By Jason Powell

WWE Raw on the USA Network
Live from Providence, R.I.

[Q1] The opening video played... Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler checked in from ringside... Ricardo Rodriguez set up the Alberto Del Rio victory celebration, complete with a mariachi band and dancers. Del Rio drove out in his car and then exited it right in front of a sign that read "Alberto Pendejo." Funny.

Del Rio headed to the ring where the red carpet as covering the canvas and balloons were set up in the corner. He introduced himself and reminded viewers that he told them his destiny was to win the Royal Rumble. He said the fans don't listen. "He told you," Ricardo added.

Alberto said they are celebrating him. He claimed he brought in the best mariachi band even though the blue collar crowd doesn't deserve it. He claimed the band only plays for him and the president of Mexico. Del Rio said he has made his decision regarding which championship he's going to challenge for at WrestleMania 27.

"The championship I'm going after at WrestleMania will be..." Del Rio teased the crowd, which honestly didn't seem to be hanging on his every word. The Miz's music played and he walked to the ring with Alex Riley. Once in the ring, Miz congratulated Del Rio for winning the Rumble.

Miz said Del Rio's win was almost as impressive as winning Money in the Bank, cashing it in, becoming WWE Champion, and then beating Randy Orton three times. Miz said he hopes Del Rio chooses to face him. Miz said he'll still be champion at WrestleMania, whereas Edge is going to lose the title at Elimination Chamber.

Miz claimed Edge was badmouthing Del Rio after the pay-per-view. Riley, who was a nice shade of orange, backed up Miz's claim that Edge had been badmouthing him. Del Rio said he knows it's a ploy to make him choose to face Edge. Del Rio asked if Miz was lying to him. Miz denied it.

Edge's music played and he got a strong pop. Edge headed to the ring dressed in street clothes with his title draped over his shoulder. Edge said Miz is absolutely right in that he doesn't like Del Rio or respect him. However, Edge said he wouldn't say those things behind Del Rio's back because he would instead come to the ring and say them to his face.

Edge said he will be the champion at WrestleMania and mocked Del Rio for rolling his R's. Del Rio said that at WrestleMania, he will be the new (dramatic pause and looks at both wrestlers) World Hvt. Champion. Edge congratulated Del Rio and then punched him.

Del Rio recovered and took advantage of Edge being distracted by Miz and Riley leaving the ring. Del Rio kicked Edge in the gut and then smashed a guitar over his head before applying his cross armbreaker. Several referees ran out. Del Rio released the hold and headed to the back with Ricardo...

Cole hyped Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov vs. Michael McGillicutty and Husky Harris for the WWE Tag Titles...

Powell's POV: I don't know if it was just a foregone conclusion with the live crowd that Del Rio would challenge Edge, but they didn't seem all that interested in Alberto's announcement. Everyone played their parts well. I'm happy they didn't try to generate some mystery about which title Del Rio would choose because I don't think anyone would have bought in. By the way, didn't Mr. Credibility Michael Cole tell us last week that the tag titles were on the line before a commercial break that was followed by a non-title match?

[Q2] The announcers recapped the previous segment and then the anonymous general manager's email chime sounded. Cole did his schtick and announced that there would be a Raw Rumble match. The winner of the seven-man match will get a title match against the WWE Champion at the Elimination Chamber, and the six losers will compete in the Elimination Chamber match.

Cole said the wrestlers in the Raw Rumble are Randy Orton, C.M. Punk, John Morrison, R-Truth, Sheamus, Jerry Lawler (Cole wasn't happy), and John Cena...

1. Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov (w/Tamina) defeated Michael McGillicutty and Husky Harris to retain the WWE Tag Titles in 8:15. It was announced during the match that viewers would see the world premiere of The Chaperone movie trailer featuring Triple H. Santino was dumped to ringside and the show cut to commercial. [C]

[Q3] Santino was being worked over by the heels after the break, but he made a quick hot tag to Kozlov. Later, Santino tagged back into the match and nailed Husky Harris with The Cobra to get the win.

