7-11-11 Raw results and thoughts

Coverage and thoughts on the July 11, 2011 episode of Raw

The show starts with CM Punk coming out with a megaphone. He also has a mic in his hand. Punk talks about how Vince suspended him because of his promo from 2 weeks ago. He recapped everything he said and said that he got in trouble because he spoke his mind, which no one else is brave enough to do. He then says that his match with Cena is back, then he picks up the megaphone and says that he brought it as back up in case the cut his mic. Great stuff. He mentions that Vince wants Punk to sign a new lucrative contract. Punk mentions that a mic is a pipe bomb in his hands and that Vince realized that Punk is the hottest thing in wrestling today and that he made WWE socially relevant. Punk mentions that he is a youtube sensation and espn hosts are calling him to be on their shows. He mentions that Vince wants to give him everything he wants now that he has 1 foot out the door after being in WWE for 5 years. The fans chanted CM Punk. Punk then says that he and Vince should have a live contract negotiation and that Vince might have to join the “CM Punk kiss my ass club.” John Cena then comes out and Punk talks into the megaphone saying Cena’s music is too loud. Hysterical! He thanks Cena for getting reinstated to his job he never wanted and that when he wins the belt he will get a new one because the spinner belt has been around too long. Punk mentions that the last time Cena was “fired” it lasted a week so Cena doesn’t have to worry about losing his job. Cena says that Punk has to go through him to win the Title and that he isn’t a push over. Punk says that he is the best wrestler in the world. Cena says he is the best because he earned the WWE Title. Cena then mentions other wrestlers who thought they were the best. He says he’s coming to Chicago to whip Punk’s ass. The Raw GM chimes in and announces that Cena will be in a “very special match” next. Punk then says “good luck” into the megaphone. Once again Punk cut a really great promo. He was easily the high point of the segment.

Back from commercial, Cena is still talking and then Justin Roberts announces that the Raw GM made Cena’s match a handicap match. Out come Michael McGuillicutty & David Otunga.

John Cena vs. WWE Tag Team Champions Michael McGulicutty & David Otunga. Cena wins after pinning McGullicutty. This match was ok. Nothing great. It went a little longer than I thought it would.

Dolph and Vickie are in the back rehearsing what how to tell Vince to fire Punk and Cena and that he should make the U.S. Title the main belt. Vickie impersonates Vince then Drew McIntyre comes in and impersonates Vince, walk and all. He then says that he will tell Vince to retire. Vince comes in says that Dolph and Drew deserve to have the spot light so he puts them in a handicap match against the Big Show. Scott Stanford comes in asks about the Punk contract bit and that world wants to know what he has to say. Vince says the entire world can go to hell. This was a really dumb segment. Dolph is a talented guy and they seem to be doing the usual yo-yo push him like they do with a lot of the young talent. Also why do we have TWO handicap matches in the same night!?

Divas Champion Kelly Kelly vs. Melina. The Bellas are on commentary. Kelly gets the pin. This was a typical Divas match. The Bellas then get in the ring and tell Kelly to find something to eat because she is too thin. They rag on Kelly more, Kelly attacks one of them, they double team her and Eve comes out and The Bellas flatten her too. This segment was boring. The Bellas don’t do it for me.

The Miz comes out and there is a ladder in the ring. Miz gets in the ring and climbs the ladder and sits at the top of it and says that there’s no better view and that he’s used to being on top, which is what makes him different from the other MITB competitors. He says that he knows what it takes to be a champion and everyone will find out that he still has what it takes to be champion. He was about to say his catch phrase when Jack Swagger comes out. He mentions that he also won MITB and became World Champion and that he will again. Miz does the “really” bit. Miz then says if someone cashes the case in and no one remembers it then did it happen. Evan Bourne comes out and says that he will climb the ladder go air born and win MITB. Kofi Kingston comes out and says that this is a match where they all put everything on the line for the biggest Title in WWE and that anybody can win. He mentions that if he wins it will be because of what he does Sunday. He then mentions that Edge had to retire because of matches like this. R-Truth then comes out and talks about the conspiracy against him and that he beat Cena in a table match 2 weeks ago and complains about having to be in the MITB match and mentions that he has acrophobia. He mentions that the conspiracy knows he is afraid of heights and also hopes there’re no spiders on the ladder because he is afraid of spiders too. He says that the briefcase won’t get got if it has spiders on it. Alex Riley comes out and Miz bails. Then Alberto Del Rio comes out says that he shouldn’t be in the MITB match because he won the number one contender match last week. He mentions that it will be Cena vs. Punk because Cena is afraid of Del Rio and now he has to show everyone again that it is his destiny to become WWE Champion. The Raw GM then chimes in and makes a 6 man tag, Evan Bourne, Alex Riley & Kofi Kingston vs. Miz, Truth & Swagger. This was a good segment and it let most of the guys get some mic time (except Alex Riley). Truth’s promo didn’t make a lot of sense though. Miz was good as usual.

