WWE Raw 4/30/2012

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.

WWE Raw 4/23/2012

Tonight: a contract signing and the worst moonwalk ever!

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.

WWE Raw 4/16/2012

Tonight on Raw: I don't have the presence of mind to summarize right now!

Wow, Brock Lesnar already made it to the opening! We start out with what should be the main event – CM Punk vs Mark Henry, No DQ, No count out for the WWE Championship. Mark Henry gets the jobber's entrance – starting in the ring, no music or anything. It follows the same story as the previous two weeks – Punk struggling to get control, only for Henry to do a big move. They go out of the ring fairly early, taking advantage of the fact that there are no count outs. The crowd is great, really helping the feel of the match. Punk goes to the top rope, which Henry counters to a World's Strongest Slam, which is countered to a drop kick. Punk manages to get a chair drop off the top rope for the pin.

Jericho comes on the titantron, announcing that he has a title shot at Extreme Rules in a Chicago Street Fight. He then shows footage of Punk going into a pub, as Jericho continues to say that he's going to turn Punk into an alcoholic.

After the break we get R-Truth as Sherlock, talking to Little Jimmy Watson and saying his job is to find Teddy Long a job. Santino goes through an act of wearing a number of football shirts, going through a number of non-local (to London, where Raw is tonight) teams before getting to England and getting cheered. The crowd clearly enjoyed it. He's facing Otunga for the US Championship. Otunga counters Santino's split dodge, then gets a two count. Then Santino uses that dodge successfully, going into his Five Moves and hitting the Cobra for the win.

Lord Tensai has a brief promo, saying that he should be the one that we should fear. After the commercial is Lesnar's promo, where he reveals that his match against Cena is going to be a Hardcore match. After that is Kane vs. Zack Ryder. Kane kicks Ryder off the apron before the bell even rings, not allowing Ryder to catch a breath at all. Ryder gets in the ring just to get a Chokeslam from Hell. Kane then grabs a mic while Ryder's out, ignoring Ryder in favor of insulting Randy Orton.

There's a great promo between Daniel Bryan, AJ and Kofi Kingston in which Bryan renames the Lebelle lock to the Yes Lock. Because when the ref asks if you want to submit, that's what you'll say.

Cena comes out to his usual reaction along with the dueling chants. He says that he is scared, but he will fight regardless. I like this new direction for Cena – the underdog who will fight no matter the odds. Laurinitis comes out, and I can barely here his first few lines because of the deafening boos from the crowd. He stumbles over a line, but he's still a great heel. He's not perfect, and isn't at Vince McMahon's level yet, but he could get there.

After the break, they show Hornswoggle reading a book when Truth comes out of a secret door next to him. This is pretty good. This is followed by Bryan vs. Kingston. Bryan gains control early, and just wears down Kingston for most of the match. At one point he simply stands on Kingston's throat, and it looks incredibly painful. Kofi hits the Boom Drop, but the follow up Trouble In Paradise is countered. Daniel Bryan eventually locks in the Yes Lock for the win. He puts Kofi in the Yes Lock again after the bell, but Sheamus comes to save him, though Bryan dodges the Brogue Kick.

Somebody call my Mama, the Funkasaurus is here! And he's facing Dolph Ziggler, accompanied by Vickie Guerrero and Jack Swagger as always. Sadly the match is short because the ref catches Swagger interfering, giving Brodus the victory through DQ.

After another visit from R-Holmes, there's Epico and Primo vs. Big Show and Khali. Epico and Primo will have to move twice as much to have an average amount of movement in this match. AW comes out to... well, to watch the match. It looks like he's going to be a new manager, possibly feuding with Vickie Guerrero? E&P try to leave, but Big Show tosses them back in the ring. They hit a simultaneous Chokeslam and Punjabi Plunge for the win.

And now we get the final match, an extreme rules match between John Cena and a mystery opponent. Cena actually gets more cheers than he usually does. Laurinitis comes out to announce that his opponent is Lord Tensai. I'm glad he's getting pushed this quickly. I had started getting bored of his matches already – another monster heel that was only in squash matches. I do find it amusing that his “tattoos” are messed up tonight.

Tensai is pretty dominant early on, tossing Cena around the ring pretty easily. Cena goes for a Five Knuckle Shuffle, which Tensai counters and hits Cena with the backsplash. He moves it into a ground submission, which Cena counters into the STF. Otunga interferes, then Tensai uses the poison mist spray to blind Cena and pin him for the win. I'm disappointed that Tensai didn't go to torture Cena afterwards.

A good episode, though I'm not sure how I feel about Lord Tensai now.

WWE Raw 4/9/2012

Tonight: Lesnar, Tensbert, Jerichohol, CM Drunk.

I am very sad. The new Stooges are going to be guest starring. I am cheered up when Laurinitis comes up, now with his own theme. It's very appropriate. He's out to introduce Brock Lesnar, saying he is the new face of the WWE and will bring legitimacy back to the business. Lesnar gets a lot of heat immediately by thanking Laurinitis for bringing him back, leading to Cena (mostly) getting cheered when he comes out. Cena simply slaps Lesnar, leading to a tackle and a brawl. Everyone comes out to try to stop it, though it doesn't work well. Cena starts bleeding from the mouth, and I'm enjoying this a surprising amount. They have to drag Lesnar out of the ring. This is how you start a feud!

