WWE RAW Results, Questions and Comments (3/7/2011)

Three episodes of RAW remain.  Thus far, we haven't seen a face-to-face between John Cena and The Rock, we haven't heard Triple H and Undertaker exchange words, we don't know how Trips is going to respond to what HBK recently said, we've only got two Hall Of Fame inductees named thus far, we don't know if Tough Enough coach Steve Austin is going to be involved in Wrestlemania, the same to be asked about Trish Stratus.  

RAW's got plenty of questions to be asked tonight, and from what I understand, the guest host for the show is SNOOKI.

RAW begins with the death knolls and a now familiar Johnny Cash song, speaking of The Last Outlaw, and The Undertaker walks through the smoke.  I half expected this to be Triple H doing a parody bit, but that's not the direction they're going with things.

The Undertaker speaks to his detractors who think he's going to lose at Wrestlemania, and he gives everyone a history lesson about what happened at the past two Wrestlemania events, where Undertaker beat Shawn Michaels.  Maybe I'm being too optimimstic, but I don't think this segment is going to end without an appearance by Triple H.

Big announcement here, the match at Wrestlemania is going to be No Holds Barred, no disqualifications, no count outs.  Undertaker then says Triple H will REST IN PEACE... and we don't get an appearance from Triple H.

Apparently John Cena has promised (via Twitter) for tonight to be his final response to The Rock.

Backstage, Randy Orton is fighting with Nexus.  RKO seems to be getting the advantage until Mason Ryan throws him into a steel cabinet.  Punk then berates Randy, threatening to do much worse than to put him on the shelf.  Punk then slams Randy's head into the steel cabinet a few times, then hits him with a Go2Sleep.  Punk then has Mason Ryan and David Otunga drag Orton to the ring, unconscious.

Inside the ring the members of Nexus are still working over Randy "Randall" Orton.  Referees show up, clear everyone except for Orton and Otunga from the ring, and David Otunga tells the referee to ring the bell to start the match.

Match - David Otunga vs Randy Orton

If David Otunga can't win this match, I'll be disgusted.  He's one of my least favorite members of the Nexus Generation (Nexus & The Corre collectively), and yet I maintain the fact that he needs to win this match or else there's very little reason to think that any member of Nexus will beat Orton and get to be at ringside.

Otunga worked Orton over a little bit and tried to get the victory, but Orton sprung up and hit the RKO, and my disappointment level goes way up.

Outcome - Randy Orton gets the pinfall with the RKO

Mason Ryan shows up to ringside, looking for a way to help Nexus get at least a little vindication, and it looks very promising for a moment, but WWE again disappoints, ans Mason Ryan fails to hit a finisher and he gets hit with the RKO too.  

CM Punk rushes the ring, holds Orton's attention for a moment, but then Orton punts David Otunga in the skull, sending him to neverland.

Also tonight, we will apparently be hearing about Michael Cole's pick for the referee in the Cole v Lawler Wrrestlemania match.

The one thing we're not going to get tonight is an appearance from The Miz, who feels disrespected as the World Champion.  Can't really blame him, as The Rock and John Cena are making RAW's World Title match all about them... and neither of them have the belt.

Christian Cage makes his return to RAW, and though I'm happy to see him tonight, I'm hoping that he remains part of the Smackdown roster, as his involvement with Edge could be classic, and we have a limited number of opportunities to see that happen before their careers are over.

Alberto Del Rio shows up, and apparently he isn't Christian's opponent for this match.  Before he gets an opportunity to fight ADR, Christian has to first defeat Alberto's "little friend", Brodus Clay.

Match - Christian Cage vs Brodus Clay

I realize Christian's WWE name doesn't include "Cage", but I got used to saying it back in TNA, so I'm going to keep up with it.

Does anyone else see Brodus Clay as the second coming of King Kong Bundy?

Significant amount of offense from Brodus Clay, and I enjoy the fact that WWE again has a character whom has the size which causes opponents to have a tough time taking him off his feet.  

Outcome - Christian wins the match with a Tornado DDT

After the match, to no one's surprise, Alberto Del Rio gets into the ring and tries to work over Christian.  They start trading moves a little bit, ADR gets the advantage, locks on the Cross Arm Breaker, and for some reason no one shows up to help Christian and the referee (Charles Robinson?) doesn't stop ADR.

Recap time for what The Rock said last week about John Cena, and I'm not recapping a recap.

Following the commercial we get a hype video for Sin Cara, the Mexican competitor formerly known as Mistico.  He's a fantastic wrestler, possibly the second-coming of Rey Mysterio, and we'll have to see if that holds up.  

Time for finding out who the fourth inductee for this year's Hall Of Fame class will be.  Already on the list is Shawn Michaels, Jim Duggan and Bob Armstrong.  Who will join them?

SUNNY!  Anyone who watched WWE in the mid-to-late 90's will no doubt remember Sunny (Tammy Sytch), one of the ladies who ushered in the Attitude Era with her sex appeal and great managing skills!

