Monday Night Raw
Date: February 7, 2011
Location: Bradley Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler

We continue on the Road to Wrestlemania in what I’d assume will be a plot advancing show which is ok.  The Chamber is in less than two weeks so there isn’t much to say as far as adding new stuff goes.  Bear in mind that I’ve seen part of this show last night but am reviewing it on Tuesday/Wednesday, so if there are some odd things said it’s because I know what’s coming.  Sorry about that.  Let’s get to it.

Nickelback opens us up.

Here’s Vince, and according to Cole it’s the first time we’ve seen him in almost a year.  Where do I begin?

1. He wrestled at Wrestlemania on March 28, 2010.  We’ll call that 11 months when it’s really more like 10 and a half.

2. He was there for Nexus.  Nexus began on June 1 and attacked Vince on June 22.  We’ll go very conservative again and call that June 7.  That means we have eight months.

3. He was on the November 1 episode of Raw, which may be a stretch as he was in a coma/dream sequence.  Still though, he was there.  That would be three months

In other words, at minimum it was three months and at most it was eight months.  That means it’s closer to half a year than a year, but who cares about things like time right?

Vince starts talking about Wrestlemania and how after the Super Bowl is over, it’s time for Wrestlemania.  Apparently next week we’re going to meet the host of Wrestlemania who has set a record or a streak of some sort.  I’m kind of intrigued but it better not be Justin Bieber.

Anyway as Vince is about to leave, here’s Randy Orton.  We get a clip of him punting Harris last week and running from Nexus and their beatdown.  Orton wants to talk about Punk and how after last week they’re not even.  Before Orton gets going though here’s Punk.  Punk sits down on the stage and says that of course it isn’t over.  He asks if Orton wants to know why he cost “Randall” the title at the Rumble.

Punk shows a clip from Unforgiven 2008 with Punk as World Heavyweight Champion and Orton getting in his face and calling Punk a fluke.  Legacy jumped him and Orton punted him in the head, which made Punk have to forfeit the title due to an injury.  Yes, THIS IS CONTINUITY!  They did something back then and now we’re going to get revenge as a result of it.  That is huge as something is happening and there’s a reason for it.  That doesn’t happen anymore, which is a huge thing.

Punk says that he’s been patient but now wants his revenge.  As long as they’re on the same show, Orton will never be world champion again.  He isn’t waiting for Elimination Chamber but is going to eliminate Orton right now.  Instead of running like someone intelligent, Orton stands in the ring and gets beaten down.

After a little bit Punk starts talking and Orton breaks free for a bit but is eventually tied in the ropes.  Cena chant starts up but Orton is all alone.  Punk yells at him a lot but Orton gets a headbutt and kick in.  The kick hits Punk in the face and breaks his nose legit.  There’s blood coming out of it and it’s swollen badly.  If it’s not broken it’s bruised badly.  The Nexus puts Orton on Punk’s shoulders for the GTS to end the segment.

Mason Ryan vs. R-Truth

This was set up by an E-Mail during the break.  Apparently all members of Nexus will face people in the Chamber, finishing with Punk vs. Cena in the main event.  This is Ryan’s in ring debut in WWE.  Truth’s song is freaking catchy to say the least.  And now we get the important part of the night.  “GREEN BAY WISCONSIN!  WHAT’S UP???”  Cole: Truth we’re in Milwaukee!  This would become the running joke for the night.

The fans totally turn on Truth, booing the heck out of him and chanting MILWAUKEE.  Truth is clearly shaken here, messing up his sunset flip out of the corner as well as the spinning forearm.  It’s understandable as he hasn’t been a heel in years.  Truth may have hurt his knee on the missed forearm.  Ryan slams him into the ropes three times and then locks on a Brock Lock (Ryan bends Truth’s leg around Ryan’s head) for the submission at 2:23.

Post match Ryan gets a chair but the referee grabs it away.  With another Milwaukee chant going, the hold goes on again and the decision is reversed.  This would be stupid based on the fact that Vickie said a referee’s decision can’t be reversed but whatever.

The Did You Know says more people attended live events last year than the Super Bowl, Stanley Cup Finals, NBA Finals and X Games combined.  You mean having like 400 shows a year was enough to pass all those others?  REALLY???

Back from a break Punk congratulates Ryan on hurting Truth.  Later tonight it’s McGillicutty vs. Morrison and Otunga vs. Sheamus.

Eve Torres/Tamina/Gail Kim vs. Bella Twins/Melina

The Bellas and Eve look great here.  Even Gail looks kind of good.  Natalya is on commentary for this and has a shot at Eve next week.  Gail tries to fight both Bellas which fails pretty badly.  Off to Melina now as this isn’t anything special at all.  Here’s Eve as Natalya and Cole get into an argument.  Standing moonsault gets two on Melina.  Everything breaks down and a spinning neckbreaker (Moss Covered Three Handled Family Credenza for you technical people out there) ends Melina at 2:22.  This was pretty worthless.

2-21-11 promo, this time with the Johnny Cash song Ain’t No Grave Can Hold My Body Down.

We talk about Aaron Rodgers having the title belt on his shoulder during the celebration.  Allegedly Ric Flair gave him that but I’m not sure how much I buy that at all.

Video about the Chamber match.

John Morrison vs. Michael McGillicutty

McGillicutty takes him down early to start us off.  To say the crowd is dead for the early parts here is an understatement to say the least.  McGillicutty goes after the arm and tries to slam Morrison’s hand into the post by crushing it with the steps.  The dropkick to the steps misses though and here comes John.  Flash Kick sets up the Starship Pain to end it at 2:30.  Great looking moonsault there.

As Morrison is leaving, Punk is waiting on him with some kind of spray that goes into Morrison’s eyes.  Punk also kicks him in the head.  Medics check him as we go to a break.

After a break here’s Miz in wrestling gear.  He says that last week he was pulling for Lawler and asks him to get in the ring.  Miz says it wasn’t because he thought Lawler would be the easiest targets because they’re all easy wins for the Miz.  Lawler used to be a loudmouth and everyone would listen to Jerry.  Miz says he patterned his career after Lawler and is a modern day Jerry Lawler.  I’d say Roddy Piper but that’s just me.

Now it’s him on talk shows and now it’s him that people want to watch.  He’s also WWE Champion which Lawler has ever been.  Jerry says they’re not mirror images because he’s an original.  Miz shows us a clip from last week where Jerry punched DiBiase which looked great.  Miz says that was a sucker punch so Lawler says Miz is a sucker and sucks too.  Wow that was bad.

Lawler says he’s never competed at Wrestlemania or been WWE Champion.  He says no one knows what it means to do either of those things.  Lawler is going to win the title and go to Wrestlemania.  Miz goes for his catchphrase but Lawler cuts him off by saying awful and there’s your chant.  The fight is on and Lawler puts Riley down.  Cue DiBiase for the save and Bryan for the second save.  The GM makes the obvious match.

Daniel Bryan/Jerry Lawler vs. Ted DiBiase/The Miz

Riley is on commentary with Cole here.  Bryan vs. DiBiase to start.  Who would have believed say two years ago that on Raw we would be seeing the number one contender Jerry Lawler teaming with Bryan Danielson facing Ted DiBiase and the WWE Champion the Miz?  Think about that for a minute.  Miz sends King to the floor as we take a break.

Back with Miz holding a chinlock on Lawler but there’s a quick tag to Bryan.  If I hadn’t been looking at the monitor I wouldn’t have known it as the reaction more or less didn’t exist.  Running clothesline in the corner to Bryan gets two for Miz.  Off to Lawler (small pop) and DiBiase who is in trouble early.  DDT gets two for Lawler.  Everything breaks down as Miz is taken out by Bryan.  The middle rope punch ends DiBiase at 9:05.  Lawler wins again.

Rating: C-. See, here’s the thing with Lawler: he doesn’t look terrible.  Yes he’s over sixty years old, but at the same time he looked decent.  He’s in great shape considering his age and can get by with the same basic moves he has for years.  It’s the Rocky story and it’s going to end in him losing at the PPV which is fine.  There’s nothing wrong with this story despite what various internet “geniuses” would have you think.

Sheamus vs. David Otunga

Holy squash Batman!  As Sheamus is on the way to the ring Josh interrupts him and asks his opinion on Mark Henry’s comments.  Sheamus hasn’t heard them but apparently Henry says that Sheamus should be out of the Chamber and Henry should be in.  Sheamus says Henry hasn’t done anything in 14 years and should only be in if it’s a cake eating contest.

Otunga comes out but here’s Henry instead.  The brawl is on with Otunga only trying to get in once and getting drilled.  A pair of World’s Strongest Slams ends Sheamus as I guess there’s no match.  Otunga stands over the fallen Sheamus but here’s…..Alberto?  Well he had to be here at some point I suppose.

Alberto Del Rio vs. Santino Marella

This should be short but likely won’t be.  After a break and before Santino’s entrance, Alberto says it was his destiny and all that jazz.  Santino throws Alberto over the top in a funny bit.  Was there ever a bell?  If there was I didn’t hear it.  Santino chant is the loudest of the night so far which I’m not sure how to take.  There’s the bell.  Kozlov isn’t here due to the beating he got from Corre the other night.

Santino sends him over the top again and talks some trash.  Back in and Alberto of course takes over as he’s supposed to.  He sends Santino into the post and the arm work is on.  Running enziguri in the corner misses but the Cobra misses.  Del Rio gets a Codebreaker to the arm and seconds later the Armbreaker ends it at about 2:59.  Just an extended squash with some minor comedy thrown in so no rating.

We recap the Nexus taking out the Chamber competitors so far tonight.

Here are Vickie and Dolph for no apparent reason other than we’re talking about Smackdown.  She says exactly what you would expect her to say until Cena’s music cuts her off.  He references Christina Aguliera butchering the national anthem at the Super Bowl.  He also apologizes for R-Truth, saying that Truth celebrated a bit too much because we’re in Milwaukee.

Cole morphs into the anti-Cena fan, saying it’s the same stuff every time.  Cena starts talking about the last time they were in a ring and Cena kissed Vickie.  Vickie and Dolph threaten to leave if the fans boo and Cena says you heard them, prompting huge heat.  He starts up a GO PACK GO chant, which is a local favorite and is enough to get them to go.

Cena talks about what Nexus has been up to tonight and gets another jab at Truth.  “They beat Truth up so badly that he forgot what city he’s in.”  The flaw in Nexus’ plan though is that Cena is still here.  He starts using the phrase Elimination Chamber instead of PPV.  There’s something awesome about people saying what they’re planning and seeing the Mania sign over their shoulders.  That’s always cool to see.

Another 2-21-11 ad, the same as before.

John Cena vs. CM Punk

Cena keeps looking at the entrance during Punk’s entrance.  Nice little touch there.  Punk hammers him into the corner to start as he controls early.  All Punk so far.  A charge in the corner misses though as this crowd is pathetic.  Cena can’t get momentum going though as he has to keep looking for Nexus.  Out to the floor with Punk landing a clothesline from the apron to keep control.

Back in the ring and it’s the knee and clothesline out of the corner to put Cena down.  The crowd is DEAD.  Punk says Cena can’t see him.  GTS is countered.  You can see some stuffing in Punk’s nose.  Cena pounds him down in the corner and the referee says he’ll disqualify Cena if he keeps that up.  Cena shrugs and drills Punk low for the DQ at about 5:00.

Rating: C-. This wasn’t very good, but they had a nice little thing going with Cena constantly being afraid.  Also the low blow was smart as he knew as soon as the match was over the troops would be on their way so he took out the leader.  There’s thinking there which gives this some points.  However, the match was boring and just a bridge to the ending, which isn’t good.

Post match Nexus of course comes out with Ryan guarding Punk.  McGillicutty and Otunga corner Cena but Lawler hands Cena a chair and house is cleaned.  Cena stands tall to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. I really wasn’t that impressed here.  The matches flew by and not much was going on at all.  They more or less burned this show off instead of going for something new for the Chamber.  That’s fine, but the problem is that it gets a bit boring.  There was nothing going on here for the most part though other than Punk trying to take out his opponents.  It’s not horrible, but I didn’t get excited once throughout the show, which isn’t a good thing.  Pretty weak show but not awful at all.

Results

R-Truth b. Mason Ryan via DQ when Ryan wouldn’t let go of his hold and the initial decision was reversed

Eve Torres/Tamina/Gail Kim b. Bella Twins/Melina – Spinning neckbreaker to Melina

John Morrison b. Michael McGillicutty – Starship Pain

Daniel Bryan/Jerry Lawler b. The Miz/Ted DiBiase – Second Rope Punch to DiBiase

Alberto Del Rio b. Santino Marella – Cross Armbreaker

CM Punk b. John Cena via DQ when Cena hit Punk low

Monday Night Raw
Date: January 31, 2011
Location: Dunkin’ Donuts Center, Providence, Rhode Island
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler

We’re officially on the Road to Wrestlemania now with our Royal Rumble winner being Alberto Del Rio.  Tonight he’s making his selection for an opponent at Wrestlemania.  It’ll be interesting to see if that match stands up past the Elimination Chamber but still it’s fun to see.  Also we see who is next to face Miz which appears to be Cena.  This is one of the most exciting times of the year, so let’s get to it.

Edge vs. Miz tonight and there must be a winner due to the interference last week.

Here’s Alberto for the big announcement to start the show.  He brings out a Mariachi band (King: they need more cowbell) to play Alberto’s theme song.  He comes out in a sweet 2011 Mercedes which he bought as a celebration present to himself.  Alberto says he said he’d win the Rumble and that he told us so.  Ricardo repeats individual lines that Alberto says.  He says this Mariachi band only performs for the Mexican President and him.  They’re real music, not Justin Bieber.

Alberto picks the…sera?  I’m not sure what he said but it wasn’t picking a title.  Instead here’s Miz to hear the announcement himself.  It sounded like a moderate face pop for actually.  He congratulates Alberto and says that he’ll be champion at Mania while Edge will lose in the Elimination Chamber.  Miz heard Edge talking trash about Del Rio last night, including saying the cars are rentals.  Del Rio thinks this is a ploy, but here comes Edge to a big pop.

Edge says he doesn’t like or respect Del Rio.  He wouldn’t say those things behind his back though as he’d say them to his face instead.  Edge will be champion at Mania and is the Rated R Superstar, which was said with a Spanish accent.  Del Rio picks Edge and Edge drills him.  Miz and Riley bail so Del Rio can jump Edge.  He breaks the guitar over the arm of Edge and locks on the Cross Armbreaker which has Edge tapping it seems.  Injury angle perhaps?

Nexus vs. Santino/Kozlov for the titles next.

