The brief video package from Extreme Rules is great. After that, Laurinitis starts out Raw by saying how much better everything is because of him. He introduces Lesnar, but HHH interrupts him, and the crowd goes wild! I love Triple H so much – despite all the shit he's done backstage, he's a phenomenal performer. He dismantles everything that Laurinitis promised Lesnar last week, saying that Laurinitis overstepped his bounds. This is fantastic, and everytime HHH says “Brock” I think he's going to say “brah.” It's also very enjoyable when HHH tells Laurinitis to shut up, but he gets distracted long enough for Brock to attack him from behind, eventually getting him in a Kimura. The midcard faces (Big Show, R-Truth and Kofi) plus Sheamus come to his rescue, and they're selling it like Triple H broke his arm. After the break, it's revealed that Lesnar may have dislocated his elbow.
Tonight they're going to determine the number one contender to the WWE Champion in a beat the clock challenge. The first match is Santino vs. The Miz, whose jacket is awesome – it looks like it's inspired by Ezio Auditore. I like the beat the clock challenges, it inverts the normal amount of time the superstars usually get – the midcarders get longer than the main eventers. This is a good match, with the Miz setting the time to beat at 4:18.
The next match is a triple threat match for the Divas championship, between the Bellas and Layla. Layla dropkicks the Bellas, then pins one of them in about five seconds. It looks like the length of Divas matches is back to normal. They don't waste any time before introducing Jericho for his Beat the Clock match. Not much happened during that segment. After the break we get to see that Jericho is facing Big Show. This is a good match, mostly on Jericho's side, though Big Show puts Jericho in an impressive small package. Big Show goes for the WMD, which Jericho dodges and goes for the Codebreaker, which is countered and Jericho gets tossed out of the ring, pulling Big Show with him. Jericho wins by ten count, but it's unclear if he beat the time. After the break they show that Jericho just barely didn't make it in time, and the Miz is still the time to beat.
Next match is Brodus Clay, whose entrance is starting to drag on a bit too much, against JTG, who I forgot existed. This is not part of the Beat the Clock challenge. JTG has a brief moment after he hits a low blow and then later after he knocks him down at the knee, but Brodus stays in control for the most part. Brodus wins off a big splash. They then show the Cena video package from Extreme Rules, followed by a recap of Lesnar attacking HHH. There's a segment between Eve and Laurinitis, with Eve saying that Laurinitis needs to be a leader. He then says that he knows who Cena's next opponent will be, saying that Cena won't like it.
Next is another Beat the Clock match, this time with Randy Orton facing Jack Swagger. Clearly Orton is going to win, the question is how fast he does it. Swagger does get an impressive distance on a Swagger Bomb, and there is some very good back and forth. I'm shocked when Swagger counters the RKO into a Ankle Lock, but Orton gets out of it and hits an RKO for the win, setting the new time as 4:16.
Up next is Epico and Primo vs. R-Truth and Kofi for the Tag Team Championship. They couldn't have found time for a Tag Team Championship match at Extreme Rules? I do enjoy how Primo mimes punting Little Jimmy, leading to R-Truth going berserk on him and gaining control. The commentary reveals how much they care about the match – instead of talking about the match, they talk about how the Bellas were fired and Triple H's arm is broken. Epico and Primo are in control on R-Truth after the commercials, but Kofi gets tagged in, eventually winning off a Trouble in Paradise. Backstage after the commercials, Epico, Primo and Rosa agree to be represented by Abraham Washington.
I don't want to watch this long of a match between Kane and Khali. Kane can pull it off, but Khali will get boring fast. They run out the time, and the crowd starts booing. They are clearly as impressed as I am.
The final Beat the Clock match is Daniel Bryan vs... Jerry Lawler. Seriously? The crowd is as bored with this as I am, hardly making any noise at all. Lawler is doing a very good job, and it's clear why he used to be one of the best in the world, but I'm pretty sure it's Bryan who's going to win. I'm not sad about this, as Bryan and Punk are amazing together. Unsurprisingly, Bryan gets Lawler into the Yes Lock for the win and will face Punk for the WWE Championship at Over the Limit in three weeks.
Cena comes out after the break to almost universal applause and with his arm in a sling. He gets a brief promo along the same lines as his promos against The Rock. Laurinitis comes out, claiming that he was trying to motivate Cena when he was calling Brock the new face of the company. Cena's great in this promo, leading up to Laurinitis introducing Lord Tensai as his opponent at Over the Limit, but then surprising us by hit Cena with a mic and announcing himself as Cena's next opponent. They then finish the episode by beating on Cena's bad arm.
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