By Will Pruett

WWE Raw on the USA Network
Taped on 6/27 in Las Vegas, Nevada

[Q1] The WWE opening aired, followed by a recap of the tables match last week, which ended with Punk’s interference and scathing promo. The Raw opening and pyro were shown.

Pruett’s Pause: Good recap that told a nice story, without actually showing too many of the “insider” references that the promo contained.

Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler welcomed us to Raw and mentioned the No. 1 Contender’s match and Miz vs. Riley.

John Cena came to the ring to cut a promo. Cena said that Punk said things that didn’t mesh well with the brass at WWE. He mentioned that Punk was suspended indefinitely and is stripped of the title match he earned. He said that Punk is supposed to be swept under the rug and they are supposed to ignore he existed. Cena said he has a voice as champion as is weighing in on WWE’s decision. Cena said the decision sucks.

Cena said he knows this is a PG show and knows what can and cannot be said. He does not agree with Punk’s outburst, but finds nothing wrong with it. Cena wants to know where the WWE stops. He mentioned that Daniel Bryan was fired for being too aggressive and said that fans signs are being confiscated. He said that Punk was merely suspended for speaking his mind.

Cena wants to know what will happen to him if he steps out of line. He said he wants answers from the man who made the decision, and that is Vince McMahon. Cena said he went over the GM’s head and called McMahon, who is on his way to the building. Cena said they won’t talk it out backstage and come to a politically correct answer, but Vince will explain in the ring. Cena then said he wants to face Punk at Money in the Bank.

A shot of Eve and Kelly Kelly walking to the ring was shown. [C]

Pruett’s Pause: A good segment with Cena rallying a tired crowd. He had a lot of work to do after Punk had been so compelling in his promo. McMahon appearing is a big deal. I just wish WWE had advertised it on their website and on Smackdown.

[Q2] 1. Eve and Kelly Kelly defeated The Bella Twins in 3:09. Eve and one of the Bella’s started the match. Eve backed that thing up for no reason, then hit an impressive standing moonsault. Eve was then thrown out of the ring, which she sold for an inordinate amount of time. The Bella’s tagged and continued to work over Eve, who almost scored a fall with a roll up.

The Bella’s continued to work over Eve’s arm. Eve got to Kelly for the hot tag and she thez press one Bell and knocked the other off the apron. Kelly then hit a flying leg scissors and a stink face. Eve stiffed the hell out of one Bella as Kelly pinned the other in the ring after a Fame-asser.

The announcers then hyped an Andy Leavine video package that hyped his “Silent Rage” persona. The crying was kept to a minimum.

R-Truth was talking backstage pretending to buy car insurance. Scott Stanford asked him about the triple threat match tonight. Truth said he should be awarded another title match. Truth then used the old “I just saved 15% by switching to Geico” joke. Alberto Del Rio appeared and was called Senor Jimmy. He said this was about his destiny to be new WWE Champion. [C]

Pruett’s Pause: Typical diva’s match, with one really hard shot from Eve. It’s so difficult to care about anything happening in that division. The Big Andy video was hokey, mostly because it was hyping a bad gimmick. Truth’s promo was funny, but the Del Rio appearance was just his standard “destiny” specch.

A Smackdown ad aired that discussed Sheamus’ involvement in the Randy Orton and Christian story.

[Q3] 2. David Otunga and Mike McGuillicutty defeated Vladimir Kozlov and Santino Marella in 3:58. Is it really the New Nexus after they have been around for over six months? Santino and Otunga started things off. Santino teased doing Sweet Chin Music and made David Otunga angry. Otunga yelled at him and attempted to dominate.

Santino went for the Cobra, but missed as Otunga called tagged McGuillicutty. Santino tagged Kozlov, who apparently is a U.S. citizen now. I guess that explains his tights being blue and not red. McGuillicutty tagged Otunga and the two double teamed Kozlov in the corner.

