By Rich Twilling

WWE Raw on the USA Network
Live from Charlotte, N.C.

[Q1] Footage immediately aired of the Invasion, with Wade Barrett's promo from earlier in the show heard in the background about something greater taking place. The destruction and utter beatdown of John Cena and the production equipment was shown...

Twill's Two Cents: One Bryan Danielson kick to Cena was shown, but other than that, nothing was shown focusing on him.

Wade Barrett stood in the middle of the ring. He introduced himself and said the "general manager of Raw" forced him there to apologize for what happened last week. Barrett invited out the other "gentlemen" from the first NXT class to "do this properly."

The NXT crew, minus Bryan Danielson, made their way through the crowd and into the ring. Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler checked in on commentary. They felt it was unsafe to be there. They took off with the production crew.

Barrett went individually to each member of the group and asked them to apologize. Each one of them gave their own reason for not apologizing. Barrett said it was unanimous because they were treated like dirt and like animals. "If you treat us like animals, we will start to act like animals."

Twill's Two Cents: It was the biggest angle in a long time, and not opening the show with it would have made little sense. Nice opening thus far.

Barrett continued by saying they were treated like jokes, but nobody was laughing now. Barrett continued to gloat when Bret Hart's music hit. Bret came out to the stage...

Bret said the NXT gang were cowards for beating up a bunch of people due to their numbers advantage. Barrett said Daniel Bryan felt just like Bret did. He felt remorse. Thus, Daniel Bryan would never be seen again...

Twill's Two Cents: That was weak. If Danielson really is gone, that was so weak.

Hart told the NXT gang John Cena would still compete at the pay-per-view. Barrett said their attack last week had nothing to do with John Cena. Besides some "overzealous NXT Pros," they didn't have a problem with anyone in the WWE locker room.

Barrett said he had a guaranteed title match on a pay-per-view, and his crew had some demands too. David Otunga demanded all of them be given contracts, private dressing rooms, and first class travel accommodations or what happened last week would be nothing compared to what they do next.

Bret Hart was having none of this. He said he is responsible for finding new talent, but he wasn't hiring any of the NXT Rookies. In fact, Wade Barrett was no longer the "next breakout star of the WWF. You want to know why? Because you're fired!" He instructed the NXT crew to leave the ring or be physically removed by the police. They were shellshocked and just looked at each other... [C]

Twill's Two Cents: That made Bret Hart look pretty bad ass. He's been relatively tame since returning. By the way, I love live TV and the "WWF" slip. As for the angle, thumbs up so far. Now the NXT guys will be that much more dangerous because they have absolutely nothing to lose.

[Q2] Footage of Bret Hart firing Wade Barrett aired. Jerry Lawler was pretty pumped based on what happened to him last week. Michael Cole shifted gears to the Fatal Four Way pay-per-view. They segued into a fatal four way match right now...

Twill's Two Cents: Tell you what, they now want us to "forget" about the NXT guys, but I think they have to come back with them by the end of the night. If this show ends and we are left to think that was the end of the angle (even though we know it isn't), that would be a mistake. By the way, should the current NXT guys go to their lawyers to get the title shot for the winner set into stone?

R-Truth made his entrance and did all of his usual shit. John Morrison, Zack Ryder, and The Miz followed. By the way, they need to stop saying the champion only has a 25% chance to retain. It makes them sound like idiots. If the champion was defending against three guys in wheel chairs, would the 25% argument hold water? ...

1. The Miz defeated R-Truth, John Morrison, and Zack Ryder in a fatal four way match to win the United States Championship in 9:03. Miz knocked Truth to the floor. Morrison then hit a move onto his opponents at ringside... [C]

Twill's Two Cents: Dot Net Members, head over to the Member's Forum to discuss tonight's show with Marvin Hermanstyne.

Truth, Morrison, and Ryder were involved in a powerbomb/suplex spot from the top rope that also took out The Miz. Numerous nearfalls followed. Truth hit the axe kick on Ryder but Miz broke up the fall.

