This week: The fix appears to be in for the Rudos of Raw. But luckily, amongst a group of evil, rotten, cheating, conniving people, they managed to find a lawyer! What are the odds? Plus, Black Sin Cara, bowties, overuse of the word “hell”, WWE's no blood policy apparently doesn't include anal bleeding and NXT's slow transformation into ECW on Sci-Fi continues (but, sadly, no Tiffany yet).
RAW SUPERSHOW
– Booker T was filling in for Lawler. Triple H came out and addressed what happened last week with Miz and Truth, saying they were fired because of what they did at Night Of Champions. They showed a WWE.com interview Miz and Truth did. HHH said he knew when they made their weak excuse he was going to fire them. But first, he fined them and used them to get one more main event. Bit mean, that. Crowd booed a little. HHH also fined Mark Henry $250,000 for attacking JR and Lawler. He told the locker room no one man was bigger than the WWE.
– Vickie Guerrero interrupted, with Dolph. Ziggler said if HHH was doing what's right for the company, what was he going to do for him? Dolph was mad at getting punched by Hugh Jackman and said he had a hairline fracture of the jaw. He said he couldn't eat solids, but could still compete because the kids look up to him. HHH pointed out Dolph picked the fight. He offered to get Dolph some security ready for when the Muppets show up next month. Cody Rhodes appeared, complaining about Orton attacking him on Smackdown and they showed the nine staples in his head. He wanted Orton punished. HHH brought up how Orton once beat up Stephanie and Cody was there, but HHH didn't cry about it, he beat Orton's ass. He told Cody to “man up”. Next to interrupt was Christian. He said it wasn't his style to interrupt, but what happened to him last week was worse. He said Sheamus cost him the World Title. HHH rightly pointed out it was a lumberjack match. Christian threatened to file a lawsuit, along with Dolph and Cody. Unless he got One. More. Match. HHH agreed and gave him one more match, against Sheamus at Hell In A Cell. Plus one more match against Orton on Smackdown. And one more match tonight against Cena just for pissing him off. Christian seemed okay with that, until he realises it was non title, then he started bitching. HHH also booked Dolph against Zack Ryder for the US Title (and did his catchphrase). He gave Cody the night off, but Cody spoke back, so HHH put him in a battle royal, with the IC Title on the line.
– Cody Rhodes won a 10 Man Battle Royal, last eliminating Sheamus, to retain the Intercontinental Championship.
Participants: Justin Gabriel, Alex Riley, John Morrison, Daniel Bryan, Ted Dibiase, Drew McIntyre, Ezekial Jackson, Cody Rhodes, Sin Cara, Sheamus
Cody and Drew (remember when they were Tag Champions?) squared up to everybody else, but Cody bailed and let Drew get attacked by everyone else. Drew got dumped almost immediately by Zeke. Poor guy. As the referees tried to calm Drew down, Sin Cara ran out and pulled Sin Cara out of the ring. Bryan then threw Sin Cara out. Sin Cara then gave Sin Cara a hurricanrana on the outside, but the referees wouldn't allow him back in. Sheamus eliminated Gabriel and Riley after they hung on the apron. Seconds later, Zeke backdropped Bryan and Morrison out at the same time, leaving four, Sheamus, Ted, Cody and Jackson. Sheamus and Zeke did battle. Cody eliminated Ted. He was then nearly eliminated by Zeke, but hung on and pulled the top rope down to send Zeke out. With two left, Sheamus dominated and had Cody ready to eliminate. Christian ran out for the distraction. Sheamus missed a Brogue Kick and went over the top. Well, sort of. That looked kinda ugly. Cody tried to use the mask and Sheamus blocked. But a second distraction from Christian allowed Cody to use the mask and win. Christian posted Sheamus for good measure. Cole tried to imply HHH was responsible.
– They brought up Henry's attack on Lawler. Cole claimed Lawler had bruised ribs and “anal bleeding”. A trying-too-hard line, but Booker's reaction was hilarious and made up for it
– John Laurinaitis was backstage with David Otunga and David Otunga's Bowtie. Otunga said HHH's decisions had become arbitrary and capricious and wanted Laurinaitis to do something about it. Laurinaitis mentioned Otunga had a law degree from Harvard and Otunga said guys had been coming to him for advice lately. Laurinaitis promised to do something and started texting.