Recap from last week's DIVA's Battle Royal where one of the Bella Twins earned a number one contender's spot at the Diva's Championship

Diva's Championship Match - Eve Torres (c) vs Nikki Bella

So clearly the Bellas are going to at least attempt Twin Magic in this match, as they're identically dressed, but the only remaining question hinges on which Diva actually walks away with the championship when the match is done.  Will the referee notice the Twin Magic and DQ them?  Will Gail Kim, who is in Eve Torres' corner, stop them from being able to screw Eve out of the title?

Michael Cole gets on the mic, stands up on the announce table, telling people that he wants the match to hurry up and finish.  He wants to make the announcement of who his special guest referee will be.  

The Bellas attempt Twin Magic, the referee sees it, Eve Torres stays on the attack and gets her finishing move.

Outcome - Eve Torres wins via swinging neckbreaker

Michael Cole on the mic immediately after the match, reminding us that he's going to make the announcement after the commercial.

Apparently I was wrong, and SNOOKI is showing up NEXT week, and apparently she's a New York Times Best Selling Author?  I questioned whether or not she could read....

Michael Cole has a contract in hand, and the person who signs it will be the special guest referee at Wrestlemania for his match with Jerry Lawler.  Something tells me that's a loophole...

Former WWE Champion?  I'm smelling Dolph Ziggler...

Michael Cole gets the crowd hyped up for Steve Austin, then calls them fools, then introduces... J.B.L.!

The only question remains whether or not JBL will sign the contract before someone else gets to the ring to sign it.

This is certainly a surprise.  It's been a couple years since he was at Wrestlemania, and we haven't seen or heard from him since.

J.B.L. hypes up Michael Cole, talks about being a man of integrity and speaks about how he feels good that Michael Cole stood up to "the bully" Jerry Lawler.

I'm waiting for the glass to break.

Bradshaw has his pen, he's holding the clipboard...

GLASS BREAKS!!!

Austin shows up!  Austin walks the isle!

The contract hasn't been signed yet...

Austin gets into the ring...

Stone Cold tries to get to Michael Cole, but JBL stands in the way... STUNNER!  JBL is out!  Michael Cole leaves the ring!

The beers start raining in, Austin pours them down his throat, then Austin gets the contract, grabs a pen... and now Austin is the special guest referee for Cole vs Lawler at Wrestlemania!

Can you smell it?  Jack Swagger's due a Stunner in about 27 days!

Before leaving ringside, Austin gives Michael Cole a beer bath with three cans of beer, then a fourth as Cole tries to walk away.  In classic Austin form, he offers a beer to JBL, but before JBL gets to drink it, he gets ANOTHER Stunner.

That leaves just Josh Mathews on commentary, and I really wish Austin would've stayed to do play-by-play, especially after having the four or five beers he chugged!

Where's the TV-PG now?

Backstage, Jack Swagger calms an enraged Michael Cole and claims that he will break Austin's ankle as retribution.

We'll see.

Jerry The King Lawler is in attendance and makes his way to the ring for commentary.  Exactly why he wasn't there earlier, who knows.

Match - "American Dragon" Daniel Bryan vs King Sheamus

They bring up what happened last week with Sheamus and Triple H, and then they show that Evan Bourne defeated Sheamus directly thereafter.  What they don't mention is how Daniel Bryan was laughing backstage with Gail Kim after Sheamus lost, and Sheamus nearly took his head off at that time.  Wouldn't that be an important storyline point to mention in why this match is taking place?

Sheamus gets tossed from the ring, rolls, and hits his ankle on the edge of the announce table.  He has trouble getting up, and the referee administers the count

Outcome - Daniel Bryan wins via countout

Grabbing a mic, Sheamus admits to being on a losing streak, and he's determined to end that streak next week and he says that if he can't beat Daniel Bryan for the United States Championship next week, he'll quit.

Either Sheamus is going to be your next United States Champion, or he's moving over to Smackdown.  No way would they put Sheamus, Vickie Guerrero and Ziggler off the roster.

Match - R-Truth vs CM Punk

How high would Vegas odds-makers have to set the odds in this match to get ANY action on R-Truth?  

Punk works over the arm for the whole match, and it seriously slows R-Truth and stops him from being able to perform effectively.

Outcome - CM Punk locks in the Anaconda Vice and gets the win by submission

Shawn Michael's statements about Triple H and Undertaker continue with the second half of his interview.

HBK talks about how Triple H is a man on a mission who has set this goal to accomplish one of the remaining things he's never done.  HBK thinks that his friend will be able to take emotion out of the equation and be cold-hearted, and that could be the winning equation to beating Undertaker at Wrestlemania.

The crowd boos... and it's Vickie Guerrero coming down the isle!  Great time for a commercial!

I'll do my best to ensure this article is updated in a timely manner to keep it as current with the live action as possible.  As always, the GuysNation version of this article will have polls added to it throughout the night to get your perspective with a minimal amount of effort!