Jesse’s WWE RAW Report: Raw is SummerSlam, Part Deux
By Jesse Castleman
Raw kicks off live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Nexus walks down the ramp into the ring as Raw goes on the air. Nexus lost their elimination match to Team WWE last night at SummerSlam, and they look pissed. Wade Barrett has a microphone. Barrett says that even though they lost last night, they will still wreak havoc on the WWE. In fact, they will do more.
Out comes John Cena, who criticizes Barrett. He says Barrett is trying too hard to be the fearless leader, and that they should be kicking themselves for letting a man of Daniel Bryant’s talent leave Nexus. Cena insults each Nexus member. Heath Slater gets a “Wendy’s” chant for looking like the Wendy’s redhead chick.
Young interjects and says Cena doesn’t know what he’s talking about, but Cena doesn’t let him get a word in and calls Young the weakest link in Nexus.
Blinks! Cole has received another email: Nexus will be given a test tonight, as each member of Nexus will face off against members of Team WWE tonight. Any Nexus member who interferes in a match will be met with severe consequences. Wade says it is not punishment, but a time to prove themselves; a time to examine Nexus. Barrett says that whoever loses their match tonight will be exiled. Then Otunga grabs the mic and reminds Barrett that he is subject to review, and not to forget that.
Blinks again, and Cole reads another email: The GM is giving them options on who they would like to face off against, with the exception of Wade Barrett, as he will have to face his former mentor: Chris Jericho. Next.
Chris Jericho makes his entrance to a nice pop from the Staples Center crowd. Jericho joins the waiting Wade Barrett in the ring. Jericho beats down on Barrett to start, hitting a nice suplex on Barrett. Jericho connects with a dropkick on Barrett, then he hits him with a drop kick off the ropes to knock Barrett off of the apron. Jericho kicks Barrett on the outside then rolls him back in the ring. Barrett kicks Jericho off the top rope. Barrett rolls Jericho back into the ring and whips him hard into the corner. Jericho fights back with a few punches and chops before Barrett regains control and chokes Jericho on the ropes. Barrett continues with an arm extension submission. The crowd claps for Jericho to break out, and Jericho breaks out and manages to hit a missile dropkick off the turnbuckle. Jericho chop blocks Barrett twice and hits a bulldog on Barrett. Barrett gets up and Jericho flips him back down into a Walls of Jericho. Barrett breaks out and tries a firemans carry slam, but Jericho counters and locks in the Walls of Jericho on Barrett. Barrett’s long arms allow him to reach the bottom rope and break the submission. Barrett nails a big boot on Jericho and covers him for a near fall. Barrett tires a back body drop and Jericho counters and nails Barrett with a kick to the head. Jericho goes for the Code breaker, but Barrett catches Jericho and nails a fireman carry slam on Jericho. Barrett covers Jericho for the victory, and Nexus looks on backstage in approval.
Wade Barrett def. Chris Jericho by pinfall
Justin Roberts introduces Raw guest hosts Jason Sudeikis, Charlie Moore, and Justin Long, who are absolutely pumped to be on Monday Night Raw. They think about the NBA champions, the Lakers, and next year’s NBA champions, the Heat! After getting booed for mentioning the Heat, they introduce Natalya, and Tag Team Champions Tyson Kidd, and Davey Hart Smith.
Blinks again, and Cole rattles off another email: The unified tag team titles will from now on be known as the WWE Tag Team Titles. Cole introduces Bret Hart to present the titles to the Hart Dynasty, who walks out with two spankin’ new title belts. The four Hart members celebrate in the ring until Wade Barrett interrupts and announces that Justin Gabriel will be Bret Hart’s opponent tonight. Gabriel says that Hart has experienced a lot of things in his illustrious career, but he will experience Gabriel’s 450 Splash for the first time tonight.
