Raw Review 10/09/12

Welcome to my Raw Review. I apologise if it's... crap, but I'm free-flowing here and writing it live (well, on sky+ because it's on too late and I have a kid to feed, damnit! Or something)

No intro music, instead we're greeted by Canadian wrestling legend, Bret "The Hitman" Hart.

Massive pop as expected.  Man he looks old. First time in 15 years he's been in WWE and Montreal. Is Bret limping? He looks pumped, which is good. Mic in hand. Crowd is still going mad for him, Bret thanks them in English and French. Considerate. "Sheamus are you my daddy?" Weird sign.

Bret mentions how it's been 15 years.  Crowd are STILL going mad for him with "thank you Bret" chants.  Again Bret thanks them in French.  Great audience.  Mentions the screwjob being one of the darkest moments of his life, and thanks the Montreal fans for all the support over the years.  Bret says "God Bless everyone in Montreal" before..

..Look in my eyesss! What do you see?! We see CM Punk.  Punk gets a bit of a mixed reaction.  He'll be getting booed awfully soon.  Haha, a Bret Hart fan is yelling at Punk, Punk's just standing there in front of him. Ha! The fan gives Punk the finger.  Tut tut, cameraman. 

Now there's some boos for interrupting the Hero.  Punk points to Bret as he mentions Bret writing his own book and that his ego isn't big enough to write a book about himself.  But if Punk were to do that, he would call it "What if?", like what if Bret wrestled Punk at Survivor Series 1997 instead of Michaels?  Hart said it wouldn't matter, he would take one minute to slap Punk with the Sharpshooter, turn him into a pretzel and make the back of his feet touch the back of his head.  Boom!  Punk doesn't believe him, and doesn't think Hart believes it himself.  Punk says exactly what would happen - the WWE as we know it would not exist. "Punk vs Hart? That's easy, I'm the best in the world.  I wouldn't need Vince to screw anyone because I'd beat you myself.  The Attitude era would never have been born and I would have jumped the sinking ship and would have left to WCW and WWE would be dead". Hart underestimates Punk's brilliance.  As far as Hart is considered the best in the world is "excellently executed by the best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be." Nice pop. Punk: "It absolutely kills me that you still refer to yourself as that. You could call yourself the king of England... hell, you could call yourself the King of Memphis but that doesn't make it true, right Jerry?" Haha, nice. Booooooo.  "How're you feeling this week, Jerry?  No hard feelings though right?". Hart:" I don't know what your history with Jerry Lawler is. (You don't watch Raw, Bret?) I have a long history with Jerry Lawler, and we go way back.  He always showed up though."  We go to the titantron and see the recap of when Punk kicked Cena in the head, followed by the GTS on the car bonet. And there's Paul Heyman again. WoOoOo! 

Punk: "Well, what can I say Bret?  I was in my hometown.  A town that treats Champions respectfully, (to the audience).  I was in a hurry to enjoy my day off.  I forgot some stuff and came back to see  John Cena.  Where is he now?  Is he in the back?  Does John have your back?  Did you ask JC to be your white knight tonight?" Hart:  I did talk to JC and said I'd like to talk to these people, and with all due respect-- Punk: "RESPECT?! You don't know the meaning of the word or you wouldn't speak to the WWE champion like that, and I have been WWE champion longer than you ever had.  On sunday I will beat JC and cement my legacy and be known as the best wwe champion of all time.  Did you hear the audience? These... people? when you came out?  that's the respect and admiration I get all across the world when I compete. You are just like JC, you are overstated, overhyped, overrated and at NOC,  I will put JC to sleep." Bret: "Just like you're putting all these people to sleep right now." Burn.

Punk looks mad. Breathe, Punk, breathe.  Nice "Boring" chant from the crowd.  Punk: "No, at NOC I'm going to turn JC into a beaten, broken down, empty shell of a man... just like you are".  Punk drops the mic and backs slowly away, staring down the Hitman. Ah, an "asshole" chant, it's been a while.  Punk ends it by shouting "BEST IN THE WORLD!" while holding his WWE championship up high.

Punk proves time and time again why he truly is one of the best in the world.  Although Hart will never be remembered by his ability on the mic, he had some pretty good lines but once again, Punk owned this promo as he tends to in most.  Later tonight we have Bret Hart interviewing John Cena.  I guess it would be stupid to have Hart come out for 15 minutes and that be the end of it, particularly with the 3 hours.

