WWE 2011 - Era Of Awesome: RAW Online!

- The decision to have Jack Swagger win the Royal Rumble was made before the new year, and was the primary reason behind his recent push on SmackDown. Swagger is well liked backstage and is considered one of the best young stars on the WWE roster. Alongside The Miz the WWE have plans for him to be the backbone of the main event scene in the coming years.

- Many were highly impressed by the quality of the WWE Championship match at the Royal Rumble and some are even calling it the match that will cement both The Miz and John Morrison as the future headliners of the WWE. While current plans don’t have Morrison in a big role at WrestleMania 27 it looks like plans may have changed as a result of how Morrison carried himself during the match.

- With Wade Barrett’s loss at the Royal Rumble it is widely expected for him to debut on SmackDown before the Elimination Chamber. Barrett has impressed many of the higher ups and Barrett’s move to SmackDown will likely see him cemented as a member of the main event scene on Friday nights. There are currently plans for Barrett to take place in a big match at WrestleMania.

- The finish for the World Heavyweight Championship match was only finalised hours before the start of the pay per view. Officials were going back and forth on whether to have Edge or Alberto Del Rio walk away with the title but it was decided to have Edge retain. Many backstage expect Del Rio to become the World Heavyweight Champion in 2011 but creative want to build him up more before that happens. There have been talks of having Alberto Del Rio vs. Christian take place at WrestleMania as a sort of test for Del Rio’s big match capabilities.

- Cody Rhodes has been impressing important people backstage in recent months, namely Vince McMahon and Triple H, which is the primary reason he is receiving a run with the Intercontinental Championship. Many consider this to be Cody’s chance to prove himself as a potential main eventer ahead of a potential world title feud later in 2011. It is expected for him to defend the title at WrestleMania 27, although there is currently no word on who it will be against.

- There were no injuries coming out of the Royal Rumble pay per view.

- This week it was announced that Shawn Michaels, who retired last year at WrestleMania 26, will be the first member of the WWE class of 2011. Many other names are still being thrown around and it is expected that more will be announced in the build up to WrestleMania 27.

- WWE officials have already decided on the headlining matches for WrestleMania 27. While there are currently no plans for a singular blockbuster match to headline the show WWE plans to push a number of matches as co-main events in order to sell the show as a must see for all wrestling fans. WWE are in talks with a number of big name celebrities about appearing at the show in some capacity.

- Booker T returned to SmackDown this week, joining the announce team alongside Michael Cole and Josh Matthews. During SmackDown a segment with former commentator Matt Striker aired, effectively turning Striker heel. Word is that Matt Striker is expected to take on a manager role with a sports agent gimmick in the coming weeks as creative feel he is the perfect choice to try and put over young stars who have little to no mic skills. It’s unknown who Striker will be aligning with but some names thrown around are Curt Hawkins, Tyson Kidd and Tyler Reks amongst others.

- Another return during SmackDown was Diesel, who cost Big Show his Elimination Chamber qualifying match against Wade Barrett. Current plans call for a Diesel/ Big Show match at Elimination Chamber, but there are no plans for Diesel to feature at WrestleMania, the feeling being that Diesel’s age does not make him profitable in the long term. Of course depending on the reaction he gets in coming weeks that could all change.

- There were originally plans for a segment between Mr. McMahon, AJ and Primo in which a Diva’s Championship Match between Natalya and AJ Lee would be booked for the Elimination Chamber pay per view. The segment was pulled from the show at the last minute as creative didn’t like the way it played out. No word yet on whether this means the match between Natalya and AJ will still go ahead or if it has been scrapped all together.

- Over the past week Kane has been working as a face at SmackDown live events, particularly in matches against Tyler Reks and Cody Rhodes. On the most recent edition of SmackDown Kane worked face against Tyler Reks, so we are led to believe that Kane is now working face. This is likely because of a lack of top level faces on the SmackDown brand until something can be done about that during the draft after WrestleMania.