Otunga then tagged McGullicutty and they attempted a double suplex, which Kozlov reversed. Santino got the hot tag and hit the hip toss and diving headbut on McGuillicutty. Otunga got the Cobra and McGuillicutty then hit a swinging neckbreaker for the win.

Zach Ryder’s music hit and he said “Woo woo woo, you know it” as the announcers questioned why he was there.

The announcers then hyped the Money in the Bank match and the matches for later tonight. [C]

Pruett’s Pause: The Uso’s are being built up on Smackdown, as are Slater and Gabriel. Why is Raw giving us this sad excuse for a tag match? Also, what was that Zach Ryder appearance? After seeing it in the arena last week, I figured we would get some explanation, but there was absolutely none.

The announcers hyped the confrontation between McMahon and Cena.

Scott Stanford was backstage with The Miz, who said Alex Riley kept him out of tonight’s No. 1 Contendership match. Miz said Riley’s opportunities on Raw end tonight. He brought him there and he will send him away.

Backstage Sgt. Slaughter was with Evan Bourne. Slaughter said he wanted to lead these people in the Pledge of Allegiance. Jack Swagger then walked in and said that he would lead everyone in the Pledge because Slaughter didn’t really love America. Swagger challenged Slaughter and Slaughter accepted.

We saw footage of Mr. McMahon’s plan landing in Las Vegas. [C]

Pruett’s Pause: Well, we didn’t see the Slaughter pre-tape in the arena last week, but it does help make sense of why that match is happening. I’m surprised WWE showed Vegas footage, since they normally try not to mention location on pre-taped Raw shows.

[Q4] A video package of the Money in the Bank match at WrestleMania XXVI was shown. It highlighted Jack Swagger’s big Money in the Bank win and his World Championship win a few nights later.

3. Jack Swagger defeated Sgt. Slaughter in 1:08. We heard some piped-in “USA” chants for Slaughter. Swagger hit Slaughter a couple times, then backed him into the corner. Slaughter fought out of the corner, nailing Swagger a couple times.

Slaughter locked in the Cobra Clutch, only to be backed into the corner. Swagger hit a few shots, then hit Slaughter with his running Vader-like splash for the win.

After the match, Swagger put Slaughter in the ankle lock and Evan Bourne ran down and broke it up. Bourne then asked for a microphone for Slaughter, who lead everyone in the Pledge. [C]

Pruett’s Pause: This was the obligatory 4th of July segment and it didn’t bother me. It’s a little hokey to have someone show up just to lead the arena in the Pledge, but it is what it is. Swagger didn’t lose anything here since Slaugher had almost no effect on him.

The WWE Slam of the Week was Mark Henry’s demolition of the Steel Cage last week. Alberto Del Rio was already in the ring when the show came back live(ish).

4. Alberto Del Rio defeated R-Truth and Rey Mysterio in a triple threat match to become No. 1 Contender to the WWE Championship in 13:40. The announcers explained that the person who won this match would be replaced in the Money in the Bank match. Del Rio began this match attacking Truth.

[Q5] Del Rio then went after Mysterio, who avoided him in the corner, but still got hit. Del Rio then threw Truth out of the ring and went for the pin on Mysterio. Del Rio was on the outside and as Mysterio went for the dive out, Truth intercepted him in an impressive moment. Truth dominated Mysterio as Cole and Lawler did the top of the hour reset of the show.

Truth went to the outside and threw Mysterio and Del Rio into barricades. Mysterio tried to get into the ring and Truth attempted to pin him. The attempted failed. Truth threw Rey into the corner very hard, but still only got a two count. Truth soon jumped to the outside from the apron onto Del Rio. Jerry Lawler said Cole sounds like Punk, instantly killing a little bit of Punk’s heat.

