WWE Monday Night Raw
Greensboro, North Carolina
December 3, 2012
Commentators: Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole
Report by: David Stephens of Wrestleview.com
Kane and Daniel Bryan make their entrance down to the ring. The Shield appears in the crowd. Kane has a mic and says that if The Shield is here to combat injustice, then they should come down to the ring right now. The Shield stays put.
Daniel Bryan & Kane “Team Hell No” v. Darren Young & Titus O’Neil “Primetime Players”
Kane and Titus start the match. Kane is backed into the corner and met with a series of shoulder thrusts. Kane punches his way free and takes a couple of shots at Young. Kane clotheslines Titus to the outside of the ring.
Bryan & Young both get the tags and meet in the center of the ring. Bryan lets loose kick after kick and backs him into the corner. Kane gets the tag and attempts a cover. Young kicks out. Kane tosses him into the corner and kicks him in the gut repeatedly. Kane grabs Young’s arm and holds it while tagging in Bryan. Daniel leaps from the top rope with an axe handle, after first mocking Punk’s signature pose.
Kane gets the tag once again and tries a cover. Young kicks out. Young hits a high knee and tags in Titus. He hits a couple of forearms and then tags back in Young.
The Shield makes their way closer to the ringside area. Bryan gets the tag and flies off of the apron with a flying knee on Young.
****Commercial****
Back from the break Kane is in the ring but tags in Bryan. Daniel goes after Titus, but Young quickly gets the tag. Young taunts a bit and then drops a leg. Cover, but Bryan kicks out. Bryan locks on a No Lock, but The Shield makes their way just to the other side of the barricade. Kane gets into the ring for protection. The Shield starts to come over, so Kane goes out to combat them. Young tries a quick roll up, but Bryan rolls through and picks up the pin himself.
Winners: Team Hell No
After the match, The Shield onslaught commences. Kane’s arm is smashed between the steel steps and then steel post. Bryan is laid out with a triple team Powerbomb. The Shield then exits back through the crowd.
# John Cena is in the back with Sheamus. Cena is thanked for showing up on Smackdown this past weekend. Cena says it was his pleasure, plus he was able to beat up Ziggler for his troubles. Sheamus drops some Irish swagger, so Cena tells him to keep it serious. The Big Show is a formidable foe.
****Commercial****
AJ Lee v. Tamina
Lee takes it to Tamina at the offset. Lee perches on the top rope, but is thrown down to the ring. Tamina kicks her in the gut and drives her knee across Lee’s face. Cover, but AJ kicks out. Tamina throws her head first into the turnbuckle and then sets up her up seated backwards on top. Tamina holds AJ over his shoulder for a submission stretch. Tamina tosses her down to the mat. AJ punches a kicks a bit. Tamina flattens her just for trying. Cover, but AJ kicks out. After a bit of back and forth, Tamina attempts a splash from the top rope. AJ is able to move out of the way and roll her up.
Winner: AJ Lee
CM Punk’s music hits and he walks down to the ring with Paul Heyman. Heyman is carrying some sort of book.
****Commercial****
Paul Heyman & Punk are in the ring. Heyman is holding the WWE Encyclopedia and is complaining that Punk is not mentioned in the book enough. Heyman puts over the fact that Punk will soon surpass John Cena’s WWE Championship reign and become the longest reigning WWE Champion of the past 25 years. Heyman even tries to make the point that Punk should be featured on WWE’s version of Mount Rushmore.
Punk says that despite all of this he is still unfairly persecuted. Punk calls the fans jerks, and himself The Best in the World. Punk says that he doesn’t get the respect that he deserves. He is upset that he has to face Ryback once again. Punk blames the fans for not acknowledging his greatness. Punk continues to put down the fans. Punk says that everyone is trying to find different reasons for Punk’s success without giving him the proper credit. People say that Punk is the Champion because of Heyman, Brad Maddox or The Shield; but the truth is that if it wasn’t for Punk, no one would be in the arena tonight. He is the reason that everyone is in the seats each and every Monday night. Punk tells everyone watching to change the channel and everyone in the arena to leave if they don’t like what he has to say.
The Miz’s music hits and he appears on the entrance ramp with a microphone. He says “really”, repeatedly. Miz tells the fans that they should sit down and enjoy themselves. Miz says that no one believes the things that Punk is claiming. Punk asks who Miz is to pass judgment on him.