LIVE EVENT RESULTS (31st JANUARY 2011 – 6th FEBRUARY 2011)

WWE RAW HOUSE SHOW; 4th FEBRUARY 2011

Melina, Maryse & Alicia Fox def. Gail Kim, Eve & Brie Bella

David Otunga def. R-Truth via Nexus Interference

The Uso’s [C] w/ Maxine def. Santino Marella & Vladamir Kozlov w/ Tamina

Justin Gabriel, Ezekial Jackson & The Great Khali def. Michael McGillicutty, Husky Harris & Heath Slater

Natalya [C] def. AJ w/ Primo

Sheamus def. Randy Orton via CM Punk Interferece; Following the match CM Punk cut a promo slating the crowd before being RKO’d by Randy Orton

John Cena & John Morrison def. The Miz & Alex Riley

John Morrison, Rey Mysterio, Justin Gabriel & Ezekial Jackson def. Nexus

Daniel Bryan [C] def. Dolph Ziggler

Sheamus def. Randy Orton via CM Punk Interferece; Following the match CM Punk cut a promo slating the crowd before being RKO’d by Randy Orton

Natalya [C] def. Melina

Edge & Christian def. Jack Swagger & Alberto Del Rio

The Miz [C] def. John Cena Via Alex Riley Interference; Following the match John Cena ran The Miz from the ring and put Alex Riley through an announce table with the Attitude Adjustment

MONDAY NIGHT RAW; 7th February 2011


- The Great Khali Defeated Zack Ryder
- David Hart Smith Defeated William Regal



We head to ringside where Michael Cole and Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler welcome us to another edition of Monday Night RAW. With just two weeks to go until the Elimination Chamber pay per view tonight we will see our final three Elimination Chamber qualifying matches, one of which includes the returning CM Punk. At the mention of his name Punk’s music hits and the Straight Edge Superstar makes his way to the ring.

CM Punk enters the ring and is handed a microphone, waiting for the crowd to die down before speaking. First off he says it feels good to be back in a WWE ring ready to compete, but that it’s depressing knowing it’s in front of a crowd full of fat, drugged up hicks. Puck continues insulting the crowd getting a ridiculous amount of heat before turning his attention to the WWE locker room. Punk says that since he’s been out of action they’ve not had any real competition and that they’ve gotten sloppy but they don’t need to worry because a real star has returned to lift the ratings and actually entertain these hick fans. He says he’ll begin that by qualifying for the Elimination Chamber and going on to become WWE Champion at WrestleMania. He is cut off by the music of another returning RAW superstar who has a gripe with CM Punk, and his opponent right now – Evan Bourne!

ELIMINATION CHAMBER QUALIFYING MATCH
CM PUNK DEFEATED EVAN BOURNE
Back in October CM Punk put Evan Bourne out of action. Since then Punk himself has tasted injury and was looking to make an immediate impact upon his return, but that isn’t easy when you have a furious Evan Bourne seeking some revenge. In an amazing opening contest to Monday Night RAW these two men gave it their all in a fast and furious encounter that was clearly about more than simply qualifying for the Chamber. In the end it looked like Evan Bourne was in control but when he leaped off the top rope looking for a crossbody Punk grabbed him in the mid air, connecting with the GTS to take victory.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

We return to RAW and the office of RAW general manager Triple H, who later tonight will meet Mr. McMahon in the ring to receive some kind of ultimatum. Sheamus walks into the office, a massive grin on his face. Triple H immediately gets onto his feet ready to defend himself but Sheamus says he needs to watch himself, he’s already in enough trouble and it will be a shame if he loses his job. Triple H says that no matter what happens right now he is still the RAW general manager, which means he makes the matches. He says that he knows Sheamus has had some problems with The Miz which is why tonight... he’ll be teaming with him against John Cena and John Morrison! Sheamus is less than impressed but Triple H says he better go get ready, it’d be a shame if he got injured. Sheamus walks off as we return to ringside.

DIVA’S CHAMPION NATALYA DEFEATED AJ w/ PRIMO
It takes more than a single tag team victory over the Diva’s Champion before your ready to challenge one on one, a lesson that RAW newcomer AJ learnt all too well on RAW. While she put on an impressive performance again the Diva’s Champion Natalya showed exactly why she’s the top Diva right now, putting AJ away with the Sharpshooter.

