WWE Raw on the USA Network
Live from Lafayette, La.

[Q1] A video package of last week’s Bret Hart and Vince McMahon confrontation was shown. Bret attacked Vince after Vince said Stu Hart did not belong in the WWE Hall of Fame. Batista hit the scene and held Bret up for Vince to spit in his face...

The opening video aired and fireworks lit up the stage. Michael Cole and Jerry “The King” Lawler welcomed us to the Cajun Dome. They promoted tonight’s triple threat Tag Title match and what happened when the show went off the air last week between Batista and John Cena...

Backstage, Carl Edwards was doing donuts in his number 99 car. He then drove into the arena. After the driver switch, Hornswoggle exited the car and did the DX chop to his music. Kelly Kelly introduced Carl Edwards. Edwards came out with the Bella Twins to a pretty good pop. He did his signature back flip off of the top rope...

Carl said he had always wanted to back flip over the top rope and it was great to be in the home of the Super Bowl Champions. The crowd popped. Carl said his Super Bowl and the WrestleMania of NASCAR, the Daytona 500, would take place this Sunday. Edwards said John Cena was his good friend. Sheamus’ music hit and he came out to the ring.

Sheamus said he had to win the Elimination Chamber match and demanded that Carl Edwards make him the last entrant in the Chamber. He asked Carl if he had made himself clear. Christian’s music hit and he came out to the ring...

Twill’s Two Cents: So far, so good. Kelly was solid, Edwards was good, Sheamus started off nicely, and it’s great to see Christian on the show.

Christian said he was offended that Edge did not mention him or the ECW Championship last week. However, it made sense because Vince McMahon said ECW was going off the air in two weeks. He poked fun at Sheamus’ snaggle tooth, said he spends a lot of money on hair gel and beard trimmers, but ran out of money at the tanning salon.

Christian said in two weeks, every ECW superstar would become a free agent and would be free to sign with either show. He said his peeps have missed him on Raw and he was testing the waters to see where he wanted to go. He challenged Sheamus to a match tonight. Edwards called for a referee and ordered the match to start immediately...

Twill’s Two Cents: Nice job by Christian to mention the Edge snub, but then the reason for it. He also said what would happen to the ECW stars, which is something we’ve been wondering. Solid segment.

[Q2] 1. Sheamus defeated Christian in a WWE Champion vs. ECW Champion non-title match in 9:42. Sheamus dominated the early moments and closelined Christian to the floor... [C]

Sheamus charged at Christian and pulled the top rope down, causing him to fall to the floor. Christian hit the springboard high cross body, but Sheamus came back and rammed Christian’s shoulder into the ring post. Back in the ring, he continued to work on the shoulder.

Christian fought back and hit an elbow from the second rope. He avoided the scissors kick, but Sheamus hit a big forearm. Christian was able to counter in the corner and hit a tornado DDT for a nearfall. Christian went for the Killswitch but Sheamus pushed him into the ringpost. He hit the scissors kick and the Celtic Cross for the win...

Twill’s Two Cents: Good match, but Christian has not been pinned in a very long time, so they just sort of threw that out there without any buildup. That being said, it was a very nice win for Sheamus and I hope to see Christian on Friday night.

Backstage, Triple H was watching the monitor. Shawn Michaels came in and apologized with being so preoccupied with the Undertaker. He said it would be nice for “DX to go to WrestleMania for the first time.” Hunter said that sounded good, but he was going to win the Chamber match and be champion at Mania. “So it’s all about you, huh?” asked Michaels, who walked away...

Twill’s Two Cents: Interesting backstage segment. When Michaels had everything on his mind but the tag titles, Hunter was a supportive friend. When Hunter says he is going to Mania as WWE Champion, Michaels gets upset. Very nice tease.

Cole said we would get an update on the condition of John Cena after his beating at the hands of Batista last week... [C]

[Q3] Footage aired again of Vince spitting in Bret Hart’s face while Batista held Hart up for him. King said Vince got closure by spitting in Bret’s face and that Bret was banned from the building this week...

Twill’s Two Cents: Didn’t Vince say two weeks ago Bret would never again appear on WWE television?

Cole set up the “disturbing and destructive” footage from what happened after last week’s show. John Cena came out a little late to help Bret Hart. Batista attacked Cena, rammed his shoulder into the post, and Batista bombed him onto the ring steps. Nasty...

Backstage, Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes were arguing over who had the easier qualifying match for the Elimination Chamber match. Cody said he could have beaten Mark Henry while he had to face John Cena. Randy Orton entered the scene and asked Ted if he thought he was better than him. Ted said we would find out in the Chamber.

Cody started smiling and Randy said he shouldn’t be smiling because he cost him the match at the Royal Rumble. Cody said he was trying to help. Randy said he knew that and tonight, he would put Cody’s theory to the test. He told Ted he would be facing Cena tonight, and Cody that he would be facing Orton tonight... [C]

Twill’s Two Cents: Another very good backstage segment. Now they are teasing dissension with all three members of Legacy and we don’t know where any of them fall right now in terms of their loyalties. The slow build to Legacy breaking up has been done very well.