Has anyone actually seen Anger Management with Charlie Sheen?  It looks wank to be honest.  One of the great advantages of Sky+ is I can fast forward through the 3,470 ad breaks (and DIvas matches, but I won't for the purposes of this review).

Another #Rawactive match for later, asking who CM Punk's opponent should be out of Brodus Clay, Jerry Lawler and Randy Orton.  If this is incentive to watch Raw live I don't see it.  If it's not Orton I will eat my own hair.
  
Tag Team Champions Kofi Kingston and R-Truth make their entrance to a nice pop.  Awwwwwwwwwwwwesommmmme.  Miz strolls out followed by Antonio Cesaro.  Why have these guys team when you can actually use a tag team?  Aksana tells us Cesaro is going to say five words that best describe him in 5 different languages.  The word was prestige, apparently.  HUGE NEWS came in earlier to say that the pre-show for NOC will be a battle royal to determine the number one contender for the US title.  Fair enough.

Kingston and Miz start things off with a headlock followed by an irish whip and monkey flip by Kingston.  Tag to R-Truth with a double russian legsweep and elbow/knee drop to a count of nothing as Miz just rolls out the ring.  Cesaro tries to ambush them but gets taken out and rolls out too.  Kingston then does a Hardy Boyz style dive over the top to an ad break.  Another one? Gawd.  I could've done without seeing the entrances and just the match, please.

We come back with Cesaro in control with a headlock to R-truth. Heh, Aksana is lying on the ring just under the bottom rope. Tag to Miz as he throws his balls at the back of R-Truth's head while on the ropes and pushes him to the corner with some really weak-looking punches.  Miz then does his jumping clothesline thing and climbs to the top rope.  Miz off the rope with a double axe handle and a cover for one.  He follows it up with a rear chin lock.  Truth fights out with punches but eats a knee to the gut.  Miz off the rope meets a spinning heel kick from Killings.  Both guys tag out and Kofi springboards onto Cesaro with a clothesline followed by his double chops and a DROPKICK.  Superman punch followed by the train taunt he does and the boom drop.  It's over, according to Kofi as he sets up for the Trouble in Paradise.  Miz up on the apron eats a dropkick.  Cesaro takes advantage briefly as he throws him into the corner.  Kofi flips out and kicks Cesaro in the face followed by a beautiful frog splash-style crossbody and a cover that's interrupted by Miz. My fingers hurt. R-Truth hits the lie detector on Miz and gets thrown out by Cesaro.  Kingston goes for Trouble but Cesaro rolls him up for a 2 1/2 count.  Cesaro thought it was three and gets a Trouble in Paradise for his... troubles.  One, two, three sees the tag team champions the victors.  You'd think they would be since they are the champions of tag teams, so good booking in that sense.

We go back to last week with Sheamus vs Swagger as he introduces the Cloverleaf, then ADR attacks and Ricardo eats the Brogue Kick, which lead to the whole banning of the Brogue Kick.  Sheamus and Bret Hart are having a chit chat around some crates as we go to our third ad break in 30 minutes.  Good God.

I've not seen Saturday Morning Slam.  Is it good?

Earlier today there was a meeting with Otunga, Rodriguez and Sheamus.  Sheamus was asked if he swears he will tell the truth, Sheamus responds with "Sure! Otunga, you are the biggest di--" before being cut off.  I chuckled.  Crazy Irish bastard.  They proceed with Otunga "State your name for the record" He does.  I am going to spell Sheamus' last name as it sounds... lipshits?  If your lipshits, what does your arse do? Wow, that's not PG!  Funny, though.  That's not his real last name, obvz.  They go over what happened on Raw.  Sheamus admits to Brogue Kicking Rodriguez and said he would do it again if he had to. His "lawyer" has a word with him.  Does the name Chad Patton mean anything to you, Sheamus?  He's a referree, who Sheamus Brogue Kicked.  Do you know Daniel Bryan?  Oh, goatface? Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Stop stealing that, Sheamus. Get your own.  Otunga meantions Sheamus's sneak attack on Daniel Bryan on Wrestlemania. Otunga is winding Sheamus up, telling him if he knew how much damage the Brogue Kick actually did.  Sheamus ended up Brogue Kicking the camera that was recording them and started singing. Sheamus vs Otunga later.

Not as bad as I thought actually. WWE are coming up with some above average skits lately.  Keep it up! Ad break number 4.

