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“Over The Limit, 2010”

The very first “Over The Limit” PPV took place on May 23, 2010, and saw several exciting matches. John Cena retained the WWE Championship against Batista in an “I Quit” match, and Jack Swagger retained the World Heavyweight Championship against The Big Show. Kofi Kingston defeated Drew McIntyre to win the Intercontinental Championship, while “The Hart Dynasty” (Tyson Kidd and David Hart Smith) retained their Unified Tag-Team Championships against the team of Chris Jericho and The Miz, and Eve retained the Divas Championship against Maryse. Rey Mysterio defeated C.M. Punk in a match where, if Punk lost, he would have to shave his head; of course, Punk was not exactly willing to comply with the stipulation, but after being handcuffed to the ring-ropes, his head was indeed shaved clean. Elsewhere, a match between Randy Orton and Edge ended in a Double Count-Out when Orton injured his shoulder, and R-Truth defeated Ted Dibiase, Jr. The very next night, Batista “quit” WWE, both in storylines and in real life.

“NXT”, Season 1

WWE introduced a brand new “concept” show, featuring eight WWE Superstars mentoring eight Rookies; it was similar to “Tough Enough” in portrayal, though this show was instead almost entirely-scripted show, with pre-determined matches and angles. Still, it proved an interesting concept, and seemed to be a decent hit with wrestling fans. Early favorites included Daniel Bryan, a “darling” of the underground, independent wrestling-scene, and Wade Barrett, a 6’5, 275-lb Englishman with charisma, mic-skills, and seemingly decent in-ring skills. On June 1, 2010, Wade Barrett was deemed the “winner” of the competition, and was seemingly in line for a decent push.

Undertaker Is Attacked

On June 4, 2010, Teddy Long announced to the “Smackdown” audience that, over the previous Memorial Day weekend, The Undertaker was (kayfabe) found in a “vegetative state”. Kane would then go on interrogating – and often, attacking – anybody that he suspected could have had anything to do with the attack. The storyline was actually concocted to cover for an injury that Undertaker had received the previous week, a broken orbital bone that was expected to keep him out of action for several months.

“NXT” Attacks John Cena

On June 7, 2010, WWE presented a special “Viewer’s Choice” edition of “Raw”, where fans could vote on matches, much like the old “Taboo Tuesday” / “Cyber Sunday” PPVs. The main-event pitted John Cena against “Smackdown”-Superstar C.M. Punk. During the match, Wade Barrett – the winner of the first season of “NXT” – walked down the aisle, sporting an armband with the letter “N”. Before long, the other seven “NXT” Rookies (Daniel Bryan, Justin Gabriel, David Otunga, Skip Sheffield, Heath Slater, Michael Tarver, and Darren Young) jumped out of the audience, and began to lay a massive beat-down on everyone in their site; John Cena seemed to be their main target, though they also attacked Punk, the announcers, the time-keeper, and just about anybody else they could get their hands on. They destroyed part of the ring, the announce-tables, etc. The attack was met with rave reviews by fans, who felt that it came off incredibly gritty and realistic. In fact, some felt that it seemed a little TOO real, to the point where, less than one week later, Daniel Byran was legitimately let go from his WWE contract; while nobody knows the “real” reason, rumors suggest that his portrayal of choking ring-announcer Justin Roberts with his own tie, as well as spitting in John Cena’s face, crossed the line from “Sports-Entertainment” to downright uncomfortable to watch.

Other Notes:

“Raw”: After a short feud with (and US-Championship win over) The Miz, Bret Hart was named the new General Manager of “Raw”, while Miz continued feuding with R-Truth. Evan Bourne had recently been elevated up the card, being hand-picked by John Cena to be his tag-partner in a match against Edge and Sheamus. Vince McMahon made an appearance on “Raw”, warning Bret that being GM wasn’t easy, and seemingly hinting that he would purposely try to make Bret’s job difficult. Triple H had been off TV since the “Extreme Rules” PPV on April 25, 2010, the (kayfabe) victim of a beating from Sheamus. “The Usos” (Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso, and their valet/cousin Tamina) debuted, attacking “The Hart Dynasty”, and setting their sights on the belts. Santino Marella was trying to convince Vladimir Kozlov that they’d make a great tag-team. Ted Dibiase, Jr. [from here on out, referred to as “TJ Dibiase”] began dressing and acting like a stereotypical rich snob; he also brought back the Million Dollar Championship and rehired Virgil.

“Smackdown”:  Jack Swagger continued feuding with The Big Show. C.M. Punk, in not wanting anybody to see his freshly-shaved head, began wearing a fully-hooded mask in public. After having his brain literally stomped in by Drew McIntyre a month earlier, Matt Hardy returned so violent and volatile that McIntyre used his connections to Vince McMahon to have Matt banned from “Smackdown”; at the same time, McIntyre was trying to wrest the Intercontinetal-Championship from Kofi Kingston. Vickie Guerrero began to take a liking to Dolph Ziggler, or at least, Dolph’s body. MVP took a personal offense to Punk and the “Straight Edge Society”. The new tag-team of Curt Hawkins and Vance Archer were given a 30-day “try-out period” to make an impact, with the 30-days expiring on 6/11/10.

“NXT”: The second season of “NXT” began on June 8, 2010, and was announced to run until August 24, 2010. Also, with the second season starting the night after John Cena was attacked by all of the first-season “NXT” Rookies, the WWE Pros were on edge all night. At the close of the season premiere, all of the Pros beat-up all of the Rookies, as a proactive message not to try anything funny.

“Fatal 4-Way”: The WWE’s next “concept” PPV was announced for June 20, 2010, and would feature “Fatal 4-Way” matches for the WWE and World Heavyweight Championships. Those matches were announced on the first episodes of “Raw” (5/24/10) and “Smackdown” (5/28/10) after “Over the Limit”; John Cena would defend the WWE-Championship against Sheamus, Randy Orton, and Edge, while Jack Swagger would defend the World Heavyweight Championship against Rey Mysterio, The Big Show, and C.M. Punk.

Week of 6-14-10

RAW

9:00
Raw opens with all of the Superstars (minus Cena and Sheamus) surrounding the ring, while Bret stands in the middle of it. Bret mentions that it is very rare to get every Superstar in the locker-room to come together on an issue, but when it comes to attempts to cost them their jobs and their livelihoods, they will band together and fight any enemy. Bret then announces that the reason that the Superstars are out is because they are a united front - for the entire broadcast, every Superstar will be live in the arena, standing guard over each other; they will be around the ring, on the ramp, and in the crowd, serving as watchmen. “If they want a war, they got one!” The Superstars then disperse amongst the arena; into the audience, at the top of the ramp, by the announce table, etc. The announcers reveal that, later tonight, they will have a statement from Cena.

9:20 – Commercials

9:25
US: TRUTH/Miz – Truth’s music and Tron hit, and he does his traditional entrance, only out of the crowd; Miz does the same, though he is accompanied by Jericho. Basic back-and-forth match, until the end, when Truth runs the ropes and Jericho trips him. Truth attacks Jericho, and the match is thrown-out. Jericho-Miz double-team Truth, only for Morrison to run out of the crowd and help Truth; Morrison-Truth send Jericho-Miz running back into the stands.

9:35
Bret gets into the ring, and introduces the night’s guest hosts, Mark Feuerstein (of “Royal Pains”) and the Big Show (from “Smackdown”). Feuerstein begins by talking about how great “Raw” is, but mentions that, because of how insane it’s been lately, he felt the need to bring his pal Show along with him. Show gets on the mic and talks about how cowardly the N1 (“NXT, Season 1”) guys are; he echoes the sentiment that he welcomes a fight, but is quickly interrupted by Sheamus. Sheamus enters in the “normal” way (from the top of the ramp), walks to the ring, and gets on the mic; he says that he’s sick of hearing about everyone else, he can’t remember people ever making such a big deal over him. Show says it’s because Sheamus has never done anything that could be considered a big deal before. Sheamus mentions his great rookie-year, and then admits that he “really couldn’t care” about everyone else getting taken out, “because if they don’t do it, then sooner or later, I will”. Show gets in Sheamus’ face, only for VINCE to make his way out! Vince gets in Sheamus’ face about not caring about WWE; he questions Sheamus as to whether or not he helped N1 get into the building the week before, to which Sheamus replies “I don’t need help dominating ‘Raw’.” Vince: “You don’t need help dominating ‘Raw’, huh? Well, let’s just see how well you dominate ‘Smackdown’. How about tonight, Sheamus faces The Big Show?” Vince asks Bret if he likes that idea, to which Bret – up on the ramp – gives a big thumbs-up. Vince: “Imagine that, Bret Hart and Vince McMahon agree on something.” The match is made, and Show knocks-out Sheamus as we go to commercial.

9:45 – Commercials

9:50
Natalya/Tamina – Both women are accompanied by their respective tag-teams. Natalya has the match won, but Tamino rolls her up while grabbing her tights. The three Usos fly back into the crowd before the Harts can retaliate.

9:55
The announcers talk about the damage that was done to Cena last week, and then let us know that what we are about to see was recorded earlier that day at Cena’s home. The tape rolls, and we see Cena sitting on his couch; he says that he’s never been beaten so badly, and has had to go through extensive medical-testing. He says that his doctors forbade him from going to work tonight, and apologizes to the audience for not being there tonight, but promises to be back next week. And if ‘N1’ wants another shot at me, they know where to find me.” Just then, N1 breaks into his house, and begin assaulting him all over again! (Bryan is not there, but no mention is made of it.) We cut between the tape and the reactions of the crowd and Superstars in the arena. Barrett grabs the camera: “You’re right, we DO know where to find you.” The tape cuts out, and we go to commercial with the Superstars in shock.

10:10 – Commercials

10:15
We come back from commercial with the announcers claiming that they had no idea what was on that tape, they had just received a memo that it was from Cena and should play it during the telecast. The announcers are in shock as we go to the ring, where Santino and Kozlov are standing. Santino says that N1 should beware of them, and that they are about to demonstrate why. Match: Santino-Kozlov/Regal-Primo – Primo dominates Santino for a minute, but Kozlov makes quick work of Regal. After the match, Edge gets into the ring, and sarcastically congratulates Santino-Kozlov on their win. He then goes on to insult them, saying that the two of them have no right being on ANY “first line of defense”, and that if anybody should be in charge, it’s he [Edge]. Edge: “I am a nine-time World Champion. I have come back from injuries that would have crippled anyone else. And I understand the criminal mind, I understand sneak attacks. How many matches have I won, how many titles have I won, because I understand the art of surprise? I’m not only the toughest, strongest, fastest Superstar in WWE history, but I’m also the smartest. Who else can match me?” As Edge was talking, Orton snuck into the ring behind him; Orton spins Edge around and hits the “RKO”. Santino then congratulates Orton, but Orton hits him with an “RKO”, too. Orton then stares-down Kozlov, but Kozlov just shrugs his shoulders and walks away.

10:30 – Commercials

10:35
Bourne/Tj – Virgil tries to interfere, but Bourne kicks him off the apron; Bourne then escapes a “Dream Street” attempt, and connects with “Air Bourne” for the win.

10:40
The announcers recap the attack on Cena, and then interview Mark Feuerstein about what he thinks of the main-event; Feuerstein says he hopes “Show kicks Sheamus’ butt!”

10:45 – Commercials

10:50
Show/Sheamus – Show dominates the early moments, but Sheamus turns the tide. Sheamus decides to try to show-off by attempting to hit the “Celtic Cross” on Show, but Show breaks out of it and hits the Chokeslam for the win.

11:05
Show is in the ring celebrating, when Wade Barrett’s voice is heard over the PA system. Barrett: “Congratulations, Big Show. And congratulations everyone, on your night-long show of unity.” The cameras pan the arena trying to find Barrett, finally spotting him WAY up in the nose-bleeds. Barrett: “Don’t even bother trying to get me, I’ll be in a helicopter long before any of you get all the way up here. So how did all of you like what we did to John Cena? Well, I’m glad that you were all so impressed by that footage, but that was just the tip of the iceberg. The fact is, we’ve had an awfully busy day. Well, actually, we’ve had a very busy NIGHT.” The camera then cuts to backstage, where all of the locker-rooms have been destroyed; lockers and bags are open, clothes are ripped, everything is on the floor, and the letter “N” has been spray-painted all over the walls. The footage is being broadcasted on the Tron, and the Superstars are obviously upset. Barrett continues: “Of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the man that helped us get into the building tonight. A man that knows all about being a ‘Royal Pain’!” Mark Feuerstein steps out from the shadows, an evil smile across his face. Barrett: “We’re done with you.” Barrett punches Feuerstein down and then runs off; we go off the air with the Superstars looking at the Tron, angry about all of the damage that was done to their personal belongings.

NXT

10:00
Striker opens the show from the middle of the ring, and asks the eight rookies to join him. The rookies make their way down the ramp, each one looking upset about last week’s beat-down; they get in the ring and surround Striker. Striker: “I realize that you are all very angry, so let me be the first to apologize for last week. I spoke with the WWE Pros last week, and they realize they may have allowed their paranoia to get the better of them. “N1” are out of control, and we in the WWE were simply fearing for our livelihood. However, the Pros agreed that they should not have taken it out on the eight of you. So for that reason, the WWE Pros have decided that tonight’s theme will be ‘trust’. Tonight’s main-event will feature all of the Pros in a ‘Lumberjack’ match, and the eight of you will be the lumberjacks. They are placing their trust in you, hoping that none of you will take advantage of the situation you find yourselves in.” Kaval approaches Striker, and kindly asks if he can borrow Striker’s microphone; Striker obliges. Kaval: “To be fair, I can fully understand why WWE Superstars and employees are worried, and can understand their actions, but at the same time, I cannot pretend that I am not insulted by their insinuation. I can neither explain nor ignore “N1’s” actions, but I can tell you that I would never think of making a name for myself by jumping someone from behind. I understand that this is a competition, and if you want to test my strength, my speed, my endurance, fine, but you don’t have to test my heart.” Riley then grabs the mic from Kaval; “Speak for yourself, I’m here to make an impact, and if I have to attack someone from behind, then that’s exactly what I’m gonna do.” Lucky grabs the mic out of Riley’s hand: “And that right there is why you should be the first person eliminated!” Husky grabs the mic: “Yeah, we all worked hard to get here, and you’re gonna ruin it for all of us.” McGillicutty: “There was no reason for the Pros to attack us, but there’s also no reason for you guys to suck-up, either. This is a competition, and you do what you can to stand out from the pack.” Percy: “So you’re saying that what ‘N1’ did is ok?” Titus: “Nobody’s saying that it’s ok, but you can’t deny that everybody is talking about them.” The rookies argue amongst themselves, while Striker goes to grab another mic and begins walking up the ramp; Cottonwood follows him. Striker: “I was going to say that I’ve had enough of this, but Eli, you look like you have something that you’d like to share. Care to tell us?” Cottonwood thinks for a moment, and then answers: “Yes… but it’s REALLY deep…”. Cottonwood leaves up the ramp, and we go to commercial.

10:20 – Commercials

10:25
Kaval-Lucky/Riley-McGillicutty – Each rookie is accompanied by their respective pro(s). Kaval and Riley start the match, with Kaval dominating Riley with kicks. Riley tags McGillicutty, and Kaval tags Lucky; Lucky hits a quick dropkick and armdrag on McGillicutty, but McGillicutty – in tribute to his father – catches him with a snapmare and rolling neck-snap. McGillicutty then grabs Lucky and yells “Now you’re gonna see the McGilli-Plex!”; he hits his father’s old “Perfect-Plex”, but Kaval breaks-up the pin. McGillicutty turns to yell at Kaval, which allows Lucky to roll him up. Kaval-Lucky celebrate, only for LayCool to enter the ring and force Kaval to carry their belts again. LayCool then announce that Vickie’s nephew Chavo will be subbing for them in the main-event. Before the break, we get a video-introduction to Husky.

10:35 – Commercials

10:40
Percy/Cottonwood – Percy does his best to outwrestle and outmaneuver the big man, but Cottonwood beats him rather easily after a double-chokebomb. Before the break, we get a video-introduction on Titus.

10:45 – Commercials.

10:50
"Lumberjack" Match: Kofi-Morrison-Henry-Mvp/Miz-Cody-Ryder-Chavo – The Pros make their way to the ring carrying steel-chairs, which they set-up around the ring. The rookies then make their way down the ramp, and sit in the chairs. The face team pretty easily manhandles the heel team, and the rookies really don’t do anything to any pros that happen to land outside of the ring. Eventually, Morrison hits “Starship Pain” on Chavo for the win. After the match, the rookies stand up and grab the chairs; they slowly climb onto the apron, as the Pros huddle in the ring. The Pros challenge them to get in the ring, and the rookies slowly climb through the ropes, holding their chairs, ready to attack. After a few moments, the rookies all dump the chairs outside of the ring, and extend their hands to the Pros; the Pros accept the handshakes, and we go off the air.

SMACKDOWN

8:00
The show opens with Teddy Long sending his “Get Well” wishes to John Cena, but is interrupted by Kane; Kane questions why everybody is concerned about Cena, but nobody is concerned about Taker. Long replies that everybody IS concerned about Taker, and even asks the audience whether they care. Kane says that he knows the fans miss Taker, but he doesn’t think any of the Superstars in the back miss him; “in fact, I think most of them are rather pleased that the most powerful force in WWE history is no longer here to dominate their souls!” Show and Rey interrupt, with both saying that they have nothing but respect for Taker and hope to see him back real soon; however, they both take offense at the liberties Kane has taken in his “quest”. Kane says that it was nothing personal, to which Show and Rey reply that once Kane put his hands on them, it became VERY personal. Show and Rey march to the ring, but Long pleads for cooler heads to prevail; he makes the main-event for the evening: Kane/Show/Rey.

8:20 – Commercials

8:25
IC: KOFI/Jtg – Back-and-forth match with lots of near-falls. Jtg goes for the “Shout Out”, but Kofi stands his ground, causing Jtg to fall hard on the mat; when Jtg gets up, he’s nailed with “Trouble in Paradise”. After the match, McIntyre enters the arena, and delivers a message from Vince: at “Fatal 4-Way”, Kofi will be defending his IC-championship against McIntyre… and two other opponents of McIntyre’s choosing.

8:35 – Commercials

8:40
Christian/Shad – The announcers mention that this match was set-up by Vickie, as a means of punishing Christian. Shad dominates Christian for most of the match, but Christian rebounds with the Pendulum Kick and “Killswitch” for the win.

8:50 – Commercials

8:55
Mvp/Punk – MVP makes his entrance first, accompanied by Percy Watson. Punk then enters, asking Percy if MVP is really the type of person Percy wants to be mentored by; MVP counters this by asking Punk what his NXT Season-1 protégé, to which Punk says that he never wanted to have anything to do with Darren Young, and that Young was a lost-cause from the start. Citing that Punk is in the process of amassing an army, MVP questions whether N1 are working for Punk; Punk gets agitated, and attacks MVP, beginning the match. After about fifteen minutes of back-and-forth action, Punk tries to hit the “Go To Sleep”, but Mvp reverses into the “Playmaker”; with Punk about to be pinned, Gallows jumps on the apron to distract the ref, only for Percy to run across the ring and attack Gallows! Mvp is distracted by Percy’s actions, though, and falls prey to a “Go To Sleep”.

9:10 – Commercials

9:15
Swagger/Masters – Swaggers cuts a promo while entering: “When Teddy Long told me that my opponent tonight was going to be Chris Masters, my first reaction was likely no different than anybody else’s: ‘Are you kidding me? Seriously, are you kidding me?’ No offense to Chris Masters, who’s a decent athlete in his own right, but he’s no Jack Swagger.” Swagger begins listing his accomplishments, adding after each one that Masters has never earned such an accolade. Masters makes his entrance and runs to the ring, full speed ahead, and begins wildly assaulting Swagger. Swagger rolls out of the ring to buy himself some time. After a breather, Swagger rolls back into the ring, and begins to completely out-class Masters in the amateur-wrestling department; Swagger hits some take-downs and works a lot of holds, frustrating Masters. After a while, Masters begins to fight back and hits a desperation clothesline, but Swagger soon regains control; one “Swagger Bomb” later, and Swagger retains.

9:30 – Commercials

9:35
Vickie is standing in the middle of the ring, and introduces the team of Curt Hawkins and Vance Archer. Hawkins-Archer make their way to the ring. Vickie reminds them that, last month, they were given a special “30-day” contract in order to make an impact, and that that contract expired last week. “The two of you did a good job, but you didn’t do a GREAT job… I am sorry to inform you that you will NOT-“, Hawkins cuts her off. Hawkins: “Let me guess, you’re basing this on the way we attacked Christian two weeks ago, right?” Vickie nods. “And you’re basing this on the way we attacked MVP last week, right?” Again, Vickie nods. “And is that all you’re basing this on?” Vickie: “Well, yeah.” Hawkins and Archer both smile; Hawkins: “Well, there’s one other piece of business that you may not know about… You wanted us to make an impact, right? Well Christian and MVP were just the tip of the iceberg. We happened to ‘make an impact’ on one other Superstar… THE UNDERTAKER!” Vickie is in shock. “Yeah, that’s right, my main man Vance here went toe-to-toe with the ‘Deadman’, and took him out! We’re the new ‘Phenoms’ around here! So Vickie, do we have our contracts?” Before Vickie can answer, Kane makes his entrance, and goes straight for Archer. Archer tries to fight him off, but Kane grabs him in a goozle; before Kane can chokeslam him, however, Hawkins hits Kane in the back with a chair, and Hawkins-Archer run away.

9:45 – Commercials

9:50
Kane/Show/Rey – Show and Rey make their entrances, but Kane is nowhere to be found; the announcers are told that Kane has left the building, in pursuit of Hawkins-Archer. Rey and Show agree to just make it a one-on-one match. Back-and-forth, with both guys playing to their strengths. After five minutes or so, Swagger appears on the ramp, and begins to slowly walk to the ring. Just as Swagger reaches the ring, the masked “SES”-member climbs out of the crowd, hits Show in the back, hits Rey in the back, and then hides under the ring. Rey and Show both think that Swagger is the culprit, and abandon the match to go after him. Swagger, Rey, and Show all brawl in the ring, while the masked man goes back up the ramp to stand with the entire “SES”, who are simply standing and watching their plan unfold.

FATAL 4-WAY
R – WWE: CENA/Sheamus/Edge/Orton
S – Kane/Archer
S – World: SWAGGER/Show/Rey/Punk
R – Tag: KIDD-SMITH/Jimmy-Jey
S – Christian/Ziggler
R – IC: TRUTH/Morrison/Jericho/Miz
S – US: KOFI-McIntyre-???-???

///

US – Kofi enters first, followed by McIntyre. McIntyre introduces the two other opponents, “men who are looking to impress Mr. McMahon as much as I have”, Trent Barreta and Caylen Croft! It’s obvious from the start that this is basically a 3-on-1 handicap match. The heels triple-team Kofi, but some old-fashioned heel-miscommunication by Barreta and Croft allows Kofi to get the advantage and dump them out of the ring. Kofi’s distracted, though, and turns right into a “Future Shock” DDT by McIntyre; however, just as he’s about to cover, Matt Hardy’s music hits! The distracted McIntyre orders Barreta and Croft to run up the ramp in case Matt appears, giving Kofi enough time to recover and hit “Trouble In Paradise” on McIntyre for the win. After the match, Matt runs down to the ring and beats on McIntyre, while Kofi fends off Barreta-Croft.

Backstage – Cena arrives at the arena, obviously hurting from the two previous attacks.

IC – Morrison dumps Miz out of the ring at the same time that Jericho hits a “Codebreaker” on Truth. Jericho goes to cover Truth, but Morrison breaks-up the pin by kneeing Jericho in the face. Morrison dumps Jericho, and, seeing that Truth is near the corner, decides to hit “Starship Pain”; he goes to cover, but Miz quickly kicks Morrison, dumps him on the outside, and steals the pin on Truth.

