1/23/12 WWE Raw Recap (Y2J Speaks)

Jan 23, 2012 - by Steve Gerweck

* Live from Phoenix, AZ

by Dave Kilgore

Show opens with the WWE Champion CM Punk headed to the ring. Punk grabs the mic. Punk sits down in ring and says this Sunday at the 25th anniversary of the Royal Rumble, it will be champion CM Punk vs Dolph Ziggler. Says that each of Dolph’s 3 victories him have been gift wrapped by John Laurinaitis, who happens to be the guest ref this Sunday. Says Johnny is a failure…as a wrestler, as a GM, and in life. Punk said he was shocked that Johnny actually spoke the truth last week when he admitted he was going to screw Punk in the match this Sunday as guest ref. Punk says there is a course of action he can take and that it’s hard to ref a match with 2 broken arms. Punk extends invitation to Johnny to come out and say what he said last week to Punk’s face now. Take the balls out of your purse and say those things to my face. Crowd chants CM PUNK as we wait………nothing. Punk says he is going to find Johnny. John Cena’s music hits. Cena gets in ring, no showboating, looking very angry. Cena says he was tired of hearing Punk ramble. Cena says he is here for action. Cena says Johnny will appear and make up for screwing Zach Ryder tonight as well as giving him a match tonight versus Kane and will also resign as interim GM of RAW. Punk says ok……that sounds fine and dandy…….out comes interim GM Johnny. Johnny says that in life we all do things we all wish we could take back, but he stands by what he said last week. He also says he won’t be intimidated by Punk or Cena. Punk tries to get him to come to ring. No luck. GM says Ryder is here tonight and will face Kane tonight in a falls count anywhere match tonight and if Cena gets involved, Ryder will never get another US Title shot. Also says that tonight it will be Cena/Punk vs. Dolph/Jack Swagger with Vicky Guerrero….NOW. Dolph says Punk shouldn’t be worried about GM but about him. Dolph says he will beat Punk Sunday, just as he has the last 3 times. Swagger says Cena is dead meat for what he did to him last week.

To the ring Swagger and Dolph come……followed by Laurinaitis, who sits at ringside. Match starts with take down by Cena or Dolph. Irish whip and bulldog by Cena…2 count. Tag to Punk….snapnare and kic to Dolph…2 count. Suplex countered by Dolph….punches to Punk, counter with GTS attempt by Punk….Dolph escapes and rolls to outside and we head to commercial.

kickout by Dolph on pin attempt by Cena. Both men up, punches by Dolph then showboating by Dolph. Tags Swagger in. Kick and suplex by Swagger and punch to Dolph. Swagger knocks Cena down, follows with punches in corner and cheap shot by Dolph. 2 count..Cena kicks out. Front facelock by Swagger, Cena is trying to make it across to Punk. Backdrop by Cena, but Dolph tagged in and dropkick to Cena…2 count. Elbows to Cena by Ziggler….more showboating by Dolph doing situps before getting 2 count on Cena. Punch to Cena, kicks in corner. Cheap shot by Swagger on Cena. Swagger tagged in. Nails Swaggerbomb….2 count on Cena. Bearhug by Swagger on Cena….both men up, Cena trying to make it to Punk…then an Attitude Adjustment by Cena out of nowhere, both men down. Dolph tagged in as is Punk…….neckbreaker to Dolph, running knee in corner, followed by bulldog. Dolph up for GTS, Dolph escapes, kick to head by Punk, Swagger breaks up count. Cena in and he and Swagger fall to outside. Swagger with attempted ankle lock on Cena, who counters into the STF outside the ring. In the ring, Punk to top rope, but GM Johnny intercedes. Punk gets down and grabs him, but Johnny escapes, Dolph rolls up Punk with a handful of tights for the 3 count. Punk is pissed as GM walks to the back. Punk takes the mic and says nothing has changed. This Sunday if johnny wants to screw him, that’s fine. But he still plans on beating the hell out of Johnny. Punk wants for 1 night for Johnny to be a RAW superstar and offers to face Laurinaitis later in the show, unless of course he’s afraid. GM says “I accept” with a smirk on his face. Which can only mean GM has something in store later on for Punk.

