By Rich Twilling

WWE Raw on the USA Network
Taped 7/26/10 in San Antonio, Tex.

[Q1] Footage aired of Team Raw chasing off The Nexus two weeks ago. The Nexus sweeping the Raw B Team last week was shown, as well as the dissension amongst the various members of John Cena's team. The big focus was on John Cena and Chris Jericho...

The opening video aired and fireworks lit up the stage. Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler hyped the main event of Randy Orton vs. The Miz was hyped. They also announced the world premiere of John Cena's new movie would be aired tonight...

Edge's music hit and he came out to the ring. Edge said he tried but last week made it clear to him that he had to start listening to himself and himself only. He referenced his ill fated babyface turn by saying the fans let him down.

He said his SummerSlam team was doing the same. He said he did not respect John Cena, did not trust Chris Jericho, didn't have confidence in the Great Khali, and did not know Truth or John Morrison. He challenged Wade Barrett to a match...

Twill's Two Cents: The crowd seems tired at this, the start of the second show for them. Let's hope they get another wind.

R-Truth came down to the ring and explained to Edge that they were fighting for everything. They were fighting for their careers, their families, and the WWE Universe...

Twill's Two Cents: There it is. Ten minutes into the show and we have our first mention of the WWE Universe. Can we see this universe through a telescope?

Edge said he wanted to do things his way and Truth was not happy about that. When it seemed as though they were going to come to blows, the General Manager chimed in and Cole did the honors. The GM told Truth to leave the ring and booked Edge vs. Barrett. Truth wished Edge luck... [C]

Twill's Two Cents: Horribly tame opening segment that was a step backward for the entire program. First off, why is this the wrestlers fighting for their livelihoods? Is The Nexus going to shut the company down? Is The Nexus going to fire everyone? It's a little much. Also, Barrett's first one-on-one match should be a huge deal and not just thrown out there during the second segment of the show.

[Q2] 1. Wade Barrett vs. Edge ended in a no contest in 6:05. The crowd remained dead. Probably didn't help that two heels wrestled the first match of the show. Barrett knocked Edge to the apron with a big boot, and knocked him the fan barricade with another.

Crowd started to come to life with a "Let's go Edge!" chant. Didn't last too long. That was more reaction than he got as a babyface. Double closeline put both men on the mat. Edge came back, went to the top, and was caught by Barrett.

Wade tried his finisher, but Edge slipped out and hit the Impaler DDT. He set up for the spear. Barrett slid out of the ring, walked up the steps, and called for backup. The Nexus ran Edge into the crowd and up into the concourse...

Twill's Two Cents: That was just odd. If The Nexus was going to run off Edge, why do it six minutes into the match? Why waste a Barrett singles match like that? Not much to the match either as it was very slow paced. That didn't do much to excite me about the SummerSlam match.

The Miz vs. Randy Orton was hyped... [C]

Did you know? WWE does a lot for the military and they win awards for it...

Edge was looking for John Cena backstage. He found him. Cena told Edge the only way they could beat The Nexus is doing it seven-on-seven. Edge said they would have to do it without him. Edge quit the team.

Chris Jericho was standing next to Cena. Jericho said Cena was just as detrimental to WWE as The Nexus and told him to quit the team. Jericho challenged Cena to a match with the loser being forced to leave the SummerSlam team. Cena hated the idea, but agreed to it...

The SummerSlam recall featured Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect from 1991. As great as Bret vs. Davey Boy was one year later, this one was a classic as well...

[Q3] A not so natural segue from Bret Hart to the Great Khali. John Morrison said they were nothing like great groups of seven from the movies. Khali referenced the Seven Dwarfs. Morrison wished him luck in his match with Ted DiBiase.

David Otunga and Michael Tarver approached Khali and said they respected him. They said if he loses to DiBiase tonight, Cena would replace him. They said he would be respected in The Nexus... [C]

Twill's Two Cents: The best part of the show so far was footage of a match that took place nineteen years ago. The Nexus recruiting someone could be money. So, they go with Khali? Who thought that would be a good idea?

Back from commercials, Cole let us know it was time for the smart, sexy, and powerful divas. King responded by saying, "Show me some thigh." Stay classy King...