Christian/Ziggler – Ziggler is accompanied by Vickie, Layla, McCool, and Kaval. During the match, Ziggler dumps Christian out of the ring, where he and the women try to convince Kaval to kick Christian. Kaval refuses, and then gets chewed-out by the ladies. Ziggler dumps Christian a second time, and this time, after a lot of threats from “LayCool”, Kaval kicks Christian in the face before rolling him into the ring. The ref disqualifies Ziggler, but the heels don’t care; Ziggler locks Christian in the Sleeperhold, while Kaval simply walks up the ramp, disgusted.

Backstage – Josh Matthews asks Cena if he’ll be cleared to compete tonight; Cena, who is on his cell-phone, responds that he’s talking with his doctors as we speak.

KIDD-SMITH/Jimmy-Jey – The Harts debut a new finishing move – a variation of the “Hart Attack” where Kidd springboards off the ropes to hit the clothesline – on their way to retaining.

World – Gallows and Serena try to interfere early on, but the ref ejects them; on their way out, they yell to Punk “Don’t worry, there’s still one more!” At the end, Rey, Punk, and Swagger all work together to dump Show out of the ring; Show seems to injure himself on the landing. Punk and Swagger then decide to team-up on Rey, but Punk quickly turns on Swagger, kicking him in the head and dumping him out of the ring, as well. Punk smiles evilly at Rey, and the two go at it for a minute before Punk intentionally bumps the ref. Rey and Punk continue to fight, when the masked “SES”-member runs down to the ring; Punk gives the mystery-man direction on what to do to Rey, but the masked-man attacks Punk, instead! The masked-man hits the “Playmaker” on Punk, and then pulls the mask off to reveal MVP! Mvp leaves, while Rey tries to wake the ref; however, as Rey has his back turned, Swagger sneaks in and catches him with the “Swagger Bomb”. The ref wakes just in time to count the pin on Rey.

Kane/Archer – It doesn’t take long for the match to disintegrate, as Hawkins interferes in full view of the ref. Hawkins-Archer double-team Kane, until ZACH RYDER comes to Kane’s aid! Ryder helps clear the ring, and then leaves, as Kane and the announcers are completely puzzled by what just happened.

Backstage – Josh Matthews is in the back, where Cena is speaking with the WWE trainers. The camera cannot hear what Cena and the trainers are saying, but Cena looks upset.

WWE – Sheamus, Edge, and Orton make their entrances. Cena makes his entrance, but stops at the top of the ramp. “It is with deepest regrets that I have to announce that I will not be able to compete tonight. There’s nothing I love more than performing for you, the WWE Universe, and especially the members of the ‘CeNation’. I’ve always said that I will never give-up, never quit, but unfortunately, after speaking with several medical specialists, I am forced to forfeit not only this match, but the WWE Championship. I promise you this, though: as soon as I have medical clearance, I will be back, battling for this WWE Championship. In the mean-time… well, the members of ‘N1’ better watch their backs. As for tonight, after conversing with our esteemed General Manager, Bret Hart, I have chosen what I feel is a suitable replacement. A man that gives his all in that ring, every night… a man that gives his all in entertaining you, the WWE fans, and a man that I know will represent this WWE Championship with honor and dignity. Ladies and Gentelmen, I give to you, the fourth participant in this WWE Championship match… EVAN BOURNE!!!” Bourne makes his entrance, stopping on the stage to salute Cena; Cena hands Bourne the belt to carry down to the ring. The match goes pretty much as expected, with Orton and Edge fighting each other, and Sheamus dominating Bourne. At the end, Orton hits an “RKO” on Sheamus, but then Edge spears Orton; Edge goes to pin Orton, but Bourne flies off the top with “Air Bourne” onto Edge! BOURNE PINS EDGE! Bourne is the new WWE Champion! After the match, Sheamus and Edge attack Bourne; Orton attacks the heels, and Cena runs down the ramp to help. Orton and Cena clear Sheamus and Edge out of the ring. With the heels out of the ring, Orton approaches Bourne; Orton looks menacingly at Bourne, but then extends his hand. Bourne shakes Orton’s hand, and Cena lifts Bourne onto his shoulders to celebrate.

Backstage – As Bourne and Cena are celebrating in the ring, the shot suddenly cuts to a close-up of Barrett. Barrett: “So it looks like WWE has a new champion. But what you may not realize, is that WWE also has a new leader. Like it or not, ‘NXTreme” is in charge, and there’s nothing that anybody can do about it.” The camera pulls back to reveal all of “N1” in the production truck, with the production staff all looking very scared of what they will do. The six followers begin saluting and chanting “NXTreme! NXTreme! NXTreme!” as Barrett looks on with an evil smile; the show fades out, but instead of the usual “WWE” logo, we get the large “N” logo in its place, all while “NXTreme!” continues to be chanted.

Week of 6-21-10

RAW

9:00
Cena makes his entrance and races to the ring; once there, he introduces “the NEW WWE CHAMPION, EVAN BOURNE!!!” Bourne makes his entrance, and walks to the ring; Cena shakes his hand and leaves, giving Bourne the forum all to himself. Bourne thanks the fans for their support, but before he can get much else out, he is interrupted by Edge. Edge says that Bourne’s win was a fluke, and demands a rematch; however, before Bourne can answer, Sheamus interrupts. Sheamus says that he and Edge may not agree on much, but he agrees that Bourne’s win was a fluke; however, he disagrees that Edge deserves the rematch, feeling that he deserves it instead. Bret interrupts, and says that, as far as he’s concerned, they both lost last night, and should both have to get to the back of the line. Bret, Edge, and Sheamus argue, while Bourne politely tries to interrupt; after being ignored by Edge and Sheamus several times, Bourne decides it’d be easier to just hurricanrana Sheamus into Edge, sending both out of the ring. Edge and Sheamus both try to run after Bourne, but Bourne outmaneuvers them; Edge and Sheamus run into each other, while Bourne escapes up the aisle. Edge and Sheamus blame each other for not grabbing Bourne, so Bret announces that, since the two heels seem to have problems with each other, then they’ll have a match tonight. Bret orders the heels out of the ring, and reminds them that, if they dare lay a hand on him while walking past, he will fire them. Bret and Bourne walk back to the ring. Bret states that there is one other important piece of business to address, that being the so-called “NXTremists”. Bret mentions that several members of the WWE production crew were injured the night before at the hands of “NXTreme”, and that everybody is on edge; he notes that there is increased security around the building tonight. Bret states that Barrett’s WWE-contract is iron-clad, but also reminds fans that Barrett has a guaranteed title-match for any PPV of his choosing. Bret challenges Barrett to stop “hiding behind his thugs”, and come down to the ring and face somebody one-on-one, “like a man”; if he wants a title-shot at the next PPV, it’s his for the taking, but adds the stipulation that the rest of “NXTreme” must stay out of the building. Bret: “If you win, fine, then you become the WWE Champion. But if you lose, then WWE Management prosecutes you and the rest of your followers to the fullest extent of the law!” Bourne then grabs the mic: “Barrett, let me be the first to volunteer to put my title on the line. If you want a shot at me, all you have to do is ask.”

9:20 – Commercials

9:25
Ryder/Truth – Before the match, Ryder cuts a promo, stating that there may have been a lot of big news to come out of last night’s PPV, “but let’s be honest, the biggest news of all was the way that I single-handedly saved Kane from a MASSIVE beat-down at the hands of Curt Hawkins and Vance Archer. And all day, people have been asking me, ‘Why’d you save Kane?’, ‘Why’d you save Kane?’, and the truth is, I wasn’t looking to save Kane. I just didn’t want Hawkins and Archer taking credit for my work. Curt Hawkins and I were friends for a long time, and I know how his mind operates – he wanted to take credit for putting The Undertaker in a vegetative state, when in fact, I’M the one that attacked The Undertaker! That’s right, I did it! I wanted to prove that I’m the biggest star that WWE has ever seen, and I knew I had to take out the biggest dog of all. And from now on, I’d like everybody to refer to me as ‘The NEW Phenom’.” Truth interrupts Ryder’s speech; he does his entrance, but as he gets in the ring, he adds: “So you took out The Undertaker, huh? Well let me tell you what the rest of the locker-room thinks…” before attacking Ryder. Truth dominates Ryder for a few minutes, quickly hitting the “Lie Detector” to score the quick win. After the match, Truth heads off into the stands to celebrate, only for KANE to make his entrance! The announcers state that they had no idea that Kane was in the building, but should have realized that he wasn’t done searching for his brother’s assailant. Kane gets to the ring just as Ryder is regaining consciousness; Kane goozles Ryder, while Ryder recants his statement, screaming “I didn’t do it! I didn’t do it!” Kane doesn’t care, and choke-slams Ryder anyway.

9:35
Rob Zombie (the night’s Guest Host) is in Bret’s office, when Edge barges in. Edge begins to complain that he should be fighting Bourne tonight, but Zombie interrupts; Zombie: “Excuse me, Edge, don’t you remember me?” Edge doesn’t. “Rob Zombie. You used my song ‘Never Gonna Stop’ as your entrance theme for a while.” Edge thinks for a while: “Oh yeah, I remember that. ‘Alter Bridge’ is better.” Edge turns back to Bret, but Zombie interrupts him again: “You think ‘Alter Bridge’ is better, huh? Well I’m going to be playing one of hit songs tonight, so let’s see what you think then.” Edge doesn’t care, and turns back to Bret, but Bret simply says, “I don’t want to hear it. Get out.” Edge storms out of the room, and Bret and Zombie go back to talking.

9:40 – Commercials

9:45
US: MIZ/Morrison – Miz cuts a promo on the way to the ring, basically saying that Bourne, Ryder, and “NXTreme” didn’t make the impact that he did by regaining the title. Morrison makes his entrance while the announcers mention the long history between the two. Back-and-forth match. After ten minutes, Morrison tries to hit “Starship Pain”, but Miz gets his knees up; Miz quickly hits “The Skull-Crushing Finale” and wins.

9:55 – Commercials

10:00
Jericho/Tatsu – The announcers mention that Bret is a big fan of Tatsu’s and wanted to give him an opportunity. Tatsu has Jericho on the ropes for much of the match, but Jericho uses a tights-assisted roll-up to win.

10:05
Zombie is still in Bret’s office, when Sheamus barges in, complaining about his match tonight. Zombie comments “This is why I’m playing tonight, because people are sick of hearing complaints.” Sheamus threatens Zombie, but Bret tells him “Just get out.” On the way out, Sheamus comments to Zombie “Irish rock is much better than your American garbage.”

10:10
TJ is standing in the ring, and states that he doesn’t know who he needs to talk to in order to get a title-shot. He tried speaking to Bret, he tried speaking to Vince, but they actually claimed that they weren’t interested in how much he’s offering. Bourne interrupts and says that money isn’t necessary; he already beat him last week, but he’ll give TJ a shot right now, anyway.

10:15 – Commercials

10:20
WWE: BOURNE/Tj – We join the match in progress, with Bourne dominating Tj. After ten minutes, Bourne gets Tj down, and climbs the ropes in order to set-up “Air Bourne”; however, Virgil jumps up on the apron and pushes him off. The ref catches this, though, and disqualifies Tj. Virgil and Tj double-team Bourne, but Cena rushes out to make the save. The faces chase the heels away, and then celebrate; while they celebrate, Rob Zombie and his band begin to prepare for their performance. Cena says that tonight is a night of amazement, and that we should all prepare to be amazed again, as Zombie is about to play.

10:30
Zombie and his band play for ten minutes.

10:40 – Commercials

10:45
Edge/Sheamus – Back-and-forth match with neither man really getting the advantage. After fifteen minutes, both men are down and out, when ORTON runs down the ramp; he hits the “RKO” on Edge, then on Sheamus, and then leaves. Both men are unconscious, while the ref throws the match out. The camera lingers on them for a while, only for BARRETT to jump over the barricade. He grabs a mic and jumps in the ring: “I don’t care about titles. I care about DOMINATION!” Cena and several other wrestlers run down the ramp, but Barrett jumps back over the barricade and runs out of the arena; cameras follow the WWE Superstars out of the arena, looking for Barrett. When the Superstars eventually get outside, they notice that all of their rental cars have been destroyed. Nobody can find any sign of Barrett or the rest of “NXTreme”, until two untouched cars screech out of the parking lot, almost hitting several Superstars.

NXT

10:00
Striker opens the show in the middle of the ring, and announces that we’re starting with our first match right away; he announces Percy as the first competitor, but all eight rookies make their way out instead. They get in the ring, with Striker getting nervous: “I don’t know what you’re thinking, but I thought we settled this last week.” McGillicutty asks for the mic: “Calm down, calm down, we are not here to cause problems. At least, not for you. We wanted to come down here and offer our support to everyone in WWE, and let them know that when it comes to these so-called ‘NXTremists’, we will gladly fight on the side of the WWE Superstars.” Most of the rookies agree whole-heartedly, though Riley is disinterested and Cottonwood seems to be in another world. McGillicutty continues: “The majority of the men that you see in this ring are honorable, upstanding men, who simply want to ply their trade and follow their dreams. I myself know a lot about honor – my father, Curt Hennig, taught me all about it. He was the type of man who saw a scared little three-year old neighborhood kid about to be shipped off to foster-care because he had unfit parents, and decided to take that little kid in and raise him as his own. Kaval was born to a very poor family in Brooklyn, and began working at the age of ELEVEN to help his parents make ends meet. Lucky Cannon survived being shot and stabbed in order to help put criminals behind bars during his time as a cop. Percy Watson spends his spare-time visiting sick kids in hospitals. Titus O’Neill organized a sports-program in his home-town to help under-privileged kids. And Husky Harris… well Husky’s just one of the nicest people you could ever meet. So to ‘NXTreme’, we dare you to take us out!” Riley takes exception to McGillicutty’s speech: “I couldn’t help but notice that you didn’t mention me in your little speech.” Striker interrupts: “To be fair, you did say last week that you didn’t see anything wrong with what ‘NXTreme’ did.” Riley: “You’re a former school-teacher, you should know about putting words in someone’s mouth; I never said that, I just said that I would do what I needed to do to win.” McGillicutty: “And if that means doing what ‘NXTreme’ did, then you’re fine with that?” Riley: “You want to know what I’d do to win? Fine.” Riley tries to get Cottonwood’s attention: “Eli, did you hear what these guys said about you?” Cottonwood looks confused. Riley: “They’re saying that you’re not a very nice person.” Cottonwood glares at the other rookies. “In fact, they’re saying that you’re not a very smart person, either.” Cottonwood gets angry. “And there’s no way that a loser like you could ever win this competition.” Cottonwood snaps, and begins throwing everyone (minus Riley) around; the rest of the rookies group together, though, and dump Cottonwood out of the ring. Morrison runs down to the ring to try to tame his giant rookie.

10:20 – Commercials

10:25
Riley/McGillicutty – McGillicutty wins with a “Perfect-Plex”, which the announcers state he jokingly calls the “McGilli-Plex”. Kofi runs down to the ring to congratulate his rookie, and asks him to explain a little more about his name. McGillicutty: “Well, like I said earlier, I am adopted. That’s actually something that very few people knew, it was only three weeks ago that I decided to be open about it. My real name is ‘Michael McGillicutty’, but growing up, I was known as ‘Joe Hennig’, ‘Joe’ being my middle name, and just liking it more as a kid. Anyway, when I was three, my birth-parents were arrested, and Curt and Leonice Hennig took me in. They were just the best parents anybody could possibly ask for, and I mean absolutely no disrespect to them by not using the ‘Hennig’ family name; I just thought that it was time to be honest with myself. And maybe some of it is ego, I’d love to see the reactions on my birth-parents’ faces when they realize what they gave up.” Kofi: “Well let me tell you something, any parent on Earth would be proud to have a son like you.” As we go to commercial, we get a video-introduction to Cottonwood.

10:35 – Commercials

10:40
Lucky-Husky/Kaval-Titus – Kaval dominates Lucky while they’re in the ring; Husky and Titus then tag in, with Husky proving to be every bit as quick and powerful as Titus. Husky wins with a “Pounce”-like maneuver, playing off of his football background. After the match, Cottonwood and Riley come down to the ring, with Riley telling Cottonwood “They’re making fun of you!” Cottonwood attacks all four rookies in the ring, prompting Percy and McGillicutty to run down to the ring to help. The six faces keep Cottonwood and Riley at bay. Miz and Morrison then run down, with Morrison trying to get his rookie under control, and Miz complimenting Riley’s intelligence. Before going to commercial, we get a video-intro to Percy.

10:45 – Commercials

10:50
Striker is in the ring with the eight WWE Pros, and asks them their impressions. They have generally positive reviews of everyone, until Striker gets to Miz; he says that he’s incredibly impressed by Riley’s intelligence, and says that it’s in stark contrast to someone like Cottonwood. Morrison takes the bait, and mentions that Cottonwood is 2-0, while Riley is 0-2. Miz says that the only reason Cottonwood has a better record is because of “his million-dollar body, not his ten-cent brain.” They argue for a bit, until Morrison challenges Miz to a match; Miz agrees, saying “Didn’t I just beat you last night?” They have a quick impromptu match, with Morrison winning after “Starship Pain”.

SMACKDOWN

8:00
Kane makes his entrance, and announces that he’s sick of searching for Taker’s attacker. He demands that whomever was responsible step forward, and take their punishment like a man. Long makes his entrance, stands at the top of the ramp, and pleads with Kane to stop the crusade, to let the police finish their investigation. Kane questions aloud if maybe Long was responsible for the attacks, citing that Taker’s had it in for Long ever since Long screwed Taker out of the World Championship last year. Long responds that he never wanted to do that to Taker, and has apologized profusely for his actions. Kane then adds that maybe Long was worried about Taker dominating “Smackdown”, and wanted to give somebody else a chance at the top; Long again claims innocence. Kane begins walking up the ramp, while Long pleads for Kane to stop; Kane just about reaches Long, but Show and Rey come out to protect Long. Show strongly urges Kane to stop searching, since he’s done nothing but hurt innocent people along the way. Rey: “We’ll do whatever we can to help bring the attacker to justice, but you have to stop this one-man mission.” Kane is so full of emotion that he just screams and storms to the back.

8:20 – Commercials

8:25
Rey-Mvp-Christian/Punk-Hawkins-Archer – The announcers remind us that Hawkins-Archer attacked both MVP and Christian recently, and that MVP has also had a problem with “SES” recently. Chaotic match that lasts about fifteen minutes. At the end, MVP-Christian are brawling with Hawkins-Archer on the outside, distracting the ref; Gallows interferes, hitting Rey, allowing Punk to hit him with the “Go To Sleep”. After the match, Ziggler runs down the ramp, the unknown “SES”-member jumps the rails, and the heels begin to beat-down the faces; however, KANE comes out to even the odds. He helps to chase the heels off, then turns towards the faces; he extends his hand to them, they shake, and Kane leaves.

8:40 – Commercials

8:45
Backstage, Swagger is in Long’s office, droning on about his accomplishments, when McIntyre bursts in; McIntyre begins complaining about Matt’s mind-games the night before, but is interrupted by Swagger: “I guess some people worry about the IC-Championship, but I’m above that sort of thing. I am the World Heavyweight Champion, you know.” Long says that he has two great ideas, and urges McIntyre to get to the ring right away, as he has a very special gift for him. After McIntyre leaves, Long states that he takes exception to Swagger thinking that he’s above the IC-Championship, and books Swagger in a match against Kofi tonight! Swagger argues a bit, but soon composes himself. “I’m not afraid of Kofi.”

8:50
Mcintyre/??? – McIntyre, still in his street-clothes, rushes down to the ring. “WELLLLLLLL…”, Show makes his entrance. The bell rings, and McIntyre immediately runs to the outside. The referee begins counting, but as the ref hits “9”, McIntyre gets back into the ring. McIntyre tries to go on the offensive, but Show manhandles him. After a few more minutes of getting beaten, McIntyre decides to just walk away from the match. Show wins by count-out.

8:55 – Commercials

9:00
Ziggler-Chavo/Croft-Barreta – Ziggler-Chavo are escorted by Vickie. They make quick work of Croft-Barreta, with Ziggler hitting a big “Zig Zag” for the win. Christian enters after the match: “I know I was kind of busy dealing with the ‘Not-So-Straight Edge Society’, and that new team, I forgot their names, ‘Pitchins and Catcher’ or something, but don’t think I forgot what happened last night. And that’s why I want to challenge you to a match next week. Just you and me, no Chavo, no Kaval, just you and me, one-on-one.” Vickie urges Ziggler not to accept, but Ziggler does anyway. All of a sudden, Cody makes his entrance.

9:10
Cody, accompanied by Husky, makes his entrance while Christian and Ziggler are still out. Cody: “Christian, if you don’t mind, you’re cutting into my time. See, I think it’s funny that you mentioned Kaval, as if there was something wrong with what he did last night. You don’t think Lay-Cool are doing a great job training him? That’s funny, considering that the guy you mentored is now one of the ‘NXTremists’.” Christian: “I worked very hard to help Heath Slater learn his craft, and I’m very proud of the improvements he made, but I don’t condone what he’s been doing.” Cody: “That’s odd, because if I had to guess, I’d say that YOU were the one helping them get into the building every week.” Christian is angry and attacks Cody; Husky tries to break it up and play peace-maker. Husky grabs the mic: “Come on, Cody, how can you accuse Christian of anything? He’s a good guy, he’d never do anything like that!” Cody: “Excuse me, I thought I was mentoring you. That’s why I want you to be in my corner tonight, to see greatness in action. But you don’t speak unless I tell you to, alright?” Christian is disgusted by Cody’s attitude, and goes back to attacking him; they’re brawling on the ramp, when Ziggler runs up the ramp and hits the “Zig Zag” on Christian.

9:15 – Commercials

9:20
Cody/Jtg – Cody is in the ring, adjusting his jaw. Jtg makes his entrance. Back-and-forth match. At the end, Cody has Jtg down, but instead of going for the win, he yells at Husky to take notice of everything he’s done; Cody picks Jtg up and goes for “Cross Rhodes”, but Jtg reverses into the “Shout Out” for the win. After the match, Husky laughs while Cody yells at him for doing so.

9:30 – Commercials

9:35
Swagger/Kofi – The announcers mention that we’re being treated to a rare champion-vs.-champion match, though neither title is on the line. They make their entrances, and the match begins. Kofi gets the early advantage with his speed and strikes, keeping Swagger off-balance and flustered. Swagger takes a few early breathers outside the ring, with Kofi diving over the ropes to get at him; Swagger moves, however, sending Kofi crashing to the floor, and we go to commercial.

9:40 – Commercials

9:45
Swagger/Kofi (cont’d) – We return with Swagger in control, using his amateur skills to keep Kofi down and in one spot. The rest of the match is a back-and-forth encounter, with both men playing to their strengths. Near the end, Kofi hits “Trouble in Paradise”, but Swagger manages to get his foot on the ropes. A minute later, Swagger hits the “Swagger Bomb”, but now Kofi manages to get his foot on the ropes. Swagger becomes frustrated, and begins pounding on Kofi; Kofi fights back, and they tumble out of the ring. They end-up getting counted out, but continue beating on each other. McIntyre runs out to help beat on Kofi, but Show follows to even the odds. We go off the air with everyone brawling.

Week of 6-28-10

RAW

9:00
The show cold-opens with Bret Hart backstage, announcing that, while everybody is still on alert for “NXTreme”, there’s still other business to attend to: in three weeks, WWE will be unveiling its newest PPV, “Money In The Bank”, and the first qualifying match is up next!

