It is safe to say this show was doomed right from the beginning.
Due to a fire, caused by the pyro test at the beginning, the arena had to be evacuated before the show started. I will however, give major props to the WWE for getting all of the fans back into the arena before the show went live on USA.
Even though the WWE did not use any pyro throughout the show, it seemed to go off without a hitch.
As for the show itself, I feel it was a let down.
There was a lot of fantastic wrestling, however, it just seemed to be missing something.
I will touch on that a little more, so let us get right into the recap.
The show started off with CM Punk coming out, to a huge pop, to address the crowd and Jerry Lawler's comments from Raw 1000, saying he "turned his back on the WWE Universe." Punk cut a very good promo here. This wasn't the "pipe bomb" type promo that everyone was expecting but one that made Punk look like he didn't make the complete heel turn. Punk basically states that The Rock was gifted the title shot and that The Rock feels that he is better than Punk. Punk also stated that The Rock was lucky that he didn't "drop him" then. The Big Show then came down and interrupted Punk. The Big Show basically said that the only reason Punk is still the champion is because of him. He almost tapped out until Show did what he did. The Big Show vows to become the next champion. Cena runs out and goes after The Big Show. Show shoves Cena away and heads out up the ramp.
Justin Roberts is in the ring to announce the new Raw GM, AJ Lee, who I must say, is a flatout dime piece. That woman is phenomenal. AJ says that her first decision as GM is regarding the main event, Cena v The Big Show for the #1 contender and winner gets a title shot at Summerslam.
Next up was the United States Champion, Santino Marella vs Alberto Del Rio in a non-title match. Go figure. I am truly getting sick and tired of Santino not defending this damn title. It is getting ridiculous. Del Rio gets the victory in this ok match. Del Rio stood over a defeated Marella and stated that he will no longer wrestle in anymore matches, unless it is for the World Championship.
Brodus Clay was in the ring dancing with the Funkadactyls when Vickie comes out. She wants to show them how to dance. Honestly, I felt I was in hell during this segment. Vickie looked like she was having a seizure while dancing. This was freaking atrocious. For once in my life I was thankful that Damien Sandow came to the ring. He revisits the ass beating he received from DX last week. Sandow then attacks Clay by stomping and kicking him. He did break the necklace that Clay always wears as well.
Bryan is outside of AJ's office. He musters up the courage to go in there and confront her. AJ lays down the law saying she wants to start fresh. She in turn makes a match against Sheamus in a match type that the WWE Universe can vote on. It turned out to be a Street Fight that was voted on. This was by far the best match of the night. Both Sheamus and Bryan did really well and they worked well together. They continued to fight all over, in the ring, up the ramp, etc. The steps were tossed into the ring, they used kendo sticks. This was a great match. As Sheamus was setting up for the White Noise on the steps, in the ring, Bryan countered and sent Sheamus into the ropes. Sheamus came back and blasted Bryan with the Brogue Kick. Sheamus pulled Bryan off the steps, to the mat and pinned him for the win.
After this, Bryan was still in the middle of the ring. This was all crazy crap. R-Truth and Kofi come down with Little Jimmy into the ring. Bryan, who was still upset ends up kicking the imaginary person, Little Jimmy, out of the ring. Then 4 men, in white coats come down to take the crazy person, R-Truth away. Then AJ comes out and states that Bryan is the one they need to take for a psychiatric evaluation.
Titus O'Neil w/ Darren Young & AW come to the ring as he is set up to face Kofi. This match wasn't that great as Titus gets the victory.
Punk and Cena are in the back and Punk is explaining his actions to Cena and tells him that he doesn't care who wins tonight, then leaves.
Heath Slater is in the ring and calls out any current WWE Superstar since the legends went back to the retirement home. Out came the Viper, Randy Orton. Orton received a massive pop from the crowd in Cincinnati. Orton, fresh off of suspension came out and pretty much destroyed Slater after hitting him with the RKO. It was great to see Orton back on Raw.
Bryan is shown talking to a doctor and says he doesn't need a mental exam, but the fans and AJ do. There was too much of this crap in this episode.
Next up was a tag match with Christian & Chris Jericho vs The Miz & Dolph Ziggler (w/ Vickie Guerrero). This was a pretty solid match as well. There was a lot of good spots with these guys. I definitely enjoyed this match. The match ended when Jericho hit the Codebreaker on the Miz and got the pin. Dolph then ran into the ring and nailed Jericho with the briefcase.
More Bryan and doctor crap.
Tensai was in the ring. His feud with Tyson Kidd was set to continue when Kidd made his entrance. This match wasn't too bad as Kidd did tease a couple roll ups for the win. However, as Kidd hit a somersault neckbreaker, Tensai was able to regain his composure and blasted Kidd with a chokeslam and a running senton. After the bell, Tensai continued to beat down Kidd and referee reversed his decision to give Kidd the victory.
Once again, more Bryan and doctor crap.
The #1 contender match was up now with The Big Show v John Cena. Punk did come out to do commentary for this match. There was some good physicality in this match between Cena and Show. The Big Show did land some big shots to Cena, but of course, he shrugged everything off. Cena received some solid shots and the same can definitely be said for The Big Show. Cena delivered the Five Knuckle Shuffle but then ran into a massive chokeslam. To nobodies surprise, Cena kicked out. Cena gets laid out with a punch from The Big Show on the outside of the ring. The ref gets to the 9 count and Cena gets back into the ring. The two continue to fight when The Big Show sends Cena right into Punk. The Show sets up for the WMD, Cena ducks the massive punch then gets the Show up for the AA. Punk runs in and clobbers Show as the ref rings the bell. Punk heads back to the announcers table, grabs his title and a microphone, and states that both guys are losers. He heads backstage when AJ comes out, walking past Punk and AJ says that Punk was wrong because they were winners. She said they were winners because Punk will defend his title at Summerslam in a triple threat match against John Cena and The Big Show. Punk comes back out and demands respect from AJ as he yells at her.
The show went off the air. John Laurinaitis then comes out and tries to nail Cena with a chair but Cena delivers the AA to Johnny boy.
Overall, this was a pretty solid show.
I do have to bitch at the fact there were too many replays and segments with Bryan and the doctors. They easily could have replaced that crap with Rey Mysterio, Ryback, Divas, something for Christ sake other than what we got. I would give this show a 7.5/10, even though I am not a fan of the three hour Raw shows.
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