Six-woman tag team match with Layla, Kaitlyn (who are opponents at NOC) and Eve vs Alicia Fox, Natalya and Beth Phoenix. Kaitlyn and Phoenix start off with a waist lock by Kaitlyn into the corner.  Kaitlyn aggressive with a shoulder block, knee and right hand.  Beth reverses an irish whip but Kaitlyn puts on the brakes and EXPLODES with a lariat to Phoenix. Lyn off the ropes for a shoulderblock and an elbow sending Phoenix to the ropes who tags in Natalya. Double team on Lyn for a two count.  Natalya with a slap and irish whip.  Alicia gets a kick to the back of Lyn and a cocky pin by Natalya for one.  Fox tagged in and hits a northern lights suplex for two.  Whip in the corner and Fox misses with the big boot. Lyn tags in Layla who hits a spinning facebuster.  Layla goes for the step-up crossbody for a two.  Fox off the ropes and receives a kick by layla.  Eve tags herself in and hits a cross rhodes-like neckbreaker with no name for the win.  Eve is ecstatic about the win and celebrates with her partners, who look confused.

This was all about the face team, which is alright since it advances their storyline. Why they're not using Beth or Natalya is beyond me.

AJ staring at a TV as Punk approaches her, complaining that JC doesn't have a match yet Punk does and doesn't even know who his opponent is.  He questions why she is doing this and wonders if she is still embarrassed that he rejected her marriage proposal, or if it's because of her episode last week.  AJ said she could make it worse for him and let him fight Sheamus, but actually agrees with Punk in that a champion vs champion match needs more of a build up.  Considering Punk walked out on the people last week, they get to decide his fate this week.  She wishes him luck and walks off.  Punk goes to walk off and is met by Brodus Clay who smiles and says "Wassup?" That's probably the last time we will see Clay, since he's not going to get voted for, is he? Ad break number 5!

Official NOC theme is Champions by Kevin Rudolf.  No idea who he is, but it's featuring Fred Durst, Birdman and Lil' Wayne.  No idea who Birdman is.
Punk out next to what sounds like a mixed reaction. Belt almost flew off as Punk spun round. Nice catch, though.  Michael Cole tells us the results of the #rawactive twitter bollocks.  Who's it gonna be?!?! Looks like I get to keep my hair.  75% of the votes go to the viper.  I'm not surprised, nor disappointed, since these guys don't interact all that much.  Should be good. Punk looks annoyed.

Cole points out the colour of Punk's wrestling gear matching those of Bret Hart.  Punk is tied 10th of all time with Superstar Billy Graham as far as title reigns go. They start with a headlock by Punk, off the ropes and a shoulder block by Punk who brags about it.  Stare down to another headlock by Punk, off the ropes again and another shoulderblock by Punk.  Punk off the ropes meets an arm drag by Orton.  Another stare down as Punk backs to the corner and shoo's Orton away.  Third headlock this time by Orton as the crowd start a "Let's go Orton, CM Punk" chant. Punk backs Orton into the corner and hits a knee to break the headlock, followed by kicks to the mid-section.  Punk drags orton out and stamps followed by a backbreaker with a one count.  Headlock by punk.  Orton slowly gets to his feet as Punk hits two knees to the gut and takes Orton down, maintaining the headlock.  Orton back up with elbows as he fights out of the headlock and a headbutt knocks Punk to the corner.  Orton hits Punk with strikes and throws him to the opposite side of the ring.  Punk up and over Orton who then almost eats an RKO but rolls out the ring to boos from the Montreal crowd.  Punk turns around and walks away as the ref counts.  Orton follows and gives Punk a punch to the back.  More punches as he leads Punk down the ramp and into the security wall.  Punk rolled back in the ring by Orton but dropkicks Orton's legs as he's on the apron.  Orton smashes his head on the edge of the ring and falls to the floor as we are at ad break number 6!

