Six nights before the Royal Rumble, the 922nd edition of WWE Monday Night RAW came to you, live, from the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, MI. Six nights before they both defend their titles against Randy Orton and Dolph Ziggler, respectively, at the Royal Rumble, RAW would see a special Champion Vs. Champion Match as WWE Champion The Miz would go one-on-one with World Heavyweight Champion Edge!
Match Results
- Over-The-Top Rope Challenge: Edge def. Tyson Kidd, Jack Swagger, & Drew McIntyre
- Alberto Del Rio & King Sheamus def. John Morrison & Mark Henry by Mark Henry tapping out to Alberto Del Rio’s cross armbreaker.
- Divas Championship: Natalya (c) def. Melina by submission to a modified Sharpshooter to retain.
- Champion Vs. Champion: Edge def. The Miz by DQ after Dolph Ziggler interferes.
- 6-Person Tag: Ted DiBiase, Maryse, & Alicia Fox def. Daniel Bryan & The Bella Twins by Maryse rolling up Nikki Bella.
- Non-Title: Husky Harris & Michael McGillicutty def. Santino Marella & Vladimir Kozlov by Husky Harris pinning Santino Marella following a modified STO.
- Loser’s Group Leaves The Royal Rumble Match: Special Referee- John Cena: CM Punk & Wade Barrett fight to a double disqualification as a result of “use of excessive profanity”; as a result, neither The Corre or The New Nexus would be permitted to be in the Royal Rumble Match.
Detailed Results
Before going one-on-one with RAW’s WWE Champion The Miz later on in the night in a Champion Vs. Champion Match, RAW would kick off with a special appearance by SmackDown’s World Heavyweight Champion Edge! Showing his bandaged ribs as a result of an attack by the new group, The Corre, on SmackDown, Edge addresses The Miz and states that he does not feel like “waiting: as he does not like “waiting” at the DMV, the supermarket, the airport, or “waiting” for Michael Cole to stop being a “tool” before calling The Miz out for their Champion Vs. Champion Match! The anonymous General Manager of RAW then chimes in with an email that states that the GM has not forgotten the “disrespect” shown by Edge when he was a part of RAW before announcing that the Champion Vs. Champion Match will take place later on in the evening as scheduled, but that there will be “exhibition” match right now as Edge will face Superstars in an Over-The-Top Rope Challenge and the Superstar who throws Edge over the top rope will earn the right to enter this Sunday’s 40-Man Royal Rumble Match at #40!
The match would then begin immediately with “The All-American American” Jack Swagger, “The Chosen One” Drew McIntyre, and “The Crowned Prince” Tyson Kidd rushing out to battle Edge! Edge would first throw Tyson Kidd over the top rope, eliminating Kidd from the match and would follow it up by throwing Jack Swagger over the top rope and finally eliminating Drew McIntyre to win the match! After winning the match, Edge states that the match got his “juices flowing” before exiting the ring and asking the fans who would like to see a “smashed laptop” before approaching the GM’s laptop, which Michael Cole stands in front of, but as Edge approaches Cole and the laptop, but is stopped by the arrival of “The Second City Saint” CM Punk and The New Nexus of David Otunga, Husky Harris, Michael McGillicutty, and the monstrous mystery man who dominated John Cena last week as Punk states that the “strong survive” and, with the expansion of the Royal Rumble Match to 40 participants, The New Nexus had to “evolve”, thus the new “handpicked” member of The New Nexus, who CM Punk reveals to be the Cardiff, Wales native Mason Ryan! Mason Ryan then states that he only has one thing to say, “faith”, before Punk states that that The Nexus has “faith” and, unlike John Cena and “the poor man’s Nexus” The Corre, The Nexus’ faith will “pay off” as he will win the 40-Man Royal Rumble Match and The New Nexus will become even more “powerful”! Things would then get interesting as SmackDown’s group of “equals”, The Corre, would interrupt as Wade Barrett, Heath Slater, Justin Gabriel, & Ezekiel Jackson would come face to face with The New Nexus as Barrett states that The Corre is “nothing like” The Nexus as they are all “equals” before Ezekiel Jackson states that they will all try to win the 40-Man Royal Rumble Match for themselves, but they will make sure to “unite” to eliminate CM Punk from the Royal Rumble Match! Then, as Ezekiel Jackson gets in the face of CM Punk, the newest member of The New Nexus, Mason Ryan, would step forward and come face-to-face with “Big Zeke”, but just as a fight looks to break loose, the anonymous General Manager of RAW chimes in with an email that reveals that he has given an “open invitation” for SmackDown Superstars to appear on RAW before stating that, with SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long currently “sidelined”, he can set up a huge match before announcing that the leader of The New Nexus, CM Punk, would go one-on-one with The Corre’s Wade Barrett and, whoever loses that match, will see their entire group, either The Corre or The New Nexus, removed from the 40-Man Royal Rumble Match this Sunday and, not only that, but this blockbuster match will have a Special Referee that both Superstars are very familiar with in John Cena! What will happen when CM Punk and Wade Barrett go one-on-one with John Cena as the Special Referee? Which group will be removed from the 40-Man Royal Rumble Match, The Corre or The New Nexus?
