The 933rd edition of WWE Monday Night RAW came to you, live, from the Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, CT. With WrestleMania XXVII in the record books, all eyes look towards WWE Extreme Rules where, in three weeks’ time, the WWE Title would be on the line and, on RAW, the new #1 Contender for The Miz’s WWE Title would be determined as John Cena, “The Viper” Randy Orton, R-Truth, “The Prince of Parkour” John Morrison, and “The Platinum Superstar” Dolph Ziggler would all compete in a 5-Man Gauntlet Match where two randomly selected Superstars will start the match and, when a Superstar is defeated, another Superstar will take his place with the last Superstar standing being named the #1 Contender for the WWE Title at Extreme Rules!
Match Results
- Divas Championship: Brie Bella (with Nikki Bella) def. Eve (c) by pin following the Bella Buster to win the Divas Title.
- Sin Cara (in his in-ring debut) def. Primo by pin following the Carasault.
- 8-Man Tag: The Corre def. APPLE (Santino Marella, Daniel Bryan, Evan Bourne, & Mark Henry) by Heath Slater pinning Santino Marella following Sweetness.
- Rematch or Retirement: Jerry “The King” Lawler (with Jim Ross) def. Jack Swagger (with Michael Cole) by roll-up to earn a rematch against Michael Cole at WWE Extreme Rules.
- #1 Contender’s 5-Man Gauntlet Match: John Cena and R-Truth fight to a double disqualification after The Miz and Alex Riley interfere. As a result, both John Cena and R-Truth are named the #1 Contenders for the WWE Title at Extreme Rules.
Order of Entry
1 & 2: Randy Orton & Dolph Ziggler
3: R-Truth
4: John Morrison
5: John Cena
Order of Elimination
- Dolph Ziggler (with The New Nexus) def. Randy Orton by roll-up.
- R-Truth def. Dolph Ziggler by pin following the What’s Up.
- R-Truth def. John Morrison by pin following the Lie Detector.
- John Cena and R-Truth fight to a double disqualification after The Miz & Alex Riley interfere.
Detailed Results
One week after making history by making the main event of next year’s WrestleMania a year ahead of time by confirming his epic one-on-one encounter with The Rock, the show kicks off with John Cena! John Cena states that, last week, an announcement was made that was so “big” that it needed a year for the WWE fans to “digest” as a match that pits “icon against icon” was confirmed for April 1, 2012 where he will go one-on-one with The Rock at WrestleMania XXVIII! Cena then proclaims that the match between him and The Rock will be for the WWE Championship and for that to happen, one of them must be the WWE Champion! John Cena would then call out WWE Champion The Miz for a WrestleMania rematch, but Cena would instead be interrupted by a familiar adversary in “The Viper” Randy Orton! Orton states that, after WrestleMania, Cena’s “business” with the WWE Title is done and, regardless of how, Cena “lost” at WrestleMania and the new #1 Contender should be someone who actually “won” their match at WrestleMania as he defeated CM Punk at WrestleMania, but the two former World Champions are interrupted by “The Prince of Parkour” John Morrison as Morrison states that they have all seen this “show” before with Cena and Orton arguing over who should be the #1 Contender and the discussion of a new #1 Contender needs to involve him!
This prompts Dolph Ziggler and Vickie Guerrero to come out as Vickie states that she pinned John Morrison a couple of weeks ago, so she should be the #1 Contender for the WWE Title, but if not her, then Dolph Ziggler should be! Ziggler then states that he is the “most talented” Superstar in the ring right now and, more importantly, he has “never faced” The Miz for the WWE Title before! Dolph then proclaims that, once he is WWE Champion, they will all get their opportunity, but Dolph is interrupted by the arrival of R-Truth! Truth then states that the “gospel truth” is that he has “never” received a WWE or World Heavyweight Title match on either RAW or SmackDown! The anonymous General Manager of RAW then chimes in with an email that reveals the main event of RAW as, in a unique #1 Contender’s Match, John Cena, Randy Orton, R-Truth, John Morrison, & Dolph Ziggler will compete in a 5-Man Gauntlet Match where two Superstars will be randomly selected to start the match and, when one Superstar is defeated, another will take his place with the last Superstar standing being named the #1 Contender for the WWE Title with a match against The Miz at WWE Extreme Rules! Who will become the new #1 Contender for the WWE Title in this unique match?
A creepy and uncomfortable vignette would air on RAW as a blonde doll is shown in the grip of a scarily sized dreadlocked Diva as the mystery woman flicks the head off of the doll before laughing maniacally! Who is this mystery woman and what does she have in store for the WWE?
Before defending her Divas Title against Brie Bella on RAW, Eve would have a conversation with the referee before the referee would take a permanent marker and put a black “X” on the hand of Brie Bella, seemingly taking the Twin Magic of The Bella Twins out of the equation! During the match, Brie Bella would pull the Twin Magic switch with her twin sister, Nikki Bella, but Eve would hit a dropkick on Nikki before showing the referee that it was the wrong Bella as the referee would order Nikki out of the ring! However, the fretting of Twin Magic would cost Eve as the distraction would allow Brie to take advantage with the Bella Buster en route to pinning Eve to become the new Divas Champion!