Back and we recap the previous segment and get an E-Mail.  Tonight there’s a Raw Rumble Match.  Seven people in it and the winner gets Miz at Elimination Chamber.  The other six go into the Chamber, I’d assume for the shot at Mania but that isn’t specified.  Tonight it’s Orton vs. Punk vs. Morrison vs. R-Truth vs. Sheamus vs. Jerry Lawler vs. John Cena.  So wait, Lawler is either getting a PPV Title match or will be in the Elimination Chamber?  That’s uh…not going to go well I don’t think.

Tag Titles: Santino Marella/Vladimir Kozlov vs. Michael McGillicutty/Husky Harris

Santino vs. Michael to start.  We talk about Santino almost pulling off the miracle last night which was mind blowing for various reasons.  Michael puts him in the corner to start but misses a Stinger Splash.  Off to Vladimir now who hammers away but gets caught in the knee to shift momentum.  Santino and Husky in now with Husky actually losing for a bit.

A cross body by Santino runs into more or less a wall though and Nexus controls again.  Neckbreaker by McGillicutty gets two and Santino is sent to the floor as we take a break.  Back with Michael getting two on Santino.  Santino finally breaks the momentum and it’s off to Harris and Kozlov, who actually gets a solid pop.  Everything breaks down and Santino gets a tag.  He gets the Cobra to Harris for the pin to retain at 9:12.

Rating: C. Not bad here but more or less completely average.  The ending kind of surprised me but with Kozlov and Santino being so popular at the moment it makes no sense to not keep the belts on them.  The match itself was fine but nothing special.  Just a TV tag match and that’s all it needed to be.

As the champions leave, Orton hits the ring and it’s an RKO to McGillicutty!  He hears voices and sets to punt Harris but Punk pops up to say don’t do it.  Otunga, Ryan and Punk stand on the stage as Orton is waiting in the ring.  It should be noted that Harris took the Cobra and has been down over three minutes now.  He’s on his knees with his head on the mat but hasn’t been up yet.  Now THAT is selling.

Punk says if you punt Harris there will be consequences.  After a long pause, he pulls back but then punts Harris anyway.  Orton runs through the crowd to avoid the beatdown.  Harris is out cold and that’s probably the last we’ll see of him for awhile.  Punk and Orton stare at each other as we go to a break.

Back with a clip of what we just saw and the announcers talking a bit.  Ted DiBiase and Maryse come out to criticize Jerry for hanging on too long.  Ted wants Jerry’s spot tonight.  In the jaw dropping moment of the night, MICHAEL COLE defends Jerry, saying that he’s a legend and Ted needs to chill.  Jerry says he’s been here for 18 years and has never had a match at Wrestlemania because his Road to Wrestlemania has always been under construction.  His road begins tonight with the Raw Rumble.

Ted hits him and runs so Jerry goes after him.  Ted hides behind Maryse, who slaps the heck out of Ted, likely breaking up with him.  Jerry drills him as well and is ready to fight.  Cole yells at him for trying to hog the spotlight but reminds him that Jerry can’t hit him.  I kind of hope they’re leading up to Cole vs. Lawler at Mania.

We get a video of someone walking into what looks like a shack but it’s way too dark to see.  There’s rain everywhere and you can’t see anything.  The date 2-21-11 pops up on screen, which is the day after Elimination Chamber.

Back in the arena and the Bellas are at ringside for this match.

Tyson Kidd vs. Daniel Bryan

No word on if this is a title match or not.  The Bellas are asked about the bet and they ask if Cole has ever seen Cruel Intentions.  If you haven’t seen it the two main characters bet that the main guy can’t sleep with a certain woman.  The Bellas are the focal point here and it’s not like it matters.  LeBell Lock ends it at 1:48.  No rating of course.  Gail and Bryan make out post match.  The Bellas come in and we get a catfight.

Edge vs. Miz is next.

Edge vs. The Miz

No entrances but we get big match intros.  Edge controls early with basic stuff.  Riley pulls Miz to the floor and Miz gets some shots into the arm.  Miz gets two on Edge as it occurs to me that the video could have been Sting.  Kind of fits and could set up to Mania.  I doubt it but it’s possible.  Anyway Miz throws on an armbar as we talk about the main event.  This goes on for a long time until Edge finally gets a rope for the break.

And now we’re right back to the armbar.  I love in ring psychology but there comes a point where it makes matches boring.  They both get big boots and both men are down.  Edge gets a flapjack with the bad arm and stays down for a bit because of it.  See, that’s how you sell an injury: have it affect your match.  Sunset flip gets two for Edge and a boot gets two for Miz.

Edgecution gets no cover as Edge sets for the spear.  Riley sends him into the buckle and….here’s Cena.  He’s up in the guest box and starts a “Miz is awful” chant.  That’s enough for the spear to end Miz at 8:50.  Cole calls Edge and Cena buddies.  I love the total lack of continuity in WWE.  Cole helps Miz out and yells at Riley about Cena.

Rating: D+. This was rather boring and that’s mainly due to the armbars.  They make perfect sense but at the same time they’re boring.  Cena getting involved makes perfect sense though and it doesn’t make Miz look that bad since he had Edge beat.  This was ok but it dragged way too much to give it a solid grade.

Steve Austin will be hosting Tough Enough.  Yeah that might get them some ratings.

Here’s Vickie to say that Edge’s title is in trouble as Edge will defend the title in a way that it has never been defended before.  It’s not specified what though.

Natalya/Eve Torres vs. Laycool

We get a clip of Laycool making up for their blunder last night.  Natalya vs. McCool to start.  Layla comes in and hides from Nattie.  She picks Layla up but can’t hold onto her.  Laycool hug and it’s back to the beating.  Off to the new champion who flat out rocks those gold shorts.  She however does not rock in the ring as this is looking bad already.  Standing moonsault gets two.  Michelle kicks Eve in the corner and DIAMOND DUST (called the Facelift) here by Layla ends Eve at 2:45.  No rating for a glorified comedy match but that ending was great.

Usos vs. Great Khali/Mark Henry

Khali dances a bit.  Matthews is out to replace King who is getting ready.  Josh: “Khali and Henry combine to weigh nearly 1000 pounds.  That’s as much as a mini-Cooper or the chick from Precious.”  The GM says that the Usos have no chance so this is now a dance off.  I like the brutal honesty there.

You know what?  I really like the brutal honesty there.  “This match is going to suck and we’re not going to waste your time with it.  Here’s something that’ll likely get a nice reaction.”  Cole dances too and the Usos are nothing special.  Take a wild guess who wins here.  The Usos wind up taking the monster finishers.

The 2-21-11 thing plays again.  That looks A LOT like Sting’s coat.

It’s the world premiere of the trailer for The Chaperone, which is HHH’s new movie.  HHH is a dad just out of prison that is trying to get to know his daughter again.  He acts as a chaperone on a field trip but is followed by some people that know him from his life of crime.  It’s an action-comedy but they seem to have a real problem figuring out which it wants to be rather than a hybrid.

Raw Rumble

This is a regular Royal Rumble but with only seven guys.  Morrison is first and we see the routine he did to get back into the ring last night.  That’s just insane.  He’ll be joined by Sheamus to start.  It’s over the top for eliminations.  We take a break before we start though.  Back and we’re told it’s Laycool/Ziggler vs. Kelly/Edge and the title is on the line.  Whoa.

90 second intervals here.  Morrison works the arm and tries to put Morrison out.  That gets him nowhere but the Irish Curse does.  He hits it as Cena is in at #3.  Cena puts Sheamus down and tries the FU on Morrison.  Naturally Morrison flips out of it and hits an enziguri to Cena and takes over.  Punk is the fourth man in.  Clothesline and bulldog in the corner to Cena puts him down.  All Punk so far.  Everyone is back up now and we pair off with Morrison/Punk and Cena/Sheamus.  Belly to belly puts Sheamus down.

Number five is R-Truth.  He takes down Cena and tosses Morrison over.  Morrison holds on and pulls Truth with him.  They both skin the cat (who thought that was a good name for it?) but Truth messes his up and looks like he’s a fish out of water.  FU is blocked on Punk and the next to last guy is Lawler.

Lawler puts everyone down and almost gets Punk out.  Sheamus saves him for some reason.  Wouldn’t he want Punk out?  Sheamus almost puts Lawler out but can’t quite do it.  Orton is last and Punk hides under the ring.  Orton I guess realized it as he goes under the ring.  He hasn’t been in the ring yet.  There’s Punk and the beating is on.  Both are back in the ring now and we’ve had no eliminations to this point.

Clothesline puts Punk out but Truth sneaks up on Randy and he’s out too!  Down to five as we take a break.  Back with the same five still in.  Cena wakes up and tries a double FU on Truth and Morrison.  He dumps Truth but Morrison hangs on.  Morrison pulls Cena to the apron and they slug it out with some great teases.  Sheamus charges but misses.  All three are on the apron here and only Lawler is left in the ring.  He’s down though.

Sheamus is back in as is Cena.  Morrison is still on the apron and tries to suplex Sheamus out.  He gets him up a few times but can’t slide in between the legs.  Sheamus drills him and he falls backwards but hangs on BY HIS FEET and does a sit up to get back in.  This man is not human.  He can’t be.  Morrison tries to get rid of Sheamus but can’t get him over.

Slingshot shoulder half kills Morrison and Cena grabs the STFU on Sheamus.  Morrison goes for Starship Pain and TOTALLY misses it.  That was sad looking.  Lawler tries to throw him out but Morrison gets his hands out and again saves himself.  Flash Kick puts Cena down and Morrison goes for Sheamus again.  This time though Morrison is sent to the apron and the Brogue Kick puts him out.

Lawler gets a dropkick to Cena the the former rapper is in trouble.  Sheamus breaks it up and has Cena reeling.  For no apparent reason he didn’t shove them both out but whatever.  Lawler comes after Sheamus again but Sheamus ducks and Lawler puts out Cena!  They look at each other and Sheamus tries a Brogue Kick.  Cena pulls the rope down and Lawler ducks.  Sheamus goes over and Lawler is the #1 contender at 15:20!

Rating: B-. Morrison is by far and away the highlight here as you would expect him to be.  The match itself was a decent battle royal with some good spots.  Lawler winning was kind of predictable but if they’re going to put him in this spot he had to win here as he couldn’t be in the Chamber.  Either way, not bad at all and it worked pretty well I thought.  Match of the night by far which isn’t saying much.

Overall Rating: C-. This wasn’t the worst Raw I’ve ever seen by far but it was really pretty boring.  Lawler was more or less the main focus here.  Not a lot was set up but we do know the two big Raw matches which is the main point I suppose.  The main event helped a bit but it definitely didn’t save the show.  Decent show but a letdown from the previous few weeks.  Until two weeks from now.

Results

Santino Marella/Vladimir Kozlov b. Michael McGillicutty/Husky Harris – Cobra to McGillicutty

Daniel Bryan b. Tyson Kidd – LeBell Lock

Great Khali/Mark Henry b. The Usos in a Dance Off

Jerry Lawler won the Raw Rumble

Monday Night Raw
Date: January 24, 2011
Location: Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, Michigan
Commentators: Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole

It’s the go home show before the Rumble so something tells me they’re going to be talking about one thing quite a bit.  Tonight is probably going to be the last push for people that actually think they have a chance at it while they’re nothing but cannon fodder for the people that really have a chance.  Also tonight we get to find out a little something about the guy that might as well be Batista’s son.  Let’s get to it.

Theme song opens us up.  I can’t remember the last time that happened.

Edge vs. Miz in a champion vs. champion match.

Melina challenges for the Divas Title tonight.

Here’s Edge to open the show.  He says to Miz that he doesn’t have a lot of patience and doesn’t want to wait.  After listing off things he doesn’t like to wait for he says let’s do it now Miz.  An E-Mail cuts him off though and the GM doesn’t like Edge still.  Thankfully they’ve gotten what looks like an e-mail on the screen now.  We’re going to have a mini Rumble right now and whichever of the three can throw Edge over gets #40.

Edge vs. Tyson Kidd/Drew McIntyre/Jack Swagger

They all come and are in at once.  Edge takes them all down and eliminates Kidd.  Drew kicks him HARD in the head and almost gets him out.  Swagger makes the save as he wants the final spot but charges at the champion and goes flying out also.  Edge throws Drew out without much effort to win at 1:14.  No rating of course and I’m not even going to call it a real match of course.

Post match Edge says he’s going to get ready for Miz but first of all he wants to relive something that he did the last time he was on Raw.  Does anyone want to see a smashed computer?  Edge goes out to the computer but Cole stands in his way.  Edge is going after him but here’s Nexus instead.  Five guys this time, including the new guy.

Punk says that in this world only the strong survive and they do that by evolving.  He talks about the Rumble being bigger and to survive, the New Nexus had to evolve as well.  Punk introduces the new man, and his name is indeed Mason Ryan as we all knew coming in.  At least it’s official now.  Ryan says faith.  That’s the only thing he says.  Everyone is in Nexus because of faith according to Punk.

He talks about Corre (yes I know it’s the wrong spelling and I don’t care) and how Nexus has more faith than they do.  He will win on Sunday and Nexus will become the most powerful group the WWE Universe will ever see.  Could that mean a new addition?  As he stops talking, cue the Corre (I hate myself at times).

Barrett says he’s looking at the poor man’s version of Nexus.  Jackson says Corre will try to win the Rumble for themselves but will eliminate Punk.  Ryan gets in his face and we have an e-mail.  The GM makes Barrett vs. Punk.  The loser’s entire group is out of the Rumble.  The guest referee is Cena.  King says it’s a match you never thought you would see on Raw.  Why wouldn’t you expect to see that on Raw?  Anyway that takes us to our first break.

Back and we get a clip of the mini Rumble from last week with Henry clearing the ring.

John Morrison/Mark Henry vs. Sheamus/Alberto Del Rio

Alberto and Morrison start us off.  Cole is ripping into Jerry over him lasting 4 seconds in the 97 Rumble.  Alberto controls early and brings Sheamus in after a few seconds.  Morrison fights back fairly well against the Human Jar of Mayonnaise.  Off to Alberto again and Morrison may want to consider a tag.  He’s fought off Del Rio but won’t tag.

Morrison sets up for Starship Pain but Sheamus pulls him to the floor as we take a break.  Back with Del Rio holding Morrison in a chinlock.  Sheamus interfered during the break to give his team the advantage.  Off to Sheamus again and we see that Michael Tarver is watching on.  He looks a bit slimmer but that could be due to being in a suit.  Sheamus continues to hammer away and locks in that highly modified crossface chickenwing that he’s been using recently.

A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker gets two.  Brogue Kick misses and Morrison gets an enziguri to take down Sheamus.  Henry finally is tagged in after 9 minutes.  He runs over Del Rio a few times and gets a standing splash for two.  He and Sheamus face off but get Sheamus gets taken down by the Flash Kick.  Morrison dives out onto Sheamus and may have tweaked his knee on the landing.  In the ring the cross armbreaker ends Henry at 10:07.