Backstage Jericho is shown headed out toward the ring.

Commercial.

Back live, we see a recap of last week’s RAW showing Jericho walking out on tag match. Then in-ring, Jericho is introduced to come out to host the “Highlight Reel”. It’s announced Jericho will be in Rumble this Sunday. Jericho gets in ring, has a mic, acts like he’s going to speak……trying to get crowd to quiet down…then gets out of ring, goes into the back, comes back with a t-shirt gun. Cole says “the crowd loves it”. Um, no. Then Jericho grabs camera and takes crowd shots. Then he points to TV screen that says “Countdown to millennium” then goes into a Jericho Highlight Reel of past clips. Back to Y2J…..he speaks! Says this Sunday it will be the end of the world as you know it. Lights out….

Cut to commercial.

Back from commercial:

WWE Rewind, showing recap of Zach Ryder match with Dolph Ziggler where Hugh Jackman punched Ziggler and Zach getting the win.

Promo for Kane/Ryder match next and Miz/R-Truth later.

Promo for Royal Rumble this Sunday and going over various numbers.

Backstage, Zack is talking to Eve when Foley walks up. Gives Zach a pep talk, saying he can do this. Eve says you don’t have to do this Zach. Zack says yes I do, as Cena walks up. Zach tells Cena to stay out of it, he wants his US Title match. Out comes Ryder. Out comes Kane. Zack looks nervous in ring. Match starts with blows and kicks by Ryder, Kane shoves him off then kicks to Zack’s injured ribs and then a kick to Kane knocking Zach outside. Kane follows outside, more punches and kicks to Ryder’s ribs, then a slam into the ring post and slam to floor. Kane picks him up, tossing Zach into steps. More kicks to ribs. Eve has come out. Zach rammed into announce table and another punch to ribs as they cut to commercial.

Back live, Zach is thrown into ringside barricade. Then rammed into ring and tossed into barricade again. Kane slams Zack into steps. 2 count on floor…kickout. Zack tries to get up but gloved hand over Zack’s face. Kane lets go and picks him up. Throws Zach over barricade into crowd. Hard punch to Zach. Rams Ryder into storage container. Another punch to ribs then throws Zack into electronic equipment. Kick by Ryder but only makes Kane more mad. Kane puts Ryder on entrance ramp, kick by Kane. Slams Zack into WWE logo stand at top of ramp. More kicks by Kane. 2 count, another kickout. Kicks to Ryder….headbutt by Kane. Crowd trying to get behind Ryder. Kane picks him up, punches by Ryder, but 1 big right hand and Zach is down. Chokeslam by Kane through the stage. Eve to top of ramp near Kane. Kane goes after her, back down to ring, Cena at top of ramp. Kane heads out through crowd. Eve and Cena stare into hole in stage. Cena looks distraught, peering down at Ryder lying motionless. EMT’s in with board to lift out Ryder.

So far this is a time killer show.

Commercial.

Back live, promo airs for return of the Viper, Randy Orton this Friday on Smackdown. Also promo for Daniel Bryan defending his title this Sunday against Mark Henry and Big Show in a cage match.

They are lifting Ryder out of hole as Cena and Eve look on. What a shame to build up Ryder to only have him be put into this storyline. They roll Ryder out on stretcher. Meanwhile, Cole and Lawler sound like golf announcers, talking almost at a whisper. Ryder put into ambulance. Cena says he’s going to take care of it. Eve blames Cena, saying this is all his fault as she gets in ambulance.

Josh Mathews asks Cena for a few words, Cena smacks the mic out of his hand and glares into the camera.

Commercial.

Back from commercial, Cole and Lawler recap what just happened with Ryder.

