WWE RAW Results Recap: What We Learned About WWE's Future on July 4

After what transpired on the June 27 edition of RAW, the WWE might have turned a corner. To end the show, the rant by CM Punk—whether part of the storyline or not—has set the wheels in motion that could have a larger impact on the WWE landscape than anything in the past few years.

Twitter was abuzz, the IWC questioned whether or not it was a shoot or a work, and all eyes were set on the July 4 edition of RAW to see what the future would hold for the flagship show and a few of the top workers in the business.

WWE.com announced CM Punk was "suspended," but will he show up before the pay-per-view?

Will they be giving away his No. 1 contendership spot?

Is Vince McMahon going to be showing up in person to make a statement?

Are we going to finally determine the identity of the anonymous general manager?

There are plenty of questions outstanding, and as RAW rolls along, we'll see what it answers as we continue the build toward the July 17 "Money in the Bank" pay-per-view.

John Cena starts the show, and it's official: CM Punk lost his chance to fight Cena at the pay-per-view for the World Championship—though Cena doesn't like the decision. 

Like Teddy Long on Smackdown, John Cena polls the audience and asks where the line should be drawn, bringing up that Punk was suspended for speaking his mind, Daniel Bryan was fired for being too aggressive and WWE representatives took away the signs from fans at past events.

Cena cites the First Amendment's right to free speech as part of his reason for being upset, and he wants Vince McMahon to answer to it. He called McMahon to ensure he would be in attendance, and by the end of the night, he's going to answer to what's going on.

Any chance that means Alberto Del Rio, Rey Mysterio and R-Truth can all stay in the RAW Money In The Bank match and they don't have to find a replacement?

Drew McIntyre probably hopes not.

While the Diva's on Smackdown are left with little direction, the ladies of RAW continue to have tag matches despite Kelly Kelly having the Diva's championship.

Anyone else thinking they should've started the Diva's Tag Championship when they had the chance?

Could the RAW Diva tag matches be a result of the WWE's faith in Kelly Kelly's in-ring skills?

Diva's Tag Match: Bella Twins vs Kelly Kelly & Eve

Anyone else think Kelly Kelly's ass-shaking corner move is a far cry from the much-better option from Impact Wrestling's Miss Tessmacher?

Outcome: Kelly Kelly gets the pin on one of the Bellas.

Backstage, R-Truth takes a couple minutes and changes his car insurance—though from what he was saying on the phone, he mixed up references for a couple of the companies. And apparently he's looking to hurt someone in the No. 1 contender's match en route to getting another title shot. Alberto Del Rio shows up and again talks about destiny.

And it you ask me, his destiny seems to be as the No. 2 contender to the World Title.

Non-Title Tag Match: Santi-Koz vs New Nexus (c)

So right off the bat, the most likely scenario for this match is for David Otunga and Michael McGillicutty to lose, as it would be an attempt to give some credibility back to Santi-Koz, and because for storyline purposes New Nexus is losing its leader.

Then again, they could be looking to build up the tag champs to have SOME credibility in the post-Punk era.

Outcome: McGillicutty hits Santino Marella with his signature move and gets the pinfall.

While the tag champs are celebrating in the ring, Zack Ryder shows up with his entrance music and gives his catchphrase, and then Woo Woo Woo walks away.

It might not make any sense this week, but in coming weeks I'm guessing it's going to lead to something. At least the Zack Pack get to see him on television without having to involve YouTube.

Backstage we get an interview from The Miz, who isn't happy with being omitted from the No. 1 contender's match for later in the show, and he blames his problems on Alex Riley—whom he hasn't beaten in one-on-one competition—and he's going to fix that tonight.

Battle of the spitters, as Sgt. Slaughter is face-to-face with Jack Swagger backstage, and they're trying to decide which of them is going to lead the arena in saying the Pledge of Allegiance.

I realize it's July 4, but this is lame.

Match: Jack Swagger vs Sgt. Slaughter

In a match where both guys are known for their patriotism, does anyone else find it lame that the fans are chanting "USA! USA! USA!"?

Outcome: Jack Swagger makes relatively short work of Slaughter.

Could this be the first time the Pledge of Allegiance is booed in a public forum?

Swagger puts the ankle lock on Slaughter, prompting Evan Bourne to show up and escort Swagger from the ring with the help of a couple of well-placed kicks.

Did anyone else think Bourne looked surprised and defensive when his music started to play, as if he didn't recognize his own theme and was expecting someone else to show up and attack him?

Slaughter gets a microphone and either the in-crowd microphones weren't in use for the first half of the pledge, or he should've announced what he was doing ahead of time so people could join in. I didn't hear anyone else doing the pledge until it was 2/3 over.

Commercial note: Is it just me or is "Cowboys & Aliens" taking FOREVER to hit the theaters? Given the number of trailers I've seen for it and the length of time it's been since I first saw a trailer for it, I was half expecting it to mention a DVD release date.

