2/15 Twilling's WWE Raw Live Coverage: Sheamus vs. Randy Orton, Triple H vs. John Cena, Kofi Kingston vs. Ted DiBiase, Batista appears, Jerry Springer hosts

WWE Raw on the USA Network
Live from Des Moines, Ia.

[Q1] Justin Roberts introduced Allison Kewl, a local fifteen year old Iowan, and she sang the National Anthem in honor of President's Day. A video showed various American images as she sang. She did a very nice job...

The opening video aired and fireworks lit up the stage. Michael Cole welcomed us to the show. Jerry Lawler checked in and hyped Jerry Springer as the guest host. Cole said Bret Hart would address the WWE Universe tonight. A shot of the parking lot was shown as Batista was hyped for the show...

Sheamus made his way to the ring for his match...

Twill's Two Cents: The WWE Champion opening the show? I know Cena vs. Hunter is the big match, but at least treat the champion wrestling as something special.

1. Sheamus defeated Randy Orton in a non-title match in 8:33. Orton received a loud pop when his music hit. Sheamus' early offense was booed, while Orton was cheered when he punched Sheamus. The crowd chanted "RKO" as Orton took the early advantage. Sheamus tried the bicycle kick, Orton ducked and tried the RKO. Sheamus slid out of the ring... [C]

Orton hit his multiple stomps upon returning from the commercial break. Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes came out to boos. Orton was distracted and Sheamus hit a backbreaker. He continued to work on the lower back with clubbing forearm shots. Orton regained the advantage and hit a grazing dropkick.

[Q2] Orton hit the headlock backbreaker and set up for the RKO, but Sheamus again found himself on the floor. Sheamus was going ram Orton into the post, but Orton reversed it and pushed Sheamus into the post. DiBiase and Rhodes approached Sheamus and the referee caught Rhodes punching Sheamus, so he disqualified Orton...

After the match, Ted and a dejected Cody approached Orton. Randy hit the RKO on Rhodes. Sheamus hit a big boot on DiBiase, and Orton hit a RKO on Sheamus. Orton's music played as he stood triumphant...

Twill's Two Cents: The fans want to cheer Orton, but he just doesn't work a typical, pleasing babyface style. He lacks that big comeback offense that gets the crowd going. Nonetheless, solid opener that took the next and necessary step in the Legacy downfall.

Cole plugged Triple H vs. John Cena. Bret Hart was shown walking through the backstage area... [C]

Twill's Two Cents: Nice. I thought we would get something pretaped with Bret since all they said is that he was going to "address the WWE Universe."

Did you know? More people watched Raw last Monday than both NBA games on TNT...

Cole and King briefly talked about Bret Hart's return and subsequent humiliations at the hands of Vince McMahon. Footage was shown of Cena delivering Hart's challenge to Vince, followed by Bret's meltdown on the equipment last week after Vince rejected the challenge...

Justin Roberts introduced Bret Hart. Cole mentioned for the hundredth time that Jerry Springer allowed Bret to have this time tonight. Bret was in jeans, an olive green shirt, leather jacket, and sunglasses. Bret immediately said Vince was not in the building and if he had been there, Bret would have been waiting for him at the airport, the hotel, his car, or the building.

[Q3] Bret reiterated that he came back to WWE to make peace with Vince. He said Vince's words, "You deserve to be screwed" kept ringing in his head. He said Vince deserved to have the holy hell beat out of him. He called Vince a liar and said he would have loved to have one last victory at WrestleMania, but it was not to be.

"Victory lasts a lifetime, but excellence is forever." Bret then thanked the superstars, the fans, and John Cena. He wanted to take this opportunity to say goodbye. He dropped the microphone and walked up the ramp. His music played once he reached the top of the ramp. He waved goodbye and left the stage...

Twill's Two Cents: Good segment and solid promo from Bret. I like the tease that Bret will not be back. If he was giving a farewell address for real, it probably would have sounded a lot like that.

Backstage, Bret shook hands and spoke briefly with Kofi Kingston, Jack Swagger, Alicia Fox, Gail Kim, Evan Bourne, and Primo. John Cena and Bret walked through the back together. Cena was upset but Bret said he had no reason to stay around if Vince wasn't going to wrestle him.