In ring, Jinder Mahal is in ring, out comes Sheamus. Match starts with lockup, back to corner, knees by Mahal. Then clubbing blows and a slam by Sheamus. Out comes Wade Barrett. Forearms to Mahal’s chest by Sheamus. Sheamus to the top rope, caught and tossed off by Mahal. Running knee by Mahal, 2 count. Another running knee lift by Mahal with Sheamus draped over 2nd rope, another 2 count. Barrett on commentary discussing feud with Orton. In ring, Sheamus takes Mahal down then sets him up for Celtic Cross, Mahal counters, only to get caught by Brogue Kick and a 3 count by Sheamus. Barrett gets up, walks around ringside while Sheamus invites him into ring. Wade gets on apron, then backs down. Sheamus gets on mic and says he will be the winner of the Royal Rumble this Sunday.

Backstage, Josh Mathews interviews Miz. Miz says everyone that has crossed him has had their careers go downhill and the same will happen to R-Truth. Says he is the #1 superstar in WWE. R-Truth walks up, says Miz is #1 whiner, compaliner, and every time he’s on TV, people ask what else is on. And that Miz is #1 jackass. They go face to face until GM Johnny walks up. Says whoever loses their match tonight will be the #1 entrant into the Rumble this Sunday.

Commercial.

Back live, promo shown of Orton’s return this Friday.

Cole and Lawler are joined by William Regal. Footage shown of Regal dancing on Smackdown last week against Brodus Clay then Clay squashing Regal.

Out comes the Funk-a-saurus….in ring dance routine….Heath Slater is outside the ring as Clay’s opponent. Slater gets in. runs at Clay, shoulder tackle by Clay. Dropkick by Slater, but Clay stays up. Suplex by Clay, followed by squash in corner then cross body for the 1-2-3. Winner, Funk-a-saurus.

Promo for Punk/Laurenitis later.

Commercial.

Back from commercial, Miz is out followed by R-Truth. Recap of Miz beating down R-Truth a couple months back. Match starts with lockup, into corner, knee by Miz, kicks to Truth, who counters with elbow to Miz. Miz rolls to outside. Miz back in with kicks to Truth, followed by show boating. Truth takes down Miz, but Miz gets up and drops Truth onto top rope then knocks him to floor. Commercial.

Back to match, punches to Truth by Miz, 2 count. Miz picks up Truth, abdominal stretch by Miz. Truth with elbows to Miz and counters to escape the hold. Truth catches Miz with knee running into corner, kicks to Miz, 2 count. Truth catches Miz with slam, another 2 count. Missed scissors kick by Truth, backslide on Miz, 2 count. Miz up, skull crushing finale countered by Truth, but Miz catches him with DDT. 2 count. Punches to Truth by Miz, but Miz caught by Truth, driven face first into mat and Truth gets the 1-2-3 and Miz is now the #1 entrant into the Rumble this Sunday.

Lawler says they have received an update and Ryder has a broken back.

Recap of Kane/Zach Ryder from earlier.

In the back GM Johnny is warming up. Otunga walks in saying a fax came in. GM reads it, looks disturbed by it. Punk is shown walking out toward ring.

Back live for final segment, Punk is out, followed by GM Johnny with David Otunga. john gets in ring, says he has unfortunate news, saying he received a fax stating that the Board of Directors has become concerned with his actions while GM, especially last week stating he would favor Dolph Ziggler and that the status of interim GM is under review and that next week he will receive an official job evaluation next week and the evaluation will be done by Triple H. Punk grabs mic, says he is out of a job if he screws him this Sunday and there’s nothing stopping him from kicking John’s ass and John extends an apology for any wrong doing during his tenure. Punk says it’s all a misunderstanding? John then puts Foley in the Rumble and says he was always going to call Punk’s match right down the middle. Alot of back tracking going on. Punk says that if Triple H has inherited anything from Vince it’s to say “You’re Fired”. John says he’s not going anywhere and that tonight’s match won’t happen but that he does have a sub…..Otunga. Otunga beats down Punk in the corner, but is caught with a spear by Punk. Anaconda Vice by Punk, Otunga taps. Punk gets in John’s face, but Otunga tries to sneak up from behind. Punk catches Otunga with a kick to the gut then one to the head. John begs off. John extends hand to Punk for handshake. GTS by Punk to GM Johnny! Ziggler runs in and gives finisher to Punk from behind.

End of show.

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