9:05
“MITB” Qualifier: Morrison/Miz – As Morrison makes his entrance, the announcers explain how this “Money-In-The-Bank” tournament will work: “Raw” and “Smackdown” will both be holding qualifying matches this week, with the winners of those matches going on to the “Money-In-The-Bank” ladder-match at the PPV. Miz makes his entrance and explains that his US-championship is not on the line. Back-and-forth match, with Morrison hitting “Starship Pain” for the win.
Morrison qualifies for “MITB”

9:20 – Commercials

9:25
Cena makes his entrance, and runs down to the ring. He announces that he returns to in-ring competition tonight, as part of a 3-way #1-contendors match against Sheamus and Orton. Edge interrupts, and questions why he’s being left out of the #1-contendors match; he cites that he was in the main-event of “Fatal 4-Way” and was in the main-event last week on “Raw”, to which Cena responds, “Those are both great points, but you’re forgetting something – you suck. Kidding aside, kidding aside, in all honesty, I don’t know the reason, that’s something you’ll have to take up with our General Manager, Bret Hart.” Right on cue, Bret makes his entrance, and says that the reason Edge isn’t in the #1-contendors match is because Bret has already entered Edge into the “Money-in-the-Bank” match. Edge is upset that he’ll have to go through such a hellacious match to get a title-shot, when he should be granted an immediate rematch for the title instead, but Bret placates him by saying that he wanted only the best to represent “Raw” in the inter-promotional “MITB” match, and knows that Edge can do “Raw” proud. However, since Edge doesn’t have a match tonight, and because Bourne needs an opponent, he’ll grant Edge’s wish of an immediate rematch – if Edge wins, he goes on to defend the WWE Championship at the PPV, and Bourne will take Edge’s place in the “MITB”-match.

9:40 – Commercials

9:45
“MITB” Qualifier: Truth/Ryder – Truth makes quick work of Ryder, winning with the “Lie Detector”.
Truth qualifies for “MITB”

9:55
Backstage, Jericho barges into Bret’s office. Bret guesses that Jericho wants to complain about having to face Henry tonight in a “MITB” qualifying-match, but, after casually dismissing Henry as “no challenge”, he tells Bret his real reason for wanting to speak with him: “’Hitman’, you and I have known each other a long time. We haven’t always seen eye-to-eye, but I’ve always respected you. And there’s something I think you should know. I think I know who’s been helping ‘NXTreme’ get into the building.” Bret demands that Jericho cut the games and come clean with anything he knows. Jericho: “Well, I can’t say for certain, but if you follow the clues, it seems pretty obvious.” Bret: “Give me a name.” Jericho: “Teddy Long.” Bret laughs at Jericho’s assertion, but Jericho continues: “Think about it. ‘Raw’ and ‘Smackdown’ have been in competition with each other for eight years. Teddy Long is always trying to prove himself to Mr. McMahon, what better way than to decimate ‘Raw’. And isn’t it a little strange that ‘NXTreme’ has never attacked ‘Smackdown’?” Bret begins to process what Jericho is saying. Jericho: “Who do you think is helping them with all of their travel arrangements? Who do you think can help them find the best way to sneak into an arena? Nobody would know better than a General Manager, right? And if Teddy Long DID want to launch an attack on ‘Raw’, what better time than right after a new ‘Raw’ GM is announced? A guy that’s still getting his feet wet, a guy that’s not used to playing the political game like he is?” Bret asks Jericho why he’s bringing this up, realizing that Jericho is only trying to get into his good graces. Jericho: “Hey… maybe you’ll owe me one day.” Jericho leaves, and Bret looks troubled.

10:00
WWE: BOURNE/Edge – They make their entrances, the match starts, and we quickly go to commercial.

10:05 – Commercials

10:10
WWE: BOURNE/Edge (cont’d) – Edge dominates most of the match. Edge goes for a Spear, but Bourne jumps over him, sending Edge into the turnbuckle; Bourne connects with a few kicks, laying Edge out, and quickly hits “Air Bourne” for the pin. After the match, Bourne leaves, but Edge grabs a mic and complains.

10:25
“MITB” Qualifier: Jericho/Henry – Henry makes his entrance while Edge is still in the ring; Henry gets face-to-face with Edge, and Edge leaves. Jericho makes his entrance, leading to Jericho and Edge passing each other on the ramp; they glare at each other, but no punches are thrown. Henry dominates the early portion of the match, but Jericho clips Henry’s knee; with Henry down, Jericho focuses on the knee, and applies a modified “Walls of Jericho” for the submission win.
Jericho qualifies for “MITB”

10:35 – Commercials

10:40
Kidd-Smith-Tatsu/Jey-Jimmy-Regal – Tatsu beats Regal.

10:50 – Commercials

10:55
#1-Contendor: Cena/Orton/Sheamus – The match begins as planned, but after about five minutes, the announcers state that they’re getting word that there’s some sort of commotion in the back. The cameras cut backstage to find a path of destruction, with equipment destroyed, and several lower-tier wrestlers (Goldust, Primo, Santino) lying hurt on the ground. Orton hits the “RKO” on Sheamus and dumps him out of the ring, while Cena grabs two chairs, for he and Orton. Cena and Orton hold their ground, prompting “NXTreme” to attack; the staff around the ring begins to freak out, but it’s not “NXTreme” that’s causing the commotion… it’s KANE! Kane makes his entrance and marches down to the ring; Cena and Orton hit him with chairs, but they have no effect on the big angry monster. Kane knocks the chairs out of their hands, goozles both of them, and hits a double Chokeslam. Kane grabs the mic: “It finally dawned on me. Cena, you wanted to be the face of WWE, but you couldn’t do that while my brother was around. You’ve never been able to beat The Undertaker, so you decided to take him out instead. And Orton… you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Kane raises his arms, the turnbuckles erupt, and we fade to black.

NXT

10:00
Lucky/Kaval/McGillicutty/Titus – We begin with action right out of the gate, as the announcers explain that tonight is the very first “Pro’s Poll” of the season, that all eight WWE pros will be sitting on the ramp, and that all eight rookies will be in action. Lucky starts with McGillicutty, and Kaval starts with Titus. No real advantages are gotten, and the participants switch around constantly. Eventually, Titus and McGillicutty brawl to the outside, leaving Lucky and Kaval in the ring; Kaval hits several hard kicks to Lucky, but when Kaval whips Lucky into the ropes, Lucky jumps over him with a Sunset Flip, scoring the win. After the match, everyone shakes hands, and we get a video-introduction to Lucky as we go to commercial.
Lucky = 3-0
Kaval = 1-2
McGillicutty = 1-2
Titus = 0-3

10:15 – Commercials

10:20
Striker asks the WWE Pros how things have progressed with their Rookies, especially since the “uncalled for” attack by the Pros and the truce offered from the Rookies. The Pros answer as once would expect them to, depending on their own face/heel alignment, as well as the alignment of their assigned rookie. The faces generally say that they realized they were quick to jump the gun, that the rookies really showed a lot of maturity and gumption, and that they all seem to be progressing pretty quickly. Conversely, the heels say that they still think that they had every right to jump the rookies, but they understand why they had to call a truce for the sake of the show. Striker reminds everyone that tonight is the first “Pro’s Poll”, and tells the Pros to get ready to make some tough decisions. Before we go to commercial, we get a video-introduction to Kaval.

10:30 – Commercials

10:35
Cottonwood/Riley/Husky/Percy – Chaotic action as everyone fights everyone, until Percy, Husky, and Riley decide to eliminate the bigger Cottonwood. With Cottonwood on the outside, Percy and Husky begin to brawl, while Riley tries to hang outside the ring; when either Percy or Husky try to pin the other, Riley breaks up the pin, and at the same time, Riley uses hit-and-run moves to keep Cottonwood on the outside. The announcers note that the Pros must notice Riley’s intelligent game-plan. After a while, Percy hits his Float-Over DDT on Husky, but then Riley runs in and hits the TKO on Percy. Riley showboats a bit and points to his brain as if to say “I’m so smart”, but doesn’t notice Cottonwood get back into the ring. Cottonwood gives Riley a big ol’ Brain-Chop, and covers for the three.
Cottonwood = 3-0
Husky = 1-2
Percy = 1-2
Riley = 0-3

10:45 – Commercials

10:50
Striker runs down the current win-loss records:
3-0: Lucky, Cottonwood
1-2: Husky, Kaval, McGillicutty, Percy
0-3: Riley, Titus
Lucky is exuberant, Cottonwood doesn’t seem to care, Titus is reserved, and Riley yells that those were all flukes. Striker then reveals the results of the first “Pro’s Poll”:
            8 – Riley (Miz)
            7 – Titus (Ryder)
            6 – Cottonwood (Morrison)
            5 – Husky (Cody)
            4 – Percy (MVP)
            3 – Kaval (Lay-Cool)
            2 – Lucky (Henry)
            1 – McGillicutty (Kofi)
McGillicutty seems somewhat shocked, and Riley is furious. Miz, too, is furious, and goes off on all the other Pros: “How could you vote him last??? He’s the total package in this competition! He’s strong, he’s fast, he’s charismatic, he’s the best rookie out there!” Morrison interrupts: “You’re right, he does have all of those characteristics, but what he also has is a bad attitude.” Riley’s jaw drops, while Miz continues to argue: “Bad attitude??? He’s got the best attitude of anyone out there! He’s looking out for himself! He wants to win! He’s not interested in making friends, he’s not sucking up to anyone, he’s his own man! Look at your guy, he doesn’t even know where he is right now!” Cottonwood glares angrily at Miz, so Morrison tells him [Cottonwood] to calm down. Henry adds: “I, too, voted against Riley, he may have all the tools, but if he doesn’t stop running his mouth, he’s gonna have the world’s biggest target on his back.” Miz: “Did everyone vote against Riley?” Kofi and MVP say that they did, but Cody and Ryder say that they both actually voted FOR him, due to all of the qualities that Miz listed. Striker changes the subject, and asks if any of the Pros would like to come forward and admit that they voted for the #1-ranked McGillicutty. Miz actually stammers a bit, and admits that he voted for McGillicutty. Striker is surprised, and asks Miz to elaborate. Miz: “The only reason I voted for McGillicutty was because Pros aren’t allowed to vote for their own rookies; Alex, don’t worry, he’s a DISTANT #2 to you, I have no doubt that you’re going to win this competition.” Striker asks who else voted for McGillicutty, and Laycool come forward: “We figured that if he’s the son of ‘Mr. Perfect’, then that must automatically make him… Flawless!” The Pros and Rookies then continue to argue amongst themselves until we fade out.

SMACKDOWN

8:00
The show opens with Cena making a surprise appearance! He makes his way to the ring and demands that Kane come out to face him. Long enters, and explains that, due to his actions on Monday, he gave Kane the night off. Cena is disheartened, and says that while he may be ok with that news, there’s someone else that may not handle it too well… “I HEAR VOICES IN MY HEAD!” Orton makes his way to the ring: “It’s too bad that Kane isn’t here… cuz now I’m gonna have to take my aggression out on someone else.” Cena tells Long to calm down, that he’ll make sure Orton doesn’t get out of hand, but he does ask that, since they’re already here, Long do them a favor and give them a match tonight. Before Long can answer, Rey-Show enter. Rey and Show both try to make a case for not going after Kane, saying that Kane is going through a lot right now with everything that happened to Taker, but Cena doesn’t accept that. After some not-so-subtle threats from both sides, Long makes Show-Rey/Cena-Orton for tonight.

8:20 – Commercials

8:25
“MITB” Qualifier: Cody/Jtg – The announcers note that this is a rematch from last week; Husky again accompanies Cody to the ring. Back-and-forth match again. At the end, Jtg has the advantage, but Cody distracts the ref; Cody hits a low-blow on Jtg, and hits “Cross Rhodes” for the win. Husky questions Cody’s behavior, but Cody tells him to forget it.
Cody qualifies for “MITB”

8:35
“MITB” Qualifier: Christian/Ziggler – Christian makes his entrance as Cody is still in the ring; Cody exits up the ramp, and the two glare daggers at each other as they pass. Ziggler makes his entrance by himself, doing his best to not show any nervousness. At the end, Vickie makes her way to the ring in order to lend her support to Ziggler; however, Vickie’s presence only serves to distract Ziggler, allowing Christian to win with the “Killswitch”. After the match, Vickie tries to comfort Ziggler.
Christian qualifies for “MITB”

8:45 – Commercials

8:50
Swagger makes his way to the ring, and begins talking about Jericho’s accusations on Monday, mainly that Long may be helping “NXTreme” attack the “Raw” roster; he says that he has already placed several calls to Vince McMahon’s office, pleading that Long be replaced as GM of “Smackdown”. Kofi makes his way to the ring, and says that he knows what Swagger is trying to do: because Swagger doesn’t like Long, and feels that Long keeps placing Swagger in tough matches, Swagger is trying to get Long fired. Swagger: “Well, duh, of course I’m trying to get Teddy Long fired, but only because he’s been helping ‘NXTreme’!” Long makes his way out, obviously having lost his patience with Swagger: he thanks Kofi for his support, and yells at Swagger for his ridiculous accusations. Swagger claims that Long is trying to “shut him up”, trying to “keep him from speaking the truth”, but Long states that he’s simply tired of Swagger’s whining and complaining. Long states that Kofi is the type of man that Swagger should emulate, a man that works hard for everything, and announces that Kofi has been entered into the “MITB” tournament, adding that he hopes that Kofi wins and wipes the smirk off of Swagger’s face; in addition, he will be holding a #1-contendors match next week, with the winner facing Swagger for the World-Championship at the PPV. Long and Kofi begin to walk away, but Swagger tries to attack Kofi from behind; Kofi catches him, however, and drops him with “Trouble in Paradise”, leaving Swagger laying in the middle of the ring as they exit.

9:05 – Commercials

9:10
Punk/Mvp – Punk cuts a promo on the way to the ring, explaining that, because he is a former MITB-winner, he has been given a bye and will automatically enter the “MITB” match. Mvp enters, and the match is on. Gallows attempts to interfere, but gets caught by the referee, leading to the ref tossing Gallows and Serena out. Punk has the advantage for most of the match, but Mvp is able to catch Punk with a quick “Playmaker” for the win. After the match, the mystery “SES”-member tries to jump Mvp, but Mvp fights him off. As Punk and the mystery-man walk up the ramp, Mvp grabs a mic and issues a challenge to mystery-man: the mystery-man signals that he accepts. The announcers note that this will mark the in-ring debut of the mystery-man.

9:25 – Commercials

9:30
McIntyre is back in Long’s office, asking why he is not part of the “MITB” tournament; Long replies that, as far as he’s concerned, McIntyre hasn’t earned it. McIntyre is angry, and says that he’s going to tell Vince about Long’s poor judgment; Long says that McIntyre should go do that, because he [Long] has more important things to worry about at the moment.

9:35
Cena-Orton/Rey-Show – Back-and-forth match that goes about as expected. Show has control over Cena as we go to commercial.

9:45 – Commercials

9:50 – As we come back from commercial, Show is still dominating Cena. Cena finally tags Orton, who uses stick-and-move offense to keep Show off-balance, eventually leading to Show tagging Rey; Rey uses his quickness to keep Orton off-balance. Orton later attacks Show on the apron, prompting Show to get in the ring, followed by Cena entering the ring to even the odds. All four men are brawling in the ring, when “NXTREME” ATTACKS! “NXTreme” jump out of the crowd, and brawl all four men down; after about thirty seconds, the “Smackdown” locker-room (with the exception of Swagger and McIntyre) empties out, and they chase “NXTreme” back into the stands and out of the arena. As “NXTreme” is running out of the arena, Barrett sticks his face up to a camera and says “Thanks, Teddy!” The faces are helping each other up as we go off the air.

Week of 7-5-10

RAW

9:00
Bret makes his entrance, and announces that he is going to shed some light on how the “MITB” PPV is going to work: The “MITB” ladder-match will consist of eight men, four of whom will receive byes to compete in the match, and four of whom will have to win qualifying matches earlier in the evening. Miz interrupts, and says that, seeing how IC-Champion Kofi was given a bye into the “MITB”-match, then he, as the US-Champion, should also be given a bye into the “MITB”-match. Bret thinks about it for a moment, but is interrupted by Jericho; Jericho makes his way to the ring, claiming that there are more important issues to worry about, namely that “NXTreme’s” attack on “Smackdown” last night should be proof enough that Long is the mastermind behind their attacks. Bret says that he thinks it’s just a coincidence, but Jericho points out that it seems a little odd that not only did “NXTreme” not attack “Smackdown” until someone pointed it out, but they also waited until there were two “Raw” Superstars in the house; he adds that Show and Rey were just “in the wrong place at the wrong time”, and were sacrificed by Long to throw everyone off his track. Morrison-Truth then interrupt, and say that they’ve known Long for years, and can guarantee that Long would never do something like that; they argue with Jericho for a while, until Miz gets upset that the conversation has deviated away from him being entered into the “MITB” match. Bret says that he’ll give Miz a bye to the “MITB”, IF he and Jericho can beat Morrison-Truth tonight; he then adds, “As for Teddy Long, I seriously doubt that he’s behind anything, but I’ll be paying a special visit to ‘Smackdown’ this Friday, and I plan on getting the truth from him then.”

9:20 – Commercials

9:25
Cena makes his way to the ring, and says that he’s tired of being attacked; Kane, “NXTreme”, he doesn’t care who it is, but he challenges someone to actually face him face-to-face for a change. Ryder interrupts, and tells Cena that he’s about to face a bigger challenge than Kane and “NXTreme” combined. We get an impromptu match, with Cena making relatively quick work of Ryder. After the match, Kane appears on the Tron, and tells Cena that if he wants him, they can meet at the PPV. Cena accepts.

9:35
Backstage, Bourne is in Bret’s office, when Edge barges in; Edge says that Bourne is just the guy he was looking for, and challenges him to a rematch tonight. Bret begins to say that Edge doesn’t deserve another shot, but Bourne interrupts and accepts the challenge.

9:40 – Commercials

9:45
Tag: KIDD-SMITH/Jey-Jimmy/Santino-Kozlov – Back-and-forth match with no team really getting the advantage. After about fifteen minutes, Tamina gets into the ring, only for Natalya to climb in, too; the women brawl while the Harts and Usos try to separate them, and the match is thrown out. As this is going on, Jillian runs down the ramp and gets into ring, tossing the other two women out! Jillian raises the hands of Santino-Kozlov.

9:55
Orton makes his way out, past the nine competitors that just wrestled; Kozlov stares him down a bit, but Santino pulls him away. Orton says that he and Cena have never really seen eye-to-eye over the years, but lately, they’ve both been on a mission to prove that they’re the top dog on “Raw”. He reiterates what Cena said earlier, that if anybody wants to fight him, they should do it like a man and face him face-to-face. Tj interrupts, and, after a few words about how he [TJ] himself was the true star of “Legacy”, he challenges Orton to an impromptu match. Orton accepts, and makes quick work of Tj. After the match, Kane makes another appearance on the Tron, challenging Orton for the PPV.

10:05 – Commercials

10:10
Morrison-Truth/Miz-Jericho – Back-and-forth match. At the end, everyone is brawling in the ring; Morrison goes to hit “The Flying Chuck” on Jericho, but Jericho ducks, causing Morrison to hit Truth by mistake. Jericho hits Morrison with a quick “Codebreaker” while Miz pins Truth.

10:25 – Commercials

10:30
“MITB” Qualifier: Tatsu/Regal – Tatsu beats Regal pretty quickly. After the match, the announcers give us the run-down on the “MITB” match: The four “automatic entrants” will be Edge, Miz, Punk, and Kofi, and the four qualifying matches will be Morrison/Truth, Jericho/Tatsu, Christian/Cody, and one more that will be announced this Friday on “Smackdown”.
Tatsu qualifies for “MITB”

10:40
Sheamus barges into Bret’s office, and says that he should get to challenge for the WWE-Championship at “Money In The Bank”, citing that Cena and Orton have their hands full, and that either Bourne or Edge will be busy in the “MITB” match. Bret: “I’ll tell you the same thing I told Edge earlier: I don’t think you deserve it. However, I also know that if Evan Bourne were here right now, he’d say the same thing that HE told Edge earlier: that he accepts.”

10:45 – Commercials

10:50
WWE: BOURNE/Edge – After about five minutes, Sheamus enters and stands on the ramp. After about five more minutes, he begins to walk down to the ring, in an obvious attempt to try to distract both men. Bourne loses his focus for a moment, but when Edge tries to Spear him, Bourne jumps over him, sending Edge into the turnbuckle; he quickly kicks Edge down, and hits “Air Bourne” for the win. After the match, Sheamus attacks Bourne, with Edge helping to double-team Bourne; this leads to Cena and Orton running down and chasing off the heels. Cena and Orton raise Bourne onto their shoulders. As they celebrate, a video appears on the Tron: it is live footage of WWE Headquarters in Connecticut. The camera notices one lone office with the lights on, and decides to zoom in on it… “NXTreme” is gathered around a desk, facing the window. There is a large, high-backed “executive”-style chair in front of the window, positioned facing away from the window; there seems to be somebody sitting in it, as all of “NXTreme” seem to be nodding their heads in agreement with it. A hand reaches up from the chair, and Barrett shakes it; all of “NXTreme” then put on their new “Smackdown” t-shirts, and walk out of the room. Fade to black.

NXT

10:00
Riley-Miz/Titus-Ryder – We start with action right away, as the announcers mention that Riley and Titus are both 0-3, and that this match will result in one of them attaining their first win. Miz is in an incredibly aggressive mood, and motivates Riley to follow suit; the two of them are able to batter down Ryder, but Titus doesn’t back down. Titus seems to have the match in hand, until Riley reverses into a “TKO” for the win.
Riley = 1-3
Titus = 0-4

10:15 – Commercials

10:20
Husky/Kaval – Kaval makes relatively quick work of Husky; “Lay-Cool” are ecstatic for Kaval, while Cody demeans Husky.
Kaval = 2-2
Husky = 1-3

10:30 – Commercials

10:35 – Percy/McGillicutty – McGillicutty tries to use his technical skills to keep Percy off-balance, but Percy – maybe somewhat surprisingly – is able to go hold-for-hold and counter-for-counter with McGillicutty. McGillicutty manages to hit a Snapmare and Rolling Neck Snap, and sets-up for the “McGilli-Plex”; McGillicutty tries to lift Percy, but Percy manages to reverse it into a Float-Over DDT! Percy picks up the win.
Percy = 2-2
McGillicutty = 1-3

10:45 – Commercials

10:50
Striker runs down the rookies’ win/loss records, and mentions that the action will continue next week; Cottonwood and Lucky, the two rookies with 3-0 records, will compete alongside their Pros in tag-team action, with one of them inevitably being handed their first loss. Striker asks Morrison and Henry their thoughts on the situation: Henry believes that his strength combined with Lucky’s heart will allow them to prevail, while Morrison believes that his talent and Cottonwood’s size will prove the winning combination. Miz interrupts, saying that nobody cares about Lucky or Cottonwood, and that everybody should instead be talking about how Riley has turned the tide and will continue to improve and improve until he eventually wins the competition. Morrison: “You mean like the last guy you mentored?” All of the Pros begin interrupting and arguing with each other, and we go out on the tensions running high, as each Pro wants to prove themselves the superior teacher in the lead-up to the first elimination.

SMACKDOWN

8:00
Hawkins-Archer enter, and make their way to the ring. They announce that Bret Hart and “HartDynasty” are in the house tonight, and challenge “HartDynasty” to meet them in the ring. The announcers note that Bret is here to talk with Long tonight. Kidd-Smith (w/ Natalya) make their entrance, and ask what they want; Hawkins replies that he couldn’t help but notice that, ever since Kidd-Smith won the Tag-Championships, they haven’t offered any “Smackdown” teams a shot at the titles, and lay down the challenge. Kidd-Smith think for a moment, and answer by attacking Hawkins-Archer.

8:05
Tag: KIDD-SMITH/Hawkins-Archer – The bell rings and we get an impromptu match. Kidd and Hawkins tend to square-off with each other in order to prove technical dominance, while Smith and Archer tend to test each others’ brute force. Back-and-forth match with neither team really gaining advantage. At the end, Smith and Archer are brawling out of the ring, while Kidd and Hawkins are legal – Kidd tosses Hawkins out of the ring towards Smith and Archer, and then dives over the ropes onto the heels; Hawkins and Archer, however, pull Smith in the way, causing Kidd to crash into Smith, and Hawkins-Archer to win by count-out.

8:20 – Commercials

8:25
Backstage, Punk and the rest of “SES” are giving the Masked Member a pep-talk. Punk is upset that Masked accepted MVP’s challenge, but Masked says that he has a plan. They huddle and discuss strategy.