Miz says that he may have had help during his WWE Championship reign, but at least he admits it. The fact is that if The Shield didn’t intervene, Ryback would have fed on Punk last week. Miz has a challenge for Punk. Heyman is not impressed. Miz responds by calling Heyman a walrus. The crowd chants “walrus”. Punk tries to get the audience to apologize. They do not.
Miz wants Punk to appear live on Miz TV and take a lie detector test. Punk says that if Miz wants the truth, then he’ll comply. But afterwards he might just shove his knee into Miz’s face.
****Commercial****
John Cena & Sheamus v. Dolph Ziggler & The Big Show
Sheamus and Ziggler start the match. Sheamus is whipped into the ropes and delivers a hard shoulder tackle. Ziggler leapfrogs Sheamus and connects with a dropkick to the gut. Ziggler applies a side headlock. Sheamus slams him to the mat and tags in Cena. John goes for the cover, but Dolph kicks out. Cena applies a rear headlock. Ziggler reverses and applies the hold himself. Dolph runs the ropes, but is met with a hip toss. Cena applies an arm bar as Big Show watches on.
Show gets the tag and locks up with Cena. Show pushes Cena away. John gets behind him and punches like mad. Cena leaps for a shoulder block, but Show stands on his feet. Show steps across the chest of Cena. Show then pushes him into the corner and delivers a hard chop. Cena falls down to the mat.
Ziggler gets the tag and charges at Cena in the corner. Cena moves out of the way, causing Ziggler to crash hard. Sheamus and Show both get the tag. Sheamus pushes him towards the corner and unloads with punches. Sheamus hits a knee lift and then tackles Show to the mat. Sheamus climbs to the top rope and leaps for the battering ram, but Show spears him in mid-air!
****Commercial****
Show is in the ring with Sheamus. Ziggler gets the tag and hits a high dropkick. Cover, but Sheamus kicks out. Sheamus is able to fight to his feet and plants Ziggler onto the mat.
Cena gets the tag and hits Ziggler first and then knocks Show off of the apron. Cena lifts Ziggler up for the AA, but Show gets back in the ring and kicks him in the gut. Sheamus enters and counters a chokeslam. Sheamus lifts Show up for White Noise and connects at the same time that Cena hits an AA. This match is over.
Winners: John Cena & Sheamus
****Commercial****
Damien Sandow makes his way down to the ring and he wants to choose an apprentice. He pulls somebody out of the crowd and tells the guy to answer three questions correctly. The first involves the chemical makeup of water, the second George Washington and the third about Jonathan Keates. He fails the third question. Sandow proclaims that ignorance is curable, but stupid is forever.
Santino comes down and tries to have a little fun by delivering a riddle to Sandow. Santino even attempts a cheap shot for the “punch” line, but Sandow hits him instead.
Santino v. Damien Sandow
Back from the break the match is in progress. Santino power walks and then tries a cover. Sandow kicks out. Sandow takes control, but is met with another roll up. Santino is hoping for the cobra, but Sandow is having none of it. Damien hits “The End” and this match is over.
Winner: Damien Sandow
# Ziggler in in the back with Vickie and demands a rematch against Cena at the TLC PPV. Vickie tells him to go steal the show, but resists a kiss. Ziggler tells her that someone is inn her office. Vickie walks in to see Brad Maddox. He says that he is only here to ensure that no one ever forgets his name.
****Commercial****
# Brad Maddox is still speaking with Vickie. He is trying to convince her to give him a contract. She decides that she will give him a match tonight instead.
Sin Cara v. Alberto Del Rio
They lock up and the referee breaks it up in the corner. Del Rio hits a shoulder to the gut of Cara. He follows it up with a kick to the skull. Cara kicks out. Rio tries to throw him out of the ring, but Cara reverses it into an arm drag. Sin Cara flips off of the top rope for a diving corkscrew arm drag. They go back and forth until Rio ends up on the outside. Cara jumps from the apron and hits a hurricarana that sends Rio crashing into the camera man.
****Commercial****
Sin Cara hits a snaparana and goes for the cover. Rio kicks out. Alberto is able to ground Cara and starts to rip his mask off. Rio has a chinlock applied. Cara breaks free but is caught with a bridging German Suplex. Cara kicks out of the cover. Cara gets to his feet first and kicks Rio in the skull. Cara follows up with a tornado DDT that plants Rio head first hard. They exchange blows in the middle of the ring. Cara connects with a kick and then takes to the top rope. He leaps for a crossbody. Rio kicks out of the cover. Cara attempts another leap, but this time Rio moves out of the way. Rio counters a tilt-a-whirl into the cross-arm breaker. This match is over.