As the tag champs were leaving, Randy Orton ran out without entrance music. He raced to the ring and hit RKO's on Harris and McGillicutty. Orton slowly backed away from the fallen Harris. C.M. Punk's voice got Orton's attention. He said Orton doesn't want to do that.

Punk walked onto the stage with Mason Ryan and David Otunga. "Do I have to say please?" Punk asked. He said he wouldn't beg Orton, but he warned that there would be serious consequences and repercussions if Orton followed through with the punt kick. Orton turned and looked at Punk. He slowly looked to the cheering crowd.

Orton smiled, backed to the corner, and then delivered the punt kick to Harris. The three members of Nexus raced to the ring to help, but Orton fled into the crowd. Orton was shown looking down at Nexus while standing in the crowd... [C]

Powell's POV: Whatever Husky Harris gained from being with C.M. Punk lately, he lost by losing clean to the freaking Cobra. The post-match attack by Orton was logical given what Nexus did the night before. I wonder if Husky is going to be disappearing. I guess that would explain why they allowed him to lose to The Cobra. Don't get me wrong, the live crowds love The Cobra, but I don't think it's doing wonders for Santino's opponents. Awesome facial expressions by Orton during that segment, but it was odd to see him run away.

Ted DiBiase and Maryse came out to that horrible entrance music. DiBiase addressed Jerry Lawler as he walked to ringside. DiBiase said Lawler's career is over, whereas his is just getting started. DiBiase approached Lawler at the announcers' desk and asked Lawler to give him his spot in the Raw Rumble match.

Cole stood up and asked Lawler to let him handle it. Cole asked how disrespectful one man can be. Cole said Lawler is a legend and a Hall of Famer. He said Lawler is a scene stealer. He said there's no way Lawler would take himself out of the match. Lawler ripped the mic away from Cole.

Lawler stood up and said he's not giving up his spot to anyone. He said his road to WrestleMania "has always been under construction." Lawler said he's been in WWE for 18 years and has never competed in a WrestleMania match. He said his road to WrestleMania starts tonight in the ring.

Lawler said he would probably be the WWE Champion if it wasn't for Cole. Lawler said he's going to be in the Raw Rumble and he's going to win. Ted took a cheap shot at Lawler. Jerry went after him, but Ted pulled Maryse in front of him. She turned around and slapped him.

Maryse blew off DiBiase and walked away. Lawler laid out DiBiase with a punch. The crowd chanted "Jerry." Cole questioned how Lawler could do that. Lawler teased punching Cole, but Cole reminded him that he would be fired. He continued to tell Lawler to show more restraint.

[Q5] Lawler and Cole bickered over the headsets. Cole said Lawler knows he's not going to win the match. They replayed highlights of Lawler punching out DiBiase... The announcers hyped Edge vs. Miz and reminded viewers that there must be a winner. They also hyped the Raw Rumble match... [C]

Powell's POV: It's good to see Lawler is finally going to get his WrestleMania match. He's addressed his lack of a WrestleMania match during past interviews, but I don't think it's ever been a storyline on television, which all but guarantees he's getting the match. My guess is that Lawler wins the match tonight, loses to Miz at Elimination Chamber due to Alex Riley and/or Cole, and then works against Riley and/or Cole at WrestleMania.

A vignette showed what looked like Jacob's cabin on Lost. Wherever they were, it was a cold, rainy night, and we saw someone wearing a trench coat and back boots enter the cabin as ominous music played. The graphic read 2/21/11 on the screen...

Powell's POV: Did Paul Heyman pull the trench coat out of mothballs. Bad jokes aside, my guess is that this was the initial tease for Awesome Kong debuting the night after the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view.