8:30
Women’s: LAYLA/Tiffany – McCool and Vickie accompany Layla, while Kelly and Rosa accompany Tiffany. Layla cheats liberally, but Tiffany keeps fighting. After a while, McCool jumps in the ring, prompting Kelly and Rosa to jump in, too, and the match is thrown out. The faces dump Layla and McCool out of the ring, and surround Vickie; however, before they can do anything, Chavo runs out from the back and begins to threaten the face divas. This, in turn, prompts MASTERS to run out and chase Chavo off! Masters celebrates with the face divas.

8:40 – Commercials

8:45
Backstage, McIntyre barges into Long’s office, and brags that Vince has given him a bye to the “Money In The Bank” PPV. Long really doesn’t care, so McIntyre repeats himself: “I have a bye to the ‘Money In The Bank’ PPV.” Long thinks for a moment, and then asks: “Wait a second. Did you say that you have a bye to the ‘Money In The Bank’ PPV?” McIntyre responds condescendingly. Long: “He just said that you have a bye to the PPV, right?” McIntyre asks if Long is deaf. Long: “No, I heard you loud and clear. It seems to me that you got a bye to the ‘Money In The Bank’ PPV, but NOT to the ‘Money-in-the-Bank’ match itself. Which means, you still have to win a qualifying-match at the PPV to earn the right to compete in the match itself. And since that match will be taking place live on PPV, and NOT on ‘Smackdown’, I can book you in a match against a man that is currently banned from ‘Smackdown’.” McIntyre realizes where Long is going. Long: “At ‘Money In The Bank’, you will be competing in a qualifying-match against… MATT HARDY!” McIntyre is so incensed that he can’t even speak; he just storms out of the room. Immediately after that, Swagger barges into Long’s office, and demands to know who he will be facing at ‘Money In The Bank’; Long announces that there will be a #1-contendor match tonight, between Rey and Show. Swagger then becomes so incensed that HE can’t speak, either, and instead just storms out of the room.

8:50
Christian-Jtg/Cody-Ziggler – Back-and-forth match. At the end, Christian locks Ziggler in the “Killswitch”, but Cody is able to reach in and tag Ziggler’s boot; Christian hits the “Killswitch” on Ziggler, but Cody runs up behind Christian, hits “Cross Rhodes”, and gets the win. After the match, Jtg goes to check on Christian, but is caught with a “Zig Zag” by Ziggler. The heels celebrate while leaving.

9:05 – Commercials

9:10
Long makes his entrance, and walks to the ring. He addresses the “vicious rumors” that have popped-up over the last week, those being that Long is somehow helping “NXTreme” in their attacks on WWE Superstars and employees. He realizes that some people may doubt, him, however, one of those being “Raw” GM, Bret Hart; he knows that Bret is in the building, and asks him to join him in the ring. Bret enters and makes his way to the ring. Long: “First of all, Bret, I want to thank you for joining us this evening; I know what a thrill it’s been for so many of the ‘Smackdown’ Superstars in the back to get to meet and talk to you today, as well as all of the wonderful ‘Smackdown’ fans that are here with us tonight.” Bret: “Well, Teddy, to tell you the truth, it’s just as much of an honor for me to be here. This is the first time I’ve ever stepped foot in a ‘Smackdown’ ring, and getting to meet all of the ‘Smackdown’ fans and Superstars has been incredible.” Long: “I’m glad you feel that way, Playa. However, we both know why you’re here, and that’s because of the rumors being spread by some of the bigger trouble-makers on the ‘Raw’ and ‘Smackdown’ rosters. And I just wanted to tell you, face-to-face, man-to-man, that I have absolutely nothing to do with ‘NXTreme’.” Bret: “The truth is, Teddy, I don’t believe you do. Or at least, I don’t WANT to believe that you do. I’ve known you a long time, and I could never imagine you would do such a thing. At the same time, I don’t trust Chris Jericho as far as I can throw him, and we all know that Jericho is the one spreading these rumors. However, I can’t help but notice that some of the things he said are true. Up until last week, ‘NXTreme’ had never attacked anyone on the ‘Smackdown’ roster.” Long: “I know.” Bret: On top of that, when they DID attack ‘Smackdown’ last week, it happened to be when John Cena and Randy Orton – two ‘Raw’ Superstars – were on the show.” Long: “I know.” Bret: “We’ve also heard Barrett say ‘thank you’ to you, Teddy, and last Monday, they were seen at WWE Headquarters wearing ‘Smackdown’ t-shirts.” Long: “I know all that, Bret, and I honestly can’t explain any of it. It would seem to me that they have a big problem with somebody on the ‘Raw’ roster, maybe it’s Cena, maybe it’s Orton, maybe it’s even you, I have no idea, but they’re incredibly angry. And when it seemed like you may have been getting closer to the truth, they decided to distract you by hinting that I have something to do with it. And who was it that originally hinted that I have something to do with it?” Bret lets out a sigh: “Jericho.” Long: “I understand why you would think that I was behind it, I do, but in my humble opinion, you need to get things straight under your own roof before you decide to step into my house and accuse me.” Bret looks like he is about to respond, when SWAGGER interrupts; he is carrying a microphone, and talks as he makes his way to the ring. Swagger: “No, no, no, no, no. Bret, don’t let him try to fool you like that, don’t let him bamboozle and befuddle you, Teddy Long has been helping ‘NXTreme’ since Day One, and everybody knows it.” Swagger continues to verbally assault Long, but Bret interrupts: “Swagger, I respect you as a wrestler, I respect that you’re trying to help, but to be honest, you are the LAST person I would listen to. You’re no different than Jericho, you’re out for yourself and you don’t care who you hurt to get what you want.” Swagger gets in Bret’s face and begins to threaten him, but Kofi runs down to the ring and chases him back up the ramp. Bret apologizes to Long, and Long accepts; they hug and applaud each other, but then KANE interrupts! Kane marches down to the ring, grabbing Bret’s throat with one hand and a mic with the other: “Why didn’t you punish them? WHY DIDN’T YOU PUNISH THEM???” Bret doesn’t know what to say. Kane is about to chokeslam Bret, when “HartDynasty” run down to make the save; it takes both Kidd and Smith to get Kane off of Bret. Kane backs down, and the Harts check on Bret; however, once they turn their backs, Kane attacks all three of them with a chair. This then prompts Rey and Show to make the save; Kane finally heads back up the ramp, and Rey and Show help all of the Harts up.

9:30 – Commercials

9:35
Mvp/MaskedMan – MVP makes his way to the ring. Punk, Gallows, and Serena make their way out, and introduce MVP’s opponent for tonight, giving us the first reveal of his name: “Masque”! A large, muscular black man (Shad) wearing a mask enters, and makes his way down to the ring. MVP grabs a mic, and points out that this obviously isn’t the same masked man they’ve been seeing for months. Punk: “How do you know it’s not the same man? Have you seen his face?” MVP: “I don’t have to see his face, that’s obviously not the same person.” Punk: “How do you know that for sure?” MVP: “Well, for starters, that guy’s black!” Punk’s jaw drops in shock. Punk: “Well… I never thought I’d say it, but you, MVP, are a racist!” MVP gets angry: “Don’t even joke like that.” Punk: “You’re obviously a racist! You can obviously see that this man is, quote unquote, a ‘black man’. I, on the other hand, do not see color! I simply see ‘Pure’ and ‘Impure’, and where this man was once ‘impure’, he is now an important cornerstone in my ‘Straight Edge Society’. I am proud to introduce… ‘Masque’!” Punk continues talking, until the ACTUAL “Masque” jumps out of the crowd and attacks MVP. The entire “SES” attack MVP and leave him laying; “SES” exits, and the imposter “Masque” removes his mask, revealing Shad, and hits an extra STO on MVP before leaving.

9:45 – Commercials

9:50
#1 Contendor: Rey/Show – Back-and-forth match. Swagger makes his way down to the ring in order to “scout” his opponents, prompting Kofi to make his way down, as well. At the end, Kane interrupts; the faces all run up the ramp to deal with Kane, while Swagger attacks Rey and dumps him back in the ring, causing Rey to win the match via count-out. After the others realize what happened, the show goes off the air in chaos, as everyone is fighting everyone.

Week of 7-12-10

RAW

9:00
The show opens with the night’s Guest Host, Florence Henderson, in the ring. Florence: “My name is Florence Henderson. Some of you may know me from a little show called ‘The Brady Bunch’, some of you may not know me at all. Ever since I signed on to host ‘Raw’, my friends and family have told me that I have no business being here, that when people think ‘Professional Wrestling’, they don’t exactly think ‘Florence Henderson’. Well tonight, I’m going to change that. Earlier today, I had a chance to meet with Bret Hart and run some of my ideas by him, and he has allowed me to sign a few matches. This Sunday, WWE presents a brand new PPV, called ‘Money In The Bank’, and in order to whet your appetites, tonight’s main-event will be a 6-man tag-team match! John Morrison, R-Truth, and Yoshi Tatsu will take on Edge, The Miz, and Chris Jericho! And this won’t be just any match, this will be a ‘NO DISQUALIFICATION’ MATCH! But that’s not all, we’re kicking things off tonight, with a match for the Unified Tag-Team Championships, as ‘The Hart Dynasty’ will take on ‘The Usos’! But again, this won’t be just any match, this will be a ‘LADDER MATCH’!!! Let’s get things started!”

9:05
Tag, “Ladder”: KIDD-SMITH/Jey-Jimmy – The belts are hung over the ring, and the match begins. Back-and-forth match with lots of high-flying action. Tamina tries to interfere, but Natalya cuts her off. At the end, Santino-Kozlov-Jillian march down to the ring, and attack the other four competitors. Jey is the first man up, and climbs the ladder to retrieve the belts. Jey-Jimmy are the new Tag-Champions.

9:20 – Commercials

9:25
Cena-Orton/Khali-Henry – The announcers note that this match came about because Cena and Orton both wanted to  prepare themselves for Kane this Sunday, and requested to face the biggest guys in the locker-room. Lucky accompanies Henry to the ring. Khali-Henry use their size and strength to get an early advantage, but Cena soon wins with an “Attitude Adjuster” on Henry. After the match, Lucky gets in the ring to check on Henry, while Cena-Orton begin to head up the ramp; Orton, however, hangs back, then gets back into the ring and hits an “RKO” on Lucky. Cena notices and sprints back after Orton, but Orton slinks away; Cena helps Lucky to his feet.

9:35
Backstage, Bret is talking to Florence Henderson in his office. Edge barges in, and mentions that Jericho has an installment of “The Highlight Reel” taking place tonight; he wants to know why Jericho gets to hold an episode of his talk-show, but Edge doesn’t. Bret explains that Jericho simply asked earlier in the day, so he scheduled it; no complicated explanation or conspiracy behind it. Edge simply leaves in a huff, but not before exclaiming “Jericho, Jericho, Jericho!”

9:40 – Commercials

9:45
Bourne makes his way to the ring, and announces that, to keep in the spirit of the evening, he wants to put his WWE-Championship up for grabs tonight in a “ladder” match. Ryder is the first to accept the challenge, but TJ also announces that he wants another shot.

9:50
WWE, “Ladder”: BOURNE/Ryder/Tj – The heels try to double-team Bourne, but Bourne continually out-thinks and out-maneuvers them, resulting in the heels constantly running into or getting hit with the ladders. With both heels down next to each other, Bourne climbs the ladder, but instead of grabbing the belt, he decides to hit “Air Bourne” from the top of the ladder onto both men! Bourne climbs the ladder again, and grabs the belt this time.

10:05 – Commercials

10:10
Jericho is in the ring, ready to regale the audience with another installment of “The Highlight Reel”. Jericho says that his guest is such a surprise, that even Bret doesn’t know who it is. “So without further ado, let’s welcome tonight’s very special guest… Bret Hart!” Bret enters, looking decidedly confused. Jericho says that he watched Bret’s appearance on “Smackdown” last Friday, and couldn’t believe that he actually fell for Long’s lies about not being involved with “NXTreme”. Bret: “I really wanted to talk to you about this in private, but hey, if you want to air dirty laundry, then let’s air dirty laundry.” Jericho noticed that Long tried to pass the buck, and couldn’t help but notice that Bret seems to be in agreement that he [Jericho] is the one that has actually been helping “NXTreme” all this time. Bret: “You were Wade Barrett’s mentor, weren’t you? And you’ve openly admitted that you’d do anything to become champion again, haven’t you?” Jericho denies this. Bret: “As far as I’m concerned, you have to atone for your sins.” Cena and Orton make their entrances, and slowly march toward the ring. Jericho: “You’re right, I am behind an attack… just not the one you’re thinking of…” With that, KANE makes his entrance, and goes after Cena and Orton, while Jericho runs away.

10:25 – Commercials

10:30 – Primo is backstage with Florence Henderson; she asks if he’s ready to face Sheamus, knowing that Sheamus is looking to make an example of him. Primo (in an obviously baby-face role) says that he is. Florence: “Good luck, and don’t hurt that handsome face of yours.” Primo blushes slightly, and says “Thanks, Mrs. Brady. I mean, Henderson”. He runs out of the room, slightly embarrassed.

10:35
Sheamus/Primo – Sheamus absolutely decimates Primo, getting the win, and continuing to maul him after the bell. Sheamus yells into the camera, “This is what’s going to happen to you, Evan Bourne!”

10:40 – Commercials

10:45
“No DQ”: Morrison-Truth-Tatsu/Jericho-Edge-Miz – Everything breaks down really quickly, as all six men are fighting in and around the ring. It’s just a wild brawl around the ring, as everybody is using all manner of weaponry: chairs, tables, steps, ring-posts. At the end, the faces set-up tables in the ring; Jericho sneaks off, citing that he has to conserve energy for this Sunday, while the faces put Edge and Miz on tables, and bring out ladders to jump off of. As Jericho is making his way up the ramp, Cena and Orton meet him; they grab him and toss him back into the ring, where the other faces in the match put him through a table. Kane then makes his entrance, then Bourne, then Sheamus, and we go off the air with everybody brawling with everybody.

NXT

10:00
Percy/Kaval – We start with action, as the announcers note that tonight’s matches have been set-up in order to give everybody a better idea of the standings: Percy and Kaval both have 2-2 records, so this match will be used to rank them accordingly. Percy tries really hard, but can match Kaval’s kicks. Kaval wins with the “Warrior’s Way”. After the match, Kaval helps Percy to his feet, and the two shake hands and hug.
Kaval = 3-2
Percy = 2-3

10:15 – Commercials

10:20
Husky/McGillicutty – Both men have 1-3 records. McGillicutty tries to use his superior technical game, but Husky just hits him with too much, too fast, eventually hitting a “Pounce” for the win.
Husky = 2-3
McGillicutty = 1-4

10:30 – Commercials

10:35
Striker reminds everyone that next week is the first elimination of the season, and asks the Pros (minus Henry and Morrison, who are preparing for their match) what they think of their rookies. MVP thinks Percy is doing really well, he has a decent record, and shows us week-in/week-out what kind of positive attitude he brings to the table. Kofi thinks that McGillicutty has a ton of potential, but needs to step it up; he’s losing too often for a guy with his credentials. Ryder says he has nothing to say about Titus, other than that he didn’t want him for his rookie, he got stuck with him. “Lay-Cool” think that Kaval is “adorable”, and is slowly gaining momentum. Cody admits that he wasn’t thrilled about Husky at first, but he’s not as bad as he originally thought. Miz decides that, instead of speaking about his own rookie, Riley, he’s going to comment on everyone else. “Percy looks like Urkel in ‘Saturday Night Fever’, and he’s going to lose. McGillicutty is about as far from ‘Perfect’ as you can get, he’s going to lose. Titus… well, he’s just going to lose. Kaval looks like some sort of midget snapping turtle, he’s going to lose. Husky only wants to join WWE for the free catering, he’s going to lose. Lucky is so stupid that he doesn’t realize that being shot and stabbed is the exact OPPOSITE of lucky, he’s going to lose. And Cottonwood isn’t literate enough to make hotel reservations, he’s going to lose. My rookie, however, is going to win. He’s a winner, that’s what he does. His name is ‘Alex Riley’, and HEEEEE’S AWEEEEESOOOME!!!”

10:45 – Commercials

10:50
Lucky-Henry/Cottonwood-Morrison – Both rookies have 3-0 records, as it’s noted that one of them will inevitably record their first loss here tonight. Lucky tries his hardest, but just can’t compete with Cottonwood’s size; one big Brain Chop later, and Cottonwood gets the 1-2-3.
Cottonwood = 4-0
Lucky = 3-1

SMACKDOWN

8:00
Theme, pyro, NO CHANCE IN HELL! The show opens with Vince making a surprise appearance; he walks down to the ring and grabs a mic: “Teddy Long, you get your butt out here right now.” Long makes his entrance, obviously feeling a mixture of confusion and fear. Vince: “What do you think you’re doing?” Long has no idea what Vince is talking about. Vince: “I’ll repeat, what do you think you’re doing?” Long is completely confused. Vince: “You think I don’t know what’s going on?” Long still has no clue. Vince: “You think I didn’t notice that, last Monday, your so-called ‘NXTreme’ group didn’t show up? Why do you think that is, Teddy? Is it because people started to put the pieces together? People started to realize that you were the mastermind behind their attacks, and you figured you’d lay low for a while?” Long doesn’t have to say a word, his face conveys all of the offense that he is feeling at Vince’s allegation. Vince: “Don’t play dumb with me. I know you’re behind it.” Long looks like he wants to respond, but Swagger interrupts; he’s carrying a microphone: “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. McMahon, I can’t possibly say ‘thank you’ enough, but let me try: thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.” Swagger continues to thank Vince up until he actually gets into the ring; once there, he shakes Vince’s hand. Swagger: “It’s so nice to actually have an authority figure with dignity, with honor around here. Teddy Long has been trying to screw me out of this title ever since I got here, and it’s nice to know that somebody is going to step-up and fight for justice, that somebody is going to expose the ugly truth behind his disgusting – and quite frankly, disturbing – reign of terror. I’ve been saying that Teddy was behind ‘NXTreme’ for weeks, but nobody wanted to listen. Chris Jericho even stole the idea from me, but nobody wanted to listen. Finally, finally, our prayers are answered, and the honorable Vincent Kennedy McMahon is here to be the silver lining of the dark cloud that has been Teddy Long’s evil, fascist dictatorship. Thank you, Mr. McMahon, for being our savior, and for being our boss. And just to show you just how much you mean to me, I will actually do as others should do for me, and get down on my knees.” Swagger does indeed get down on his knees, and mock-worships at Vince’s feet; Vince actually seems a little uncomfortable by all of this. Vince: “Umm, that’s nice kid, but I haven’t actually done anything yet.” Swagger gets back up: “That’s ok, I know you will.” Vince decides not to comment any further on Swagger, and turns his attention back towards Long: “Teddy Long… you’ve been on probation for a long time… truth be told, you’ve probably been on probation for far too long. I’ve never liked you, Teddy. I’ve never thought that you were an effective General Manager, but against my better judgment, I gave you a chance to prove yourself. And you know how I think you’ve done so far? You want a very public employee-review? I think you’ve failed! I think you’re a failure, Teddy Long, I think you’ve failed at everything you’ve ever done. You failed as a manager, you failed as a referee, and you’ve failed at running ‘Smackdown’. Teddy Long… YOU’RE FIIIIIIIIRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEED!!!” Long is obviously feeling a mix of emotion, but after composing himself, simply – yet dramatically – shakes his head from side to side. Vince: “What do you mean, ‘no’? You’re fired, get out of my ring!” Long grabs Vince’s mic right out of his hand; he stares Vince right in the eye, and states: “I’m not leaving this ring, and you can’t fire me.” Vince: “What do you mean I can’t fire you? You work for me, I’m the boss, you’re the employee, and I say, YOU’RE FIRED!” Long: “That’s where you’re wrong, playa. I don’t just work for you; I work for every single WWE share-holder, every member of the WWE Board of Directors, and most importantly, every single member of the WWE Universe! And if I have to call up every single one of them, if I have to contact every share-holder, every board-member, and every single name in the phone-book, I will, but I’m telling you right now, they don’t want me fired! I’m not leaving this ring, and I’m not leaving this job. Now you can holla at me all ya want, but I’m [poking Vince in the chest] Not! Going! Anywhere!” Swagger gets in Long’s face: “You better show some respect for your boss!” Long: “You better show some respect for YOUR boss! And if you don’t, I’m gonna make sure somebody beats it into you! I’m putting you in a match tonight, against Kofi Kingston! Not only that, but you’re going to be defending your World Heavyweight Championship!” Swagger: “You can’t do that!” Long: “You want to bet? You’re taking on Kofi Kingston, for the World Heavyweight Championship, and it’s gonna be… a ‘ladder’ match!” Vince: “You can’t do that, you’re fired!” Long: “Take it up with the Board! But until then, I’m going to tell you the same thing you told me: Vince McMahon, GET OUT OF MY RING!!!” Vince is flabbergasted. Swagger: “He’s not going anywhere, and neither am I. If you want him out of this ring, you’re gonna have to go through me!” Just as Swagger says that, Kofi’s music hits; Kofi stands on the stage, and then Show’s music hits! Show steps onto the stage, and then Rey’s music hits! The three of them march down to the ring. Kofi chases Swagger out of the ring and to the back, while Rey and Show surround Vince. Vince grabs the mic that Swagger dropped: “You can’t make me leave, you work for me! YOU WORK FOR ME!” Show asks Long for the mic: “With all due respect, sir, we work for Teddy Long.” Vince is incensed, and motions that he’s going to get physical; however, he turns and runs instead. As Vince tries to dive out of the ring, though, Rey catches him, and pulls him back to Show; Show then hoists Vince onto his shoulder, and carries him out of the arena. Long: “From now on, this is MY show, and I’m going to run it MY way!” Long exits to the strains of his theme, his head held high as he marches to the back.

8:20 – Commercials

8:25
Mvp/Shad – The announcers note that Mvp requested this match after Shad’s attack last week. They also announce that, later tonight, Rey-Show will take on Punk-Gallows. Back-and-forth match, with Mvp hitting the “Playmaker” for the win.

8:35
A video-package airs from Hawkins-Archer, containing “deranged” music and visuals. They state that they beat then-champions “HartDynasty” last week, and are putting all tag-teams on notice; whether it’s the Harts, Usos, or anybody else, they will be the new tag-champions sooner rather than later.

8:40 – Commercials

8:45
Christian-Jtg/Cody-Ziggler – This is a rematch from last week; Vickie accompanies Cody-Ziggler. The heels dominate the majority of the match, singling out Jtg. Jtg eventually tags Christian, who clears house on the heels. Legal-man Ziggler ducks out of the ring to avoid Christian; Christian begins to yell at Ziggler to get back in the ring, while the ref counts. Jtg then runs over to Ziggler, but Ziggler whips him into the steps; as this is going on, Cody attempts to sneak-up on Christian and hit a “Cross Rhodes”, but Christian counters into the “Killswitch”. With everybody distracted, Ziggler runs back into the ring, and hits the “Zig Zag” on Christian for the win. Vickie runs into the ring to celebrate, and can’t keep her hands off Ziggler. After the match, McIntyre runs down to the ring, and begins beating on Christian; he pulls a ladder out from under the ring, and nails Christian with it. Cody then helps to beat on Christian, but McIntyre attacks him, too! After knocking them both out, McIntyre sets the ladder up in the ring, climbs it, and celebrates, as Vickie and Ziggler watch from the ramp.

9:05 – Commercials

9:10
Kane is standing in the ring, and announces that, in two days, he will finally attain vengeance for his brother; he originally thought it was Cena, now thinks it may have been Orton, but concludes that one of them must be the guilty party, and both shall pay. Show enters, and says that he thought they worked all of this out, that Kane wasn’t going to be a one-man vigilante crew, attacking everybody in his path based on pure speculation. Kane says that he planned on letting the authorities handle things, but then came to the conclusion that either Cena or Orton must be the guy. Show says that he doesn’t think either one is responsible, and adds that he really thinks Kane should get psychiatric help. Kane admits that he’s been in a constant rage ever since his brother was attacked, and tearfully confesses that he realizes he needs help. Show pats Kane on the shoulder, and goes to walk him out of the ring; as Show turns his back, though, Kane attacks, hammering him down, Chokeslamming him, and beating him with a chair. Kane grabs a mic: “I don’t need help. I! NEED! VENGEANCE!” Kane leaves.