– Beth Pheonix and Natalya d. Kelly Kelly and Eve Torres (Beth pinned Kelly) in 3:19. Rematch from last week. Beth and Natalya dominated Eve again. Kelly ran wild off the tag. But Beth was able to cut her off as things broke down and beat Kelly with the Glam Slam.
– Mark Henry was supposed to face Great Khali but the match never started. Henry hit Khali with the World Title from behind as he posed. He then hit the World's Strongest Slam on Khali, with impressive ease. Henry walked out saying if he had to pay a fine, everybody was going to pay.
– Cena came out for a promo. They had the Hell In A Cell hanging over the ring all night. He said the WWE Championship was surrounded by controversy and uncertainty. But Sunday, the controversy would be over. He called Hell In A Cell a brutal problem solver. Cena put the cell concept over. He promised he wouldn't lose the title and did his best to sell the PPV, sans jokes. Del Rio and Punk both came down to join in on commentary. Punk had his commentator jacket on.
– John Cena d. Christian by DQ in 3:17. Christian took a huge back drop in the first 10 seconds. Punk and Del Rio bickered a little on commentary. Meanwhile, Cena and Christian had a fun match while it lasted. The fight went outside and Cena clotheslined Christian over the announce table. As everybody got up, Del Rio took a cheapshot on Punk. Which allowed Christian to cheapshot Cena. As they went back inside Cena had Christian up for the AA, but Del Rio jumped in and caused the disqualification. Punk ran Del Rio off. Del Rio said he'd be the only one of the three coming back from Hell on Sunday.
– United States Championship: Dolph Ziggler (c) d. Zack Ryder in 2:01. Dolph was accompanied by both Vickie and Swagger. Despite his hairline fracture, Dolph seemed well in control early on. Ryder came back, perhaps bouyed by the promise of being in Booker's Fave Five if he won. Zack hit the Broski boot, at which point Vickie got on the apron for the distraction. That allowed Swagger to hang Zack across the top rope and Swagger to win with the Zig Zag to retain. Swagger and Ziggler shook hands. Air Boom ran Swagger and Ziggler off. Teddy Long told Vickie to find a third man to team with her guys for a six man, or else it'd be three on two.
– Zack Ryder and Air Boom d. Dolph Ziggler, Zack Ryder and Mason Ryan in 6:30. The match started three on two as Vickie took a while to re-appear from her hunt for a partner. Cole mentioned that Bourne wants to live to be 150. Booker matter of factly said “well, I don't think it's gonna happen”. And that's why Booker T is great. Swagger and Ziggler got some brief control on Evan, but Kofi got the tag. At that point Vickie returned, with Mason Ryan in tow and it turned into a six man. However when Mason got the tag, he immediately turned on Swagger and took out Ziggler with a swinging rock bottom. That allowed Zack to pin Ziggler after a Ruff Ryder. Earning him a spot in the Fave Five.
– In the locker room afterwards, Otunga and his Bowtie was talking with Christian, Cody, Ziggler and Vickie about Triple H. Otunga said there were unsafe working conditions and they needed to protect themselves. He said they needed to be together if a lawsuit was going to be the way forward. The heels all agreed they were in.
– CM Punk d. Alberto Del Rio in 9:07. Cena joined commentary for the match. Punk threw Del Rio into Cena as they brawled on the floor, then mocked him with a salute. But it backfired as Punk got distracted and Del Rio jumped him coming back in the ring. Del Rio took over and tried to focus on Punk's arm. Punk eventually fought back but Del Rio again capitalised on the arm. As he went for the armbar, Punk escaped and hit a roundhouse kick out of nowhere for a somewhat anti-climactic victory.
– The cell immediately started to lower for some reason, right after the bell. Ricardo tried to attack Punk but had no effect, so tried to run away. Cena trapped him, leaving Ricardo trapped in the cell with Cena and Punk. Poor Ricardo got the GTS from Punk and an AA from Cena. Punk then went for a GTS on Cena, which Cena tried to counter into an AA. But Ricardo appeared with a chair and laid both Cena and Punk with chairshots. Alberto sent Punk through a chair set in the corner and gave both another chairshot to stand tall at the end of the show.
NXT
– JTG and Darren Young cut a promo. JTG said for 30 weeks, Darren Young had been killing the competition. Thirty weeks. Three 0, thirty. They put themselves over and brought up their two tag wins in the past two weeks. They said they'd go after the Tag Titles after Young won the competition, which apparently still exists. The Usos interrupted them and pointed that they laid out Young and JTG after both of their wins. The Usos said they came from a long line of real tag teams and they were future Tag Champions. JTG got serious, saying he gre
w up watching wrestling, but said their family was a joke and ran before The Usos could attack. The Usos challenged them to a match later.
