mobanmarketWWE Raw 1/16
We are live in: Anaheim, California
Commentators: Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler
_______________________________________________
Before the show starts we get a small tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in honor of it being his birthday.
Raw intro plays.
Justin Roberts starts the show by calling out Mick Foley.
Foley heads down to the ring.
Tonight, CM Punk and Daniel Bryan take on Mark Henry and Dolph Ziggler in tag team action.
Cole also lets us know that Zack Ryder is set to defend the U.S. Championship against Jack Swagger, but due to last week’s assault by Kane we’re not sure if Ryder medically cleared yet.
Foley has a microphone in his hand. He says he’s here tonight for two very simple reasons. For one, he would never bypass the opportunity to spend a day at Disney Land right here in Anaheim, California. Secondly, a few months ago he was content to be in a nonphysical role such as Santa Claus on Smackdown or the “This Is Your Life: John Cena” segment. He had no problem appearing in those roles because he had the opportunity to live out every single one of his dreams by competing in WWE. That includes headlining WrestleMania in Anaheim with his wife and kids in attendance. He has one more dream though. He has two more kids now, and those kids were too young to see their dad in the ring. It would mean a lot to him if his kids would have the opportunity to see dad in the ring one more time. Which is why his second reason for being here is that it is his intention to be one of the thirty contestants at the 2012 Royal Rumble match.
Vickie Guerrero: “Excuse me! EXCUSE ME! I SAID EXCUSE ME!”
Vickie Guerrero and Dolph Ziggler appear at the top of the ramp.
Vickie tells Foley to welcome the next WWE Champion, Dolph Ziggler.
Vickie and Dolph enter the ring. Ziggler has a microphone.
Dolph says there are thirty precious spots into the Royal Rumble, and he wants to just show up and take one?
Mick Foley: “Yes!”
He really wants to snub a superstar who has worked all year long, who has wanted their one dream to go to WrestleMania; he wants to take their spot just so he can show off for his snotty, bratty kids and make a fool of himself one last time?
Mick Foley: “Yes!”
Ziggler says he knows Foley does standup comedy, and he even went to one of his shows. If this is one of his bits, he gets it, it’s funny. But if it’s not, his shot at the Rumble would go like this.
Ziggler starts acting like one of Foley’s kids.
Dolph Ziggler: “Yay! Our daddy is in the Royal Ru-awww, he’s over the top rope. Well, our life’s complete! Back to school to get beat up, hope dad didn’t eat our lunches again.”
Foley says that’s good, and that could happen. He could walk in, be eliminated, and look at it as the biggest mistake of his life. That’s one of the elements that he loves about the Rumble, you can’t predict it. There’s an element of danger and even magic in the air. Who’s to say that things might not turn out differently? Who’s to say that he might draw a number in his favor, who’s to say that the same magic that existed on three different occasions when he became the WWE Champion, won’t be in the air that night at the Rumble. He does wants to perform in front of his two children. They would love to see dad give his very best. But if he thinks he’s just in it to participate, to be one of thirty members, he’s looking at him the wrong way. His aspirations are a bit more ambitious. He’s not just in the Rumble to be in it. He’s in the Rumble to win it!
Dolph says that’s great, Mick. That’s what every superstar wishes for. That’s why he works all year long to do, to prove himself. Last week he beat John Cena, he literally ran out of there. He beat CM Punk two weeks in a row. He can’t believe that Foley’s out here. He can’t think that when he defeats CM Punk to become the WWE Champion, he can’t think of a bigger letdown at WrestleMania if by some miracle he were to win the Royal Rumble match and he was forced to defend against an out of shape, has been, was-never-that-good-to-begin-with, glorified stunt man, walking punch man that he is! Foley didn’t just come here to make two points. He came to make one more. He came to make a fool of himself one last time. And for one in his entire career he succeeded. So he’s going to say this as straight as he possibly can: it’s over. Go home. Buy a new shirt, eat a salad, and JUST GO AWAY!