9:20
Rey-Show/Punk-Gallows – After Kane leaves, “SES” make their way to the ring, with Punk saying he doesn’t want to wait any longer, he wants his match to start right now. Rey makes his entrance, but as he’s walking down the ramp, Swagger attacks him! The entire “SES” then gang-up on Rey, beating him down and then rolling him onto the apron. The ref rings the bell, Punk covers Show (who is still down from the previous attack), and he gets the 3-count. Punk grabs the mic: “This is only an example of what’s going to happen this Sunday, in the ‘Money-in-the-Bank’ match. I will become the first and only three-time winner of the ‘Money-in-the-Bank’ briefcase, and then, I will become the first and only five-time ‘Straight Edge’ World Heavyweight Champion.”

9:25 – Commercials

9:30
WWE, “Ladder”: SWAGGER/Kofi – Chimel is in the ring, and makes the introduction. Kofi enters first. Swagger enters second, looking over his shoulder to make sure he doesn’t get jumped by Rey. The match starts, and is a back-and-forth affair. Vince makes his way down to the ring, but Long soon follows. Swagger tosses Kofi out of the ring, and we go to commercial.

9:40 – Commercials

9:45
WWE, “Ladder”: SWAGGER/Kofi (cont’d) – As we come back from commercial, Swagger is in control. Swagger attempts to climb the ladder several times, but Kofi keeps knocking/throwing him off. At the end, a heavily fatigued Kofi hits Swagger with “Trouble in Paradise”, and begins to make a slow climb up the ladder; Vince begins waving his arms, obviously signaling for somebody to come out from the back. That “somebody” turns out to be McIntyre, Cody, and Punk, who sprint down to the ring and attack Kofi; Long, however, then waves his arms, prompting Rey, Christian, Jtg to run down to the ring. Kane then decides to make his own entrance and anarchy, but then Show comes out to attack Kane. In all the confusion, and with everybody brawling on the outside, Christian sets-up a ladder in the ring; he climbs it, grabs the belt, and celebrates, as if to say “Pretty soon, this will be mine.” However, while he’s on top of the ladder, Swagger pushes him off; the belt lands in the ring, Swagger grabs it, and he is ruled the winner of the match. We go off the air in complete chaos.

MONEY IN THE BANK
R - WWE: BOURNE/Sheamus
2 - MITB: Edge/Miz/Punk/Kofi/?/?/?/?
S - World: SWAGGER/Rey
2 - Cena/Orton/Kane
S - MITBQ: Matt/McIntyre
R - MITBQ: Jericho/Tatsu
S - MITBQ: Christian/Cody
R - MITBQ: Morrison/Truth

///

MITBQ: Morrison/Truth – They shake hands to start. Back-and-forth match that sees Morrison win after “Starship Pain”. Truth congratulates Morrison after the match.
Morrison qualifies for “MITB”.

MITBQ: Christian/Cody – Cody uses underhanded tactics to keep the advantage, but Christian pulls a “Killswitch” out of nowhere to get the win.
Christian qualifies for “MITB”.

MITBQ: Jericho/Tatsu – Tatsu holds his own, getting several 2-counts on Jericho, but a quick “Codebreaker” gives Jericho the match.
Jericho qualifies for “MITB”.

MITBQ: Matt/McIntyre – McIntyre makes his entrance, and grabs the mic; he says that he shouldn’t have to compete against Matt, and that Long should be fired. Matt’s music hits, and Matt, in a somewhat controlled rage, makes his way to the ring. He gets into the ring, the bell rings, and he just TEARS into McIntyre! Matt takes him down, hits some mounted punches, then proceeds to literally beat McIntyre from pillar to post. Matt slams his head into the turnbuckles, tosses him out of the ring, throws him into the barricade and steps, etc. Eventually, McIntyre decides to just run away; the ref counts him out, and Matt wins.
Matt qualifies for “MITB”.

MITB now looks like this:
Edge vs. Miz vs. Morrison vs. Jericho vs. Punk vs. Kofi vs. Christian vs. Matt

Cena/Orton/Kane – Kane makes his entrance first. Show then makes his entrance, and announces that, after speaking with Long, he is now a part of this match, too, making this a 4-way. Cena then makes his entrance, followed by Orton. The three faces triple-team Kane, knocking him out of the ring; they look confused about where to go from here, and decide to just fight each other. Cena and Orton double-team Show, but Show powers back. Meanwhile, Kane grabs a chair, gets back into the ring, and destroys everyone, including the referee. He continues to beat on everyone, until GONG… GONG… Taker’s theme hits, the arena darkens, and his Tron-video plays. Kane is mesmorized, staring at the entrance. A message appears on the Tron, and Taker’s voice is heard over the sound-system: “DO NOT PUNISH THE INNOCENT FOR THE SINS OF THE GUILTY”. Kane is yelling to the Tron, “Tell me who!”, but everything goes back to normal. Kane is full of anguish, yelling and screaming to himself, and just walks out of the match. The match is thrown out, and the other three competitors struggle to their feet. Once standing, they begin to walk off, until Orton decides to hit an “RKO” on Show. Cena questions what Orton’s problem is, only for Orton to hit an “RKO” on him, too. Orton walks to the back to his own music.

World: SWAGGER/Rey – The two wrestle a highly competitive, back-and-forth match, with both men using their strengths to counter each others’ arsenals. At the end, Rey goes for a “619”, but Swagger catches him, and turns it into a “Swagger Bomb” for the win.

“Money In The Bank”: Edge/Miz/Morrison/Jericho/Punk/Kofi/Christian/Matt – No way to really book this match, it’s just a wild affair with lots of ladders, tables, flying, and risks. At the end, Edge and Punk are climbing the ladder, fighting each other to be the man to grab the briefcase; Kofi grabs another ladder, sets it up next to them, sprints up the ladder, and steals the briefcase away from both of them. Kofi wins the match.

WWE: BOURNE/Sheamus – Much like the Swagger/Rey match, the two men use their strengths to counter each others’ arsenals. At the end, Bourne has Sheamus down, and goes to climb the ropes; obviously hurt, it takes him a few seconds to get to the top. All of a sudden, Barrett jumps the barricade and tries to get into the ring, but several members of security hold him back. Cena walks down the ramp, and challenges Barrett to make a move. As this is going on, Sheamus gets back up, hits the “Celtic Cross” on Bourne, and wins the title. The win is down-played, however, as there’s still the Cena/Barrett commotion outside the ring. Cena yells again for security to let Barrett go, and this time, security stops holding Barrett back… the security force then turns around and removes their hats, revealing the rest of “NXTreme”! “NXTreme” attack Cena for a few moments, but several other WWE Superstars run out from the back to help Cena; “NXTreme” high-tail it back into the crowd, signaling for Sheamus to come with them. Cena helps Bourne to his feet, while a few other Superstars chase after “NXTreme”; before leaving the arena, Sheamus holds the title in the air to celebrate, while the rest of “NXTreme” pose with him. They then continue to run out of the arena, as the announcers realize that Sheamus has been the one helping “NXTreme” all along.

Week of 7-19-10

RAW

9:00
Cena makes his entrance, and stands on the stage; he is soon accompanied by Bourne, Morrison, Truth, Kidd, Smith, Natalya, Tatsu, and Khali. The eight men (and one woman) march down to the ring together. Cena grabs a mic: “We did not come out here tonight to talk. We came out here tonight to fight. Sheamus! ‘NXTreme’! Get your butts out here right now, and let’s see what you’re made of!” They wait for a few moments, but get no response. Cena calls them out again, but again, no response. Bret makes his entrance, instead. Bret: “Unfortunately, ‘NXTreme’ is nowhere to be found tonight. From what I understand, they and Sheamus are lying low this evening; however, I did receive a tape from them, which I think everybody in that ring needs to see.” The tape plays on the Tron: it opens with Sheamus and ‘NXTreme’ in an undisclosed location, sitting by a pool, surrounded by beautiful women, drinking, partying, and celebrating Sheamus’ WWE-Championship win. Sheamus and Barrett are on beach-chairs, sipping champagne, while the rest of “NXTreme” parties in the background. Sheamus: “Let me start off this tape by apologizing to the WWE Universe; I’m sorry that I had to destroy your little hero, Evan Bourne, and make him a FORMER champion. Sorry fella, but the truth is, you don’t belong in the same ring as me, and last night, I proved it to you.” Barrett: “And let me take this chance to also apologize to all of the WWE Superstars; I’m sorry that we’re always embarrassing you by out-smarting you and out-muscling you, but we can’t help that we’re all more finely-tuned athletes and scholars than any of you, especially that wannabe street-thug, John Cena.” Sheamus: “I told you that it wouldn’t take long for me to regain MY WWE-Championship, and Barrett told you that it wouldn’t take long for the winds of change to begin blowing through WWE. What you see before you, is a finely tuned army, a group of warriors that aren’t afraid to take what they want – what they DESERVE – and to take it by force. And now that I’ve regained the WWE-Championship, we got another surprise for all of you.” Barrett: “See, Sheamus’ WWE-Championship win isn’t the only thing we’re celebrating tonight. In fact, it’s just the tip of the iceberg. For last night, every member of ‘NXTreme’ received the gift that they’ve deserved ever since first stepping foot in a WWE ring: WWE Contracts! And if you don’t believe it, just ask your esteemed General Manager, Bret Hart himself.” The tape ends. Bret: “Unfortunately, it’s true. They were faxed to me this afternoon, every member of ‘NXTreme’ is now a contracted WWE Superstar. Even worse, the contracts are iron-clad, I read over them earlier, and my lawyer will be looking at them this week. For right now, it looks like we’re stuck with them on ‘Raw’. I don’t know why, I don’t know how, but I promise you, I will get to the bottom of this.” Cena: “Bret, believe me, none of us are mad at you. Who we ARE made at, though, are Sheamus and ‘NXTreme’, and we’re not gonna budge from this ring until they show up to this arena, climb in this ring, and get in our faces!” Bret: “I understand how you all feel, but they could be a thousand miles away, and we still have a show to do. Please, I’m asking you, let me handle this. If you guys want a fight, I will make sure that each of you have one tonight, but the show must go on.” Cena: “You know what, you’re right. They obviously want no part of a fair fight, so waiting for them is a waste of time. Before we go, though, let me say this: Sheamus! ‘NXTreme’! If you ever decide to actually put your money where your mouths are, you know where to find us. You’ve done it before… we DARE you to do it again!”

9:20 – Commercials

9:25
Tag: JEY-JIMMY/Kidd-Smith – The match only lasts about a minute before Santino-Kozlov-Jillian interfere. Everybody is brawling, so Bret enters, announces that this will now be a 9-person, intergender 3-way match, and leaves. The match is now Jey-Jimmy-Tamina/Kidd-Smith-Natalya/Santino-Kozlov-Jillian, without the tag-titles on the line. The announcers note that Kozlov has been training Santino in the art of “Sambo”, and the match features Santino hitting a lot of scientific take-downs and throws, almost to his own surprise. At the end, Santino has Kidd in a heel-hook by the Usos’ corner; Santino is prematurely celebrating his victory, to the point where he doesn’t notice Jimmy reach out and tag Kidd. Jimmy climbs the ropes, hits a big splash on Santino, and gets the win.

9:40 – Commercials

9:45
Tatsu/Regal – Tatsu makes quick work of Regal, getting the win after several kicks. After the match, Tatsu is celebrating in the ring, when Orton’s music hits.

9:50
Orton makes his way down the ramp, getting into the ring just as Regal gets to his feet. Regal yells at Orton for disrespecting him, so Orton hits him with an “RKO”; Orton then gives Tatsu a round-of-applause, but when Tatsu bows to him, Orton grabs him and gives him an “RKO”, too. Regal and Tatsu both roll out of the ring, while Orton grabs a mic: “I’m sure a lot of you are wondering why I gave John Cena an ‘RKO’ last night. I’m sure a lot of you are also wondering why I wasn’t standing with my WWE brethren earlier this evening when they called out ‘NXTreme’. The answer, quite simply, is because I don’t care. I don’t care about being John Cena’s friend, and I don’t care about ‘NXTreme’. I have one mission in this life, and that is to reclaim the WWE-championship. I will do whatever it takes to get that belt back around my waste, and nobody is going to stand in my way.” Orton goes to leave, but then Cena’s music hits; he gets in Orton’s face: “So you don’t care about being my friend? That’s cool. Truth is, I don’t care about being your friend, either. I haven’t forgotten the wars that we’ve been through. I haven’t forgotten the torture we’ve put each other through. And I especially haven’t forgotten the way you attacked my father. However, I thought that when it came to ‘NXTreme’, when it came to our jobs, our livelihoods, I thought that we could be a united front. The good part of having a viper as an ally is that a viper is dangerous. I know how dangerous you are, and I know how dangerous you can be to ‘NXTreme’. But I should have realized the bad part of having a viper as an ally, and that’s that a viper can’t be trusted. I’m not surprised you turned on me. I am surprised that you turned on the WWE Universe.” Orton: “I haven’t turned on the WWE Universe. I simply turned my attention to my goals, and fighting by your side, in a war against ‘NXTreme’, is not my goal. I’m here to be the WWE Champion, and that’s what I will be again. If I have to fight through ‘NXTreme’ to get to Sheamus, I will, but don’t think for one second that I care what they do to you. That WWE Championship is every bit as important to you as it is to me, and I know that once I reclaim it, you’ll be coming for me. Our wars will return, I simply fired the first shot.” Cena: “I was hoping I wouldn’t have to keep one eye on ‘NXTreme’, and one eye on you, but you leave me no choice. And speaking of where to keep your eyes…” Cena points behind Orton; Orton turns around, and is leveled by a kick from Tatsu. Orton rolls out of the ring and up the ramp.

10:05 – Commercials

10:10
US: MIZ/Morrison/Truth – Morrison tries to hit a “Flying Chuck” on Miz, but Miz ducks, and Morrison ends-up hitting Truth, instead. This distracts Morrison, allowing Miz to catch him with the “Skull-Crushing Finale” for the win. Miz leaves, while Morrison tries to help Truth back up; Truth, however, is pissed, and shoves Morrison away. Morrison wants to know what gives, but Truth just storms away angry.

10:20
Backstage, Bret is on the phone, when Edge barges in. Bret asks Edge to wait a moment, but Edge insists on speaking anyway. Edge asks Bret what he plans on doing to right the wrong of Kofi stealing his win in the “MITB” match last night; Bret ignores him, and keeps on talking on the phone. Edge repeats his question, but Bret still ignores him; out of frustration, Edge then grabs the phone from Bret and hangs up. Bret: “If you ever do that again, I will fire you on the spot. You got that? As for what I’m going to do about it, I’ll tell you: Nothing, You lost, fair and square, cry me a river. I have more important things to worry about.” Edge wonders what could be more important. Bret: “’NXTreme’ was just spotted on their way to the arena.” Edge: “And this is more important than me, how?” Bret: “Get out of my office, or I will fire you.” Edge finally takes the hint, and leaves; however, Jericho then barges in. Jericho goes to say something, but Bret gets in Jericho’s face: “I’m not dealing with you tonight, either. If you’re smart, you’ll walk back out that door without saying a word.” Jericho: “But-“ Bret: “I told you, not a word. I’ll think of a proper punishment later, but for right now, I’m putting you and Edge in tag-team match tonight, against John Cena and Evan Bourne. Now you get out of my office, too!” Jericho leaves, obviously on egg-shells about upsetting Bret further.

10:25 – Commercials

10:30
Khali/Ryder – Ryder tries a hit-and-run offense, but Khali simply Brain-Chops him for the win. After the match, Tj enters, and asks Khali if his services are for sale. Ranjin says that Khali isn’t interested in money. Tj insists that EVERYBODY is interested in money, to which Ranjin replies that Khali cannot be bought. Tj then says that he can buy and sell anybody he wants, “like a trained monkey”. Ranjin is offended by Tj’s use of the word “monkey”; Tj realizes that he may not have phrased it properly, and tries to back-pedal, but Ranjin translates for Khali, who also becomes furious. Khali chases after Tj, but Tj and Virgil high-tail it to the back.

10:40 – Commercials

10:45
Cena-Bourne/Jericho-Edge – As the contestants make their ways to the ring, the announcers note that ‘NXTreme’ has been spotted driving towards the arena; they don’t know what this means for the WWE Superstars, but as of now, this match will happen as planned. The heels control the match by isolating Bourne. After about fifteen minutes, Bret appears on the Tron, with an urgent message: “’NXTreme’ is almost at the arena, and I want to cut them off at the pass. I’ve already begun sending WWE Superstars to the parking garage.” Cena and Bourne abandon the match, and run to the back. Jericho-Edge celebrate that they’ve basically won by forfeit. Bret: “And Jericho, Edge, if you two know what’s good for you, you’ll get out there, too. Believe me, I’m NOT bluffing.” Jericho and Edge think for a second, then run out of the ring and to the back.

11:00
The camera cuts to the parking-garage, where the limo carrying ‘NXTreme’ arrives; the members of ‘NXTreme’ (minus Sheamus) exit the limo, and as they begin walking into the arena, a bunch of WWE Superstars (Cena, Bourne, Jericho, Edge, Morrison, Khali, Tatsu, Kidd, Smith, Henry, Goldust, and Primo) jump out from behind the parked cars and assault ‘NXTreme’! ‘NXTreme’ attempts to run back to their limo, but the Superstars don’t allow it! ‘NXTreme’ is struggling to get back into the limo, but as they make it in, the Superstars get in the limo, as well! The battle is happening inside the limo, windows are being kicked out, etc.! Eventually, the Superstars demolish ‘NXTreme’, and throw them one-by-one into the limo! Bret grabs the limo-driver out of his seat, and demands that he drive ‘NXTreme’ out of the arena! The limo speeds out of the garage, carrying the beaten members of “NXTreme”; the Superstars celebrate their moral victory, but the as they do, the cameras cut back inside the arena; Sheamus has jumped out of the audience, and grabs ahold of both Lawler and Cole. Sheamus drags them into the ring, and begins beating them down (the Superstars in the parking-garage have no idea that this is happening). Sheamus grabs the mic: “You may have won the battle, but we’re going to win the war! You may have taken out my associates, but I’m still the champion, and I’m still standing right here in front of you!” IT’S TIME TO PLAY THE GAME… Trips’ music hits, and he hits the ring, carrying his trusty sledgehammer. Sheamus challenges him, and goes to hit Trips with the WWE-Championship as he enters the ring; Trips ducks, however, and hits Sheamus with the sledge! Trips beats him down for a bit, then goes for the “Pedigree”; Sheamus wiggles out, though, and runs away through the crowd.

NXT

10:00
Striker announces that tonight is the First Elimination of the season, and that every Rookie will have a chance to improve their rankings tonight. Striker reminds everybody of the results of the first “Pro’s Poll”:
            1) McGillicutty
            2) Lucky
            3) Kaval
            4) Percy
            5) Husky
            6) Cottonwood
            7) Titus
            8) Riley
Striker then announces the current win/loss-records:
                4-0: Cottonwood
            3-1: Lucky
            3-2: Kaval
            2-3: Husky, Percy
            1-3: Riley
            1-4: McGillicutty
            0-4: Titus
Striker announces that the Rookies will compete in four 1-on-1 matches tonight, each with a 10-minute time-limit. We begin tonight with the owner of the best win/loss-record, Cottonwood, taking on the owner of the worst win/loss-record, Titus:

10:05
Cottonwood/Titus – As the competitors enter, the announcers note that the matches have been determined by win/loss-record, with opposite seedings facing each other: Lucky/McGillicutty (2nd/7th), Kaval/Riley (3rd/6th), and Husky/Percy (Tied at 4th). Cottonwood dominates Titus, but Titus is on a mission tonight, and refuses to stay down for the 3-count. Titus clips Cottonwood’s knee, and goes to work on it, stomping on the knee, and brawling Cottonwood down. Cottonwood gets back up and tries to regain the advantage, but Titus tackles him out of the ring; Cottonwood’s knee is messed-up to the point where he can’t stand back up, allowing Titus to win by count-out. Titus celebrates, while Cottonwood roars in anger.
Cottonwood = 4-1
Titus = 1-4

10:15 – Commercials

10:20
Lucky/McGillicutty – The competitors are already in the ring when we return to commercial. The announcers note that, despite being the top-ranked competitor in the first “Pro’s Poll”, McGillicutty has been on a losing-streak. Lucky dominates the early part of the match, but McGillicutty comes back with a Snap-Mare, Rolling Neck-Snap, and “McGilli-Plex” for the win.
Lucky = 3-2
McGillicutty = 2-4

10:25
Kaval/Riley – After about three minutes, Riley distracts the ref; Riley then hits a low-blow on Kaval, and hits the TKO for the win.
Kaval = 3-3
Riley = 2-3

10:30 – Commercials

10:35
Husky/Percy – Both men throw everything at the wall, but after ten minutes, the match is ruled a draw. The two men shake hands after the match.

10:45 – Commercials

10:50
Striker gathers the Rookies, and reveals the “Pro’s Poll”:
            1) Husky [+4]
            2) Percy (MVP) [+2]
            3) Cottonwood (Morrison) [+3]
            4) Riley (Miz) [+4]
            5) Lucky (Henry) [-3]
            6) Kaval (Lay-Cool) [-3]
            7) McGillicutty (Kofi) [-6]
            8) Titus (Ryder) [-1]
Titus is eliminated, as Striker surmises that, despite his win tonight, it was too little, too late in terms of Titus’ win/loss-record; Titus gives a positive farewell speech, thanking the fans and WWE, and leaves. Striker asks the Pros about their rankings. Morrison: “Well, I’ll admit who I voted for, and that’s Husky Harris. As somebody who takes a lot of pride in their body, I have to admit, you’ve really been showing me something, especially tonight. You may not have abs of steel, but you are strong, tough, and agile as anybody I’ve ever seen. I think you have everything it takes to be a star, and I wish you the best.” MVP: “I also voted for Harris, and like John already said, you’ve been amazing to watch since you’ve gotten here; you’re a big, rugged guy, with that explosive, linebacker speed and power, and I see big things for you in the future.” Kofi: “Much like the two of you, I’ve been impressed with Husky, but I voted for his opponent tonight, Percy Watson. Much like Husky, I think a lot of people would look at you and think that you can’t bring it in the ring, but you’ve shown that you definitely have the skills behind that bizarre exterior of yours. You’ve also been a real stand-up guy, speaking to you over the last few weeks, you seem like one of the nicest people I’ve ever met, and I want to wish you the best of luck.” Henry: “I just want to echo Kofi’s sentiments; Percy, you’re a great guy, and you have a lot of talent.” Ryder: “Can we stop this love-fest? Seriously? Percy Watson? Percy, I voted against you, and I’ll tell you why. It’s because this is a serious business, and I have no patience for someone who looks and acts like an idiot. As for who I voted for, it’s Alex Riley. He’s a great wrestler, he’s charismatic, and he’s not afraid to do anything to win.” Cody: “I also voted for Riley. You showed a great killer-instinct tonight, and I for one am proud to see somebody with some guts out there.” Lay-Cool: “We also voted for Riley; he’s handsome, he’s athletic, he’s Flawless!” Striker mentions that Miz has been oddly quiet, and asks for his comments. Miz: “Matt Striker, you should know by now, I wasn’t being quiet, I was just waiting to get the last word. First of all, Riley, you’ve made amazing progress, and just because some of the Pros aren’t intelligent enough to realize that you’re not in this business to make friends, but to accumulate wins, don’t get discouraged. You’ll be the winner soon enough. However, I’d like to tell everybody who I voted for. It may surprise some of you, but I voted for Eli Cottonwood, and I’ll tell you why; Eli, before tonight, you were undefeated. And while you may have lost tonight, it was a cheap victory. You weren’t pinned, you didn’t get beaten down, that loser Titus O’Neill took a cheap-shot and decided that winning by count-out was good enough for him. Eli, I want you to listen to what I’m about to say: You lost, to a loser. You lost to a guy that is now out of this competition. If you want to win, you have to take that rage that’s boiling inside of you right now, and you have to let it out. Let it out, Eli, let it out! Let everyone know what you think of being a loser.” Cottonwood grows angry, lets out a scream, and begins attacking the other Rookies! The Rookies all begin fighting amongst each other, while the Pros run down to try to calm things down. Riley runs to the top of the ramp to join Miz, where the two enjoy the chaos as we go off the air.

