By Rich Twilling

WWE Raw on the USA Network
Live from Calgary, Alberta

[Q1] The opening video aired with a few additions and subtractions. Fireworks lit up the stage. Michael Cole and Jerry "The King" Lawler welcomed us to the show and hyped Bragging Rights in six days...

Naturally, Teddy Long, the Smackdown GM, came out to start the show. He said he was going to take over Raw for the night, which prompted the first correspondence of the night from the anonymous Raw GM. "Get out of my ring. Get out of my ring now. You have no business being here."

Long had the WWE Bragging Rights cup brought to the ring. The GM chimed in again. "Get out of my ring or else." Long said he would show the GM "or else." Long and Cole argued as the GM went nuts with responses. Long took the podium.

He said he was disconnecting the Raw GM. He shut the computer, thus killing the Raw GM. He introduced his team for Bragging Rights, beginning with the captain, Big Show. Edge, Alberto Del Rio, Kofi Kingston, Jack Swagger, "newcomer" Tyler Reks, and Rey Mysterio all came out in Smackdown blue...

The Miz came out in a Raw red shirt with the captain's "C" on it. Awesome. He said Team Smackdown looked like Smurf Village was next to a nuclear power plant...

Twill's Two Cents: Well, at least they are making an effort to create a feud between the brands. Not that they care about it any other time during the year, but this was solid. By the way, Long shut up the Raw GM pretty quickly.

Miz introduced his team, including new member Ezekiel Jackson. Team Raw hit the ring and a huge brawl ensued. Miz pulled his team out of there after Team Smackdown got the best of them during the brawl.

Big Show grabbed the mic and said they would leave the ring willingly as long as Miz faced him tonight in a captain vs. captain match. Miz reluctantly accepted and Team Raw headed to the back...

Twill's Two Cents: The absent wrestler was R-Truth, who won a match last week to qualify for a spot on the team. There was still one spot remaining, but that spot belongs to Alex Riley to make up the Raw seven.

Footage aired of Miz defeating John Cena last week to become the captain of Team Raw with the help of Michael McGillicutty and Husky Harris, setting up tonight's main event. Of course, the post match stuff with Wade Barrett egging Cena on to hit him was very well done...

[Q2] John Cena and Randy Orton vs. Michael McGillicutty and Husky Harris was hyped... [C]

Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre were in the ring coming back from commercial. The Hart Dynasty came out to the ring to a huge pop...

Twill's Two Cents: Bret should have came out first since the crowd probably popped thinking it was Bret's music. I know the Harts would have gotten a huge pop, but Bret is going to get that huge homecoming welcome.

1. Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre defeated The Hart Dynasty (with Natalya) in a non-title match in 3:17. Smith had McIntyre up for the Hart Attack, but then decided to try and apply the Sharpshooter instead. Kidd got pissed and then McIntyre hit the Future Shock for the win...

After the match, Kidd headed to the back without Natalya or Smith...

Twill's Two Cents: I hope this is the end of the team and allows Kidd to work as a singles wrestler.

Backstage, Randy Orton approached John Cena and told him if he tried to help Wade Barrett take the WWE Championship from him, he would have no problem kicking Cena in the skull and putting him out of his misery. Cena said if he tried, he would break the leg off... [C]

Twill's Two Cents: Very necessary and very good segment with Orton and Cena. It plants seeds of tension between them for tonight and that tension will lead to Cena perhaps contemplating helping Barrett out at the pay-per-view because of his issues with Orton.

[Q3] A karaoke version of Truth's new song was shown. Cole did say he was a member of Team Raw, so forget what I said earlier about Riley being on the team. Ezekiel Jackson filled the seventh spot...

2. Goldust (with Aksana) defeated Zack Ryder in :28. No entrance for Ryder. Remember how many times Goldy got that treatment? Goldust hit the Final Cut for the win...

Ted DiBiase and Maryse hit the ring. Aksana had the Million Dollar belt and Maryse chased her off up the ramp. Goldust laid out DiBiase with the Final Cut...