CM Punk’s music plays. Punk heads out and comes down to the ring with the WWE Championship in his hand. He also has a microphone. Punk tells Mick that it’s so good to see him RIGHT HERE in Anaheim, California!
Dolph Ziggler: “Of course it’s good to see Mick, you guys love each other, you get your clothes from the same homeless person on the street.”
Punk says it’s good to see Mick because he and Mick are a lot alike. They’re both unconventional. They don’t look, or talk, or try to fit into a mold like other WWE Superstars. Another thing they have in common is that they don’t hide behind a woman. They like to do all the talking themselves.
CM Punk: “A poor excuse for a woman, by the way.”
Another thing he and Mick has in common is that everything they’ve achieved, they earned. Unlike somebody wearing a pink shirt who also has a special guest referee in his back pocket for his title match at the Pay-Per-View. They’ve earned everything they’ve achieved unlike somebody who wears fake eyelashes, who spray tans, who puts highlights in his hair. Yes, he’s talking about the cross dressing poor excuse for a special guest referee and Vice President of Talent Relations and Interim Raw General Manager Johnny “nobody gives a crap about me” Laurinaitis. Even with that turd in the punchbowl of a referee, he will still be WWE Champion. You wanna know why? Because he’s the best wrestler in the world. So he thinks that at WrestleMania he’ll go on to fight the winner of the Royal Rumble match. He thinks it would be damn cool if it was Mick Foley.
Vickie says that somewhere between anorexia and grossly obese, there is a wrestler here by the name of Dolph Ziggler and he is so much smarter than you two!
Punk tells Vickie that if he was her, he wouldn’t be talking to anyone about eating disorders.
John Laurinaitis comes out to interrupt them. He has an announcement. He tells Punk to turn around and look at him. As guest referee, he assures Punk that he’ll be completely unbias. To show how fair he can be, he tells Foley that regarding his request to be in the 2012 Royal Rumble match, he’s taking it under consideration.
He pauses for a couple seconds.
He says he thought long and hard about it. He’s trying to do what’s right in this situation, and his answer is…no.
Laurinaitis leaves. Vickie goes up to Foley and laughs in his face.
We cut to backstage. Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne are heading to the ring for their match minus the Tag Team Titles. Cole and Lawler explain that Primo and Epico won the Tag Titles at a Live Event in Oakland, California on Sunday. The rematch for those titles is up next.
-Commercial Break-
Back from break, and all four participants are already in the ring.
Match #1
[Primo & Epico(c) vs. Evan Bourne & Kofi Kingston]
(-WWE Tag Team Championship Match)
Bourne and Epico start things off.
They show footage of the Live Event when Primo pinned Bourne to win the Tag Titles.
The bell sounds. Epico knocks Bourne down with a kick and a couple right hands. Snapmare to Bourne, but Evan lands on his feet, ducks a clothesline and rolls Epico into a sunset flip pin for a one count. Epico gets up and goes for another clothesline but Bourne ducks again, bounces off the ropes and connects with a headscissor takedown. Bourne lifts up Epico and twists the arm, but Epico kicks Bourne in the gut to stun him. Tag made to Primo. Both men whip Bourne into the ropes, but Evan manages to springboard off and attempt a crossbody on the champs, but Primo and Epico manage to catch Evan and hit a dual Fallaway slam. Primo kicks at Evan and punches him against the ropes. Primo tags Epico back in and holds him Evan’s arms back. Epico climbs up to the middle rope. Before he can try anything, Bourne knocks Primo back with an elbow, then grabs Epico with his legs and tosses him off with a hurricarana that knocks him right into Primo. Bourne crawls over to Kingston and tags him in. Kofi springs off the ropes and hits a double chop on both men. Kofi targets Epico and knocks him down with two handed chops, a dropkick, and a flying clothesline. Kingston runs around the ring, bounces off the ropes and hits the Boom Drop. Kofi goes for Trouble in Paradise, but Primo runs in to stop him. Kofi tosses him out of the ring and Epico take advantage of the distraction by rolling Kofi up for a two count.