SMACKDOWN

8:00
Swagger makes his entrance, celebrating that he retained his title at “Money In The Bank”. He begins bragging, but Rey wastes no time in cutting him off; Rey stands on the stage, and challenges him to a rematch tonight. Teddy makes his entrance, and says that that sounds like a wonderful idea; however, “there’s somebody in the back that may feel differently”. Kofi enters, carrying the “MITB”-contract. Kofi says that he has no problem with a Rey/Swagger match tonight, but wants them both to know that, no matter the champion, he plans on cashing-in the “MITB”-contract at “Summerslam”. He wishes them both luck, “and I’ll see one of you, at ‘Summerslam’.” Kofi, Rey, and Long leave, while Swagger throws a fit in the ring; that is, until Show’s music hits.

8:10
Show/Kane – Show makes his entrance while Swagger is in the ring; Swagger backs away. The announcers note that Show wants revenge on Kane for attacking him with a chair at “Money In The Bank”. Kane makes his entrance, and the two behemoths go at it. After about five minutes, they end-up brawling to the outside and getting counted-out, but neither one cares; they both start pummeling each other with everything they can grab. Kane has Show down, and is about to finish him off with a big chair-shot, but GONG… GONG… the arena goes dark. A message appears on the Tron, and Taker’s voice is heard over the speakers: “DO NOT PUNISH THE INNOCENT! CONTINUE YOUR SEARCH! BE MY BROTHER OF DESTRUCTION!” Kane throws the chair aside, and runs out of the arena, once again grabbing his head and screaming.

8:20 – Commercials

8:25
Mvp-Jtg/Gallows-Shad – Gallows is accompanied by Serena. The heels control the match by beating on Jtg. At the end, Mvp looks like he’s about to mount a comeback, but Gallows hits him with the “Gallows Pole” for the win.

8:40
Long is in his office, watching the action on a monitor, when Punk walks in. Punk asks him how he’s doing and how he enjoyed Gallows’ match, which Long realizes is a segue into asking for a favor. Long: “What do you want, Punk?” Punk explains that, as a two-time “MITB”-winner, he feels he deserves another shot at the contract, adding that having a “straight-edge” MITB-holder and champion can only mean good things for the company. Long tells him that he will think about it, and get back to him. Punk thanks him and leaves.

8:45 – Commercials

8:50
Elimination: Christian/Matt/Cody/Ziggler – Vickie accompanies Ziggler to ring-side, while the announcers note that Ziggler is the only man to have not competed in the “MITB” match last Sunday; they also note that, in wanting to run the company the way he wants, Long has lifted Matt’s ban from “Smackdown”. During the match, McIntyre runs down and attacks Matt; they wrestle to the back, causing the ref to eliminate Matt from the match. Later, Christian catches Cody with a “Killswitch”, eliminating Cody. It’s down to Christian and Ziggler; Christian tries to hit another “Killswitch”, but Ziggler wiggles out and hits the “Zig Zag” for the win. Vickie is as excited as Ziggler is.

9:10 – Commercials

9:15
Another video-package for Hawkins-Archer airs, different than the previous one, but still containing the same “demented” imagery. They again challenge the tag-champions, whomever they may be, to show-up on “Smackdown”.

9:20
Kofi makes his way to the ring; he says that Long spoke with him earlier, and that he’s more than willing to put his “MITB”-contract on the line. “Punk, if you want it, come get it.” Punk enters with a mic, but without anybody accompanying him: “Kofi, Kofi, Kofi… now I know you must be on some sort of mind-altering substance. Then again, didn’t you used to pretend that you were Jamaican? Apparently, you’ve smoked so many illegal psychoactive substances that you don’t even know what country you’re from anymore. And that, Kofi Kingston, is why you are NOT the man who should be representing WWE as its ‘Money-in-the-Bank’ contract-holder, and why you are NOT the man who should be representing WWE as its World Heavyweight Champion.” Kofi: “Punk, I’ve only got one thing to say to you…” Kofi hits “Trouble in Paradise”, the ref rings the bell, Kofi covers Punk, and gets the win. After the match, Gallows and Serena run down to the ring; Serena checks on Punk, while Gallows tries to catch Kofi. Kofi and Gallows have it out, until Masque jumps out of the audience; Masque tries to help beat-down Kofi, but Kofi outmaneuvers the two of them, sending them crashing into each other before heading back up the ramp. Punk gets to his feet and complains that Kofi cheap-shotted him, while Kofi laughs to the back.

9:30 – Commercials

9:35
World: SWAGGER/Rey – The competitors make their entrances, with Chimel doing official introductions. Much like their match at the PPV, it’s a back-and-forth match filled with counters. Rey gets the early advantage with his speed and mind-games, but Swagger comes back with his power as we go to commercial.

9:45 – Commercials

9:50
World: SWAGGER/Rey (cont’d) – Swagger has the advantage as we come back from break. At the end, Rey trips Swagger onto the ropes, and hits the “619”; Rey covers, but Swagger kicks-out at 2. Rey then hops onto the apron, signaling that he’s going to hit the Springboard Senton, and waits for Swagger to get back to his feet. Swagger eventually makes it to his feet, and turns around as Rey spring-boards off the ropes; Swagger notices, though, and pulls the ref in front of him just as Rey connects with the move. The ref is down, and Swagger decides to high-tail it out of there; he grabs the title, and begins walking up the ramp, but Kofi meets him at the top of the ramp. Swagger backs away, but is met by a tope’ by Rey! Rey rolls Swagger back in the ring, “Drops the Dime”, but there is no ref to make the count; at this point, Punk and the rest of “SES” run to the ring and attack Kofi. Rey goes to help Kofi, but Swagger grabs Rey, hits the “Swagger Bomb”, and the ref recovers just in time to count the 3. Swagger retains.

Week of 7-26-10

RAW

9:00
Trips makes his entrance, and walks to the ring. “Ya know… I’ve been in charge of a lot of armies over my life. ‘DX’. ‘Evolution’. But I’ve never really led the ‘WWE Universe’ before. And honestly, I never really saw myself as that type of guy. Let’s be honest, my fans, my friends, my family… they know what kind of greedy bastard I can be. When I’ve led an army, it was always for my own personal gain. But being at home the last few months, and seeing what Sheamus and ‘NXTreme’ have been doing, it was weird to hear so many members of the ‘WWE Universe’ ask when I would be back to rally the troops. Well, to be honest, I don’t know if I’m really the guy to lead the troops; I haven’t been on the best streak lately. First of all, John Cena has been doing an incredible job of defending the castle, and while we haven’t won every battle, I think we’re definitely winning the war. I’ve also… well, I hate to admit this, but what they hey… I’ve gotten older. Yes, I know, I know, I can’t believe I’m a day over 25, either. I’ve suffered a lot of injuries over the last few years. My best friend and closest confidant, Shawn Michaels, retired a few months ago… I don’t know if I’m the General I used to be. However, I’ll tell you this, I am still a loyal soldier, and if Sheamus, Barrett, or anybody else wants to put me to the test… then I more than welcome the challenge. I am ‘The Game’, I am that damn good, and I AM BACK!” Sheamus appears on the Tron: “Well, well, well, if it isn’t my old friend Triple Haitch. I gotta admit, you look pretty good, considering the beating I gave you the last time we met. But what’s this about you ‘winning the war’? Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure last week was the FIRST time you ever got the upper-hand on ‘NXTreme’. And why was that? Because you hid in the shadows, like a bunch of wimps? You couldn’t meet us head-on. Take it from an Irishman, your ‘WWE Army’ fights like the French! You may as well surrender now. Because pretty soon, we will not only control the World, but the ‘WWE Universe’.” The transmission cuts off. Trips: “Sheamus, sooner or later… your ass is mine!”

9:20 – Commercials

9:25
Morrison-Truth/Jericho-Miz – Morrison-Truth have the advantage, but when Morrison goes for “Starship Pain” on Jericho, Jericho rolls out of the way, causing Morrison to crash, and giving Jericho the 3-count. Jericho-Miz walk up the ramp. Truth is pissed at Morrison for losing the match, and attacks Morrison after the match; Truth beats Morrison down, hits the “Lie Detector”, and storms out of the ring.

9:40
Backstage, Tj is in his locker-room, when Henry barges in. Henry tells Tj that he heard what he said about Khali last week, and he [Henry] doesn’t appreciate it. Tj tells Henry that he didn’t mean anything by it, “I mean, what do you think I have Virgil for?” Henry is incensed, and tells Tj that he’s looking forward to their match tonight.

9:45 – Commercials

9:50
Tag: JEY-JIMMY/Santino-Kozlov – Tamina tries to interfere, but Jillian counters. The Usos try to keep Santino isolated, but once Kozlov tags in, it’s all over; Jimmy tries to fly at Kozlov, but Kozlov hits him in the chest with a big headbutt, giving Santino-Kozlov the win and the titles.

10:00
Backstage, Bret is in his office; there is a knock, and Cena enters. Cena asks if Bret has made any progress in finding out who signed “NXTreme” to contracts; Bret says he hasn’t, but his lawyers are looking into it. Bret then asks Cena if he has spoken to Orton lately, to which Cena says he hasn’t; Cena says that expecting Orton to be a stand-up guy is unrealistic. They get to talking about last week, and Bret decides to give Tatsu an opportunity against Orton later tonight.

10:05 – Commercials

10:10
Henry/Tj – Henry makes relatively quick work of Tj, finishing him off with the “World’s Strongest Slam”. After the match, Khali enters, hits Tj with a double-chokeslam, and walks away.

10:20
Cameras catch a black limo pulling into the parking-garage. Bret and “HartDynasty” decide to investigate, and are shown walking around backstage, gathering the troops; they find Cena, Bourne, Morrison, and Khali, and proceed to walk towards the parking-garage.

10:25 – Commercials

10:30
Orton/Tatsu – Tatsu manages to hold his own against Orton, keeping him on the ropes and not allowing Orton to put him away for a while. Eventually, Tatsu goes for a big kick on Orton; Orton ducks, and when Tatsu spins back around, Orton catches him with an “RKO”. After the match, Edge makes his way out; he has a mic, and says that he admires Orton’s honesty, that Orton doesn’t care about who wins this WWE/”NXTreme” war. Edge welcomes him back to the dark-side, but Orton replies with an “RKO” before leaving.

10:40
Bret and the “WWE Troops” make their way to the parking-garage, and gather around the limo. After a few tense moments, the limo door opens, and out steps… Vince! Vince wants to know what everybody’s looking at, to which Bret says that he thought “NXTreme” was in the limo. Vince says that, while “NXTreme” is not in the limo, he is here to discuss them tonight. Vince heads to the ring, and asks the WWE Superstars to join him.

10:45 – Commercials

10:50
Vince makes his way to the ring, followed by Bret and several “WWE Troops” (Cena, Bourne, Morrison, Khali, Kidd, Smith, Natalya, Henry, and Tatsu). Vince announces that not only have Bret’s lawyers been investigating just who it was that signed “NXTreme”, but he and his lawyers have been investigating, as well. He announces that, for now, he is not going to fire “NXTreme”, simply because he wants to get to the bottom of this; however, as soon as he does, they will be. In the mean time, though, he gives permission to all of the WWE Superstars to treat them as a hostile presence, and are allowed to act with extreme prejudice if they are seen anywhere near a WWE event. Vince says that this is “our house, our business, and our universe”, and promises that they will bring the fight to “NXTreme”. All of the Superstars in the ring applaud Vince, but Trips interrupts! Trips makes his way to the ring, and doesn’t look happy. Trips grabs a mic: “Vince McMahon. Father-in-law. Dad. I have a question for you, and it’s a question that I don’t think you want to answer. Are you the one that signed ‘NXTreme’?” Vince: “That’s preposterous!” Trips: “Is it, Vince? Is it? Who else would have the power to sign ‘NXTreme’ to iron-clad contracts? Who else has a problem with Bret Hart and John Cena? And isn’t it a little strange that you don’t even know who signed them? The way I see it, you signed them, to get rid of Bret Hart and John Cena, and you’re using your team of lawyers to keep them from discovering the truth.” Vince: “That’s ridiculous! I’d never do anything like that! I wouldn’t!” Trips: “You wouldn’t, huh? Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t you once sign the ‘New World Order’ to contracts, in an attempt to inject WWE with ‘a lethal dose of poison’? And didn’t you just last year sign ‘Monday Night Raw’ over to Donald Trump? Funny, for a guy that says that this company means everything to him, you sure haven’t acted that way over the years, have you?” The other Superstars in the ring are all angrily staring at Vince. Vince: “That was different! Those were all different!” Trips: “You want to prove that you’re not behind this? I’ll tell you the first step: Give me Sheamus. Give me a shot at his WWE-Championship, and maybe, MAYBE you’ll actually convince some of the Superstars in this ring that you’re not behind it.” Vince: “But I’m not behind it!” Trips: “Oh no? You’re not behind it? Funny that you’re in the building tonight, and they haven’t tried to attack us.” Vince: “I don’t know why, I have no idea! Please, you have to believe me!” Trips: “I’ll tell you what, you give me Sheamus, and we’ll let you off the hook.” Vince: “Fine, fine, you can have Sheamus! You have your title-shot! Just stop with your lies!” Trips thinks for a moment… “You know what? I believe you. You can go.” Vince is relieved as he begins walking out of the ring, but Trips pulls him back, and gives him a “Pedigree”! Trips yells into the camera: “Sheamus! NXTreme! I’m back, and I’m coming for you!”

NXT

10:00
Striker is in the ring, and announces that all of tonight’s matches will feature the Rookies teaming with their Pros in tag-team action; the only exception will be Husky, who, by virtue of placing #1 last week, will not have to compete tonight. He reminds us that there will be another elimination tonight, and we go right to the first match.

10:05
Kaval-Chavo/Riley-Miz – Once again, Chavo subs for “LayCool”. Back-and-forth match, with Riley-Miz actually double-teaming and isolating Chavo. Chavo eventually tags Kaval, who dominates Riley with kicks. Kaval goes to run the ropes, but Miz knees Kaval in the back, through the ropes; Riley then charges at Kaval, but Kaval dodges, sending Riley crashing into Miz! Miz falls off the apron, and – with the ref checking on Miz – Kaval gives Riley a low-blow (as repayment for last week)! Kaval takes Riley down with a big kick to the head, climbs the ropes, and hits the “Warrior’s Way” for the win!
Kaval = 4-3
Riley = 2-4

10:15 – Commercials

10:20
Percy-Mvp/Cottonwood-Morrison – The announcers note that Cottonwood is furious over suffering his first loss last week, but note that he still has yet to be pinned. Cottonwood is in a foul mood, and plans on making people suffer. Mvp and Morrison start; they do a little back-and-forth, but no real advantage is gotten. Cottonwood yells that he wants in, so Morrison tags him; Percy then insists on competing, so Mvp tags out, as well. Percy tries hard, but quickly succumbs to Cottonwood’s power; Cottonwood is absolutely mauling Percy, forcing him into the ropes and corners. Cottonwood then goes nuts, punching and clawing and choking Percy, to the point where both the ref and Morrison warn him that he is going too far, and is risking disqualification; Cottonwood grabs the ref, but Morrison pleads with Cottonwood to calm down and the ref not to disqualify him. Cottonwood then gives Morrison a big Brain Chop, knocking Morrison out. As this is going on, Percy gets back to his feet, and begins mauling Cottonwood! The giant Cottonwood can’t handle Percy’s assault, covering up as best he can, but eventually falling to Percy’s Float-Over DDT. Percy gets the win, and Mvp congratulates him.
Percy = 3-3-1
Cottonwood = 4-2

10:30 – Commercials

10:35
Lucky-Henry/McGillicutty-Kofi – The announcers note that McGillicutty beat Lucky last week to end his [McGillicutty’s] losing-streak, and that Lucky is looking to avenge that loss. Lucky tries hard, but McGillicutty is able to out-wrestle and out-maneuver him pretty quickly, hitting him with the “McGilli-Plex” for a relatively quick win. Lucky is very upset after the match; Henry tries to comfort him, and Kofi and McGillicutty both shake his hand. Striker gets in the ring, and announces that that was the final match of the night; he says that the next “Pro’s Poll” and elimination are up next, but before he can throw us back to commercial, Husky runs down to the ring and says that he wants a match tonight. Striker says that they weren’t planning on giving him a match, but asks if there’s anyone in particular that he would like to face. Husky says that, since the Titus-Ryder pairing wasn’t represented tonight, he’d like to fight Ryder. Ryder is insulted by Husky’s challenge, and heads to the ring for an impromptu match.

10:40
Husky/Ryder – Ryder is insulted at what he sees as Husky’s lack-of-respect, and begins beating on him right away. Husky can’t do much other than cover up as Ryder pounds away on him. Eventually, after enough of a beating, Ryder begins to show-boat a little; he yells at Husky, the audience, and the other Pros that he is about to finish Husky off; however, as Ryder goes for the “Rough Ryder”, Husky powerbombs him down, and gets the 3! Ryder is embarrassed, and yells at everyone that it was a fluke.

10:45 – Commercials

10:50
Striker provides the win/loss-records:
            4-2: Cottonwood
            4-3: Kaval
            3-3: Lucky
            3-3-1: Husky, Percy
            3-4: McGillicutty
            2-4: Riley
Striker the announces the “Pro’s Poll”:
            1) Riley (Miz) [+3]
            2) Percy (Mvp) [-]
            3) Kaval (Lay-Cool) [+3]
            4) Husky (Cody) [-3]
            5) McGillicutty (Kofi) [+2]
            6) Cottonwood (Morrison) [-3]
            7) Lucky (Henry) [-2]
Striker seems shocked at the announcement of Lucky going being eliminated, and asks the Pros for their thoughts. MVP: “Lucky, I am one of the Pros that voted against you. Speaking on behalf of several people up here, we like you, and think that you have a lot of potential. However, after seeing you lose twice in a row to the same opponent, especially with the second loss not seeming as hard-fought as the first, some of us felt that you were not at the point where you were learning something new from each match. We hope and expect to see you back some day, but for now, we felt that we had to eliminate you.” Striker accepts that answer, and gives Lucky the mic; Lucky cuts a heart-felt speech about always overcoming obstacles, and promises to be back some day. Striker then asks about Riley being ranked #1, especially considering his win/loss-record. Miz: “I think I can field that question, Matt Striker. The truth is, yes, my rookie Alex Riley doesn’t have the best win/loss-record. However, I think we saw tonight a prime example of WHY his win/loss-record is less than stellar, and that’s because the other Rookies are afraid of him. They blind-side him, cheap-shot him, and cheat as much as they can. Alex is a natural athlete, but he’s still learning to deal with the kind of cheaters and low-lifes that populate this locker-room and this competition. While I am not able to vote for or against my own Rookie, I made sure that several other Pros heard your plight, and took pity on you. I told you that I would take you to the top, and I’m proving that right now. However, eventually, you will have to stand on your own two feet, sink or swim, and that day is fast approaching. That might seem cruel, but I call it tough-love, and believe me Alex, that no matter the challenge I put before you, I know that you will be able to conquer it.” Alex and Striker are confused by Miz’s words, and we go off the air with everybody feeling uneasy about next week’s elimination.

SMACKDOWN

8:00
Hawkins-Archer/Barreta-Croft – Hawkins is able to control his opponents, allowing Archer to come in and finish them off. Hawkins grabs a mic, and once again lays down the challenge to any “Raw” tag-team that wants to face them. Suddenly, HORNSWOGGLE makes an entrance; after clowning around with the kids at ring-side, he grabs a mic, but struggles to get his words out. Instead, Hornswoggle points to himself, and then at Hawkins-Archer; Hawkins deduces that Hornswoggle wants a match against them; Hawkins-Archer then bust out laughing. Hornswoggle is serious, so Hawkins-Archer agree to a match. Hawkins: “Good luck finding someone that would want to face us.” WELLLL, IT’S THE BIG SHOW… Show walks onto the stage, and says that he and Hornswoggle have heard enough out of them. Hawkins asks where Kane is, to which Show mentions that Kane is taking some time off in order to “get his head straight”. Hornswoggle runs up the ramp and jumps into Show’s arms; Hawkins and Archer look concerned, and begin discussing strategy.

8:15
Backstage, Ziggler is getting warmed-up for his match; Vickie can’t take her eyes off of him. Vickie tells Ziggler that his win last week was incredible, and that she has a special surprise for him if he wins… she pulls a lacey teddy from behind her back, which obviously pleases Ziggler.

8:20 – Commercials

8:25
Ziggler/Masters – Vickie accompanies Ziggler to the ring. Before the match, Ziggler grabs the mic, and announces that he feels he needs a fresh start. “Step One: Allow the world to get to know the real ‘Nick Ziggler’. Step Two: Prove that I am, beyond a shadow of a doubt, perfection. And Step Three: Always do right by this wonderful woman right here.” Vickie blushes. Masters makes his way to the ring, and the match starts. Masters gets a short burst of offense at the start, but Ziggler quickly rebounds, using a variety of amateur take-downs and scientific skill. Masters manages to grab Ziggler in the “Master Lock”, but Ziggler bends his body forward, resulting in Masters going face-first into the turnbuckle; Ziggler then slaps on the Sleeper for the win. Vickie runs into the ring to congratulate him, only for Ziggler to dip her and give her a big kiss; he then leads her out of the ring and to the back.

8:35
Backstage, Long is in his office, when there is a knock on the door. Punk and Swagger both enter; “You wanted to see us?” Long says that has good news for both of them: Swagger won’t have to defend his title tonight, and Punk will have the entire “SES” with him tonight. They realize something is up, so Long announces that, because he’s tired of listening to both of them whine, they will both be part of tonight’s 10-man tag main-event. The match will feature Swagger-Punk-Gallows-Masque-Cody taking on Kofi-Rey-Christian-Mvp-Jtg. Neither heel is happy, but Long tells them that he’s in charge, and they better get used to it.

8:40 – Commercials

8:45
McIntyre/Finlay – The announcers note that Finlay asked for this match, citing that, as a European, he was embarrassed by McIntyre’s behavior. The competitors quickly brawl to the outside, where McIntyre whips Finlay into the steps. McIntyre then positions Finlay against the ring-post, and kicks him in the head. Finlay is in no condition to continue, and the ref throws the match out; McIntyre doesn’t care, though, and continues beating on Finlay. Eventually, Matt runs out, and chases McIntyre away. Matt tends to Finlay.

