By Jason Powell

WWE Raw on the USA Network
Live from Albany, N.Y.

[Q1] The opening montage kicked off the show... Pyro exploded on the stage and then Michael Cole welcomed viewers to the final Raw of 2010 and noted that Jerry Lawler was with him at ringside...

John Cena's music played and head came to the ring. Cole hyped the two previously announced matches as Cena played to the crowd. Cena introduced video footage of C.M. Punk attacking him last week on Raw. Cena said he spilled C.M. Punk's diet soda and then jokingly apologized before introducing footage from Smackdown of Punk attacking him again.

Cena joked about how much energy it took to lift Vickie Guerrero on Smackdown. He said he couldn't replace Punk's diet soda, but he could give him a chance to air his grievances. Cena called for Punk to come out, and Punk obliged by walking onto the stage.

Punk said Cena smiles at the fans and convinces them that he's an everyday man. Punk said he knows the truth. He said it goes way beyond the spilled diet soda. Punk said Cena was fired by WWE. He recalled Cena's speech about going to see his mother and little brother, but he came back that night and week after week.

"I've known all along that your word is absolutely worthless," Punk said. He recalled Cena's match at TLC. He said it wasn't enough for Cena to beat Wade Barrett. Rather, he dragged Barrett to the side of the stage and pulled 15 chairs down on him. Cena cut him off and said he actually pulled 23 chairs down on Barrett.

Punk said Cena ended the career of "my good friend Dave Batista." Punk said Cena hit the Attitude Adjustment on Batista onto a car. Punk said he's surprised Vickie Guerrero doesn't quit the company due to the way Cena picks on her. Cena said Batista broke his neck and then showed up on Raw the next night and retired on his own terms.

Cena said it's not just Vickie Guerrero. He said he talks about everyone, including Michael Cole. He said Cole has an infatuation with Justin Bieber and actually has "The Miz" manscaped on his abdomen. Cena mocked himself by saying he looks like the love child of Grimace and The Incredible Hulk.

Punk said he knows the real Cena and it's going to stop. The crowd chanted Cena's name. Cena said it doesn't sound like it's going to stop anytime soon. Cena said the great thing about WWE is that they have a place to settle their differences. He invited Punk to join him in the ring.

Punk thanked Cena for being predictable. "This isn't the John Cena Show tonight, this is the C.M. Punk Show," Punk said. He said that their match will happen on his terms. Punk said that he will be standing in the ring calling out Cena at some point during the show.

[Q2] Punk said he has a real surprise for Cena later in the show. "It's a night you'll never forget," Punk said. Punk wished Cena and all the fans a very happy new year... The announcers hyped Orton vs. Sheamus as a renewal of one of the year's best rivalries, and Cole said Miz asked for a match against Jerry Lawler. He said the match is not about the WWE Championship, it's about revenge... [C]

Powell's POV: I've suspected that Batista was returning ever since they aired so much footage of him during The Slammy Awards. I have no idea whether he's the surprise that Punk is talking about, but the fact that he's being mentioned in promos leads me to believe he's coming back at some point. Punk was very good in this segment, but I didn't like the way Cena was all about fun and games. Hopefully that's by design. It just feels like Cena isn't taking Punk seriously, so there's no reason for Cena fans to take Punk seriously. Hopefully that will change as the feud heats up.

1. Santino Marella (w/Tamina) defeated Ted DiBiase (w/Maryse) in 1:05. Ted was in control until he went for a dropkick and missed when Santino held the ropes. Santino made the cover and got the pin to win clean.

After the match, Santino brought a present to the ring for Tamina. She opened it and Santino's hand was making the Cobra inside the box. Ted and Maryse attacked them from behind. The comedy couple hit them with double Cobras to end the segment...

Backstage, The Miz pumped up Alex Riley for his match against John Morrison. Miz said Riley needs to beat Morrison so bad he won't want to face him. Miz hyped his match with Lawler and then Morrison showed up. Morrison said that if he wins, he gets to pick the stipulation for their match and when it takes place.

Riley asked what's in it for them if he wins. Morrison asked how many times a day people look at him and said, "Duhhhh." Funny. Morrison said he should retire if he loses, but he'll forfeit his No. 1 contendership if he loses. They agreed to the stipulations... [C]

Powell's POV: Good mic work from Morrison during that segment. They didn't ask him to do much, but he seemed much more at ease than he did during his in-ring segment last week. By the way, I think we all assume that Morrison wins and they wrestle at the Royal Rumble. I have no idea what the stipulation is and I don't think the match really needs one.