Winner: Alberto Del Rio
# Vince is in the back and tells a production assistant to inform Vickie that he wants to have a conversation with her in the ring, up next!
****Commercial****
Vickie Guerrero comes down to the ring and introduces Vince McMahon. The Strut makes its way down to the ring. Vickie announces a No Disqualification match between Dolph Ziggler & John Cena at the PPV. Vince tells her it is the TLC PPV not the NO DQ PPV. Vickie scoffs at the notion of a ladder match. She says that there is no Championship to hang above the ring so a ladder match doesn’t work. Vince says that then maybe it should be for Ziggler’s Money in the Bank Briefcase. Vickie begrudgingly agrees.
Vickie tries to tell him goodbye, but Vince says there is more business to attend to. Vince says there should be consequences for Punk tonight if he fails the Lie Detector Class. Vickie decides that if Punk is found to be lying then Paul Heyman will have to face Ryback next week on RAW. Vince gives Vickie a big hand shake and shouts, “Let’s hear it for Vickie”.
****Commercial****
Randy Orton v. Brad Maddox
Orton toys with Maddox for the entire match. He tosses him out of the ring for kicks, and then hits the suspended DDT once back in the ring. Orton hits the RKO and this match is quickly over. What a match.
Winner: Randy Orton
After the match The Shield runs down to the ring and attack Orton. They hit the triple team Powerbomb, leaving Orton sloshed in the middle of the ring.
****Commercial****
# Vickie is yelling at Chad Robinson in her office. Ziggler walks in and is not happy. Vickie said she had no choice with Vince standing right there. Dolph points out that he already had to defend his case once this year, to Chris Jericho. He walks away in disgust. Paul Heyman walks into the shot and stares nose to nose with Vickie. She tells him that for his sake he better hope that Punk is telling the truth. Cena knocks and walks into the office. He wants to thank Vickie for the match. He certainly wasn’t expecting it. He was the first person to cash in and lose earlier this year, so he is grateful for another shot. Vickie pulls out two bows that have pictures of Cena on them in his colors. She says they were found in AJ’s locker when she had the locker room cleaned out.
Teddy Long comes out to the entrance ramp and Kofi Kingston, R-Truth, Antonio Cesaro and Wade Barrett are all in the ring for a tag match. Teddy announces that it will now be a Fatal Four Way Championship match. The WWE Universe will decide right now via Twitter if it will be for Kofi’s Intercontinental Championship or Cesaro’s US Championship.
****Commercial****
The poll is revealed by Teddy Long and it is going to be a:
United States Championship Match
Kofi Kingston v. R-Truth v. Wade Barrett v. Antonio Cesaro
Wade and Truth are immediately tossed out of the ring. Cesaro and Kofi fight on the inside. Barrett and Truth begin to brawl. Wade hits a slam and goes for the cover. Kofi kicks out. After a back and forth all four men get into the ring. Some sort of leapfrog maneuver is botched. Everyone eventually spills to the outside. Kofi tries to leap off a steel step at Cesaro, but is hit with a hard uppercut.
****Commercial****
Back from the break Kofi plants Cesaro hard face first. Wade gets into the ring and throws out Kofi. Cesaro punches Wade but is hit with a lateral press from Kofi off the top rope. Wade breaks up the pin and hits a Black Hole Slam on Kofi. Truth runs in to break it up. Wade and Truth are left in the ring. Truth is on the top turnbuckle, but Cesaro appears on the apron and stops him. Kofi throws Cesaro back into the ring. Truth is hit with a tower of doom.
Truth and Cesaro fall to the outside of the ring. Wade goes for a side slam, but Kofi slips away and starts his move set. Kofi connects with the Boom Drop and looks for Trouble in Paradise. Cesaro breaks it up and tosses Kofi out. Cesaro tries to set up Wade and all hell breaks loose. Cesaro ends up with Truth and hits his finisher to retain his Championship.
****Commercial****
The Miz is in the ring and it is set up for MizTV. There is a man sitting at a table that has a laptop and some electronic equipment. Miz introduces Mr. Abrahamson. Miz says that it is time to get answer and calls down CM Punk.
Punk comes down to the ring and interrupts Miz while he is trying to explain how lie detectors work. Punk absolutely berates The Miz. Miz even drops a line that he doesn’t suck, but Punk’s mom sucks.
