I guess after lastweek the Road To Wrestlmania started already. Since the episode began with an introduction for Michael Cole, and the focus quickly shifted from him to John Cena, who hypes up his match with Rock and revealed that his match with The Rock at WrestleMania XXVIII would be for the WWE Championship.
So ofcourse he issues a challenge to The Miz, but was interrupted by Randy Orton. He talks, gets interrupted by Vickie and Ziggler who talk, only to get interupted by John Morrison who tries to talk only to get interrupted by R-Truth? GM says there would be a five-man gauntlet match to determine the #1 contender, who would face The Miz at Extreme Rules.
A promo for Awesome Kong’s debut kept her face in the shadows as she knocked the head off a Barbie doll. Guess it symbolizes that she is here to destroy the Barbie doll Divas. Which I'd be all for.
It led into a match between Eve Torres and Brie Bella for the WWE Divas Championship.
Diva match, not much to talk about, except the weird title change. Brie Bella?
Backstage, Gail Kim and Natalya tried to console Eve, who acts like a bitch.
Next came Sin Cara’s first match in the WWE, against Primo. Sin Cara dominated the early part of the match, using his agility to his advantage and tossing Primo out of the ring. Primo came back with a strong offense, but after he missed Sin Cara and hit the turnbuckle, Sin Cara regained the advantage. He reversed a powerbomb attempt and gets countered into a sunset flip, Primo goes to the top rope, gets kicked and Sin Cara botches and falls outside, no sells it and goes for a Spanish Fly flipping Uranage pinning him for the win.
Other than the obvious botch, solid debut for Sin Cara and good to see Primo still has a job, doing the job. Should face Tyson Kidd in his next match, theres someone else who has worked with Luchas and should be able to put over Cara impressively.
After a break, Wade Barrett spoke about The Corre’s attack on John Cena and The Rock the previous week, and said the others ain't doing shit and this hints to a Corre breakup with everyone getting in Barret's face. The lovefest was interrupted by Santino Marella, Daniel Bryan, Mark Henry, and Evan Bourne. He introduced them as “Team APPLE†and challenged them to a match. APPLE? Liked them better when tehy were called the Job Squad.
The Corre put their differences aside to collectively beat up on Bryan. Marella tagged in, but his pin on Slater was broken up by Barrett. A brawl ensued, and Marella’s Cobra attempt was halted by Gabriel, allowing Slater to pin him and win the match.
Jerry “The King†Lawler vs. Jack Swagger
Jim Ross came out to support Jerry Lawler in his match with Jack Swagger, and Cole taunted him mercilessly. Ross banged on the door of the Cole Mine and hit Cole with his hat as Cole attacked Lawler. Referees rushed to break up the melee.
The match began with Swagger aggressively attacking Lawler as Cole shouted insults from ringside. Lawler hit Swagger and mocked his victory laps, but Swagger got him in a headlock. Lawler fought to his feet, lifted Swagger up, and dropped him to the mat.
Swagger went for an ankle lock, but Lawler reached the rope. Cole and Ross traded insults as Swagger attacked Lawler’s left arm. Swagger cornered Lawler as Cole continued his childish taunts.
An enraged Lawler turned the tables, but a distraction from Cole gave Swagger the chance to attack from behind. Ross knocked Cole down, and Lawler took advantage, pinning Swagger for the victory. The astonished look on Swagger’s face was priceless.
Swagger yelled at Cole, saying he distracted him. Cole berated him in turn and slapped him in the face. Swagger strode told Cole angrily, and as Cole left the ring, Lawler said he wanted to talk about their match at Extreme Rules.
Lawler said it should be a tag team match with him and Ross against Cole and Swagger. Swagger continued to glare at Cole as Lawler’s music played.
After a segment about Triple H’s match against The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXVIII, Edge came out to the ring to make an announcement. He spoke about breaking his neck eight years ago, and said he recently started losing feeling in his arms and had been in a lot of pain. He went for an MRI after WrestleMania, and learned he had no choice but to retire.