[Q3] Miz sent Truth and Morrison to the floor, leaving Ryder in the ring with him. Morrison dragged Miz to the floor and closelined him. Truth scored yet another nearfall but it was broken up. Morrison hit Starship Pain, but Miz disposed of Morrison and pinned Truth to win the title...

Twill's Two Cents: I get that was supposed to get people excited about the pay-per-view, but it just showed how uneventful four way matches are. That didn't excite me for the pay-per-view at all. All a four way match is a bunch of nearfalls being broken up. Now they gave away this match when Sunday's show was supposed to have every title match as a four way.

Randy Orton vs. Sheamus was advertised for tonight's main event...

Josh Mathews interviewed Randy Orton backstage. Orton said his shoulder would be fine and Sheamus would see that. He was then asked about the NXT attack. Orton said he respected what they did, but on the other hand, they were just a bunch of punks.

Orton continued and said the NXT guys either deserved to be fired or "have their brains beaten in." He said, "Because Barrett only got fired, I'd say he got off easy." ... [C]

Twill's Two Cents: Hmmm, Randy Orton had nothing to do with last week's attack and he was asked about it after they were fired? They are obviously setting up something and like I said earlier, I hope it happens tonight.

For those of you who forgot, Mark Feuerstein (who?) is the host of tonight's show. He stars in the USA original series, "Royal Pains." Footage was shown of Big Show's appearance on the show, which will air this Thursday.

The Bella Twins were banging Feuerstein with their eyes backstage. He hyped Thursday's broadcast. Ted DiBiase and Virgil approached Mark. Ted offered Mark a new car to co-host the show. Mark said no and said he had integrity.

Mark broke into annoying actor mode and said he was a wrestler in high school. He was "Main Event Mark." He had confidence because Big Show was standing behind Ted and Virgil. Once Ted realized Show was there, Show challenged them to a tag match tonight. Ted accepted. Mark then said he was a ballet dancer or something. The Bellas were not impressed...

Twill's Two Cents: I guess the nWo is not "for life," because Show and Virgil were once in the group together, about thirteen years ago. Feuerstein was awfully excited. I prefer the subdued excitement shown by Bradley Cooper last week.

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

[Q4] The Raw Rewind was the Chris Jericho vs. Big Show body slam challenge from last week. I would have thought they would have wanted to forget that crappy Viewer's Choice stuff...

Chris Jericho, who is still the best in the world at what he does despite losing every week, made his way to the ring. I wonder what he thinks of Wade Barrett's firing...

Twill's Two Cents: As good as the end of last week's show was, the rest of the show sucked. I hope the NXT guys pull another one out of their ass this week.

2. Evan Bourne defeated Chris Jericho by disqualification in 2:49. Cole said WWE.com had more visitors than NBA.com and MLB.com last week, so even more people saw what happened to Jericho. What? Just shut up Cole.

King weighed in with this gem, "Evan Bourne will be the first to tell you, he is not the biggest guy in the WWE." Thanks for that never before revealed information King. Bourne kicked out of the Codebreaker. Jericho got pissed and kicked Bourne mercilessly even though he was in the ropes.

The referee disqualified Jericho. Bourne then kicked Jericho to the mat. He followed up with the Air Bourne shooting star press...

Twill's Two Cents: Well, at least that accomplished a couple of things. Whatever they are doing with Jericho losing and showing frustration was progressed. Bourne didn't look super strong, but he got the win the left the fans remembering the Air Bourne, so he had another good week.

John Cena will address what happened last week... [C]

Did you know? WWE.com had ten million page views during Raw. Apparently, that is a lot more than NBA.com and MLB.com had...

John Cena made his way to the ring. Remember back in the day when Earthquake hit his finisher on Hulk Hogan a bunch of times? Hogan missed weeks of television. Cena really is Superman. Bret Hart fired Wade Barrett tonight. In case you missed it, they showed it again...