We’re live from Los Angeles tonight, and Vince McMahon has a star on the walk of fame. Cole and Lawler explain that the Miz was not Big Khali’s replacement last night, and that because he took so long to make his decision, Bryan Daniel was recruited in his place. Daniel Tarver makes his entrance to the ring, and the opponent that he has chosen is Daniel Bryan, who enters the ring as well. The ref starts the match, and Tarver backs Bryan into the corner and beats on him. Bryan fights back and hits two armbreaker on Tarver. He covers him for 2, then proceeds to kick Tarver until Tarver irish whips him into the corner. Bryan counters and goes to the top rope. Bryan nails a missile dropkick onto Tarver! Just then The Miz runs down to the ring with NXT rookie Alex Riley. With Bryan distracted by the two at ringside, Tarver sneaks up from behind and rolls Bryan up for the 3-count. Tarver celebrates his victory while Bryan leaps over the tope rope and hits a splash onto The Miz and Alex Riley on the outside. Bryan beats down on the Miz while Tarver and Riley hold off of him. The Miz nails a spear onto Bryan into the barrier. Miz directs Riley to set his brief case down, then The Miz executes a skull-crushing finale into his suitcase. After Riley explains that The Miz is a real superstar, The ref tells Miz to get out of here, so The Miz and Riley walk up the ramp as the Miz mocks that it was a good thing that Team WWE picked Bryan over him.
Daniel Tarver def. Daniel Bryan by pinfall
Riley and Miz are stopped by Josh Matthews backstage, who asks them to explain their actions. The Miz explains that the WWE universe heckled him, saying that Daniel Bryan should be his pro. The Miz furthers by explaining that after begging him to be their 7th member, Team WWE chose Daniel Bryan over him. How dare they? If they want something special, then they must look no further than Alex Riley, who says that he owes everything for his opportunity to be part of this company to the Miz.
Cut to Nexus backstage in their locker room. Darren Young announces that he wants to face John Cena tonight because of the assault that he launched on Young two weeks ago on Raw. Otunga interjects, saying that tonight is all about redemption, and that he respects Young for stepping up. Nexus taps Young in respect, and we segue to Justin Gabriel making his entrance.
Blinks as we return to Raw: another GM email saying that Bret Hart will not be competing against Justin Gabriel tonight. The GM says that he doesn’t like Bret Hart, and never will like him. Nobody will ever see Bret Hart competing on Raw again, and the GM has picked a replacement, whose name is… Randy Orton! Gabriel doesn’t look like he’s too thrilled with this announcement, but the crowd goes nuts as Orton makes his way to the ring. Gabriel pushes Orton to start the match, then Orton backs Gabriel into a corner. Gabriel sneaks out and kicks Orton. Orton rushes Gabriel who counters into a headlock. Whip into the ropes Gabriel flips over Orton’s back and kicks Orton a few more times. This time Orton goes for a kick, and whips Gabriel into the ropes, but Gabriel slides under a clothesline attempt, and goes to kick Orton again, which Orton catches. After a staredown, Orton hits a few clotheslines and a scoop slam on Gabriel. Orton is fired up, and kicks Gabriel into the ropes. Orton hangs Gabriel up and hits a ropehung DDT. Orton drops down in waiting for an RKO, but notices Sheamus walking down to the ring out of the corner of his eye. Orton slides out of the ring and knocks Sheamus over the outside barrier.
Their fight moves into the crowd as the ref counts Orton out. After the match ends due to a count out, Orton tosses Sheamus over the barrier to the outside. The refs stop Orton’s assault and announce Gabriel as the winner. Orton sneaks up behind Gabriel in the ring and hits an RKO on him to get the crowd amped up. Orton grabs a steel chair and absolutely destroys Sheamus with it. Orton has gone berserk, hitting the Champion repeatedly with the chair. Randy Orton has snapped, and the crowd chants for Orton as he walks up the ramp. Referees escort him, while Sheamus is helped by other refs. Orton pauses at the end of the ramp before the refs can escort him to the back, and runs back to Sheamus at ringside. Orton nails an RKO on Sheamus on the mats for good measure. Orton walks up the ramp and poses for the crowd before Raw cuts to a commercial break.
Justin Gabriel def. Randy Orton by countout
Nexus is 3-for-3 in redemption matches tonight, and Skip Sheffield and David Otunga wait in the ring for their tag team opponents. John Morrison enters first, followed by R-Truth, who asks Los Angeles what’s up a vast number of times. Otunga starts out against Morrison. They lock up and Morrison hits Otunga with a Russian leg sweep before tagging in R-Truth, who hits a top rope leg drop onto Otunga as Morrison held him down. R-Truth covers Otunga, but Sheffield breaks up the count. Morrison protests to the ref. Otunga tags Sheffield in, who now faces off against Truth. R-Truth hits Sheffield with a few kicks after evading a Sheffield clothesline, but is countered into a whip to the corner by Sheffield. R-Truth wisely evades Sheffield’s rush, but Sheffield catches him and hits a powerslam. Sheffield is now in control, and brings Truth to his corner. Tag to Otunga, who shoulders Truth into the turnbuckle. Otunga attempts a whip on Truth, but Truth counters into a big face-first leg sweep. Truth manages to get the hot tag to Morrison. Morrison takes Otunga down and whips him into ropes. Sheffield blind tags himself in before Morrison connects with a dropkick on Otunga, and Sheffield clubs Morrison down. Then he knocks Truth off the apron. Sheffield sets Morrison up for a clothesline, which he connects and covers him for the 3-count. Nexus celebrates backstage and Sheffield and Otunga celebrate in the ring. Lawler and Cole explain that Heath Slater is preparing for his match against Edge, and that Nexus is 5-for-5 so far tonight in redemption matches.
David Otunga and Skip Sheffield def. John Morrison and R-Truth by pinfall
Cut to Diva’s champion Melina, Eve Torres, and Gail Kim waking backstage on their way to the ring. They’ll be in a 6-woman tag team match up next.
Return from the break, and Melina, Gail Kim, and Eve Torres make their way to the ring. Melina drops to a split to enter the ring as Kim and Torres each enter as well. Maryse, Jillian, and Alicia Fox enter as a team next, and Maryse and Gail Kim start the action. Kim trips Maryse and slams her face into the mat. Kim is counterwhipped into the ropes, but counters into a splash onto Maryse, pinning her for 2. Kim sets Maryse up into a Tree of Woe, and tags Melina in, who nails a knee onto Maryse’s midsection John Lovitz is at ringside, loving it. Maryse manages to back Melina into her corner, but as she distracts the referee, Melina knocks Fox and Jillian off of the apron. Maryse hits a kick on Melina and covers her for a near fall. Maryse tags Fox in, who takes over with a sunset suplex, continuing with a chin lock on Melina. Melina breaks out though and tags Eve Torres in. Fox tags Jillian in as well, and Torres evades her rush by running into the ropes and hitting two dropkicks on Jillian. Torres slams Jillian down, then hits a somersault flip onto Jillian. Torres covers her for 1, 2, but Fox breaks the count up. Melina rushes Fox with a clothesline and rolls her out of the ring. Maryse sets Torres up for a DDT, but Kim hits Maryse out of nowhere with a big clothesline. Kim rolls Maryse out of the ring, and Jillian whips Torres into the corner. Jillian rushes after Torres, but is met with a stiff forearm to her head. Torres scales the turnbuckle and kicks Jillian hard in the back of the head. With Jillian down, Torres climbs to the top rope again, but her back is turned and Jillian sneaks a powerbomb off the top rope on Torres. Jillian rolls Torres up for the victorious pin. Jillian celebrates in disbelief that she actually won, and the ref raises the victors’ arms. Fox and Maryse exchange some words after the match as they exit the ring.
