When Darkness Falls...: WWE RAW Rewind

LIVE from my hometown of St. Louis, Missouri, RAW opens up with announcements of the Elimination Chamber and the main event. John Cena will face Chris Jericho. The show then gets to the action as Shane McMahon makes his way to the ring.

While Shane enters the ring, we see highlights of last Monday night’s monumental RAW. Shane was informed by Orton’s legal team that The Legend Killer wants Shane O’Mac at No Way Out. Shane then makes it official by announcing that he will do everything in his power to make sure that Orton does not compete at Wrestlemania. With that, Randy Orton comes down to confront Shane.

Orton then tells Shane that he didn’t beat up the top three superstars last week. He claims that he played both McMahon siblings for a fool last week, and he tells Shane to order a bed right next to his father because after No Way Out, Vince will have some company.

With that, Randy starts to walk towards the ring, but after Shane prepares for his arrival, Orton decides to walk away…but then gets his courage back and starts to slowly walk back to the ring. Orton hesitates in getting in the ring, and Rhodes and DiBiase come down to try to ambush McMahon. Unfortunately for them, Shane has an equalizer of his own, and takes out Rhodes and DiBiase with a kendo stick.

The three men stagger away from the fight as RAW takes its first commercial break.

First Bout: CM Punk & Mickie James vs. William Regal & Layla

Before the bell, we are informed that Regal will face Punk for the IC Championship next week in Raider Nation. The men start the match with Punk applying some pressure with an armbar. As Layla comes in, Regal gets a cheap shot on Punk, which allows Layla to get a cheap shot on Mickie James. But Mickie begins to fight back and a clothesline drops both women. Both women make the tag, and Punk comes in laying some serious shots and kicks nailed on Regal.

Regal takes advantage and drops Punk off the apron. As Mickie tries to get him back in the ring, Regal drops Punk with a knee to the skull to pick up the win for his team.

After the break, we find out that JBL will have an Employee Appraisal tonight for his employee, Shawn Michaels.

Second Bout: Priceless vs. Cryme Tyme

JTG and Ted DiBiase start off the match with JTG getting the upper hand on an already sore DiBiase. But Ted gets control with a quick kick to the face. Rhodes comes in and lands a judo leg flip on JTG followed by a headlock. The match takes a turn when both men land a head butt on each other followed by a set of tags. Shad comes in drops both men followed by the Money Drop. But thanks to Rhodes, the duo ambushes Gaspard. Priceless then delivers a Double DDT on an already prone Shad to finish off the assault.

After the match, the WWE is talking about the possible match between Chris Jericho and Mickey Rourke at Wrestlemania. In the back, Chris Jericho is heading to the ring to address the situation between him and Rourke. Also in the back, Randy Orton is talking to his Legacy members, while Chris Jericho stands in the ring.

Jericho goes on to insult not just Mickey Rourke but also The Nature Boy Ric Flair. He goes on to call Flair pathetic for not bowing out gracefully and goes on to demand that WWE revoke their Hall of Fame status. All of a sudden, John Cena comes onto the Titantron and silences the Egoholic. Jericho gets put in his place quickly by Cena, informing him that he is the biggest liar of them all.

Cena then proclaims that he will silence Jericho the only way he knows how: by punching his teeth down his throat.

In the back, Rey Mysterio and Kofi Kingston are making their way to the ring for their match with Kane and Mike Knox.

Third Bout: Kane & Mike Knox vs. Kofi Kingston and Rey Mysterio

Kingston and Kane start it off with Kofi getting the advantage early with a dropkick that sends him out of the ring. Knox looks to come in and get him some, but rethinks it after the numbers catch up with him. The show returns with Kane and Kofi still battling in the ring. Kofi tries to get the advantage, but Kane lifts him up only to get nailed with a dropkick.

Kofi manages to tag in Rey Mysterio who looks to hit the 619. Kane slides out of the ring, but he gets dropped on the outside. Back in the ring, Knox arrives in the match and takes the fight to Rey Mysterio. Kofi gets a blind tag, but Knox gets control with a huge boot to the face. Knox and Kane then switch places as The Big Red Monster arrives and continues the punishment.

