring and it’s on fast. Double teaming to Matt as the foreigners take over to start. Swanton Bomb (not called that yet) to the floor to Taka by Jeff as the Hardys have taken over.

Jeff tries a Phoenix Splash (moonsault with a twist into a 450) but eats canvas. Michinoku Driver gets no cover and it’s a double tag. Funaki and Matt hit the floor and Hayes interferes. Taka takes both Hardys out as the crowd isn’t that impressed. And the Twist of Fate ends Funaki. Nothing match so no rating.

Bruce Pritchard (Brother Love) says basic stuff about Owen.

Dustin Rhodes tells a story about Owen pouring hot sauce in a pot of chili Harley Race made so Harley Race used a stun gun on Owen.

Hardcore Holly vs. Ken Shamrock

Shamrock outmaneuvers him with ease as you would expect. Holly tries an armbar which gets him nowhere. Cradle gets two for Shamrock. They speed it up and Shamrock takes over. Ankle Lock ends this with ease. Total squash.

Faarooq says they were family.

Test tells a story about doing two shows on one day but the first was canceled due to snow. He’s in sunglasses while he does this mind you which is kind of stupid. Owen prank called him and said that the second show was up to him and the guy said Test says cancel the show. He didn’t find that out until the morning of this Raw apparently.

Billy Gunn vs. Mankind

Billy does his if you’re not down with that, but substituting Owen for “that”. That’s fine….I guess. Ross talks about Owen stealing his hat. Gunn puts Foley in the corner (no one puts Foley in the corner!) and hammers away. Mankind puts him on the floor but has to stop to pull his pants up (thank goodness). Back in and Gunn works on the knee. Apparently Foley has been doing Chef Boyardee commercials. Gunn goes to the floor to get a chair but as he gets back in it’s a Mandible Claw and Billy can’t get back in time and it’s a count out. Another short (understandable) match.

Foley does Owen’s WOO after the match.

Jeff Jarrett, one of Owen’s best friends and former tag champion partner, says that you have very few friends in this company. He had seen Owen recently more often than his family and now he misses his friend. He talks about how great Owen is and how Owen had integrity which is rare in wrestling. Owen made things entertaining and fun. Jarrett promises to tell Owen’s kids how great their father was.

Cole introduces a video about Rock vs. HHH and Austin vs. Taker for the title from last night. Uh…yeah, not something they likely should have done. There was a fast count to take the title from Austin, which apparently was a last second change due to Austin not wanting to wrestle due to the death of Owen. That’s more or less the only storyline stuff you’ll see tonight.

Edge talks about Owen mentoring him in his limited time here in the company. As a lot of people have said, Owen can make people laugh. Edge was in Owen’s last match, a tag match with Edge/Christian vs. Owen/Jarrett. At the end of this you can hear a producer say “thanks Adam” just before Edge leaves.

Acolytes vs. Mark Henry/D’Lo Brown

Henry is Sexual Chocolate here. The Acolytes are in the Corporate Ministry. Faarooq and Henry start and it’s of course power vs. power. Both partners come in and you can tell not a lot of people are interested in this. Farrooq’s thong is sticking out of his tights. JR and Lawler talk about Bradshaw and Steve Blackman getting into an argument at their baggage claim at an airport. Ok then.

Farrooq gets a DDT on Brown for no cover and it’s off to Bradshaw again. Never mind as Farrooq is back in again. We talk about Owen’s funeral a bit as Bradshaw takes over. Brown makes a blind tag and gets drilled. Neckbreaker gets two on D’Lo. Bradshaw accidentally kicks Farrooq and Brown rolls up the future JBL for the pin.

Rating: D+. Just a tag match here. The Acolytes would become pawns in the Corporate Ministry thing which broke up relatively in a few months if I remember right. Henry and Brown never went anywhere as they split over Brown trying to make Henry lose weight for the sake of his health.

Pat Patterson misses Owen.

Hardcore Holly says Owen can make people laugh and ribbed a lot of people. Holly talks about Owen putting Holly over in Mobile a few years ago which would be before Holly meant anything (yeah just go with it). Holly didn’t exactly seem the most interested in being here.

Road Dogg vs. Godfather

No match as Road Dogg suggests they open some beers and tell some Owen stories in the back. I can live with that.

Paul Bearer says something that sounded like a poem.

X-Pac reiterates that Owen was a funny guy.

HHH vs. Al Snow

Odd choice for a match here but this is an odd show. Snow is Hardcore Champion. We get the My Time music which is always cool to hear. This is a regular match and not hardcore. They do some fast paced technical stuff to start which is where Snow was a lot better than he was given credit for. After we hit the floor for a bit we go back in and HHH takes his head off with a knee.

HHH hammers away and Chyna gets a shot in as well. The expected dominance begins with a vertical suplex to set up the knee drop for two. Snow gets a clothesline and the headbutts as HHH does a Flair Flop (Ross: Looks like he just got off of Space Mountain.). Snow misses a moonsault and there’s the Pedigree to end it.

Rating: C+. Much better than you would expect here. When Snow kept things calm he was actually really good in the ring. The Flair stuff was really rather funny as HHH was a big fan of Flair and you can tell that. Good little match here and definitely the best one of the night so far.

Road Dogg can barely hold himself together and talks very fast.

Brisco says Owen was a great performer. Owen never cut corners either.