John Morrison made his entrance. As the No. 1 contender was coming out, the announcers congratulated USA Network for being the No. 1 network on cable. Cole also stated that the anonymous general manager emailed him during the break and agreed to the stipulations for the Riley vs. Morrison match...

Powell's POV: The No. 1 contenders entrance was a bad time to deliver the congratulatory message to USA Network. Why not do that during Santino's entrance? Anyway, I like the attention to detail by having Cole say that the general manager agreed to the stipulations.

[Q3] 2. John Morrison pinned Alex Riley (w/The Miz) in 4:40 to earn the right to pick the stipulation of his title match with The Miz and where they'll wrestle. Morrison was about to hit the Chuck Kick off the ropes when Miz reached in and tripped him. Referee Charles Robinson caught Miz and ordered him away from the ringside area. Morrison got the pin a short time later.

After the match, Morrison walked over to the announcers desk and told Jerry Lawler that the title match would take place next week in a falls count anywhere match. Cole flipped out and said Miz isn't an animal, he's a champion. Funny...

Powell's POV: Wow, I'm surprised they're going with the match next week. I like being surprised, but I'm not sure if I like this one. I want to see Miz vs. Morrison at the Rumble because it's perfect for that show in that the company doesn't have to rely on that match to sell the show because the Rumble match sells that pay-per-view.

The announcers hyped that C.M. Punk has vowed to call out John Cena during the show... [C]

Backstage, The Miz reamed out Alex Riley, who started to yell back, but Miz cut him off by saying he's the champion. Miz said they need to focus on his match against Lawler. "Get it? Got it? Good," Miz concluded...

In another part of the backstage area, Punk told a camera man that he wanted to make sure he is there to capture what happens when he calls out John Cena. He said it will be bigger than when they stuff Snooki in a ball on New Year's Eve and drop her...

Inside Daniel Bryan's locker room, he asked The Bella Twins about their Christmas. They said they were alone under the mistletoe. Tyson Kidd and Jackson Andrews entered the room. Kidd said he's going to be the net U.S. Champion due in part to Andrews. Kidd said Bryan should watch his match against Mark Henry and think about what will happen when he faces him...

A shot aired of Randy Orton in deep thought mode inside his locker room. Josh "The Stalker" Matthews entered the room for an interview. He mentioned Miz beating him. Orton glared at Matthews, who backed down. Orton said he has nothing against Morrison, but he hopes The Miz wins next week so he can beat him to regain his title.

Orton mentioned his match against Sheamus. "With all due respect, it's King Sheamus," Matthews said sheepishly. Orton said King Sheamus's reign will come to an abrupt and painful end... [C]

Powell's POV: Orton is super over with this crowd. They popped big when he was first shown and cheered everything he said. I like the move of having Matthews interrupt Orton to stress that it's King Sheamus. I'm not even crazy about the King Sheamus gimmick, but that's a simple way to drive it home to viewers. By the way, Kidd was better on the mic. He and Morrison were both better this week in what I assume were pre-taped segments, so perhaps they had more than one take. There's nothing wrong with that, though. They need to deliver in front of the live crowd eventually, but it's wise to use pre-tapes to get the best out of guys who haven't found their groove on the mic yet.

[Q4] 3. Mark Henry defeated Tyson Kidd (w/Jackson Andrews) in 2;05. Henry won the match with the World's Strongest Slam. After the match, Andrews entered the ring and went face-to-face with Henry. Andrews kicked Henry, but missed a clothesline. Henry picked him up and hit the World's Strongest Slam... [C]

Powell's POV: Ouch. The jacked up bodyguard shouldn't be made to look weak this early in his run. I like the idea of someone boasting backstage turn out to be a red herring, but I'm not crazy about the red herring being at the expense of Kidd.

An ad for Smackdown hyped Kane and Alberto Del Rio vs. Rey Mysterio and Edge as the main event for Friday's show...

The Miz came to the ring for a promo with Alex Riley at his side. Miz said no one compares to him in WWE. He was greeted with "What?" chants, so he repeated it a few times. Miz said Verne Gagne, Lou Thesz, and Harley Race can't hold a candle to him. The "What" chants continued, so Miz told the fans they sound like a bunch of ducks, and they should shut up when he talks.

