WWE Raw Results, Questions and Comments...DVR'ed! 7/18/2011

Rob BeloteJun 7, 2018

Due to illness, I wasn't able to make this article happen live. But I'm watching the show anyway, so I may as well share my perspective on it like I usually do at GuysNation.

There are certainly questions to be answered stemming from the MONEY IN THE BANK pay-per-view. Will there be a CM Punk appearance on RAW tonight...or at all the rest of July? And what of John Cena, who is supposedly getting fired because he lost the title to CM Punk at the pay-per-view?

Hitting play on the GuysNation DVR...let's get to it!

The show starts out with Vince McMahon and John Laurinaitis coming to the ring. McMahon is going to address the situation with "He Who Must Not Be Named" (since he refuses to say CM Punk anymore).

Now, I'm not the type of guy people would necessarily deem "fashionable," but Vince, a pinkish jacket with gray pants? Wow. I'm not even sure where you'd go to buy an outfit like that...but they should be closed down.

McMahon is upset with the fans, who are cheering on Punk, despite him walking out on the company. He's also disappointed with Cena for not getting the job done, and he plans to deal with Cena later in the evening.

The big story is the one-night, eight-man tournament which is set up to crown a new WWE Champion. The brackets:

Mysterio
vs.
Ziggler

Swagger
vs.
R-Truth

Kingston
vs.
Del Rio

Alex Riley
vs.
The Miz

If I were booking the tournament the way I wanted to see it, I'd go with Dolph Ziggler losing in the finals to Rey Mysterio, but that's not possible, due to the fact that they're facing each other in the first round.

The finals needs to have either The Miz or Mysterio to make it seem legitimate, but the fans need a clear-cut person to cheer for in that match, so you can't book two heels. If you're going to turn The Miz face, you can't really do that with him facing Riley in the same tournament.

Frankly I'm betting it'll come down to Mysterio vs. Del Rio, but that's going to be frustrating because we've already seen that match a dozen times. The way I'd go based on the setup would be Mysterio vs. The Miz.

With eight matches on the card, things are getting started early. They're starting with The Miz, so I'm guessing he makes it deep into the tournament.

TOP NEWS

Match: The Miz vs. Alex Riley

During the middle of the match, Riley tries to lock in a Texas Cloverleaf submission. (Think Sharpshooter, only using your arms to lock up their legs, not your legs.) Riley doesn't get it locked in very well, and I'm thinking he could use a bit more practice.

Outcome: The Miz advances cleanly with his skull-crushing finale.

We get a promo for SummerSlam. With the clips they showed to start the promo, I'm just glad we're not getting the debut of another "early Tyler Reks" style surfer competitor.

John Morrison is apparently going to be making his return soon, based on getting a little hype video. Michael Cole mentioning that R-Truth put Morrison on the shelf? That's a good thing. I was worried they'd leave that out, and he'd make a return without the continuation of the heated feud.

Match: R-Truth vs. Jack Swagger

Cole mentions that to win the title tonight, someone has to win three matches. But as far as I can remember, these tournaments typically include one match which ends without a winner (double DQ / double count out / time limit draw), and someone gets a bye—meaning they only have two matches.

Move of the night so far: R-Truth leaps into an inverted position, wraps his legs around Swagger and somehow turns that into a reverse sunset flip style pinfall attempt. That move made the match worth watching.

Outcome: R-Truth wins by pinfall, continuing to show how talented he is as a competitor by countering an ankle-lock attempt into a pinfall.

Before the commercial, they hype up the upcoming match by explaining Kingston has held all of the titles in WWE aside from the two belts that are considered "World" titles. So how is it that I see him as the prohibitive underdog against Del Rio, who has yet to win a single championship?

Match: Alberto Del Rio vs. Kofi Kingston

How great was it that during his pre-match introduction Del Rio announced himself by saying, "My name... is Mr. Money In The Bank!"

Spot of the night so far: Kingston on the middle rope, as if to be setup for a 6-1-9, Del Rio runs across the ring and tries to slam into his back, but Kingston moves. ADR ends up outside the ring, and when he turns around, he gets taken out by a flying forearm by Kingston, who dove between the ropes to take out Mr. Money In The Bank.

Outcome: Kingston gets the win, and for the second time of the night, someone goes for their submission-finishing hold (ADR, cross-arm breaker) and it gets countered directly into a pinfall.

Anyone else like how they're doing SummerSlam throwback moments? Picking the night when British Bulldog Davey-Boy Smith defeated Bret Hart for the Intercontinental Championship in England was a good way to start.

Kingston gets interviewed backstage. It's about time he gets to show off some mic skills, because that's quite possibly the only thing holding him back. He does a good job with the promo.

It occurs to me that during Mysterio's entrance that this is the one and only time parents would be happy to let their kids interact with a "performer" who wears studded leather pants and a mask.

Match: Rey Mysterio vs Dolph Ziggler

Interesting point by Ziggler, explained on Twitter (@HeelZiggler): he's the only singles champion on RAW.

Given how two of the other first-round matches ended, wouldn't it be awesome if Ziggler locked in a sleeperhold and Mysterio countered into a pinfall a la Bret Hart at WrestleMania 8? If you didn't see that event, go track down a copy.