Big Show vs. Goldust

Blue Meanie is with Goldust here. Goldust has black face paint on here. He shoves Meanie into Show here and it’s more or less a handicap match. Show doesn’t seem to mind and a pair of chokeslams ends this in maybe a minute. Show would be world champion at Survivor Series.

Debra cries during her talk, saying that she spent a lot of time with Owen. She talks about how she took Owen for granted a bit because she didn’t think he’d be gone. Owen made her life better. She keeps looking for Owen and it’s weird not to have him around anymore.

Shane talks about the pranking stuff again. He tells a story about Bret and Shane out drinking a bit so they went back to the hotel and woke up Owen. Owen stole their stuff or something the next day.

The Rock vs. Val Venis

Val does his usual intro but says this is about Owen, not him. Very true. Rock has a bad arm from last night. He gets on a corner and does the FINALLY bit. He says tonight he’s here to entertain Owen and throws in some catchphrases. This was more of a Rock promo with Owen being in there just a bit. Val goes for the arm, they slug it out a bit, Rock Bottom and People’s Elbow end this in less than a minute.

Ross tries to talk about Owen but he can’t do it. Jerry talks about being in the ring with Owen after he fell last night and says never leave your family without saying you love them.

Here’s Austin to close the show. This was an interesting one as he and Owen had legit issues back in the day, namely Austin not wanting to work with Owen when Owen came back after Montreal due to the botched Piledriver. I can see both sides of it, but this was seen as a lot more of a corporate thing than a genuine tribute. Austin doesn’t say anything but rather toasts Owen, leaving the can in the ring. A shot of Owen on the screen takes us out.

Overall Rating: N/A. This was a very odd show. First and foremost, the emotion wasn’t there as much. I won’t say it felt forced, but I didn’t really seem to care as much about this one as I did the Eddie show. I wasn’t a fan of either guy, but the Eddie show was legitimately hard to sit through at times. This just kind of came and went although it’s a very similar show. I won’t grade it because obviously that’s not the point. However, this was odd for some reason and it’s hard to put into words what that reason it. It was all about Owen, but something didn’t feel right on it. Odd indeed.

Monday Night Raw
Date: July 25, 2011
Location: Hampton Coliseum, Hampton, Virginia
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler

It’s the first week without Vince McMahon at the helm and the first day of the HHH run WWE. This should be a rather change heavy show in theory but it’s possible that said changes will be slower and more subtle. Also tonight is The Miz vs. Rey Mysterio for the vacant WWE Championship in the tournament final. It’ll certainly be eventful. Let’s get to it.

We immediately open the show with the WWE Championship match! Not a bad way to get going.

WWE Championship Tournament Final: Rey Mysterio vs. The Miz

Most of the roster is watching in the back. Big match intros occur as they should. Feeling out process to start and Rey takes over with some speed. Miz counters a rana to launch Rey into the top turnbuckle to change momentum. It’s probably a good thing that they waited a week to let them rest up. Corner clothesline gets two for Miz. Knee to the ribs gets the same.

Miz sends him to the floor and adds a baseball slide to keep Rey down. The fans are totally behind Rey here as is probably expected. With Rey on the apron facing down Miz misses a kick but gets sent into the steps shoulder first. Both guys are down as we take a break. Back with Miz holding a chinlock and the third anti-politics line from the announcers. Miz takes him to the corner but Rey fights him off and goes up.

Seated senton hits and Rey speeds things up. Springboard spinning cross body gets two. Miz drills him in the ribs but a sunset flip doesn’t work. Rey can’t kick him in the head with that swinging kick and Miz grabs a DDT for two. A big boot gets the same. It’s been about 80-90% Miz in this match. Victory roll gets two for the masked man. A dropkick to the knee looks to set up the 619 but Miz ducks.

Miz tries a powerbomb near the ropes but Rey counters into another rana attempt. That doesn’t work as Miz hits a pretty sweet slingshot sitout powerbomb for a close two. Miz loads up the Finale but Rey climbs up onto the corner and elbows his way out of it. He gets caught in the Tree of Woe though and Miz drives in some knees. A charging knee hits the buckle though and Rey hits a rana to set up the 619. Top rope splash gives Rey the title clean at 13:20.

Rating: B-. Not bad here but it wasn’t quite epic or anything. This felt like any TV main event. It’s a good match but Rey just hit his finishers and won the title. I did like the selling of the knee from last week which is a very nice touch. Either way, good stuff here and fine for a TV title match.

Post match Rey gets kneed in the back and HERE’S ALBERTO TO CASH IN! Rey dives on him though and Alberto picks up his case and runs. That wasn’t a cash-in he says due to the bell never ringing. That’s true so it makes sense.

HHH will give a State of the WWE Address tonight.

The roster congratulates Rey in the back and he gets champagne poured on him. Cena, who looks like a foot taller than Rey, shakes his hand and says good job. Rey says it was worth it and that he’s going home to his family with the gold.

We get a shortened version of HHH and Vince last night.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Evan Bourne

Dolph has a new somewhat slower rock version of his theme. Pretty sure this is non-title. Yeah it’s non-title. Bourne gets a shot to the head to send Dolph to the floor for a bit. Back in the ring Dolph avoids an enziguri and hits a Fameasser for two. Dropkick gets the same and we’re off to a chinlock. Splash misses in the corner and here comes Bourne. Jerry makes what is I believe the fourth political/Obama reference of the night. Shooting Star misses and there’s the Zig Zag. No cover though as he puts on the sleeper and we’re done at 3:27.

