This week: Mutiny in the ranks, as the WWE suffers a crisis in confidence and more people walk out of Raw unhappy than an entire weekend of sport in Philadelphia. Plus, Big Show's dominant return, Santino's dominant return, The Dibiase Posse and Mark Henry does pro wrestling better than pro wrestling.
RAW SUPERSHOW
– Randy Orton d. Drew McIntyre in 5:27. Drew didn't get an entrance. Poor Drew. Drew did manage to hold his own after taking a beating early, since Orton was still mad from Hell In A Cell. But Orton caught McIntyre with raised boots coming off the top. Orton then made his big comeback, finishing Drew off decisively with the RKO.
– After the match, Orton gave Drew a second RKO, just because. Mark Henry came out with the World Title and raised it over his head to antagonise Orton. Which worked, as Orton left the ring to go after him. They brawled at ringside until John Laurinaitis came out with security to try and separate them. Both managed to break free repeatedly to get at each other, before Orton was finally dragged away.
– Mark Henry d. John Morrison in 1:59. Morrison did get an entrance. But, even so, Poor John. Morrison managed to escape the World's Strongest Slam and took the fight to Henry, able to knock him off his feet. He then hit Starship Pain but Henry kicked out. Henry then put Morrison away with the World's Strongest Slam moments later.
– After the match, Henry gave Morrison a second World's Strongest Slam after the match. Just because. Henry said he was done with Randy Orton. He mentioned Big Show returning on Friday and said he wasn't hard to find. He told Big Show he would enter the Hall Of Pain again and it'd be the shortest return in WWE history.
– Backstage, the Raw heels were unhappy with Laurinaitis. Laurinaitis asked if Otunga had anything to do with Miz and Truth filing a lawsuit against WWE. Otunga wanted to know what HHH was going to do about it. Vickie said they were going to the ring to present their case to the public.
– The heels, Christian, Otunga, Swagger, Ziggler, Vickie and Cody were joined by Alberto Del Rio in the ring. Del Rio was unhappy because he won the WWE Title at Hell In A Cell but couldn't celebrate his win, because Miz and Truth attacked him. Del Rio blamed Triple H. He brought up the cell “magically” raising and lowering, which he also blamed HHH for. Christian said Raw had become an unsafe place to work and he wasn't going to take it anymore. Cody claimed they'd all been victims of HHH's negligance. Ziggler said they were going to take action. Swagger said his friends and family were all concerned about him. Vickie was next in line, but got drowned out by boos. Otunga said he'd studied cases like this at Harvard. And there were only two options, keep working and risk their livelihood, or take legal action. Triple H came out and said WWE used to be a place where men used to fight. They didn't whine and cry like little kids. HHH said he didn't give a damn about lawsuits. He told the guys in the ring not to whine and cry or threaten to sue in their 12 man tag later, but to shut up and fight like they were paid to do.
– Beth Phoenix and Natalya d. Kelly Kelly and Eve Torres by DQ in 0:34. Kelly was immediately thrown outside by Beth and snapped. The referee quickly called for the bell as Kelly threw Beth into the table repeatedly. Eve had to drag Kelly off of Beth.
– In HHH's office, Laurinaitis apologised for what happened last night. But Laurinaitis wanted an apology back, because Triple H accidently knocked him down when he attacked Miz and Truth. He suggested asking the roster for a vote of confidence. Triple H accepted, very violently, after Laurinaitis asked if he was scared of the answer.
– Santino Marella d. Jinder Mahal in 0:35. This was Santino's return. Santino interrupted a Jinder promo and spoke “Indian” to Jinder. They agreed to a match and Santino won with the Cobra in under a minute, so it really sucks to be Jinder.
– They played a Brodus Clay hype video, so I guess all those squashes weren't entirely useless after all since they got some clips out of it.
– After replaying the angle at the end of Hell In A Cell we got a “homemade, YouTube video” from Miz and Truth. Or, more specifically, “Mike and Ronny”. They apologised for what they had to do and all they wanted was their jobs back. They said they made a statement and Triple H would have done the same thing. Truth said they were attacked defencelessly. Miz revealed they'd filed a wrongful termination lawsuit and assault charges and they were sorry for the WWE Universe.