8:50
The camera focuses on the announcers, who become much more somber as they explain what we are about to see: footage taken by Kane of his childhood home. They warn that the following footage may be disturbing to some viewers, and then allow the footage to roll: A hand-held camera is focused on an old abandoned funeral parlor, and Kane’s voice is heard. “So here it is. Kane’s childhood home. I haven’t been back here in years. Not since the fire. I know it probably sounds crazy, but I have a lot of great memories of this place.” Kane begins to walk around the grounds. “What kind of child grows up in a funeral-parlor? A big, red, twisted object of destruction and domination, for starters. All my life, people have told me that I’m a little… unbalanced. They said there was something wrong with me, that there was something wrong with my brain. All the mental-homes, the locked basements, the flames that flickered ever so gently before turning on their creator… people say that drove me mad. I can assure you, though, I was mad long before any of that. You may call me the ‘Big Red Monster’, but there’s a side of me that you do not know. Believe it or not, I am human, and I have a heart just like any of you. And that heart is broken, after seeing my brother, The Undertaker, in a vegetative state. People say that The Undertaker and I have not always gotten along, and to that I say that you do not truly understand us. You’ll never understand us. It is true that my brother and I have waged virtual Holy Wars on each other, but we were simply making men out of each other. For two brothers of destruction, an ‘Inferno’ match is tantamount to a pillow fight. The Undertaker has caused me a lot of pain in my life, and I have caused a lot of pain in his, but if it weren’t for these literal trials-by-fire, we would not be the warriors we are today. Or at least, the warrior that he SHOULD be. For the man that we call ‘Phenom’ is not a warrior today. He is but a broken body in a hospital bed. Due to the cowardly action of what I can only assume was a jealous WWE Superstar, the ‘Phenom’ is not the ‘Phenom’ anymore.” Kane turns the camera on himself: “And may God have mercy on the soul or souls responsible. I made a vow that I would find whomever was responsible for my brother having to be fed intravenously, and through hell-fire and brimstone, if I have to move Heaven and Earth, I WILL FIND YOU! I WILL FIND YOU! And when I do, I shall have my vengeance! I shall have my brother’s vengeance! I shall have the vengeance of all the Creatures of the Night! I will find you! I WILL FIND YOU! IIIIIIII! WILLLLLLL! FIINNNNNND! YOUUUUUUUUUUUUU!” Kane lets out a primal scream, and tosses the camera into a mirror. The camera crashes to the ground; as it is lying there, a match is seen being struck against the floor. Kane places the match down next to the camera, and the house goes up in flames as the camera watches Kane walk away.


9:05 – Commercials

9:10
Kelly-Tiffany/McCool-Layla – Kaval accompanies “Lay-Cool”, with “Lay-Cool” insisting that they are going to be giving him on-the-job training. The faces get the early advantage, but the heels take control via distractions and cheating. McCool eventually hits the “Faith Breaker” on Kelly for the win.

9:15
Backstage, Long invites Matt into his office; Long tells him that, seeing as how this issue between Matt and McIntyre needs to end, he has signed them to a “Street Fight” at “Summerslam”. Matt thanks him.

9:20
Hawkins-Archer/Show-Hornswoggle – Show-Hornswoggle enter first, but as they are walking down the ramp, Hawkins-Archer attack them from behind; the heels toss Show off the stage, resulting in Show twisting his ankle. Hawkins grabs Hornswoggle, and drags him into the ring; Archer hits his finisher (the Scoop Inverted DDT) on Hornswoggle, and Hawkins hits the top-rope elbow on him. Hawkins-Archer then leave, casual as can be.

9:30 – Commercials

9:35
Kofi-Rey-Christian-Mvp-Jtg/Swagger-Punk-Gallows-Cody-Masque – It’s an all-out war from the start, as everybody attacks everybody; it takes the ref several minutes to gain any type of control. It’s an even, back-and-forth match as we go into commercial.

9:45 – Commercials

9:50
Kofi-Rey-Christian-Mvp-Jtg/Swagger-Punk-Gallows-Cody-Masque (cont’d) – Punk has Rey down as we return from commercial. The end sees Rey hit the “619” on Punk, only for Gallows to break it up; this triggers another donnybrook, with everybody fighting in and around the ring. Rey again hits the “619” on Punk, getting the win. After the match, the faces toss the heels out of the ring, and then protect Rey as he attempts to pull the mask off of Punk; Punk fights him off, only for Masque to climb into the ring and save Punk. Punk runs out of the ring, but now Masque is in Rey’s clutches. Rey pulls off Masque’s mask, revealing… Chavo? As Punk and Gallows walk up the ramp, they’re joined by the REAL Masque. Punk has a good laugh at the faces’ stupidity.

Week of 8-2-10

RAW

9:00
The show opens with an unknown, intensely militant theme-song (think “No More Sorrow” by Linkin Park) hitting the speakers; a large “N” flashes on the Tron, and it becomes obvious that “NXTreme” is in the house. Nobody comes out on the ramp, prompting the cameras to search the arena; they’re eventually found marching out of an entry in the upper section of the arena, flanked by ten security-guards in full riot-gear. Sheamus leads the way, followed by Barrett and the rest. When they get to the ring-side area, they stare-down the various WWE employees (announcers, time-keeper, etc.), before grabbing a mic and rolling into the ring; the security-guards surround the ring. Before they can even get a word out, though, Trips makes his entrance; he is flocked by the “WWE Army” of Cena, Bourne, Morrison, Kidd, Smith, Khali, Henry, and Tatsu. Upon the faces’ arrival, the security-guards pull out tasers and night-sticks. Trips: “You want to test your tasers against my sledge-hammer?” Sheamus: “So you got a WWE-Championship match against me at ‘Summerslam’, and you did it by bullying around Vince McMahon? You think that makes me scared of you, fella? Let me tell you something, Triple Haitch, I’ve never been scared of you, and I never will be. I’ve beaten you worse than you’ve ever been beaten, and at ‘Summerslam’, I’ll do it again. Only this time, you won’t come back. I’m going to put you on the shelf permanently.” Trips: “On the shelf, huh? Like where you’d find a bottle of sunscreen? Let me tell you something, Sheamus, I’ve been World Champion THIRTEEN TIMES. I’ve been doing this for almost twenty years, I’ve beaten the best, and I’ve seen guys like you come and go. You start off strong, you get some wins, maybe you even win a Championship or two… but sooner or later, you fizzle out. You try to regain some of that momentum by targeting a veritable living legend; someone like, say, me perhaps. Maybe you win, maybe you lose, but you always make one mistake… you never finish-off the legend. Sure, you may put them on the shelf for a little while, but sooner or later, they come back, and they come back better and badder than ever. You’ve been trying to make a name for yourself at my expense, and I can respect that, but make no mistake about it; I’m not gonna roll over. When you push, I’m going to push back. And when all is said and done, the only name anybody will be calling you is ‘Former WWE-Champion’. But maybe I won’t stop there. Maybe I’ll make you ‘Former WWE Superstar’. Or maybe even ‘Former Human Being’.” Barrett has a mic: “Excuse me, but do we really have to sit here and listen to this? Triple H, you are a living legend, no doubt about it, but it’s time to step aside. You’ve had your day in the sun, you’ve had almost two decades in it, it’s time to pack up, move to Florida, and spend your days playing shuffle-board. There’s a reason that Vince McMahon signed us to contracts, and it’s because he saw the writing on the wall: all of you standing on that stage, you’re boring. You’re yesterday’s news. You’re a bunch of has-beens and never-weres. ‘NXTreme’ is the future, and if we have to cut through all of you like machetes through the rain-forest, then that is what we will do.” Cena: “That’s a lot of tough talk for a guy standing behind a bunch of armed guards.” Barrett: “The only reason that we brought protection is because we know that this is a hostile environment; we are stepping into enemy territory, something that none of you would ever have the guts to do, and we have to take extra precautions because of close-minded, low-IQ Neanderthal-esque brutes like yourselves who don’t understand that there is a plan in play. There was a reason for our attacks, we are trying to earn as much money for our selves, our families, and our benevolent boss Mr. McMahon as we can, and you are all standing in our way. You are the ones taking money out of our pockets and food off of our tables.” Cena: “And you don’t think that your attacks had the same affect on us?” Barrett: “Of course they did, but you’ve already had the spot-light, you could retire tomorrow. The fact that you stay here is the ultimate act of selfishness, and we are the ones to correct it.” Trips: “I’m getting really tired of this. I say, if you want to correct it, then why don’t we correct it right now?” The faces begin marching towards the ring, but the guards persuade them to stay back; suddenly, Bret’s music hits, and he makes his entrance. “Before things get out of control, and before we have a bunch of injuries that result in time off, shortened careers, and less money and food for our families, I am telling all of you to knock it off. ‘NXTreme’, for whatever reason, Vince McMahon thought that you would be valuable members of the ‘Raw’ roster; so much so that your contracts are iron-clad, I can’t fire you. However, I am still in charge of you, and if you don’t follow what I say, then I can sue you for breach of contract! So whether you like it or not, you’re going to listen to what I have to say. There will be no contact between any of you tonight, at least not until I come up with how I’m going to handle this situation. I’m inclined to let you all just beat the heck out of each other, but unfortunately, I have a business to run; and with Vince McMahon currently at home, I have to figure out a way to satisfy all of you, our sponsors, and the WWE Universe. I’ll have an official ruling later tonight, but until then, play nice.” Bret leaves, and the two parties stare daggers at each other as we go to commercial.

9:20 – Commercials

9:25
TAG: SANTINO-KOZLOV/Jericho-Miz – Back-and-forth match, with Santino surprisingly holding his own against Jericho in the science department. After about five minutes, Orton enters on the ramp, and slowly walks down to the ring; the announcers wonder what Orton is doing out here. Five more minutes, and the heels seem to be on the verge of winning; Miz hits Santino with the “Skull-Crushing Finale”, but before he can cover, Orton decides to roll into the ring. Miz and Jericho yell at him, asking what he’s doing, only for Orton to hit the “RKO” on Miz; drawing a disqualification win for challengers. Orton rolls out of the ring, and slowly stalks back up the ramp; Jericho yells at Orton from the ring, but turns back around into a big slam by Kozlov.

9:35
Backstage, Bret is in his office, when there is a knock at the door. Trips enters, and says that he needs to speak with Bret.

9:40 – Commercials

9:45
Backstage, Josh Mathews catches up with Orton; Mathews asks Orton why he attacked Miz, to which Orton replies: “It’s simple, Josh. It’s been too long since I’ve had any gold around my waist. And if Sheamus is defending the WWE Championship against Triple H, then I think it’s only right that The Miz defend his United States Championship against me.” Orton walks off.

9:50
Truth/Primo – Truth does his usual entrance, rapping and high-fiving the fans; the announcers take this as a sign that Truth is no longer in the bad mood that he’s been in lately. Truth gets the early advantage, taking Primo down and backing him into the corner, giving him clean get-ups/breaks on both. Primo rallies back, nailing Truth in the face with a back-heel kick; this angers Truth, who proceeds to pummel Primo into the mat. The ref tries to call Truth off, eventually ruling that Primo wins by disqualification; this doesn’t sit well with Truth, who then attacks the ref. Morrison eventually runs down to the ring and pulls Truth off; Morrison questions Truth’s actions, but Truth just rolls out of the ring and walks up the ramp.

10:00
Backstage, the “Usos” barge into Tj’s dressing-room; they mention that they heard what Tj’s been saying lately, and say that Bret signed a Tj-Virgil/Jey-Jimmy match for tonight. Tj insists that it’s all a big misunderstanding, and claims that if he were racist, he wouldn’t think Tamina was so attractive; Tj tries flirting with her, but Tamina slaps him.

10:05 - Commercials

10:10
Edge is in the ring, ready for another edition of “The Cutting Edge”; he wastes no time in announcing that his guest tonight is Cena. Cena’s music hits, but he doesn’t show up for a few moments; when Cena finally DOES enter, he looks awfully confused. Cena says that he had no idea that he would be Edge’s guest tonight, to which Edge replies that Cena should be used to surprises. Edge says that the reason he brought Cena out was because he wanted to ask him the tough questions; Cena replies that he didn’t know that Edge was a journalist, but tells him to go ahead. Edge: “When ‘NXTreme’ first arrived on the scene, it seemed like you were their prime target. Tell me, John, what did you do to these men to make them so angry at you?” Cena smirks, and gives his response: “Well, that wasn’t a loaded question, but here it goes. ‘NXTreme’ is comprised of several hungry, talented young competitors, who were all looking to make a name for themself in this industry. In a lot of ways, I am the face of this company; I do not say that to brag, I do not mean to toot my own horn, but I have worked very hard to get to where I am, to be a nine-time World Champion, and I guess that they could make their name by taking me out. If I did anything to these men, it was that I got to a level that they may have felt they would never be able to get to, at least without taking a few shortcuts along the way.” Edge: “So what you’re saying, John, is that you think you are better than them, and that everybody in this industry should be jealous of you?” Cena: “You know that you’re putting words in my mouth, and I know that it’s not worth arguing with you.” Edge: “Why not, John, why is it not worth arguing with me? Is it because I speak the truth, that I am the only person here who knows what kind of delusional egomaniac you are?” Cena goes to respond, but Jericho interrupts; he has a mic, and speaks as he walks to the ring. “Edge, Edge, Edge… you know, it is both painful, and painfully funny, to watch you try to ask the ‘tough questions’ on your little show. If there’s anybody that should be asking the tough questions, it’s me, and I’ll tell you why – it’s because I am the best in the world at what I do, whether that is wrestling, or singing, or acting, or hosting game-shows, or digging up the dirt on other Superstars. For instance, let me ask you a question, Cena; how does it feel to no longer be the top dog? You’re not the Champion anymore, nor have you had many shots. How does it feel to know that your time has passed?” Cena: “My time has not passed. As a matter of fact, just like my theme-music says every night that I’m out here, my time is now! Sooner or later, I will be the WWE Champion again, and I’ll go back to kicking both your butts, night in, night out! Now let me ask the two of you a question… why this sudden interest in me? It’s been three months since ‘NXTreme’ first attacked me, and two since I lost my Championship, so why bring it up now?” Edge: “Well, before I was so rudely interrupted, it was because I was planning on making a statement of my own, and challenging you to a match at ‘Summerslam’.” Jericho: “Is that what you were going to do Edge? Make a statement? Well let’s see if your statement is as clear as mine.” Jericho attacks Cena; Edge looks confused for a second, but then attacks Jericho. Cena then gets up, and attacks both Edge and Jericho; the heels then double-team Cena. The heels lay a beating on Cena, until Bourne runs in! Bourne attacks the heels, and the faces send the heels out of the ring. Cena grabs a mic: “You want a statement? How about the two of you, against the two of us, at ‘Summerslam’???”

10:25 – Commercials

10:30
Tj-Virgil/Jey-Jimmy – Tj starts, but can’t handle the Usos, so he tags in Virgil. Virgil gets beat-up for a while, and goes to tag Tj back in; Tj, however, backs away from the ring, forcing Virgil to fend for himself. The Usos win after a “Superfly Splash” on Virgil.

10:40
Backstage, Bret and Trips finish their conversation; Bret thanks Trips for his input, and Trips thanks Bret for his time.

10:45 – Commercials

10:50
As we come back to commercial, “NXTreme’s” music hits; the eight of them (including Sheamus) walk out of the crowd, hop the barricade, and enter the ring. Bret then makes his entrance; he walks over to the time-keeper, grabs a mic, and enters the ring. Bret: “I realize that the only thing keeping you from attacking me is a legal threat, and that in many ways, you aren’t worried about that. But I wanted to dive into this pool of sharks for a reason. I know that you are willing to follow your leader, Vince McMahon, into battle, but I wanted to let you know that I have men that are willing to follow me into battle, too. And lo and behold, here they are.” Cena makes his entrance, flanked by Bourne, Morrison, Smith, Kidd, Natalya, Henry, Khali, and Tatsu; they stand at the top of the ramp, and then split down the middle, with half of them moving to the right side of the staging, half to the left. Trips’ music then hits, and he enters, carrying a mic. Bret rolls out of the ring, and joins the WWE Superstars at the top of the ramp. Trips: “In less than two weeks, Sheamus, at ‘Summerslam’, I’m taking that WWE Championship back. But you and I both know that the rest of ‘NXTreme’ will try to interfere. That’s why I spoke with our General Manager earlier, and I think we came up with a good idea.” Bret: “At ‘Summerslam’, we’re going to make sure that there is no outside-interference. The match between Sheamus and Triple H will now be a ‘Lumberjack’ match! And the men in this arena right now are going to be the lumberjacks! However, and this is a big ‘however’, I am not going to allow anything to ruin this match, so listen to my words carefully: if any of the ‘NXTreme’ lumberjacks lay a hand on any of the ‘Raw’ lumberjacks, or even if anyone from ‘Raw’ touches anyone from ‘NXTreme’, there will be serious repercussions. I’m sure that you’re laughing over the fact that I can’t fire any of you, but I can still sue you for breach-of-contract, and if I feel like making you scrub every toilet in every arena around the world, then I will. However, with that in mind, tonight is not ‘Summerslam’. Tonight is ‘Monday Night Raw’, and I’m not enforcing the ‘no-contact’ rule. So gentlemen, if you would like to settle some of your differences, then I fully encourage you to do so.” The WWE faces (minus Trips and Natalya) march down to the ring, where Sheamus and ‘NXTreme’ welcome the fight; the faces get into the ring, and everybody brawls as the show goes off the air.

NXT

10:00
Striker is in the ring, and announces that he has a special surprise for the Rookies: there will be no elimination this week. However, in order to make up for that, there will be a double-elimination next week. He also promises one more surprise later on this evening.

10:05
Riley makes his entrance, accompanied by Miz; Miz gets on the mic, and explains that, as much as he [Miz] likes Riley, he feels that a little “tough love” is in order. Riley asks what he means, only for Cottonwood to enter. The match is Riley/Cottonwood, and it begins now. Cottonwood dominates Riley, until Riley turns the tide with a low-blow; Riley attempts to get Cottonwood up for the TKO, but Cottonwood is just too big, resulting in Riley hurting his back. Cottonwood gives Riley a big Brain Chop, and gets the win. Miz is obviously upset at the loss.
Cottonwood = 5-2
Riley = 2-5

10:15 – Commercials

10:20
McGillicutty-Kofi/Husky-Cody – Kofi dominates Cody, prompting Cody to tag Husky; McGillicutty then insists on competing, so Kofi tags him in. The Rookies are back-and-forth for a while; Husky gets McGillicutty down, which prompts Cody to tag himself in. Cody showboats, but gets caught with a “McGilli-Plex” for the pin.
McGillicutty = 4-4
Husky = 3-4-1

10:30 – Commercials

10:35
Percy-Mvp/Kaval-Chavo – Mvp and Chavo start, with Chavo taking a beating; Chavo then insists on facing Percy, but Percy dominates Chavo, as well. Kaval eventually gets to tag in, and manages to hold his own against both Percy and Mvp. Chavo tags back in, but gets caught with a Floatover DDT from Percy for the win.
Percy = 4-3-1
Kaval = 4-4

10:45 – Commercials

10:50
Though there is no elimination this week, Striker runs down the current win/loss-records:
            5-2: Cottonwood
            4-4: Kaval, McGillicutty
            4-3-1: Percy
            3-4-1: Husky
            2-5: Riley
Striker then drops the next bombshell: after the double-elimination next week, the four remaining Rookies will compete in a 4-way match at “Summerslam”! The Pros all give quick thoughts on the situation, along the proper face/heel alignment. Morrison pokes fun at Miz for having the worst Rookie, while Miz responds by saying that Cottonwood’s only saving-grace is his size. The two argue for a bit, prompting a shoving match on the stage; what they don’t notice, though, is Truth making his way onto the stage. Truth attacks Morrison, DDT’ing him on the stage before leaving.

SMACKDOWN

8:00
“Street Fight”: Matt/Shad – The announcers note that this is in preparation for Matt’s “Street Fight” with McIntyre at “Summerslam”. Matt makes fairly quick work of Shad, going nuts with the weapons before hitting the “Twist of Fate” for the win.

8:10
A video-package airs, with Hawkins-Archer challenging Show-Hornswoggle to another match.

8:15
After the video-package, the camera cuts to Long, in his office, speaking directly into the camera; he announces that, while Show’s ankle is too damaged to compete tonight, he has decided to sign Hawkins-Archer against Hornswoggle and a partner of his choosing. After the announcement, there is a knock at the door; Swagger walks in, and says “You wanted to see me?” Long: “As a matter of fact, I did. I wanted the camera to see your face when I told you about your match tonight. Tonight, Jack Swagger, you will be defending your World Heavyweight Championship in a ‘Gauntlet’ match. And your opponents will be Chris Masters, JTG, and the man that loves to fight, Finlay!” Swagger begins to object, but Long reminds him that he [Long] is in charge; Swagger grits “Thank you, Mr. Long”, and then puts on his best poop-eating grin as he asks “Also, if you don’t mind me asking, Mr. Long, I was curious to know whether or not my ‘Summerslam’ opponent, Kofi Kingston, has a match tonight?” Long: “As a matter of fact, playa, he does; he will be defending his Intercontinental-Championship against Christian and Cody Rhodes, in a three-way ‘Elimination’ match.” Swagger: “Why does he only have to defend his title against two opponents?” Long: “Because I’m in charge, playa, that’s why. Now get out of my office.” Swagger is upset, but turns and leaves.

8:20 – Commercials

8:25
Ziggler/Mvp – Ziggler’s Tron-video is altered to read “Nick Ziggler”, but his music and the rest of the video remain the same; Ziggler is also sporting a new (somewhat “opposite”) look, featuring dyed black hair, and a gold version of his tights with a new “NZ” logo. He’s accompanied by Vickie, of course. Mvp gets the early advantage, but Ziggler uses his amateur-wrestling knowledge to win back control. Ziggler stays on Mvp, hitting the “Zig Zag” for the win. After the match, Ziggler gets on the mic: “Ya know, I have to be honest, ever since Vickie and I first started going out, I feel like a whole new man. I look great, I feel great, and I really think I’ve somehow gotten even better between these ropes. Of course, if you ask Vickie, I’m sure she’ll tell you that I’m already great between the… well, I’ll let your imaginations finish that sentence. Point is, I feel like I’m on top of the world, and I don’t think there’s a man on Earth I couldn’t beat. Big Show, I know you’re out right now, I know your ankle is healing, but I’m throwing you a challenge; ‘Summerslam’ is in nine days, and I want to test myself against you. If you’re up for it, you know where to find me. And now, if you’ll all excuse, I have to go work on my cardio.” Ziggler grabs Vickie by the arm, and whisks her out of the ring and up the ramp.

8:40 – Commercials

8:45
Rey makes his entrance, and explains that he wants this issue with Punk to be over. He mentions that both Punk and Masque wear masks to hide their true natures, something that he finds very offensive; Rey explains what the mask means in the Mexican culture, and asks Punk to come to the ring. Punk enters, flanked by the entire “SES”, and stands on the stage. Punk hurls a few insults towards Rey, but after a bit of back-and-forth, Punk agrees that he, too, wants things to be over with them. Rey challenges Punk to a “Mask-vs.-Mask” match at “Summerslam”; Punk accepts, but Rey insists that he wants Punk to shake his hand like a man. Punk thinks it over, and then somewhat surprisingly tells “SES” to stay on the stage while he walks to the ring. Rey puts his hand out, and Punk accepts. Long then makes his entrance, and says that he’s glad the two of them are going to close the book on their differences. He also adds that, next week, we will get a preview of the “Mask-vs.-Mask” match, when Rey takes on Masque in a “Mask-vs.-Mask” match. “SES” is flabbergasted, to the point that Punk attempts to attack Rey; Rey, however, counters Punk’s attack, sending him into the ropes and hitting him with a “619”. “SES” runs to the ring to help Punk, while Rey scurries off.

9:00
Backstage, McIntyre is on the phone. “Tell him this is Drew McIntyre. No, McIntyre. M-C-I-N, no, I don’t want to hold, don’t put me on…” Striker asks McIntyre who he is on the phone with, to which Drew replies Vince. Striker says that it didn’t sound like he was speaking directly to Vince, which angers McIntyre: “Don’t tell me who I’m speaking to.” McIntyre glowers at Striker, before speaking again; “No, that’s M-C-I-N, no, don’t put me back on… hold…”

9:05 – Commercials

9:10
Hawkins-Archer/Hornswoggle-??? – The heels enter first. Hornswoggle enters next, sporting several bandages and hobbling on a little crutch. Hawkins comments that Hornswoggle must be insane to want to compete in his condition; Hornswoggle responds, “Insane? Insane! INSANE! INSANE!!!” Kane enters, and marches towards the ring; Hawkins-Archer double-team Kane for a while, and begin beating him down, drawing a disqualification almost instantly. With Kane down, the heels grab Hornswoggle; they beat him down again, but instead of just leaving him laying, they carry him off to the back. Kane gets up and runs up the ramp after them.

