Source: Rob McNew of 411 Mania
So last week the show ended with one of the better cliffhangers in recent history. Since then the perpetrator of the attack on Mr. McMahon went on to win The Royal Rumble match and guarantee him a main event slot at Wrestlemania. Thus making him unfireable one would think. Shawn Michaels failed to help JBL wrestle the World Title from John Cena also. Needless to say we’ve got a lot of loose ends to tie up tonight. Not the least of which includes finding five challengers for John Cena in the Elimination Chamber in just three weeks at No Way Out. This is certainly one of the most intriguing Raw’s in recent memory.
-Live from the Wolstein Center in Cleveland, OH
-Hosted by Michael Cole & Jerry “The King” Lawler
-The same video package that played to open the Rumble opens tonight’s show. Words can’t describe how truly epic this package is. Interspersing the footage of the main event promo with Orton’s theme. This was absolutely beautifully done.
-No intro, we go straight to the ring where Lillian introduces the 2009 Royal Rumble winner Randy Orton. The Legacy accompanies Randy to the ring along with three men in suits who are presumably Randy’s legal team. Orton helps the three people in the crowd who don’t know who he is by introducing himself. He introduces the three men as being his lawyers and his therapist. Orton goes over his history by saying he is third generation and the WWE is in his blood. Randy says in addition to the WWE being a part of him something else is a part of him. Orton says he suffers from IED. Intermittent Explosive Disorder. Orton reads a prepared statement saying that it effects 16 million Americans. When a person is provoked they suffer outbursts of physical violence. Orton states that after being slapped by Stephanie and having termination threatened he had become sufficiently provoked. Orton states he was not responsible for his actions. Orton states his therapist will confirm that the WWE knew of condition and did nothing about it. Therefore if Stephanie tries to fire him, he will sue WWE. He states there would also be a second lawsuit. Since he won the Royal Rumble he will sue for breach of contract if he is not allowed to compete in the main event at Wrestlemania. He also says Dibiase and Rhodes will walk if he is fired. Orton says with the three of them gone there will be no superstars left. Orton states he has one more piece of business to attend to. Another prepared statement is given to him by his attorney. This one states that he apologizes for the trauma that befell Mr. McMahon. He also apologizes for the trauma that the family is suffering. Orton hopes that they can put this ugly incident behind them and move forward. Orton successfully turns the crowd against him with this statement which is quite the feat for a guy that is getting massive face pops at this point. Orton says he is a man of honor and offers sincerest apologies to Mr. McMahon, his family, and to the fans. Orton thanks the fans. Brilliantly played by Orton all around doing the whole thing with a smug look on his face to convey that he really doesn’t mean any of it. This guy on a role like we haven’t seen anyone on in many years. He really has put it all together. Phenomenal job all around.
-We see Stephanie watching from her office with an evil glare. She says nothing.
World Tag Team Championship: Cryme Tyme vs. John Morrison & The Miz (c)
Well we’re starting out with a bang as the straps are on the line right off the bat. JTG and Miz start off. JTG hits a face plant quickly out of the corner for two. JTG charges to the corner, but gets backdropped onto the apron. Morrison provides the distraction allowing Miz to hit a drop toehold on the outside. Two count results and Morrison is tagged in. Morrison stomps away in the corner and mounts with some forearms. Cover gets two as Morrison grabs a chinlock. JTG counters a suplex and is able to scoot over to tag in Shad. Shad knocks Miz off the apron and biels Morrison out of the corner. Powerslam coming out of the corner for Shad gets a two count. Morrison is able to regain control with a fist and goes for a Moonlight Drive and Shad goes for the STO. It connects and Miz breaks up the count. Miz is on the apron but gets booted off by Shad. Morrison connects from behind with a kick and this time the Moonlight Drive connects and Miz and Morrison retain with that.
Winners: STILL World Tag Team Champions: John Morrison & The Miz (Morrison pins Shad-Moonlight Drive **)
-Lawler introduces a video package for The Elimination Chamber at No Way Out. Another great video package showing highlights from the past Chamber matches. This year both World Titles will be defended in the Elimination Chamber at No Way Out.
