Click to read part one of Steve’s Raw 1000 Review: DX Reunion, Daniel Bryan-AJ Wedding, and The Rock’s Announcement
The second half of Raw featured the first title match of the night, which was for Christian’s Intercontinental Championship. He was introduced by the returning Bret Hart, who introduced The Miz as Christian’s opponent.
(It is great to see Bret Hart returning for events like this. He could have held an eternal grudge against McMahon but chose to work things out, which just shows the type of man he is.)
The Miz, and his semi-new look, took on Christian in an entertaining match.
Christian was nursing an “injured” knee the entire match, even though he continued to climb to the top rope. The Miz pulled out the victory to the delight of a noticeable amount of fans in attendance. It makes more sense for Miz to hold the title, as Christian has had his time as champion throughout his career. At this point in time, he should be doing what Jericho is doing, which is putting over younger talent.
The Miz now has a title in his possession after having a very tough time finding victories before he left to film “The Marine: Homefront.” He can engage in meaningful feuds until he, eventually, makes his way back into the WWE Title picture.
Charlie Sheen was back for a second time following the match, and called out Daniel Bryan for his behavior following his failed wedding. This seemed like nothing at the time, but it would gain some steam with a Daniel Bryan interview later on.
Triple H came to the ring next and proceeded to call out Brock Lesnar. To the surprise of no one, Paul Heyman came to the ring and said that Lesnar will not fight Triple H at SummerSlam. Heyman brought up the kayfabe lawsuits he has against Triple H and began to talk about Hunter’s children.
The talk about his children brought out Stephanie McMahon, who began to say how Heyman’s children are ashamed of him because of his failures in WCW and ECW. This was pretty harsh from Stephanie, who then slapped Heyman and attacked him after he lost it and said that Lesnar would fight Triple H.
Brock Lesnar’s music hit and he came out to help Heyman, which led to a fight between Lesnar and Triple H in the ring. Lesnar had the upper hand early, but Triple H was able to take control and throw Brock out of the ring. It should be an intense match between the two at SummerSlam in a few weeks, and the build to the match will be filled with intense, speechless, staredowns each Monday night on Raw.
Santino and Hornswoggle came out to give some toys to the fans, (which is somehow necessary), before the “one man band” himself Heath Slater came to the ring to challenge any legend to come out and fight him. He has fought WWE legends throughout the past few months as a way to build up to last night, but his only win came over Doink, who is a clown.
Lita answered Slater’s challenge, but brought out the APA as protection, as Slater did say it was a no-DQ match. Slater tried to flee, but all the legends he has faced came out and forced him back into the ring. He was once again destroyed and lost as the former stars of Raw celebrated in the ring.
Sean Mooney was backstage to interview Daniel Bryan about his night, but Bryan decided to trash Charlie Sheen saying he needs “life management.” Bryan spent his entire, brief, interview talking about Sheen, which makes me curious about whether this will become something, or be forgotten. Sheen vs. Bryan would not be too exciting of a match, but Sheen in the corner of another Superstar would be an interesting element to the match.
A backstage segment saw The Rock wish Cena good luck in his match, which was some foreshadowing for later on in the night.
Kane made his way to the ring for a match against a forever unknown opponent, as Jinder Mahal’s music hit and he came out joined by Hunico, Camacho, Tyler Reks, Curt Hawkins, and Drew McIntyre. They surrounded the ring to attack Kane when the unthinkable happened.
The ominous sound rang out as The Undertaker’s music hit and the lights went out. “The Phenom” made his way to the ring to join Kane for a ”Brothers of Destruction” reunion. They easily dispatched of the six men, using some of their signature moves, such as the “Tombstone” and “Chokeslam.”
It is always exciting to see The Undertaker, as there are only a few more times he will ever be seen before he finally, and deservedly, retires.
The match was slow in the beginning, until the referee was knocked out of the ring. Cena gave Punk an AA, but the ref was laying on the floor outside of the ring.
This led to Big Show coming to the ring and taking out Cena. Punk was looking on with a concerned look on his face, but did nothing to stop Big Show. When Show got out of the ring, Punk got the ref and after contemplating it for a few seconds, pinned Cena. Out of nowhere, Cena kicked out. After countering the “GTS”, Cena locked in the “STF” on Punk. Before he could tap out, Big Show came in the ring and continued to take out Cena.
CM Punk watched Show attack Cena, and began to make his way out of the ring when The Rock’s music hit and he ran down to the ring. The Rock came to the defense of Cena and took down Big Show, setting up the “People’s Elbow.”
After he went off the ropes the second time, CM Punk came back in the ring and gave a diving clothesline to The Rock. This was followed by a “GTS” to The Rock, which officially completed Punk’s heel turn. It was a heel turn in a unique fashion, as it was clear that Punk was troubled by his decision. However, putting down The Rock will result in heat from any crowd.
The segment following Show’s attack of Cena was easily one of the best of the year. It involved the four men who will be involved in the title picture for the rest of the year, and into next year, as The Rock has a guaranteed title match at the Royal Rumble.
Punk’s heel turn was something that needed to happen, as he is far more entertaining as a heel. His work on the mic fits a heel persona, not someone who is trying to win over crowds.
This five-minute instance set up the main storyline for the next six months, and will be something to look forward to as Raw begins the quest to two-thousand episodes.
The one man who did not appear last night was Stone Cold. He was featured in nearly every video package, and should have been there, regardless of scheduling conflicts. He was the catalyst for WWE’s emergence into the mainstream during the “Attitude Era”. Given that Doink was there, it would have been nice to see Stone Cold.
About Steve Kubitza