– Jinder Mahal d. Yoshi Tatsu in 6:09. Another NXT newcomer. Yoshi outwrestled Mahal for a while early, until Jinder cut him off. Finish saw Yoshi miss the spinkick off the top and Jinder capitalise with a full nelson slam. Match was okay but Jinder isn't exactly the most exciting guy on the roster.
– Backstage, Hornswoggle walked up to AJ and Titus with a note. The note started out sweet, but went on to say NXT could not satisfy his leprechauny needs anymore. So, basically, he's leaving for Smackdown. He bid them both farewell. AJ wondered if Hornswoggle knew she was on Smackdown as well.
– Tyson Kidd d. Percy Watson in 4:12. Percy looked pretty good here. Tyson got the win with a springboard elbow drop that he hit from at least halfway across the ring.
– Striker interviewed Jinder backstage. Jinder didn't want to hear about Khali. He said whether it was Raw, Smackdown or NXT, he didn't need Khali, he was the only one that mattered.
– The Usos d. Darren Young and JTG (Jey pinned Young) in 10:21. Young and JTG were able to isolate one of the Usos for a while. When Jey got the tag, they were able to cut Jimmy off too when Young gave him a back suplex on the apron with the referee distracted. The Usos eventually rallied to get the tag again and Jey ran wild. The Usos took JTG out with a double superkick and then finished off Young with the superfly splash. But after the match, Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks ran out and attacked The Usos from behind. Yes, NXT is basically ECW now. Where low card guys go to occupy themselves.
SUPERSTARS
– Daniel Bryan d. Trent Barreta in 5:59. Face versus face. So, Bryan basically worked defacto heel. Trent held his own in an even opening. But once Bryan took control, he decided to kick the crap out of Trent and stretch him out in painful fashion. Bryan broke out the Brock Lock amongst his submissions. Trent eventually sent Bryan outside and hit the big flip dive. Back and forth at the end, Bryan was able to counter the tornado DDT and a roundhouse kick set up Barreta for the front guillotine. Good good stuff.
– Brodus Clay d. Brian Thomas in 1:18. Week 9 of the “Brodus squashes someone on Superstars” run. At this point, it's got zero value to anyone. Time to take the next step. Any step.
– The Bella Twins d. AJ and Kaitlyn (Nikki pinned AJ) in 3:57. Between AJ's theme music and The Bellas' backless catsuits, there was plenty to love about this match. AJ and Kaitlyn worked well as a team. But The Bellas had the experience and managed to pull out the win after a Bella Buster.
– John Morrison d. Drew McIntyre in 8:12. What happens when you put two guys who cannot win a match against each other? Crowd were into Morrison. Morrison tried the El Generico dive through the ring posts deal, but it didn't quite come off like he planned. To be fair Drew may have been stood too far back. Morrison missed a crossbody and hit the ropes, allowing Drew to take over, briefly. Morrison couldn't put Drew away with the Moonlight Drive or the Flying Chuck. Both guys did kip ups and Morrison almost won with a pele kick. But he finally got the win after countering a superplex, crotching Drew and then delivering Starship Pain.
SMACKDOWN
– Booker T came out, to interview Mark Henry in the ring. Booker congratulated Henry and said he knew how hard it was to get where he was being a six time champion. He offered a handshake, which Mark wasn't having. Henry asked if Booker thought he was six times better than him. He threatened to put Booker through the announce table. But he said he was out there for Orton, not Booker. Crowd chanted for Orton. Henry promised to induct Orton into the Hall Of Pain at Hell In A Cell. He said he had Big Show, Kane and Jerry Lawler's heads mounted at home. Yes, their heads. He said he had a place for Orton's head over his mantel. And promised to end Orton's career. Booker asked why Henry wouldn't just concentrate on being a great champion. Henry said he'd been a fan favourite for 15 years and it didn't get him anywhere. He promised to be the msot dominant champion in WWE history. Henry claimed Orton wouldn't hit him with the RKO and couldn't beat him. Just like Khali wouldn't beat him tonight.
– Mark Henry d. Great Khali in 2:50. Sure enough, Khali didn't beat Mark Henry. He did take the fight to Henry and get quite a bit of offence in. But Henry fought back to beat Khali with the World's Strongest Slam. After the match, Henry then gave Khali the ankle breaking treatment.