– John Cena, CM Punk, Sheamus, Kofi Kingston, Evan Bourne and Mason Ryan d. Alberto Del Rio, Christian, Cody Rhodes, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger and David Otunga (Sheamus pinned Ziggler) in 20:38. Ziggler and Mason squared off early on and Ziggler slapped Mason for what he did last week. Mason responded by pressing Dolph over the top onto Swagger. After the heels got some brief control on Punk, Punk had Cody set up for the GTS. Everybody came in from both sides and there was a standoff between the two teams. The heel side isolated Kofi after commercial. Kofi got the tag to Evan and the crowd really got into the match at that point. Bourne hit Air Bourne on Swagger, but Vickie put his foot on the bottom rope, prompting the referee to throw her out. The heel team were able to cut Bourne off during another break. Bourne used a big tornado DDT on Del Rio to open up the tag to Cena. But Del Rio escaped the AA and hit an armbreaker, allowing the heels to isolate Cena as well. Sheamus came in off the tag and ran wild, which lead to a sequence of big moves from everybody in the match. Ending with Sheamus hitting the Brogue Kick on Dolph for the win. Long match, but fun.
– The main event was the vote of confidence segment. Most of the roster came to the ring, including the divas and the referees. Jerry Lawler also came out, despite his injuries stopping him from commentating. Triple H explained the process, before saying his piece. He said the job was harder than he expected and he didn't ask for it, it was given to him. He called Miz and Truth babies and said if they were willing to do the crime, they should be willing to do the time. HHH said he enjoyed confrontation and the chaos of WWE and he thought the WWE Universe did too. And that's who they all really work for.
– Wade Barrett was first to speak up. He said he'd been selected to voice everyone's grievances. Wade claimed there was an unsafe working environment and they came to WWE because they were competitors, who adhered to certain rules and regulations. He said HHH was incapable of controlling WWE. And he blamed HHH for being out of control. HHH rightly pointed out Wade was responsible for the Nexus attacks and he only had a problem with the chaos because he wasn't causing it. Mike Chioda spoke for the referees and said he'd known him for years, but he'd never seen so much abuse of officials. HHH rightly pointed out he fired the two guys who attacked the referees. Chioda pointed out in return that they got in and attacked them at the PPV and he was afraid to come to work now. Beth Phoenix spoke for the divas and she was worried. HHH asked her to name one thing that had happened to the divas. She had none. Lawler was next up. Lawler spoke for himself, saying he agreed with some things and not others, but he agreed Raw was spiralling out of control. But he disagreed that it was HHH's fault. Lawler agreed with Punk that someone was trying to sabotage him, but people were paying the price. And as long as HHH was running things, he was worried things were going to get worse.
– Christian piped up and got everyone to vote. Christian voted no confidence on behalf of the heels. The referees voted no confidence too, as did the divas. Lawler reluctantly said no confidence and since actions speak louder than words, he was walking out. Everybody then joined him. Cole left too. A group of the Raw faces were left behind. But they decided to leave as well. Booker got up and walked off. The fans chanted for HHH, so he had them at least. But then the camera guys started leaving. And finally, last of all, JR walked out despite the crowd wanting him not to. Laurinaitis then came out, to shake his head in disappointment and leave. Leaving HHH, all alone.
NXT
– Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks came out. Hawkins and Tyler marvelled at the fact they actually had microphones. They said Raw was in complete chaos and nobody was telling them what to do anymore, so they were invading NXT. Hawkins called Yoshi a fake Great Muta rip-off and said it was the Hawkins and Reks show tonight. Reks, who I guess is no longer angry intimidating heel, said they walked out on HHH last night and he hated Triple H. He said he was sick of second generation guys getting opportunities that they squandered, while he and Hawkins had none. The Usos interrupted. Hawkins mocked the DUI that Jimmy was landed with. The Usos said they fought for everything they achieved in life. The Usos challenged them to a match and jumped them, sending them both packing.
– Derrick Bateman d. Titus O'Neil in 5:08. Regal explained he was torn about walking out on Raw, but the job was too much for Triple H. Still not big on these two having singles matches. Maxine distracted Titus and Bateman hit a chopblock, then got the win with his side headlock driver move. Bateman and Maxine celebrated with a liplock after.
– Backstage, JTG and Darren were talking when Yoshi walked past. JTG and Young made fun of him for “wearing make-up”. Yoshi walked over to a table and found that they'd stolen his facepaint.
– My Girlfrend Back: underline”>Yoshi Tatsu d. JTG in 4:52. JTG ran from Yoshi and hid behind Darren, who put on Yoshi's paint to mock him. So Yoshi kicked him in the head. JTG jumped Yoshi as they slid back inside and took over. Yoshi fought back to win with a spin kick off the top rope.