Rating: C-. I wasn’t feeling this match for some reason.  It’s not terrible but Henry not coming in until the very end hurt it a bit.  Morrison seemed like he was sleepwalking through this and it didn’t work that well for the most part.  It’s an ok match but it never really got going for me.

Divas Title: Melina vs. Natalya

Melina is shrieking early and knocks Natalya to the floor very early.  Natalya is in trouble and Melina locks on a Full Nelson using her legs while sitting on the mat.  That’s a new one on me for sure.  Natalya stands up and rams Melina in the corner and fires off some forearms.

She pulls back for a big right hand but Melina drills her to take her down.  Melina tries a leg lock but Natalya grabs the legs and pulls into a Sharpshooter, wrenching back on it so hard that she’s laying on her back.  There’s the easy submission at 2:45.  Too short to grade but that submission was great.

Post match here’s Laycool.  They say that this Sunday Natalya is losing some weight in the form of the title.  They don’t say which it is but apparently one or both is getting a shot.

Back and we recap last week’s main event with Punk winning by DQ due to Ryan kicking him in the face.  There’s a religious sounding song in the background as Punk narrates about loyalty and faith.

Nexus is worrying about how Punk could cost them their spots in the Rumble.  Punk and Ryan come up and Punk talks about making a sacrifice to beat Cena.  He says that Sunday they will all sacrifice their spots so that Punk can win.  Harris isn’t looking happy about that.  He says there are 40 people this year and what if Punk is already gone when they get there?  Ryan says Punk won’t be eliminated.

Punk says take care of the Corre tonight but McGillicutty says what about Cena?  Punk says he’ll win because Barrett was Cena’s main enemy, not Punk.  The leader has them take a knee and raise their fists, drawing great heat from the crowd.

Matthews is with Cena who says he’s always done the right thing and he’ll do that tonight.  If Punk wins he’ll eliminate every member of the New Nexus.  If Barrett wins he has to deal with the Corre, which has an extra R.  He found out what it stands for earlier today but gets cut off by Miz and Riley.  Apparently it stands for rectum.

Miz says everyone needs to realize that winning the Rumble could be the worst thing possible as it means they could face him.  Cena stares him down and says Miz might lose at the Rumble and lose his rematch and not make it to Wrestlemania.  Cena leaves and Miz gets rid of Matthews.  Miz asks the audience if they think he’ll win the Rumble.  He asks Riley if it’s ready and Riley says roll the footage.  We get a clip of the beatdown of Orton from last week and Cole is very happy with it.

The Miz vs. Edge

As we’re about ready to go here’s Dolph.  Can we get to some wrestling already?  Ziggler and Vickie join us on commentary and we finally get the bell.  Edge has taped ribs due to the Corre attack on Friday.  After a brief feeling out process Edge takes over with some basic stuff.  Later on we’ll get an update on Teddy Long.  Miz fires back but no one has had a long advantage yet.

Edge gets a clothesline to take Miz to the floor and we take a break.  Back with Edge getting a cover over what looked like a backdrop.  Jerry: “Vickie I’m glad you could be here.  I thought you’d be at the birth of your next boyfriend.”  King gets a good line in every now and then like there.  Miz takes over but lowers his head and gets caught in a spinning neckbreaker.  Edge wants the spear but Miz hits the floor.

Miz goes for the ribs but can’t send Edge into the railing as the Canadian reverses.  Back in and Miz can’t get a superplex.  Edge knocks him off and gets a top rope cross body for two.  Jerry gets in an argument with Vickie and Dolph over glasses and pants or something like that.  Miz drapes Edge over the top rope as we take another break.

Back with Miz getting a two off an unseen move.  Some right hands get another two.  Miz has a body scissors on Edge as Cole goes on and on about how great Miz is, listing off various people he’s a combination of: Sammartino, Thesz, Michaels, just to name a few.  Edge fights up and gets his half nelson face crusher for two.  Miz’s corner clothesline misses and Edge gets two.

Riley grabs the leg of Edge and Edge goes after him.  Nothing comes of that but Miz gets a small package on Edge when he comes back in for two.  Edge hits the ropes and misses a clothesline but Edge takes out Riley with a baseball slide.  Edgecution puts Miz down and Edge wants the spear.  And never mind as Ziggler trips him for the DQ at 16:40.

Rating: B-. Good match here and it got a lot of time.  The double commercial kind of hurt it as it made it feel a bit disjointed.  They started to crank it up at the end, but the most important thing here is that Miz looked pretty strong.  No one winning definitively is a good thing for sure.  Not a great match but not bat at all.

Post match Ziggler hits the Zig Zag but here comes Orton for the save.  The crowd wakes way up for his appearance.  RKO to Riley and RKO to Ziggler, but Miz gets a shot in and leaves with the title as we take a break.

Back with Barrett saying that he always talked about how Nexus was about the bigger picture.  However he lost sight of that and only cared about the title and humiliating Cena.  We pan out to see everyone else but Barrett repeated that there are no leaders here.  Matthews asks about the attack on Long but Barrett again denies it.  He respects Cena and hopes that can be mutual someday.

Daniel Bryan/Bella Twins vs. Ted DiBiase/Alicia Fox/Maryse

The genitaila have to match here.  The guys start and it’s off to a Bella and Maryse very soon.  The other Bella hits on Daniel and Maryse gets a rollup with ease to end it at 57 seconds.  No rating of course.  Alicia I beg of you: straighten your hair again.

Back and the Bellas are arguing about Bryan.  Tarver is staring at them and then disappears.  That was….odd.  They go into Bryan’s locker room and find him making out with Gail Kim who is apparently his girlfriend who he’s been dating for SIX MONTHS???  And yes he was in fact a vegan.  Gail says he was hanging with the Bellas because he felt sorry for them since there were no more guest stars and they had nothing to do.  They call Gail a nothing and a brawl breaks out.  This was surprisingly hilarious.

Here’s Nexus and the tag titles are on the line next.

Miz/Ziggler vs. Rated RKO on Friday.

Michael McGillicutty/Husky Harris vs. Santino Marella/Vladimir Kozlov

Cole corrects himself as this is not a title match.  McGillicutty and Kozlov to start.  Off to Santino and he loses the advantage for his team.  Harris beats him up for a good while as the Canaditalian is in trouble.  He needs a tag but Harris takes Vlad down before it can be made.  Santino wakes up and fights Harris off on his own.  Time for the Cobra but he walks into a clothesline from Husky.  Downward Spiral ends it at 3:52.

Michael McGillicutty/Husky Harris b. Santino Marella/Vladimir Kozlov @ 3:52 – Downward Spiral to Marella

Rating: D+. Nothing special at all here and I’m not entirely sure if I’d have gone with a glorified squash of the champions.  It was a TV match with nothing going on at all for the most part.  Pretty clear that it’s just a way to set up another Nexus title run which they could use I guess.  Yeah that’s it.

Otunga says let’s hear it for the winners and introduces Punk.  Cena is coming and we go to a break.

Wade Barrett vs. CM Punk

Cena is referee and the winner’s group gets to stay in the Rumble.  Before the match, Cena throws Nexus out.  Hey Corre, you’re out too.  Cole gets on Cena for abusing his power with those ejections.  Ah there’s the bell but Cena shoves Punk down almost immediately.  Punk comes up with a fist but Cena points out the referee.  There’s a slap to Barrett from Punk and again with the shirt.

Punk jumps Barrett and we’re finally on.  Barrett is thrown to the floor and Punk jaws at Cena, saying that’s him on Sunday.  Naturally Cena throws Punk over the top.  Punk charges back in but won’t hit him because it would mean he’s out of the Rumble.  Barrett jumps him from behind, but Cena hits the floor to sign some autographs instead of counting a pin.

Back in the ring and it’s…a bell?  It’s a double DQ for use of excessive profanity on a PG show at 2:00.  Both teams are out of the Rumble!  Cena starts to leave but it’s an E-Mail.  The teams are back in, but if Cena doesn’t apologize to both guys then he’s out.

Wade Barrett vs. CM Punk went to a Double DQ @ 2:00 when they both used too much profanity

Cena apologizes but drills them both.  The rest of the teams run in and Cena hits the floor.  The locker room empties and it’s the annual pre-Rumble big brawl to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. And let the bashing me begin.  This wasn’t about wrestling tonight and I’ll be ignoring comments from people that say this is unfair to give this such a grade.  Yes it is, as the point of this show was a buildup to the Rumble.  This certainly did that and in spades.  It wasn’t a wrestling heavy show but it wasn’t supposed to be.  Decent enough stuff and the things that needed to happen happened.  Good go home show.

Results

Edge b. Drew McIntyre/Jack Swagger/Tyson Kidd – Edge last eliminated McIntyre to win

Alberto Del Rio/Sheamus b. John Morrison/Mark Henry – Cross Armbreaker to Henry

Natalya b. Melina – Sharpshooter

Maryse/Ted DiBiase/Alicia Fox b. Daniel Bryan/Bella Twins – Rollup to Nikki Bella

Michael McGillicutty/Husky Harris b. Santino Marella/Vladimir Kozlov – Downward Spiral to Marella

Wade Barrett vs. CM Punk went to a Double DQ when they both used too much profanity

Monday Night Raw
Date: January 17, 2011
Location: Verizon Arena, Little Rock, Arkansas
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler

With today’s news that there will now be 40 entrants into the Rumble, I’d expect to see more people talking about their supposed chance to win and move on to Mania.  Also tonight the announced main event is John Cena vs. CM Punk which I’d bet a high amount on there being a screwy ending for.  Other than that there isn’t anything announced.  Hopefully Raw keeps its streak of pretty good shows going.  Let’s get to it.

We open with a video of Martin Luther King and his I Have A Dream speech (for any non-Americans that may be confused by this, today is Martin Luther King Day in America).

Here’s Cena to open the show with a salute.  I guess he’s on leave from whatever branch of the military he’s supposed to be in.  We get a quick video of three weeks ago when Nexus beat up Cena and allegedly hurt his hip.  This is Cena’s first (televised) appearance in a WWE ring in 2011.  He has some new year’s resolutions.  First is to take care of the psychopath CM Punk.  Second is to read something that I couldn’t make out what he said.  Third is to win the Rumble and fourth is to win the WWE Championship at Mania.

Cena says that Punk is first so if he wants some, come get some.  Instead he gets Miz who along with Riley are straight up rocking some suits.  Miz says that he’s the most must see champion in company history while Cena is played out.  The champion confirms the 40 man aspect of the Rumble.  He says that whoever wins the Rumble, they shouldn’t come after him because if they do they’ll suffer the same fate as Orton will in two weeks.

This draws a golf clap and an overly dramatic repetition of the phrase “You will lose” ala Ivan Drago.  As if on cue, Cena does a Rocky impression and says if they can change then everybody can change.  He points out that if not for Cole then Lawler would be champion and if not for Riley then Orton would be.  Cena says that they’re like a more feminine version of the Kardashians.

The only battle that The Miz has is with Irritable Bowel Syndrome, which means his body makes poop noises.  “It’s PG folks, I’m doing the best I can.”  Well at least he acknowledges it.  Cena talks about how Miz is afraid to fight.  Miz objects and says there is no doubt that he can outwrestle the greatest technicians in WWE history.  He can beat Kurt Angle?  Miz sets for his catchphrase but instead says he will finish that sentence when he destroys Randy Orton.

Miz is getting booed out of the building here.  But I thought the internet decided he was a failure the second he won the title!  HOW CAN THIS BE???  Cena says if Miz is champion let’s see him do something to prove it and gets ready to fight.  Here comes Punk and Nexus, which is now the New Nexus.  Wow that name sucks.  It’s Punk, Otunga, Harris and McGillicutty here.

Punk says the odds are against Cena for the Rumble, partially because all of Nexus is in the Rumble too.  The only purpose of the New Nexus being in the Rumble is to get Punk the win.  I like the whole just flat out saying it’s all about Punk.  Why lie about it?  Nexus minus Punk comes to the ring and Cena is in trouble.  It’s….Santino and Kozlov out for the save???  Nexus retreats and Punk says let’s try it with these odds and all four come to the ring.

E-Mail stops that though.  Miz and Riley have bailed by the way.  The GM wants to know the odds of Punk winning if Nexus is barred from ringside.  If any Nexus member is involved they’re out of the Rumble.  That announcement takes us to a break.  Tag titles up next.

Also Ziggler vs. Orton tonight.  They’re really pushing Dolph strong and I like it.

Tag Titles: Usos vs. Santino Marella/Vladimir Kozlov

We get big match intros for both teams but both were in the ring when we started.  Impressive what something like that can do for a match.  Santino and I think Jey start us off and Santino is in trouble early.  This was the match that was supposed to happen last week but Nexus beat down the champions.  Nice to see them tie up a tiny loose end like that for a change.

Basic formula match so far with Santino getting beaten down for a bit before he makes the lukewarm tag to the Russian dude.  He destroys the guy that we’ll call Jimmy (does it really matter though?).  Apparently it was Jimmy who is covered after a headbutt for two.  Jey is sent to the floor and in comes Santino.  Cobra ends Jimmy at 2:33.  Short and not bad but not enough for a regular rating.  Tamina has nice legs surprisingly enough.

Nexus minus Punk is bickering in the back and say they need to do something.  Punk appears with a downright creepy smile on his face.  He looks at all of them (complete with the bad looking eye from the incident at a house show over the weekend) and doesn’t seem upset at all about having to be alone tonight.

Morrison walks up to Bryan who has both very good looking Bellas with him and shakes his head.  They go at it next.

John Morrison vs. Daniel Bryan

Nice pop for Morrison.  During Morrison entrance we get a highlight package of his best stuff and his high spots really are rather impressive.  Bellas looking incredible in cut off t-shirts and tight black pants.  They do some nice counters for a wristlock and arm work to start us off.  Bryan gets a suplex/takeover to get control.

Nice to see guys that are young and considered midcarders only getting a chance like this.  They both hit the floor for a second and it’s a standoff back in the ring as we take a break.  Back with Morrison holding a headlock on Bryan.  Russian legsweep and Morrison sets for Starship Pain.  It would have been on target but Bryan moved.  Morrison is now the Prince of Parkour according to Cole.

A big kick to the head gets two for Bryan and the fans pop for the kickout.  Both try cross bodies and they crash sending both of them down.  They slug it out and neither guy can take over.  Morrison counters a German and it’s an pld school pinfall reversal sequence.  Morrison counters but his counter is counteres almost into the LeBell Lock.  Morrison counters and gets a slingshot into the corner.  Flash Kick takes Bryan down and there’s the running knee for the clean pin at 7:25.  Very fun match.

Rating: B. This was a very fun and entertaining match.  It wasn’t the most technically sound but at times that’s ok.  They played up the both guys are evenly matched aspect very well here and the whole thing came off as fast paced and entertaining.  Morrison’s push continues with another big win.  It’s nice for them to pick someone and stick with him and the pops seem to prove the idea correct.