Del Rio returned to the fray, only to be on the receiving end of a Hurricanrana. Truth went for a superplex on Rey, but Del Rio picked Truth up onto his shoulders. Mysterio hit a Doomsday Device style splash to Truth. [C]

We returned to Raw with Del Rio choking Mysterio and a replay of the splash from before the break. Del Rio hit a backbreaker on Mysterio for a two count. Truth attempted to suplex Mysterio to the outside, but Del Rio stopped him. Del Rio then tried to suplex Mysterio in the ring and Truth stopped him. Truth hit a sunset flip, over the ropes, to Del Rio, who suplexed Mysterio. Impressive spot that lead to a two count.

Truth hit a scissor kick on Mysterio for a two count. Del Rio attempted to shoulder strike Truth in the corner, but missed. Mysterio hit the 619 and a splash on Truth. Del Rio ran in and broke up the pin by putting Rey in the Cross-Arm-Breaker for the submission win.

The McMahon-Cena confrontation was hyped again. [C]

Pruett’s Pause: Good triple threat match that wasn’t quite as good as the one that Punk won a couple of weeks back. I love the story of a man who has been robbed of his No. 1 Contendership, but I don’t understand why that would not go to Truth instead of Del Rio. I’m sure WWE has their reasons, but it would bolster his character quite a bit.

[Q6] A Money in the Bank video package about the first version of the match, which Edge won, was shown.

Dolph Ziggler and Vickie Guerrero came to the ring where a cake said “Happy Birthday Dolph” and a red carpet was rolled out. Vickie began by saying “Excuse me” and said tonight is a very special night where we are celebrating America’s birthday. She said it counts as Dolph’s birthday since he is U.S. Champion. She asked everyone to stand and sing Happy Birthday to Dolph. Vickie then sang.

Dolph Ziggler took the mic and said the fans are witnessing the greatest sports entertainer in the history of the WWE in his prime. He said there will be a dozen more Cena’s and Orton’s but there will never be another Ziggler. He said that the U.S. title is the only title that matters. Ziggler said he is all that we need to make Monday Night Raw perfection.

Kofi Kingston entered to full pyro and Michael Cole said that Kofi can’t celebrate the fourth because he was born in Ghana. Kofi said Dolph could brag all he wants, but without Vickie Dolph can’t beat him. Dolph said he used to be toe to toe with Kofi, but has left him in the dust. Kofi pushed Dolph, who accidentally ran into Vickie and forced her into the cake. Dolph was chased and Vickie wound up in the cake again. Vickie was seething in the ring as they showed cake on her butt, arm and face.

A replay of what just happened was shown. [C]

Pruett’s Pause: Not the greatest promo segment, but I love the idea of the mid-card title being worth a long, in ring promo segment. I feel like we’ve seen Dolph and Kofi a 1,000 times but have never seen them talk to each other. Vickie is an amazing heel and works the crowd in a great way.

A video package highlighting last year’s Raw Money in the Bank match was shown.

Pruett’s Pause: I’m loving these packages. They should have begun at the pay-per-view instead of that awful Big Show and Hornswoggle segment.

Miz entered. Riley followed and Jerry Lawler used the word “awesomer” in describing Riley, then threw to an A-Ry video package.

Pruett’s Pause: These packages do a great job of hyping the mid-card. Riley is a guy in need of like three weeks of these to help get him over.

[Q7] 5. Alex Riley defeated The Miz in 9:05. The two locked up rather aggressively to start the match. Riley whipped Miz into the corner and then clotheslined him. He threw Miz to the outside and slammed his head into the barricade. Miz and Riley ended up back in the ring.

Miz got the upper hand and hit Riley with a few knee-strikes to the face. Miz locked Riley in a front face lock, then DDTed him to the mat. Miz choked Riley in the ropes, then hit a running knee strike to Riley’s face. Miz hit Riley with a back body drop and pinned him for a two count.

Riley got some shoulder strikes in on Miz in the corner, but Miz came back with a Scorpion Death Drop (reverse DDT). [C]

The match continued after the break with Miz being back suplexed by Alex Riley. Riley hit a spear and a few punches on Miz, he then went for a DDT, which Miz reversed into a Northern Lights Suplex. Miz landed his corner clothesline and went for his backbreaker/neckbreaker combo. Riley hit a backslide and rolled Miz up for three.