Back in the ring and Punk has Orton in an abdominal stretch.  Orton counters with an armdrag but misses with a knee drop.  Punk with a knee to the stomach and a stomp before going to the middle rope for an elbow drop followed by a two count.  Punk with a scoop slam and legdrop for another two count.  Punk goes north for a Randy Savage elbow but Orton crotches Punk. Orton with punches to the head and a rather lovely superplex.  Kick out at two by Punk.  Orton and Punk on their knees as they exchange blows (hur, hur) and up to their feet.  Orton bounces off the rope to meet a kick to the gut by Punk.  Orton hits his patented clotheslines and goes for the snap powerslam but Punk holds onto the ropes.  Orton tells Punk to 'bring it' and hits him with a back body drop. "Come on, Montreal!" says the pandering Orton as he goes for the middle rope DDT.  Punk fights out with a roundhouse to the side of the head and springboard clothesline for a two count.  Punk signals it's time for Orton to go to sleep.  Orton counters with elbows and goes for an RKO.  Punk pushes him away but Orton hits him with his inverted back breaker for another two count.  Lots of pin attempts in this match.  Lawler is getting excited.  Orton hits his middle rope DDT. Vintage Orton! Orton slams the mat as he sets up for the RKO but Ziggler turns up behind.  Orton goes to RKO Ziggler but Ziggler pushes Orton towards Punk, who Orton clotheslines out of the ring.  Ziggler runs at Orton but is met by a snap powerslam.  Orton waits for Ziggler to get up as Punk runs at him to be met by a powerslam himself.  Orton targets Punk for an RKO but Ziggler attacks from behind.  Ziggler beating Orton down in the corner as Punk holds his feet still.  Orton to the floor as Ziggler is beating the crap out of him.  Crowd chanting for Randy, when Lawler enters the fray and beats Punk out of the ring.  Orton is recovered and throws Ziggler out the ring.  Where's Teddy Long to make the tag match?  Orton and Lawler aren't done as they go out the ring to brawl as we go for ad break number 7.  There will be a tag match.

We're back for some tag team action!  Orton and Ziggler in the corner with elbows by Ziggler.  Ziggler hits his neckbreaker.. Orton clapped just before he was dropped.. weird. But fun.  Ziggler nails Orton with right hands, with Vickie screeching from ringside.  Orton whipped into the corner fires back with a clothesline and stomps.  Upper cut by Orton followed by a bouncy-off-the-rope-suplex.  Lawler tagged and hit a quite impressive dropkick to Ziggler followed by two fist drops off the ropes.  Lawler looks good in Montreal.  Two count for Lawler. Ziggler fires back with a beautiful dropkick. Haha, Punk is playing with the string on the turnbuckle. Ziggler hits his jumping elbow for two followed by a headlock. Lawler hits Ziggler with punches to the gut but gets floored with a clothesline. Ziggler slaps on a headlock and moves Lawler's hand to tag in Orton saying "You can do it, King!" before punching him in the chest.  That was amusing.  Ziggler struts around the ring Flair style before an elbow drop to cover for two.  Another headlock as the pace slows right down.  Punk looks bored.  Lawler fights out of the headlock with a back suplex.  Orton is getting fired up outside.  Lawler jumps to Orton for a tag who explodes in the ring with his clotheslines and powerslam. Orton goes for the rope-DDT on Punk's side of the ring but Ziggler sends him crashing to the floor. Paul Heyman! Paul Heyman! Paul Heyman.. comes walking down the ring.  He has a word with Punk while the crowd chant ECW! ECW! ECW! Vickie is screeching "Excuse me?!" at the gentlemen as they try to ignore her.  They give her evils as she screams at them and continue talking.  Heyman grabs the belt.  Ziggler is beating down Orton as this happens. RKO to Ziggler gives Lawler and Orton the win.  Punk doesn't care, as he walks off with Heyman, still chatting.  

Randy Orton and Jerry Lawler beat Dolph Ziggler and CM Punk by pinfall.
Another reminder of the upcoming Bret Hart and John Cena interview as ad break number 8 rears its ugly head.

Punk and Heyman are walking down the corridor, still chatting as Matt Striker asks what the nature of this relationship is.  Punk and Heyman look at each other as Punk says "I'm a Paul Heyman guy".  They both walk off. This could be the start of a beautiful (on-air) friendship.