After making his debut on last week’s RAW with a surprise attack on United States Champion Sheamus and following it up with an attack on Jack Swagger on SmackDown, the international legend Sin Cara would make his in-ring debut on RAW as Sin Cara would go one-on-one with former WWE Tag Team Champion Primo! In the end, it was Sin Cara pulling off a jaw-dropping move as Cara would situate Primo on the top turnbuckle where Cara would grab Primo in a STO set up before moonsaulting, with Primo, off of the top with a crushing impact, en route to picking up a very impressive win in his WWE debut match! What lies ahead for Sin Cara in the WWE?
One week after a failed attack on The Rock and John Cena, The Corre would appear on RAW as Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett, Ezekiel Jackson, and WWE Tag Team Champions Heath Slater & Justin Gabriel would discuss the attack! The Corre would begin to crumble before everyone’s eyes on RAW as Wade Barrett would state that their failed attack was “no fault” of his own before stating that he used to see them as “equals”, but if they can not “hold up” their “end of the bargain”, then there is no point in them continuing on, but Justin Gabriel interrupts and states that his 450 Splash has taken out countless Superstars on both rosters and he is a three-time WWE Tag Team Champion and Heath Slater interrupts, citing that he and Gabriel are three-time WWE Tag Team Champions and “no one” is going to take that away from them! Ezekiel Jackson then gets into the face of Barrett and states that he is the one who made them “credible” by slamming Big Show! The argument between The Corre is then interrupted by the arrival of Santino Marella, Evan Bourne, Daniel Bryan, & Mark Henry as Santino proclaims themselves as “A.P.P.L.E.”, which stands for “Allied People Powered Loathing Everything” that The Corre stands for before Santino, in the name of his fallen tag team partner, Vladimir Kozlov, would challenge The Corre to an 8-Man Tag Match!
In the newly established group known as “Apple”, former WWE Tag Team Champion Santino Marella, Evan Bourne, former United States Champion Daniel Bryan, and “The World’s Strongest Man” Mark Henry would face The Corre, Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett, Ezekiel Jackson, and WWE Tag Team Champions Heath Slater & Justin Gabriel in a battle of Apple Vs. Corre! At the end of a chaotic 8-Man Tag Match, it was Justin Gabriel delivering a kick to Santino Marella from the outside of the ring that would allow Heath Slater to hit Sweetness on Santino en route to picking up the win for The Corre!
One week after having his own barbecue sauce squirted all over him by Michael Cole, Hall of Famer Jim Ross would appear on RAW to be in the corner of Jerry “The King” Lawler for Lawler’s match against Jack Swagger, but all hell would break loose at ringside as the tormenting by Cole would make J.R. snap as the Hall of Famer would try and break into the “Cole Mine” to get a piece of Cole! J.R. would shake the entire “Cole Mine” and swat at Cole and Jerry Lawler would get out of his seat as Lawler would brawl with Jack Swagger at ringside before referees would break up both fights!
After the anonymous General Manager of RAW came to Michael Cole’s rescue at WrestleMania by reversing Cole’s loss against Jerry Lawler into a DQ win, the rematch would be on the line on RAW as Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler, with fellow Hall of Famer Jim Ross in his corner, would go one-on-one with “The All-American American” Jack Swagger, with Michael Cole in his corner, and, if Lawler wins, then “The King” gets a rematch against Michael Cole at WWE Extreme Rules, but if Swagger wins, then Cole never has to compete again! During the match, Michael Cole would get on the apron of the ring, temporarily distracting Jerry Lawler, but Jim Ross would come around and would pull Cole off of the ring apron! Jack Swagger would then try and get his hands on Jim Ross, but Lawler would take advantage of the distraction by rolling up Swagger to pick up the win to get his rematch against Michael Cole at Extreme Rules!
After the match, Michael Cole would enter the ring and would poke his finger into the chest of Jack Swagger, telling Swagger that he paid him “good money” to be his trainer before Cole would slap Swagger across the face! Cole would quickly exit the ring as a seething Swagger stares a hole right through Cole! Jerry Lawler then announces the stipulation for his rematch against Michael Cole as Lawler announces that it will be a tag team match as he will team with his legendary broadcast colleague, Hall of Famer Jim Ross, to face the team of Michael Cole and the man Cole just slapped across the face, Jack Swagger! After slapping his only ally and tag team partner across the face, can Michael Cole and Jack Swagger co-exist as a team to defeat the Hall of Fame team of Jim Ross & Jerry “The King” Lawler?