They shake hands post match and it’s a nice sign of respect.  It’s also a Shameful Thing as here’s King Sheamus.  He says he made Morrison and can destroy both him and Bryan.  All three are going to be in the Rumble and Sheamus says he’s going to eliminate both of them.  LONG LIVE THE KING!

Stand Up For WWE won some Mashable Awards for best campaign or something like that.

The Bellas lust over Morrison but both are trying to be Daniel Bryan’s first.  They make a bet about it of some sort.  NOT PG!!!  NOT PG!!!  THAT IS NOT PG!!!  I can’t handle this!  I suddenly want to commit sins and ruin my entire life!  HOW DO I HANDLE THIS?????  This was kind of a heelish promo and implies they’re playing Bryan for a fool.

Here’s Vickie to introduce Ziggler.  Great heat on her to say the least.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Randy Orton

Orton gets a big reaction from this white hot crowd.  We take a break and the bell is next.  Back with Ziggler taking Orton into the corner and pounding him down to start.  Orton with a Thesz Press and right hands as they’re not even trying to hide the Austin stuff anymore.  It’s down to the chinlock now with Orton firmly in control to start us off.  Ziggler fights back a bit but the power of the Viper is too much and the beating continues.

Dolph gets Orton down and hooks onto the leg.  Big old RKO chant as this crowd is impressive.  Orton fights him off again and unleashes the clothesline.  The powerslam (read a book Cole) puts Ziggler on the apron for the elevated DDT.  It’s patented apparently.  I want to see the paperwork.  Dolph gets out of it though by moving his legs and drills Orton in his injured leg.

Fameasser gets two.  Ziggler gets the sleeper on but Orton is a main event face so he’s immune to it.  When’s the last time that move won a match?  Zig Zag is countered once and then the second is countered into what was allegedly an RKO but it looked more like Ziggler just landed on Orton’s chest.  Either way it gets the pin at 8:30.

Rating: C. The ending hurts it as it didn’t look good and the leg work didn’t go anywhere.  I guess it’s to set up the PPV match and give Orton a handicap.  This was an ok match but I was expecting more from Ziggler.  Could it be that Orton is just average in the ring?  That may have something to do with it.  Not bad but nothing special.

Post match and I mean almost as soon as the bell rings here are Miz and Riley for the beatdown.  They go after the knee and take out Lawler who tries for the save.  Nice to see an announcer actually try to do something for once.  Orton’s back is rammed into the post and Miz gets in some more stomps.

Miz says pick him up because they’re not done yet.  They throw Orton into the barricade which more or less explodes.  They really should look into that.  You can hear the director saying to keep the camera on Miz.  Miz grabs a mic and does the catchphrase in the unconscious face of Orton.  Cool beatdown and makes Miz look intense.

In the back Punk is talking to the Nexus about faith.  He gets almost into a sermon about how to gain what you want you have to sacrifice.  I have no idea what he’s talking about with his stuff about manbeasts and all that jazz.  They bow their heads and that’s all there is to it.  Ok then.

Maryse vs. Natalya

Cole has Eve and Melina on commentary with him here.  Melina can’t answer what her issue is with Natalya.  She’s been #1 contender for what, a month now?  Natalya gets her down and Melina still won’t talk.  Eve doesn’t seem to like Cole which is kind of funny.  Maryse has apparently been giving the other Divas beauty tips.  Sharpshooter ends this in 1:40.  Total nothing match.

Post match Maryse GOES OFF on Cole and Eve shoves her and leaves.  Maryse keeps going off on him until DiBiase comes out.  She shouts at him too and calls him a loser that can’t win the Rumble.  He grabs a mic and asks the crowd if he can.  He says he’ll throw anyone over the top right now and he issues an over the top rope challenge as we take a break.

Back and naturally Mark Henry takes the challenge.

Is anyone surprised it’s Henry?  Remember it’s an over the top challenge.  And it’s over in 30 seconds with Henry winning.  Tatsu, Kidd and Regal all run out.  I’m not calling this an official match.  Every jobber on the roster runs out and it’s turning into kind of a battle royal.  Young, Primo, David Hart-Smith and even R-Truth is out there.  Truth is by far the biggest name in this.  Ryder out there too.

Henry holds up Ryder and here’s Sheamus.  Henry throws him over but he holds on.  Lawler is back on commentary.  Henry throws him out.  Cole was calling this like an actual match once everyone ran in.  Henry’s music plays and here comes Alberto!  He’s in a suit and is cutting a promo about how this is his destiny to go on to the biggest show of them all and all that jazz.  Henry goes after him and Del Rip winks at him to end this.  Not calling a 30 second toss over the top thing a match.  Fun segment though.

Back with Derrick Bateman doing something like an informercial for World’s Strongest Man’s cologne.  It’s made from Henry’s sweat apparently.  Bateman sprays some of it and looks like he’s getting sick.  A voiceover gives a bunch of health warnings over it.  I have no idea what the point of this was at all.

We get the Rumble numbers package which I always love.

40 participants

24 winners

656 entrants

39 eliminations for Shawn, a record

26 Hall of Famers in the match

183,932 pounds in total, equal to 409 Big Shows

2 women in the Rumble, including Beth who eliminated Khali

11 eliminations by Kane in one Rumble

62:12 is Rey’s record for length in the Rumble which is a lie if you believe the 92 Rumble’s commentary

1 second is the record for fastest time for an elimination

3 is the most wins by a single man, in this case Austin

1 is the worst number but it has produced the most winners as the #30 spot (Shawn and a guy not listed who would be Benoit)

70 which is the percent of winners that have won the title at Mania

Music video about the Rumble follows.

We talk about the Rumble and also are told that next week it’s Edge vs. Miz.  Amazing what happens to the ratings when you announce main events a week in advance: more people seem to watch.

Cena vs. Punk next.  Cena is coming to the ring and steals a phone (which looks like it’s from the early 90s) and says the guy will call him back and hangs up.  Ok then.

CM Punk vs. John Cena

Nexus comes out with Punk but walks back after Punk’s entrance.  They stare each other down to start and the fight is on.  Cena gets the bulldog and hammers away.  Punk is reeling early on.  Cena dominates for awhile until Cena ducks his head and Punk gets a HARD kick to the shoulder.  Baseball slide puts Cena on the floor as we take a break.

Back with Cena in a modified triangle choke (I know nothing about MMA so that could be entirely wrong).  He fights up but gets caught in a DDT and back to the same hold.  Cena gets up again and starts his ending sequence.  Punk gets a leg lariat to stop him though and gets the corner clothesline and bulldog for two.

Attempt at the GTS but Cena grabs the leg and goes into the STF.  Cole looks like he’s giving head to the table while he’s shouting so much.  Punk grabs the rope and both men are down.  FU is blocked and Punk gets his springboard clothesline for two.  Punk gets a Downward Spiral and stays on the mat to pull his leg around the throat of Cena in a choke which is called the Anaconda Vice, which it definitely isn’t.  After a close call he gets the rope.

A big boot puts Cena on the floor.  Punk tries a tope but Cena catches him in mid air and rams him into the post.  Cena looks to fly but Punk catches him with a right hand.  Punk tries a suplex but Cena shoves him off.  The top rope legdrop gets two and here comes….some very large man.  He looks like Batista to the point where I’d believe they were related.

The guy stares down Punk in the ring and Punk smiles.  WWE security is awful by the way.  I think this might be Mason Ryan, the FCW dude.  Punk holds his arms up in a cross and lets the guy kick him in the head for the DQ at approximately 15:00.  He hits Cena with a modified Rock Bottom as Nexus runs out to defend Punk but he says step aside.  The big guy takes a knee to Punk and does the salute.  Punk takes a Nexus band off his ankle or out of his shoe and puts it on the guy, making him the newest member.

Rating: B-. This match got borderline epic a few times.  The kickouts and false finishes were all great and I like that there wasn’t a definitive ending.  Neither guy was dominating as the match ended which shows that Punk can in fact hang with Cena and maybe even beat him.  Adding an enforcer is a good thing too, making this a good ending to the show.

They do the salute and AGAIN we hear the director saying where to keep the camera.  A shot of them ends the show.

Overall Rating: B. I liked this show for the most part.  They set up for the Rumble and we had some good matches in there also.  Nothing great mind you but still good stuff.  Cena vs. Nexus has a new wrinkle now and we didn’t see a definitive ending.  I like where they’re going with this and the crossovers help the build for the Rumble.  Good show tonight but not great by any stretch of the imagination.

Results

Santino Marella/Vladimir Kozlov b. The Usos – Cobra to Jey

John Morrison b. Daniel Bryan – Running knee to the head

Randy Orton b. Dolph Ziggler – RKO

Natalya b. Maryse – Sharpshooter

CM Punk b. John Cena via DQ when a man interfered

Monday Night Raw
Date: January 10, 2011
Location: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole

We’ve reached the time period leading up to the Rumble and have the world title set.  Tonight we’ll likely see more about Miz vs. Orton and the beginning of the build to the Rumble itself which is in just under three weeks.  This time is usually about establishing dominance for the Rumble and possibly qualifying matches.  Also we might see the next steps for the now CM Punk led Nexus.  Oh and Cena might be back tonight.  Let’s get to it.

Theme song opens us proper.

Tonight we find out the first entrant into the 2011 Hall of Fame and Cena will address the WWE Universe.

Santino and Kozlov are here to defend the titles but Nexus and Punk hit the ring to destroy them.  Punk says that the title match is postponed.  Nexus is now stronger than ever and al five of them can shine.  Punk reminds us that Cena addresses the Universe tonight, but the days of Hustle, Loyalty and Respect are over.  There will be an initiation tonight for all members of the group including the leader.

Otunga says that’s cool, speaking for everyone.  First up is McGillicutty’s initiation.  He’s beaten down everyone, including the Chairman of the Board.  The crowd chants Cena.  Punk: “Yes, he’s beaten down Cena too.”  Michael’s initiation is to receive a Nexus beatdown and Harris has to start it off.  He won’t do it but Otunga will.  Slater and Harris add their finishers.  450 and GTS end McGillicutty but he’s officially initiated.  They carry him off with him almost in a cross shape as we take a break.

R-Truth vs. Alberto Del Rio

I saw this match on Saturday night at a house show and got a good match out of it so this should be entertaining.  On the way to the ring we hear more about the Hall of Fame entrant who Lawler says may be the best of all time.  I’m intrigued now.  Del Rio hits a Backstabber which would be a good move for him to pick up actually.  Truth gets a clothesline to the floor and actually hits the floor first with a thud.  They slug it out on the floor but Rodriguez distracts Truth and it’s a countout at 1:50.  Rodriguez shouting WHAT’S UP over and over was rather funny.  No rating of course.

Alberto says that that was another victory but you already know that.  He makes fun of American music including hip hop, Justin Bieber and worst of all, country music.  Remember that we’re in Nashville here.  He says that he’ll show us music in the form of Mariachi.  It’s going to be Ricardo singing though as he belts out La Cucaracha, which is the Mexican national anthem according to Roddy Piper.  This was…uh…yeah.

Cena is next.

Morrison vs. Sheamus tonight also.

And never mind on the Cena thing as the rewind is of Miz jumping Lawler.  Lawler says Miz is a coward while Cole says he should just apologize to Miz.  We get an E-Mail saying that the GM supports Cole, even though he’s a jerk, self-centered and various other insults.  Apparently he’s just kidding and Cole is awesome and various other nice things.  Cole Miners are great too.

Lawler says hold it and that the WWE Universe has spoken and they’re sick of Cole and that Cole is a coward.  According to Cole if Lawler touches him he’s fired.  Lawler slams the laptop and we get another E-Mail.  “It still works!”  The GM says that Cole and Lawler aren’t cowards.  Tonight it’s Miz/Riley vs. Lawler/Orton.

Off to Punk in the back and it’s Harris’ turn for initiation, if he accepts it that is.  Punk has a strap in his hand and every member is going to give him three lashes.  Husky accepts and takes the position.  Punk says take the shirt off and Harris is fine with it.  Otunga drills him as does Gabriel.  Those are some LOUD shots so if they’re being faked they’re incredibly impressive.  Harris starts to fall after Slater’s shots so Punk says get him up.  Punk goes off on him, laying in probably 8 or 9 shots as we go to break.  I guess Harris is initiated as well.

Daniel Bryan/Mark Henry vs. Ted DiBiase/Tyson Kidd

I’ve always been a fan of throwing together two feuds into a tag match like this.  Tomorrow night on NXT there will be a double date with Derrick Bateman (Bryan’s NXT rookie) and Bryan with the Bellas.  Bryan fires away with kicks in the corner to DiBiase but nefarious double teaming gives Ted control.  The following clothesline doesn’t work though and Kidd and Henry both come in.  Henry destroys everything in sight and the World’s Strongest Slam ends Kidd in 2:40.  No rating again for these short matches.

Big Show is here.

Back with a recap of Novak being eliminated, thank goodness.

Show wants to talk about Barrett, who already got knocked out of Nexus and he’s going to get knocked out on Friday as well.  Second up is the Rumble which he’s serious about winning.  Cue Nexus, now four strong with Punk, Gabriel, Otunga and Slater.  Apparently this is Otunga’s initiation as he walks to the ring alone.  Otunga slaps Show and I think you can figure out what the result of that is.

Otunga is thrown over the table and destroys Cole’s chair.  Big slap to his stomach and a slam with a thud on the floor.  Show shouts that he isn’t someone to play with.  David goes into the steps and then back into the ring.  The fans chant KNOCK HIM OUT.  They’ll settle for a chokeslam instead I guess.  Actually Show isn’t done yet and Otunga takes the punch while he’s being held up by Show.  The other three Nexus members salute Otunga.

Cena is still happening later tonight.

Morrison vs. Sheamus next.

John Morrison vs. Sheamus

This should be good and also interesting in that we might get to see if Morrison has lost momentum after last week’s loss and if so how much.  Morrison is now the Prince of Parkour.  We get a highlight package of the WWE Title match last week which makes Morrison look like a star.  They keep teasing the Hall of Fame inductee and how great he is, which makes me think Shawn.

Sheamus gets a headlock to start.  He hammers away on Morrison who is still a bit hurt from the brutal match last week.  John fights back but takes a big running elbow to the face to end that.  Rollup gets two for Morrison but he can’t get a backslide.  Here comes Johnny Boy with a leg lariat to take over.  Sheamus ends that quickly and goes for the knee.  Morrison’s response is to kick Sheamus in the head.  Why do something too complex I suppose.

Morrison sets for Starship Pain but gets shoved off the top as we take a break.  Back with Sheamus holding a loose Crossface Chickenwing.  We get a replay of Morrison crashing to the floor before the break which sounded great.  The impacts on the floor tonight have all sounded good.  Morrison may have a bad arm now.  Sheamus gets a powerslam for two.