Evan Bourne, Alex Riley & Kofi Kingston vs. The Miz, R-Truth & Jack Swagger. Kofi, Riley and Bourne win when Riley pins Swagger. Miz attacks Riley from behind, Kofi kicks Miz, Truth knocks Kofi out of the ring and Bourne takes out Truth and was about to go for a Shooting Star Press when Alberto Del Rio came out and clobbered everyone with a ladder. This was a real good match and Del Rio’s post match beat down was good too.

Big Show vs. U.S. Champion Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre. The match ends in a double count out when Show clobbers Drew up to the stage and Ziggler hid from Show the whole match. After the match he was about to choke slam Drew when Mark Henry came out and shoved Big Show off the stage and Henry also fell off. The match wasn’t much, but Mark Henry coming out was good.

Back from commercial and the refs help Henry out and other refs check on Big Show.

Time for the live contract negotiation. Vince says he will not be joining the CM Punk kiss my ass club. Vince calls out CM Punk and says he has a plane to catch. Punk comes doing Vince’s power walk. Punk mentions that for someone who is pro Cena he figured he would have Cena gear, but it looks like he doesn’t have faith in Cena. Vince says that isn’t why he wants Punk to resign but because he couldn’t live with himself if Punk were to leave with the belt and calls him Phil. Punk says the contract wasn’t up to par so he has a new one and has added some perks to it, then asks the fans if they wanna see it happen and of course the fans cheer. Punk says that the first perk is that he will push Vince around and if Vince doesn’t let him the contract goes bye-bye and he leaves with Title. Next he says he wants his own jet, and wants his face on all WWE merchandise and bring back the WWE ice cream bars (that got a big pop) and that he wants WWE films to start production on CM Punk the movie and that it will be successful. Finally he mentions that the Rock-Cena match at WrestleMania 28 can still happen but Punk will be in the main event. He also mentions that Punk will apologize to him and the fans for being a hypocrite, then says that Vince is one of the biggest bullies he has met in his entire life. The fans chant CM Punk. He mentions that he had friends who worked in WWE only to be unfairly released. He mentions Colt Cabana and Luke Gallows and how he is defending them and that Vince will apologize to them too and like it. Vince says they should be gentleman about this. Punk asks if they should be gentleman or should Vince apologize. Punk tells him to sign the contract and avoid any further embarrassment. The fans chant “We want wrestling”. Vince says he doesn’t care what they want and Punk says that that’s the problem. Vince apologizes, but not loud enough and Punk does the “what” bit, then Vince screams he apologizes and calls Punk an SOB. Punk then rubs it in. He tells Vince to sign the contract before the stock continues to fall. The fans chant Colt Cabana. This is great stuff. Cena then comes out and acknowledges the fans cheering Punk and that they’ll cheer for him in Chicago and that’s when he walks out. Cena then does his typical promo and says they’re both acting like kids. REALLY? Cena continues to talk about how much he hates Vince but the fans paid good money to see the show and calls Punk the biggest hypocrite of all and that he will walk out on the fans. He then mentions that The Rock made the same promise. Punk mentions how they’re in Cena’s home town tonight and they will be in Punk’s home town Sunday. Punk then continues to cut a great promo. Punk says that Cena has become what he hates, the Yankees. Cena decks Punk, then Punk goes up the ramp and says that he is the underdog. Punk says that he is glad Cena decked him and it made him realize why he wants to leave WWE and that is because he is tired of Cena and that the fans can say good bye to Cena, the WWE Title and CM Punk. Punk rips up the contract and says that he will be the best in the world elsewhere. This was another really great promo from CM Punk and easily the highlight of the show!

This show was good I thought. They had some good final build up for the Raw part of the MITB PPV. I enjoyed the 6 man tag match and the best parts of the show by far were Punk’s promos, both at the start and the end of the show!