Following the match Natalya is handed the Diva’s Championship when the music of SmackDown’s Beth Phoenix hits and the Glamazon makes her way to the ring. She is handed a microphone and begins talking about how despite the fact everybody wants to see it, she still hasn’t had a one on one match with Natalya for the Diva’s Championship. Beth suggests that they settle that problem at the Elimination Chamber pay per view but is cut off by Melina, who enters onto the ramp with a microphone. Melina claims that she deserves a shot at Natalya as she is the best diva in the WWE and everybody here knows it, claiming that her loss at the Royal Rumble was simply a fluke. Natalya interrupts the pair of them, saying she’d be happy to face them both for the title at the Elimination Chamber. Both Beth and Melina agree with this idea and it appears the match is made – at the Elimination Chamber pay per view Natalya will defend the Diva’s Championship against both Melina and Beth Phoenix in a triple threat match! The three Diva’s stare at each other as we head to commercials.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

We open up on the locker room of Nexus, where the remaining Nexus of David Otunga, Michael McGillicutty, Husky Harris and Heath Slater are talking, all four of them in action at some point tonight. McGillicutty tells them that he fully intends to qualify for the Elimination Chamber in just a moment and they wish him luck as he heads off to ringside. Otunga says that they all need victories here tonight to keep Nexus strong. Suddenly the lights in their locker room flicker and all three look a little freaked out. Otunga tells them not worry about it but it’s obvious that these strange occurrences are getting to him as we head to ringside.

ELIMINATION CHAMBER QUALIFYING MATCH
MICHAEL MCGILLICUTTY DEFEATED UNITED STATES CHAMPION DANIEL BRYAN
Nexus may be falling apart, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a bright spot for the group as third generation superstar Michael McGillicutty showed exactly why he claims to have such a bright future on RAW. Facing off against United States Champion Daniel Bryan McGillicutty had a huge task ahead of him but he lived up to his newly coined ‘Perfect Son’ moniker by putting on a solid back and forth match. Daniel Bryan came close to winning numerous times but every time he came close to locking in one of his signature submissions McGillicutty managed to counter, eventually turning the LeBelle Lock into a roll up for the surprising victory!

We head backstage where Sheamus is shown walking into the locker room of WWE Champion The Miz. Miz immediately gets on the defensive, pushing Alex Riley in the middle of them to keep himself safe. Sheamus says he isn’t here to hurt him, he knows he’ll get enough of that at the Elimination Chamber, but says tonight they have to team together. Neither of them are happy about it but Sheamus still wants to win and if he has to work with Miz to do that then he will. Miz agrees and the two agree to work together tonight to take out Morrison and Cena. Sheamus walks out and Miz tells Riley that everything is going to work out perfectly.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

As we return to RAW we see a replay of what happened two weeks ago when Daniel Bryan injured Ted DiBiase’s arm with the LeBell Lock. Michael Cole then reveals that after numerous tests they have an update on DiBiase. They state that he did indeed break his arm when locked in the hold and that he will likely be out of the ring for several weeks to months. They also reveal that DiBiase will have a video statement to make live on RAW next week regarding the injury.

JUSTIN GABRIEL, EZEKIAL JACKSON & YOSHI TATSU DEFEATED DAVID OTUNGA, HEATH SLATER & HUSKY HARRIS
Just when you think Nexus are getting back on track they fall apart again. When the members of Nexus squared off against the makeshift trio of former Nexus member Justin Gabriel, the dominant Ezekial Jackson and fan favourite Yoshi Tatsu many expected the more experienced Nexus to come off on top, but when an argument erupted between Otunga and Harris on the outside Slater was left to the mercy of his opponents, receiving the Book of Ezekial followed by the devastating 450 Splash to give Gabriel the pinfall and the win.

Following the match David Otunga and Husky Harris continue arguing outside the ring while Justin Gabriel, Ezekial Jackson and Yoshi Tatsu celebrate inside the ring. Suddenly a gong is heard and the lights go out, the crowd going crazy. When they come back on nothing has happened, but Otunga and Harris are freaked out, quickly pulling Slater from the ring and high tailing it backstage as we head to a commercials.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

We return to RAW to the music of the new WWE Tag Team Champions The Uso’s, who enter out onto the stage alongside former NXT Season Three rookie Maxine. The Uso’s do an almost war dance on the stage before hitting the ring, Maxine taking a microphone from ringside and joining them. Maxine says that everybody seems to be wondering why she is with The Uso’s but the answer is very simple – she likes winners and The Uso’s are certainly big winners right now. Maxine says that when she looks at The Uso’s she sees the best team in the WWE right now and that it is down to her to make them the greatest tag team in WWE history. She tells everyone to take a good look at the WWE Tag Team Champions because soon enough they’ll be on every magazine cover and billboard thanks to her. Before she can continue they are caught off guard by former tag team champions Santino Marella and Vladamir Kozlov who roll in from behind and take The Uso’s by surprise in the same way The Uso’s have been cheap shotting them in recent weeks. Maxine tries getting involved but Tamina appears, tackling her to the ground. Santino, Kozlov and Tamina quickly get the upper hand and send The Uso’s and Maxine packing from the ring. The two groups stare each other down as we cut away.