The Miz referred to himself as a a technical wizard. The fans continued with the "What?" chants. Miz asked if they were going to do this all day. He asked "really?" and they responded with "what?" three times. Funny. He said he's going to humiliate Jerry Lawler, and then delivered his catchphrase.

Powell's POV: Hilarious promo and a fun exchange between Miz and the live crowd. I just hope that the way he played into it doesn't mean the "What?" call is going to be revived with future live crowds.

[Q5] Jerry Lawler made his entrance. Josh Matthews joined Cole on commentary and spoke about the blizzard and Lawler's travel issues, which included losing his luggage. Thus, he had to wrestle in black pants and a t-shirt...

4. Jerry Lawler defeated The Miz (w/Alex Riley) via countout in a non-title match in 9:40. Matthews said Lawler is Brett Favre, George Foreman, and Tom Watson rolled into one. Insert your own Jenn Sterger jokes here. Miz took control of the match and the live crowd was flat until John Morrison's entrance music played.

Morrison headed to the ring around 7:15. Miz was distracted briefly. Lawler went on the offensive with punches and then threw three dropkicks. Miz missed a move in the corner and could then be seen talking to Lawler at 8:45. Miz ended up taking a bump to Morrison's side of the floor. Riley bickered with the referee. Morrison nailed Miz with a knee on the floor. The referee resumed his count and eventually counted out The Miz...

Powell's POV: The live crowd wasn't as hot for The King as they have been at past shows. The match didn't flow quite like their first singles match.

Backstage, Sheamus admired his crown. C.M. Punk showed up and bowed. Sheamus thanked him and said the other WWE superstars aren't as noble as Punk is. Punk asked how many times Cena has humiliated him and gone out of his way to make him look bad. Punk asked Sheamus to watch his back, and wished him luck against Randy Orton. Sheamus said he doesn't need luck... [C]

Powell's POV: I like the build to whatever Punk is going be doing to Cena. I have no idea whether the payoff will be any good, but the build has built my interest.

[Q6] Lawler rejoined Cole on commentary and they recapped the previous match. Natalya also joined them on commentary and gave King a kiss on the cheek...

5. Melina and Alicia Fox beat Eve and Gail Kim in 2:30. They recapped Melina slapping Natalya last week. Natalya said she got the message and said it was as if Melina had a bipolar meltdown. Gail hit a missile dropkick on Melina at 2:00, but Alicia broke up the pin.

Moments later, Melina tried and failed to scream before hitting her finisher for the win. Afterward, Natalya entered the ring and confronted Melina, who offered her hand. Melina tried a sucker punch, but Natalya blocked it and took a shot at Melina, who rolled out of the ring...

Powell's POV: I like the way they're been featuring the better in-ring performers lately, but it's going to take some time to get the fans onboard again. The live crowd was really flat throughout the match.

Backstage, Punk told two trainers that he doesn't think they will be able to help Cena... Cole hyped that Punk has promised a surprise of epic proportions for Cena later in the show. Lawler hyped Orton vs. King Sheamus... [C]

6. Daniel Bryan (w/The Bella Twins) defeated Zack Ryder. The match was joined in progress. A little over a minute of the match aired before Bryan got the submission win via the LeBell Lock.

After the match, the anonymous general manager's email chime sounded. Cole stood up and did his usual schtick. The GM vowed that 2011 will be the greatest year in the history of Raw. Cole was reading a "Happy New Year" message from the general manager when The Miz suddenly attacked Jerry Lawler.

[Q7] Miz punched Lawler several times and then ran him into the guardrail. Miz picked up Lawler and slammed his head onto the announcers' desk. Miz talked smack to Lawler before running him into the ring steps. He picked him up again and performed the Skull Crushing Finale on the floor... [C]

Powell's POV: It looked like they were setting up Randy Orton vs. The Miz at the Royal Rumble, but I'm beginning to wonder if we might get Miz vs. Lawler. That would fit the formula I mentioned earlier in that they wouldn't need that match to sell the show because the Rumble match sells the Rumble pay-per-view.

Cole and Matthews recapped The Miz's attack on Jerry Lawler, who was no longer on commentary... [C]

7. Randy Orton pined King Sheamus in 14:30. Cole recapped the various pay-per-view matches that Orton and Sheamus had throughout the year. Matthews actually referred to Orton as Lord Voldemort, but stopped short of referring to Cole as Ron. Yes, I saw the first few Harry Potter flicks. Sue me.