Both men get up and Kingston manages to hit Trouble in Paradise on Epico. Kofi tags in Evan. Bourne goes for Air Bourne, but gets distracted by Primo attacking Kofi on the outside. Primo tosses Kofi into a turnbuckle post. Epico, now at his feet, pushes Bourne causing him to fall on the ropes. Bourne gets up in the ring, Epico grabs him from behind and hits the Backstabber for the three count.
[Winners via Pinfall and still Tag Team Champions: Primo & Epico]
Afterwards, Primo, Epico, and Rosa Mendes celebrate in the ring.
We cut to John Laurinaitis backstage texting on his phone. David Otunga walks over to John and hands him a manila envelope.
Laurinaitis tucks it in his suit pocket. Otunga mentions that “you know who” is at the door.
John says let him in. He talks to the man and says he’s in the main event. It’s now a six man tag team match. Mark Henry, Dolph Ziggler, and his assistant David Otunga take on WWE Champion CM Punk, World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan, and you.
The camera pans back and it’s Chris Jericho. Jericho smiles, turns the lights off in the room and turns on his light up jacket.
-Commercial Break-
We’re back with Cole and Lawler on screen. Cole mentions that the six man tag team match will be Jericho’s first match in over a year and a half.
Lawler adds that the envelope Laurinaitis received was a Doctor’s report on Zack Ryder’s condition.
We cut to backstage. Zack Ryder and Eve are talking to each other. Ryder’s ribs are bandaged up. Josh Matthews walks up to Zack to interview him. He asks if he’s been told that he’s medically cleared to compete.
He says no. Eve adds that there is no way he’s in any condition to compete tonight let alone defend his championship. He should be at home recuperating.
Zack says he’s heading to the ring right now. If anyone thinks he’s going to forfeit the title, they’re full of crap.
Eve: “Then i’m going with you.”
They leave.
We get a replay of what occurred last week on Raw between Kane, John Cena, and Zack Ryder.
Up next is the United States Championship match.
Jack Swagger comes down to the ring along with Vickie Guerrero.
We get a clip from last week when Punk scored a win over Swagger with a blown call by the referee (the “botched” ending). Laurinaitis has decided to give Swagger a title shot out of fairness.
-Commercial Break-
We’re back, and Zack Ryder comes out along with Eve.
Match #2
[Zack Ryder(c) vs. Jack Swagger]
(WWE United States Championship Match)
The bell sounds. Swagger takes down Ryder with a forearm to the back. He whips him to the ropes and hits a side slam. Swagger whips Ryder into a turnbuckle. Zack falls and Swagger pummels him with right hands. Swagger backs up and runs towards Ryder, but the champ is able to lifts his knees up and knocks Swagger in the face with them. Ryder jumps up to the middle rope and goes for a cross body, but Swagger catches him and hits a backbreaker. Swagger steps on Ryder’s back before hitting a corner slingshot splash. He covers for a two count. Swagger picks up Ryder and hits a Gutwrench Powerbomb for another two count. Swagger lifts Ryder up again and hits another Gutwrench Powerbomb for yet another two count. Swagger looks shocked. Swagger lands three elbows on Ryder’s back before lifting him up and hitting one more Gutwrench Powerbomb for the three count.
[Winner via Pinfall and NEW United States Champion: Jack Swagger]
Vickie and Swagger celebrate while Eve checks on Ryder.
Still to come, the main event six man tag team match.
-Commercial Break-
Back from break, and we get a replay of Swagger winning the U.S. Championship
We cut to backstage. Ryder, looking to be in a lot of pain, is getting checked on by a Doctor while Eve watches with concern. John Laurinaitis goes over to Zack and asks him if he’s okay. He tells Ryder that he’s sorry, but he should not have competed tonight. He was just notified about his condition a few minutes ago, and he was not medically cleared to compete.
John Laurinaitis: “I’m sorry. My bad.”
Eve yells at John for having someone not medically cleared compete in the ring.
John tells Eve to shut her mouth and show some respect for authority.