He said he’d talked to Christian about his decision, and reminisced about the wrestling events the two of them attended as boyhood friends in Canada and how his dream came true with the WWE.
He talked about some of the highlights of his career, and said he hoped he’d earned the respect of everyone in the locker room and the audience. He closed by stating he would do it all again in a heartbeat, and the audience cheered as he left the ring.
After Edge went backstage to applause from the WWE roster, breaking kayfabe and I'm guessing this is legit. Really a shame that Edge has to retire in an anticlimatic way, but he is a definite HOFer and one of the Greatest Canadian wrestlers of all time in my books.
The Miz and Alex Riley joined Jim Ross, Jerry “The King†Lawler, and Josh Mathews at the announcers’ table.
Randy Orton and Dolph Ziggler began the match, and Ziggler attacked Orton aggressively. On commentary, The Miz insisted that Riley was his “vice president of corporate communications†rather than his “sidekickâ€, as Lawler put it.
They continued their verbal sparring as Ziggler put Orton in a headlock. Vicki Guerrero cheered Ziggler on from ringside as Orton went on the offensive. But an unexpected distraction from David Otunga and Mike McGillicutty allowed Ziggler to eliminate Orton. Mason Ryan joined his comrades in The Nexus in beating up Orton, concluding with a brutal powerbomb. Really doing this Batista cloning process for the guy now.
After a commercial break, R-Truth came out to take on Ziggler, while The Miz continued to brag about his accomplishments. Ziggler was in control from the beginning, using submission holds to wear R-Truth down.
R-Truth tried to get some offensive momentum going, but had trouble pinning Ziggler successfully. But just as Ziggler seemed set to demolish his opponent, a surprise reversal led to R-Truth getting the pin and eliminating Ziggler.
Five-Man #1 Contender’s Gauntlet Match: R-Truth vs. John Morrison
John Morrison came out next, and the two men reversed each other’s pin attempts. Morrison shook R-Truth’s hand and took advantage of the moment to land a solid kick, and started to gain momentum with his usual high-flying moves.
The Miz suggested that Morrison’s acrobatics would be his downfall, but R-Truth wasn’t able to get any momentum going. After R-Truth got out of his hold and counterattacked, both men ended up outside the ring and were nearly counted out.
Momentum shifted back and forth again with several near-falls. Morrison seemed to have R-Truth where he wanted him, but instead of going for the pin, he missed the Starship Pain move. R-Truth took advantage and pinned Morrison instead.
Five-Man #1 Contender’s Gauntlet Match: R-Truth vs. John Cena
The surprise elimination left Cena as R-Truth’s only competitor. He was dominant from the start, though R-Truth was able to kick out of several pin attempts in succession. He was unable to get a sustained offense going until after Cena failed to pin him following a leap from the top rope.
R-Truth knocked Cena down with a solid right, and then became more aggressive. But it didn't last, and Cena took control again. He used the Five Knuckled Shuffle, but as he went for the Attitude Adjustment, The Miz and Alex Riley ran into the ring.
The Miz attacked Cena while Riley went for R-Truth. The bell rang, and the match was ruled a double disqualification. The Miz taunted them, calling them both losers and saying there was no #1 Contender.
To no one's surprise, an e-mail arrived from the anonymous Raw general manager. Lawler read it, informing The Miz that there were now two #1 Contenders. The match at Extreme Rules would be a Triple Threat match between Cena, R-Truth, and The Miz.
R-Truth knocked The Miz out of the ring, and Cena planted the Attitude Adjustment on Riley. The two men shook hands and embraced, but a friendly pat on the back from Cena turned into a shove. Instead of fighting, R-Truth backed away from the ring smiling.
So R-Truth is thrown into the mix, to which I can only assume is for doing the job. Which I guess means Cena isn't jobbing this year to appear strong for Rock. But the real story Truth getting a chance to shine, better not fuck him over and take him out beofre Extreme Rules, just shows how easy it is to make someone in one night.