Twill's Two Cents: Goldust deserves a program. Since his latest return, he's been in the best shape I've seen him in several years. Perhaps this is all revenge for Ted DiBiase (Sr.) stealing Sapphire from Dusty Rhodes all those years ago.

The Miz vs. Big Show was hyped... [C]

The graphic said the show was in "Calgary, Canada." True, but that would be like saying a show here would be "Sacramento, America." ...

Cena approached Wade Barrett and The Nexus backstage. Barrett told Cena to "test" Harris and McGillicutty and give them everything he's got. Cena verified those were exactly Barrett's orders and he said they were. He then told Cena to get him a glass of water...

Backstage, that kid that looked like Gary Coleman and plays in Show's movie with him was playing Smackdown vs. Raw as Big Show against The Miz. Miz came in and intimidated him. The kid talked some street jive to him and Show came in to make the save...

Cena delivered the water to Barrett, who then delivered it to Cena's face. Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater looked especially douchey in laughing at Cena. Cena walked away as The Nexus four looked happy with themselves... [C]

[Q4] Footage aired again of last week's Miz vs. Cena match and the interference by Harris and McGillicutty. Cena and then Orton made their entrances. Harris and McGillicutty came out next. Does anyone else think Harris' nipples are really close together? The Nexus came out as well...

3. John Cena and Randy Orton defeated Husky Harris and Mike McGillicutty in 7:52. Cena went to work right away on McGillicutty, sending him to floor. Husky went to check on his partner as Cena eyeballed Nexus at the top of the stage... [C]

Back from commercial, Orton hit a standing dropkick on McGillicutty. Harris was able to grab the advantage for his team and score a nearfall on Cena. McGillicutty tagged in and hit a second rope flipping neckbreaker (ala his dad) for another nearfall.

Twill's Two Cents: I just saw a sign in the crowd that said, "Best Raw in 13 years." This place is going absolutely erupt for Bret Hart.

Good tag work from the heels. Orton got the hot tag and took care of business. He pointed at Barrett and set up for the RKO. Cena hit the Attitude Adjustment on Harris. Orton hit the RKO on McGillicutty and pinned him...

After the match, Barrett brought the troops down to the ring and ordered Cena not to shake Orton's hand. He then ordered him out of the ring. Orton remained as Nexus surrounded. "You have the best spot in the house to witness the demise of the Viper."

[Q5] Orton slid to the floor but the four got to him and beat on him. Cena looked on as the crowd chanted his name. They moved Orton into the ring. Slater hit his finishing move, as did Otunga. Gabriel hit the 450.

Twill's Two Cents: This made Orton look like an idiot for sticking around after the match, knowing The Nexus was out there and on their way.

Barrett then ordered Cena into the ring. He told Cena to give Orton an AA. Cena picked Orton up, but then Barrett order Cena give Orton to him. He did, and Barrett hit Wasteland. Cena shook his head and headed to the back. The Nexus followed... [C]

Twill's Two Cents: They laid the groundwork last week by having R-Truth tell Cena to quit. I bet it leads to that after weeks of stuff like this, and then Cena will make a very triumphant return. I'm guessing this will be as close to a Cena heel turn as we will see.

Footage was shown of "Moments Ago." How many people do they think actually just tuned in? Come on now...

Vickie Guerrero came out to the stage and Cole had an annoyed look on his face. Then he realized his NXT character loves her and said she looked great. She took credit for the Smackdown guys appearing on Raw tonight. She then introduced Dolph Ziggler.

[Q6] Ziggler said his cockiness was just confidence. He pointed out how great he was. He said he had the most beautiful and intelligent woman on the face of the earth. Wait, when did my girlfriend leave me for Ziggler?

Daniel Bryan came out and said he was not a ladies' man but he could do better than Vickie. He did say he had the ability to make Dolph Ziggler tap out. He challenged Ziggler to a match at Bragging Rights. Ziggler accepted and asked to do it right now.

He slapped Bryan in the face but Vickie stepped in front of Ziggler. Bryan went around Vickie and chased Dolph to the floor. He made him tap out to the LeBell Lock. The Raw divas came out and surrounded Vickie. They poured confetti on her and Vickie ran to the back.