Back to a modified Chickenwing but Morrison fights back.  Flash Kick misses but Sheamus charges and lands on the floor.  Pescado eats knee though as Sheamus counters.  These two have great chemistry together and this is another fine example of it.  Front suplex onto the stairs has Morrison reeling.  Back into the ring and Sheamus sets for the Brogue Kick but Morrison kind of falls down instead.

Sheamus changes his mind and puts Morrison on the top.  Morrison fights him off and drops Sheamus head first onto the post.  The running knee to the head ENDS Sheamus clean at 12:06.  So much for the push being dead I’d certainly think.  That knee looked sick too.

Rating: B. Another good match from these two as that seems to be all they know how to do.  This is very much like the Rude/Warrior chemistry from the late 80s where for no apparent reason they clicked together perfectly and every time they got in the ring together the matches worked.  That’s what you’re getting here with Sheamus and Morrison and it’s very entertaining.

We recap the Nexus initiations tonight before we go to the back.  Punk is holding a pair of kendo sticks before Slater and Gabriel.  He’s not going to beat them with the sticks but rather the two of them are going to beat each other until Punk tells them to stop.  Punk’s manipulation here is awesome.  They stare each other down but can’t bring themselves to do it.

Punk says if you’re not in then you’re out so you better swing for the fences.  Slater still can’t do it and neither can Gabriel.  Punk says do it but they look at Punk instead.  He says go ahead and closes his eyes, saying good.  The former champions can’t do that either and throw the sticks down before leaving.  Punk has a half mad half happy look on his face.

The Hall of Fame inductee is next.  I’m really curious about this now.

Back with Lawler in the ring to announce the first member of the Hall of Fame.  He talks about how important it is to get into the Hall of Fame and how this inductee has earned the respect of the fans.  And it’s…..SHAWN MICHAELS!  After a nice video about him, SHAWN IS HERE!  He gets a mic and the fans chant one more match…and here’s Alberto before Shawn can say anything.

The fans chant HBK as Del Rio more or less says that Shawn is old news.  The people cheer him now apparently.  Alberto again says that he’s going to win the Rumble and then a world title and then will be the new Mr. Wrestlemania.  There’s a running theme with music tonight with Alberto.  Earlier tonight he talked about country music, and here he experiences some Sweet Chin Music.  Shawn poses but never said a word.  He steals the scarf and leaves.  That kick was great.

Back with Miz and Riley getting ready.  Riley is all fired up but Miz keeps looking down at the belt.  He’s upset because people are talking about Orton and not him.  Riley tries to calm him down but Miz says it doesn’t matter until after the match tonight.

It’s Cena time but Cole wants to talk first.  Punk, on the top of the Titantron no less, talks about the initiations tonight.  This is his initiation though and he implies he’s going to jump.  Josh is on commentary now.  His sacrifice is the ultimate one and he hopes that through it he’ll prove that not only was he a member of Nexus but that he was their leader as well.  The visual on this from a long shot is great.

He asks the fans if he should dive off the tron.  Wow he’s not beating around the bush with innuendo at all.  He asks if he should injure himself and then holds his arms up like a cross.  He has one more question first though: how gullible are all these people?  He has a harness on and has two spotters.  This was the initiation for the fans, as he’s not jumping of course.  This was way more intense than it sounds.

The three initiated members come down, looking like they’ve been through the wringer.  Punk comes down to the ring and says if anyone believed he was going to jump off the tron they were stupid.  He has a harness on as he showed us earlier.  Anyone that would dive like he threatened to is mentally challenged but he’s mentally superior.  Punk says he doesn’t need an initiation as he’s the leader of the new Nexus.

Punk says Cena isn’t here because he got rid of him.  Cue Cena on the screen and not in the arena.  He goes through a list of insults about Punk and says that he’s wasting everyone’s time.  Cena wants to know what the point of the initiations was because he already beat them all up.  He wants a piece of Punk and wants it next week.  Punk says it’s on.  Cena says everything Punk has said is true but next week he gets dealt with and gets all serious.  He can turn it on at the drop of a hat like few others.  Next week isn’t about t-shirts or armbands but about Cena kicking Punk’s teeth in.  Great segment but no way that’s the blowoff.

The Miz/Alex Riley vs. Jerry Lawler/Randy Orton

Cole is in his element here as he says Miz belongs in the Hall of Fame already and that Lawler has to steal the spotlight again.  It seems that they’re trying to shift Matthews into Lawler’s spot by having Lawler in the ring more often which is fine.  Riley vs. Lawler to start us off.  Lawler goes off on Riley and beats up Miz on the floor, sending him into the steps.

Off to Orton who half kills both Riley and Miz.  He gives Miz some hard stomps including one to the face.  Back to Lawler now who gets run over by Miz.  The corner clothesline hits….and we take a break at 11:04.  Wow indeed.  During the break it occurs to me that there are only four matches tonight.  That’s low by Raw standards but even still it’s been good so I can accept that.

Back with Riley holding onto Lawler.  Lawler ducks out of the way though and Riley hits the post.  Orton gets the tag but Miz has the referee.  Oh darn the luck.  Miz sets for the Finale but Orton comes in with an RKO.  Cole freaks out, shouting NO NOT AGAIN!  Riley saves though but it’s hot tag to Orton.  He takes over on Riley with all of his old favorites.  Elevated DDT has Riley mostly dead.

Miz teases coming in to take down Orton but gets stared down.  Riley tries to sneak up on Orton but Orton is all like oh no you didn’t and kills him with the RKO.  Off to Lawler who hits the strap down punch off the middle rope for the pin as Orton stares down Miz even more at 11:35.
Rating: D+. Pretty disappointing here as it didn’t add much to the feud at all and was going through about as many motions as you could possibly go through in a single match.  I’d assume they’re going somewhere with this Miz vs. Lawler thing but each week I lose a bit of confidence in that theory.  Not a terrible match but pretty worthless for the most part.

Overall Rating: B+. The lack of wrestling is all that’s holding this back.  You certainly can’t say this was more of the same although I’m sure people will anyway.  Shawn was a nice surprise to add on to the main story tonight.  Obviously the point tonight was Nexus and the initiations, all of which were cool.  There was an adult feel to them and it worked incredibly well.  This was a more serious show tonight that was meant to drive storylines and it certainly did that.  Good stuff here.

Results

Alberto Del Rio b. R-Truth via Count Out

Daniel Bryan/Mark Henry b. Ted DiBiase/Tyson Kidd – World’s Strongest Slam to Kidd

John Morrison b. Sheamus – Running knee to the head

Jerry Lawler/Randy Orton b. The Miz/Alex Riley – Middle Rope Punch to Riley

Monday Night Raw
Date: January 3, 2011
Location: University of Phoenix Stadium, Phoenix, Arizona
Commentators: Josh Matthews, Michael Cole

It’s the first show of the year and we have a huge main event in the form of Miz vs. Morrison in a falls count anywhere match for the WWE Title. Apparently that’s going to be opening the show which kind of negates the whole main event thing. Also we’ll get to see the next step in the Punk vs. Cena feud. Let’s get to it.

Theme song opens us up.

Raw World Title: The Miz vs. John Morrison

No Lawler due to the beatdown last week by Miz. Morrison takes down Riley to start and we hit the floor very quickly. Morrison fights both guys off and comes off the top of the big W with a huge cross body for two. Back to the ring as that was a very quick segment up there. Missile dropkick gets two for the challenger. The running knee gets two also as Riley interferes. Morrison DESTROYS Riley and we take a break as the paramedics attend to him.

Back with Miz setting up a piece of railing up against the stage. He can’t suplex Morrison through it for awhile but Morrison tries one too many counters and winds up taking a backdrop into it for two. Back towards the ring again with Miz in control. They slug it out in the ring with Morrison taking over again.

Morrison gets Miz down and goes for Starship Pain. Miz rolls out of the way and gets the Reality Check for two. He charges but rams into the post. Starship Pain hits for two and a big kick sends Miz to the floor. Morrison sets up a table and goes for Starship Pain off the top through the table. The champion moves and the table more or less explodes in an awesome looking spot. That somehow only gets two and Miz is ticked off. The Skull Crushing Finale on the floor ends this clean at approximately 22:00.

Rating: B+. This was a good brawl and a solid back and forth match. I’m not sure if I get the point of having Morrison use his title shot on the first show of the year rather than the Rumble but there’s time to see what they’ve got planned I suppose. This had some good spots and there were a few moments of possibility that the title could change hands. Good stuff but it never hit the level they wanted it to I don’t think.

There’s a #1 contenders match later in a cage.

Back with a new backstage interviewer who is with Miz. Miz goes on about how he’s WWE Champion and is still awesome.

We recap the Natalya vs. Melina issues with Cole saying Natalya needs to get over it.

Melina/Maryse/Alicia Fox vs. Natalya/Brie Bella/Eve Torres

Quick break between the intros. Those are some lackluster partners for Natalya. Maryse and Brie brawl to start with Maryse controlling. Brie is sent to the floor and the twins switch under the ring. Off to Natalya and Alicia and Natalya is more concerned with getting at Melina than Alicia. Butterfly suplex puts Alicia down and Natalya goes after Melina. The champion gets clotheslined over the top rope and here’s Melina officially. Natalya drills her with a spinning forearm and brings in Eve. Not much of a showdown there. Eve hits a spinning neckbreaker to end it at approximately 3:00.

Rating: D+. I’m not sure what the point was to having Natalya be all about getting to Melina and then having them be in at the same time for maybe 4 seconds. The Twin Magic was incredibly quick and didn’t serve much purpose at all. I’m not sure what the actual point to this was but it didn’t work that well.

Uso Brothers vs. Santino Marella/Vladimir Kozlov

Pretty sure this is non-title but I’m not sure. Vladimir and I believe Jimmy start us off. After some brief Russian dominance we’re off to Santino to a big pop. This is looking like a squash so far. I’m glad they’ve giving Santino some real offense such as the sambo stuff. Back to Kozlov and the crowd dies almost immediately.

The Usos take over with basic jobber offense for a little while. Santino comes back in and cleans a few rooms. He isn’t doing enough to classify it as cleaning house you see. Kozlov comes back in illegally to try and help out his partner by growling at an Uso. Somehow this works but Kozlov winds up getting sent to the floor. Vlad gets stuck on the ropes for a bit so Santino has to finish shoving him over. Santino sets for the Cobra but walks into a Samoan Drop for the surprising pin at 4:02.

Post match Tamina and Santino hit a double Cobra on Jey. You never would know they had just lost the match based on how well they’re taking it.

Rating: D. Pretty ugly match here with the crowd completely dying when Santino wasn’t in there. The Usos aren’t exactly an interesting team but they’re better than nothing I suppose. It gives them actual challengers which they’ve been needing since they won the belts. Weak match though.

Tough Enough is officially coming back. Oh joy.

Punk is on his way to the ring.

Back from a break with the new leader of Nexus. Punk says he loves being in Phoenix and that he’s been bust all day looking for Cena. He couldn’t find him anywhere though and that he, ahem, couldn’t see him. Cena isn’t here this week because of Punk and what happened last week.

Punk talks about being a leader of men and that Nexus saw this and they almost begged him to be their new leader. We see a clip of the Nexus beatdown from last week and Punk’s GTS. Punk talks about hustle, loyalty and respect and how it’s just a catchphrase to Cena but to Punk it’s very real. Cena can’t win this fight and Punk is taking over both Nexus and Monday Night Raw.

Here’s Wade Barrett who isn’t thrilled with this at all. Barrett says that Cena isn’t here because of a beating he gave Cena in a match in Pennsylvania earlier in the week which is true kind of. Barrett also says he’s the leader of Nexus, not Punk. Punk says Nexus needed new management and now has it. Wade says that Punk is a liar, including about being straightedge.

Punk says let’s ask Nexus who the liar is and Barrett agrees, calling down the troops. I like how they come out in the V formation like an army. We get an E-Mail almost immediately and tonight there’s are three participants in a match in the cage for the title shot at the Rumble. It’s Barrett vs. Punk vs. Sheamus vs. Orton. They finally have something that looks like an e-mail on the screen too. Ah apparently only Barrett or Punk can be in the cage.

Barrett says he’ll take the spot as the leader of the Nexus. Punk says take it as he’s a talker not a fighter. If Barrett wins the match then Punk will work for him and Barrett can be the leader. If Barrett loses he’s out of Nexus and Punk is officially the leader.

Del Rio is here? Nice surprise. I love that car he’s in which is a red and white Chevy from the 1967. He says it’s his destiny to be world champion and that he’ll show that tonight. It’s his destiny to win the Rumble and be in the main event at Wrestlemania. R-Truth apparently disagrees. Truth says that Alberto’s destiny is to go back where he came from.

Alberto Del Rio vs. R-Truth

Truth dominates early on with his usual unorthodox offense. A clothesline puts Alberto on the floor almost immediately and a dive over the top puts Del Rio down as we take a break. Back with Truth hammering away on Alberto in the corner. Del Rio gets in a shot to break the momentum and hits a Codebreaker onto the arm.

Off to an armbar as we talk about how Del Rio has taken out various people on the Smackdown roster and wants to take out more. Truth tries to fight back but can’t do his flip out of the corner due to the arm. A modified arm drag gets two and it’s back to the arm. Truth manages to send Alberto to the floor and starts taking over with his one good arm. And never mind as Alberto sends his arm into the post and the Cross Armbreaker (with very little torque on it at all) ends this clean in 10:00.

Rating: C+. Better than I expected here given that R-Truth is a guy I can’t get into at all. Del Rio gets another nice win to further his push even more which is something he needs, especially before his big match with Rey on Friday. Nice little match here with Truth being able to hang in there for awhile but at the end being overwhelmed in the end.

Barrett talks to Nexus and says that he can make each and every one of them champions like he did Slater and Gabriel. Punk comes up and calls out Barrett when Barrett says Punk is using Nexus for his own gain. Punk says they’re all pulling for him. Barrett leaves and Punk shakes all of their hands.

Over to Orton who says last year meant nothing and that the only thing he cared about was Miz cashing in. Orton says he was FAR too nice as he actually held back a bit and didn’t punt Jericho. He says that nice guys finish last and implies that isn’t happening anymore.

Cage match is next.

Randy Orton vs. Wade Barrett vs. Sheamus

In a cage and the winner gets Miz at the Rumble. We’re going old school here as it’s escape only. Cena might be back next week. BIG pop for Orton. Sheamus and Orton beat down Barrett early on but Sheamus tries to run away, only to be stopped by Orton. Barrett takes over off the distraction and goes for Wasteland which is acknowledged as the move that injured Cena. Orton tries to escape to no avail.

Sheamus tries to escape to complete the set of people trying to get out. Orton almost goes through the door but turns back around to coil up in front of the other two. Cole says Orton couldn’t have made it out, but it was pretty clear he could have. Odd indeed and we take a break.