No. 1 Contender Triple-Threat Match: Mysterio vs Del Rio vs R-Truth

How long has it been since Rey Mysterio first came to the WWE, and this is the first time they're mentioning that "Rey" isn't his first name? Jerry Lawler giving us the factoid that Mr. 6-1-9 is "King of Mystery" based on his ring-name is interesting, but probably won't lead to anything beyond that one comment.

Outcome: Alberto Del Rio gets the win by submission when Rey Mysterio taps out after Mr. 6-1-9 takes out R-Truth.

Personal note: I apologize this article isn't up to par with typical weeks, as I'm actually fairly sick tonight, which explains why there was no review of Smackdown 72 hours ago.

The announcers mention we're going to find out who will replace Del Rio in the "Money In the Bank" match now that ADR has other plans for the pay-per-view, but if CM Punk gets the title shot instead, what does that do for ADR and whoever (temporarily?) takes his place in the ladder match?

Vickie Guerrero and Dolph Ziggler hit the ring, and I'm not so worried about being sick, because this gives me a chance to zone out without being worried about missing something important. As I re-tweet some things on Twitter (@GuysNation—follow me there and on facebook.com/GuysNation), I notice that Kofi Kingston has shown up—nothing ground-breaking there, but he's got a microphone, which is something we don't typically see.

Kingston doesn't say much, but what he does say is actually well-delivered and has a natural feel to it. Maybe he'll get more chances in the future, unless WWE doesn't want to see if he's worthy of getting bigger opportunities in the future.

There's a bit of a shoving match between Kingston and Ziggler, which not only causes Guerrero to fall backward onto the cake, but after she stops sitting on it, she also gets pushed into the cake chest first. Classic physical comedy, which is the type of comedy you'd expect from WWE, yes?

The crowd in the arena gets the quote of the night nomination with its "We want cake!" chant as Guerrero leaves the ring.

Match: Alex Riley vs The Miz

What in the world is wrong with that jacket Alex Riley is wearing? Seriously, shoe laces up the side? I'm not a fashion icon by any means, but even I wouldn't be caught dead in that jacket.

And before the match even starts, we get a near full history of the feud between The Miz and A-Ry? Are we not supposed to have remembered one of the more exciting things going on in WWE over the past few months? I could understand if they wanted to show a clip or two, but that was a full-on hype package.

Why is it, with the high production values WWE is capable of doing, it likes to make its hype videos harder to watch by incorporating blurriness into footage that was clear the first time around?

With my favorite under-utilized move in the history of the business, Riley scores the upset with the backslide.

Outcome: Alex Riley wins by pinfall.

After the match, The Miz shows his aggressive side by attacking Riley like he had been attacked in previous weeks. Maybe if The Miz had done this a month ago, he wouldn't have lost all these battles.

Vince McMahon gets to the arena, and he actually looks to be in good spirits.

For any of you who missed what happened last week—and the recap of it from the beginning of the show—they show it again. And I'm not recapping it again.

McMahon hits the ring, and he says Punk was suspended because Punk deserved it. The fans disagree with the decision.

Apparently McMahon didn't like some of the demands Punk was making in his contract renegotiations, and that lead to the decision, and that's all he has to say about that.

John Cena doesn't think McMahon is going to be leaving that quickly, so he comes to the ring and says his bit.

Saying that McMahon has gone soft, Cena says he has lost his edge, that the famous McMahon "Grapefruits" have become peach pits, and that maybe McMahon should consider side-lining himself.

Now the truth comes out: McMahon suspended Punk because he doesn't want Punk leaving WWE with the World Championship because he doesn't want to bank on Cena being able to successfully retain the title against a guy leaving the company.

Wow, Cena references the fact Punk was part of his entrance at Wrestlemania 22. Nicely done.

McMahon starts to get angry, saying Cena shouldn't have made this a public conversation, and the entire situation apparently embarrasses the same man who had a KISS MY ASS club a few years ago.

McMahon reiterates that this is HIS company and he'll do what's right for his company, and this is the right decision for him.

Cena says McMahon is making a disgrace of the championship and making it meaningless, then he hands the belt over to McMahon and walks out of the ring and starts to leave, but McMahon puts a stop to that.

He meets Cena atop the ramp and reinstates Punk so Cena can have his championship match at the pay-per-view. But apparently if Punk wins the belt at the pay-per-view, McMahon is going to personally walk to the ring and fire Cena—which doesn't hold as much weight with those of us who just saw Cena basically quit.

Apparently Cena doesn't like being threatened now that his threat had its intended consequence.

Keep checking back as the night progresses, as GuysNation will continue to share its thoughts on RAW as it transpires. As always, before the night is over the GuysNation version of this article will include the infamous polls.