Rating: C. This was fine. This is also what Ziggler needs: wins over guys that he should be able to beat where he has to work a bit to get them. Not every match with a midcard champion has to result in an upset. You get an ok match out of it and Ziggler looks a bit more credible. Nothing to complain about there.

Kofi vs. Alberto tonight.

The Keith Stone beer guy hits on the Bellas and uses a marker to tell them apart. The other isn’t happy and now there’s a full tattoo on his arm.

Maryse/Melina vs. Kelly Kelly/Eve Torres

At least they all look good. Eve and Maryse start and Eve hits a downward spiral and then dances before trying a standing moonsault for two. Maryse gives her a Stinkface and Kelly comes in. Everything breaks down and Melina misses a charge, allowing the K2 to end it at 2:51. Thank goodness I don’t have to rate it. Match was AWFUL but the girls looked good.

R-Truth is talking to HHH and we can’t hear what’s being said. The Address is next and there’s a major return promised.

Cee Lo Green will be performing at Summerslam. Because all the other concerts at wrestling events have gone so well you know?

Here’s HHH and it’s time for the State of the WWE Address. This place is awesome and let’s thank Vince for it. However he’s not here to talk about the past but rather the futuer. Tonight there’s a new WWE Champion and his name is Rey Mysterio. However, tonight there’s going to be ANOTHER WWE Championship match tonight. Rey is going to defend against…..John Cena. Oh dear.

Also there has been someone who the WWE Universe has been asking about all week. Cue CM Punk’s chant. Someone is coming back to Raw tonight…..and it’s not Punk. Cue JR of all people who is back on Raw. Cole throws down his headset and stands on the announce table as JR is next to King. Cole talks to HHH and says JR is the walking dead, not the future. He’s done everything the company has asked for but the one thing he won’t do is sit there with this hayseed. He makes fun of JR and asks why he’s here. JR is fat and his restaurants failed don’t you know.

HHH asks if Cole is done. His first inclination was to fire Cole and bring JR back. The problem is that Cole has a huge severance package so it’s not worth it to fire him. However, if Cole wants to leave that’s cool but he’ll be in breach of contract and will forfeit all future earnings. Cole has the rest of the night off and he has until Friday to decide. If he’s on Smackdown, he’ll keep his job but if he’s not there then good luck in your future endeavors. Cole sits down and says he doesn’t quit. HHH says not so fast because you have a match tonight.

Cole is told he’s next and that his gear is in the back. Here’s R-Truth who says it’s out with the old and in with the new. He says HHH has been part of the conspiracy since Day One and now HHH is the man. Little Jimmy cost him his match at Capitol Punishment and spiders and heights cost him MITB. Truth wants to know what the boss is going to do about the conspiracy. HHH wants to know who Truth is talking to: him, or the guys next to Truth.

Truth keeps talking to people that aren’t there and HHH does the same. Now the invisible people are about to fight. Truth calls HHH crazy and the crowd gets a good laugh out of it. Truth says HHH is the Game but he’s not playing. Truth drops the mic and leaves. HHH: “Hey all of you stop!” HHH says he re-signed another guy and he wanted a piece of Truth. Heeeeeeere’s Jomo, for some reason not in a shirt. Wait was Morrison fired or something? They fight on the ramp and Morrison takes over, hitting Starship Pain to stand tall.

Here’s Michael Cole in HHH attire, complete with King of Kings as his music and a bottle of water. Oh my oh my. He eve does the water spritz. And his opponent is…..

Michael Cole vs. Zack Ryder

Oh my again. JR actually calls Ryder an internet sensation. Rough Ryder and we’re done in 28 seconds.

Kofi Kingston vs. Alberto Del Rio

This is a rematch from the tournament last week where Kofi got the clean upset win. Ricardo is back now. Alberto is in white not. He takes Kofi down almost immediately and gets a dropkick to the back of the head for no count. Kofi tries to speed things up and gets a cruficix into a sunset flip position for two. Alberto is sent to the floor and runs as Kofi teases a dive. Kofi is all fired up as we take a break.

Back with Alberto working on the arm. We get a clip from the break of Alberto hitting the running enziguri to Kofi while he was on the top, injuring the arm. Kofi starts his comeback and hits some kicks and a jumping clothesline to set up the Boom Drop which hits. Trouble in Paradise misses and there’s the Codebreaker to the arm for two. Pendulum kick by Kofi sets up a victory roll for a VERY close two as Alberto grabs the rope. I thought that was it. Del Rio heads to the floor but catches Kofi with a guillotine over the top. Cross armbreaker goes on and we’re done at 7:18.

Rating: C+. Pretty decent little match here with Del Rio looking dominant again. Last week was a fine example of how you can lose and not lose your heat. Alberto looks fine here and him beating Kofi here is a nice rebound win for him because he did it clean. I hope that’s a sign of HHH’s time on Raw because sometimes (not always) clean wins are far more helpful than cheating ones.

HHH will be on Smackdown. Awesome.

Miz wants to know why Cena has a title match tonight. He says Cena got all of us into this situation in the first place. Miz thinks things have gone from bad to worse with Cena around now and that Cena should have been fired last week. The face of the WWE has no face. Oh and Miz will be on George Lopez on Wednesday. HHH has made mistakes and Miz isn’t thrilled with them.

Raw World Title: John Cena vs. Rey Mysterio

There’s a bigger border on the belt now. Cena comes out post break. There’s a Divas Battle Royal next week on Raw. Rey gets a kick to the leg to start and there’s a second one. They’re kind of feeling each other out to start. There are three more of them but Cena runs Rey over with a shoulder block for two. Rey gets a sunset flip kind of move for two and grabs a headlock.