– Daniel Bryan d. Heath Slater by submission in 5:42. Bryan's beard is growing out quite nicely. Bryan was more aggressive again here. Heath managed to hold his own against him, but Bryan was able to come out of a good little match with the submission, using the Regal Stretch as a tribute to the watching Regal.
– Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks d. The Usos (Hawkins pinned Jey) in 4:51. Decent tag match. Hawkins and Reks worked well as a team. Reks was able to distract Jey as he went for the superfly splash, long enough for Hawkins to slam him off the top. Which set up the Heat Seeking Elbow.
SUPERSTARS
– Alex Riley d. JTG in 4:35. The fake grenade moves have now made their way into Riley's entrance too. Riley did the A-Bomb early on, but JTG was able to crotch him in the corner moments later. Crowd were pretty into Riley. Riley rallied and hit the implant DDT, but only got a two count. JTG almost got the win with an elevated neckbreaker. But Riley kicked out and then delivered a TKO for the pin.
– Michael McGillicutty d. Percy Watson in 3:40. For the talk of McGillicutty not having a personality, he seemed pretty comfortable here. Stanford claimed this match was happening because these two had a confrontation in a restaurant because McGillicutty insulted Titus O'Neil. If Scott Stanford said it, it must be true. This was pretty good. McGillicutty blocked Percy's twisting splash with both boots and won with the return of the dreaded swinging neckbreaker/McGillicutter.
– AJ d. Tamina in 3:53. Tamina stretched out AJ repeatedly. Korpela tried to claim that at the age of 8, Tamina was made to search for food in the jungles of Samoa to toughen her up. This was too ludicrous even for Striker to accept. Think about that. After dominating the match, Tamina missed a splash and was hit with a standing sliced bread to give AJ an upset win.
– Ted Dibiase d. Tyson Kidd in 3:58. To prove Dibiase is a babyface, they claimed he now has the “Dibiase Posse”, which involves tailgating with the WWE Universe. Amazingly, this one is actually true. Tyson delivered a brutal looking spin kick to the head on the outside to gain the advantage. Tyson slapped Dibiase about, which only served to fire Ted up. And after a back and forth end, Dibiase was able to deliver Dreamstreet.
SMACKDOWN
– The show started with Teddy Long in his office. Zack asked who he was on the phone with and was worried HHH might be mad at him. Teddy said HHH didn't want to risk a walkout on Smackdown, so he was leaving the show in Teddy's hands. He said Raw's loss would be Smackdown's gain.
– In the ring were Vickie, Swagger, Wade, Christian, Otunga, Otunga's Bowtie, Ziggler and Cody. Vickie said it was the one year anniversary of Smackdown on SciFi. That's kinda scary. Christian spoke for Vickie since the crowd were booing her. He talked about the walkout. Christian took credit for inspiring everybody. Crowd chanted for HHH. Ziggler said they'd all banded together against HHH on Raw. Otunga explained why they were on Smackdown. Basically, HHH handing Smackdown over to Teddy was a good start, but if HHH didn't step down on Monday, they'd walk out of all events. Wade said it didn't need to come to that and HHH should look at himself in the mirror and do the right thing. Cody said HHH's head had grown so large, there wasn't a paper bag that could cover it. Crowd got on Cody's case. Swagger brought out Alberto. Alberto claimed he'd inspired everyone to walk out and they'd never go back until HHH steps down. Alberto wanted a match, to show what Raw would be missing. So Teddy came out and made Christian and Cody versus Orton and Sheamus, plus Del Rio versus Sin Cara.
– Alberto Del Rio d. Sin Cara by submission in 3:21. Or, Sin Cara Azul, if you prefer. Del Rio attacked immediately. He then caught Sin Cara with a nasty german suplex, which didn't look much fun for Sin Cara. Del Rio ended up submitting Sin Cara with the armbreaker. Sin Cara Negro came out and attacked Sin Cara after the match.
– Cole asked why Booker walked out on Raw. Booker claimed he had nothing to do with it, he just thought the show was over and hard to go to the bathroom. Josh and Cole both threw their hands up in despair. Amazing.
– Striker interviewed Air Boom. He asked why they walked out on Raw. They said they felt bad about the situation and it probably wasn't HHH's fault. But as long as he was around things would stay in a state of chaos, so they'd be staying off Raw until he was gone.
– Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger d. Air Boom (Swagger pinned Bourne) in 3:10. Air Boom have new music. Dolph and Swagger jumped Evan and Kofi in the aisle before the match started. Ziggler gave Bourne a Zig Zag on the arena floor. Meaning Kofi had to start off two on one. Kofi fought gamely but couldn't deal with both and was cut off. Cole pointed out that things were out of control again tonight. Evan tagged himself in despite his neck being hurt and took the fight to Swagger and Ziggler briefly. It didn't last and Swagger put him away with the gutwrench powerbomb. Booker wondered what Teddy was doing.
– Beth Phoenix d. Alicia Fox in 0:35. Beth won quick with the Glam Slam. Natalya put Alicia in the evil submission afterwards and Beth urged Alicia to cry. Cole again pointed out there was chaos and Teddy was nowhere to be seen.
– Big Show returned and he seemed pretty excited about it. Show said he'd been going over footage of what happened to his ankle over and over while he was away and showed it on the big screen. He said he was humbled by Mark Henry and Henry tore his heart out. He explained all the things he couldn't do because of his ankle and got emotional about it. Crowd loved Big Show here. Show explained the reason he'd watched it back was to deal with the emotional pain and to use that pain to get better and to get stronger. He promised to repay Henry and take his title. Show pointed out that the World Title was the first title he ever held. He called Henry out. Henry said while Big Show had been away, he put out Kane, Vladimir Kozlov and Jerry Lawler, so The Hall Of Pain was getting crowded. He also beat Randy Orton. Henry asked who Big Show had beat. He pointed out Big Show had been at home for four months, so he'd let him know when and if he'll ever get a title shot. Big Show said if he didn't get an answer by the end of the night, he'd put him through the announce table and break his ankle. Great stuff.
– Striker asked Orton about him deserving a rematch at Mark Henry. Orton said he didn't want to be like Christian and beg for a rematch. So, if he had to tear through everybody on Smackdown to get another shot, he's all for it. Striker asked where he was on Raw. Orton said if he had a problem with HHH, he'd deal with him personally because he didn't play well with others.
– Ezekial Jackson d. Jinder Mahal in 2:07. Zeke interrupted Jinder's pre match promo and told him to “shush”. Jinder wouldn't listen, so Zeke punched him. Jinder actually lasted longer here than against Santino and even escaped the torture rack on one occassion. But eventually, Jackson won with the torture rack.
– Backstage, Teddy was expecting Aksana. Instead, he got John Laurinaitis. Laurinaitis said they were both company men and he wanted to show Teddy support. He warned Teddy that if he lost control of Smackdown, WWE would be in turmoil, so he could count on him.
– Hornswoggle appeared from under the ring and called Booker into the ring. He got Booker to do the spinaroonie. Booker didn't exactly need much convincing. Hornswoggle then did the “Swoggleroonie”. But Christian interrupted the fun by coming out for his match.
– Randy Orton and Sheamus d. Cody Rhodes and Christian (Orton pinned Cody) in 6:32. Sheamus looked good early, until Christian's distraction allowed Cody to cut him off with a russian legsweep. Sheamus got the tag to Orton, who ran wild on Christian. But as he went for the RKO, Cody distracted, allowing Christian to escape. The heels were then able to isolate Orton. Orton countered a spear and Sheamus made the tag. Finish saw Sheamus take out Christian and tag Orton, who caught Cody with the RKO.
– Mark Henry came out to answer Big Show's challenge. Henry said he feared no man. But as far as Big Show having a title match, he said no. So Big Show ran out and attacked Henry. Show beat Henry down with punches until security ran out to contain him. Crowd wanted to see them fight. Big Show broke free and hit Henry with a spear. He then broke free again and started laying out security guys with chokeslams and right hands. Henry grabbed his belt and left, as Big Show laid waste to the security. Henry seemed to look surprised by Show's dominance, but still refused to give Show the title match. So Show went after him in the aisle. Henry managed to turn things around on Show and tore up the announce table ready for the slam. But Big Show fought it off and instead, chokeslammed Henry through the table, just like he said he would. Fans were going wild for Show. Big Show then grabbed a chair and set up the ankle. Before he could go through with it, Teddy came out and told Show he had his title match, but not if he broke Henry's ankle. Big Show contemplated it and decided not to. Instead, he went back and hit Henry across the back with the chair. Show promised to finish the job after he beat Henry for the title. Really well done segment to end the show.