[Q5] Cena thanked Bret Hart for giving him the night off, but he had to handle things in the ring tonight. He was glad Bret didn't give into any of their ridiculous demands. He then said he respected what they did.

Cena went into promo mode saying the NXT guys had a problem with WWE Management, not the WWE Universe. He said every WWE Superstar wanted their head on a plate. He said he would stand in the ring and wait for them to come back so they can finish it.

He said he would not press charges. The NXT crew appeared. This time, King, William Regal, Santino Marella, Mark Henry, Evan Bourne, R-Truth, and even Randy Orton hit the ring. Edge was there and speared Wade Barrett. Sheamus joined the fight as well.

The NXT guys literally ran away. Mark Henry chased after them (is he really the right guy to run after people?). The cameraman was game as he followed along as the NXT guys took off into the night. Santino made sure they were gone... [C]

Twill's Two Cents: I know everyone was excited about the followup to last week's angle. Is this about as bad as it could have been? Sure, eight on one are pretty damn good odds, but the rest of the locker room on seven changes things a bit. The NXT guys were strong and united last week. In about an hour, they were run out of the building. Sure, they'll get their moment again (hopefully), but this has been bad.

Twilling Note: Somebody should tell John Cena that his attitude is respectable. However, everyone hates it when someone preaches how manly and how courageous they are over and over again.

Back from commercial, King said he has never been more proud. I guess Sheamus had a pipe with him. I didn't notice that before. Mathews asked Sheamus why he came to the aid of John Cena. Sheamus said he wasn't going to let a bunch of rookies ruin his championship match. If anyone was going to take out Cena, it was going to be him...

Twill's Two Cents: Does Mathews get instructed to "go out there and ask the stupidest question possible?"

Footage was shown of last week's Divas battle royal. Eve Torres made her entrance. She will face Gail Kim, Alicia Fox, and Maryse for the Divas Championship at Fatal Four Way. Cole pointed out that Eve only has a 25% chance of retaining the title. Ugh...

3. Eve Torres and Gail Kim defeated Maryse and Alicia Fox in 2:29. Does anyone else think Michelle McCool will somehow get the win in this match even though she isn't in it?

[Q6] Maryse and Alicia worked over Eve until Alicia accidentally kicked Maryse in the face. Eve hit a reverse neckbreaker for the win...

Twill's Two Cents: Gail never even tagged in. Thanks for coming Gail. Not much to this one.

It was announced that The Miz will defend the United States Championship at the pay-per-view because R-Truth invoked his rematch clause. Cole made the 25% comment again. Note to WWE: Just because there are four guys in the match, you cannot make a definitive statement that each participant has a 25% chance...

Twill's Two Cents: Why would he want his rematch in a four way? Who is writing the show tonight?

Tonight's main event is now John Cena and Randy Orton vs. Edge and Sheamus. Apparently, Cena demanded to compete despite being carried out on a stretcher last week...

Big Show and Mark Feuerstein prepared for their tag match... [C]

WWE Classics on Demand featured the Magnificent Muraco becoming the fourth Intercontinental Champion ever. Vince McMahon was announcing. Damn, it's amazing how long he's been around...

Big Show made his entrance. He introduced his "best friend," Mark Feuerstein. I thought Tony Stewart was Show's best friend...

4. Big Show and Mark Feuerstein defeated Ted DiBiase and Virgil in 3:52. Show made easy work of DiBiase early on. Ted tagged in Virgil. Show palmed Virgil's head and brought him into the ring. Feuerstein threw Virgil back into the ring.

Show chopped Virgil in the corner. Cole said no amount of money in the world would be enough for him to do that. So, that is worse than having Heidenreich have his way with you? Anyway, Feuerstein tagged in, did the worm, hit what looked like an elbow, and pinned Virgil...