Cole throws us back to last week with the "hug-it-out" match between Kane and Daniel Bryan.  Miz: "This is the most awkward and weird thing I've ever seen" Yeah, pretty much.  Awesome, though. I love it when Daniel Bryan yells at Kane, saying "you didn't hug me! I hugged you!" It quickly descends into a brawl, which if you saw last week (I assume you did), you already know.
Kane is shown backstage looking around an empty room, until Bryan turns up. Bryan: "Well?" Kane: "Well, what?" Bryan: "I was told you had something to say to me" Kane: "I was told you had something to say to me". Someone clears their throat. He/she has a lot of guts showing up here. Of all the monsters Kane has known, he is the most sadistic, twisted and evil, or something. Camera pans to Dr. Shelby of the Anger Management sketches with a smile on his face. He thanks Kane for that and says it's important that we express our emotions honestly.  DB asks why he was there and AJ says she asked him here. Dr. Shelby's 'radical' advice will either solve their anger management problems together or send them both into an abyss they will never recover from, but it relies on their ability to completely trust each other. DBry and Kane stare each other down for ad break number 9.
Heath Slater is waiting in the ring. Zack Ryder is on the tron, who tells Slater that although he wishes he were, he's not his opponent. His opponent isn't Ryder, but it's close enough..

..FEED. ME! Ryback is Slater's opponent. My 8 month daughter starting laughing as Ryback made his way down the ring. Weird child. New ref? Not seen him before. He looks like a teenager. Goldberg chants as usual. Headlock by Slater, who is shoved right out of the ring. Feed me more chant by crowd as Slater eats a clothesline. Slater lands a punch on Goldback who hits with one of his own, knocking Slater to the floor.  Slater hits a jumping neckbreaker and covers for nothing. Kicks to the back pisses Ryback off but gets hit with a DDT for another no count. Slater tells everyone he's the one man band before getting run over by Ryback.  Ryback hits Slater with a spinbuster followed by a powerbomb. Finish. It! What's his finisher called? Turn out the lights? I thought it was different. Anyway, Ryback picks up the win, naturally. I guess his feud with Jinder Mahal is over.

Cole and Lawler hype up the WWE app. Snore. AJ Lee is met by the Prime time Players. Titus is blowing a whistle. Mr. No Days off wonders if AJ Lee has some money for them. No, she called them in because she made a mistake. They apparently are not the #1 contenders for the titles. They are the only team on the roster who are worth millions of dollars, millions of dollars, millions of dollars.  they're not the #1 contenders because they haven't beaten every team yet... Daniel Bryan and Kane.  Right.. Ad break 10.
D-Bry out first to a really big pop. That makes me do a sex wee (I've been watching Bo' Selecta a lot lately). D-Bry goes to shout NO! in a fan's face but composes himself and enters the ring. Kane out next, which makes D-Bry jump. Kane also gets a nice pop. They don't look happy to be teaming together. PTP make their way out next to boos from the crowd. "Oui!" chant from the audience as Kane starts off against Titus O'Neil. Titus off the rope meets a clothesline by Kane and strikes in the corner.  Quick tag by Kane to Bryan by slapping him in the chest. Bryan lands No kicks to Titus in the corner. Reversal off the ropes by Titus as Bryan goes for a waste lock, Titus shoves him off and Young makes the tag for a running clothesline. Two count for Young, followed immediately by a one count. Titus tagged back in for a double-team attack on Bryan followed by a two.  Scoop slam on Bryan.  Elbows in the corner by Titus and then beats Bryan down, which gets the ref's attention as Young lands a cheap shot. Young tagged in and hits a northen lights suplex for a two count.  Headlock by Young. Prime Time Losers? Is that what they were chanting? Harsh. Titus tagged in and drops Young onto Bryan. Titus chokes Bryan on the ropes, but Bryan fights back as he is backed into the corner with kicks.  Titus counters by dropping Bryan's ribs on his knee.  Titus yells at Bryan, telling him to get up as he stomps on Bryan while shouting yes.  He then does his walrus-dog hybrid thing and slaps on a headlock.  Young tagged back in but Bryan fires back with fists and forearms.  Young twists Bryan over with a snapmare followed by a headlock.  I've written headlock a lot in this review.  The announcers are hardly saying anything.. maybe Vince is yelling at them.  Daniel Bryan hits a suplex on Young and both men are down.  Kane is asking for the tag but Bryan says no.  Bryan up to the top rope but misses the flying headbutt. Young covers for a two and goes right back to the headlock. Bryan up to his feet and fights out of the headlock followed by a running clothesline.  Both men are down, as Bryan looks over at Kane again and again says no to a much-needed tag.  Bryan hits Young with kicks to the mid-section.  Kane tags himself in by slapping Bryan on the back.  Kane goes to town on Young with running clotheslines in the corner followed by his sidewalk slam for a count of two.  Bryan looks annoyed as Kane goes up top for his ever-impressive clothesline.  Kane is calling for a chokeslam, which he hits near the ropes.  Titus comes in and is sent up and over the rope by Kane.  Bryan tags himself in by slapping Kane's back, which Kane is annoyed about.  Bryan finds it funny, until Kane gives Bryan a chokeslam onto Young, which was counted as a pinning combination as DBry and Kane win with the 1-2-3.  Kane picks Daniel Bryan up and raises his arm as they are the new number one contenders.  Bryan collapses to the floor holding the back of his neck. Kane stands over as Bryan comes to and stares up at kane, wondering what just happened.