-JBL is out to announce a special qualifying match for the Elimination Chamber. His employee Shawn Michaels will compete on his behalf. If Shawn wins JBL is in the Chamber. Shawn’s opponent will be the man he defeated two weeks ago, John Cena. A qualifying match with the guy who is already in the match defending the belt? That doesn’t make much sense, but hey its Cena-Shawn again so I can’t complain.
Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match: Kofi Kingston vs. Kane
I’m not sure I like Kofi’s chances in this one. Kofi starts with the kicks but is caught on a crossbody attempt and slammed. Dropkick to a seated Kofi allows Kane to take control. Kane pounds away in the corner and drives Kofi into the buckle. A whip to the corner is followed up with a clothesline getting a two count. Kane whips to the corner again, but a charge this time is unsuccessful as Kofi moves. Kofi turns around and runs right into a boot though. Kane comes off the top with a flying clothesline. Kane calls for the chokeslam but Kofi fights it off with a spinning kick. Kane goes for another chokeslam, but Kofi reverses into a sunset flip which picks up the win!?!?! Well I’ll be damned. Should be fun to see what Kofi can do in the chamber.
Winner: Kofi Kingston (Pinfall-Sunset Flip *3/4)
-Recap of the punt heard ’round the world is shown AGAIN. It was an awesome moment, but its getting to be overkill at this point.
-Chris Jericho is out to state that everyone is raving about the film The Wrestler starring Mickey Rourke. A video package on the movie is shown. Same one from Smackdown. Jericho states one of the people who gave the film a glowing review is Ric Flair. Jericho says even though Flair is retired he has to stay in the spotlight, and him and Rourke have become friends. He says Flair may have given him some bad advice. Jericho brings up the footage of Mickey Rourke last night saying Jericho better get in shape. Jericho says Rourke is out of line. Its one thing to play a wrestler in a movie and its another to be one in real life. He says the last thing Rourke or Flair would want to do is offend Jericho. Oh dear god…they’re really gonna do Rourke vs. Jericho at Wrestlemania aren’t they?
-JBL is with Shawn in the locker room. Shawn asks if he really has to go through with this stating he did everything he could last night. JBL says superkicking him was part of his plan? Brilliant. Shawn says he had to get Cena to lower his guard. Shawn says he put JBL on top, and got another referee. He states he did everything humanly possible, he assumed that would be enough. JBL says he assumed someone was watching his money and thats why he’s working for him. JBL says he would fire him right now, but there’s still business to be done. JBL says there’s business to be taken care of. JBL says this is Shawn’s last chance.
Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match: Shawn Michaels (w. JBL) vs. John Cena
Not sure how this works if Cena wins since he’s in the match regardless. They took my advice (well I’d like to at least think they did) by having Shawn come out to JBL’s music. Decidedly pro Cena crowd tonight. No handshake this time as they trade blows in the middle. Shawn gets the better of it and delivers a few chops. Cena goes for a bulldog but its countered by Shawn. Shawn smacks Cena in the face which is answered by a right hand. Cena goes for the move formerly known as the FU, but Shawn bails to the floor. That sends us to commercial. Back from break and Shawn kicks out of a pin attempt. Shawn locks in a figure four which Cena quickly turns over. Belly to belly by Cena gets a two count. Cena grabs a side headlock. To their feet and Shawn fights out of the hold. Shawn hits the ropes and runs into a backdrop from Cena. Irish whip to the corner by Cena puts down Shawn again. Another backdrop attempt by Cena is blocked by a kick from Shawn. Shawn hits the ropes and comes off with a flying forearm. Inverted atomic drop is followed up by a pair of bodyslams from Shawn. Shawn goes to the outside to go for the elbow, but Cena is back up. Back inside Cena goes for the STF, but Shawn counters out. Pair of shoulderblocks and a protoplex from Cena sets up the five knuckle shuffle. Awesome counter by Shawn as Cena waving the hand in Shawn’s face finally backfires as Cena grabs the hand and turns it into a crossface. Cena starts to fade but a second wind allows him tou counter into an FU attempt. Shawn is able to block by reaching the ropes. Shawn charges but runs into a drop toe hold into the STF. Shawn claws towards the ropes and reaches them to break the hold. Back to their feet Cena sets up for an FU attempt, but Shawn counters into a sunset flip for two. Shawn chops Cena and sends him to the buckle. That is followed by another chop from Shawn. Shawn gets whipped to the corner, but comes back out with a clothesline as both men are down. Shawn is to his feet first and gets a bodyslam on Cena. Shawn goes to the outside, but JBL comes over to yell at him. JBL asks Shawn to superkick him, but Shawn says he’ll do it his way. JBL climbs onto the apron to stop Shawn from going to the top. That backfires as Cena pushes JBL into Shawn knocking him off the top rope. From there Cena hits the FU to pick up the victory. JBL will not be in the elimination chamber. Another fantastic effort from these two. Not on the level of the match in Sioux City, but still fantastic and the series is tied at two. I’ll be damned if I don’t want a rubber match. Screwy ending aside, this was fantastic. After the match JBL stands over the fallen Shawn looking down in disgust.
