Henry delivers a WSS after a superbly delivered turn. Photo credit: WWE.com
The new World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio started things off by questioning the fans poor reaction to him winning the title after beating down an already hurt Ziggler at Payback the previous night, reminding them that 'The Show Off' did the same when cashing in his MITB contract a while back on him. His temperament soon turned to anger when Del Rio berated the fans for supporting a "coward" like Ziggler.
As Del Rio was going to give the fans another chance to show him some respect, CM Punk joined him (to a very healthy response from the crowd) and despite advise from his manager Paul Heyman, challenged the World Champion to a match that night. Vickie Guerrero liked the idea and came out to make it official.
Backstage CM Punk warned Heyman about interfering in his affairs, including the previous night where he almost cost him the match against Jericho, and asked him to stay out of his business from here on out.
Instead of receiving his Intercontinental Title rematch, Vickie Guerrero informed Wade Barrett that he'll be facing the returning Christian. As a big fan of 'Captain Charisma' I was very pleased to see him finally back.
Christian pinned Wade Barrett in a decent encounter. As standard for him Christian looked stellar in the ring, and Wade looked okay when he managed to get in a little bit of offense. I'd personally love to see Christian victorious in one of the Money in the Bank matches next month.
Team Rhodes Scholars (Damien Sandow and Cody Rhodes) defeated Sheamus in an average Handicap match. The action was fair at best to be honest, and not very memorable. Sandow grabbed the winning pin with a quick roll up, so in retaliation an annoyed Sheamus Brogue Kicked Rhodes.
Randy Orton won via referee stoppage after Daniel Bryan could not continue in a No Disqualification match. Up until Bryan picked up the injury it'd been a solid affair, with well executed back and fourth wrestling from both men.
The new Divas Champion AJ Lee bragged about breaking Kaitlyn's spirit and toppling her for the strap at Payback. She also went on to claim that she was the strongest and most courageous woman in the whole arena and the locker room. This cued Stephanie McMahon to come out and first congratulate AJ on overcoming a lot in her life and finally becoming the champion, but also added that what she did to Kaitlyn was degrading to women everywhere.
After a few more heated words were exchanged, Kaitlyn came out, accompanied by a few fellow divas and after being warned by Stephanie not to ever interrupt her again, warned AJ that she was going to break her too and began brawling with her former friend. Big E Langston eventually got AJ out of the ring and carried her off. It was a fun segment, and interesting to see Steph interact with AJ a bit. As I've already said it's also nice to see the Divas division get some much needed attention, most likely due to their new reality show coming out soon I'd imagine.
Kane won via DQ versus Dean Ambrose after Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns ran and beat down the 'Big Red Monster', eventually triple powerbombing him. The match hadn't really been given time to make an impression. Backstage as Vickie was about to reprimand the trio under Triple H's earlier orders, Vince McMahon came along and congratulated The Shield on their success and even said their ruthlessness and aggression reminded him of himself.
Zeb Colter once again drivelled on about the state of the US and the immigrant situation, then introduced Antonio Cesaro as the newest member to his cause.
Antonio Cesaro beat William Regal in a brief squash match. The action was decent, but it's a shame these two weren't given more time to really deliver a top class contest.
WWE Champion John Cena came out and thanked all the fans for their support for the company, and admitted his respect for the one that jeer him for their honesty. It was all pretty drab until Mark Henry joined him and asked him to stay for his speech. An emotional Henry went on to thank the fans and his family and announced his retirement.
It was a touching moment, and delivered so convincingly that what came next was a genuine shock. As Henry went in to hug Cena he then turned it into a World's Strongest Slam, much to the delight and surprise of the fans in attendance, and myself. Backstage afterwards he officially challenged Cena to a championship match. It was without a doubt the finest promo of Henry's career, and my personal favourite moment of his ever. I'm admittedly not a massive fan of his but even I'm interested in a title match between him and Cena now.
Chris Jericho pinned Heath Slater in an enjoyable enough bout. In probably Slater's finest singles match to date, both men gave worthy displays and delivered a fun watch. Afterwards fellow 3MB members Drew McIntyre and Jinder Mahal attempted to take out Y2J but quickly failed and were chucked out of the ring.
Curtis Axel bested Sin Cara in a fair, if forgettable outing. The bout was never terrible by any means but you wouldn't miss a great deal by skipping it. Axel as usual looked good in the ring, gaining the one-two-three after applying a modified DDT.
CM Punk won via count out versus Alberto Del Rio in an exciting main event. From the opening bell the fans delivered a great atmosphere, and the wrestling itself was thoroughly entertaining. Both men gave PPV-level efforts here as they effectively and smoothly went move for move. It's not quite up there with the best televised bouts of the year, most including The Shield and Bryan, but it was a solid outing.
Afterwards an enraged Dolph Ziggler brutally attacked Del Rio from behind before giving chase to the champ behind the stage. I can envisage Ziggler being a very effective face. Then Brock Lesnar strolled out, smiled a little at Punk and applied a well executed (almost realistic) F5. It was a strong end to a strong show on the whole.
This was one of the best Raws of the year for me, with mostly enjoyable match ups and very memorable segments. Plus there were new and interesting feuds being kicked off and a nice development with Ziggler and Del Rio's (who was actually engaging, who'd have thought?). My highlights were the main event, Henry's promo and turn (superb), the opening and closing segments and the return of Christian. How can next week live up to this I wonder?
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