Six nights before they are a part of the huge 40-Man Royal Rumble Match, four Rumble participants would square off in tag team action as “The Prince of Parkour” John Morrison would team with “The World’s Strongest Man” Mark Henry to face “The Mexican Elitist” Alberto Del Rio and the 2010 King of the Ring King Sheamus! During the match, the former Nexus member Michael Tarver is shown watching the tag match! At the end of a chaotic match, it would be Alberto Del Rio pulling off a huge move as Del Rio would lock on the cross armbreaker on Mark Henry, forcing “The World’s Strongest Man” to tap out to win the match! Alberto Del Rio has stated that it is his “destiny” to win the Royal Rumble Match and headline WrestleMania, but can Del Rio survive the supersized Rumble to achieve that “destiny”?
After becoming the new #1 Contender for the Divas Title a number of weeks ago, “The A-List Diva” Melina would get her shot at the gold as Melina would challenge Natalya for the Divas Title! In the end, it was Natalya locking in a modified version of the Sharpshooter, leaning all the way back to add extra torque to the move, leaving Melina no choice but to tap out for Natalya to retain the Divas Title! Natalya’s celebration would be short-lived, however, as Layla & Michelle McCool would come out state that Natalya will lose some “weight” in six nights at the Royal Rumble because they never received their rematch for the Divas Title and this Sunday, they will bring the Divas division from “classless” to “flawless” when they regain the Divas Title! Will Natalya be forced to defend the Divas Title against both members of LayCool this Sunday at the Royal Rumble?
Then it was time for the Champion Vs. Champion Match as RAW’s WWE Champion The Miz, with his “apprentice” Alex Riley, would go one-on-one with SmackDown’s World Heavyweight Champion Edge, but before the match begins, the #1 Contender for the World Heavyweight Title Dolph Ziggler and his girlfriend, acting SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero, come to ringside to be guests on commentary for the match! In the end, Edge looked poised for victory as the World Heavyweight Champion readied himself for the Spear, but Dolph Ziggler would interfere and attack, but Randy Orton would rush out and shove Dolph Ziggler out of the way before attacking The Miz, but Alex Riley would come in and Orton would take down Riley before rushing to the outside of the ring where Miz was trying to escape through the crowd! Miz would then cut through the ring and Orton would give chase, but would run into Alex Riley a second time as Orton would deliver the RKO to Riley and would follow it up with a second RKO on Dolph Ziggler before The Miz would re-enter and chop block the back of the knee of Orton with Alex Riley’s briefcase, allowing Miz to escape! What will happen this Sunday night when there is nowhere to run for The Miz when Miz defends the WWE Title against Randy Orton at the Royal Rumble?