After the match, Miz ambushed Riley and threw in out of the ring. He slammed Riley into the barricade everyone tears apart. He then picked Riley up and threw him into the stairs then held his head on the stairs and said “I made you.” Miz threw Riley into the announce table and looked quite emotional until he kicked Riley in the face and threw the top of the table at Riley. Miz looked up at the sky in a sad manner and walked out.

Mr. McMahon’s limo was shown arriving in the back and he walked into the arena.[C]

Pruett’s Pause: Good match, but not enough has been done to get Riley over. That video package should have been shown to the live crowd before the match, so they would get more into Riley. Miz’s post-match attack would have a lot more impact if attacks like that took guys out for a long time.

[Q8] Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler discussed the Punk suspension at ringside and replayed the package from the top of the show.

Vince McMahon exaggeratedly walked to the ring. He thanked the fans and said that the Punk thing has gotten out of hand. He said he suspended Punk because he deserved it and that the fans would do the same thing he would if they were in his shoes. He said it isn’t about his ego, but about doing what is right for the fans.

McMahon said Punk held him up for limo service and first class plane tickets. He said Punk was not worthy of being on souvenir cups and programs. Vince then said he suspended Punk because he is a Punk and tried to leave the ring.

John Cena’s music prevented that and he walked out. Cena asked if that was it. He said Punk was kicked to the curb. McMahon said Punk kicked himself to the curb. Cena said all Punk did was speak his mind. Cena asked if McMahon believed in free speech and McMahon said that was why Cena’s mic was still working. Cena said that McMahon was a fighter who took down Turner and asked what happened to the fighter. He asked if the grapefruits were peach pits.

Cena said he still wants to fight and if McMahon does not feel like fighting, he should hang it up. McMahon looked upset and said he really suspended Punk because he does not want to take a chance on Cena. McMahon said that this risk was not worth taking. He said he would not be embarrassed by Punk walking into another organization with the title.

Cena said he will not guarantee that he will beat Punk, but the match still needs to happen. He said that as a fan, this is the most exciting match of the year. He said this match has a lot of questions and is the match of the year. Cena asked if he would be suspended if he said something McMahon didn’t like.

McMahon told Cena not to be Hogan and told him not to do this in front of the people. Cena said he should give the people what they want. McMahon said he didn’t want to give the people what they want and that it is his company. He said many came before Cena and many will come after.

[Overrun] Cena held the title belt in his hand and told Vince that it is his company. He said that if this is how he wants to run it, it isn’t what Cena signed up for. Cena said he know he is replaceable. He said he busts his ass because he wants to think that the title means something. If Punk can’t face him when he earned to right to, then the title is already meaningless. Cena then handed to title to Vince and left the ring.

McMahon called Cena an ingrate and yelled at him. He asked him to stop as he reached the top of the ramp. Vince handed Cena the title and said he hates that this has come between them. Vince reinstated Punk and told Cena he has the match. Vince told Cena not to smile and said that if Punk walks out of Chicago with the WWE Championship, then he will walk down the aisle say “John Cena, you’re fired.”

Pruett’s Pause: Before the last line of that promo, I was super into it. Vince McMahon added to the story, giving very personal reasons for not wanting this match to happen. The problem is that last line. It isn’t that WWE can’t go with Cena being fired, it’s that they did less than a year ago and it lead to nothing. That story was messed up and if this one really plays on this element, than it will also be messed up.

All and all, not a bad Raw. Sure, it had some holiday coasting, but that’s allowed on a show that was taped and most people will watch while fast forwarding. The Punk angle was well hyped, but WWE didn’t truly do anything different with it. I wonder where this leaves Del Rio and what Punk will be allowed to do next week in Boston.

Thanks for watching with me tonight. Have a safe Fourth of July and make sure to check back for Jason Powell’s audio review of this show tomorrow.

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