9/23 WWE Raw in Worcester, Mass: C.M. Punk drops a TNA reference, Paul Heyman accompanies Punk for his lumberjack match against Big Show, Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara vs. The Miz and Tensai

WWE Raw live event
Worcester, Mass.
Report by Dot Net Member Zim

Rough crowd guess at 5,000. Pretty hot all night, lots of kids, as most house shows are.

The opening segment had AJ and C.M. Punk discussing the main event and John Cena's injury. Punk referred to AJ as Alan Jones. Looking around, I'd say maybe five other people in the arena got the reference to AJ Styles. AJ announced Big Show as Cena's replacement and people cheered like his heel turn never happened.

1. Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara over Tensai and The Miz. The faces won after a double 619 to both heels and a falling star by Cara on Tensai.

The Miz complained that tag partners always drag him down so he challenged Rey one on one. Rey came down and after a short back and forth, the match was on.

2. Rey Mysterio beat The Miz in a non-title match. Mysterio won quickly with a 619.

3. Mike McGillicutty beat Dean Ambrose. McGillicutty won with the McGillicutter

4. Antonio Cesaro beat Zack Ryder to retain the U.S. Title. Cesaro won with the Neutralizer. After the match, he went for a second one but Ryder recovered and hit the Rough Ryder.

Intermission

5. Damien Sandow beat Justin Gabriel. Better than usual reaction for Sandow given we were in his hometown of Worcester.

Aksana was announced as the special ref for the next match.

6. Eve beat Layla to retain the WWE Divas Championship. Eve won with her Heartbreaker. Aksana repeatedly restrained Layla physically during the match, so Layla hit a KO kick on her after the match.

7. Brodus Clay squashed Heath Slater. Clay won in a minute. He brought kids in the ring afterwards, as usual

Big Show acted like he never turned heel. He was all smiles. He looked to have dropped a few pounds as well. Punk and Paul E were having a blast with each other and it was so entertaining. AJ came out and announced that via fans choice, the main event was now a lumberjack match.

8. Big Show defeated WWE Champion C.M. Punk (w/Paul Heyman) by DQ in a lumberjack match. Punk tried escaping every chance he had and tried climbing a lighting rig too. Funny. In the end, the lumberjacks broke out into a brawl and Punk got DQ'd by hitting show with the belt. He continued the beatdown until Rey Mysterio made the save. However, Punk got the upper hand and laid Mysterio out. Enter Sin Cara, who was also laid out. Punk celebrated until Big Show recovered and hit the WMD on Punk to send the crowd home happy. Paul E took a mic and proclaimed Punk was still champion and still the best in the world as we were leaving.

Overall, a hot crowd and a fun night. Also cool to see a new house show lineup before I memorized it by reading other reports.