2. Alicia Fox, Tamina, and Jillian defeated Natalya, Gail Kim, and Eve Torres in 2:51. Alicia and Jillian made up from last week. If you don't remember what happened between them, well, you are probably in the majority.

Natalya tagged in and proved in about three moves why she should be the Divas Champion. Chaos ensued with everyone going after everyone. Natalya was ready to put Alicia in the Sharpshooter, but Tamina distracted her. Alicia hit the axe kick for the win...

After the match, Alicia delivered a promo that even Ken Patera thought was horrible. It was like she doesn't speak English as a first language. Basically, it ended with her saying she has beaten everyone on the roster.

Enter Melina. She came down and easily gave Alicia a beatdown. She posed afterward...

Twill's Two Cents: Nice to see Melina back, but once she beats Alicia for the belt, then what? Why is Natalya not the centerpiece of both woman's divisions?

John Cena vs. Chris Jericho was hyped. Cena's new "live pose into a frozen picture" graphic is just way too sweet looking. He looks like he just played a practical joke...

Sheamus was shown walking through the backstage area... [C]

[Q4] Footage aired of Randy Orton hitting the RKO on Sheamus last week. Sheamus made his entrance for a match with his former ECW foe...

3. Sheamus defeated Goldust in a non-title match in 2:07. Wow, they showed footage of a Sheamus vs. Goldust match from ECW last year. In related news, TNA has their Hardcore Justice pay-per-view this Sunday.

Goldust had way more success the first few times around with Sheamus. Sheamus slowly picked apart Goldust with his all of his moves. He finished him off with the High Cross (Razor's Edge)...

Twill's Two Cents: Very old school booking with Orton winning a squash match last week and Sheamus winning one this week.

Sheamus grabbed a mic and said a year made a lot of difference. He was in a war with Goldust in ECW a year ago, but he didn't even have to try now to dominate him.

He said he didn't need a briefcase like The Miz and was not fortunate enough to be a third generation star like Randy Orton. He did it all on his own with his own hard work. Of course, working out with Triple H doesn't hurt matters.

Sheamus said the crowd did not respect him, but he did not need the crowd because he had the WWE Championship. He stood triumphantly as his music played...

Twill's Two Cents: What's with all of the ECW talk? Are they planning to step in legally before the TNA PPV sees the air on Sunday? The show continues to be lackluster, so the pressure is on Cena and Jericho.

Jericho and Cena were shown split screen walking backstage... [C]

[Q5] 4. John Cena defeated Chris Jericho in a Loser Leaves Team Raw match in 14:12. Jericho outwrestled Cena early. He then took it to the floor and whipped Cena into the ring steps. Jericho beat on Cena and yelled at him to "stay down!"

Jericho continued to dominate and control the pace of the match. Jericho missed a move into the corner and Cena hit his spots. However, the five knuckle shuffle was met with a Codebreaker, sending Cena to the floor.

Jericho did his best to get Cena's dead weight back into the ring. He covered him for a nearfall. Jericho looked frustrated... [C]

Jericho was still in control coming back from the break. Cole told the story that Cena could get out of the gate because the status of his team was weighing on his mind. Jericho scored a nearfall after a reverse elbow from the ropes.

Jericho sort of hit a lionsault (over Cena's legs) and scored another two count. From the ropes, Cena hit a leg drop to back of the neck of a standing Jericho for a two count. He picked him up for the AA, but Jericho countered and locked in the Walls of Jericho.

[Q6] Cena reversed the hold and locked in the STF. Jericho tapped in less than a second. Actually, Jericho tapped out before the move was locked in. Cena asked the referee if Jericho tapped and he said Jericho did...

Cena jumped on the mic and told Jericho he wanted him to stay on the team. He said he wasn't going to beg him, but invited him back into the ring. He said he could choose to walk away, letting everybody down in the process.

Jericho took a few steps toward the ring and the crowd cheered. He then turned around and walked away, and the crowd booed. He stopped at the stage, and the crowd started to cheer again. He walked away and the crowd booed again. Cena looked very sad...