[Q7] After the match, Ted stuffed a hundred dollar bill in Virgil's mouth and said, "This is for my old man." He then returned to the ring and took the money back... [C]

Twill's Two Cents: I could have done without any of that. At least it didn't last too long. I'm not sure what WWE thinks they are going to accomplish by having Mark Feuerstein in a match. Mark Feuerstein is not going to be on TMZ or MTV.com tomorrow.

5. Santino Marella defeated William Regal with Vladimir Kozlov as the special guest referee in 1:18. Regal outwrestled Santino and then Santino rolled him up for the win. Regal argued with Kozlov because Santino had a handful of tights.

Bret Hart came out to the stage and instructed the three men in the ring to come stand on the stage. He said all of the WWE Superstars were going to stand with Bret on the stage because "history is not going to repeat itself on my watch."

Cole and King wondered out loud why Bret requested this. They hyped the tag team main event. Someone must have screamed into Cole's headset the obvious reason Bret made the announcement. Cole then said Bret probably did not want a repeat of what happened last week... [C]

Twill's Two Cents: Did anyone else think Bret was going to overturn Kozlov's decision or restart the match? Were you glad when he didn't? I can't believe the announcers even questioned it for a second. It's hard to even act that dumb.

[Q8] Edge made his entrance, followed by his tag team partner. Would it have killed WWE to keep Cena out of the ring tonight? You know, make last week seem important? I'd love to see the Raw roster take Cena out during his entrance. Nope. Khali, Henry, and a few others saluted him. How cute...

6. John Cena and Randy Orton vs. Sheamus and Edge ended in a no contest in 19:17. Very slow opening minutes of the match where Triple H kept getting mentioned by the announcers. Orton picked up the pace a little bit and pounded the mat in preparation for the RKO. Be careful Randy. Edge retreated to the floor... [C]

A message on my screen said "Thank you to the North Carolina Film Commission" or something like that. What's next? Credits at the end of the show? Anyway, Edge was still on the floor, but Cena was the legal man now.

Edge and Sheamus worked on Cena in the corner. It's okay though. Cena took a beating from eight guys last week. Two WWE main eventers is a walk in the park for him. I wonder, just like people go to tanning salons, is there a place Sheamus goes to remain so white?

[Overrun] Cena took a prolonged beating. I wonder if he can make the hot tag to himself. He'll figure out a way to. Well, he stood up with Sheamus on his back. He could not tag Orton though and Sheamus nearly pinned him.

Orton finally tagged in. He hit a powerslam (powerslam Cole, you son of a bitch) on Sheamus. He followed up with the second rope DDT. He prepared for the RKO. He hit it on Edge. He turned around to Sheamus knocking him down with an axe handle.

Sheamus hit a backbreaker for a two count. This is a really long overrun for just a match. I hope they have something in store. Orton kept kicking out of nearfalls. Cena was ready for a tag. He tagged in and was vintage John Cena.

Backstage, the NXT guys started throwing things around. Then they put Bret Hart in the back of a limousine...

Twill's Two Cents: Wait a minute, Bret decided to put the entire roster on the stage and then go backstage? Seriously, did anyone with half a brain write the show tonight? What is this?

So, this all aired on the Titantron. The limo driver started ramming other cars. Apparently, the Raw roster decided to watch this instead of getting back there to help Bret out. They pulled Bret out of the limo and said they wanted their contracts. Bret had until Sunday to give them an answer...

Twill's Two Cents: So, that main event lasted nearly twenty minutes for nothing? The lack of logic tonight was astonishing. At least the NXT guys looked good by outsmarting Bret (again, why didn't he stay on the stage with the roster like he said he was going to?) and looking strong to end the show. The problem is, if the Raw roster is willing to band together, the "NXT Seven" (creative) has no chance. Tonight's show was like last week's in that it wasn't very good until the end. Tonight's angle doesn't hold a candle to last week's, but it least it was better than the rest of the show.

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

RECOMMEND THIS ARTICLE: