WWE RAW
Date: 25th June 2012
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler
The build to WWE Money in the Bank will hopefully pick up tonight, as this weeks GM has been announced as… Vickie Guerrero! My ears are gonna bleed after this is all said and done. Anyway, apart from this we have the return of Jericho tonight! Wonder if it will be better than his return at the start of 2012? Let’s crack on.
We recap the Punk/Kane/Bryan story. With AJ involved, this is a confusing yet compelling story. A pretty awesome video too.
AJ is talking to Daniel, Kane and CM Punk by the looks of things and tells them what she thinks if them. Bryan, she wants to drift apart from. Kane, she calls a monster. Punk, she considers a soul mate but she wants to go their separate ways. Oh she’s talking to a mirror. She is past the point of meltdown now.
Opening titles and pyrotechnics.
Big show v Brodus Clay tonight! Plus, an announcement from Cena.
Oh here is the heat machine that is Vickie Guerrero, as she is the GM for the whole week. Apparently, there may be a permanent GM from the 1000th episode onwards. Sounds good.
Daniel Bryan v Kane v CM Punk
Non-title match under elimination rules. Kane dominates both men to start before a series of kicks by both guys puts Kane down. One on one now as the fans are behind CM Punk here. AJ watching on in the back as expected as Kane is kept outside, until he right hands Punk.
Back from the break, with Kane up top until Bryan meets him halfway and Punk hammers on both men. Kane goes for the clothesline but misses and Bryan rolls Punk up for two. Nice sequence! Double chokeslam fails and Bryan is screaming YES all over the place here. Comeback by Punk and Kane is taken out again here and has Bryan dumped on him on the outside. Suicide dive outside by Punk, and we’re told Punk has reigned for 215 days so far including tonight. Impressive by Punk.
YES Lock is not connected and Kane is taken out AGAIN. Cover on Bryan but he gets his leg on the bottom rope. GTS attempt fails but Kane breaks it up. Why if it’s elimination rules? Pin on Punk but it gets two. Kane goes up and flying clothesline connects…. oh boy here’s AJ who dance’s around the ring for no reason whatsoever. Chokeslam countered and a GTS pins Kane for the three count. Kick to the head by Bryan pins Punk at 7:04 shown.
Rating: B Awesome way to start RAW and we get a great match and the advancement of a storyline. AJ’s purpose is still unknown but Bryan getting the win is a great way to set up his title match I assume.
Del Rio see’s Vickie in her office and tries to weasel a title shot, until Ziggler wants the title shot against Sheamus. Vickie makes a contract on a pole match for the world title, with the winner facing Sheamus for the world title on SmackDown this Friday. Ziggler’s response? Smash the flowers vase Del Rio got for Vickie.
Recap of Big Show destroying Brodus Clay weeks ago on RAW.
Brodus Clay v Big Show
Clay’s first appearance on RAW in weeks. Big Show looks pissed as usual. This is your usual brawl of the big men. Clay is taken down in the knee by Show and he goes to work on the knee. Show wraps the knee round the post and we are only less than two minutes into this. Big Show splashes Clay from the second rope and nearly gets splashed himself but falls on Clay for the pin at 2:33. Short match but a squash essentially by Show.
Clay sells that injury, which I reckon keeps him off TV for a while. SummerSlam rematch anyone?
Video on Cena’s 300th wish granted. Whatever you say about the man, he has a HUGE heart.
Bob Barker is a memorable moment of RAW from 2009. Really?
During the break, Clay was being helped out and Show came back to give him the WMD punch. Nice.
Recap of No Way Out when Triple H challenged Brock Lesnar to a match at SummerSlam. Last week Heyman said no. Simple as. Lesnar answers the challenge next week on RAW.
AJ is talking to Kane, who says he’s not boyfriend material. He says a monster who wears a mask. Ok didn’t know that did we? Even he finds AJ unstable so they should stay away from each other. AJ doesn’t know whether to cry or laugh. Yeah she’s laughing. Mental.
US title: Jack Swagger v (c) Santino Marella.
This is for the first time in how long we have the US title on the line on TV? Swagger has no entrance here so what does that tell you also? Oh yeah Swagger is no longer a client of Vickie Guerrero after losing to Ziggler last week. All Swagger here, until Santino makes a comeback with a backdrop, punches, arm takedown, headbutt and the Cobra… nope not yet as Santino hits a DDT. Cobra gets the pin at 2:40. Short match and I couldn’t care less about the US title anymore. Santino needs to lose it soon to regain some prestige in the future.
Cena finds a Laurinaitis t shirt in the back but Ryder throws it in the bin. Good.
Here’s Cena to a HUGE pop from the crowd. His announcement…. oh wait he must somehow compare the unrest in WWE with Star Wars. Uh what? Yeah you heard me, Star Wars. Despite this he has the crowd eating out of his hands. Moving on… oh YES finally! The return of Jericho! Looks like he’s got rid of that stupid glowing jacket at least.
DAMMIT he was at the Download festival??? I hate missing it now. Jericho tells Cena to get out of his ring. Cena says he will enter the Money in the Bank ladder match in order to stop Big Show from winning. That is an announcement and a half. He wants to win the whole fudging thing, which draws a PG debate which is amusing. Jericho talks about the experience of the Money in the Bank and how he created it. He puts it over cleverly, which is the right idea for building a pay per view based around it. He calls it a serious match, which is the opposite of Cena, which is why Jericho enters himself into the match.
Cue Guererro, who insists no one just enters themselves into the match. Instead, the WWE title ladder match will be only former-WWE Champions, with Kane; Big Show; Jericho and Cena. As a main event, she makes it Jericho v Cena. Pretty nice idea for the ladder match.
Vader back two weeks ago. Who’s next this week?
Heath Slater v ???
And its… Psycho Sid? Wow he looks old and out of shape. Fair enough he broke his leg 11 years ago, so that has a lot to do with it. Slater calls himself a top superstar on RAW. That makes me laugh. Sid slaps Slater down and manhandles him. Sloppy spinebuster by Sid and then the powerbomb gets the pin on Slater at 1:31. Good memory Sid back on RAW at least but the match was nothing.
Contract on a pole match: Dolph Ziggler v Alberto Del Rio
Winner get’s Sheamus for the World title on SmackDown. Ziggler heads straight for the contract but gets stopped by Del Rio. Dolph flipped over the top but lands on the turnbuckle and goes for the contract again. He’s smart at least. He’s now on the top of Del Rio’s shoulder but is samoan dropped back into the ring. Ziggler gets the contract but it falls to the mat and they scramble for it. Apparently the winner has to control the contract to win. Rodriguez fails so the contract is now outside. Madness here, as Sheamus comes out and announces a triple threat match with them two and Sheamus for the world title on SmackDown. Match is thrown out I think around 4:30.
Punk v Bryan Part II at Money in the Bank for the WWE title is announced. YES!
Punk and AJ are in the back, where AJ dedicates her match to Punk. Punk then wants a serious conversation with her, but she misunderstands what he is trying to say.
RAW Memorable moment: This is your life: The Rock! That was an AWESOME segment!
Divas Summertime Beach Battle Royal
Even Vickie is taking part here! Oh God why? All the girls go after Vickie, as two girls are eliminated already. Too many eliminations here, as we are down to five already. There goes Natalya and Beth Phoenix, with AJ, Layla and Vickie left. Layla is out and so is Vickie, meaning the mental AJ wins. Her emotions were psycho here, but the match was Pointless! With a capital P.
World title triple threat match on SmackDown this week. Should be good!
John Cena v Chris Jericho
Dammit that glowing jacket is back! They lock up to start, but are equal to each other for once. Note that Jericho has not beaten Cena in ten years up to this point. Back from the break and Cena comes back briefly before Jericho takes over again. Suplex counter by Cena but Cena ends up in a submission position… scrap that as it turns into a headlock. Here we go, the Five Moves of Doom take Jericho out. Oh wait Jericho counters but Cena goes for the AA. That fails and the five knuckle shuffle is completed. Here’s Big Show to interfere as Jericho has Cena in the Walls of Jericho. But a Show leg drop on Cena causes the DQ. What a surprise! Basic matchup overall which is standard for Cena matches anyway.
Chokeslam and camel clutch by Show ends the show. Pun intended.
Overall: C+ Weird episode tonight but ultimately, I enjoyed large parts of it. The opening triple threat match was a great match to start with and the advancement of the AJ story is intriguing me. I hope the payoff is soon though but it looks like Kane may be out of the picture now at least. Sid being back for a night was a memorable moment but damn he has aged! With the Money in the Bank PPV now being built, lets hope WWE builds this up strongly.
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