Jillian, Maryse, and Alicia Fox def. Melina, Gail Kim, and Eve Torres by pinfall
Backstage Josh Matthews interviews the Rated-R Superstar, Edge. Matthews congratulates Edge for his team’s victory last night, and Edge thanks him, saying that it’s no surprise they won with his leadership skills. Heath Slater pops up next to Edge and tells him that he’s modeled himself after Edge, and maybe they can strike a deal to avoid having their wrestling match. Slater says that it’s no big deal if Edge chooses not to show up, allowing Nexus to be 6-for-6 tonight with another victory due to disqualification. Edge responds by saying that he wouldn’t like it if the record books held that Edge lost by disqualification to a ginger-red head, wanna-be version of himself, and walks away. Slater attacks Edge from behind before he can get too far, and Edge gets a crazed look on his face before Raw cuts to a commercial break.
Joe Manganiello from True Blood is at Raw tonight, and Slater is waiting in the ring for Edge as we return from commercial break. Edge makes his entrance to a nice pop from the crowd. Edge takes it to Slater, stomping a mudhole in him down in the corner. Edge whips Slater into the opposite corner, then whips him back into the other corner and hits a clothesline on him after the rebound. Edge goes up to the top rope, but Slater knocks him off then hits a baseball slide onto him. Having been kicked to the outside, Edge gets up, but is tossed into the barrier by Slater. Slater picks Edge up and rolls him back into the ring, following close behind. Slater pins Edge for a near fall, then applies a modified arm bar submission on Edge. Edge manages to break out but is tossed down by Slater’ grabbing his hair. Slater punches Edge and whips him into the ropes. Slater elbows Edge down and covers him again, but only for another near fall. Edge and Slater trade blows before Slater whips Edge into the corner. Slater misses a splash as Edge evades into the ropes.
On the recoil, Edge hits a flying forearm onto Slater and then an Edge-o-Matic. Edge covers Slater, 1, 2, kickout. Edge is counterwhipped into the ropes, but kicks an onwaiting Slater. Edge rushes Slater, but Slater hoists him up and down into a flapjack. Slater covers Edge for another 2-count. Someone in the crowd yells that he hate’s Slater, who smiles, and whips Edge, but Edge counters and sends Slater into the corner. Edge nails a spear on Slater into the turnbuckle, but it looks like he did some damage to himself. Edge misses a baseball slide, and Slater misses a clothesline on Edge. Edge capitalizes and hits a big boot on Slater. Edge waits for Slater to get up as the ref counts both men on the outside. Edge goes for the spear at 9, but Slater manages to evade it and roll into the ring as the referee makes the 10-count. Slater squeaks out a win, defeating Edge by countout. Edge is stunned on the outside of the ring. Slater is announced as the winner, but Edge waits in the ring as Slater celebrates. After Slater hops off the top rope, Edge nails his spear on Slater. Edge’s music plays as he walks to the back. Slater lays in the ring, hurting, as Raw takes another commercial break.
Heath Slater def. Edge by countout
Khali is backstage, asking Justin for advice about dealing with a long-distance relationship. Runjit provides Justin a picture of Khali’s girlfriend, to which he shutters at. Moore and Sudeikis pop in and take a look at Khali’s girlfriend too, with hilarious reactions. Khali looks on, but Sudeikis says he isn’t scared because Khali can’t speak English. Moore tells Runjit to calm down. Justin explains that Khali could still understand English. Khali grabs his picture back with a roar, and Sudeikis and Moore run off like little girls. Khali looks over his picture and proclaims that his girlfriend is kind of ugly. Khali calls over the Bella Twins and walks off with them, leaving Justin to reflect on what had just happened. Cena is on his way to the ring, walking backstage as Raw takes another commercial break.