Back with Orton almost all the way out until Sheamus makes the save. Barrett helps to finally pull him back in and the two evildoers take over again. Orton tries for the elevated DDT on Sheamus but has to stop to keep Barrett from getting out. He tries for a double elevated DDT but Barrett fights out of it. Sheamus blocks as well and sends Orton into the steel.

Orton gets taken down by the two UK dudes but since one is Irish and one is British they start fighting amongst themselves. Barrett goes up but slips, allowing Orton to make another save. Superplex puts Barrett down as are Orton and Sheamus. Sheamus gets up and beats the tar out of Barrett but can’t get through the door thanks to Orton.

Barrett sends Sheamus into the cage multiple times and adds a pump handle slam. Orton is back up though and gets taken down almost immediately by a Boss Man Slam. Barrett tries to escape but Sheamus slows him down. Wade kicks him down but instead of going out he tries a top rope elbow which gets knees. Sheamus doesn’t take the chance to get out either and gets taken down by Orton’s clotheslines.

Powerslams to both guys and the Angle Slam to Sheamus. Elevated DDT to Barrett but Sheamus slows Randy down. They slug it out on the top rope until Barrett kicks said rope to crotch both guys. Both guys are down now after a pair of big boots. Barrett is the only person up so he tries to climb out. Here’s Punk though, climbing into the cage and offering his hand. He’d help a lot better to just open the door for him but whatever.

Barrett takes his hand but Punk goes all Scar to Barrett’s Mufasa and pulls the armband off and shoves Barrett back into the ring. Sheamus puts Orton down and the door is open. And of course there’s the RKO to Sheamus so that Orton can go through the door at 19:40 to get the title shot at the Rumble. Oh joy.

Rating: A-. I liked this better than the opener actually. The escape only worked very well and it does two things as it sets up the PPV and gets Barrett out of Nexus (not mentioned at all post match). This was a more old school style with the false finishes and saves. I like the lack of pinning as it makes it feel more about survival than winning. Very good match to close out Raw.

Overall Rating: B+. Well you certainly can’t complain about a lack of wrestling here with two very good matches that both ran about twenty minutes.  Throw in a ten minute Alberto match and you’re looking at nearly an hour of wrestling on a two hour and ten minute show.  This was fun stuff as we’re in Rumble mode now and things are starting to click.  Good stuff here, although I’m not looking forward to Miz vs. Orton at all.

Results

The Miz b. John Morrison – Skull Crushing Finale

Natalya/Brie Bella/Eve Torres b. Melina/Maryse/Alicia Fox – Spinning neckbreaker to Melina

Uso Brothers b. Vladimir Kozlov/Santino Marella – Samoan Drop to Marella

Alberto Del Rio b. R-Truth – Cross Armbreaker

Randy Orton b. Sheamus and Wade Barrett – Orton escaped the cage

Monday Night Raw
Date: December 27, 2010
Location: Times Union Center, Albany, New York
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler

First and foremost I hope everyone had a safe and Merry Christmas. Tonight is another edition of Raw and in this case it’s the final show of the year. We’re on the road to the Rumble which then merges with the Road to Wrestlemania. Tonight we’ll see what’s next for Punk vs. Cena which has me very interested indeed. With that being said, let’s get to it.

There’s a Smackdown house show tonight in Pittsburgh. Nice job guys. Make sure that however many thousand people going to that can’t watch Raw.

Well if nothing else the voiceover guy has promised me a great main event tonight so there’s that to look forward to.

Theme song opens us up which I don’t recall them doing lately.

Cena is here to open the show and remember he is LIBERATED now. He talks about how it’s odd that every time someone comes down the ramp they always grab a microphone and just talk about what happened last week. Tonight, he’s going to do the exact same thing. As always he acknowledges the fans that boo him which is rather refreshing. We get a clip of Punk destroying Cena with the chair and starting what could be a very awesome feud.

He talks about how in his relentless pursuit of Nexus he did in fact, accidentally spill Punk’s diet soda. Cena apologizes for costing Punk .75 or 1.25 in select vending machines. The soda can’t be replaced but he can give Punk a chance to come out here and air his grievances. Cue Killswitch Engaged and here’s Punk.

CM says that the Cena we get isn’t the real one as Cena is dishonest. Punk says this is beyond a diet soda. Oh man this is about to get intense. I mean, BEYOND A DIET SODA??? It goes like this I believe: a slap in the face, a murder, economic collapse, diet soda. Beyond that is hard to say. Punk talks about how Cena’s word means nothing as he said he was going back to Massachusetts but he was back that night. And then back the next week, and the next week and the next week.

And then we get to TLC, where Cena dropped 15 chairs on Barrett after winning. Cena calls that Balderdash (fun game actually) because it was 22 steel chairs. Cena says that after all the beatdowns Cena had taken from Nexus and being their slave and all that jazz, it was rather justified. Punk brings up making Batista quit after beating him at Over the Limit which Cena says was on his own choice and after Batista broke Cena’s neck, which is true to a degree.

Punk says this is all about making fun of people and how he always insults people that don’t deserve it all the time. Cena claims he has done that for 8 years and makes fun of everyone. This is going very fast and is hard to keep up with but it’s going very well so far. Punk says those two attacks last week were warning shots but this is going to stop.

Cena says nothing is going to stop and is all like bring it on. Punk says this is his show and tonight he’s going to call out Cena. There’s a real surprise later tonight and it’s something Cena is never going to forget. Punk says Happy New Year and salutes as he leaves. I’m intrigued now.

Orton vs. Sheamus and Miz vs. Lawler later, non title.

Ted DiBiase vs. Santino Marella

Wow DiBiase has fallen a good bit this year. DiBiase gets his following clothesline for two early on. Lawler blames Maryse for the losses that DiBiase has had recently. DiBiase misses a dropkick and Santino rolls him up to win this in a minute flat. This isn’t a surprise somehow.

Santino presents Tamina with her gift, and it’s a cobra. Better than a snake in a box I guess. Maryse and Ted jump them so Tamina and Santino hit matching salute splashes and Cobras to clear the ring. I use the term hit loosely in her case.

Miz tells Riley that he’s going to teach Morrison a lesson tonight. Miz says not to win but destroy him. Lawler is going to beg for mercy tonight too. Morrison pops up and says if he beats Riley, he gets to pick the stipulation and the date of their title match. If Riley wins then Morrison loses his #1 contender spot. Miz says deal.

John Morrison vs. Alex Riley

After a break we’re ready to go. During the break there was an e-mail and the stipulations are confirmed. Miz is up on the apron as Morrison hits a Russian leg sweep for two. Riley takes over after a distraction from Miz and hammers away for a bit. Morrison makes the standard comeback but Miz grabs his foot on the Flash Kick and gets thrown out. Riley gets a rollup for two but Morrison gets the Flash Kick and running knee to end this in approximately 4:30.

Rating: C. Basic match but it did the job it was supposed to. Morrison gets a win he’s supposed to and Riley loses a match he’s supposed to. Nothing special about it but nothing bad about it either. The rating of average is about as perfect as it could be right here.

Morrison goes over to Lawler and says the title match is NEXT WEEK and it’s falls count anywhere. All of a sudden I’m not sure how secure Miz’s title reign is as that could mean a quick Morrison run for the title switch again at the Rumble.

Back from a break Miz yells at Riley who yells back.

Punk talks to a cameraman and says he needs to make sure that every shot is perfect tonight, even moreso than Snooki on New Year’s Eve. Dang it.

Bryan is with the Bellas who are talking about Christmas when Kidd comes in. He talks about how he’s going to be the next US Champion and that you should watch his match with Mark Henry later.

Josh talks to Orton who says that he’s going to be champion again and tonight the reign of Sheamus ends. Nothing special here at all.

Mark Henry vs. Tyson Kidd

Jackson Andrews is the bodyguard of Kidd and is here with him. Henry tries a flying Rikishi drop but can’t hit it. Kidd, with hair growing in now, takes control for a little bit but tries to charge at him and runs into the World’s Strongest Slam to end this at about 2:15. Well that was abrupt. Post match Andrews comes in and we have a showdown. Henry hits Andrews with the Slam as well.

Miz vs. Lawler later still. That hasn’t changed in the last 40 minutes.

The Miz vs. Jerry Lawler

Cole is joined by Matthews on commentary here. That might explain Lawler being in the ring so often: getting Matthews in his spot and making him more familiar. Before this starts Miz talks about how awesome he is and how he is a master of the science of professional wrestling. He yells at the audience to stop talking while he is, drawing loud boos. Why mess with the classics I suppose.

Lawler is in a WWE shirt and regular pants because his luggage was lost in a storm. Miz shows off to start including walking on Lawler’s back. Lawler fights back with his vast array of offense including shoulders and punches. We keep getting quick shots of Riley which makes me think shenanigans are up, especially with the title match looming. Miz locks on the chinlock as we talk about the TLC match. Matthews finally tells Cole to shut up. The blowoff of Cole being a jerk is going to be epic beyond words.

Miz is taking time to get through with Lawler as another sign points to s surprise ending. Miz rakes the eyes and Lawler is more or less just taking a beating. Cole says he’s uncomfortable watching this as Lawler is taking too much of a beating. Lawler is standing in the corner and Morrison comes out. Lawler takes a clothesline in the corner and starts dodging. He looks pretty bad here but it’s time to fight. No strap to pull down though.

Lawler hammers away with lefts and rights. Dropkick takes Miz down as do two more. The crowd is back into this now. Miz reverses a slam and puts him in the corner. The running clothesline Mizes (anybody? Anybody at all?) but Miz gets a clothesline over the top rope. Lawler knocks him off the top and Miz’s head hits the steps. FREAKING OW MAN! Riley gets on the apron but Morrison uses the distraction to drill Miz with the knee. LAWLER WINS BY COUNTOUT!!! Match ran about 9:45.

Rating: C. This was exactly what it was supposed to be. Miz beat the heck out of Lawler. Lawler stayed in this just long enough to survive, and Morrison is in Miz’s head for the title match next week. The quality wasn’t great of course but it wasn’t supposed to be. This was what it was supposed to be: furthering of the Miz vs. Morrison rivalry. And let the people saying I’m crazy and biased begin.

Sheamus is looking at his crown when Punk comes up to him. Punk talks about how Cena has disrespected him time after time and how he’s been on the receiving end of Cena’s insults over the last year. He’s right too.

Eve Torres/Gail Kim vs. Alicia Fox/Melina

Alicia has red hair now. She and Eve start us off. Lawler is back on commentary and Natalya is a guest for this match. Cole tag off to Gail as the crowd isn’t seeming to care. Everything breaks down and Melina hits the Sunset Split to beat Gail in approximately 2:00. Natalya slaps Melina post match. No rating as this was simply to get Melina over a bit more. Love that jet black hair.

Punk talks to the trainers, saying that they need to be ready for Cena tonight. Actually scratch that as trainers won’t be enough as we need EMTs. I want to know what’s coming now.

Zach Ryder vs. Daniel Bryan

We come back with this already in progress. The Bellas are with Bryan of course. Ryder gets basic offense going but taps out in a little over a minute shown to the LeBell Lock. The Bellas come in to celebrate and we get an E-Mail. This coming year is going to be the best ever…MIZ ATTACKS LAWLER! Miz runs in and destroys Lawler as Cole is reading, ramming him into the barricade and leaving him laying. Skull Crushing Finale to the floor leaves Lawler laying. I guess Bryan just kind of left. If Matthews is coming in to the broadcast team full time, there’s his door.

Back from a break and Cole is concerned. Josh doesn’t believe him.

Sheamus vs. Randy Orton

BIG pop for Orton. Orton controls early for the most part with all of his basic stuff. The7 color difference is striking here as Orton is almost orange and Sheamus is almost clear. Elevated DDT is countered and Orton fires away. Sheamus hits the floor and rams Orton’s head into the post. Orton may be bleeding from the back a bit. Sheamus goes aerial with a flying shoulder block for two as we take a break.

Back with Sheamus holding a modified crossface chickenwing on Orton. Sheamus hammers away for a few minutes with big forearm shots and clubbing blows that get him nowhere. He charges in the corner but his shoulder hits the post. Orton gets a suplex with one foot on the top rope and one on the middle rope for a close two. Mild boo/yay as they slug it out. Orton gets the Angle Slam for two. Sheamus is almost the same color as the mat.

RKO is blocked and reversed into the Irish Curse Backbreaker for two. Brogue Kick is ducked and another RKO attempt fails as Sheamus takes his head off with an axehandle. Here comes the High Cross but Orton reverses into the backbreaker. Sheamus avoids the third RKO and heads outside. He sets for another shoulder block but jumps into the RKO to end it at 14:15. Oh sweet merciful psychology how I love you!

Rating: C-. Dull match throughout but the ending was sweet. Orton had gotten caught by that very move but knew it was coming this time and caught Sheamus with the RKO this time. That is what you call psychology in a match. Orton learned as he went and incorporated it into the ending. Perfectly done.

Cena is on his way to the ring.

Ad for the Heenan DVD which should be a definite pickup.

Back from a break with Cena. He’s all ticked off and calling Punk CM Sucks. Punk’s music hits but there’s no Punk. Cena says he’ll go get them himself. Instead he gets…..Nexus? Minus Barrett but it’s still Nexus. Otunga does the talking as usual. Cena got them as he said he would so now Nexus is under new management. Otunga wants to offer Cena a truce.

Cena grabs the mic and says he’d shake Otunga’s hand if he believed a word he says, which he doesn’t. Otunga is a slimy worm of a man it seems. No truce, no moving forward. Otunga can leave or the fight is on. Otunga leaves and lwalks away with Nexus but they turn and charge the ring to beat down Cena. Everyone hits their finishers on him as Cole says Otunga is the new leader. Yeah…you’re a stupid man Cole.

Nexus leaves and here’s Punk of course. He comes to the ring where Cena has been left laying and hits GTS. Nice one too as the knee caught him square in the shoulder. Punk hits the floor and grabs a chair. He pulls it back but pauses and instead sits down in it. Punk picks up the Nexus armband that Otunga left in the ring and slips it on, revealing to everyone including the very stupid Cole that HE is the new leader of Nexus, not Otunga. He does the fist in the air to Nexus as we go off the air.

Overall Rating: B. The ending, while good, kind of came off as underwhelming. I missed the return of Nexus line that was apparently said at some point earlier in the show so this was more surprising to me. Once Otunga said the new management line it was rather clear what was coming, but this sets up a brand new dynamic for the feud which I rather like. The show was solid and sets up a lot of new stuff for the new year, including a possible new champion. Good stuff but it could have used more wrestling for sure. See you next year.

Monday Night Raw
Date: December 20, 2010
Location: Frank Erwin Center, Austin, Texas
Commentators: Michael Cole, CM Punk, Jerry Lawler

After last night’s AWESOME TLC, we begin the Road to the Royal Rumble and ultimately the Road to Wrestlemania with tonight’s episode of Raw. We have Miz vs. Morrison at the Rumble for the Raw World Title which is amazing when you consider where they were a mere two years ago. But remember, WWE doesn’t elevate people right? Let’s get to it.

