Tonight, WWE Champion CM Punk teams with Sheamus to take on WWE World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan and Chris Jericho. Also, Shawn Michaels has a confrontation with HHH. Oh, and the Rock has a showdown with John Cena all from Boston!
World Wrestling Entertainment presents RAW
Date: 3/5/2012
From: Boston, MA
Shawn Michaels opens the show and talks about how things got heated between himself and HHH a few weeks ago. HBK says he is here tonight because HHH changed his mind and is going to try and end the streak at WrestleMania. HHH makes his way down to the ring and HBK talks about how HHH was able to stay his ground and not give into HBK pressuring him into wrestling Taker. HBK wants to know why HHH decided to accept the match. After a video package we hear from HHH. He says that his decision wasn’t impacted by whether or not Michaels is better than him. HHH is tired of listening to people talk behind his back. He is sick of hearing people call Michaels a failure. It is hard for HHH to see Michaels as a loser. He is going to beat Taker not for himself, but for Michaels as well. Shawn Michaels reveals that he knows who is going to at WrestleMania because he is going to be the special referee for the match!
Opening Contest: WWE United States Championship
[champion] Jack Swagger vs. Santino Marella
The action started off this week with Santino Marella capturing gold for the fourth time in his WWE career. Dolph Ziggler and Johnny Ace tried to help Swagger pull through as Swagger hit a Blue Thunder Bomb but Marella found a way to kick out. Johnny Ace and Teddy Long end up fighting on the floor and this allows Marella to roll Swagger up for a big victory! Afterward, Long tells Ace that tonight isn’t his show and kicks Ace out of the building!
We see the Rock talking about the Boston Tea Party and he says he is going to start a revolution tonight. Rock tosses the John Cena merchandize into the water and says there is going to be a party tonight.
Second Contest: Eve Torres vs. Alicia Fox
Eve wins with a roll up, that’s all you need to know. Zack Ryder appears from backstage and says he is happy that he didn’t hook up with Eve. We end up seeing them backstage where Eve kisses Ryder!
Third Contest: Chris Jericho & WWE World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan vs. WWE Champion CM Punk & Sheamus
Yeah, they are already putting this tag match on RAW. You’d think they would maybe do this closer to the pay per view, but whatever. Punk controlled Jericho early on with a series of hip tosses until Jericho tagged out of the match. Sheamus enters as well and clubs away on Bryan’s chest on the apron for a near fall. After a commercial, Jericho controls Punk with a side slam but the offense doesn’t last too long. Sheamus enters and clubs away on Jericho with an axe handle and a body splash. Jericho dropkicks Sheamus off the top after Bryan distracts him. Late in the match, Punk hits a high knee on Bryan in the corner and delivers a top rope elbow drop for a two count. Jericho returns to the ring and rolls through a roll up by Punk to pin the champion!
Fourth Contest: The Miz vs. Big Show
We see Cody Rhodes prior to the match as he continues to get under the Big Show’s skin. This week, he shows footage from WrestleMania XVIII where Show was hanging out at WWE New York. This obviously didn’t sit well with Show who ended up squashing Miz after hitting the Knockout Punch. I’m starting to feel bad for Miz, actually.
Main Event: Kane vs. R-Truth
This was a rather simple squash match for Kane. Truth attempted to hit a scissors kick but instead was met with a choke slam, which was good enough for the victory.
To finish off the program, John Cena came out to talk about the Rock coming back to the WWE. He took credit for being the first person to cause Rock to be “shaken up.” Cena wants the real Rock to show up to WrestleMania, which means he wants the best Superstar in WWE history (that’s debatable). The Rock made his way out and tells Cena that he sees fear in his eyes. The fear, according to Rock, is that Cena is afraid that Rock will take everything away from him. Rock believes that Cena will go down as the man who was the Rock’s bitch. Cena comes back by saying it would be crazy to say he is afraid. Cena is going to be the son of a bitch who beats the Rock’s ass. After saying that, Cena jumps into the crowd and celebrates. Cena ends up introducing his wife and family before heading to the backstage area to end the program.
Final Thoughts:
It was a decent effort this week by the WWE. The matches were interesting and featured mostly the top talent, so I can’t complain there. Sure, I don’t like Miz jobbing all the time, but whatever. The opening promo was fine, but it seems like it’s the same tension between HHH and HBK. The ending segment between Rock and Cena was better than last weeks for sure, but it wasn’t spectacular by any means. Oh, and I’m perfectly fine with Santino winning the WWE United States Championship. He is really over and people are going to be supporting him as champion. I know I’ve said he shouldn’t be a main event guy, but if he get a serious side, I could get behind a Marella push up the card. As for the whole show, I’ll give it a mild thumbs up this week.
Thanks for reading.