As Cena walked away, a car backed into Bret's limo as he was still getting into it, crushing his leg. Cena helped Hart and admonished the dumbass lady. They pulled him through the other side, put him on a stretcher, and took him away... [C]

Twill's Two Cents: I'm sure the culprit was sent by Vince himself. I'm still in the Bret honeymoon period, so I was pleased with this segment too. It is like the door that will never completely close until Bret puts Vince in the sharpshooter at Mania.

Footage was shown of Bret's "accident." Cole said they would keep us updated about Bret's condition throughout the show...

[Q4] The Miz and Big Show made their entrance to a hybrid theme of both of their theme music. Footage was shown of Miz pinning Shawn Michaels to win the belts for his team...

2. Mark Henry and MVP defeated The Miz and Big Show in a non-title match in 6:32. King said Jerry Springer was going to reveal of WWE's most intimate relationships later tonight. Miz was knocked to the floor as the show went to commercial... [C]

Miz and MVP were in the ring coming back from the break. Henry tagged in and Miz bounced around like a pinball. He hit the WSS, but Show broke it up with a leg drop. Ouch. Henry tried to hit the WSS on Show, but Show countered with a DDT. Show missed that corner splash or elbow that he never, ever hits.

MVP tagged in and hit a few moves, including the Driveby. He tried another one, but Show hit MVP with a kick of his own. Miz tagged in and tried to pin MVP, but MVP countered with a crucifix pin for the win...

Twill's Two Cents: I wonder if WWE is going to go with a tag team championship match at Mania. I'm a little surprised Miz and Show lost their first match as champions, but honestly, they didn't need the win as much as MVP and Henry did. I could get into this program.

The Jerry Springer Show is next... [C]

Did you know? No WWE superstar has won more than one elimination chamber match, except for Triple H, who has won four...

Twill's Two Cents: Wow. I actually did not know that. Hunter has won four EC matches and nobody else has won two?

Jerry Springer made his entrance and shook hands with the fans on his way to the ring. His signature television screen was behind him in the ring. He said after tonight's show, entitled WWE Intimate Relationships revealed, the fans would think twice about who they boo and who they cheer.

[Q5] Jerry introduced Kelly Kelly. She came out and revealed that she is pregnant. Jerry asked who the father was, and Kelly said she did not know, because she has been in a lot of different relationships.

Twill's Two Cents: Did she just call herself a whore?

She said she had an idea, and Santino Marella came out to the ring. He called Springer "Maury Povich." Santino said he was the papa. Kelly said after Santino left, she needed someone to come in and "finish the job." Cole and King both claimed to being the father. King came into the ring, Springer said Kelly was too old for King. Funny line.

The Bella Twins came out to the ring. Nikki said Brie was a man. They started fighting and Santino started a "Jerry" chant. Chris Masters' music hit and he came out. Eve came out and fought with Kelly. Kelly couldn't stop laughing. Eve was mad that Masters cheated on her, but said she was cheating too. She brought out the Great Khali.

Khali and Runjin Singh headed out to the ring. He picked Eve up and kissed her. Santino asked who the father of Kelly's baby is. Jerry somehow had paternity test results for a kid that wasn't born yet. Santino asked how it was possible. "I'm Jerry Springer." Jerry asked, "How do I pronounce this?" Santino yelled "Hornswoggle!"

Horny came out and hugged Kelly. Jerry said WWE was crazier than his show, with giants, leprechauns, and guys with huge pecs. He said his name wasn't Maury and he left. Lawler stopped him and said the whole thing was a swerve. King said they had one relationship to reveal, and it was Springer's. He introduced Mae Young. She came out and kissed Springer...

Twill's Two Cents: Runjin Singh called it when he said that was a giant waste of time. Did we really need Lawler to explain to Springer that Kelly really wasn't pregnant and Brie was not a man? There is a pay-per-view this Sunday, and we get a quarter hour of that shit?

The parking lot was shown and Batista's arrival was hyped. Cole plugged tonight's main event... [C]

[Q6] Does anyone else find it hard to believe that WWE has put out a John Morrison DVD but has yet to do one for Chris Jericho? ...

3. Ted DiBiase defeated Kofi Kingston in 2:56. They showed footage of Sheamus kicking DiBiase earlier and said Ted is not 100%. DiBiase kept grabbing the back of his head after missing a dropkick and taking one from Kofi. Kofi fought back and hit a series of kicks.

DiBiase put on a bump clinic after about six straight moves from Kofi. He hit the Boom Drop. He tried a Stinger Splash but missed and was caught on the ropes. Ted looked like he was going to hit Dream Street from the ropes, but he pulled Kofi back into the ring and hit the move for the win...