Darren Young looks for redemption in this match against John Cena, as we return from a commercial break to Young waiting in the ring. Out comes Cena to a nice pop. Cena is really over with the fans of the WWE universe. Nexus walks out to the top of the stage before the match begins to evaluate Young’s performance. Young rolls Cena up to start the match for a near fall. Young tries a backslide on Cena next, which he also kicks out of. Cena circles Young, and locks up, then flips Young down with a hip toss. Young headlocks Cena, but is then whipped into the ropes. Young runs a bit as Cena does some evading of his own until Young runs right into a forearm. Cena tosses Young down again and headlocks Young. Young breaks out and hits a leg drop on Cena. Young pins Cena for a near fall. Young whips Cena into a clothesline and pins him for another near fall. Young suplexes Cena and again tries a cover, for 2. Young knees Cena and yet again pins Cena for a 2-count. It’s apparent that Young is striving for an early victory here, but Cena continues to deny him. Young hits a swinging neckbreaker and pins Cena one more, for a near fall. Young locks Cena into a necklock, but Cena powers out of the hold as the crowd cheers him on. Cena whips Young into the corner, but Young hits Cena with an elbow on the recoil. Young drops an elbow on Cena and pins him for another 2-count. Young continues to hack away at Cena, but again can only manage another 2-count on Cena with a pin.
Young hits a bridge suplex on Cena into a pin, but Cena again kicks out. Lawler mentions that a little bit of doubt might be creeping into Young’s mind as Young tosses Cena to the outside. Young tosses Cena’s head into the steel steps, then dropkicks the steps into Cena, who is down as the ref counts up to nine before Cena hops back into the ring. Young is frustrated, and misses a leg drop on Cena after allowing him too much time to recover while complaining. Cena gets up and fights back against Young. Cena builds momentum and hits a big back body drop on Young. 5-Knuckle Shuffle and an Attitude Adjustment on Young for the victory. Nexus runs into the ring and surround the fallen Young and Cena. Cena gets a free pass and walks out of the ring to the back, however, and Nexus turns their attention to Young. Nexus circles in on Young as the crowd chants that Young tapped out, and as Young pleads his case with Barrett, the rest of Nexus ambushes him from behind. Nexus holds Young as Sheffield hits Young with a clothesline. Barrett then picks him up and drops him with a firemans carry slam. They then set up Young, and Barrett orders Gabriel to hit him with a 450 Splash. With Cena’s victory, Nexus is 6-for-7 tonight. Nexus stands in the ring and celebrates, better than ever, as Raw goes off the air.
John Cena def. Darren Young by pinfall
PROPS to:
NEXUS for coming out strong tonight. They needed a rebound to stay relevant, and they managed to go 6-for-7 in their matches tonight. Their microphone work continues to improve, and their characters will only grow stronger if they keep it up. Even ridding Darren Young from their faction should make them stronger. Who knows, maybe they will receive a few inquiries from wrestlers to join in the future.
JOHN CENA for getting the crowd into it from the very start. Great insults directed at Nexus, and being able to back it all up by defeating Young makes him look even better.
CREATING A NEW TAG TEAM TITLE BELT because walking to the ring with four belts is a bit excessive.
THE DIVAS for actually putting on an entertaining match.
SUDEIKIS, MOORE, AND LONG for being the first real entertaining guest hosts since Florence Henderson.
Ouch…
DARREN YOUNG – you’ve been ousted man. Good luck climbing the ladder when everyone in the WWE will be against you.
DANIEL BRYAN – The Miz knocked his face into that briefcase so hard that he dented it. I’m looking forward to this jealousy/disrespect storyline that’s manifesting here.
QUICK RESULTS:
Wade Barrett def. Chris Jericho by pinfall
Michael Tarver def. Daniel Bryan by pinfall; Miz and Alex Riley beat Bryan down
Justin Gabriel def. Randy Orton by countout
Skip Sheffield and David Otunga def. John Morrison and R-Truth by pinfall
Jillian, Maryse, and Alicia Fox def. Melina, Gail Kim, and Eve Torres by pinfall
Heath Slater def. Edge by countout
John Cena def. Darren Young by submission; Nexus exiles Young
Until next time…