Orton controlled the early action, but Sheamus pushed him into the ring post when the action spilled to the floor. "Orton's in trouble," Cole said. "His head hit hard." Sheamus got a near fall before the show went to break.

[Q8] [C] After the break, Orton had a minor cut on his back. Cole tried to sell the ring post shot by saying Orton has had previous neck and other injury issues. Orton came back with a superplex and got a near fall at 11:00. Orton hit a flurry of offense and got a near fall of his own.

Orton went of the RKO at 13:15, but Sheamus dodged it and knocked him down. Sheamus played to the crowd and then went for the High Cross. Orton fought out of it and countered with a backbreaker. Orton struck the Viper's Pose, but Sheamus rolled out of the ring. When Orton followed, Sheamus hit him with a shoulder block. Sheamus tried to slingshot himself into the ring as he did earlier, but Orton caught him with the RKO for the 1-2-3... [C]

Powell's POV: A good back and forth match or at least that's how Cole described it repeatedly. Seriously, this is an example of a match that Jim Ross would have made so much better. Cole has emerged as a personality this year, but he still fails to enhance matches like a good announcer should.

An ad aired for the Bobby Heenan DVD that comes out tomorrow. I can't wait to watch that one... The Smackdown commercial was shown again with the plug for the Kane and Del Rio vs. Edge and Mysterio main event...

A shot aired of the showy Albany street outside the building... The announcers hyped The Miz vs. Morrison for the WWE Championship in a falls count anywhere match for next week's Raw...

[Overrun] John Cena came to the ring and said "C.M. Sucks" said he was going to call him out. He said he came out early. "You want some, come get some," Cena said. Punk's music played, but he didn't come out right away. Cena continued to call Punk "C.M. Sucks" while saying he would go find him.

As Cena was about to leave the ring, The Nexus showed up on the stage minus Wade Barrett. David Otunga, Heath Slater, Justin Gabriel, Husky Harris, and Michael McGillicutty headed to ringside. Otunga entered the ring and said, "Look, John, this is not what you think."

Otunga said Cena attacked him two weeks ago and then took out every member of Nexus. Otunga said Cena did exactly what he said he was going to do. "So I made a decision," Otunga said. "Nexus is under new management now." Otunga repeated himself in hopes of getting a bigger reaction from the crowd, but it didn't work.

Otunga said he wanted to put the past behind them and start the new year off right. Otunga offered Cena a truce. Otunga offered Cena his hand. Cena looked at Otunga's hand and then grabbed the mic from him. "David, I know why you and your group did what you did to me," Cena said. He said that if he thought he was being sincere, he would shake his hand right now.

Cena said he watched and studied Nexus. He said Otunga is nothing more than a slimy, backstabbing worm of a man. "I don't trust you," Cena said. "There will be no moving forward." Cena said Otunga could leave or throw hands and see what happens. Otunga backed off and joined the rest of Nexus at ringside.

Nexus started to walk up the ramp, but Otunga turned around and led the group to "go, go, go." Nexus attacked Cena in the ring. Cole said it was similar to what's happened for the last six months with Nexus. The group took turns hitting moves on the fallen Cena. Otunga dropped a Nexus armband on the fallen Cena.

Cole said people who have been reporting the demise of Nexus were incorrect. He said the group is under new management and appears to be stronger than they've ever been. Um, sure.

C.M. Punk's music played. He walked past Nexus and headed to the ring. Punk picked up Cena and hit him with GTS. Punk headed to ringside and grabbed a chair. He returned to the ring and teased hitting Cena with the chair, but stopped with the chair above his head.

Punk lowered the chair. He set it up in the ring and then sat down while looking down on the fallen Cena. Punk picked up the Nexus armband and looked at it. He looked down at Cena again and then put the armband on his left arm. There were some cheers from the crowd to go along with some boos. Punk raised his right fist in the air and the other Nexus members did the same...

Powell's POV: Barrett is out and Punk is in. At least that's how it appears now. We'll see what happens with Barrett. Perhaps a Smackdown run? This didn't pack a major punch, but I like the idea. Punk is a great faction leader and can handle the talking for the group. The hard part for WWE is getting the other members of Nexus over. They mean nothing right now, as the crowd's lack of a reaction to their beatdown showed. Thanks for watching along with me tonight. I'll have more to say about the show in the Dot Net Members' audio either later tonight or tomorrow morning.

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