– Tonight’s WWE RAW Supershow opens up with quick hype for CM Punk vs. Dolph Ziggler. We go right to a video package from last week’s RAW with highlights from the Kane and John Cena segment.
– After the normal RAW opening video, out comes John Cena to the ring. Cena wishes everyone Happy New Year and gets met with some “Cena sucks” chants. Cena says he is going to make some changes in 2012. He is going to start wearing less underwear and keep his father banned from WWE TV. The third resolution comes at WrestleMania. Cena says he will prove he has lost his lady parts by beating The Rock and winning the biggest match in WWE history. Cena says one thing won’t change in 2012 – he will remain who he is and his convictions will be true.
Cena talks about how the fans can say whatever they want to him but he is disappointed in Kane. Cena says Kane wants him to turn his back on everything but he won’t. Not tonight, not any night. Cena goes on and says he’s going to start this year off like it should be – by thanking the fans. Kane’s music interrupts and he starts talking but we don’t see him. Kane says Cena will embrace the hate and will personally witness the true power of hate – tonight. Kane laughs as Cena looks on at the big screen where his video is playing. The pyro goes off surrounding the ring as Kane’s music keeps playing.
– Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler hype Punk vs. Ziggler tonight. We’re interrupted by another cryptic video. “It begins tonight.” We go to commercial.
Daniel Bryan vs. Cody Rhodes
Back from commercial and out comes the World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan. Out next comes his opponent, the WWE Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes.
The bell rings and they go at it. Cody slams Bryan on his shoulder and stomps. Cody throws Bryan by his shoulder into the corner and covers for a 2 count. Cody continues working on Bryan’s arm and keeps him on the mat. Bryan blocks a shot in the corner fights back with right hands. Bryan ducks a clothesline and drops Cody with a forearm. Bryan with kicks now. Cody hits the drop down right hand. Bryan counters again and tosses Cody to the floor. Bryan leaps off the apron and barely connects. Bryan rolls Cody in the ring and climbs up top. Cody moves but Bryan lands on his feet. Cody drops Bryan’s face on the turnbuckle and hits Beautiful Disaster for a 2 count.
Cody drops Bryan on his face again. Cody goes for another suplex but Bryan turns it into a roll-up for the win.
Winner: Daniel Bryan
– After the match, Bryan celebrates with the fans and takes the celebration up the ramp, shouting “YES” the whole way. We see a clip from last week when R-Truth returned and attacked The Miz.
– John Laurinaitis is backstage when The Miz walks in. Laurinaitis doesn’t agree with what R-Truth did last week and calls it unprofessional. Miz wants action taken against Truth. Laurinaitis shows Miz footage on his TV from two months ago when Miz turned on Truth. Laurinaitis says it’s obvious Miz is scared. Laurinaitis promises to have some people look out for Truth, especially during Miz’s match against Sheamus tonight. Miz says he’s going to be a sitting duck out there and leaves. Miz walks through the back and after he walks away, R-Truth steps out of the shadows. Truth flaps his arms like a duck and quacks as we go to commercial.
– Back from a break and we get a video looking at the 1988 Royal Rumble, the first-ever and won by Hacksaw Jim Duggan.
Wade Barrett vs. Santino Marella
Back from the break and out comes Wade Barrett. We see footage of the Randy Orton injury angle from Friday’s SmackDown. Barrett says he doesn’t care about anyone’s New Year but it’s already been a good 2012 because it’s a year without Randy Orton. Barrett says he’s now looking forward to winning the Royal Rumble and then main eventing WrestleMania. Barrett is interrupted by Santino Marella’s music and out he comes.
Santino cuts a promo and mocks the Barrett Barrage before the bell. The bell rings and Barrett hits Santino with right hands. Santino punches Barrett and drops down to a split. Barrett knocks Santino back and throws him into the corner. Barrett charges in the corner but Santino moves. Santino goes for Cobra but Barrett nails him and throws him shoulder first into the corner. Barrett with the Winds of Change slam for the win.
Winner: Wade Barrett
– The Bella Twins are backstage arguing when The Miz walks up. He asks if they have seen R-Truth. They haven’t but they saw little Jimmy. Miz walks off and hears something but keeps walking. After he leaves, R-Truth appears again and smiles as we go to commercial.
