CM Punk and Chris Jericho look up at the lights in their superb contest. Photo credit: WWE.com
For the second week in a row CM Punk stormed out to the ring, dragging with him announcer Justin Roberts, who he demanded announce himself as the "People's champion." Punk then went on to once again claim that he was "screwed" out of the WWE Title and that The Rock doesn't deserve to hold it, that he hadn't "paid the price."
He also added that he wasn't even in the footage shown last week revealing that Heyman had been working with Brad Maddox and The Shield, and that it was most likely a doctored video from Vince McMahon so him and Heyman were therefore innocent. He also stated that Brock Lesnar's attack on McMahon last week was "kharma" for what he'd done to him.
SmackDown GM Booker T then joined Punk and after a bit of a stutter informed him that he'd let the fans decide his fate, allowing them to vote for a former WrestleMania opponent of his to face him that night. As usual it was solid mic work from the former WWE Champion, but it just seems a bit daft to me that Punk would still try to claim the video was a fake, he claims he's a 'bad man' why not just admit what he'd done now?
Ryback pinned Antonio Cesaro in a contest that ranged from average to fair. Fortunately Cesaro gave a worthy effort and made the bout worth watching, rightfully being made to look competitive against Ryback, who gave an unremarkable performance.
Jack Swagger beat Santino Marella in a brief squash match. I'm just relieved they've yet to drop the ball with Swagger's return, he's show in the past that he has the ability to be in the main event picture so I'm really hoping that they keep up with this push.
Alberto Del Rio bested Cody Rhodes in a decent enough encounter. It was a fun watch with good displays from both men, but it was just missing that little extra to really engage me. Afterwards Del Rio admitted that he was wrong to look down on people in the past, adding that he appreciated all the support from the fans during his fights against Big Show, who he berated for being a "bully."
The man himself then appeared on the big screen, live from a nearby hotel, and asked for a World Title match against Del Rio at Elimination Chamber. A furious champ called Show a coward for not turning up in person.
Daniel Bryan defeated Rey Mysterio in a thoroughly enjoyable and blistering outing. Both men as usual gave stellar efforts and worked very well together, complimenting each other's styles and not disappointing. For the finish Mysterio was about to come in with a flying headbutt but Bryan moved out of the way and applied the No Lock for the submission victory.
But the celebration was short lived as Mark Henry then made his return. Bryan and Mysterio tried to each take him on but Henry barged through them both and Sin Cara when he raced out to Rey's aid. Am I one of the only fans who wasn't bothered if Henry came back or not? I'd personally rather see a younger and more interesting talent get that spot.
Backstage Bryan asked Kane why he didn't just back him up, so his tag partner reminded him that he'd previously asked him to stay in the back during his match up, no matter what. Bryan then also asked for an apology, but Kane refused. This all seems to point towards a match between the tag team champions at 'Mania, as further proved by what happened next too...
Sheamus pinned Kane in a passable, if a fairly drab at places bout. Both men looked okay, but the action was never particularly exciting. Sheamus applied the Brogue Kick to Kane for the one-two-three after Daniel Bryan had run down and distracted his tag partner. In a brilliant touch Bryan then had a very slight smirk on his face as he walked away, claiming that he was sorry.
Paul Heyman interrupted The Miz shortly into the latest 'Miz TV' segment and claimed that he wished the best on Vince McMahon's recovery after his hip surgery that day. Heyman went on to announce that he had absolutely no idea about Lesnar's return last week. After some heated words between the two men Vickie Guerrero came out and admitted that Heyman was "telling the truth" that she was the one that negotiated a new deal with Lesnar in an attempt to impress McMahon.
Miz then accused them both of lying, claiming that they'd orchestrated the Lesnar attack as part of revenge for crushing ECW and for not promoting Vickie to GM. This cued the entrance of Brock Lesnar, who made his way to ring and faced an unflinching Miz, and tossed him out of the ring. But as the beast then threw out all of the 'Miz TV' set the host returned and managed to get in a few punches before Brock took him out with an F5, screaming that the ring was his house.
Randy Orton beat Wade Barrett in a pretty forgettable affair. There was no aspect of the match that was bad as such, and both men were certainly competent in the ring, but these two have seemed to have faced off so many times now that it all starts to blur together a bit.
CM Punk bested Chris Jericho in a tremendous contest. Both men battled back and fourth with some red hot action, providing exciting near falls and submission attempts. Amusingly Punk also answered some of the critics of their title match at last years WrestleMania (of which I was a big fan of) when told the "marks" to sit down that were chanting "This is awesome!" during the bout. Top match of the night.
Bruno Sammartino was announced as the next inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame. After years of wondering if it would ever happen, it finally is. Some would argue that Sammartino is the most deserving ever of the accolade, now I can't claim to know the full history of the former WWWF Champion, but I think that's hard to argue against.
Back in his hotel room, Big Show answered the door to a courier and signed his contract for the Elimination Chamber World Title match. But Del Rio also turned up and after receiving a fair beating from Show for a while, used a fire extinguisher to KO the giant. I'm still quite enjoying this feud to be honest.
Brad Maddox tried to convince everyone that Heyman had used him at Hell in a Cell last year due to his honesty and up and coming career, calling himself an "innocent victim." He then went on to call out The Shield himself to dish out his own form of justice. Sure enough the trio of Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns made their way down and claimed that Maddox couldn't compare himself to them after they'd all worked for Heyman.
Soon enough Brad was taken out by The Shield and triple-powerbombed right before John Cena, Ryback and Sheamus made their way out through the crowd. Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns tried to get away but were cut off by a load more wrestlers from the locker room. Retreating to the ring the trio were subject to a beating until they managed an escape. A pretty weak ending I felt, predictable and unremarkable.
Overall it was a decent Raw I thought. There were memorable moments, much like last week, and a few above average match ups. The highlights were the 'Miz TV' segment, Mysterio versus Bryan and especially the great Punk versus Jericho encounter. We also had some nice set ups for future bouts, including one between Kane and Bryan at 'Mania, DB's smirk after Kane lost was brilliant.
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