He walks away leaving Zack to get checked on.
Back in the ring, Justin Roberts announces a special guest ring announcer for the upcoming match. It’s none other than Perez Hilton.
Hilton heads down to the ring wearing an old school “Raw is War” t-shirt. He takes Robert’s microphone.
He says hello to the WWE Universe and he’s thankful for the warm welcome (he’s being booed). Up next is a Divas tag team match.
Kelly Kelly and Alicia Fox come out and head to the ring.
The Bella Twins come out as their opponents and head to the ring.
Match #3
[Kelly Kelly & Alicia Fox vs. The Bella Twins]
Perez exits the ring. The bell sounds and Kelly and Nicki start off. Nickie hits a knee to the gut and pulls Kelly’s hair down. She then drives Kelly into the turnbuckle with a shoulder ram and kicks her in the corner. Nicki goes for a clothesline, but Kelly avoids it and hits Nicki with a bulldog. She goes for the pin but Brie breaks it up. Alicia Fox tries to get involved but the referee holds her back. This allows Brie to pull Nicki away and replace her for a little Twin Magic. This time however Perez gets involve and he pulls Brie out of the ring. Brie yells at him.
Perez: “Don’t cheat! You’re cheating!”
Nicki gets up and yells at the two of them. Kelly manages to grab Nicki from behind and roll her up for the three count.
[Winners via Pinfall: Kelly Kelly & Alicia Fox]
Kelly, Alicia, and Perez celebrate in the ring. The Bellas head back in the ring and confront Perez about getting involved. Hilton puts his arms up, but Nicki simply pushes him and he falls flat on the ground. Kelly and Alicia protect him and the Bellas walk away.
Back to Cole and Lawler. They talk about the “accident” that occurred on Smackdown when Big Show ran into Daniel Bryan’s girlfriend AJ causing her to be carted out in a stretcher. We’ll hear more about it later tonight.
-Commercial Break-
Back from break and R-Truth comes out. He heads down to the ring. He grabs a microphone and goes to talk, but is interrupted by Wade Barrett.
Barrett comes down to the ring in his wrestling gear with a microphone.
He tells R-Truth to pardon the interruption, if that is his real name. His name is Wade Barrett. That’s a name that he’s going to hear announced very soon as the winner of the 2012 Royal Rumble match. This year there are thirty competitors, and let’s all thank God one of them is not that old git Mick Foley. He, on the other hand, is an official entrant. Apparently, so is this delusional, physically volatile lunatic that would be well served dressing in a straight jacket.
R-Truth: “‘Allo Guv’nor!”
Truth says Little Jimmy wants to know if anybody ever told him that he talks funny. Why so mad, Wade? Is it alright if he calls him Wade?
He looks to the fans.
R-Truth: “Don’t what me! Okay, you can what me.”
He tells Wade that they’re right across the street from the Happiest Place on Earth: Disney Land! He went there this morning, and it put a smile on his face. He misses Wade’s smile. He asks him if he wants to see his slideshow.
R-Truth: “I’m glad you axed!”
It started when he met Mickey and Minnie.
We see a photo shopped picture of R-Truth standing between Mickey and Minnie.
They’re like two peas in a pod. And then he met a REAL sitting duck. QUACK QUACK!
We get a picture of him with Donald Duck.
Wade asks what on earth does that have to do with anything?
Truth’s gonna tell him. The last one he met, Pinocchio.
We get a picture of Truth staring at Pinocchio.
Pinocchio told him that Wade was going to win the Royal Rumble match, and look what happened.
We see Pinocchio’s nose grow upward.
R-Truth: “I don’t even know if that’s PG.”
You see, he didn’t tell the truth, Wade. He lied. Truth believes a mouth can talk, and an elephant can fly. But he doesn’t believe for one second that he can win the Royal Rumble match. That’s the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but-
Miz suddenly appears and attacks Truth from behind. He knocks him down and lands a flurry of punches. Truth tries to fight back, but Barrett gets involved and the two double team him. Sheamus now comes out, runs down to the ring and knocks down Barrett and Miz. As Sheamus and Truth fight back, Barrett and Miz exit the ring and go to leave.