Cena gets a belly to back to escape and gets two at the same time. Rey goes for the knee again but Cena dodges. He misses a charge though and hits the buckle chest first, falling to the floor. The dueling chants begin and Rey hits a springboard flip dive to the floor. Rey speeds things up but gets his head taken off by a clothesline. Back in and Cena gets a waistlock but Rey gets up and hits a DDT for two.

STF doesn’t work as Rey gets to the ropes. 619 is caught and Cena tosses him onto his shoulder for that sitout powerslam for two. Here comes Cena’s ending sequence but Rey fires off a dropkick to block a shoulder. Nice counter and it’s remarkable how few people have blocked that before. Rey tries to speed it up but his spinning cross body is caught in an FU attempt which is also reversed.

Both guys are down and Rey drop toeholds him into the buckle. Seated Senton hits but Cena tries to roll through into the STF. Rey counters into an STF of his own. Cena gets up on one leg into an AA position but the leg gives out and Cena collapses, right into 619 position. It hits this time and Rey goes up top for the splash but it eats knees. Rey tries a rana out of the corner but Cena shoves him off in something resembling a powerbomb.

Cena loads up the top rope Fameasser but it turns into a leg drop on a standing Rey which only gets two. The fans are WAY into this too and I can’t blame them as it’s been a solid match. Cena sets the AA but Rey elbows out of it. Another 619 is set up but Cena catches him in the AA and is champion again at 12:47. I can live with this I think.

Rating: B+. Solid stuff here as Cena got to show off his power and how effective it could be. I’m not sure what more they could do given the amount of time they had. Rey’s STF was a cool addition which we haven’t seen before on Cena, or at least not that I can remember. Good stuff here as both guys usually bring it in big matches.

Cena helps Rey up and celebrates with the title but some music starts up.  It’s a song called Cult of Personality……..PUNK IS BACK!  Cena holds up his title.  Punk holds up his title.  They stare it down as the show ends with Cena leaving.

Overall Rating: A+. This was a pretty excellent episode of Raw. We had history making stuff, a new champion, a pair of returns, no truly bad matches (the Divas make up for their weak wrestling) and a good HHH segment. I like where things are going here and things worked well here. This was one of the better Raws in awhile and I liked it quite a bit.

Results

Rey Mysterio b. The Miz – Top rope splash

Dolph Ziggler b. Evan Bourne – Sleeper

Kelly Kelly/Eve Torres b. Melina/Maryse – K2 to Melina

Zack Ryder b. Michael Cole – Rough Ryder

Alberto Del Rio b. Kofi Kingston – Cross Armbreaker

John Cena b. Rey Mysterio – Attitude Adjustment

Monday Night Raw
Date: July 18, 2011
Location: Resch Center, Green Bay, Wisconsin
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler

This is a very different era for Raw as Punk is now world champion but has apparently left the company with the championship.  Also we have Alberto Del Rio as the Money in the Bank winner who didn’t cash in officially last night because the bell never rang.  This should be a very interesting show so let’s get to it.

Here’s Vince to open the show.  Nice to see them going straight into the big story.  Johnny Ace is with him.  Vince’s punk jacket isn’t quite as manly as something Bret would wear but most men aren’t Bret Hart.  The locker room is all watching on a monitor in the back.  The fans chant for Punk and Vince says he’ll never say that name again.  Punk is an ingrate apparently and walked out on the fans, the locker room and everyone that has ever been in this ring.

Vince says no one is bigger than the WWE and lists off a bunch of names.  There will be a new WWE Champion crowned tonight in an 8 man tournament.  Ziggler vs. Rey is one of the matches.  Swagger vs. Truth.  Kofi vs. Del Rio and Miz vs. Riley….again.  He addresses Cena not being in the match because Cena let everyone down last night.  Cena will face unmentioned consequences.  Vince promises we’ll always remember tonight so enjoy the show.

We talk about Cena tweeting that he’s been fired and if that’s hot it is, Cena is sorry to Rock.

WWE Championship Tournament Quarterfinals: The Miz vs. Alex Riley

Miz is limping but the fact that he’s out there is a great sign after how bad his knee looked.  Riley’s entrance and the bell are after the break.  Here we go and Riley goes after the bad knee which is rather smart.  He has psychology at least.  A kick to the knee puts Miz down and he works it over a bit.  Miz’s knee goes around the post and Riley gets two back in.  Riley’s shoulder goes into the post and here comes Miz.

Miz throws on a cravate to slow Riley down.  You have to win by pinfall or submission so there are no DQs or countouts.  Riley manages to ram Miz’s neck into his knee to take over.  Spinebuster gets two.  The inverted DDT and the Finale don’t work so Miz goes up.  He jumps into a really bad Texas Cloverleaf (called a Sharpshooter by Cole) but manages to get a rope.  Alex hammers away and Miz is staggering.  And never mind as Riley walks into the Skull Crushing Finale for the clean pin at 4:57.

Rating: C. Nice to see Miz get a clean win over Riley as he was starting to look far too weak.  A deep run in this tournament could help him a lot as this win did.  Pretty average match here but for a TV match in a tournament that needs to have relatively quick matches, this was perfectly fine.

Video on John Morrison who is coming back soon from his neck injury apparently.