RAW would also see 6-Person Mixed Tag action as United States Champion Daniel Bryan would team with The Bella Twins to face the team of “The Fortunate Son” Ted DiBiase, Maryse, & Alicia Fox! After agreeing to a contest for the affection of Daniel Bryan last week, Brie Bella would distract Daniel Bryan long enough to allow Maryse to pin her twin sister, Nikki Bella, to pick up the win!
Moments after Brie Bella cost her team the match, The Bella Twins walk past Michael Tarver and enter the locker room of Daniel Bryan to confront Bryan, but The Bellas find Bryan making out with Gail Kim! Bryan would then introduce The Bellas to Gail and reveal that he has been seeing Gail for about six months and Gail tells The Bella Twins that the only reason Bryan has been hanging out with The Bellas was because he “feels sorry” for The Bellas because they have “nothing to do” since there have not been any RAW Guest Stars lately! The Bellas respond to this by calling Gail Kim an “afterthought”, which prompts a brawl between Gail Kim and The Bella Twins; a brawl that Daniel Bryan and an official is finally able to break up!
Before their leader, CM Punk, goes one-on-one with Corre member Wade Barrett in the main event with their spots in the 40-Man Royal Rumble Match on the line, New Nexus members Husky Harris & Michael McGillicutty, with teammates David Otunga & Mason Ryan in their corner, would face WWE Tag Team Champions Santino Marella & Vladimir Kozlov, with Tamina in their corner, in a non-title match! In the end, it would be Husky Harris hitting a modified STO on Santino Marella en route to picking up the non-title victory! After the match, New Nexus member David Otunga would introduce their motivational leader, CM Punk!
Then it was time for the main event as the leader of The New Nexus, CM Punk, would go one-on-one with Corre member Wade Barrett in a match where the losing Superstar would see their group, either The New Nexus or The Corre, removed from the 40-Man Royal Rumble Match this Sunday night and the Special Referee for this blockbuster match would be none other than John Cena and, before the match begins, Cena makes his first official order for the match as Cena ejects both The New Nexus and The Corre from ringside! With the match officially started, John Cena would shove CM Punk off of his feet and would deliver a vicious slap to Wade Barrett, knowing full well that if CM Punk or Wade Barrett attack him, the referee for the match, then he is within his rights to disqualify either or both of them and, after going out to ringside to sign autographs during a pinfall, both Punk and Barrett would knock each other down and, soon after this, Cena would call for the bell to end the match before informing the ring announcer that he is ruling the match a double disqualification for “use of excessive profanity”, declaring that neither The Corre or The New Nexus will be participating in the 40-Man Royal Rumble Match! Proud of his ingenious ruling in the match, John Cena would start to walk away from the ring, but the anonymous General Manager of RAW would chime in with an email and would call Cena’s actions a “blatant abuse of power” before announcing that, while he can not change the referee’s decision for the match, he can change the conclusions, as the GM announces that both The Corre and The New Nexus, including CM Punk and Wade Barrett, will be a part of the 40-Man Royal Rumble Match after all and, if John Cena does not re-enter the ring and apologize to Wade Barrett and CM Punk over the match’s ruling, then Cena will be removed from the Royal Rumble Match! Cena would then apologize to both men, but would then deliver a right hand to both Punk and Barrett, but would be forced to exit the ring once The Corre and The New Nexus came to the aid of their respective members! With The Corre and The New Nexus facing off in the ring and John Cena on the outside of the ring, New Nexus members Husky Harris & Michael McGillicutty and Corre member Heath Slater would go after Cena on the outside of the ring, but “The World’s Largest Athlete” Big Show would rush out and would be followed by the WWE Tag Team Champions Santino Marella & Vladimir Kozlov, United States Champion Daniel Bryan, R-Truth, Yoshi Tatsu, Mark Henry, & John Morrison would all enter the ring as all hell would break loose as the participants in the Royal Rumble Match would all brawl in the center of the ring! What will happen this Sunday night when there are 40 men in the Royal Rumble Match for the first time ever? What kind of chaos can be expected when all 40 participants are looking to punch their ticket to WrestleMania XXVII by winning the Royal Rumble Match?
