To start this three hour edition of Raw, there's Teddy Long introducing Cena, who has a new Titantron to match his new shirt. A whole lot of green. It looks like they're starting the show with the contract signing between him and Brock Lesnar. At least they're getting it out of the way quickly, as Teddy Long introduces Lesnar. Instead Laurinitis comes out, saying that Lesnar isn't there yet and tells Teddy to tell Cena to get out of the ring. As he continues talking, he's interrupted by the sweetest sound of all: you think you know me. Edge is there, and I am shocked. He explains that he's there to talk to John Cena – not as he is now, but as he was when they were rivals. He is pushing Cena because he says that he has to beat Lesnar, because Lesnar doesn't care about the business, while it's been both Edge and Cena's life since childhood. This is why Edge is one of the best and why he definitely deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.
After the break, we get the first match of the night: Jericho vs. Kofi Kingston. They need to decide how they're going to use Kofi – he was getting a solid push for a while, but he's back to jobbing for the main eventers. He does have a very strong showing here, taking control of the match and having a great move where he aborts a suicide dive by grabbing the ropes. Jericho gains control after hitting Kofi in the eyes. Kofi briefly regains control for a near fall, but Jericho has a great counter. Jericho tries to dive on Kofi in the corner, but gets thrown out of the ring for his trouble, followed by a dive from Kofi. There's some more great back and forth after the commercial, culminating in a Boom Drop. Instead of going for a cover, he goes for a Trouble In Paradise, which Jericho counters, leading to a huge Codebreaker and the Walls of Jericho for the win. Jericho then has a brief promo.
There's a segment after the break where Eve becomes Johnny Ace's secretary. Then they show the Lesnar video, which is good as far as these packages go. This is a good character for Lesnar – he's not very skilled on the mic, so treating it like a business and showing disdain for Cena is a good way to go.
They then show the gift that Jericho gave Punk which is, predictably, liquor. Punk then passes it on to Josh atthews, who seems happy to take it off his hands.
Next match is R-Truth vs. Lord Tensai. I really want to be interested in Tensai, but he just isn't very interesting. The WWE doesn't need another Monster Heel. I'm also not a fan of the hissing he does during the match. It's not intimidating, just annoying.
Kane gets some mic time before the next match, leading to Orton threatening Paul Bearer. Kane then says he doesn't care what happens to Paul, and starts to leave when Orton attacks him and beats him with a pipe. A good segment, the only bad thing is that Paul Bearer didn't get a chance to speak.
After the break, Alex Riley leads Jericho to CM Punk's locker room, where Punk is apparently drinking. Don't know how I feel about that, I was hoping that Punk would smash that bottle over Jericho's head.
The next match is Cody Rhodes and Alberto Del Rio vs. Big Show and Khali. It starts with Cody and Khali in the ring, with Khali starting out in control. Rhodes and Del Rio do a good job of selling for Khali, despite the fact that he can barely move. After the match Big Show gets tagged in, and Ricardo interferes almost causing him to be counted out. Cody Rhodes and Alberto tag out repeatedly, wearing Big Show down until Rhodes gets Big Show in a figure four leglock. Big Show slaps his way out, then kicks out of a near fall. Del Rio abandons Rhodes, leading to Khali getting the head chop followed by Big Show's choke slam for the win.
Right after the break, Jericho tries to convince Laurinitis to strip CM Punk of his belt because he was drinking. Laurinitis agrees to submit him to a field sobriety test. Lesnar then finally arrives, and attacks Josh Matthews, who was trying to interview him.
The next match is for the Divas Championship, between a Bella and Beth Phoenix. Eve comes out to announce it will be a “Lumberjill” match. Whichever Bella is in there does a decent job, but Beth Phoenix is simply a better wrestler – it's just not believable for either of the Bellas to win. After Nikki gets thrown out, Beth follows and lands badly, hurting her ankle. After she gets thrown back in, Nikki rolls her up for the win, further degrading the Divas Championship.
Afterwards, we get to see Punk pretend to be drunk and do a pretty bad job of it. Following the break, Jericho comes out allegedly to make sure Teddy Long does it correctly. When Punk is introduced, he comes out pretending to be drunk again. He actually is doing a good imitation this time – he's probably had plenty of experience watching his friends get drunk. Possibly the most amusing part is where he hands his mic to a cop so he can pose on the ring post, though him putting the gum on the ring post is hilarious. CM Drunk is kind of funny. He is almost forced to give up his title, but Punk reveals he was faking it the entire time and does the backwards alphabet and walking the line easily. He then jumps Jericho, kicking his ass all the way up the ramp.
The next match is Sheamus vs. Mark Henry, with Daniel Bryan as special ref. Daniel Bryan spends most of the match trying to tempt Sheamus into punching him. This distracts him long enough for Mark Henry to knock him down so Bryan can do a fast count to give him the win. After the match Sheamus attacks Bryan after he takes off the ref shirt, leading to the both getting back in the ring. Sheamus Brogue Kicks Henry, and then Bryan gets Sheamus into the Yes Lock. After the break Sheamus briefly talks about how Daniel Bryan should be praying before their match Sunday.
Next up is Epico and Primo vs Zack Ryder and Santino. It's good that they're all getting screen time, and this is a decent match, if a bit short. Santino gets his Five Moves in, with a great recovery after getting hit by a drop kick to respond with a Cobra for the win. Following the break, we find Kane going into the freezer to save Paul Bearer. Except that he just takes the tape off his mouth, then rolls him right back into the freezer. Then we see Epico and Primo talk to AW, who offers the some advice.
Next match is Brodus Clay and Hornswoggle vs. American Perfection. I feel bad for the live audience. Did they have to watch Brodus and Hornswoggle dance through the entire commercial break? Ziggler and Hornswoggle start off the match – Hornswoggle gets a huracanrana on Ziggler, giving him time to tag in Brodus. He then takes control, manhandling Ziggler and Swagger. Vickie slaps Brodus, causing American Perfection to get disqualified. It all ends with Hornswoggle biting Vickie on the ass. That's disappointing, to say the least.
Finally we get to the contract signing. Laurinitis and Lesnar come out, then Cena doesn't come out when his theme plays. Because Cena doesn't come out, Lesnar starts making demands of Laurinitis. Lesnar is really being a bully this time, and that's really getting played up here. Oddly enough, I actually feel some sympathy for Laurinitis here. He gets a lot less sympathy from me when he caves in and agrees to his ridiculous list of demands. Cena finally comes out after Brock signs the Extreme Rules contract. He acts very skittish, wrapping his chain around his knuckles and hesitating about signing the contract. Cena seems to have lost his confidence, looking like he's afraid of Lesnar.
Another good episode of Raw, with a surprisingly good contract signing.
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