Teddy Long shows up on the ramp with a microphone. He says that it seems to him that Mr. Laurinaitis is a little busy tonight. Since this is a Supershow, he’s taking charge. Since the Royal Rumble match is every man for himself, we should have a little preview with an over the top rope challenge between the four of them. Last man standing in the ring wins.
The bell sounds.
Match #4
[The Miz vs. Wade Barrett vs. Sheamus vs. R-Truth]
(Over The Top Rope Challenge)
Barrett and Miz enter the ring. All four look at each other. Miz and Truth start fighting each other while Sheamus and Barrett brawl. Barrett and Sheamus trade lefts and rights in the turnbuckle while Truth and Miz try to eliminate each other over the top rope. Miz and Barrett seem to have control over Sheamus and Truth, but soon the two regain control. Truth knocks Miz down and Sheamus tries to eliminate Barrett. Truth goes over to help and Barrett is nearly out. Miz finally gets up and he helps Sheamus and Truth eliminate Barrett.
[Wade Barrett has been eliminated]
Miz and Truth trade punches for a little bit before Sheamus hits them both with clotheslines. Sheamus brings Miz into a corner and pummels him with right hands followed by kicks. Truth grabs him from behind and punches him into the ropes. Truth tries eliminating Sheamus, but Sheamus fights him off. Now Sheamus has Truth in a corner. He whips Sheamus into the opposite turnbuckle and goes after him, but Truth leaps up, lands behind Sheamus and cartwheels across the ring. Sheamus goes for a clothesline, but Truth does the splits, picks himself back up and hits Sheamus with a dropkick. Miz catches Truth getting up and hits him with a clothesline. Miz runs the ropes and hits a running foot to his face. He picks Truth up and tosses him over the ropes, but Truth hangs on the apron. Miz waits for Sheamus to get up and charges after him, but Sheamus catches him with a few forearm smashes before tying him up to the ropes and hitting a ten count of repeated forearm clubs. Miz gets off the ropes and Sheamus hits a clothesline. Sheamus waits for Miz to get up, runs, and goes for a Brogue Kick, but Miz ducks and Sheamus gets caught in the ropes. Miz tries to knock him off, but Sheamus shoves him back and gets in the ring. Miz runs forward and Sheamus catches him in a powerslam position. He tries to toss Miz out of the ring, but Truth suddenly comes up from behind and tosses both Sheamus and Miz out at the same time.
[Sheamus & Miz have been eliminated]
[Winner via Last Man Standing: R-Truth]
Truth dances in the ring as he celebrates. Miz yells at him from outside and Sheamus knocks him out with a Brogue Kick. Sheamus points at Truth and says he’ll see him at the Rumble.
We cut back to Laurinaitis still texting on his cell. John Cena barges into his office. He’s upset about Zack Ryder losing the title without being medically cleared to compete. He says he knew he was hurt and he intentionally screwed Zack Ryder out of the U.S. Championship.
Laurinaitis says he made a mistake. He’s human being. We as humans make mistakes. He knows Zack’s his friend and he’s concerned about him. He also knows he’s concerned about Kane being here tonight.
John Cena: “If Kane shows his face tonight i’ll show him how concerned I am.”
Maybe he should show his concern at the Royal Rumble event. Laurinaitis makes it Kane versus John Cena one on one at the Royal Rumble.
John Cena: “Brilliant.”
Laurinaitis says John seem to have a lot of pent up anger. He has an idea, he’ll make a match for tonight. He can take on the new United States champion, the guy who beat up his friend, Jack Swagger. The match is next.
Cena leaves without saying another word while Laurinaitis goes back to texting.
-Commercial Break-
Back from break, and Jack Swagger is already in the ring with his United States Championship around his waist.
We get a repeat of earlier tonight when Swagger won the title from Zack Ryder.
