WWE Monday Night Raw Recap: Nash Screws Punk, Cena vs. ADR at Night of Champions

The August 22nd edition of Monday Night Raw was an interesting one to say the least.

For starters, it was a lot better than last week's edition.

The night was full of twists and turns, and it answered some questions, but once again, it left us with more.

There were a few top moments tonight that stood out, and just in case you missed it, this slideshow will provide a recap. Also, even if you did catch Raw, hopefully this slideshow will be a happy recap to a great night of entertainment.

What did you think about Raw tonight?

Leave a comment in the section below.

John Cena, CM Punk and Alberto Del Rio's Promo

Like him or not, I think this promo was a pretty good way to start off Raw. John Cena got a pleasant reaction from the crowd, and they cheered when he said he would win the WWE Title, and he would hurt Alberto Del Rio.

Cena took shots at Del Rio, referring to Ricardo Rodriguez as hired help, calling his cars rentals.

CM Punk then joined the party to a great reception. He then went on to say that John Cena didn't deserve another title match.

If anyone deserves another title match, CM Punk said he would get one.

Del Rio then attempted to get back into the conversation, but CM Punk and John Cena just outright outtalked ADR.

Punk belittled ADR by claiming that he cashed in MITB twice and a lot better than him. Punk also feels that ADR was in on the screw job.

Punk also said that someone wanted ADR to have the title bad enough that even if Cena won, the text would have read, screw over Cena.

ADR came off as weak and boring as he just wanted to celebrate, and he didn't feel like defending the WWE Title.

Just when all seemed to end, Triple H came out to lay down the law. Triple H put ADR in a match to start and then Triple H moved onto Punk and Cena.

He stated that ADR would face the winner of the main event match consisting of CM Punk vs. John Cena at Night of Champions for the WWE Championship.

Kevin Nash and "Textgate" Continues

Triple H got the party started by coming out to the ring. He invited Kevin Nash to come out so all could become transparent and revealed.

Kevin Nash then entered to a warm reception. The announce team emphasized the brotherly nature of their relationship.

Triple H attempted to downplay the conspiracy of the situation.  Nash claimed that the text message did come from Triple H and he asked him to be a man about the situation.

Nash then got up in Triple H's face, and it appeared that there was some bad blood when Triple H said Nash didn't work here.

CM Punk's music hits and as JR stated, business was picking up.

CM Punk asked who sent the text message?

He claimed it could be Triple H, Kevin Nash or Stephanie McMahon.

Punk then made his way to the ring and called out Kevin Nash. He stated he was a line stepper and so was Nash.

At this point, the crowd started cheering Punk and Triple H interrupted Punk from going after Nash. Triple H and Punk got in each other's faces, and Triple H said he would lay out CM Punk if he crosses him again

Punk then said

"

"I wouldn't want you to fold up your suit and put it in your wife's purse.... where you also put your cellphone, and your balls..."

"

.

Nash then rocked CM Punk with a big right, and both Triple H and Nash hightailed out of the ring.

To continue this angle further, Triple H asked Kevin Nash to leave only for John Laurinaitis, aka Funkman to inform him that Nash was in a car accident, and he was being taken to the hospital. So we thought.

John Cena vs. CM Punk

This match was established at the start of the program to determine who would face Alberto Del Rio for the WWE Title and the next pay-per-view Night of Champions live in Buffalo, NY on September 18th.

This match was very similar to the previous two in many ways. Both Punk and Cena were at the top of their game, and they kept things interesting.

John Cena was able to kick out of a G.T.S, Punk kicked out after an Attitude Adjustment and Punk didn't submit to the S.T.F. Coincidentally, both men attempted to fly from the top rope but Cena was the only successful.

The match had a good pacing to it, and you thought that any one of them could win the match at a moments notice.

Then Kevin Nash came out on the microphone to say it wasn't over between them, at this point Cena hit the Attitude Adjustment, and Punk was screwed once again.

ADR would then start a beat down of Cena and the show ended with ADR holding the title over Cena before Johnny Ace restrained him. 

This ending was screwy, and it gives us more questions for next week.

John Morrison vs. Alberto Del Rio

This was a match that John Morrison needed. It was a fast-paced and high-octane match that had a lot of great spots and displays of athleticism by both men.

Morrison used his offensive and parkour background to his advantage for most of the match. It was a match that kept the fans, myself included, entertained and interested.

Some moves include reversing ADR's arm breaker into a spinning DDT combination, a hurricanranna by Morrison and a springboard leg kick into a failed Starship Pain which ultimately led to the arm breaker by ADR.

Had it not been for backstage problems caused by Melina, Morrison could have received a similar push to the one Del Rio is currently riding. 

At one point it appeared Morrison was going to win the match but WWE is obviously going to promote it's champion as much as possible.

Alex Riley Steals Victory over Jack Swagger

After a confrontation involving Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler, Alex Riley won the match with a school boy rollup.

This match only continued in the three way client triangle involving Swagger, Ziggler and Vickie Guerrero.

It will be interesting to see where this feud continues next week.

WWE Tag Team Championship Match

Once again, Raw featured a prominent tag team match for the Tag Team Titles.

Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne were involved in a high-octane match which was capped off with an Air Bourne for the win and your New Tag Team Champions, Evan Bourne and Kofi Kingston.

This was a great moment because it is starting to feel like the WWE Tag Team division is finally starting to be headed in the right direction.

The youthfulness and exuberance of Kingston and Bourne will set the tone for all tag teams in the division now. 

Hopefully, this is a night we can come to remember as the rebirth of tag team wrestling in WWE.

R-Truth and the Miz Attack Santino Marella

R-Truth and The Miz came out to cut a promo talking about the conspiracies going on in WWE. R-Truth then stated they sit around the conspiracy table to conspire.

R-Truth then went to Miz and said it was no longer about both of them but about the larger conspiracy. The Miz surprisingly agreed with R-Truth and it appears that they could be becoming a stable.

They both drew great negative heat from the crowd and talked down to the crowd because they were Canadian.

The Miz was obviously angry and got his point across very well. It seems like this newfound pairing could create some chaos on Raw for the next few weeks.

Comments,Questions,Concerns

Tonight was certainly another interesting episode of Monday Night Raw.

Wrestling is for the fans, and we have a voice. We want wrestling, and I feel this is a great way to air out some ideas.

If you agreed with what you saw, show me some props, hit that FB Like button and +1 if you are on Google Plus.

Tom Urtz is an NHL Featured Columnist, a New York Rangers Featured Columnist and a lifelong wrestling fanatic.

Tom can be found on Twitter by clicking the button below.