2. Daniel Bryan (w/Gail Kim) beat Tyson Kidd in 1:50. The Bella Twins were on commentary and the match was joined right as the bell rang. The announcers didn't acknowledge the vignette. Bryan won the match via submission, and then what's quickly becoming the usual drama with Gail and the Bellas broke out...

Powell's POV: Control your bitches, Bryan! I don't condone violence against women, but Daniel could spare us some bad segments if he'd just show them all the pimp hand.

Separate shots aired of The Miz and Edge walking backstage. The announcers said their match is next... [C]

A generic WWE Smackdown commercial aired that hyped nothing in particular for Friday's television show... After the break, ring announcer Justin Roberts handled the in-ring introductions for the champion vs. champion match...

3. Edge defeated The Miz (w/Alex Riley) in a non-title match in 8:55. The gimmick is that there must be a winner. Cole stressed that Miz has the advantage due to Del Rio's attack on Edge that took place earlier in the show. They aired highlights of Del Rio's attack while the match got underway.

[Q5] Miz targeted the shoulder that Del Rio softened up with his finishing hold earlier. At 6:00, both wrestlers went for simultaneous big boots and took each other down. Later, Miz went for a move off the top rope. Edge caught him with a kick and a DDT. The live crowd didn't seem all that interested until Edge lined up for a spear. Miz dodged it.

John Cena was shown standing in front of a luxury box while mocking Miz over the house mic with chants of "Miz is awful." Edge took advantage of the distraction by spearing Miz and getting the pin. Cole left the broadcast table to check on Miz and then told Riley that he should have done something. Cena was all smiles...

Cole rejoined Lawler and hyped the seven-man Raw Rumble match for later in the show... [C] A WrestleMania commercial was shown...

Powell's POV: I hope the WrestleMania musical selections aren't driving you nuts yet because you're going to hear them about 5,000 more times between now and WrestleMania. Is WWE creative intentionally burying the champion vs. champion gimmick by giving us cheap finishes to poorly promoted matches that would feel like dream matches if patience was shown and the matches were given the right buildup?

The announcers hyped Steve Austin's return as the host of Tough Enough...

[Q6] Vickie Guerrero walked onto the stage and delivered the "excuse me" bit. She said she has a surprise for Edge. She said he will be defending the World Hvt. Championship "in a way that it has never, ever been defended before." She invited viewers to tune in for Smackdown on Friday night to see the title defended...

Powell's POV: Great tease. Very simple, yet so much more effective than the generic Smackdown commercials we get. This is the type of synergy that should exist between the two shows now that they are both on Universal owned networks.

4. LayCool defeated Eve and Natalya in 3:45. A pre-taped segment was shown with LayCool making peace earlier in the day and blaming the referee for their loss at the pay-per-view. Eve hit the move off the second rope that has been named the Facelift on Eve and scored the clean pin...

Powell's POV: Oh, thank you, lord, for making sure LayCool are still together. Yes, that was sarcasm, God. While I have you, please let the mystery person in the vignette be Awesome Kong and then let her destroy the bulk of this terrible division.

With the Uso Brothers waiting in the ring, Mark Henry, The Great Khali, and Runjin Singh came to the ring for a match. However, the G.M chime sounded. Cole stood up and said on behalf of the G.M. that the Uso brothers don't have a chance. Thus, he booked them in a dance off.

[Q7] The Uso brothers danced and no one cared. Cole stood up and performed a couple fo moves. By the way, Josh Mathews is on commentary in place of Jerry Lawler, who is preparing for his match. Khali and Henry danced. Only a few more people than no one cared.

The Uso brothers weren't happy so they attacked Khali and Henry. Let's just say that didn't work out very well for them. Cole mocked Khali for going for a pin when it wasn't a real match... [C]

Powell's POV: God, it's me again. Is it too late to add Khali, Henry, Cole, and the anonymous general manager to the list of people I want Kong to destroy? Seriously, WTF was that? I know they do that crap on the house shows, but I'm embarrassed that someone on the creative team thought that was worthy of television. Listen to your fans. They don't like this shit.