John Cena comes out as his opponent. He doesn’t look at the camera or point out the fans. He walks right into the ring, tosses his shirt and attacks Swagger right away. Cena lands lefts and rights to Swagger while trapping him in the corner.
“Match” #5
[John Cena vs. Jack Swagger]
The bell hasn’t even rung as Cena continues the assault. He whips Swagger into a corner and hits a body splash, then runs the ropes and knocks him down with a clothesline. Cena tosses Swagger over the top rope. He goes after him, drags Swagger over to a turnbuckle and shoves him into it. Cena carries Swagger to the commentary table and slams his head into it. Cena continues to land right hand after right hand to Swagger, his anger quite visible to everyone. Cena drives a knee to Swagger’s face, shoves him against the table and lands a haymaker punch. He takes the dazed Swagger and clotheslines him once more. Cena kicks Swagger while he’s down and then presses him against the apron. Cena whips Swagger into the ring steps. Cena pulls off the top section of the steps and slams Swagger’s head on the steps multiple times. He places Swagger on top of the base and standing over him. He seems to be thinking about something. He then goes over to the top section of the steps, grabs them, and holds it up over an unmoving Swagger. Suddenly, pyro shoots out and the arena glows red.
[Winner: N/A, match never officially started]
Kane’s music plays and Cena slides into the ring. Kane appears on the TitanTron.
Kane: “Very impressive, Cena. I think you’re getting it. By the time we meet at the Royal Rumble event, you will have embraced…the hate!”
Fire shoots out of the ring posts. Cena stands in the ring uncertain about his actions.
-Commercial Break-
We are back, and Brodus Clay comes out for his match. Just like last week, Brodus comes out in a red tracksuit along with his two female dancers. They dance in the ring. until pyro shoots out.
His opponent, JTG, watches from outside the ring.
Match #6
[Brodus Clay vs. JTG]
JTG enters the ring and the bell sounds. Brodus gets behind JTG and wiggles his hips causing JTG to freak out. JTG lands a punch, but it doesn’t affect him. JTG grabs a leg, but isn’t able to lift him. Brodus just dances and punches JTG back. Brodus whips JTG into the ropes and knocks him down with a headbutt. Clay walks over to JTG and hits an exploder suplex. Clay runs towards JTG and hits a running splash. He then runs the ropes and hits a running crossbody (called Aw Funk it) for the three count.
[Winner via Pinfall: Brodus Clay]
Up next, Daniel Bryan comes out to update on AJ’s condition.
-Commercial Break-
Back from break, and Jerry and Cole speculate whether or not the collision between Big Show and AJ was accidental.
A recap video plays of last week’s Smackdown between Daniel Bryan and Big Show.
Daniel Bryan comes out with a microphone in hand. He says that most of these people think of Big Show as this loveable, gentle giant. Big Show is a cruel, inhospitable freak who at over 500 pounds had no problem bowling over her 95 pound girlfriend AJ. AJ has been traumatized and she will never be the same. And Big Show could have stopped, could have pulled up. But he intentionally ran over AJ just to get to him and the World Championship. It’s pathetic. Did he even say he was sorry? No. No he didn’t. He just stood there crying like some blithering idiot. Those weren’t real tears, those were crocodile tears, 100% percent face. Big Show shouldn’t show himself on Smackdown ever again, and if he does, he’s going to make him pay. But this Friday on Smackdown he has a World Heavyweight Championship match against Mark Henry. Right now, he’s going to tell everyone that he dedicates the match to AJ. Last week, she told him that she loved him. And he appreciates that. This Friday, he’s going to show her exactly how much.
Bryan makes his way down to the ring for the six man tag team match.
The lights go out. Seconds later the blue lighted jacket appears and Chris Jericho appears. He makes his way down to the ring and high fives the fans around ringside. He stops to take someone’s picture as we go to commercial break.
-Commercial Break-
Back from break and Jericho is still high fiving fans. In the ring already are Mark Henry, Dolph Ziggler and David Otunga. Jericho keeps hyping up the fans until his music fades.
CM Punk comes out and heads to the ring.
[CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, and Chris Jericho vs. Dolph Ziggler, Mark Henry, and David Otunga]
Punk and Ziggler start things off as the bell sounds. They tie up, Punk gets behind Ziggler and takes him down. He rolls him up to his feet and scoop slams him. He lands a kick to the chest, picks him up, chops him, and hits a suplex for a one count. Punk grabs Ziggler’s arm and tags Bryan in. Punk holds Ziggler’s arms back while Bryan gets in a kick to the chest. Bryan gets Ziggler in a side headlock. Dolph whips Bryan into the ropes, Bryan hits a shoulder tackle and runs the ropes on the opposite end. Ziggler ducks and there seems to be some miscommunication as Bryan awkwardly lands on his back. Ziggler improvises by kicking Bryan a bit before attacking the leg. Ziggler tags in Otunga. Otunga kicks at Daniel’s leg. Tag made to Ziggler and Dolph snapmares Bryan down. Ziggler hits a leaping elbow for a two count. Ziggler applies a single leg crab submission. Bryan rolls on his back, but Dolph gets him back on his stomach with the crab. Bryan reaches the ropes in time and Ziggler releases the hold. Dolph places Bryan on the turnbuckle and charges at him, but Bryan side steps and Ziggler hits the turnbuckle face first. Bryan tags in Punk. Right away Ziggler tags in Otunga. Punk kicks Otunga a couple times before applying a side headlock.
Punk grounds him for a one count. Otunga gets up, Punk pushes him into the ropes and headbutts his chest. Punk goes for it again but this time Otunga kicks Punk in the head and tags in Ziggler. Ziggler punches Punk down and kicks away at him. Ziggler gets Punk up and hits a neckbreaker. Dolph applies a modified crossface submission to Punk, but Punk manages to get up and drop a backbreaker. Punk goes for a tag to Jericho, but Ziggler pulls him back and tags Otunga. Otunga kicks away at Punk in the corner. He clotheslines Punk in the corner and places him on the top turnbuckle. He goes for a superplex, but Punk manages to headbutt him off. Punk stands at the top and hits an elbow drop on Otunga. Punk crawls over to his corner and tags Jericho in. Jericho is fired up as he taunts the crowd around him while Otunga is down. He gets so fired up that he tags in Daniel Bryan and exits the ring. He heads to the back still looking excited and happy. Bryan looks confused as he enters the ring.
-Commercial Break-
That was our final break, and it’s now a three on two handicap match due to Chris Jericho leaving the match. We see Ziggler applying a bow and arrow submission on Bryan. Bryan fights out of it and kicks Ziggler in the back of the head. Bryan crawls over to Punk and tags him in. Punk enters and clotheslines Ziggler down twice before hitting his twisting neckbreaker. He follows it up with a running knee into a running bulldog. Punk goes on the apron, springboards off and hits a flying clothesline. Punk breaks the pin when Henry tries to interfere and he kicks him in the stomach. Henry knocks him down with a headbutt. Bryan runs towards him, but Henry manages to catch him in his arms. He places Bryan on the apron. Daniel punches him back, but there’s no effect. Bryan hops off the apron and limps up the ramp with Henry after him. The two start fighting all the way up the ramp and into the back leaving a two on one situation. Mick Foley suddenly comes out. He heads down to the ring. and stands at Punk’s corner. He tells the referee that Laurinaitis put him in the match. Punk makes his way over Foley while Ziggler holds him back with one leg. Punk goes for an enziguri, but Dolph ducks it and hits a legdrop bulldog on Punk for a two count. Ziggler punches and kicks at the fallen Punk. He lifts Punk up and hits another neckbreaker followed by the third one of the match for a two count. He tries again and Punk kicks him in the head knocking him down. Punk crawls. Ziggler crawls. Ziggler tags in Otunga and Punk tags in Foley.
Foley enters the ring and punches Otunga back. He slams his head into a turnbuckle and unleashes a flurry of punches. Foley runs up to Otunga and hits a running knee to the face. He waits for Foley to get up, kicks him and hits the Double Arm DDT. Foley takes out Mr. Socko from his pants, puts it on his hand and applies the Mandible Claw to Otunga who submits.