Winner: John Cena (Pinfall-FU ***1/2)
-Yet another recap of the punt is shown, followed by a recap of the opening promo. Okay, seriously, we get it. He kicked Vince.
-Todd Grisham is with Stephanie McMahon. Stephanie says there will be action, but she will do it publicly and to Randy’s face.
Melina & Kelly Kelly vs. Beth Phoenix & Jillian Hall (w. Santino Marella)
Santino joins the commentary team, and immediately brings the awesome by telling Cole “you look fantastic, have you been working out? I almost didn’t recognize you JR.” Beth and Melina start and Beth powers Melina into the corner but runs into a double boot. Off the second rope comes Melina with a seated splash. Beth whips Melina into the corner, but misses a charge. Beth elbows her off and tags in Jillian. Melina grabs control and tags in Kelly who comes in with a sunset flip getting two. Jillian grabs a wrist lock, but Kelly hits a nice springboard takeover counter. Kelly gets whipped into the corner but goes to the apron. A distraction from Beth allows Jillian to shoulder her to the floor. Jillian throws Kelly back in and tags in Beth. Kelly gets her face driven into the mat, but moves out of the way of an elbow. Kelly tries to fight to the corner for the tag, but Jillian provides a distraction. The ref distraction allows Rosa Mendez to run out and slam Melina off the apron. From there Beth hits the Glam Slam which picks up the win. Beth doesn’t look too pleased at that turn of events, but seems happy to take the victory.
Winner: Beth Phoenix & Jillian Hall (Phoenix pins Kelly-Glam Slam *3/4)
-Wrestlemania Rewind is a recap of Wrestlemania 21. We get a little bit of everything including some of the movie trailers. The rewind focuses on the first Money in the Bank match.
Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match: Rey Mysterio vs. William Regal (w. Layla)
Well this is certainly a clash of styles. Rey grabs a sideheadlock, but gets thrown to the corner. Regal runs into a kick, and then Mysterio comes off the top with a springboard seated splash. Mysterio tries for a hurracanrana, but Regal counters it into a face plant. Regal takes control pounding away in the corner and European upper cut gets a two count. Half nelson crossface is locked in by Regal. Rey punches loose, and hits a kick to the face. Off the ropes Regal counters into a face plant and a series of near fall attempts. A knee to the face gets another two count for Regal. In the corner Regal pounds away with the forearm, and then whips Rey into the buckle. Coming out of the corner another forearm connects picking up two. Rey fires back with some kicks, but runs into a knee to the gut from Regal. Regal tries for a butterfly suplex, but that is countered by Rey into an armdrag. Kick to the head connects by Rey, but Regal quickly hits a throw getting two. Rey again fires back with a monkeyflip into the ropes which sets up a 619. Springboard splash finishes from there as Regal continues his slow slip towards irrelevance and Rey moves on to the chamber. So far we have Cena vs. Rey vs. Kofi. They’re not even going for the illusion that Cena might lose are they?
Winner: Rey Mysterio (Pinfall-Springboard Splash **)
-Rosa and Santino are in the back. Rosa says she hopes she did the right thing. She says she had to do something because the way the title was stolen from Beth she had to take a stand for women everywhere. Beth shows up, and stares her down before looking at Santino and saying “we can keep her.” Santino and Rosa celebrate. Phenomenal.