– Jack Swagger d. Evan Bourne by submission in 2:32. Bourne had Kofi with him and Swagger was with Dolph and Vickie. For some reason Swagger also came out to Dolph's theme music. Bourne used his speed to hang in the match and almost had the win, when Vickie jumped on the apron. The distraction lead to Dolph snapping Evan's neck on the rope. Evan recovered and Kofi went after Dolph outside. But as Evan went for Air Bourne, Vickie crotched him, allowing Swagger to put the anklelock on. Swagger had his music back after the match.
– Sin Cara d. Heath Slater in 0:43. This was the Mistico version. Didn't take long for him to beat Heath with a senton.
– The other Sin Cara appeared on the titantron and removed the Sin Cara mask, to reveal a black Sin Cara mask underneath. All in black, the fake Sin Cara cut a bilingual promo. He said that Sin Cara had stolen his identity once before, as Mistico. And now, he was doing the same to him. He said they'd find out on Sunday which one of them should be the real Sin Cara.
– Backstage, John Laurinaitis was with Christian, Otunga, Ziggler, Vickie, Swagger and Cody. He said he understood their frustrations. Otunga had some sort of legal plan set up. The heels agreed they were “all in for Monday”.
– Kelly Kelly d. Natalya in 1:26. Beth did commentary. Kelly got the win with a victory roll out of nowhere. After which, Beth attacked and laid Kelly out with the Glam Slam. Natalya put Kelly in a submission and Beth put a microphone up to Kelly as she cried in pain. Bit creepy.
– Cody came down for his IC Title match. As the baggers did their work, Cody talked about being discriminated against by the WWE. He said no action was taken against Orton for what happened to him and he was being forced to defend his title again tonight. Cody said he was defending tonight under protest. Sheamus promised to win the title and that wouldn't be Irish folklore.
– WWE Intercontinental Championship: Sheamus d. Cody Rhodes (c) by DQ in 8:08. Sheamus dominated early on. But Cody used the mask with a headbutt to find a way into the match. Cody then hung up Sheamus's arm and targetted the arm from there. Sheamus eventually turned things around and posted Cody's shoulder. Just as Sheamus looked like he'd win the title with the Celtic Cross though, Christian hit the ring and caused the DQ, giving Sheamus the Killswitch.
– Zack Ryder d. JTG in 2:55. Things didn't go Zack's way early on. Booker did the catchphrase. Zack then came back to hit the Ruff Ryder. Coincidence? And he's in the Fave Five!
– Triple H walked up to Laurinaitis backstage, asking him about the secret meetings he'd been having. Laurinaitis protested that he was the Executive VP of Talent Relations so talent had to confide in him. Laurinaitis said he was behind HHH 100% and was as loyal as they come. HHH said that's good because if he couldn't trust someone, he might as well fire them. Laurinaitis went back to texting when HHH walked off.
– Striker interviewed Randy Orton. Sort of. He didn't ask any questions. Orton said he wasn't intimidated by anyone, even Henry. He pointed out what he did to Cody and said he didn't have an ounce of regret. Orton said Henry should hope he hit an RKO and ended it early on Sunday, instead of inflicting pain on him.
– Randy Orton versus Christian went to a double count out in 10:47. As usual these two had a good match. Not a PPV match of the year or anything, but you can't really go wrong with these two. Crowd were into Orton since they were in St Louis. Christian was able to ground Orton for a while after an even opening. Orton responded and nailed Christian with a dropkick. Match got even again towards the end. And, with it, got better. They played off the sunset flip/RKO tease again at one point. Christian hit the Spear for a two count. Orton countered the KIllswitch and hit the draping DDT. As he went for the RKO though, Christian ran away. Orton went after him and Christian took a big bump over the steps. As they fought on the floor the referee counted both out, but Orton continued the attack.
– Orton set up the table ready for the RKO, but Cody ran out for the save. Cody and Christian double teamed Orton until Sheamus hit the ring for the save. Sheamus hit the Brogue Kick on Cody and chased Christian through the crowd. Mark Henry then came out, with Orton hurt. Orton managed to get the jump on Henry coming in, but Henry countered the RKO again and gave him the World's Strongest Slam. Henry then grabbed a chair, ready to break the ankle. But as he got back in the ring, Orton finally hit the RKO on Henry, proving he could do so before Hell In A Cell.