So ofcourse he issues a challenge to The Miz, but was interrupted by Randy Orton. He talks, gets interrupted by Vickie and Ziggler who talk, only to get interupted by John Morrison who tries to talk only to get interrupted by R-Truth? GM says there would be a five-man gauntlet match to determine the #1 contender, who would face The Miz at Extreme Rules.
A promo for Awesome Kong’s debut kept her face in the shadows as she knocked the head off a Barbie doll. Guess it symbolizes that she is here to destroy the Barbie doll Divas. Which I'd be all for.
It led into a match between Eve Torres and Brie Bella for the WWE Divas Championship.
Diva match, not much to talk about, except the weird title change. Brie Bella?
Backstage, Gail Kim and Natalya tried to console Eve, who acts like a bitch.
Next came Sin Cara’s first match in the WWE, against Primo. Sin Cara dominated the early part of the match, using his agility to his advantage and tossing Primo out of the ring. Primo came back with a strong offense, but after he missed Sin Cara and hit the turnbuckle, Sin Cara regained the advantage. He reversed a powerbomb attempt and gets countered into a sunset flip, Primo goes to the top rope, gets kicked and Sin Cara botches and falls outside, no sells it and goes for a Spanish Fly flipping Uranage pinning him for the win.
Other than the obvious botch, solid debut for Sin Cara and good to see Primo still has a job, doing the job. Should face Tyson Kidd in his next match, theres someone else who has worked with Luchas and should be able to put over Cara impressively.
After a break, Wade Barrett spoke about The Corre’s attack on John Cena and The Rock the previous week, and said the others ain't doing shit and this hints to a Corre breakup with everyone getting in Barret's face. The lovefest was interrupted by Santino Marella, Daniel Bryan, Mark Henry, and Evan Bourne. He introduced them as “Team APPLE†and challenged them to a match. APPLE? Liked them better when tehy were called the Job Squad.
The Corre put their differences aside to collectively beat up on Bryan. Marella tagged in, but his pin on Slater was broken up by Barrett. A brawl ensued, and Marella’s Cobra attempt was halted by Gabriel, allowing Slater to pin him and win the match.
Jerry “The King†Lawler vs. Jack Swagger
Jim Ross came out to support Jerry Lawler in his match with Jack Swagger, and Cole taunted him mercilessly. Ross banged on the door of the Cole Mine and hit Cole with his hat as Cole attacked Lawler. Referees rushed to break up the melee.
The match began with Swagger aggressively attacking Lawler as Cole shouted insults from ringside. Lawler hit Swagger and mocked his victory laps, but Swagger got him in a headlock. Lawler fought to his feet, lifted Swagger up, and dropped him to the mat.
Swagger went for an ankle lock, but Lawler reached the rope. Cole and Ross traded insults as Swagger attacked Lawler’s left arm. Swagger cornered Lawler as Cole continued his childish taunts.
An enraged Lawler turned the tables, but a distraction from Cole gave Swagger the chance to attack from behind. Ross knocked Cole down, and Lawler took advantage, pinning Swagger for the victory. The astonished look on Swagger’s face was priceless.
Swagger yelled at Cole, saying he distracted him. Cole berated him in turn and slapped him in the face. Swagger strode told Cole angrily, and as Cole left the ring, Lawler said he wanted to talk about their match at Extreme Rules.
Lawler said it should be a tag team match with him and Ross against Cole and Swagger. Swagger continued to glare at Cole as Lawler’s music played.
After a segment about Triple H’s match against The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXVIII, Edge came out to the ring to make an announcement. He spoke about breaking his neck eight years ago, and said he recently started losing feeling in his arms and had been in a lot of pain. He went for an MRI after WrestleMania, and learned he had no choice but to retire.