Sheamus vs. The Miz
Back from commercial and out comes Sheamus. The Miz is out next and he’s looking over his shoulder on the way to the ring. Miz goes right in before the bell and drops Sheamus with a DDT out of nowhere. Miz ties Sheamus up in the ropes and wails away with punches. The bell still hasn’t rang yet. Sheamus fights back and kicks Miz to the apron. Sheamus wails away with forearms to the chest over and over. Miz falls out to the floor. Sheamus chases him but Miz runs to the crowd and up the steps. R-Truth has a microphone somewhere. Truth is at the top of the steps and says while watching the match, he ran into Little Jimmy. Little Jimmy says he don’t like Miz and he need to get got. Truth walks down the steps and Miz goes back to ringside. Sheamus catches him with a Brogue kick and leaves him for Truth. Truth grabs a water bottle and smacks Miz in the head with it. Truth’s music plays as he exits through the crowd. Truth stops in the crowd and hypes his weekly Miz beatdown. He asks a Little Jimmy what he thinks of that and the kid just wishes Miz a Happy New Year. Back to commercial.
– Josh Matthews is backstage with Dolph Ziggler and Vickie Guerrero. Dolph talks about pinning CM Punk last week. Ziggler says he believes in flaunting it if you got it and nobody flaunts it as good as he does every week. Ziggler tells everyone to keep their ticket stubs because they will want to remember where they were when Dolph Ziggler became WWE Champion.
– Zack Ryder is backstage talking with Eve Torres. Jack Swagger walks up and says there’s an impostor walking around with the United States Title. Ryder actually believes someone has taken his title. Laurinaitis walks up and interrupts their argument. Laurinaitis announces Jack Swagger, Mark Henry and Kane vs. Zack Ryder, John Cena and Big Show in a six-man elimination match for tonight.
– We see WWE Champion CM Punk headed to the ring as we go to commercial.
WWE Title Match: Dolph Ziggler vs. CM Punk
Back from the break and WWE Champion CM Punk kicks off the 10pm timeslot. The #1 contender Dolph Ziggler is out next with Vickie Guerrero right behind him.
We get formal ring introductions and they lock up after the bell. They go to the ropes and break. Punk rolls Ziggler up for a 1 count. Punk with a takedown and another 1 count. Punk keeps control of the match and hits a backbreaker for another pin attempt. Ziggler turns it around and beats Punk down in the corner. Ziggler drops Punk with a big right hand and covers for 2.
Ziggler goes for a big drop but Punk moves. Punk with a low dropkick and several running leg drops. 2 count for Punk as Vickie goes crazy at ringside. Ziggler fights to his feet from a headlock but Punk drops him with a shoulder. Ziggler catches Punk in the air and slams him on his face. Punk lands awkwardly on his face and Ziggler stomps away. Ziggler with a neckbreaker and a 2 count. Ziggler drops an elbow for a 2 count. Ziggler with a headlock on the mat now.
Punk fights to his feet and kicks Ziggler out of the ring. Punk runs the ropes and goes to dive through the ropes but Ziggler stops him with a right hand. Ziggler drops Punk on his head on the apron and they go to the floor. Ziggler brings it back in the ring for a 2 count as we go back to commercial.
Back from the break and Punk trades right hands with Ziggler on their feet. Ziggler ducks a clothesline and applies the sleeper hold. Punk breaks it and covers Ziggler for 2. Punk with a dropkick. Punk goes for the high knee in the corner but Ziggler blocks it with an elbow. Punk catches Ziggler with a snap slam for 2. Ziggler counters a suplex and rolls Punk up from behind for 2. Punk with a 2 count of his own. Ziggler hits the big leg drop but Punk kicks out at 2.
Ziggler with a splash in the corner and he drops Punk on his face again. Another pin attempt by Ziggler. Punk comes back with the high knee and the bulldog for a 2 count. Punk calls for the GTS and out comes John Laurinaitis. Ziggler points out the turnbuckle pad thats been removed. Punk goes for GTS but it’s countered. Punk locks in Anaconda Vice but the referee is distracted by Laurinaitis. Punk stands up and he’s pissed. Ziggler charges from behind but Punk moves and Ziggler crashes into Laurinaitis. Ziggler blocks GTS and shoves Punk over the top rope and out to the floor. Laurinaitis, who is holding his arm, may have pulled the rope down for Punk to fall out. Punk gets counted out.
Winner by Count Out: Dolph Ziggler
– Punk comes into the ring as Ziggler leaves. Ziggler grabs the WWE Title belt and runs through to crowd with it. Ziggler parades around with the WWE Title like he’s won it. Punk has had enough and goes to ringside. Ziggler runs off through the crowd with the title belt and poses with it. Cole plugs the main event when another cryptic video starts playing then we go to commercial.