With rumors of his forced retirement running rampant, the reigning World Heavyweight Champion Edge would make an appearance on RAW! An emotional Edge would state that a lot of people think the WWE is “smoke and mirrors”, but he and the WWE Superstars know that they get hurt. Edge would state that, eight years ago, he underwent surgery to repair a broken neck and since then, he knew that he was on “borrowed time”. Edge would continue that he has recently been losing feeling in his arms and has been feeling a lot of pain, so the WWE had him get more tests done and, following some MRI’s, the tests shown that he has to retire! Edge states that it was not his choice to retire, but it’s a good thing that the doctors found the issue because he is not going to end up in a wheelchair. As the fans applaud and chant “thank you Edge”, Edge continues that he did “feel sorry” for himself and thought he was letting the fans down, but after talking to his best friend of twenty-seven years, Christian, Christian told him that he always had his career on his “own terms”. Edge continues that he is a lifelong WWE fan and that he “never believed” he would be as successful as he has been and he could not “dream” of a better way of going then competing in the main event of WrestleMania before retiring as the World Heavyweight Champion. Edge continues that he has “become a man” in front of the fans as he has evolved from a silent man in a trench coat to a “pseudo vampire” in The Brood to a tag team legend with Christian to a despised singles competitor to being World Heavyweight Champion. Edge states that he is going to miss the reaction of the fans, but he does not have to wear tights anymore and he is going to go and eat ice cream tonight. Edge then states that, despite all of the injuries and troubles of his career, he would do it all again in a heartbeat before Edge thanks all the fans, who in turn, stand up and applaud Edge while chanting “thank you Edge” as “The Rated-R Superstar” takes his final bow before exiting the ring for the final time.
Backstage, Edge is greeted and deservedly applauded by the WWE roster, including Randy Orton, Dolph Ziggler, CM Punk, John Morrison, R-Truth, Mark Henry, Evan Bourne, Eve, Wade Barrett, Natalya, Tyson Kidd, The Great Khali, Daniel Bryan, Yoshi Tatsu, Maryse, and The Bella Twins.
With WWE Champion The Miz a guest on commentary with his associate Alex Riley at ringside, it was time for the main event as John Cena, “The Viper” Randy Orton, R-Truth, “The Prince of Parkour” John Morrison, and “The Platinum Superstar” Dolph Ziggler would compete in the unique 5-Man Gauntlet Match where two randomly selected Superstars will start the match and, when a Superstar is defeated, another Superstar would take his place with the last Superstar standing being named the #1 Contender for the WWE Title with a title opportunity against The Miz at WWE Extreme Rules! The first two Superstars to compete in the match would be revealed to be former WWE Champion Randy Orton and former World Heavyweight Champion Dolph Ziggler, with Vickie Guerrero in his corner!
During the match, two members of The New Nexus would re-emerge as David Otunga and Michael McGillicutty would distract Randy Orton long enough for Dolph Ziggler to roll Orton up to eliminate Orton from the Gauntlet Match! After costing Orton his shot at the WWE Title, New Nexus members David Otunga, Michael McGillicutty, and the monstrous Mason Ryan would be out for revenge on the man who punted them out of action as The New Nexus would pummel Orton before Mason Ryan would deliver a vicious powerbomb to “The Viper” in the middle of the ring!
After The New Nexus cost Randy Orton his shot at the WWE Title and left “The Viper” laid out, the 5-Man Gauntlet Match for the #1 Contender’s spot for the WWE Title would continue as Dolph Ziggler would face the next Superstar in the Gauntlet Match, R-Truth! During the match, R-Truth would come out of nowhere to hit the What’s Up on Dolph Ziggler en route to eliminating Dolph from the competition! R-Truth would then advance to face his next challenge in his former tag team partner, “The Prince of Parkour” John Morrison! Then it was R-Truth hitting the Lie Detector on John Morrison to eliminate Morrison from the Gauntlet Match, leaving R-Truth to face John Cena with one of them becoming the #1 Contender for the WWE Title at Extreme Rules! During the match, John Cena would look poised for victory as Cena would hoist R-Truth up for the Attitude Adjustment, but The Miz and Alex Riley would rush the ring, attacking both competitors, ruling the match a double disqualification!
After the match, WWE Champion The Miz would proclaim that both John Cena and R-Truth lost, so there is not a #1 Contender, but the anonymous General Manager of RAW chimes in with an email that states that there is not a #1 Contender for the WWE Title, but that is because there are two #1 Contenders because the match for the WWE Title at Extreme Rules will be a Triple Threat Match as The Miz will defend the gold against both R-Truth and John Cena! The two #1 Contenders would then send the WWE Champion out of the ring before John Cena would hit the Attitude Adjustment on Alex Riley! The two #1 Contenders would then shake hands, but a pat on the back would lead to Cena shoving R-Truth before Truth would exit the ring! What will happen in the unpredictable Triple Threat Match for the WWE Title in three weeks at Extreme Rules? Can The Miz defy the odds to retain the WWE Title or will either John Cena or R-Truth become the new champion?
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