He said he’d talked to Christian about his decision, and reminisced about the wrestling events the two of them attended as boyhood friends in Canada and how his dream came true with the WWE.
He talked about some of the highlights of his career, and said he hoped he’d earned the respect of everyone in the locker room and the audience. He closed by stating he would do it all again in a heartbeat, and the audience cheered as he left the ring.
After Edge went backstage to applause from the WWE roster, breaking kayfabe and I'm guessing this is legit. Really a shame that Edge has to retire in an anticlimatic way, but he is a definite HOFer and one of the Greatest Canadian wrestlers of all time in my books.
The Miz and Alex Riley joined Jim Ross, Jerry “The King†Lawler, and Josh Mathews at the announcers’ table.
Randy Orton and Dolph Ziggler began the match, and Ziggler attacked Orton aggressively. On commentary, The Miz insisted that Riley was his “vice president of corporate communications†rather than his “sidekickâ€, as Lawler put it.
They continued their verbal sparring as Ziggler put Orton in a headlock. Vicki Guerrero cheered Ziggler on from ringside as Orton went on the offensive. But an unexpected distraction from David Otunga and Mike McGillicutty allowed Ziggler to eliminate Orton. Mason Ryan joined his comrades in The Nexus in beating up Orton, concluding with a brutal powerbomb. Really doing this Batista cloning process for the guy now.
After a commercial break, R-Truth came out to take on Ziggler, while The Miz continued to brag about his accomplishments. Ziggler was in control from the beginning, using submission holds to wear R-Truth down.
R-Truth tried to get some offensive momentum going, but had trouble pinning Ziggler successfully. But just as Ziggler seemed set to demolish his opponent, a surprise reversal led to R-Truth getting the pin and eliminating Ziggler.
Five-Man #1 Contender’s Gauntlet Match: R-Truth vs. John Morrison
John Morrison came out next, and the two men reversed each other’s pin attempts. Morrison shook R-Truth’s hand and took advantage of the moment to land a solid kick, and started to gain momentum with his usual high-flying moves.
The Miz suggested that Morrison’s acrobatics would be his downfall, but R-Truth wasn’t able to get any momentum going. After R-Truth got out of his hold and counterattacked, both men ended up outside the ring and were nearly counted out.
Momentum shifted back and forth again with several near-falls. Morrison seemed to have R-Truth where he wanted him, but instead of going for the pin, he missed the Starship Pain move. R-Truth took advantage and pinned Morrison instead.
Five-Man #1 Contender’s Gauntlet Match: R-Truth vs. John Cena
The surprise elimination left Cena as R-Truth’s only competitor. He was dominant from the start, though R-Truth was able to kick out of several pin attempts in succession. He was unable to get a sustained offense going until after Cena failed to pin him following a leap from the top rope.
R-Truth knocked Cena down with a solid right, and then became more aggressive. But it didn't last, and Cena took control again. He used the Five Knuckled Shuffle, but as he went for the Attitude Adjustment, The Miz and Alex Riley ran into the ring.
The Miz attacked Cena while Riley went for R-Truth. The bell rang, and the match was ruled a double disqualification. The Miz taunted them, calling them both losers and saying there was no #1 Contender.
To no one's surprise, an e-mail arrived from the anonymous Raw general manager. Lawler read it, informing The Miz that there were now two #1 Contenders. The match at Extreme Rules would be a Triple Threat match between Cena, R-Truth, and The Miz.
R-Truth knocked The Miz out of the ring, and Cena planted the Attitude Adjustment on Riley. The two men shook hands and embraced, but a friendly pat on the back from Cena turned into a shove. Instead of fighting, R-Truth backed away from the ring smiling.
So R-Truth is thrown into the mix, to which I can only assume is for doing the job. Which I guess means Cena isn't jobbing this year to appear strong for Rock. But the real story Truth getting a chance to shine, better not fuck him over and take him out beofre Extreme Rules, just shows how easy it is to make someone in one night.
