The Raw opening was shown, followed by opening pyro. They announced a Triple Threat for No. 1 contendership featuring Del Rio vs. Truth vs. Mysterio. Plus, Riley vs. Miz as well.
John Cena out to open the show. Cena spoke about the decision to suspend
[COLOR=blue !important][FONT=inherit !important][COLOR=blue !important][FONT=inherit !important]Punk[/FONT][/FONT][/COLOR][/COLOR]. He says that WWE's choice sucks. He said he would never do what Punk wanted to do with the championship. He said Punk should not have been suspended for what was said.
Cena mentioned the Daniel Bryan firing and WWE officials confiscating signs. Cena is upset that Punk can't speak his mind. Cena is defending the freedom of speech. Cena said he wants answers from Vince McMahon about this situation and that he is on his way here and promises to be in the building. He said they'll talk it out in the ring tonight. Cena said that he wants to face Punk at MITB.
The MITB case is hanging above to ring.
1. Eve and Kelly Kelly beat The Bella Twins. Kelly pinned one of the Bellas. An okay match, but a lot of fans left the building after the Cena promo.
Truth was backstage on the phone with Flo the Progressive auto insurance girl about his instability. Scott Stanford asked about Truth's No. 1 contender match. Truth said he planned to hurt someone and someone was gonna get got. Del Rio approached and was called Senior Jimmy. Del Rio said he was destined to be the new WWE Champion.
2. David Otunga and Michael McGillicutty beat Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov. McGillicutty pinned Santino with a swinging neckbreaker.
Zack Ryder entered immediately following the tag match and said "Woo woo woo, you know it" and walked to the back. Then they hyped the MITB match with the exact same participants despite the No. 1 Contenders match tonight.
Cena and McMahon's confrontation was hyped graphically.
Miz was interviewed by Scott Stanford in the back and Miz says that he should be in the number one contender’s match tonight. Miz says that he isn’t in that match because of Alex Riley. Miz says that he brought Riley on Raw and he is going to take him out tonight.
3. Jack Swagger beat Sgt. Slaughter. Yep, you read that right, Sgt. Slaughter. Swagger won a short match after his corner splash off the second rope. He went to apply the ankle lock post-match, but was attacked by Evan Bourne, who raised Slaughter's hand post match. Then Slaughter led the fans in The Pledge of Allegiance. Yay patriotism.
Alberto Del Rio made his entrance (minus the car) for the No. 1 contenders match.
4. Alberto Del Rio beat Rey Mysterio and R-Truth in a Triple Threat match to become No. 1 contender. Del Rio won when Rey tapped to the Cross Arm Breaker. A good 15-20 minute TV match that will most likely be the top of the second hour next week.
Dolph and Vickie came out for a promo with a United States themed cake in the ring. Vickie asked the fans to stand and sing happy birthday to Dolph. She sang to massive heat from the fans. Dolph said that these people have no idea how great it is to witness him in his prime. Dolph said the United States Title is the only title that matters and that he is all you need to make Raw perfection.
Kofi Kingston came out to the ring and said it's messed up for Dolph to have a party and not invite him. Kofi said Dolph can't beat him without Vickie in his corner. Kofi backed Vickie into the cake, then she ended up with her face and arm in it also when Kofi kicked Dolph into her.
Alex Riley vs. The Miz is next.
5. Alex Riley beat The Miz. The crowd was dead for this match. The fans here aren't buying Riley, who won around 15 minutes in with a backslide when Miz was going for a reverse DDT. Not a bad match, but the fans weren't into it.
After the match, Miz attacked Riley. Miz threw him outside the ring and slammed him into the barricades and stairs. Miz gave Riley a big kick over the announce table and looked emotionally distraught.
John Cena's music played but he didn't come out. It stopped and out came Mr. McMahon to a decent reaction. He said that the C.M. Punk suspension has gotten out of hand and the camera man fixed his tie. He said Punk deserved to be suspended for what he said. He said this was about what was right for the fans. McMahon said he really suspended Punk because he wanted limo service and wanted to be on DVDs and such and he wasn't worthy. He then said he fired Punk because he deserved it and he is a punk.
Cena came out to a big reaction even in his third appearance tonight. He asked Vince if that was it? He accused Vince of kicking Punk to the curb and Vince said Punk kicked himself to the curb. Cena said Vince believes in free speech and Vince confirmed it. Cena then made fun of Vince's walk and said that Vince took everyone down because he's a fighter. He wondered why Vince wasn't a fighter now and said he wants to fight Punk. He said if Vince doesn't feel like fighting, he should hang it up.
Vince said he really suspended Punk because be doesn't want to take a chance on Cena. He doesn't want to risk Cena losing to Punk and losing the title and taking it to another organization. He said he will not be embarrassed. Vince said he's afraid of Cena not beating Punk. Cena said he wanted this match regardless of Punk's status. Cena said if he was a fan, this sounds like the match of the year to him. He asked if Vince would suspend him for saying something Vince didn't like.
Vince told Cena not to piss him off. He said not to be Hogan or any of the guys before him. Vince said he doesn't believe Cena can beat him. Cena said to take a chance and give the people what they want. Vince said he doesn't give a damn what the people want, it's his company and he does what is right for them.
Cena said he gets it. He then said it's not what he signed up for. He said he busts his ass for Vince and he believes the belt stands for something. He said Vince is worried that the belt is meaningless, but by sending Punk away he made it meaningless. Cena handed the belt to Vince and walked out. Vince stopped him and followed him up the ramp. He stood face to face with Cena on the ramp and said Punk is reinstated and he has the match.
Vince said that if Punk walks out of Chicago with the title, he is firing Cena.
Ryder makes an appearance on RAW. I don't know why he appears but there is an outside chance he could get a US title shot. Hopefully the fans go crazy and chant along with him.