Bryan then danced with the Divas. "I think he is afraid of girls," said Cole. Nice. He broke out some moves and everyone had a fun time...

Twill's Two Cents: Glitter confetti? How humiliating. Not really. Nice addition to the Bragging Rights card. For those wondering, this is not a unification match, or at least they did not say that in the challenge.

The Miz vs. Big Show was hyped... [C]

4. Natalya defeated Alicia Fox in 1:03. Natalya made Alicia tap out quickly to the Sharpshooter. So, now the fans have heard that music twice and have seen the Sharpshooter. Won't matter though...

LayCool came out and talked crap about the Harts. They said they don't belong in the Hall of Fame, they belong in the looney bin. They took out Natalya. Michelle applied the Sharpshooter but Natalya countered with the heel hook. LayCool got out of there...

Cole and King spoke highly of Team Raw and showed footage of C.M. Punk taking out Evan Bourne last week...

Backstage, Josh Mathews tried to interview Teddy Long and Big Show as Hornswoggle played around. The entire Smackdown roster looked like they were headed to the ring... [C]

[Q7] Cole explained the "Stand Up for WWE" campaign. A video played hyping the company. I'm pretty damn sure they showed Jeff Hardy at the beginning of the video. Past guest hosts and celebrities were featured in pro-WWE soundbites...

Twill's Two Cents: Self promotion at its best, but nothing wrong with tooting your own horn every once in awhile, especially when they have that much footage to use. Maria was featured in the video too, so it was weird to see her and Hardy on Raw tonight. Kudos to WWE and Vince McMahon for all of this. For me, it is the idiot mainstream journalists who think it is okay to make disparaging (untrue) comments about wrestling, when their business is to get it right. Nancy Grace, I'm looking right at you. Talentless hag.

The Nexus had more in store for Cena and Orton...

The Miz and Big Show were shown split screen backstage... [C]

The Raw guest star, that kid (wait, he is a kid right? Or is he a midget?) came out and introduced Big Show. Show came out with the Smackdown roster. The Miz countered by having Alex Riley come out with him. Miz teased coming out alone but then brought out the entire Raw roster...

Twill's Two Cents: Cue the big ass brawl for the end of the show.

[Q8] 5. The Miz (with the Raw roster) vs. Big Show (with the Smackdown roster) ended in a no contest in 1:27. The rosters started to possibly go at it and then Teddy Long came out. He said we were going to have a Raw vs. Smackdown battle royal... [C]

Twill's Two Cents: Imagine how disappointed people will be if Teddy is the anonymous GM.

6. Big Show and Edge won a battle royal that included the Raw and Smackdown rosters in 8:31. The bell rang and a few guys were thrown out pretty quickly. I remember a time when Miz would have been one of the first to go out in a match like this. Hornswoggle took over Cole's headset at the announce booth. Cole called for security...

Twill's Two Cents: Come on Cole, he is like three feet tall.

Cole had a backup headset I guess because it was now a two and a half man booth. Horny just laughed a lot. Morrison and Del Rio eliminated each other. Swagger went out. He then pulled Edge out of the ring and applied the ankle lock on him.

[Overrun] Sheamus put out Kofi. Daniel Bryan, Ezekiel Jackson, Sheamus, and Big Show were the final four. Show got rid of Bryan. Show put Zeke out. Miz rejoined the match and tried to eliminate Show, but Show threw out Miz. Edge came back too and eliminated Sheamus...

Twill's Two Cents: So, Raw wins on Sunday then?

Backstage, Barrett forced Cena to raise his hand as if he won the match on Sunday. The final shot of the show was Barrett looking triumphant...

Bragging Rights on Sunday is definitely a 'B' PPV, but they did a nice job of building to it tonight, although nothing about the show seems "must see." Tonight's show was very average, but it's difficult to hype a PPV nobody really cares about. I'll have more to say in tonight's Members' Exclusive audio recap. Thank you for following along with me.

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