The Straight Edge Society was shown walking through the backstage area... [C]

C.M. Punk, Luke Gallows, and Serena made their way to the ring. Punk took the mic and said it did not surprise him that people in “this part of the county” turned to drugs and alcohol during hard times. They also did the same thing when they had things to celebrate, like Mardi Gras and “that football game you guys won yesterday.”

Punk turned his attention to Jared from Subway, who was sitting in the stands. His graphic said “Jared The Subway Guy.” Funny. Punk wanted to induct him but Jared said no. They were going to get him and force him into the ring but DX made their entrance instead. The Society just looked on from the floor...

[Q4] The Miz and Big Show made their entrances separately but met at the bottom of the ramp. Cole said Show was fined for his actions last week. All six guys started attacking each other in the ring and DX disposed of all of them before the match officially began... [C]

2. The Miz and Big Show defeated Degeneration X (Shawn Michaels and Triple H) and C.M. Punk and Luke Gallows (with Serena) to win the Unified Tag Team Championships in approximately 14:20. Back from commercial, the match was already in progress with Michaels and Punk in the ring. Punk scored a nearfall with his corner knee and bulldog combination. Teddy Long was shown sitting next the announce table.

Hunter, Show, and Gallows all tagged in and were legal at the same time. Weird. WWE just can’t get these triple threat matches right. We finally get an elimination match and they have three legal men. Hunter was attempting a Pedigree but Big Show backdropped him to the floor. Gallows tagged in Punk as the show went to commercial... [C]

Back from commercial, Punk went for covers on both Triple H and The Miz, but nobody was eliminated. Miz hit that big running closeline and was going to try a springboard move, but Serena pulled to the floor. Miz went after her but Hunter hit a spinebuster on the floor. Michaels tagged in and worked over Punk.

[Q5] Michaels hit the top rope elbow right at the top of the hour. Nice timing. Michaels hit Sweet Chin Music on Punk for the three count, eliminating the team of Punk and Gallows. Michaels pinned Punk to eliminate Punk and Gallows in 8:46.

Big Show got the best of Shawn and Hunter before Hunter was forced back to his corner. Show was very deliberate and slow with offense on Shawn. Michaels was able to get his boot up into Show’s face twice, but he went for the tag, Show caught him and hit a modified side suplex for a two count.

Miz kicked Shawn in the face and scored a two count. He followed with a nice knee lift/reverse neck breaker combination. Michaels hit Sweet Chin Music on Show and both men made desperate tags. Hunter cleaned house but Shawn tagged himself in. They argued and Miz rolled up Michaels for the win...

After the match, Show and Miz celebrated, but DX remained in the ring. They were stunned. Hunter said a couple of things to Michaels, who screamed back at him, “Don’t tell me what I did.” Michaels hurried to the back...

Twill’s Two Cents: I’m a little surprised Punk and Gallows did not get the win here, but I really like the combination of Miz and Show. Imagine Miz walking around with three belts and how good his promos are going to be now. Nice stuff with DX as WWE has done a great job building to the possible end of that duo.

Cole and King plugged tonight’s Cena vs. DiBiase and Orton vs. Rhodes matches. An ad for the new NXT show aired and the voiceover guy said, “The season begins in two weeks.” ... [C]

Twill’s Two Cents: The season? Perhaps they will have win/loss records and standings. That would be interesting.

Highlights were shown of Miz pinning Michaels. Josh Matthews interviewed the new champions backstage. Show said he and Miz beat DX when him and Jericho never could. He said Miz treated him like an equal and friend. Miz said they would win all of the gold and called their team “Miz Show.” Show said he like “Show Miz” better. Miz was cool was that...

[Q6] Backstage, Michaels was looking for someone and finally found Teddy Long. He frantically pleaded with Long to trade him to Smackdown. He said he did not care about DX anymore. He wanted to be put in the Smackdown Elimination Chamber. Teddy said he couldn’t do that because it was already set.

Hunter approached him and pulled him off of Teddy Long. He asked him if the obsession had gone this far and if he was willing to throw his entire career away. “My career, is over,” said Michaels. He then gave Sweet Chin Music to Teddy and walked away... [C]

Twill’s Two Cents: An unstable and dangerous Michaels could be money. I’m guessing by the time he gets to Mania (because we all know he isn’t retiring), he will look extremely unbeatable. I like this Michaels character and I’m looking forward to seeing what they do next with him.

Back from commerical, they showed the Michaels footage from just before the commercial break. Maryse joined the announce booth and referred to Cole as a "vintage nerd." Maryse put over the Raw divas and said they were classier than the Smackdown divas, chastising the Mickie James angle...

3. Gail Kim defeated Jillian in :52. Gail won the match with what looked like a Codebreaker to the foot instead of the knees. Afterward, Maryse cut a babyface promo and the two ladies shook hands...

Twill's Two Cents: I assume Maryse is not turning face, but I like that she shit on the Mickei James angle. Maryse vs. Gail at the Elimination Chamber event should be a decent match.