WWE Championship Tournament Quarter-Finals: R-Truth vs. Jack Swagger

Swagger grabs a headlock to start us off.  Truth keeps talking to himself as they circle each other a bit more.  Apparently Big Show will be out for two months.  Truth gets a victory roll for two as Truth does his weird pelvic thrust dance.  Belly to belly gets two for Swagger.  Swagger beats on Truth a bit more before the Vader Bomb gets two.  Double chickenwing goes on Truth as the crowd doesn’t care.  Truth starts his comeback but misses the Axe kick.  It’s countered into the ankle lock but Truth counters into a rollup for the pin at 4:20.

Rating: C-. This was a weird one as the heel vs. heel dynamic was kind of all over the place.  Truth was moving around fast like a face would do but since both are heels it’s kind of hard to call.  Either way it wasn’t anything all that special but with just over four minutes and no feud to work off of, how good can you really get?

WWE Championship Tournament Quarter-Finals: Alberto Del Rio vs. Kofi Kingston

Alberto is VERY fired up about being Mr. Money in the Bank.  He talks about trying to cash in last night but Punk ran away.  Alberto has a surprise and RICARDO IS BACK!  Why this is exciting is beyond me but you have to shout at a return!!!  The bell rings after a break and Del Rio gets a fast seated dropkick to the back of the head for two.  Alberto goes after the leg of Kofi which is a change of pace for him.

Kofi starts his jumping around and hits a back elbow to take Del Rio down.  Rock apparently has begged Vince not to fire Cena.  This match seems kind of rushed.  Del Rio is sent to the floor and Kofi hits a sweet dive to take Alberto down.  Kofi takes too long to come back in and gets caught by an enziguri for two.  Off to a chinlock which doesn’t last long at all.  Another kick gets two.

Elbow drop gets the same and we’re back to the chinlock.  Kofi starts his comeback and the crowd finally reacts.  Boom Drop is avoided though and Del Rio gets a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two.  Cross armbreaker is countered into a rollup for the pin out of nowhere at approximately 5:00.

Rating: C. Rather surprised by the pin here but Alberto losing makes things more interesting as far as surprise winners could go.  I didn’t like the match itself for the most part as it seemed kind of rushed but the ending helped it a bit.  Nice to see Kofi get an actual big win for once too.

Summerslam Recall is from 1992 where Bulldog beat Bret.

Kofi says he’s excited and tonight is a new opportunity.  That’s one down and two to go.

WWE Championship Tournament Quarter-Finals: Rey Mysterio vs. Dolph Ziggler

Ziggler trabs him to start but Rey speeds things up to escape.  Rey is tossed to the floor and takes a nice flapjack to put him down again.  In the ring that gets two as does a big elbow drop.  Off to a stump puller which is an old school submission.  Dolph takes him down to the mat and has been in control for most of the match.  Splash in the corner misses though and Rey gets a quick two count.

Seated senton off the top hits but Ziggler gets a sunset flip.  They exchange some kicks, resulting in Dolph getting a two count.  Clothesline misses for Dolph and the sleeper is countered.  Rey counters into a 619 attempt but Dolph ducks and hits a reverse slam for two.  619 hits on the second attempt and a top rope splash pins the US Champion clean at 5:00.

Rating: C. Not bad again here but at the same time it was kind of boring again.  These five minute matches can only be so good because they have to fly through everything instead of letting a match build itself up.  That gets really annoying quickly and it certainly has in these four matches so far.  Still though not bad.

Jerry calls Punk the former champion.

Updated brackets:

Mysterio vs. R-Truth

Kofi vs. Miz

Vince is talking to Johnny Ace about the tournament.

Face Diva Team vs. Heel Diva Team

Like I’m listing off 12-14 Divas for a two minute match.  Beth vs. Rosa to start and they botch something badly.  Slingshot suplex hits and everything breaks down within about 15 seconds.  Glam Slam and we’re done at 1:02.  About as good as I was expecting.  Anything with Kelly in those tiny white shorts is never a bad thing though.

WWE Championship Tournament Semi-Finals: Kofi Kingston vs. The Miz

Kofi immediately goes for the knee and Miz is having to fight through the issues.  Kofi does his reversal off the ropes with his hair.  They horribly botch a dropkick as Miz falls before it even hits.  Double stomp gets two for Kofi but he gets crotched soon after that.  Slingshot elbow gets two for Kofi but Miz rolls through a top rope cross body.  He hits more or less a Stunner to the knee and loads up Trouble in Paradise, only for Miz to head to the apron to escape.  Miz gets put into a rollup for two but gets a modified Snake Eyes and hits the Finale to end it at 3:45.  Miz is bleeding from the mouth a bit.

Rating: D+. Didn’t feel this one at all.  The quick endings are crippling this thing but having seven matches in two hours and all with clean endings is probably asking too much.  Not a horrible match I guess but at the same time this was way too rushed as they were trying to get too much in there.  As with almost all these matches, they would be better with more time.

Truth says he should be champion and there’s a conspiracy.  The Little Jimmys better close their eyes because the title is gonna get got.

Video on Andy from Tough Enough who grew up in a very bad neighborhood apparently, complete with a meth lab.

WWE Championship Tournament Semi-Finals: Rey Mysterio vs. R-Truth

Truth takes over to start and pounds Rey down, hitting a suplex for two.  They collide which of course goes badly for Rey, resulting in another two count.  Off to a front facelock by Truth and a knee to Rey’s ribs stops him again.  After a body scissors Rey gets some momentum, including a bad looking arm drag to put Truth on the floor.  Rey hits a suicide dive and we take a break.