Both monsters continue to tag in and out of the match and also continue to keep Kofi from his partner. Knox drops Kingston with a flapjack before tagging Kane back in. Kofi nails an enzugiri, but Kane takes out Rey Mysterio to prevent the tag. Kofi manages to get an advantage, but Kane prevents the tag from being made.

Kofi blocks a slam and manages to get the tag in to Rey, who comes in fired up and dropping both monsters. Rey hits the leg drop, but Knox comes in and breaks up the pinfall. Knox breaks up the 619 and Kane takes advantage by landing a choke slam to pick up the victory for the two monsters.

As Shane is leaving the arena, Legacy ambushes him and drops Stephanie as well. As Orton prepares to punt Shane, he changes his mind and tries to punt Stephanie instead, but Shane dives in and takes the blunt of the punt. Again, Orton tries to show signs of his alleged IED as RAW goes to break.

After a look back at Wrestlemania X, we see JBL looking at the video before he gets ready for his evaluation of Shawn Michaels.

Fourth Bout: Candice Michelle vs. Beth Phoenix

The Glamazon still shows her mean streak, despite not having the Women’s Championship. She counters a bulldog into a back suplex. Candice is in a rough moment as she is locked in backbreaker, but she fights out of it and starts the assault on Beth. Rosa tries to interfere, but to no avail. Beth gets the recovery and hit’s the GlamSlam to pick up the win as Santino and Rosa celebrate.

Rosa then grabs Candice and launches her out of the ring. In the back, Chris Jericho is prepping for his match, and in a shocking turn of events, Ric Flair will be on RAW live next Monday night.

Intermission: JBL’s Employee Performance Appraisal

JBL comes out first, introduces his employee and out comes Shawn Michaels. JBL blames Shawn Michaels for his shortcomings as JBL is no longer in the hunt for the World Heavyweight Championship. But HBK responds that he wants to kick his teeth down his throat. JBL continues to goad him into delivering some Sweet Chin Music. JBL then offers a proposal to HBK: A one on one match at No Way Out with the stipulations no higher than this. JBL loses and he pays HBK everything, but if JBL wins, Shawn Michaels is his…forever.

After a long winded speech by JBL, Shawn Michaels accepts the match for No Way Out. Once again, Shawn is goaded into a fight, and Shawn uses every ounce of energy he’s got to prevent from kicking JBL’s teeth down his throat. Back in the locker room, Stephanie McMahon announces that Kane is in the Elimination Chamber…and for his part in helping her, Randy Orton will face The Undertaker next week.

Main Event: Chris Jericho vs. John Cena

The fight starts even before the bell as Cena starts punching Jericho’s lights out. Jericho tries to fight back, but Cena lands the face buster. Cena waits for Jericho to get up and drops him back down with a huge back suplex. As Jericho rolls around in pain, Cena inspects his damage so far. Cena clotheslines Jericho out of the ring, but Jericho manages to launch him onto the announce table.

Back on RAW, Jericho gets the advantage with an obvious chokehold. But Cena counters into a possible FU, but Jericho counters into a DDT instead. Jericho drops the World Champion with a springboard dropkick, and then dusts off his hands as if the match is over. But Cena fights back with a quick belly to belly on Jericho, but Jericho bounces back with a standing dropkick. Cena starts fighting back with a Boston Spinout followed by an attempt at the 5-Knuckle Shuffle until Jericho counters into a possible Walls of Jericho.

Both men exchange near falls until Jericho lands the Lionsault, only to get a two count. Jericho gets caught with the 5-Knuckle Shuffle, and as Cena goes for the FU, Jericho counters into a possible Codebreaker. The FU gets countered again and Cena gets caught in The Walls of Jericho. Cena manages to break the hold and counter in the STFU to pick up the win in St. Louis.

That’s the recap! See you all in Oakland for the return of Ric Flair and the epic encounter of Randy Orton facing The Undertaker.