Kind've annoying that the PTP, who should be due a tag title run, surely, are playing second fiddle to Kane and D-Bry, especially this close to the PPV.  Sure, they've built the relationship between Bryan and Kane really well, but this then means that the tag team champions are playing second fiddle to this storyline. Rah rah rah. Next.

They replay the promo between Punk and Bret from earlier. The third mention of Bret Hart's interview of John Cena as we hit ad break number 11.
We're back as Rodriguez comes out to no music.  He introduces Alberto Del Rio who comes out in a 2010 Bentley costing $250k apparently.  His opponent is Tyson Kidd.  Nice to see Kidd have more TV time, but let's face it, nothing will come of this. ADR starts aggressively as he beats down Tyson. Kidd fires back with a spinning kick and goes for the sharpshooter early.  Tilt-the-world backbreaker sees a quick cover followed by more stomping from ADR and knees to the back.  A rear chinlock by ADR on Tyson.  I can't hear what the crowd is chanting, I'm really bad at that.  Kidd fights out and ADR goes for his bump through the middle rope to the floor.  Tyson follows this up with a kick to the chest.  Back in the ring, Tyson goes for a springboard elbow but misses and ADR follows it up with a running kick to the face.  Ouch.  ADR looked to be going for a sharpshooter but Tyson goes for one of his own to a big pop from the crowd.  ADR gets to the ropes, although I did think for a second he would tap.  Tyson misses a leg drop and ADR slams his arm using the rope as an ally.  Cross Armbreaker slapped on and Tyson taps in no time.  Nice that Kidd had his moment to please the crowd but ADR was always winning this.
Rodriguez hands ADR a mic, who asks Sheamus if he is watching this, as he destroyed this Canadian peasant, which is nothing compared to what he's going to do to Sheamus. He already lost the Brogue Kick, it's time for you to lose the World Heavyweight Title.  ADR drops the mic. 

Uh, camerman goes to Michael Cole who explains why Lawler isn't there.  Lawler apparently collapsed a few matches back.  Oh, this isn't part of the storyline.  It explains the silence from the announce team.  I hope Jerry is okay. Ad break 12. 

Sheamus is out now to a nice pop. I wonder if that person found out if Sheamus was their daddy.  They show some tweets from Sheamus, telling his 'Hooligans' about how he should be able to use the Brogue Kick.  Otunga is a fantastic character, in fact, one of the best, but I'm really not looking forward to this match as far as quality is concerned.  Otunga dives at Sheamus, forcing him in the corner as he delivers forearms and boots.  Against the ropes, Otunga tells Sheamus he is nothing without the Brogue Kick as he slaps him.  Sheamus fights back with a shoulderblock and stomps the crap out of Otunga.  I forget what those ten punches to the chest are called. Hand grenade something, I think, but he does that anyway. Irish Curse backbreaker.  Cole isn't saying a word.. hmm. Cloverleaf to Otunga makes Otunga tap quickly.  Sheamus wins via submission. Throwaway match as predicted.  
Sheamus slows as he gets to the ramp and turns round.  He looks to the audience (I will not call them WWE Universe) and goes back in the ring, as they chant Brogue Kick at him. Sheamus starts slapping his chest before nailing Otunga with the Brogue Kick.  AJ Lee Light's it up as she makes her prescence felt.  AJ is left with no other option as Booker T makes his way out.  He looks mad.  He says he doesn't know what AJ was going to say but this is WHC business. Sheamus! You know you shouldn't be using that Brogue Kick, particularly since I am being investigated.  Sheamus gives Booker T no choice, but if he uses the Brogue Kick at all, wherever and whenever during Booker's investigation, he will be stripped of his title, and that's final. Sheamus looks annoyed.

Backstage, Rey Mysterio is chatting to Hart.  Cole still hasn't said anything. Ad break 13.