The vignette featuring the person wearing the black boots and trench coat walking into Jacob's cabin on "Lost" was shown again...

Powell's POV: Tons of speculation that it's Sting, Taker, Hunter, and even my previous pick of Kong. To answer all of your emails and tweets at once, I don't know who it is. Call me crazy, but if I did know, I wouldn't share it only with you via email or direct message when I have this little website thing going on. I love you guys and all, but come on!

The announcers once again ignored the vignette and instead set up a trailer for The Chaperone, which is right there with "The Marine 2" at the top of my "WWE Studios Moves I Never Want To See" list...

The ring introductions started for the Raw Rumble match. John Morrison was out first. They showed his moment of Rumble glory. Sheamus came out next and the show went to break... [C]

Powell's POV: Somewhere out there, a viewer just tuned into Raw, saw John Morrison and Sheamus, figured they were having yet another match, and turned the channel.

[Q8] The announcers hyped that the main event of Smackdown will be Edge and Kelly Kelly vs. Dolph Ziggler and LayCool in a handicap match for the World Hvt. Championship...

Powell's POV: Really? Did Vince Russo screw over TNA and return at the Royal Rumble too? Seriously, what the f--- is that main event? I guess now we know why Kelly Kelly attacked Vickie Guerrero. It didn't make any storyline sense, but why let that stand in the way of a good mixed handicap match for the World Hvt. Championship? Good lord.

5. Jerry Lawler won a seven-man Raw Rumble match in 18:15. Sheamus and Morrison started the match. John Cena was out next. Punk was the next entrant and he went after Cena, but then shifted his focus to eliminating Morrison. R-Truth was out next. Cena took a swing at him, but Truth ducked and caught Cena with a kick.

There was supposed to be a double skin the cat moment with Morrison and Truth, but Truth failed to pull himself back over the top rope. Awkward! Jerry Lawler entered the match at 6:30. Lawler threw punches and kicks at everyone as the crowd chanted his name.

The final entrant was Randy Orton. Before Orton came out, Punk rolled out of the ring and crawled underneath it. Orton came out looking for Punk and pulled him from underneath the ring. They battled back inside the ring.

Orton clotheslined Punk out of the ring at 8:50. However, Truth shocked everyone by dumping Orton over the top rope just a second later. Truth smiled and motioned as if he wants to wear the title belt as the show went to break. [C]

After the break, there were still five men remaining in the match. Sheamus worked over Cena, who came back and hit some of his signature offense. It was Super Cena time, as he also roughed up Truth and Morrison. He hoisted them up in double Attitude Adjustment mode. Truth was eliminated, but Morrison held on.

Morrison and Cena fought on the ring apron. Sheamus charged at them and tumbled over the top, but he did not hit the floor. There was another great near elimination spot for Morrison when he hooked his feet on the bottom rope. Very cool. Cena applied the STF on Sheamus, who tapped. Morrison performed Starship Pain and grazed Cena. Weak.

Lawler, who had been selling, recovered and tried to eliminate Morrison, but Morrison caught himself with his hands on the mat. Apparently, two hands isn't equal to two feet in WWE. God help us all if the NFL replay booth ever comes to WWE. Sheamus ended up eliminating Morrison around 17:00.

Sheamus tried to eliminate Cena, who was on the ring apron. Sheamus shoved Lawler into Cena, who then fell off the apron to be eliminated. Sheamus went for a Brough Kick on Lawler, missed, and tumbled over the top rope to give Lawler the win...

Powell's POV: There was better drama throughout that seven-man Rumble match than there was when there were seven men remaining in the actual Royal Rumble match. The show had its strong moments and some incredibly lame moments. They've definitely created a buzz with those vignettes. Overall, this turned out to be a fairly hot show even though it was very frustrating at times. I'll have more to say in Dot Net Members' exclusive audio later tonight. Don't forget to take advantage of our limited time Dot Net Membership Special.

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