Is it just me, or are the competitors doing less of their regular spot sequences tonight and making for more entertaining matches?

So close! Ziggler locked in the sleeperhold and Mysterio moved towards the corner turnbuckles...and didn't do the spot I was hoping for to finish the match.

Ziggler throws Mysterio down to the mat with a traditional amateur wrestling slam, and it's amazing how impactful a move can be when you don't see it every week.

Outcome: Mysterio wins the match with a splash off the top rope, winning cleanly.

A big Divas match is up next, and honestly I'm not sure how to cover this six-on-six match.

Beth Phoenix, Kelly Kelly, Gail Kim, Eve Torres, Natalya, Kaitlyn and AJ Lee
vs.
Maryse, Melina Perez, Rosa Mendes, Tamina, Alicia Fox and the Bella twins

Okay, so amid the havoc of an out-of-the-ring brawl, I realize that it's a seven-on-seven match and I am forced to update the list of Divas involved.

In true Divas match form, the two legal competitors are in the ring with one another, while all hell breaks loose. Beth Phoenix hits her finishing move to end things.

Outcome: The Good Girls team wins by pinfall.

Semifinal Match: The Miz vs. Kofi Kingston

It might not be the move of the night, but I was pleasantly surprised to see Kingston hit The Miz with a modified knee breaker, holding Miz's ankle over his shoulder and then leaping and dropping down almost like a stunner.

Outcome: The Miz overcomes the knee injury and hits the skull-crushing finale to get the pinfall victory over Kingston.

I had hopes Kingston might be given some credibility by being sent to the finals, but I suppose not.

R-Truth gets some backstage mic time, and I'm thinking this could be two-for-two with competitors who get interviewed before losing a semi-finals match. I can't imagine R-Truth advancing to meet The Miz in the finals of this tournament. Had Kingston won, that'd be a much different story.

Nice little hype video for Tough Enough winner Big Andy, who apparently grew up in a rough neighborhood with a meth lab across the street. Looks like he's being setup to be the underdog competitor. Glad to hear he won't be a heel.

Semifinal Match: R-Truth vs. Rey Mysterio

I'm not covering this one as closely because, quite honestly, I'm fairly certain Mysterio is going to win. A lot of their moves are unorthodox, so it's harder to type up.

R-Truth pulls out a nice move I've seen him use before. I hope it becomes more of a staple in his move-set, as he goes for a vertical suplex and turns it into a stunner.

Outcome: Mysterio wins the same way he did the first-round match, with the splash off the top rope.

So what's it going to be, Mysterio in his third reign with the championship or The Miz with another must-see championship win?

What are the odds Del Rio cashes in the Money In The Bank briefcase at the end of the night to take the belt from one of those guys?

Before the finals start, McMahon shows up, terrible pink jacket in tow. Mysterio is asking where the belt is...but McMahon has something "more important" than a World Title Match to deal with.

Mysterio vs. The Miz is being postponed until next week...and apparently, Mysterio's upset he doesn't have to wrestle back-to-back matches and that he gets a week to prepare to battle The Miz for the World Title.

McMahon says that no one person is bigger than the WWE, and he can create a new Cena. He thanks Cena for his contributions and says he has to make some tough decisions and make the right call for the business.

As McMahon gets ready to announce the firing of Cena, the arena is chanting for Punk.

Cena makes his entrance, ready to face McMahon for The Decision: Part II, where we learn whether or not Cena will be forced to take his talents to South Beach...or wherever the next organization runs itself.

John doesn't show up with a mic in hand, so he steals the mic from McMahon. Apparently Cena isn't upset about the fact that he's about to get fired, because he didn't let himself become the scapegoat last night when McMahon tried to recreate the Montreal incident.

Cena wouldn't let himself be used by McMahon to allow him to end the match by pretending Punk had tapped out to Cena.

The challenge Cena gives to McMahon: find someone else over the next eight months to face The Rock at WrestleMania. He loves the WWE, feels like he belongs here and will show up on someone else's show soon if he is fired.

Just before McMahon gets the chance to make an announcement that will hurt him personally and from a business standpoint, Triple H's music hits. The Game is wearing a suit McMahon should have been wearing, with traditional dark tones, nothing special.

Apparently there was a board of directors meeting, which Triple H was a part of. The Board is concerned about the current situation, and Triple H tries to get Vince to go backstage to talk about the situation. There's not enough time, so we're doing this in public.

Triple H says the board is concerned about McMahon and his "extremely questionable" decisions as of late. Triple H tries to get him to talk about this backstage, but McMahon says they may as well finish talking about it there.

The board has apparently agreed on a vote of no confidence for McMahon, who is being removed as the person who makes day-to-day decisions in the WWE. The person who will be replacing him? Triple H.

Cena's not being fired.

No one is bigger than this business, and that includes McMahon. Triple H is there to inform Vince that Mr. McMahon has been relieved of his duties.

If Triple H is in charge, I don't think we're in any better position to get more diversity among superstars than what we've already got. Punk's concerns are still valid.

McMahon cries, Triple H says "I love you, Pop" and the fans chant "Hey hey hey...goodbye!" before clapping and giving McMahon a decent send-off with a "Thank You Vince" chant. GuysNation approves.