They show the Bryan/Kane match from earlier and go to a Tout from Kofi and R-Truth, who talk about it.  I don't care for Tout.

Dr. Shelby is backstage as Bryan and Kane storm in. Bryan is annoyed with Kane, but Kane justifies it by saying that they won.  Dr. Shelby is pleased though, because they still worked as a team.  Bryan calmly tells Kane that he didn't appreciate the chokeslam, but he did get the cover, and he did win the match.  He guesses he could start to like the team of Daniel Bryan and Kane.  Kane corrects him by saying it's Kane and Daniel Bryan.  Bryan holds his ground saying he prefers his way.  Kane says "how about kane and the rotting eviscerated corpse of daniel bryan" and Bryan fires back with "how about Daniel Bryan and the big red freak that he beat at Summerslam!". Dr. Shelby shouts to get their attention, suggesting they call it team friendship.  They both shout No at him and walk off arguing about the team name. Kofi Kingston and R-Truth vs Daniel Bryan/Kane and Kane/Daniel Bryan is official.  They run through the other matches such as Orton-Ziggler, Sheamus-ADR and Cena-Punk. 

Back to Cole, who prefaces this by saying this is not part of the storyline.  He reminds us of Lawler collapsing outside.  He mentions that he has been taken to a local hospital and is on oxygen, although is breathing on his own.  Out of respect to Jerry there will be no more commentary tonight. .
Mysterio is out, who gives his mask to a kid who isn't wearing a mask.  Damn kid! Ad break 14.

These Did You Know things are really annoying.  No one cares about Facebook friends.

Cody Rhodes is Mysterio's opponent for this match.  We've seen this before, but they work well together so I expect a decent match from them. Weird with no commentary. Rhodes hits his goldust-uppercut for a one count and goes to the corner.  He hits Rey with knees as he bounces him off the rope and goes for another two count.  Punches to Rey as Rhodes celebrates, before hitting a suplex on Mysterio. Forearm to the face as Rhodes makes Foley-noises.  Mysterio fights back with kicks but Rhodes goes for the Cross Rhodes neckbreaker.  Mysterio fights out of it and sends Cody out to the floor. Hurricanrana off the apron to Cody, who is then rolled back in the ring.  Rey flies off the ropes to give Cody another Hurricanrana but Cody catches him, throws him back and hits the Disaster Kick for a near 3 count.  Cody is convinced it was three and angrily stomps on Rey.  Ref asks Rey if he can continue, which he can.  Cody commands Rey to get up as he charges shoulder-first at him in the corner only to meet the steel post.  Crowd are fairly dead so far, but the pace picks up as Rey hits his wheelbarrow bulldog.  Cody gets in the fetal position to duck a kick, but gets oen as he gets back up again.  Two count for Rey, who then goes up top and hits his seated senton on Cody.  Cody attempts a powerbomb but Rey flips over and kicks Cody onto the ropes.  Miz tries to interfere but gets dropkicked, allowing Cody to hit Cross Rhodes for the win.   Miz enters and shoves his IC title in Rey's face.  He then takes off his jacket and tries to attack Mysterio.  Cody comes from behind and hits Miz with the Cross Rhodes!  Surprising.  He then picks up the IC title to some cheers from the crowd and shouts "my baby!" before throwing at Miz and making his exit.  

Good!  Triple threat at NOC? I'd be up for that.

We see John Cena walk backstage as we go to ad break 15.

Cole greets us and reminds us yet again that this isn't a part of the broadcast and that Jerry is in the E.R.