[Winners via Submission: CM Punk & Mick Foley]
However, before they can celebrate, John Laurinaitis comes out already at the microphone. He says to hold on a minute as he enters the ring. He says he never gave Foley permission to be put in the match. He’s not a legal participant in the match, so therefore he has forced him to do his job and reverse the decision of the match. The winners of the match are David Otunga, Mark Henry, and Dolph Ziggler.
[Winners via Disqualification: David Otunga, Mark Henry, and Dolph Ziggler]
Punk looks upset. He snatches the microphone away from him.
He asks John what’s the matter. He didn’t like that? Does he find him to be disrespectful when he grabs things out of his hand.
CM Punk: “Well let me tell you what you’re going to do about it…absolutely nothing.”
Mick has nothing to do with what’s going on. He tells Laurinaitis to shut his mouth; he’s going to listen to him! Punk tells Laurinaitis that he’s going to man up. He’s going to take his balls out of his purse and lay his cards out on the table. He doesn’t like him, but it has nothing to do with who he is, and if he can be his psychologist for a moment, it has something to do with who Laurinaitis is not. The people have no idea who he is because when he was a competitor he had the look, but boy did he ever suck. And that must’ve been really difficult with his brother being one half of the legendary Road Warriors, and he not amounting to much more than road kill. He was boring, he wasn’t charismatic, and he was vanilla. It kills him. It kills him that he never made it to WWE as a competitor, so he traded his lame ass tights for his lame ass suit, and he went from somebody who just sucked to somebody who just sucked up. And now that he’s a corporate yes man, he can’t stand that a guy like him has achieved more in a year than he has ever achieved in his entire life.
Punk doesn’t even know why he’s screaming. Laurinaitis doesn’t have an original thought in his body, and he’s going to screw him at the Royal Rumble? Better men have tried and better men have failed. But he’s going to try to screw him based on pure jealousy of who he is, where he comes from, and that he is the WWE Champion. He’s the man! He can’t stand it, so he’s gonna screw him. It doesn’t matter what he does to him because coming out of it, he’ll still be better than him. And he’ll have all these people doing something that he wished his entire career they did. He’ll have them talking about him. If he screws him, he’s not gonna hit the GTS or lock in the Anaconda Vice, but he’s going to have people talking because if he screws him, they’ll be talking about how John Laurinaitis looks like he went through a meat grinder because CM Punk just kicked his pathetic ass.
Punk pauses as the fans chant for him. Punk fakes a punch and Laurinaitis flinches.
CM Punk: “You’re pathetic!”
Punk shoves the microphone in his chest and leaves the ring with his title.
Foley gives John thumbs up. Laurinaitis looks very upset. He grabs the microphone from the mat.
He says his name is Mr. John Laurinaitis. He is the Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and the Interim, soon to be permanent, General Manager of Monday Night Raw. He is not pathetic, and he will not be intimidated by CM Punk.
Foley now with a microphone. He tells him to just admit it. Just have the decency to admit that he intends to screw Punk at the Royal Rumble. He walks around acting like a pious, self-righteous sycophant which is fancy New York Times bestseller speak for being a kiss ass.
Laurinaitis asks Foley who the hell he thinks he is. Who in the hell does he think he’s talking to? He wants to know if he’ll screw CM Punk?
Mick Foley: “I wanna know!”
John Laurinaitis: “You’re damn right I will!”
He does his job and he does it well. He’s sick and tired of being disrespect. He’s sick and tired of being pushed around. He’s sick and tired of being bullied. Each and every week he puts on the most entertaining show the WWE Universe and he’s not appreciated for it. He’s not gonna take it anymore. He’s not gonna take it from Foley. He’s sick and tired.
Laurinaitis takes the microphone and smacks Foley in the head with it knocking him down. Laurinaitis exits the ring and heads to the back while Foley picks himself up. As he watches John leave the show comes to an end.