The Bella Twins vs. Kelly Kelly and Eve Torres
Back from the break and it’s Divas action. Kelly starts out with one of the Bellas and takes it to the corner. Kelly with the stinkface. Bella slams Kelly by her hair and tags in her sister. Kelly counters and tags in Eve. Eve comes in with a clothesline and a dropkick. Eve with forearms and the booty pop. Eve dropkicks the other Bella off the apron. She goes at it with the other Bella and kicks her from the second rope. Eve hits the moonsault from the top but the pin is broken up. The ref deals with Kelly Kelly while the Twins do the switch and get the pin on Eve.
Winners: The Bella Twins
– David Otunga is backstage when John Laurinaitis when CM Punk walks in pissed off. Laurinaitis cuts him off and says Punk’s problem is with Dolph Ziggler. Laurinaitis announces Punk vs. Ziggler at the Royal Rumble. The special referee will be Laurinaitis. Punk says if Laurinaitis screws him at the Rumble, Punk will be in jail for animal cruelty because he’s going to beat Laurinaitis like a bitch. Punk walks off and we go to commercial.
– Back from the break and we get the final cryptic video. “She as spoken” it says. The camera comes back in the arena and everything is shaking. The lights go out after an explosion. The crowd starts chanting “Y2J.” Pyro goes off as Break The Walls Down hits and Chris Jericho appears to a massive pop.
Jericho is pumped as he makes his way down to the ring. Jericho hits the ring, plays up to the crowd and looks very excited to be here. Jericho climbs out of the ring before speaking to slap hands with the fans around the ring.
Jericho re-enters the ring as the crowd chants his name. They stop and he gets them to cheer some more. A “welcome back” chant starts up next. Jericho runs from corner to corner, getting the crowd to pop every time.
Jericho goes back to ringside with the fans and brings it back in the ring, still getting the fans to pop. It’s pretty obvious he’s dragging it out here. Jericho drops the mic, pauses, then goes back to cheering. There’s just a few boos mixed in with the “Y2J” chants now. Jericho goes back to ringside to slap hands with the fans and run around the ring. He’s definitely up to something here.
Jericho heads up the ramp, slapping hands with more fans. He walks from each end of the stage and gets the fans to cheer more. Now there’s a lot more boos coming from the crowd. Jericho walks to the back and we get hype for tonight’s six-man elimination main event. Back to commercial.
Elimination Match: Zack Ryder, Big Show and John Cena vs. Mark Henry and Jack Swagger
Back from the break and out comes Zack Ryder followed by Big Show and then John Cena. Mark Henry is out first for his team followed by Jack Swagger. Kane’s music hits next but he doesn’t appear. David Otunga comes walking to the ring with a microphone. Otunga talks with the referee and it’s announced that Kane is not participating and this will now be a handicap match.
Swagger starts with Cena and they go back and forth. Cena with a big hip toss and a scoop slam. Cena drops an elbow and covers Swagger for 2. Cena catches Swagger with another dropkick for another pin attempt. Cena runs into Swagger and goes down. Swagger tags in Henry as we go to commercial.
Back from the break and Swagger is in control of Cena. Cena fights out with a big backdrop. Cena tags in Big Show. Show comes in and splashes Swagger in the corner and hits a big clothesline. Show calls for the knockout punch but Swagger tags in Henry. They trade shots. Show hits him with headbutts and a shoulder to take him off his feet. Henry goes to the floor and Show follows. Henry grabs a chair but Show punches it into his face. Show cracks Henry with the chair and both men are counted out. Show and Henry are eliminated.
Ryder comes in and goes at it with Swagger. Ryder takes control and Swagger runs into his knees in the corner. Ryder hits the Broski Boot. Ryder goes for the Ruff Ryder but Swagger counters and applies the ankle lock. Ryder reaches for a tag and finally makes it. Cena comes in with shoulders and the big back drop. Cena hits the Five Knuckle Shuffle. Swagger gets hit with the Attitude Adjustment for the win.
Winners: Zack Ryder and John Cena
– Cena and Ryder are celebrating when Kane’s music hits. Cena leaves the ring to meet Kane on the ramp. Kane comes from from under the middle of the ring and takes out Ryder. Kane meets Cena on the floor and takes him to the floor with the mandible-like move he two weeks ago. Kane goes back in the ring to Ryder. Ryder tries to leave the ring but Kane drags him back by his leg. Kane goes back in the hole in the ring and pulls Ryder down with him. Cena rushes in the ring and pulls Ryder out of the hole and Kane’s clutch. Cena calls for someone to check on Ryder’s leg. A huge fireball explodes up from Kane’s hole in the ring as Cena and Ryder look on shocked. Kane’s music hits and RAW goes off the air with Cena and Ryder looking at Kane’s smoking hole.