Twill's Two Cents: Again, very odd. Did Jericho tap because he wanted off the team anyway? Why not just quit? Did he want to try to get Cena off the team and then he tapped when he realized he failed? Did Cena look like a complete tool by asking Jericho to stay on the team despite everything they have been through? Weird match too as Jericho was on the offensive for thirteen of the fourteen minutes.

Miz vs. Orton was hyped... [C]

In case you just tuned in, the footage of the previous match was shown...

Edge looked pretty pissed backstage. Jericho joined him in a pity party. Edge said he respected Jericho and said Cena needed them more than they needed Cena. Jericho said he respected Edge quitting the team. They started making out. No, not really.

Edge said they should let bygones be bygones. They shook hands and then hugged. Then they started making out. No, not really! They were disgusted to hear the GM IM noise. Cole announced Jericho and Edge vs. Cena and Bret Hart next week with The Nexus as lumberjacks...

Twill's Two Cents: Nice main event.

Josh Mathews interviewed Randy Orton backstage. Orton reminded Sheamus he once took out Triple H with a swift kick to the head. He invited Sheamus to watch his match with The Miz. He said Miz would be in no shape to cash in his MITB contract and in two weeks, it would be Sheamus' turn...

The world premiere of Legendary, starring Danny Glover and John Cena, is next. I'm sure at least six or seven people are excited about that... [C]

[Q7] Premiere time. Cena played a former amateur wrestler. That's too easy so I'll leave it alone. His brother was a little guy in need of guidance as he attempted to be a wrestler. Cena stepped up. Danny Glover said some profound things. Some lady said some things. Coming to a theatre near you, "Legendary." ...

5. The Great Khali (with Ranjin Singh) defeated Ted DiBiase (with Maryse) in 2:19. DiBiase had just taken control when Barrett and Skip Sheffield came out to ringside. DiBiase was distracted. Khali applied the vice grip for the win...

Cole got really excited when The Miz was shown walking through the backstage area... [C]

Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg of "The Other Guys" were interviewed. The Bella Twins started hitting on Will as Mark looked on in disbelief. Will called them average. Mark said he loved the WWE and said he cried when Ric Flair went into the Hall of Fame. The Bellas blew off Wahlberg, but he said he liked Alicia Fox anyway. They pushed him down and he liked it...

Twill's Two Cents: In case you are wondering, there was no sign of Dwayne Johnson, who has a supporting role in the movie..

[Q8] The Miz came out and jumped on the mic. He said Randy Orton made a huge mistake last week. He said Orton winning the belt at SummerSlam would be his best case scenario and he then would have his moment. He would then become WWE Champion...

Twill's Two Cents: I like that The Miz cloud over the WWE Championship will be featured at one of the biggest pay-per-view's of the year.

6. Randy Orton defeated The Miz in 14:15. Based on what happened last week with Orton blowing up at Miz, let's see if anything comes out during this match. Miz scored the first nearfall after a big knee lift. Orton came back and closelined Miz to the floor. Sheamus came out to the stage... [C]

Orton was unloading forearm shots across the chest of Miz coming back from the break. Miz came back with a big boot and then mimicked Orton's offense by using some of Orton's own moves.

[Overrun] Orton came back with his headlock backbreaker. Then the offense went back and forth with Miz showcasing a lot of aggression. Orton took control with a powerslam, but when he went for the hangman's DDT, Miz backdropped him to the floor. Impressive.

Miz nearly won the match with a backbreaker/reverse neckbreaker tandem move. Miz thought he was in control, but Orton hit the RKO out of nowhere for the win. Sheamus headed to the ring, but once he looked into Orton's eyes, he thought otherwise...

Twill's Two Cents: Solid main event on an average at very best show. A lot of questions come out of this one, but the main one surrounds Edge and Chris Jericho on the SummerSlam team. I'm guessing if Cena and Hart win, Edge and Jericho will be forced to rejoin the team. We'll see. I'll have more to say in tonight's Member's Exclusive audio show.

Ever since the hot show coming out of the Money in the Bank pay-per-view, the build to SummerSlam has been progressively worse. Hopefully it gets better next week. Thank you for following along with me, especially if you were doing so from an airplane.

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