Back with Truth holding a chinlock.  Apparently Rey tried two top rope moves during the break and was ½ with them.  Truth gets an extra spinny forearm for two.  619 attempt is countered by a forearm for two.  Back to the front facelock as it seems like both of them are spent.  Truth charges at Rey in the corner but goes into the middle buckle instead.  Rey still can’t keep any momentum going and Truth hits his suplex into the stunner for two.  Rey goes to the apron and hits a headscissors to set up the 619.  Top rope splash puts him into the finals at 12:48.

Rating: D+. Not a horrible match but there was WAY too much laying around.  This show is just draining and it’s the same problem as there always is in one night tournaments: the uniqueness of seeing each person goes away quickly because we’re going to see the finalists three times in one night which is just way too much.  Not bad but rather dull at times.

Rey stays in the ring for the main event which is next.

And before the bell here’s Vince in that pink jacket again.  Miz isn’t even out there yet.  Vince sounds like he calls it the WWF Title.  I’m pretty sure he did.  He has to hurry though because there’s something else he needs to do.  No title match?  Apparently not as Vince says this is bigger than Rey.  Sadly enough he doesn’t make the required joke.  Yep the match is postponed so no match here.

Vince reiterates that no one is bigger than the WWE, including John Cena.  There’s a CM Punk chant.  Vince talks about how this isn’t about his ego and how he did what was right from a business perspective.  This was a long term decision and in time, the fans will thank him.  Let’s get this over with apparently and here’s Cena.

Cena says he isn’t going to go through some big rant or tirade and he knows what’s coming.  He isn’t going to go through what Shawn Michaels went through.  Apparently this is about Montreal somehow and how Shawn had to go through the constant reminders of how he screwed Bret.  Cena doesn’t want to be remembered as the guy that screwed CM Punk.

Last night was about Vince wanting to keep his bubble intact because no one can embarrass Vince.  Vince needed a patsy but Cena wasn’t going to play ball that way.  Cena tells Punk that was a great match.  He wasn’t going to take the title that way because it would have made it look meaningless.  That’s true to an extent.  Cena says Vince now has about 8 months to find a new opponent for Rock.  Somehow he’s sure Vince can pull it off though so it doesn’t really matter.

Cena says that we should just get to it.  He says if Vince has to fire him here tonight, he’ll keep doing it on someone else’s TV show….Brother.  Hokey smoke we just got an actual Impact reference.  Cena starts to walk but Vince stops him.  And…….it’s time to play the game?  Here’s HHH of all people in a suit.  Vince is all happy to see him but HHH isn’t thrilled.

There was a board of directors meeting this morning and he says that twice for some reason.  The board is concerned about the current situation.  HHH wants to take this to the back so it doesn’t have to be in person.  The board however is about Vince.  It’s true that Vince built all this, but at the same time they’re worried about Vince’s “extremely questionable decisions” as of late.

HHH again offers to take this to the back but Vince says do it here.  The board has asked HHH to come here to tell Vince that there’s an injunction against him with a vote of no confidence.  Vince laughs it off but apparently the family agrees.  On top of that, the board has appointed someone to take over the day to day operations.  That would be……HHH apparently.  Cena IS NOT fired and HHH is about to cry.  Vince is officially relieved of his duties (HUGE pop for that) and HHH breaks down.  He loves “pop” and he’s sorry.  Vince stands in the middle of the ring and HHH walks out.  A thank you Vince chant ends this.

Overall Rating: C+. What a difference 15 minutes makes.  I had this all ready to go with a bad grade and then they spring this Vince is fired thing on me.  HHH as the new Mr. McMahon could work incredibly well as he’s someone we’re familiar with and he could even jump in the ring once in awhile.  I liked the ending a lot and I’m very interested in where this could go.  The first two hours were pretty awful but the ending is awesome stuff indeed.  Good ending to an otherwise bad show.

Results

The Miz b. Alex Riley – Skull Crushing Finale

R-Truth b. Jack Swagger – Rollup

Kofi Kingston b. Alberto Del Rio – Rollup

Rey Mysterio b. Dolph Ziggler – Top Rope Splash

Kelly Kelly/AJ/Kaitlyn/Gail Kim/Beth Phoenix/Eve Torres/Natalya b. Rosa Mendes/Tamina/Bella Twins/Maryse/Alicia Fox

The Miz b. Kofi Kingston – Skull Crushing Finale

Rey Mysterio b. R-Truth – Top Rope Splash

Monday Night Raw
Date: July 11, 2011
Location: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler

It’s the go home show for MITB and things should be rather interesting here.  It’s probably going to be either Punk’s last or next to last Raw so the talking could be great.  With Vince being around now there’s a chance he might pop up too.  Also we’ll get some build for the MITB match itself.  The interesting thing though is that the guys just got back from Australia so they’re likely going to be tired from the flight.  Let’s get to it.

Here’s Punk to open the show with a bullhorn.  He also grabs a headset and says something to the producer on it that we can’t here.  Punk sits in the ring and asks if he has everyone’s attention now.  He says recapping is in order in case you didn’t watch, which he didn’t because he wasn’t on, so last week he was suspended for what he said a few weeks ago.  Punk sums it up by saying he gets in trouble for saying things that no one else has the balls to say.

He demonstrates the bullhorn in case the mic is cut off.  The fans are totally behind him here and there’s a loud CM PUNK chant.  He says he’s here because Vince wants to sign him to a very long and lucrative contract to WWE.  Oddly enough all he’s ever wanted is a microphone.  I think you can buy one for like 12 bucks at Wal-Mart dude.  Punk says he’s been doing what Vince has wanted to do for years: making the WWE relevant in the real world.

That has only happened twice apparently: when Punk talks and when someone dies (no names mentioned).  Everyone from ESPN to E is calling him for his story.  Punk finds it funny that only now is Vince begging him to stay.  If Vince had treated him like this for the last five years, there wouldn’t be so much ammo built up for him to use.  Punk wants a live contract negotiating tonight in which Vince might have to join Punk’s version of Vince’s old kissing club.

Cue Cena who says cut the music.  Punk thanks him for getting him a job back that he didn’t even want.  He says he’s going to change the look of the title when he wins it because it’s been far too ugly for far too long.  Punk points out that Cena isn’t going to be fire because he was once before and it lasted like a week.  Cena: “You done?”  Punk: “Probably not but would you like to say something?”

Cena says that Punk has been talking about how he’s walking out of Chicago with the title and there’s nothing that can stop him.  Cena is no pushover though and now let’s talk about the word wrestler.  People have said for years that Punk is great and that Cena is what the company thinks is great.  Everyone has said that Punk is great over the years and a lot of names are mentioned including Eddie and Angle.  We’ll see how great they both are on Sunday.  A GM E-Mail says Vince is on the way and Cena is in action next.

John Cena vs. David Otunga/Michael McGillicutty

Cena vs. McGillicutty to start and Cena treats the champions like the jobbers they are, sending him to the floor as we take a quick break.  Back with Cena in a chinlock, apparently due to interference from Otunga.  STF attempt doesn’t work and it’s off to Otunga.  The match is completely boring as the announcers rant about how important the title is.  You know, that belt that they made a second version of at the drop of a hat.

Cena takes Otunga down and it’s off to McGillicutty who gets dominated.  You Can’t See Me and there’s the Shuffle.  AA is broken up by Otunga and they hit an atomic drop/dropkick combination for two.  Superplex by McGillicutty is blocked and there’s the top rope Fameasser to set up the STF but Otunga makes the save again.  Well at least it hasn’t been total Cena dominance.  And never mind as the AA ends McGillicutty at 9:56.

Rating: C-. Pretty boring match here but then again the Nexus are very boring to put it mildly.  I really don’t mind the champions losing again because it’s not like they’ve been built up in the slightest anyway.  Not sure why the GM would give Cena a seemingly hard match like that but maybe Punk will get one too.

Video on Henry being all dominant and evil lately.

Vickie is coaching Dolph on how to talk to Vince tonight.  The US Title needs to be the premiere title apparently so Punk and Cena need to be fired.  Vickie imitates Vince before Drew pops up and imitates him.  Dolph makes fun of “Vince” and they all make fun of his breath.  Vickie snorts when she laughs and Vince pops up behind them (big pop).  Tonight they’ll be in a handicap match against Big Show.  They leave and Vince is asks for a message for the people.  He doesn’t want to talk to the people right now.

Kelly Kelly vs. Melina

The Bellas are on commentary.  Jerry gets on Cole for saying there’s a way to tell the Bellas apart which they say doesn’t exist.  Kelly is in trouble early but takes over, uses a Stinkface for no apparent reason and hits the K2 to retain at 1:45.  Total nothing match.

Post match the Bellas say Kelly is way to skinny and wears way too much makeup.  They beat her down and Eve comes out for the save.  The Bellas leave her laying.

Quick recap of Miz destroying Riley after losing to him last week.

Here’s Miz and there are ladders everywhere.  He climbs up to the top of one underneath the MITB case.  He knows what it means to win the case and be world champion.  He’s taken that path before and since he’s the future, he’ll do it again.  Miz says he’s used to being above everyone else because he’s the best.  Cue Swagger who points out that he’s won the case and the title before.  Miz: “If someone cashed in MITB and no one remembers it, did it really happen?”

Cue Bourne who says he’s tired of hearing about what they’ve done so he’s going to talk about what he’ll do Sunday.  Bourne gets a running start and slides into the ring feet first with no hands.  Here’s Kofi who says the exact same thing that everyone else in the match is going to come out and say.  He talks about Edge getting hurt in these matches or something like that.  Truth comes out and talks about beating Cena recently.  He’s afraid of heights too, and there better not be any spiders on the ladder because he’s afraid of them too.  If he opens that case and there’s a spider, the grits will hit the pan.

Here’s Riley because six promos about one match isn’t enough.  He comes out at a spring and Miz runs.  Here’s Alberto in a Mercedes.  He got rid of Rey and now has to do all this all over again.  Oh and something about destiny.  An E-Mail makes a six man that starts right now.

The Miz/Jack Swagger/R-Truth vs. Alex Riley/Evan Bourne/Kofi Kingston

No Alberto or Rey here.  Back with the match already in progress with Bourne vs. Swagger.  Off to Miz as Cole talks about how awesome Miz is.  Everyone beats down Bourne for a bit with Truth in the ring at the moment.  Bourne gets a knee to the face and it’s hot tag to Kofi.  He comes in off a springboard and starts jumping all over the place.  Boom Drop to Truth.  He loads up Trouble in Paradise but stops to hit Swagger.

There’s the springboard cross body to Truth but Miz saves.  Truth knocks him to the floor as we take a break.  Back with Kofi getting beaten down by Miz.  Off to Truth who gets a two count.  Kofi manages to get a double DDT to Truth and Swagger and tags Morrison.  He hits a bunch of stuff on Swagger and beats on Miz a bit because he can.  Everything breaks down and Riley hits the inverted DDT on Swagger for the pin at 10:45 total.

Rating: C. Just an average match here with nothing of note going on.  You get almost the same match every year and it’s really not all that interesting.  Not a bad match or anything but really just kind of there.  They need to go with six people in the match instead of 8 as there are just too many of them that way.  Not bad, but the same stuff we always see out of these.

Everyone hits their finishers post match until Alberto comes out and destroys everyone with the ladder, including throwing it at Miz’s arm.  Bourne was holding his ankle too.

We recap the ending of Raw last week with Vince and Cena talking about everything involving Punk.   If Cena loses at the PPV he’s fired.

McIntyre/Ziggler vs. Show up next.

Drew McIntyre/Dolph Ziggler vs. Big Show

Show is all mad here.  Ziggler starts and looks at Show.  He tags out immediately so Show beats them both up.  Show dominates Drew as Ziggler hides.  Drew tries to leave and gets mauled by Show.  McIntyre gets thrown up the stage and it’s a countout at 2:00.

Show sets to chokeslam McIntyre off the stage but Henry comes out of nowhere and tackles both of them off the stage.  Henry goes flying also.  Drew just kind of disappears.

Henry doesn’t want help to the back.

We get a clip of Alberto destroying everyone earlier, setting up a long highlight video on MITB matches.

We run down the card for the PPV.

Punk and Vince are up next.

Vince comes out three times because the reaction isn’t strong enough for him.  No handshake for Cole.  He shakes hand with someone at ringside that is either famous or really lucky.  There’s a table and a red carpet in the ring.  He doesn’t want to negotiate in person but he’ll do it here.  He wants to get this over with so get out here.  Punk imitates Vince’s walk as is required by WWE law.

Vince’s chair falls down as he sits in it.  The contract has the provision for a Punk collector’s cup in it apparently.  Punk talks about how this contract proves that Vince has no faith in Cena.  Vince says he couldn’t live with himself if Punk somehow wins the title on Sunday.  He actually calls Punk Phil.  Punk doesn’t like the contract that’s made up so he had his lawyers make a new one.  Punk has already signed this one.

One of the provisions is he gets to push Vince.  Apparently Punk wants respect or he’s leaving with the title.  Apparently that wasn’t a provision.  The first is that he wants a jet.  As in a new one, not Vince’s because that one smells.  Punk wants his face on the Tron, the buckles, spoons, knives, forks, cups, everything.  HE WANTS THE ICE CREAM BARS BACK!!!  Punk is officially better than everyone.  That actually gets a HUGE reaction.

He wants CM Punk The Movie.  You can even call it the Chaperone II, although his will be funny and successful.  Oh and the main event of Wrestlemania will be Punk vs. whomever he’s against.  The last major perk is that he wants an apology for the suspension and for Vince being a huge hypocrite.  As far as the anti-bullying campaign goes, Vince is one of the biggest bullies Punk has ever met.  The fans are eating up every word Punk says.

Punk says his friends have worked here and they have been fired.  Vince says they deserved to be fired and Punk says that Vince is out of touch for firing people like Luke Gallows and Colt Cabana.  Vince doesn’t want to apologize so Punk throws the table over.  The fans want something that was either ice cream or wrestling.  Vince doesn’t care what the people want and Punk says that’s the point.

The fans want an apology right now and Vince actually says he’s sorry.  The fans chant for Colt Cabana as Vince picks up the contract to sign it.  Here’s Cena though who points out that even though the fans are cheering for him now, Punk is walking out on them Sunday.  Cena calls him a terrorist and says they’re both like kids.  Cena says he hates Vince too and makes stupid jokes.

Now we get to the awesome stuff.  Cena tells Punk that he’s lost sight of what got him here.  Punk talks about how at Wrestlemania 23 he was riding on the side of Cena’s car with a Tommy gun, saying that he promised himself that one day he would be in the ring with Cena instead of watching him.  Boston prides itself on being the underdog but now Cena is the WWE Champion and has become exactly what he hates.  Now he and Vince are the New York Yankees.  Cena drills him and Punk bails.  Apparently the man Vince shook hands with was Cena’s dad.

Punk sits on the stage and says that illustrates why he wants to leave.  He’s tired of all this and he’s leaving on Sunday.  Say goodbye to the WWE Title, say goodbye to John Cena and say goodbye to CM Punk.  He tears up the contract and does You Can’t See Me to end this.  The ending segment ran a bit too long and it hurt things.

Overall Rating: C+. Well the wrestling was pretty awful but the show got pushed very hard tonight.  The Raw side is built on two matches and those were pushed very hard indeed.  Anything else that happens at the PPV will be bonus material so it’s hard to complain about the lack of wrestling.  Ok no it isn’t but it’s more forgivable here.  Not a great show but for a go home show for this particular PPV, this was fine.

Results

John Cena b. David Otunga/Michael McGillicutty – AA to McGillicutty

Kelly Kelly b. Melina – K2

Evan Bourne/Alex Riley/Kofi Kingston b. The Miz/R-Truth/Jack Swagger – Inverted DDT to Swagger

Big Show vs. Dolph Ziggler/Drew McIntyre went to a double countout