-World Premier of the Trailer for “12 Rounds” Starring John Cena. The Marine is back, and this time he’s a cop! The villian says “What can I say, I just like to play the game.” Sounds to me like they cast the wrong superstar.
Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match: CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho
First we get HBK-Cena, and now Jericho-Punk? Color me pleased. Gutwrench suplex gets a one count for Punk right away. He fires Jericho into the buckle. Punk is whipped into the corner, but Jericho runs into a boot. Punk goes to the second rope, but Jericho takes his legs out from underneath him to take control. Jericho delivers a few kicks and locks in a half nelson crossface. Punk comes up and sends Jericho into the ropes hitting a spin kick. Into the corner Punk hits the high knee and follows with a bulldog. Springboard to the top sees Punk hit Jericho with a flying clothesline for two. Punk sets Jericho up on the top rope and hit a top rope hurracanrana for two. Punk calls for the GTS, but Jericho counters out into a sunset flip. They trade a series of near falls all getting two. Jericho goes for the Walls, but Punk counters out. Jacknife cover by Punk gets two. Jericho goes for a backslide which is blocked by Punk. Jericho quickly hits the codebreaker out of that to pick up the win. Well that was underwhelming. While they were going it was awesome, but they just didn’t have enough time to do anything substantial.
Winner: Chris Jericho (Pinfall-Codebreaker **)
-Say did you know Orton punted Vince last week? Well if you didn’t see it they showed it again for roughly the 712th time tonight.
-Stephanie McMahon is out for the Main Event promo. Stephanie says if Orton thinks because he won the Rumble he’s off the hook, because he threatened her with lawsuits, and because he offered a half hearted apology then he thinks wrong. She calls Orton to the ring to find out what she thinks. Stephanie sells this impeccably well as she is delivering the best performances of her career the past few weeks. Orton is out with his attorneys and The Legacy. Orton tells her that before she says another word she needs to ask herself another question. He asks if she wants to go through with this. He says if she fires him she’ll be subjecting herself to a nightmare. He goes over what he said earlier. That Legacy will leave and the stars of Raw will be crippled. Orton’s attorney states again that the company ignored Orton’s mental condition, and that unlike the employee she humiliated last week his client is not going to get down on his knees and apologize. He says if she fires him there will be extreme consequences. Steph quickly backs him down by asking if thats a threat. Steph with her voice cracking says Orton kicked her father in the head and has the nerve to come out and threaten her and this company? Orton says it is a threat. He says he has a legal right to compete at Wrestlemania. Orton says he will file an injunction so that there will be no Wrestlemania. He says that’s not a threat, that’s a promise. That brings out the entire locker room to the stage. Orton asks them what they’re looking at? He says he doesn’t care if they have a Wrestlemania. He says if he’s fired he’ll take each and every one of them down with him. Orton begs Stephanie to fire him. Orton says he’ll cancel Wrestlemania. Orton gets on his knees begging with Steph to please fire him so he can shut down Wrestlemania and ruin “these ingrates” in reference to the guys on the stage. He says he wants to hear the words her father was going to say before he kicked him in the skull. Stephanie says firing him would be too easy, but they have bigger plans. HERE COMES THE MONEY!!!! Shane McMahon is out and he is pissed! Shane walks to the ring and rolls up his shirt sleeves. A staredown commences, and Shane spears Orton. Legacy tries to pull Shane loose, but he breaks through again. Finally the Legacy take control for a moment, but again Shane fights them off. Shane knocks Orton down with a series of punches. Cody is able to fight off Shane long enough to let Dibiase take Orton out, but that only lasts a moment as Shane catches up to them on the ramp. Again Shane is on Orton. The Legacy try to pull him off, but this time the other superstars put a stop to it. Orton is finally able to escape to the locker room. Shane is calling for Randy on the top of the ramp as the show fades out.
-Wow, another fantastic final segment. I honestly thought that Shane might join up with them there, but they went the traditional route which at this point is more of a swerve than the swerve itself. As for the rest of the show it was just kinda there, as the only thing they’re really building right now is McMahon’s vs. Orton. We’re kind of in a holding pattern in the period between now and No Way Out as everything is building towards Wrestlemania. Still another solid effort from Cena and Michaels and Orton’s continues meteoric rise to superstardom make this show an easy thumbs up.
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