Laurinitis is blaming Teddy Long for not keeping Cena in control, and then Eve comes in to try and talk to him. Up next is Santino and Brodus Clay vs. American Perfection. Santino and Brodus make a fantastic team. Santino and Ziggler start out the match, though they tag out fairly early. Swagger and Santino are in the ring, with Swagger in solid control when he tags in Ziggler. Santino gets the tag, and Brodus crushes Ziggler for the win. After the match we go backstage to Miz trying to talk to Laurinitis, who blows him off. Teddy then brings Cena in, who has a nice brief promo, then insists that he gets put in a match. Laurinitis obliges, putting hi in a match with... Otunga. Yeah, cause he's a threat... Then there's a brief segment of Santino looking for the Stooges.

After the break, he finds Kane. Kane simply stares him down until he retreats. The next match is R-Truth vs. Cody Rhodes. Two great wrestlers, but I'm really hoping that Big Show comes out to taunt Rhodes again. Rhodes hits Truth with an Alabama Slam, and out comes Big Show! He shows him a video of him showing the Wrestlemania clip from last week. Truth hits the Little Jimmy for the win. I'm really enjoying this feud. I hope they do this one more time – recursive embarrassment! A video of him showing a video of him showing a clip! Sadly, next is Santino finding the “Stooges.” It's pretty much as awful as I imagined it would be. The only one who does a decent impression is Curly.

The next match is Lord Tensai facing Yoshi Tatsu. Or, rather, Lord Tensai crushing Yoshi Tatsu. As expected, Tensai takes control immediately. The crowd chants Albert at him, which I find pretty amusing. The ref stops the match, and Tensbert hits Tatsu with the claw. I think that the Tensai gimmick has potential, but there are too many monster heels already. And his gimmick is essentially the Mighty Whitey. It could have led to a fun feud with Yoshi Tatsu, but they'd have to build up Tatsu first, which they clearly aren't willing to do.

After we return there's a recap of the events between Punk and Jericho last week. It's amazing how quickly everyone came out to the ring for Cena and Lesnar, but nobody came out for Jericho and Punk or Tensbert and Tatsu. Punk comes out for his match, but first he comes to the center of the ring and talks about what happened last week. He talks about how proud he is of being straight edge, and how he never wanted anyone to feel sorry for him. I'm glad that they're bringing up the fact that he's straight edge as a positive – he's a better role model than Steve Austin ever was. He brings up the fact that Jericho tapped out at Wrestlemania, which is great. There need to be more submissions in the WWE, which is why I'm a Daniel Bryan fan.

Jericho interrupts him, claiming that Punk is hungover or drunk. He finally calls Punk “CM Drunk” which I've been waiting for. Punk says it's no longer about being the best in the world, and is now about kicking Jericho's ass. Then out comes Mark Henry to face Punk for the title. The match is over moments after the break ends, when Punk hits Henry with one of the monitors on the announce table. Punk goes to hit Henry with it again, but is distracted by Jericho long enough for Henry to regain control and hit two World Strongest Slams. Jericho has two 24 packs of generic looking beer. He pulls out one and opens it, but Punk gets up and tackles Jericho. Jericho hits Punk with a Codebreaker, then starts dumping cans on Punk in the center of the ring. Refs only come out to stop him after he's already dumped six or seven cans on him. Jericho then takes the opportunity to hit Punk with another Codebreaker, knocking Punk out.

Next is Zack Ryder vs. Alberto Del Rio. Del Rio is in control for the early part of the match, until Ryder gets a nice counter in the corner leading to a Broski Boot. Del Rio counters the Rough Ryder and hits the Cross Arm Breaker for the win.

The Stooges come out to a pretty terrible reception. Nobody is happy, and it only gets worse when “Curly” comes out dressed as Hulk Hogan. While he does a surprisingly good impression, the crowd is having none of it. Everyone's happy when Kane comes out. It's pretty good when Kane chokeslams “Curly,” but this segment was a waste of everyone's time.

Lesnar gets a good promo, though his voice still sounds weird coming out of him. It's weirdly high and nasal. It's followed by a fantastic video of HHH vs. Undertaker at Wrestlemania. That is the match that I'm sad I didn't see.

The Cena/Otunga match is accompanied by the deafening duelling Cena chants. Otunga puts up a good fight – I particularly like his elbows off the center of the ropes. Otunga has really improved over the past year. I can almost believe that Otunga could win briefly. However, Cena turns it around to hit the AA and STF. Lesnar then sneaks in and hits a low blow on Cena, followed by an F5.

Overall this was a good episode. The Stooge segments were about the same quality as the Divas match it replaced.

WWE Raw 4/2/2012

Tonight: A lackluster debut, some great matches, and a fantastic return.