We open with Miz coming to the ring as STILL WWE Champion! There’s no Cole on commentary here. Miz says that you better get used to hearing people saying STILL WWE Champion about him. Miz is ROCKING that suit by the way. Suddenly the lights dim and we get something close to a gong. No way….

Nah it’s Riley with bandages and chains around him as the Ghost of Christmas Past to show him the error of his ways. The first clip is of him beating Lawler which Miz says was impressive. Gong and lights go down again and Cole is the Ghost of Christmas Present. And he quotes™ that although his actions last night were vintage™, he needs to change. Miz says nah because the actions of a champion are defined by one statement: he is STILL WWE Champion. He’s a bit fixated on that no?

Miz gives us a Christmas card picture as he holds up the title and the lights/gong go off again and DEMON CHILD pops up on the screen. Her mouth moves and says Miz needs to change or Morrison will take his title. This is awesome by the way, but I’m sure people will b**** and complain because it’s “childish” or something like that. Miz disagrees again and does his catchphrase but is cut off by a very sweaty Morrison.

He says that that was really stupid, even for Miz. Morrison says that he’s getting a title shot soon and that he’s beaten Miz in the past, he can beat him in the present, and he will beat him in the future. Simple but effective line. Miz says really a lot and Riley jumps Morrison. Cue Sheamus and it’s on again. Sheamus hits John’s knee in a nice bit of continuity and Morrison is down. Lawler DRILLS Riley who goes down in a heap.

We get an E–Mail and we’re going to get Miz vs. his ghosts tonight in a 6 man tag. Riley/Miz/Sheamus vs. Morrison/Lawler/Orton. That should be fine, as long as it doesn’t lead to more Orton vs. Sheamus. Miz holds up the title and gets drilled by the emerging Orton.

Clip from the end of the PPV with Barrett being “buried”. Cena addresses the Cenation tonight.

Cole is on commentary now, as is Natalya for the following match.

Melina vs. Alicia Fox vs. Eve Torres

Winner gets Natalya at a later date. Melina has a bit of a haircut. I could look at Eve in those gold shorts all day. Natalya puts her arm around Lawler which is odd. There really isn’t a leader in this for the most part but Eve is down for the most part. Melina tries a headsdissors out of the corner but gets caught in a powerbomb by Alicia for two.

Standing moonsault by Eve gets two on Alicia. She tries to go up but Melina charges into her and is acting all aggressive here. Eve and Alicia set for a Doomsday Device on Melina but she rolls through with a victory roll as Eve’s cross body misses for the pin at 3:15. Pretty slick ending.

Rating: C+. Short match but it was energetic throughout. The powerbomb was very nice and the ending was another thought out one. They’ve been doing better at that recently and it’s making the shows better. Fun match and it sets up the post match stuff right here, which was needed.

Post match Natalya goes into the ring to congratulate Melina but gets slapped instead. Looks like a heel turn which is probably a good thing.

The Bellas are talking about some guy when Bryan comes up and they walk him to the ring arm in arm in arm.

Daniel Bryan vs. William Regal

The IWC just collectively orgasmed. To the shock of no one we start with a lot of technical based stuff with no one really being able to control. Bryan rapid fire kicks in the corner and backflips off the top. He runs into a running forearm/elbow for two for Regal. Regal gets a side headlock/Cravate on the mat and hammers away for two.

This is a rather physical match with them hammering away with European uppercuts and the boo/yay thing begins. Bryan starts winning it but Regal blocks and we hit the mat. Regal Stretch can’t go on though so Regal wants a butterfly suplex instead. That can’t connect either and Bryan reverses into the LeBell Lock for the tap out at 4:33.

Rating: B-. I liked this for the style of it as both guys hammered away on each other but neither could pull it off until the very end. Allegedly Regal is considering retirement so going out against your best student (he trained Bryan) is certainly a nice way for him to go out if he’s leaving soon. Good match with a very different style than we’re used to recently.

Post match Regal applauds a bit and Bryan points at him. The Bellas celebrate with Bryan and one kisses him on the cheek. The other spins him around and kisses him on the lips. The other is like oh no you didn’t and kisses him even harder. Not bad Bryan.

Back from a break with Morrison getting ready. Orton pops up and says they’re partners tonight and if Miz loses the title to Morrison, Orton will come after the new champion. Orton says don’t trust him.

Santino is getting a massage from Tamina who is walking on his back. Maryse comes in and says that now Tamina has a plan B. Maryse gets on his back also and Santino is in pain after Vlad and Ted take the girls away.

Mark Henry and Gail are talking about how nice it is with Nexus gone. Vickie and Dolph come up and she says EXCUSE ME so Henry says maybe he was wrong. Was there a point to this at all?

Santino Marella/Tamina vs. Maryse/Ted DiBiase

Tamina actually looks like a girl here. It’s hard to believe but it’s true. Tamina has to crack Santino’s back to get him able to move. Santino and Ted start us off with Santino threatening the Cobra but uses the fake out to flip Ted over in a nice move. Nice dropkick puts him down though and the evildoer takes over. Ted goes for his clothesline move but Santino does the splits to get out of harm’s way.

He hits his flying salute headbutt and loads up the Cobra but Maryse is tagged in before he can hit it. He can’t use it on Maryse though due to the rules but he can’t get it to stop going. Maryse turns his hand around, causing the Cobra to hit Santino! Tamina comes in and throws the WORST SUPERKICK EVER which misses by a good six inches to put Maryse down. Superfly splash ends it at 3:00. No rating as it was mainly just the guys fighting but the splash was awesome.

Cena (Eruption for seeing him) is coming to the ring and a guy gives him flowers for some reason. He gives them to a female stagehand and steals he coffee! What a jerk our hero is!

After a break here’s Cena who is REALLY happy. He says that for the first time in 6 months there’s no Nexus on Raw! He hugs a guy with a WE HATE CENA sign. Cena says he feels like singing and dancing so we get the Dougie and what I’m assuming was the opening of the University of Texas theme song.

Cena shows us footage from TLC last night where all the chairs fell on Barrett from three camera angles and once in slow motion. That was still awesome whether you think it was or not. Cena invokes the Shamwow and the Snuggie for no apparent reason. Last night he got to every member of Nexus so now Cena can focus on the more important things, like winning the Rumble. Punk wasn’t happy with the chair thing at all.

Instead here are Vickie and Dolph. Vickie keeps trying to say that Cena isn’t the only one that won a match last night but she keeps getting booed out of the building. Cena dies laughing and even Vickie starts laughing at it. AWESOME crowd tonight. This goes on for like three minutes until Cena has to tell them to be quiet so they can talk. Even that doesn’t work so Vickie just has to talk over them.

What we learn after a LONG time is that Dolph is still champion and we have a clip from Vickie. It’s from last week where Vickie made fun of King losing the title and then Lawler making fun of her figure. It turns into Lawler and Cena ripping on Vickie back and forth. It’s really stupid but the crowd is cracking me up.

Vickie FREAKS OUT and Dolph yells at Cena and Lawler in her defense. Cena gets on Dolph saying that when they met Dolph was afraid of the dark. Then he saw Vickie undressed and he was afraid of the light. E–Mail makes the match you would expect it to make, and it’s happening RIGHT NOW! AFTER THIS COMMERCIAL! Absolutely hilarious segment and one of the funniest things on Raw in as long as I can remember.

John Cena vs. Dolph Ziggler

The bell rings as we get back which is a nice touch. Ziggler stomps away as apparently Dolph wants revenge. This should be a pretty good match actually and it’s a good sign to see Ziggler getting ring time with the big boys instead of fighting Kofi all the time. Cena takes over for a bit but misses a charge and hits the corner rather hard.

Cena gets a suplex/slam to reverse for two. Ziggler hooks a side chinlock while on the mat and the crowd keeps getting louder and louder. Cena picks him up into the FU position but Ziggler counters into an X–Factor for two as we take a break. Back with Cena hammering away at Dolph. Side slam marks Cena’s 7^th move.

They ram heads and both men are down. Dolph gets a Downward Spiral Stunner for two. Nice move. Big dropkick gets two and here comes Cena as he initiates his ending sequence. Five Knuckle Shuffle hits but Ziggler avoids the FU and tries for the sleeper. John blocks and the STF….doesn’t end this as Vickie has the referee.

Ziggler gets a Fameasser which is apparently now called the Zig Zag for a long two. There goes the buckle at the hands on the blonde, meaning he’ll be going into it. It’s just a diversion though as Dolph goes for the belt. FU is the counter to end this at 13:15. Nice long match here.

Rating: B-. Nice match here as they got some time here with Ziggler getting a chance to rub elbows with the big boys and gets to look pretty good doing it. He’s one of the best heels on the roster and him getting ring time against a prominent guy is the best thing for him at this point. Nice match here and it got good time.

Post match Punk runs into the ring and drills Cena with a chair. OH HELL YES!!!!!

Back from a break and Josh asks Punk why he did that. Punk says all Cena understands is aggression and he was giving him a taste of his own medicine after what he did to Barrett. Punk drives away.

Jerry is getting ready for the main event and looks pretty good for a guy that is 61. Sheamus comes up and says he’s the real king and that tonight Lawler is done. LONG LIVE THE KING.

Vickie is going off on Ziggler. He’s challenging Cena to a rematch tomorrow on Smackdown which Vickie makes a handicap match with her in it also. Oh dear.

The Miz/Alex Riley/Sheamus vs. Randy Orton/Jerry Lawler/John Morrison

It’s 10:35 and this is starting already? Riley’s briefcase is just a normal one now so maybe people can quit complaining about him holding it a bit. We take a break after Miz and Riley’s entrances. Back with some clips of Miz on Jimmy Fallon’s show with the title. Lawler gets a nice reaction. Orton gets a BIG pop. He’s doing the Austin rope pose now. I guess using a move similar to Austin’s and being names after a snake weren’t enough similarities.

Josh Matthews is on commentary for the main event. Riley and Orton start us off. Big pop for Lawler as he comes in and he manages a dropkick. It sucked but he tried at least. Cole complains about Lawler doing too many things on Raw lately. The irony there slays me. Orton comes in to fight Miz and the champion runs to bring in Sheamus which stops Orton in his tracks as we take a break.

Back with Sheamus working on Lawler and getting two off an unseen move. Morrison comes in and SELLS THE KNEE from last night as he reverses an Irish Curse. Flash Kick takes Sheamus down but a quick interference from Riley stops Starship Pain. Sheamus works on the knee as the fans chant for Morrison.

Miz goes to cannonball down onto the knee but Morrison kicks him to the floor. The champion makes the save to stop the tag though and here’s Sheamus again. A big kick can’t get Morrison out of trouble as Sheamus goes right back to the knee. Half Crab by the pale one until Orton makes the save. Tags in to Orton and Miz and the crowd wakes WAY up.

Powerslam and Angle Slams take down Miz. Elevated DDT has the champion reeling but it only gets two as Sheamus saves. Morrison takes the Irishman to the floor as Orton sets for the RKO. Riley takes it instead as Miz gets a big boot to Orton. Lawler tags himse in and pulls the strap down. Miz goes for the Finale on him but Orton sneaks in with an RKO and Lawler pins Miz at approximately 13:00.

Rating: C. Not bad here with a fun main event to end this. Lawler winning was a nice touch there as it’s a feel good moment to end the show. I would have gone with Morrison pinning Miz to further the setup for their title match but this works too. It was a decent little main event tag match and we got two thirteen minute matches tonight. That’s a rarity for Raw and it worked rather well.

Post match we get an E–Mail which is booed out of the building. The GM apparently has authority to make matches on Smackdown now as he makes Miz vs. Orton which is non–title I’d assume. Orton goes for a powerbomb on Riley but Miz saves and runs.

Overall Rating: B. This was an incredibly fun show. We had well over half an hour of wrestling here including two matches going thirteen minutes which was a nice change of pace from the wrestling–lite show from last week. They have six weeks until the Rumble so it’s more than ok to have a fun show like this one where things weren’t as serious as they have been recently.

Cena vs. Punk sounds great and there was no Nexus for at least a week so maybe they really are on the verge of death. I liked this show a lot as it offered a little something for everyone. Very good show and I’m looking forward to Smackdown tomorrow.

Monday Night Raw
Date: December 13, 2010
Location: New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana
Commentators: CM Punk, Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler

It’s Slammy night which is almost always fun. Tonight we find out who the fans deemed the best of 2010 which should be interesting. In storyline terms tonight we have the ultimatum for Barrett: either rehire Cena and end the attacks or he’s out of Nexus. Most interesting indeed. Let’s get to it.

There’s either a new theme song or it’s for the Slammys. There are tables, ladders and chairs in front of the announce table.

We open the show, I kid you not, with David Arquette. He more or less cuts a promo at the presentation table with a deep voice and talks about beating Eric Bischoff for the world title. He’s booed out of the building to be nice about it. He’s presenting Shocker of the Year.

Nominees:

Miz Cashing in Money in the Bank
Nexus’ Initial Attack on Raw
Paul Bearer Turns on Undertaker at Hell in a Cell
Orton Punts Jericho

Winner: Nexus’ Initial Attack on Raw. That’s without a doubt the right choice. The last two aren’t surprises at all as Bearer constantly turns on Taker and Orton’s punt meant nothing really. Miz was a shock but we all knew it was coming eventually. NO ONE saw Nexus coming.

Barrett comes out to accept on his own and says he’s responsible for Nexus being here. He hasn’t made his mind up about the Cena situation but he will by the end of the night. Barrett turns to leave and we get an E-Mail. In short, we’re getting a match right now.

Wade Barrett vs. Big Show

Show grabs the Slammy out of Barrett’s hand as he comes to the ring. Barrett hides from Show and hits the floor before any contact is made. Ah here we go as Show pounds away. Punk says Barrett is a hero for getting rid of Cena. Barrett gets a Greco-Roman thumb to the eye and goes after Show’s leg. Everyone tries that strategy and it rarely works.

Show wakes up and we head outside again for a BIG chop. Barrett’s back looks awful with all the welts on it. He grabs his Slammy and takes the walk for the count out at 2:45. No rating due to the shortness and the fact that a lot of that was Show setting for chops and Barrett hiding.

Voting is still open for Superstar of the Year.

There’s a battle royal for Diva of the Year later tonight.

Kelly Kelly is here for the Despicable Me Award, along with Tyson Kidd and his bodyguard who towers over both of them. Kelly can barely read her teleprompter. This is more or less the biggest heel move of the year. Tyson introduces his bodyguard, Jackson Andrews. Kidd makes fun of Kelly’s intelligence and she says he doesn’t talk much. I see why she hardly ever talks.

Nominees:
Drew McIntyre Making Teddy Long Lay Down
Kane Buries Undertaker Alive
Mr. McMahon Kicks Bret in the Gut
CM Punk Sings Happy Birthday to Rey Mysterio’s Daughter

Winner: CM Punk. That’s the best one probably as he was more or less pure evil there. This is his third Slammy and he celebrates like crazy in a funny bit. He says if you work hard you can achieve your dreams but tonight there is someone in the back that has wronged him. Punk will get him and what he did to Rey is nothing. He doesn’t say who it is.

Kofi Kingston/Daniel Bryan vs. Ted DiBiase/Dolph Ziggler

Bryan has the Bellas with him again. I would have expected Swagger instead of DiBiase but this works I guess. Ziggler is in traditional tights now instead of the shorts. We take a break before the bell. Back with the match already going. The heels beat on Bryan as we’re told that some awards were already handed out and those can be found on WWE.com.

Lots of chinlocks follow before Bryan gets away long enough to bring in Kofi. The Jamafrican gets Trouble in Paradise to Ziggler to win at 3:00 shown. Again there’s not enough here to rate as this was barely a match from what we were able to see. The Bellas looked great though.

Morrison vs. Sheamus again tonight.

Santino and Vladimir are here for the Guest Star Shining Moment of the Year Award. We get a MacGruber reference and Vlad isn’t happy with is so Santino kisses him. These two are rapidly growing on me.

Nominees:
Mike Tyson Knocks Out Chris Jericho
Pee Wee Herman vs. Miz
Wayne Brady Takes an RKO
William Shattner Sings Theme Songs

Winner: Pee Wee Herman. None of them are here tonight but Pee Wee accepts the award via satellite. I liked Shattner better which was awesome beyond words. Punk wants a recount.

Nexus confronts Wade about his decision with Otunga saying Barrett’s singles career isn’t looking good after his loss to Show. Barrett says he has his decision now and leaves.

Best Performance By a Winged Specimen: Raw Chicken
Best Use of Exercise Equipment: Rosa Mendes Uses a Shake-Weight
Most Menacing Haircut: Tyler Reks
Best Family Values: Kane Beats Up Jack Swagger Senior
Superstar/Diva Most in Need of Make-up: Sheamus
Cole in Your Stocking: Daniel Bryan Beats Up Cole on NXT
Outstanding Achievement of Baby Oil Application: Dashing Cody Rhodes
Frequent Tweeter Award: Goldust
Best WWE.com Exclusive TV Show: WWE NXT
Most Annoying Catchphrase: Zach Ryder for “Woo Woo Woo You Know It.”

Mark Henry vs. Cody Rhodes

Random matches for the win I guess. Cody tries basic stuff and gets LAUNCHED away. Mark grabs his face and messes it up. Why not go with basic attacks I guess? Cody trips him up and stomps away which is probably the best he’s going to be able to do. Henry keeps shoving him away with eas.

This is the basic formula for most super strong wrestlers: non-strong guy does what he can, strong guy does basic stuff, small guy moves out of the way of something to get the win. In this case it’s a charge from Henry that misses to set up the Beautiful Disaster and a top rope kneedrop to end it at 2:49. What’s with the short matches tonight? Match was ok but like I said there was more or less nothing going on there so again no rating. Sorry about the lack of them tonight.

Holy *#&$ Award next.

Lawler is presenting this one and is in his full attire. His co-presenter: Vickie. Oh joy indeed. This is the Holy @*$& Award. King says he was at the vet all night with his lizard who had reptile dysfunction. I hate my life. Vickie has slimmed down a bit so Lawler makes fat jokes.

Nominees:
John Morrison Dives off the Set at Hell in a Cell
Kofi Kingston’s Boom Drop at Money in the Bank
John Cena’s FU to Batista at Over the Limit
Randy Orton RKOs Evan Bourne Out of AirBourne

Winner: John Cena. That is RIDICULOUS. It was an FU off a car and that’s it. I was at the Raw where Orton hit the RKO and the place erupted. It was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen. This wasn’t even the best FU he’s ever hit and it wins an award? Give me a break.

Barrett comes out to accept the award and give his decision. He says that he’s not going to make his decision unless Cena is here so come on out. Cena comes through the crowd as you would expect him to. As Punk said last week: “We have the worst security in the world.” At least try to make it seem like he’s fired. Have a guard escort him or something.

Wade says that this is a huge decision and here comes Nexus. They surround the ring and Cena is officially rehired on two conditions. Number one is he has to face Barrett at TLC in a chair match. Wasn’t there already one of those scheduled? Number two is he faces Otunga tonight. Odd choice but ok.

Barrett says this is why he rehired him and Nexus attacks. Barrett grabs a chair and cracks Cena over the back with it. Nice shot so he does it again. Nexus leaves Cena laying. I’m really not big on them rehiring him that fast. That could have gone on for months but they pull the trigger that fast? I’m not digging that at all.

Next week there is a special two hour live Smackdown on USA and the Tribute to the Troops has an encore. The SD would be to avoid the show being on Christmas Eve which makes sense.

Arquette is back again, dressed like a low rent Elvis impersonator. He’s opening a theater in Hollywood or something like that. He’s presenting the Crowd Reaction of the Year.

Nominees:
Kid Reacting to Cena Joining Nexus
Woman Crying When Shawn Lost at Wrestlemania
Some Dumbstruck Moron (no event specified)
DEMON CHILD! (huge pop for that actually)

Winner: Do I even need to say this one? She’s here! She’s really quiet and here comes Miz. Oh this should be great. He offers to take the award for safekeeping and wants to see the face again. The girl gets all sad and leaves. Miz, Riley and Arquette come to the ring as the girl just leaves all sad.

Miz lists off his accomplishments this year which really are impressive. He says on Sunday he’s going to dominate Orton but we get an E-Mail. They actually have text on the monitor now. Both Miz and Orton are facing former champions tonight and Miz’s match is now.

The Miz vs. Rey Mysterio

I think there’s something wrong with the audio there as the theme music is somewhat quiet. Rey sends him to the floor as we take a break. Back and they go for Rey’s sit out bulldog and botch the HECK out of it. Rey may have tweeked his knee but he sets for the 619. Here’s Del Rip and Rey charges at him.

Miz catches him and sets for a powerbomb but drops backwards to send Rey face first into the apron which looked brutal. It gets two as it took awhile to get back into the ring. Rey’s knee looks fine so maybe he just landed oddly. Ah it was his ribs that he hurt. Superplex is blocked and Rey lands a big springboard crossbody for two.

Rey sets for the 619 but again Del Rio gets in his way. Miz is sent into him though and down goes Alberto. Rollup by Rey gets two. He sets for the 619 again but Del Rio interferes again and a small package gets the win for the champion at 3:30 shown of 7:00.

Rating: C+. This was pretty fast paced and it worked rather well. Miz cheated to win but that’s his job as a heel. He keeps getting victories over these big guys which is the best thing he can do to gain credibility. Decent little match with more added to the Rey vs. Alberto feud and Miz gets a nice win. What more can you ask for other than more time?

E-Mail says Orton vs. Arquette/Riley tonight. Oh dear.

Back from break and Edge is here for the Oh Snap Meltdown Award. Kane was supposed to co-present with him but he’s having a meltdown of his own. He needs a co-presenter so he brings out Christian. Nice indeed. So are they brothers or just friends at this point? He wants Alberto to win for various reasons.

Nominees:
Big Show Breaks Swagger’s Trophies
Alberto Del Rio Breaks Rey’s Arm/Wrist
Edge Destroys the Laptop
Batista Quits

Winner: Edge. I know people that that was awful but it really wasn’t so bad. I liked it a lot actually and it made sense. Edge says this is odd as he’s always been calm and cool and loses his mind about the laptop again. He apparently has a match with Swagger later and

Christian gets an E-Mail on his phone. Edge: YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! Christian: Yes I am. Funny stuff. Edge cuts a short promo and says that things always stay the same. Christian does the e-mail sound into the microphone so Edge can say “And I quote: Michael Cole is still a huge tool.” I love these two.

Sheamus vs. John Morrison

It’s the inbred spawn of Batman and Satan! Morrison spears Sheamus down and it’s on early. Sheamus spears Morrison down just as hard and it’s a big brawl. It’s thrown out in 30 seconds for a double DQ. And before people freak out, that ending is perfect. It sets up the PPV and doesn’t give the match away again so soon. It’s perfect.

An E-Mail says Morrison vs. Sheamus at TLC in a ladder match for the #1 contendership. I’ve been calling Miz vs. Morrison at the Rumble for months so that would make perfect sense. Sheamus jumps Morrison post E-Mail and spears him with one of the ladders that were at ringside. He sets the ladder up at an angle against the apron and launches Morrison over the top to land back first on the ladder. FREAKING OW MAN!

Back from a break with JTG and William Regal presenting Knucklehead Moment of the Year. Regal tries to get through this quickly because he doesn’t understand JTG.

CM Punk Tries to Hide from Show and Gets Unmasked
Mae Young Wins at Old School Raw
Beth Phoenix is in the Rumble and Eliminates Great Khali
Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov Have a Dance-Off

Winner: Mae Young and Laycool. I’m not sure what the point of this was as those weren’t really knuckleheaded moments. Either way Laycool comes out and look great to accept it.

Diva Battle Royal next.

Battle Royal

Laycool, Kelly, Maryse, Eve, Bella Twins, Rose, Melina, Alicia, Kaitlyn, Beth, Tamina, Natalya

I think that’s everyone but I’m not sure. Everyone surrounds Laycool and to their credit they’re like BRING IT ON. Tamina chills in the corner for a bit but puts out Kaitlyn. You can go through the ropes here. Rosa is out second. She has never won a match on the main roster. Tamina is out.

A Bella is out as they’re flying out of here insanely fast. The other Bella goes out with ease as Laycool is dominating. Maryse is gone. There’s no particular rhyme or reason here as you would expect in a battle royal. Michelle, looking GREAT in those red shorts, puts out Kelly who looks GREAT in those white shorts. Beth Glam Slams Melina out.

Down to Laycool, Beth, Natalya, Gail and Alicia. Beth kicks Layla out and she FREAKS. She distracts the Glamazon long enough to let Michelle put out Beth. Natalya puts out Alicia and Gail and walks into a big kick from Michelle who wins this at approximately 3:30.

Rating: C. This is hard to grade as battle royals aren’t something that there are standards for. This was fine for what it was and one of the girls that should have won it got the award so I can’t complain. Also you have hot women so how much can you really complain? Good stuff.

Another E-Mail says Beth/Natalya vs. Laycool in a tag team tables match. The look on Michelle’s face is AWESOME.

Quick recap of Kane accidentally killing Paul Bearer on Smackdown.

Edge vs. Jack Swagger

Triple threat ladder match at the PPV for the IC Title: Ziggler vs. Kofi vs. Swagger. Wow this is going to be all gimmick matches isn’t it? Swagger overpowers Edge to start as it’s pretty clear that Kane will be involved here somewhere. After a brief beating, Edge gets an Edge-O-Matic to take over again. DDT gets two.

Swagger gets a shot in and sets for the Vader Bomb with Edge having his knees up before Swagger gets to the corner. Thankfully he winds up landing on his feet and grabs the ankle lock. Much better. Edge reverses the ankle lock into a rollup for two. There’s the Impaler and the spear ends this completely clean at 4:50. No Kane? Really?

Rating: C+. Quick match but it worked pretty well for the most part. Edge winning clean works but Swagger can’t buy a break for the most part as he’s constantly losing clean. If he’s going into a title match Sunday, couldn’t they get someone else to fight Edge? Like Chavo or someone? Decent little match though.

Riley, Miz and Arquette have a stupid moment. Arquette has energy. You have to give him that.

We see clips of the Slammy winner for video game moment of the year. It’s nothing special at all.

Big Show is here to present moment of the year. He talks about some great moments and mentions Hogan, Superfly and Austin. Tonight something joins them. I doubt that.

Nominees:
Cena is Free or Fired
Sheamus Jumps HHH as he Says Goodbye to Shawn
Edge’s Huge Spear at Wrestlemania
Streak vs. Career

Winner: Streak vs. Career. Thank goodness. Shawn…isn’t here, but he appears on satellite and is in an undisclosed location which he won’t say because WWE would try to make him come back. Funny line. He has a big cut on his nose. Shawn says he doesn’t miss it but does miss the fans who he might see soon.

Randy Orton vs. Alex Riley/David Arquette

I never thought I’d have to type that. Riley starts and actually gets Orton down. Then Arquette comes in and runs away after Orton sets for the RKO. Backbreaker to Riley and the knee drop hits. Then it misses. Arquette is wearing what Punk calls Clubber Lang’s Gi. That fits rather well actually. Orton hits an Angle Slam on Riley and there’s the RKO for the easy pin at 2:45. No rating for an extended workout for Orton.

Miz blasts Orton with the briefcase post match and they try to put him through a table. He fights them off and Arquette goes through it instead as every WCW fans ejaculates at once. Somewhere Russo is saying we just didn’t get it. Stretcher ride for Arquette.

We run down the TLC card. I kind of like them just saying screw it: let’s go all the way with the gimmicks. It makes it more appealing than last year’s.

The presenter for the Quote of the Year: Michael Cole.

There are too many nominees to list off. It’s more or less every funny line of the year with some very funny ones in here, my favorite being “I would RKO my own Grandmother to get back the WWE Title.”

Winner: Michael Cole. Apparently he wins in general. He of course has a speech ready. He gets played off and the Superstar of the Year is next. Isn’t there supposed to be a Match of the Year award?

Teddy Long comes out to do Superstar of the Year.

Nominees:
Edge
The Miz
Kane
John Cena
Rey Mysterio
Randy Orton

Winner: John Cena. Is anyone really surprised by that? He says that his fans never gave up on him and runs down a list of things he’s done this year. Cena talks about getting all of Nexus and having only Barrett and Otunga to go.

John Cena vs. David Otunga

Otunga hasn’t come to the ring yet and it’s 11:05. How long do you think this is going to go on for? Cena looks pretty good for a guy that took two chair shots earlier. We see a clip of that attack as we apparently need to waste more time. Otunga high flives every Nexus member other than Barrett but they smile at each other.

Barrett sends Nexus to the back and leaves as well. Cena attacks as Otunga turns around and methinks this isn’t going to last long. Cena is all kinds of ticked off. He misses a charge in the corner and here comes Otunga. He’s clearly winning here. You know he will right? I mean he’s DAVID OTUNGA! A kind of Pounce/elbow smash hits and there’s the STF to end it in 1:58. Well they made it quick. Just a squash.

Post match Cena destroys Otunga with a chair as Barrett just stands there watching.

Overall Rating: B. I liked the show. A lot of things were set up for the PPV and overall the show was fun. It’s no classic and last week’s was better, but overall this worked rather well I thought. It’s not an incredibly serious show but then again it’s not supposed to be. It was a fun go home show for a gimmick PPV and it worked fine for what it was supposed to be. Pretty solid show and rather fun. Good stuff.