Time for the interview by Bret Hart, who comes out for another great ovation from the Montreal crowd.  He's not from Montreal, but he is a God in Canada (he's from Calgary), much like William Regal is my God. Bret Hart gets right to it and introduces John Cena, who gets booed.  Only Cena can get Canadians to boo something Bret Hart says.  Usual reaction for Cena - high-pitched cheers and basey-boos.  Cena strolls to the ring and takes in the Montreal crowd.  He holds Bret's arm up for a cheap pop and grabs a mic.  Cena thanks Bret, which receives boos.  Bret invites Cena in closer and says that Cena's problems with Punk are similar to his own problems with Michaels.  He said they had a mutual respect but it ended up in a rivalry that almost destroyed their lives.  When he looks at JC he sees a lot of himself and when he looks at Punk he sees a lof of the old Shawn Michaels and what does JC think of that.  JC thanks Hart for mentioning his name with Hart and Michaels and he agrees with the audience (who are booing) that he needs a lot more to have that accolade.  He says the differences between Punk and Michaels are obvious.  "You can't wrestle" chant fires up, which makes Cena smile slightly.  The thing he loves about Montreal is that they recognise a Hall of Famer and that he couldn't lace his boots and that's a fact.  The difference between Punk and Michaels is that at least Michaels was honest about being a jerk, whereas Punk says he is the voice of the people and yet hasn't earned that.  Punk is just a desperate, delusional young man and thinks that leather and gold = respect (so no respect for 16 time world champ Flair?).  Hart asks what JC is going to do to shut this phoney up. Phoney? Punk enters.  He couldn't hear them over the people. Did they call him a phoney? Bret Hart confirms this by calling him a phoney little punk.  JC asks Hart to let him handle this one. He asks Punk if bret calling him a phoney irritates him. He asks if it makes him want to come to the ring, in which case, he's also calling him a phoney.  He says he can either stay there or come here, through the ropes, and make the biggest mistake of his life.  If that isn't the pot calling the kettle black, says Punk.  He says the biggest phoney in the history of this biggest casting his judgement on the WWE champion.  He does whatever he wants, and has decided to come out and defend his good name in the face of such ridiculous disrespect. It almost breaks his heart to see them standing in the ring together.  It makes him realise that the Hitman and JC are so much alike, which isn't a compliment.  He says they can sit there and say how great they are and ignore the fact that they were both surpassed by people far superior to themselves.  In JC's case he is talking about himself, and the Hitman's he is talking about Michaels.  He says you can't compare Punk and michaels because Punk is better than Michaels. Montreal boos this.  Punk asks remembers that hillbilly he made pass out at Wrestlemania 13, Stone cold? He's better than him, too.  he says he's better than the Rock.  He says we all knew, and we all saw what he did to the Rock, when he showed him one iota of disrespect, what cena couldn't do in a year.  He's the best at everything, and he doesn't say these things because he is insecure, but says it because he is it.  And that makes him anything but a phony.

JC says he is right, because that last statement makes him a liar, a hypocrite and a conceted scumbag.  He says he can also add that to his resumé.  He says he has realised that Montreal is a very honest city.  For years WWE has reserved to this city as 'bizzaro world' and that is just Montreal's honesty.  He is going to take a page out of their book and hit Punk with some truth.  He says for 300 days Punk has been champion and for those 300 days the championship has been irrelevant.  He says month after month he watches the main event pass him back and says how he talks about conspiracies passing him by.  He says he has been here for many years and the only time he made some noise was when his mic was made silence, referencing Punk's summer promo.  He then mentions Punk's shining moment at MITB and says how he had change.  He says the only thing Punk wanted changed was making Punk a star.  He remembers Punk saying Cena had become what he decided, referecncing stardom, but Cena said no, he went from an underdog to an odds-on favourite but he did it all as himself.  Then there's Punk, who has changed his ideology numerous times, stabbed his friends in the back, stolen colours from legends and the elbow from Randy Savage, all because he can't find himself.  He's not saying he's not tough or accomplished, but his latest phase of devcelopment has revolved around the championship.  So at NOC he is going to have to search for a new identity.  He has realised that at NOC he is in serious jeapodary of losing his WWE champoionship which is why he has been really loud recently.  He then speaks in French to a big pop.  No idea what he's saying, but I assume it's toilet humour.  He goes to explain what he said but Punk interrupts him.

Punk says he has lowered himself to them, but JC gets all fired up and tells Jack to listen.. 

He then says to Punk that he doesn't lower himself to them because they are the reason we are here.  He says Punk is an ignorant son of a bitch who needs a lesson in respect and says at NOC he is going to kick his ass.  Stare down. Punk starts to back away and goes to punch Bret Hart, which Cena blocks.  They stare down again as Cena takes his shirt off, much to the delight of the females.  Punk goes to hit Hart again, but Hart blocks it and punches Punk back, who rolls out of the ring.  Hart's music plays as Punk looks on from the isle. The crowd are throwing crap at Punk. And that wraps up Raw, as Cena is talking trash to Punk, egging him on to get in the ring.  Cole leaves us with encouraging news concerning Jerry Lawler, which is he has stabilised which is fantastic.

Thanks for reading!  Hopefully it's not too bad.  I should be back next Tuesday for another review!
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