A video package airs promoting the Elimination Chamber pay per view in two weeks time. It focuses heavily on the WWE Championship match between The Miz, John Morrison and Sheamus as well as RAW’s Elimination Chamber match.

We head to the parking lot where a very important limousine has just pulled up. The chauffer opens up the back door to reveal the chairman of the WWE Mr. McMahon, who in just a short amount of time will confront RAW general manager Triple H. McMahon exits the car and heads into the arena, big things expected for the last portion of the show.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

ELIMINATION CHAMBER QUALIFYING MATCH
R-TRUTH DEFEATED TYSON KIDD w/ JACKSON ANDREWS & NIKKI BELLA
The truth of the matter is that R-Truth was looking very impressive in the final Elimination Chamber qualifying match. Even with his entourage at ringside Tyson Kidd struggled at times to outmatch R-Truth’s quick ruthless ring style as he overcame much of what was thrown at him. Nikki Bella and Jackson Andrews were of course ominous at ringside for Truth and he kept having to look over his shoulder but not even that was enough to help Kidd take this one. When Nikki distracted the referee Andrews attempted to get involved, but Truth ducked under a boot and sent his own into the crotch of Andrews, throwing him out of the ring and hitting the Lie Detector on Kidd to take the victory.

A video package airs highlighting last week’s announcement that Shawn Michaels will be the headlining star of the hall of fame’s 2011 class. The video package finishes and a graphic shows that next week on RAW, Shawn Michaels will appear live!

We cut backstage where we see Mr. McMahon strutting down a hallway heading to ringside. He will call out RAW general manager Triple H next!

COMMERCIAL BREAK

The iconic music of the WWE chairman hits as Mr. McMahon does his usual strut to the ring. Having made a rare appearance last week on Monday Night RAW the crowd know what’s coming, and are therefore not surprised when McMahon calls out the RAW general manager. Triple H’s music hits and the suited cerebral assassin makes his way to the ring. He is handed a microphone as he enters, now standing in the ring with old foe Mr. McMahon. McMahon initially plays a replay of Triple H’s involvement in the Royal Rumble match. He says that when he made Triple H the general manager he did it because he knew Triple H doesn’t take crap from anybody, that he knows how this business works and because he promised not to step into the ring. Triple H says that Vince knew this was a temporary measure, that he only planned on staying in the back until he healed up. This is where McMahon reveals that he knows Triple H isn’t ready to step into the ring, that his doctors won’t be clearing him to compete any time soon which is why he has to make him this ultimatum. Mr. McMahon tells Triple H to make a choice – either he sticks to his general manager position in which case he keeps out of the ring and out of Sheamus’s business, or he gives it up and risks his career to get back into the ring too early. Triple H is clearly conflicted but Mr. McMahon tells him that he has until the Elimination Chamber pay per view to make his decision, but that whatever he decides he has to stick by. McMahon leaves the ring, leaving Triple H standing in the ring pondering his future as we head to commercials.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

JOHN CENA & JOHN MORRISON DEFEATED WWE CHAMPION THE MIZ & SHEAMUS w/ ALEX RILEY
You’d think by now people would realise to stop underestimating just how nefarious The Miz actually is, especially considering all three of the other men involved in the match have experienced it firsthand. As these four men, three of whom will be competing for the WWE Championship at the Elimination Chamber, clashed in a solid main event. This match was all about the psychology behind it while Morrison and Sheamus provided some excellent in ring action as well as we’ve seen in the past. Miz and Sheamus clearly weren’t happy about teaming together but seemed to be on the same page... until The Miz decided otherwise, abandoning Sheamus just when he needed to make the tag most. Sheamus was shocked but nobody else was as Sheamus turned around right into the Attitude Adjustment. Morrison followed up with the Starship Pain and the pinfall to take the victory.

The Miz, alongside Alex Riley, watches on from the outside as Morrison indicates that he wants Miz in the ring right now. Miz shrugs his shoulders, shouting that he’s smarter than any of them, and heading up the ramp. Inside the ring Sheamus is getting onto his feet only to receive a second Attitude Adjustment, the crowd going crazy as RAW goes off the air with John Cena and John Morrison standing victorious.