Twill's Two Cents: That was surprising. They gave DiBiase every excuse to lose that match by pointing out his attack by Sheamus earlier in the show. In fact, I thought they were using that as a reason to have him lose. That was a relatively easy win for DiBiase. Weird match and weird finish.

The next inductee into the 2010 WWE Hall of Fame is Antonio Inoki. A lot of footage was shown of Inoki, including matches against Muhammad Ali, Andre the Giant, and Ric Flair... [C]

The announcers recapped what happened earlier with Bret Hart, and Michael Cole again called it the worst night of his life. They showed the footage from earlier but showed some new security footage of the accident actually happening. They didn't have any new information on Bret's condition...

[Q7] Cole introduced a video package promoting the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. Footage was shown of past matches while the rules were explained by the narrator and various announcers. They ran down the current card and nothing new was added...

Jerry Springer gave his Final Thought backstage. He basically just asked a bunch of questions regarding the pay-per-view. Mae Young came to get him. "Don't judge me," said Jerry.

John Cena was shown walking through the backstage area... [C]

Footage was shown of Batista's "promo" from Smackdown, which was the best one he has ever done...

John Cena came out to the ring to a huge and sustained pop. More footage was shown, this time of Batista attacking John Cena and hitting the Batista Bomb on the steel steps...

Cena, who was busy tonight, stood in the middle of the ring and said everyone was pulling for Bret Hart. He said he didn't provoke Batista and he did not make threats. He called Batista to the ring. Batista was shown "live via satellite."

Batista said he was doing Cena a favor by not being in the building tonight. He said if they were ever in the same ring again, and he had a feeling they would be, it would be a bad nightmare for Cena. Cena said Batista was just trying to sound tough.

[Q8] Batista said this whole thing was funny to him because Cena keeps talking when Batista is not there. He said he would be at Raw live next week, and he would be more than happy to give Cena his answers. He wished Cena luck in the Chamber. Cena said he was not afraid of Batista and told him to come get some...

Twill's Two Cents: Cena was a busy man tonight, dealing with the Bret Hart situation, his potential WrestleMania opponent in Batista, and a WrestleMania worthy main event against Triple H. However, there was very little mention of Cena being in the Chamber and wanting to become the WWE Champion again.

Triple H made his entrance... [C]

Jewel and Ty Murray will co-host the show next week...

4. Triple H defeated John Cena by disqualification in 11:49. Very slow pace to start with Cena having a headlock applied for over a minute. Hunter came back and slowly gained the advantage. Cena scored a nearfall with a fisherman's suplex. Cena whipped Hunter to the floor. He jumped from the apron after him and hit the barricade. Hunter tried a Pedigree, but Cena backdropped him... [C]

Twill's Two Cents: The announcers did a nice job here of pointing out past Elimination Chamber matches, and that only two champions have retained their titles, and Cena and Hunter were those two. King also pointed out that Triple H has been working tag team matches and had to re-acclimate himself to working singles matches.

Back from commercial, Cole said Hunter had a sleeper applied "for a number of minutes." Okay. Cena fought out with elbows and right hands. He hit two shoulder blocks and his spinning side suplex. He followed with the five knuckle.

[Overrun] Hunter wiggled out of the Attitude Adjustment and hit a huge closeline. Hunter tried a superplex but Cena punched him off. Hunter than crotched Cena on the top ropes. Hunter tried again, but Cena countered with a test of strength, He head butted Hunter to the floor and hit a leg drop for a two count.

Cena tried to apply the STF, but Hunter countered it into a half crab. Cena broke the hold and applied the STF. Hunter reached the ropes. He picked him up for the AA, but Hunter grabbed the top rope. Hunter hit a knee lift and spinebuster. He set up the Pedigree, but Sheamus entered and hit the bicycle kick on Hunter...

After the match, Sheamus fought off an attack by Cena and left him laying. He hit the Celtic Cross on Hunter and celebrated with his belt in the middle of the ring...

Twill's Two Cents: They didn't actually announce a winner, but since they announced that Orton was disqualified for interference earlier, they should have been consistent here. The match was solid and nothing to write home about. The finish with Sheamus standing triumphantly was very well done and a nice visual. Overall, the show wasn't so great.

What did you think of the show? Feel free to let me know by shooting an email to dotnetrich@gmail.com.