The official first inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame will be “The Million Dollar Man,” Ted DiBiase. A long video package played and showed the great footage of DiBiase knocking the basketball away from that little kid who would have won $500 if he could dribble it fifteen times. They also showed the Million Dollar Belt being created...

Twill’s Two Cents: It’s about time. DiBiase, Rick Rude, and Curt Hennig were three guys I always thought should have been WWE Champion and if they wrestled full time today, they all would have been.

Cole plugged both of tonight’s main event matches... [C]

[Q7] Carl and Subway Jared were talking backstage. Santino Marella entered and tried to sing the “Five dollar footlong song.” He complained about Jack Swagger and Edwards put him in a match against Swagger for Superstars this week.

Kofi Kingston entered and asked Edwards to put all six members of the Elimination Chamber in random singles matches next week. Carl liked the idea and wondered if they should leave the matchups for next week’s guest host. Santino wondered who it could be and said “it is probably someone with civility and class.” A Jerry Springer video aired and he will host next week...

4. Cody Rhodes defeated Randy Orton in 2:46. Rhodes scored the first nearfall with a dropkick after Orton spent the opening moments talking down to Cody. Cody went for a huge high cross body and missed. Sheamus hit the ring and distracted Orton. Cody hit Cross Rhodes for the win...

After the match, Sheamus laid Orton out with a kick to the face. Rhodes grabbed a chair and forced Sheamus to retreat to the back...

Twill’s Two Cents: King set up an Orton babyface turn by wondering out loud what Rhodes’ real intentions were and if he was secretly aligned with Sheamus. It certainly seems like Cody is the odd man out in Legacy. By the way, nice showing by Sheamus tonight.

Footage was shown of Batista attacking John Cena last week. Cena was shown walking through the backstage area... [C]

[Q8] Josh Matthews interviewed Carl Edwards. Edwards booked Sheamus vs. Randy Orton, Kofi Kingston vs. Ted DiBiase, and John Cena vs. Triple H for next week’s show...

Twill’s Two Cents: Nice job by Edwards tonight. He was heavy on the promo time and he didn’t botch anything. Next week’s show is looking pretty good on paper.

5. John Cena vs. Ted DiBiase never started. Cena attacked DiBiase as soon as he hit the ring. He threw Ted out of the ring and applied the STF on the floor. The referee was finally able to get Cena to break the hold...

Cena grabbed a microphone and said he didn’t want to know why Batista did what he did, he was just here to fight him. He told Batista to come out and finish the job. He said he was not going anywhere until Batista came out... [C]

Twill’s Two Cents: Logically, why would Batista be in the building tonight? He is a Smackdown guy. By the way, damn, they did not do DiBiase any favors with that beating. Sure, Cena is pissed and all, but Ted should have been ready and focused, not decimated in a few seconds.

Cena said Batista had such a big weekend that he didn’t even show up to Raw. He said he should be afraid for his life. He said Batista’s attack was a business decision and when he hears the words “business decision,” he thinks of Vince McMahon. He said if he was not going to fight Batista, he wanted to talk to Vince McMahon. Vince’s music hit and he came out.

Vince marched to the ring with a bunch of security guys with him. Cena pointed out that Vince had ten security guards with him. Cena said Vince could do one of two things, come to the ring and leave the guards behind, or send them all in, he will mow him down, and be much more angry. Vince entered the ring and called himself “the ultimate, supreme alpha male.”

Vince said he paid Batista for his actions involving Bret Hart, but had nothing to do with Batista’s attack on Cena. Vince thought Batista just didn’t like Cena. He said a lot of people don’t like Cena and he didn’t either. He said personally, he did not like Cena but he loved him business-wise.

[Overrun] Cena cut a Cena-like promo in which he said he does this because he loves it, while Vince is all about the money. He even called Batista “a good guy that was paid off.” Cena talked about priceless moments, said he talked to Bret Hart, and said Bret wanted another moment.

Cena said Bret told him he wants to wrestle another match at WrestleMania, and he wants his opponent to be Vince McMahon. Cena asked, “Are you about the money or are you about the moment?” Vince said Bret did not want any of him. Cena asked him, “Yes or no?”

Vince yelled “Shut up! I’ll tell you to your face. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.” Cena thanked Vince but told him he had one person left to tell. Vince played the footage from last week again. Bret Hart hit the ring and attacked Vince. The security goons pulled Vince out of the ring. Bret beat them up too.

Vince, at the top of the stage, said he changed his mind and would not face Bret at Mania. He repeated, “You deserve to be screwed” over and over again. Bret walked up the stage and destroyed some audio equipment. He then destroyed the announce table and threw the monitors down. He posed in the ring as his music played to end the show...

Twill’s Two Cents: I have mixed opinions on that. I thought the Cena and Vince stuff was pretty weak and Cena should not have been the guy to make the challenge to Vince. Bret’s attack and destruction of the equipment was well done, although Bret seems to be moving around very gingerly. Finally, can they work a one-on-one match at Mania and do people want to see Cena vs. Batista?

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

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