The show opens with Johnny Ace addressing the WWE superstars and divas in a fine segment, showing off how his reign will go by setting up Santino vs Ziggler and Swagger for that championship, and Punk vs. Henry for the WWE championship. Punk sets himself up as the new Stone Cold.

First up on the actual show is The Rock, coming out to celebrate after his victory last night. He says it was an honor immediately after dismissing the STF. He also guarantees that this is only the beginning, though I expect he won't be back until next year's Road to Wrestlemania. This is a good promo, and he seems to have gotten some of his old energy back after the match last night, even if he stumbles over his words a few times. He goes onto say that he will be WWE Champion, which is an interesting idea. It's probably what he'll do at next year's Wrestlemania.

Next up is the triple threat match for the US Championship, between Santino, Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler. It starts strong, with Ziggler and Swagger teaming up on Santino and keeping control through the commercial break except for some brief moments where Santino gets control. Ziggler counters a Cobra for the near fall, which leads Swagger and Ziggler to start fighting each other. This allows Santino to hit Swagger with the Cobra for the win. American Perfection go to attack him, only for Brodus Clay to defend him. Santino dances with him, and I desperately want them to become a tag team.

Next is the somewhat anticlimactic introduction of Lord Tensai. They couldn't have had him come in for a storyline? His appearance doesn't have the same shock value as Brodus's return. Still, this is a good enough squash match. Oh yeah, he's squashing Alex Riley. It showcases his personality, refusing to pin and just tormenting Riley. It has the odd effect of getting the crowd to chant for Riley. That wasn't a very successful introduction.

They've been showing recaps of Cena saying that he needed to win. They're really stressing how Cena's lost everything, and I'm curious what's going to happen.

CM Punk vs Mark Henry is up next, and Punk is selling injuries received last night against Jericho. Henry is mostly in control here, though it is clear that it's because Punk is still recovering from last night. The Bryan “Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!” chant starts up again, for the third or fourth time tonight. If the WWE was trying to turn both Sheamus and Bryan last night, they may have succeeded. Punk counters a bear hug into a DDT for a near fall. Henry breaks the pin by tossing Punk away, which is my favorite way of breaking a pin. Punk keeps gaining control briefly, only to be stopped by some very good counters from Mark Henry. They come back from the break for another great example of one of Henry's counters.

This crowd is in revolt! They start chanting Daniel Bryan while Henry has Punk in a hold, though they start chanting for Punk before the hold is broken. Punk manages to knock Henry down and hit the Macho Elbow, injuring himself in the process. Punk goes for the bulldog, except Henry counters by throwing Punk out of the ring, leading to a countout and the victory for Henry, though he doesn't gain the title. And then the crowd starts chanting for Lesnar.

Laurinitis says that Punk will be defending the belt more often. Then Jericho comes out and dumps some Jack Daniels on Punk's face. He goes on to smash another bottle on Punk's head. This feud clearly isn't over, that much is clear.

After the break, there's a recap of the “match” between Sheamus and Daniel Bryan, leading to Sheamus entering to deafening boos. Before he gets to say anything, Alberto Del Rio enters to a more favorable reaction. That's... kind of shocking. And the crowd starts chanting “Si! Si! Si! Si!” Del Rio tries to talk, but can barely be heard over the Daniel Bryan chants. Sheamus starts talking, and gets boos again. Del Rio and Sheamus have a match Friday, but Del Rio's mic keeps cutting out. When he goes to switch mics, Sheamus surprises him with a Brogue Kick. That's... really a dick move. Only Orton can get away with doing something like that. They go backstage to Josh Matthews and Daniel Bryan. Matthews asks what he's feeling, and Bryan just stares him down.

More pictures from Wrestlemania, then Cody Rhodes comes out with a new entrance jacket. It looks good. He's facing Kofi Kingston. Rhodes is looking more serious than he has since he ditched the mask. Big Show comes out midway through the match to present an embarrassing Wrestlemania moment for Cody Rhodes. Kofi hits a Trouble in Paradise thanks to the distraction for the win.

It looks like Mark Henry is going to get a manager, which is good because he isn't the best talker. Then Eve comes out, clearly looking to get on Johnny Ace's good side.

The next match is The Miz against Zack Ryder. For those who don't know, The Miz is the one who beat Ryder last night to give Team Johnny the win. Miz starts out taunting Ryder, which Ryder takes advantage of and takes control for a while. Miz counters and gains control briefly, though Ryder retakes control, hitting the Broski Boot for a near fall. The Miz ends up hitting a Skullcrushing Finale for the win.

Cena comes out after the break, with the crowd back to booing him. He teases a heel turn, though he obviously doesn't follow through. He goes on to say that he isn't there to call out The Rock, to be interrupted by a “We want Lesnar” chant. He does invite the Rock to the ring so he can show his respect. He keeps getting interrupted by the crowd, though – with both the “We want Lesnar” and “Daniel Bryan” chants. And then, when Cena invites Rock out again, Brock Lesnar comes out and the crowd goes berserk. Lesnar offers Cena his hand, then hits him with an F5.

Overall, this was a good and very strange show. The crowd was hostile, but the matches were solid.