The detector test starts. Miz asks Punk questions intended to embarrass Punk such as Rey Mysterio shaving his head. Punk is asked if he thinks that he can beat Ryback by himself. It is inconclusive. Miz says it’s time to ask more concrete questions. He asks about any conclusion he might have had with The Shield or Brad Maddox.
Before Punk can answer, The Shield hits the ring. They clear out the MizTV set and hit the Triple Team Powerbomb on Miz. Punk has cleared out.
Team Hell No hits the ring, but are beaten down. The crowd chants “Feed Me More”.
Ryback’s music hits and he makes his way down to the ring. The numbers game has finally caught up to the Shield, and they are beaten down and back into the crowd. Punk climbs back into the ring and stands over the fallen Miz. He asks if Miz wants to ask him any more questions.
Punk’s music hits and he starts to celebrate. Ryback slides back into the ring and lifts Punk up for Shellshock. The move connects and the crowd roars. Ryback exits the ring and gets a chair. He re-enters the ring and hits Punk with it. He repeats this process with a ladder and then grabs a table. Ryback sets up the table in the middle of the ring and Powerbombs Punk straight through it.
Ryback’s music hits and he celebrates as RAW goes off the air.
Dave’s Thoughts
The opening bout was fairly straightforward. The Shield is turning out to be a formidable group. Somewhere 3MB is bemoaning the fact that their “spot” has been given to the NXT scrubs. Here’s some advice Slater – if you want to be taken seriously you’re going to have to drop Mahal. Otherwise 3MB is going to be relegated to a poor man’s Zack Ryder-esque stable in terms of appeal. It’s not going to last.
Speaking of Zack Ryder, check out his song “Hoeski”. It’s hilarious.
AJ, the little vixen that she is, put up a good fight in her match against Tamina. The over-the-shoulder stretch was a powerful spot. That being said this was an odd segment to put up against the start of Monday Night Football. WWE has been putting weak segments up against kickoff often as of late.
Miz was on fire tonight. He’s a difficult character to like at times because he can get quite annoying. Tonight he delivered one of the best promos that I’ve heard from him in quite some time. I’m not exactly sure why The Miz came out, given that after Ryback Punk should be starting his program with The Rock. I suppose there could be a tie in given the Miz’s history with The Rock.
John Cena & Sheamus v. Dolph Ziggler & The Big Show – a fun match for the top of the 9 o’clock hour. It’s impressive to watch Sheamus lift Show up for the White Noise. As an aside, ever since I saw the meme I hear “It’s a shameful thing, lobster head” every time Sheamus’ theme plays.
Santino’s success has come from rejuvenating his character time and again. He is hitting one of his points where he starts to become stale, so an addition to his gimmick is to be expected sometime in the next month or so.
I’m a bit surprised that the so-called intellectual savior of the WWE went with the first President of the United States question. Some would argue that it was not Washington, but John Hanson. Just saying.
I guess we’re getting John Cena v. The Rock at Wrestlemania Part II. It makes sense from a business standpoint, and I’m sure that I will take that stance over time, but at the moment I have to admit that I’m a bit disappointed. I guess The WWE has 9 Lives like a cat, because it was only last year that the ‘once in a lifetime’ match occurred. It will ultimately be a Title Unification match.
I like Brad Maddox. There is something about his personality that suggests he has a lot of charisma. His mic skills will improve as will his wrestling; I’m saying to give him a chance because I think he has “it”.
They were wise to hold off Ryback until the last segment of the show. Sometimes less involvement is better when it comes to getting a guy over. The Shield was bound to eventually be out numbered given that they kept attacking new people as each hour passed. The 6 man tag match between The Shield, Ryback & Team Hell No is undoubtedly forthcoming.
This was a pretty enjoyable RAW tonight. Maybe not monumental, but was entertaining for almost all of the three hours, which isn’t an easy task.
Congratulations are in order for Punk as tomorrow he will surpass Cena’s reign and become the longest running WWE Champion in the past 25 years.
David Stephens
Follow me on Twitter!@TheDaveStephens
The Teacher’s Lounge (Saturday)
“The Teacher’s Lounge” is a weekly podcast archived every Saturday on the Wrestleview Radio Network featuring hosts David Stephens and “Mr. V” Anthony Valvo. The show reviews all of the news from the week, tosses out Gold Stars and Detentions, PPV previews and special guests. Past Interviews include: Colt Cabana, Hernandez, Sara Del Rey, CZW Owner DJ Hyde, Shane Douglas & more!