9:20
IC, “Elimination”: KOFI/Christian/Cody – After a few moments of silence after the last match, Kofi’s music hits, and the next match begins. The three go at it, taking turns on each other, with nobody getting any real advantage.

9:25 – Commercials

9:30
IC, “Elimination”: KOFI/Christian/Cody (cont’d) – After about five minutes, Kofi hits Cody with the “Trouble in Paradise” for the elimination. Five minutes later, Kofi hits “Trouble in Paradise” on Christian for the win. The two shake hands, and Christian presents Kofi with both the IC-Championship and the “MITB”-Briefcase. At the top of the ramp, Swagger gives Kofi a sarcastic round-of-applause.

9:40 Commercials

9:45
World, “Gauntlet”: SWAGGER/Masters-Jtg-Finlay – Swagger makes quick work of both Masters and Jtg, finishing them both with the Gutwrench Bomb. Finlay’s music hits, but he doesn’t enter; Long enters, instead, and informs Swagger that, due to what happened earlier to his son, Hornswoggle, Finlay has left the building. Long has found a suitable replacement, though, that being Rey! Rey enters like a tornado, hitting Swagger with a barrage of moves, but Swagger eventually regains the upper-hand. Punk makes his way out, temporarily distracting Rey, allowing Swagger to hit him with the Gutwrench Bomb for the pin. After the match, Rey runs after Punk, while Swagger grabs a mic; Swagger begins to brag about his win, but Kofi makes his entrance. Kofi gets face-to-face with Swagger; Kofi: “I know that you want to take this time to brag about your win. And truth be told, you do deserve to brag after beating an athlete the caliber of Rey Mysterio. But I just wanted to come out here and tell you that, while I may not be as famous as Rey Mysterio, or have had the amazing career of Rey Mysterio, I do possess a hunger the likes of which you’ve never seen. I am hungry to win my first World Championship, and I’m going to do it by beating you at ‘Summerslam’. I want you to know that I am not taking this challenge lightly; I know what kind of athlete you are, you’ve beaten some of the biggest names in our industry, and you’re already a two-time World Champion despite being in WWE for less than two years. I just wanted to come out here and shake your hand. May the best man win.” Kofi offers his hand, and Swagger – after a few moments – shakes it. The show goes off the air with the two staring each other down.

Week of 8-9-10

RAW

9:00
The show cold-opens with Bret, backstage, addressing the audience; he announces that tonight’s main-event will be an 8-on-8 tag match, featuring Cena, Bourne, Morrison, Kidd, Smith, Henry, Khali, and Tatsu, against Sheamus and the other seven members of “NXTreme”. Also tonight, Trips will return to the ring, against Jericho.

9:05
Hawkins-Archer (from “Smackdown”) make a surprise appearance, and say that they are sick of being ignored; they challenge any team to face them tonight. Kidd-Smith (w/ Natalya) make their way out, followed by Santino-Kozlov (w/ Jillian), followed by Jey-Jimmy (w/ Tamina). Bret then enters, and makes an announcement: “Hawkins, Archer, I’ve heard everything that you two have said. I spoke with Teddy Long over the weekend, and we’ve come to a decision; at ‘Summerslam’, Santino-Kozlov will defend their Tag Championships in a four-way match, against The Hart Dynasty, The Usos, and the team of Curt Hawkins and Vance Archer. However, seeing as you’re here tonight, and seeing as how you’ve laid down the challenge, I’ll tell you what. The Hart Dynasty have a match tonight, but how about we have a three-way match with you two, The Usos, and Santino-Kozlov, right now?” Hawkins accepts, and the match begins. It’s fairly evenly matched, with no team being able to hold an advantage for too long. The end comes when the ladies (Tamina and Jillian) get into a fight on the outside, allowing Hawkins-Archer to capitalize on the distraction: Hawkins hits the Flying Elbow on Santino for the win.

9:20 – Commercials

9:25
US: MIZ/Primo – Miz enters with a mic in his hand: “So Randy Orton wants to face me for my United States Championship at ‘Summerslam’… really, Randy? Really? What have you done lately to warrant a shot at this championship? Developed a nick-name? Oooh, you’re a ‘viper’, oooh, scary, brilliant marketing decision. You’re a loser, Randy. You don’t deserve a shot at this title, but you know what? I’ll give you one. You may be a ‘viper’, Randy, but I’m a King Cobra. I’m a Boa Constrictor. I will unleash an attack on you so quickly that you won’t be able to avoid my bite. So I accept your challenge, Randy, but be prepared, because this will be a Miz that you have never seen before.” Primo makes his way out, and the match begins. Miz dominates the majority of the match, save for a few brief furies by Primo; one “Skull-Crushing Finale” later, and Miz retains.

9:35
Backstage, Bret is in his office with “HartDynasty”, when Tamina barges in; she insists on a match with Jillian, but Tamina’s disrespect upsets Natalya. After some tough-talk and threats, Bret signs Tamina/Jillian/Natalya for later tonight.

9:40 – Commercials

9:45
Jericho is in the ring, ready for another edition of “The Highlight Reel”. Jericho mentions that Bret signed Cena-Bourne/Jericho-Edge for “Summerslam”, and felt the need to do a little investigative journalism. Jericho welcomes his guest this evening, Bourne; Bourne enters, and thanks Jericho for having him on the show. Jericho mocks Bourne’s jovial personality, asking him if he thinks he has what it takes to make it in this business; Bourne responds that it’s BECAUSE of his jovial personality that he’s been able to overcome so many obstacles to make it to WWE. Jericho: “Well let me see if I can’t rain on your parade there, Junior. You see, at ‘Summerslam’, you’re teaming with John Cena, against myself and Edge. Now everybody knows that Edge and I don’t get along, but the fact is, we were former Unified Tag-Team Champions, we ran roughshod over every team in this business; you and John Cena, however, have barely teamed together. So there’s ‘Strike One’ for you. But allow me to mention ‘Strike Two’ – John Cena is a very sick man. Oh yes, smiley, happy, jokey, happy-go-lucky John Cena is about as sick and twisted as they come. He ended Batista’s career. He ended Jesus’. He almost ended mine. He’s almost ended Edge’s. How do you think he’s going to feel when he has to team-up with his so-called friend, who wouldn’t even give him a title-shot? He makes no secret that his life revolves around the WWE Championship, you don’t think it’s eating away at him that when you were Champion, you didn’t give him a shot?” Bourne attempts to argue, but is quickly interrupted by Trips’ music; Trips enters, and makes his way to the ring. Trips: “Ya know, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Jericho, do you ever just shut up? Seriously, does your mouth ever stop running? I’ve known you a long time, and I know what you’re trying to do. Evan, take it from somebody who knows, Jericho is talking out of his butt; John Cena is just about the most honest, stand-up guy on the planet, it’s why I wanted him by my side to battle ‘NXTreme’, because I know that he’s a man of conviction. He’s in the back right now, getting ready to lay a massive beat-down on every single one of them! So don’t worry about John, and don’t worry about this ridiculous blow-hard, either.” Edge enters: “Triple H, I will not allow you to insult my ‘Summerslam’ tag-team partner. We may not be best friends, and we have to get on the same page right now; we have a big match coming up, and we don’t need you coming out here, spewing your verbal diarrhea.” Trips: “So you two want to get on the same page for ‘Summerslam’, huh? Well why don’t the two of you take on the two of us?” Bret interrupts, and announces that he thinks that match would be a wonderful idea; however, Bourne is scheduled for a match later tonight, so Bret will name a suitable replacement… I HEAR VOICES IN MY HEAD! Orton makes his way out, wary of Trips. The announcers note the long history between Orton and Trips, and wonder how they could possibly coexist. As Orton is making his way to the ring, the heels attempt to attack Bourne; Bourne, however, manages to counter, knocking them both down with kicks to the face before leaving. Orton gets into the ring, where he and Trips get face-to-face; they look like they’re about to go at it, but then turn and attack the heels as the heels get back to their feet. They’re brawling in the ring, with the “Highlight Reel” set still up, and we go to commercial.

10:05 – Commercials

10:10
Trips-Orton/Jericho-Edge (cont’d) – We come back from break, and the teams are still wildly brawling; the “Highlight Reel” set is actually still in the ring, and the announcers mention that this match has been deemed a “No Disqualification” match. The teams use pieces of the set to beat each other with. The end comes when the heels have Trips on the outside, and ram him into the steps; Miz then runs out and attacks Orton, leveling him with weapon-shots, and giving Jericho-Edge the easy win. Trips then reaches under the ring, grabs his sledgehammer, and chases the heels to the back.

10:20
Backstage, Sheamus and Barrett give a pep-talk to the rest of “NXTreme”, prepping them for their big match tonight. Barrett: “Tonight, we have the opportunity to make a statement. We have the opportunity to show that we belong here. And perhaps most importantly, we have the opportunity to take some of them out before Sunday.”

10:25 – Commercials

10:30
Natalya/Tamina/Jillian – None of the women are accompanied to the ring, as the announcers explain that that was Bret’s decision. The end comes when Natalya and Jillian are fighting; Natalya knocks Jillian out of the ring, but then turns around into a big kick by Tamina; Tamina hits the “Superfly Splash” for the win.

10:40
As the competitors from the previous match are leaving the ring, Morrison makes his entrance and makes his way to the ring. “I know I have other business to tend to tonight, but there’s something I have to get off my chest: R-Truth… I don’t know what your problem is lately, but if you want a piece of me, I’m standing right here. Why don’t you come face me like a man?” Truth appears on the Tron, obviously in a sour mood; Truth: “I had a feeling that you would try to call me out tonight, but let me lay down a little truth for you; you do not want any part of me. You’ve cost me the United States Championship, you’ve cost me the ‘Money-in-the-bank’ contract, and you’ve made us lose so many tag matches I’ve lost count. If you want me, guess what, you’re gonna get all of me you can handle, at ‘Summerslam’.” Morrison: “That’s fine, if you want to-“ Morrison is interrupted when Truth jumps out of the crowd and attacks him from behind with a chair; Truth’s video-message was pre-recorded. Truth’s mug on the Tron is smiling as Truth actually beats-up Morrison in the ring. Truth leaves, and with Morrison down, the “NXTreme” theme hits; they enter through up in the stands, and attempt to quickly run to the ring to attack the lone Morrison, but the “Raw Army” (Cena, Bourne, Kidd, Smith, Khali, Henry, and Tatsu) race to the ring to help their down comrade.

10:45 – Commercials

10:50
“Raw Army” vs. “NXTreme” – The announcers explain that it took the entire commercial-break – and several threats from the referee and Bret – to get everybody to settle into a regular match. No real advantages are gotten, but after about fifteen minutes of action and several instances of “NXTreme” cheating, the faces get fed-up; they all jump into the ring, and a massive brawl erupts. Jericho and Edge run down to the ring to get involved, followed by Orton, Truth, Jey-Jimmy, Santino-Kozlov, and Hawkins-Archer, all of whom target their “Summerslam” opponents. Sheamus grabs the WWE-Championship and attempts to sneak up the ramp, but he is met by Trips; Trips batters Sheamus back towards the ring. The brawl continues until “NXTreme” retreat back into the audience and the WWE heels retreat back up the ramp. All of the faces are left in the ring, daring their “Summerslam” opponents to come back and fight; Trips grabs the WWE-Championship and holds it over his head, while Sheamus yells that the belt belongs to him.

NXT

10:00
Striker opens the show, reminding everybody that there will be two eliminations tonight, and that the four remaining Rookies will go on to compete in a 4-Way at “Summerslam”.

10:05
Percy/Husky/Riley – Riley tosses Percy out of the ring, and decides to showboat a bit too much; Husky whips him into the ropes, and hits a big Pounce for the win. From the top of the ramp, Miz screams at Riley for losing.
Husky = 4-4-1
Percy = 4-4-1
Riley = 2-6

10:15 – Commercials

10:20
McGillicutty/Kaval/Cottonwood – Kaval does well against his larger opponents, keeping them off-balance with a stick-and-move offense. Cottonwood eventually tosses Kaval out of the ring, and hits a big Brain Chop on McGillicutty; Cottonwood bends down to pin McGillicutty, but doesn’t notice that Kaval has climbed the ropes from the outside. Kaval hits the “Warrior’s Way” to the back of Cottonwood’s head, and pins the big man.
Kaval = 5-4
McGillicutty = 4-5
Cottonwood = 5-3
10:30 – Commercials

10:35
Striker announces that the first elimination will be announced right now, and reveals the win/loss-records to the audience:
            5-3) Cottonwood
            5-4) Kaval
            4-4-1) Husky, Percy
            4-5) McGillicutty
            2-6) Riley

Riley is of course upset at his record, but tries to play it off like it’s all one big fluke. Striker announces that, for this elimination, there will not be a “Pro’s Poll”, and that it will be based strictly on wins-and-losses. “Alex Riley, I’m sorry, but you are eliminated.” Riley is flabbergasted; he is given the mic to give a farewell-speech, but ignores it and walks up the ramp. Riley stops at the top of the ramp to complain to Miz; Miz starts to comfort Riley, but then smacks him right in the face! The two get into a shoving match, which ends in Miz catching Riley with the “Skull-Crushing Finale” right on the steel stage! Miz fixes his tie and sits back down.

10:40
Striker then announces another surprise: the remaining Rookies will all compete in a second match tonight, that being an over-the-top “Battle Royal”. That’s not all, though; this match will feature both Rookies AND Pros! The Pros of the remaining Rookies (Kofi, Morrison, Mvp, Cody, and “Lay-Cool”-sub Chavo) head down to the ring, and the match is on. It’s a wild free-for-all for a few moments, but then everyone decides to gang-up on Cottonwood, eliminating him first. We then go to break.

10:45 – Commercials

10:50
“Battle Royal” (cont’d) – During the commercial, Kaval eliminated Chavo, and Husky eliminated Cody. Mvp tosses McGillicutty. The three remaining Pros (Kofi, Morrison, Mvp) and the three remaining Rookies (Husky, Kaval, and Percy) align, and then go full-steam-ahead at each other. Husky lifts Morrison and attempts to eliminate him, but Morrison slides out and dumps Husky, instead. Mvp then tries to dump Kaval, but Kaval kicks him and tosses him, instead. Kaval, Percy, Kofi, and Morrison each take a corner, but Striker gets on the mic: “What do you say, Pros, should we allow the two Rookies settle things mano-a-mano?” Kofi and Morrison agree and leave the ring, leaving Kaval and Percy. Kaval uses his kicks to get a quick advantage, but Percy’s size and strength allows him to reverse and toss Kaval. After the match, Kaval gets back in the ring, and the two shake hands.
Percy = 5-4-1
Kaval = 5-5
Husky = 4-5-1
McGillicutty = 4-6
Cottonwood = 5-4

10:55
Striker announces the new win/loss-records:
            5-4: Cottonwood
            5-4-1: Percy
            5-5: Kaval
            4-5-1: Husky
            4-6: McGillicutty
Striker the announces the “Pro’s Poll”:
            1) Percy (MVP)
            2) Kaval (“Lay-Cool”)
            3) Husky (Cody)
            4) McGillicutty (Kofi)
            5) Cottonwood (Morrison)
Striker and the Rookies all seem shocked to see Cottonwood in last place, most of all Cottonwood. Striker asks Morrison to explain; Morrison: “Eli, first of all, I want to tell you that you’ve been a great student. When I first volunteered for this gig, the last thing I expected was to be mentoring a legitimate giant; sure, we were kind of an odd couple, my style is vastly different than yours and, honestly, I wasn’t exactly sure what I could teach a seven-footer about learning how to use his entire body as a weapon while maintaining grace and balance. You listened to everything I told you about how to conduct yourself when you’re on the road or signing autographs for kids, and while you’ve had a few problems playing well with the other Rookies, I always chalked it up to your incredible competitive-drive. However, you were pinned by Kaval earlier in the night, and you were the first man eliminated from the ‘Battle Royal’. I think you’re a great guy and have a ton of potential, but most of the Pros felt that you just weren’t at the level you should be yet.” As Morrison is speaking, Cottonwood nods his head in agreement. Striker: “Eli, do you have any parting words for us?” Cottonwood grabs the mic: “Do I have any parting words… as a matter of fact, I do. John, you’ve been a great mentor, and I want to thank you for everything you’ve taught me. As for the rest of you, though… I’ll leave you with one final thought.” Cottonwood Brain-Chops Striker, then turns and starts Brain-Chopping the other Rookies! Cottonwood storms up the ramp, and begins Brain-Chopping the Pros (save for Morrison). Morrison tries to calm him down, and eventually does. Cottonwood looks ashamed of his actions, and exits the stage.

SMACKDOWN

8:00
Long opens the show from the middle of the ring, and invites both Kofi and Swagger to join him. The two men make their entrances, and join Long in the ring. Long: “First of all, I want to tell the two of you how proud I was to see you shake hands last week. I realize that the two of you are not friends, and that you’re both highly competitive individuals; however, to see two fine athletes like yourselves shake hands and agree that the best man should win, well, I gotta be honest… it almost brought a tear to my eye, playa. That’s the type of healthy competition I want to promote here on ‘Smackdown’. That said, tonight, the gentlemanly conduct is over; it’s time to let those competitive and creative juices flow, because tonight, you will be picking each others’ ‘poisons’! You will each be picking the other one’s opponent, and you will each have free reign to pick ANYBODY on the ‘Smackdown’ roster. I’m not giving you any time to think about it, though, I’m putting you both on the spot. Kofi, who does Jack have to face tonight?” Kofi thinks for a bit, and coolly responds “The Big Show.” Swagger is upset, and asks if it will be a non-title match; Long responds, “No such luck, you’re the champion, and a champion should always be willing to defend his championship. That said, Jack, who does Kofi have to face tonight?” Swagger thinks for a bit: “I have to defend my Championship, huh? Well, in that case… Kofi, you’re gonna have to face… KANE!” Kofi is a bit taken aback, but quickly says “ok” to himself. Swagger then grabs the mic from Long: “So, about what you said earlier… no more gentlemanly conduct?” Long says “yes”; Swagger: “So you don’t mind if I do this?” Swagger goes to hit Kofi with the mic, but Kofi dodges; when Swagger turns back around, Kofi hits him with a “Trouble In Paradise” that sends Swagger rolling out of the ring! Swagger walks back up the ramp, complaining and holding his jaw the entire time.

8:15
Another video-package for Hawkins-Archer airs, bragging about their win on Monday, as well as the numbers they did on Kane and Show. The video-package cuts off, though, and the camera cuts to Finlay looking directly into the camera. “Hawkins! Archer! I don’t know why you did what you did, but I’m the man that’s going to make you pay. And I’ll mess you up worse than any seven-foot monster you could ever imagine.”

8:20 – Commercials

8:25
Rey-Matt/Punk-McIntyre – Punk is accompanied by the entire “SES” (Gallows, Serena, and Masque), while Rey is accompanied by Christian and Jtg. From the get-go, McIntyre is reluctant to get into the ring with Matt; he’ll attack Rey when he’s down, but tag-out as soon as Matt is back in. McIntyre’s reluctance to get into the match allows the faces to beat Punk down. Eventually, Punk tags McIntyre, but McIntyre won’t get it; Gallows actually has to get on the apron and toss him into the ring. McIntyre uses a lot of stall- and cheating-tactics, poking Matt in the eye, kicking him low, etc.; it’s all for naught, however, as Matt catches him with a “Twist of Fate” for the win. After the match, McIntyre rolls out of the ring, and Matt gives chase; meanwhile, “SES” try to attack Rey, but Christian and Jtg run them off, with Masque getting left behind. Punk, Gallows, and Serena watch from the ramp as Christian and Jtg hold Masque, while Rey pulls his mask off; Rey does, indeed, pull the mask off, but there is another mask underneath the top one. Masque escapes and runs up the ramp; from the ring, the faces all point at Punk and motion that his mask is coming off at “Summerslam”.

8:40 – Commercials

8:45
WWE: SWAGGER/Show – Before the match, Show gets on the mic: “Before I wrestle Jack Swagger here tonight, there are two things I’d like to address real quickly. First of all, Kofi, thank you for granting me this match; if I win, I hope you know that I’ll be a fighting champion, and I’ll grant you the very first shot at the World Heavyweight Championship, you won’t even have to cash-in the ‘Money-in-the-Bank’ contract. The other thing on my mind is the challenge that Nick Ziggler threw-down last week, and to that, Ziggler, I accept, on one condition… that you do NOT interfere in my match here tonight. You stay in the back, you don’t try to distract me from winning the World-Championship, and you have yourself a deal. And boy, I hope you know what you’re getting yourself into.” Swagger enters, still holding his jaw and looking a little less than confident, but still trying to strut and preen like he usually does. The match begins, and Show is able to counter Swagger’s mat-wrestling with his superior strength. Show maintains the advantage for a bit, but Swagger clips Show’s previously-injured ankle, and goes to work attacking Show’s ankle with various holds. Swagger has the advantage as we go to commercial.

9:05 – Commercials

9:10
Swagger still has the advantage when we come back from commercial, really working over Show’s ankle. Eventually, feeling that Show is worn down enough, Swagger decides to go for the “Swagger Bomb” Corner Slingshot Splash; Swagger runs across the ring, bounces on the ropes, and jumps onto Show, but Show manages to catch Swagger by the throat! Show struggles to stand on his bad ankle while keeping one hand on Swagger, but Swagger kicks Show in the ankle, forcing Show to let go; Swagger then bounces off the ropes and tries to clothesline Show, but Show catches Swagger by the throat again! Show choke-slams Swagger, covers, but Swagger kicks-out at two! Show can’t believe it, and choke-slams Swagger again; this time, however, instead of covering, Show decides to hit his own Corner Slingshot Splash. Show drags Swagger over to the corner and climbs the ropes, but as he’s bouncing, Swagger gets to his feet, and power-bombs Show off the second rope! Swagger covers, 1-2-3, Swagger retains the World Championship. Swagger is a little worse for wear, but grabs the Championship and walks out of the ring under his own power. After the match, Ziggler runs out and stomps on Show a few times; Vickie then walks to the ring while Ziggler grabs a mic: “’Boy’? You’re calling me ‘boy’? Let me tell you something, ‘boy’, I know exactly what I’m getting into. I’ll see you at ‘Summerslam’. In the mean-time, you may want to hit the gym. Not only might it help your career, but it could also help you land a beautiful woman like Vickie Guerrero.” Ziggler and Vickie make-out, with Show down in the middle of the ring.

9:25 – Commercials

9:30
Husky-Percy-Kaval-McGillicutty/Shad-Chavo-Croft-Barretta – “NXT” Pros Kofi, Mvp, Cody, and “Lay-Cool” bring the Rookies to the ring, and announce that they have a little surprise for them; in order to prepare the Rookies’ for their 4-way at “Summerslam”, they’ve procured a tag-match for them tonight. The Pros introduce the opponents, and the match is on. Shad is the only WWE Superstar that has any luck against the Rookies, with the Rookies basically taking turns giving quick glimpses of their Signature Moves to the audience. At the end, McGillicutty hits Chavo with the “McGilli-Plex” for the win. The Rookies celebrate their win, but as they’re in the ring, Kane enters! Kofi tells everyone else to leave.

9:40
Kofi/Kane – The Rookies and other “NXT” Pros leave, and the match is on. Back-and-forth match, with Kofi briefly gaining the advantage with his speed, Kane with his strength. A few minutes later, Kane grabs Kofi, dumps him over the ropes, and we go to commercial.

9:45 - Commercials

9:50
Kofi/Kane (cont’d) – Kane is dominating as we return from break, with the announcers noting that Kofi seemed to be in a lot of pain after being tossed out of the ring. Kane hits his flying-clothesline and tries to pin, but Kofi kicks-out. Kane also tries a choke-slam, but Kofi kicks at Kane, forcing Kane to release the hold. At the end, Kane, grabs Kofi for a “Tombstone”, but Kofi wriggles out of it, going up and over Kane’s head and landing behind him; when Kane turns around, Kofi nails him with the “Trouble In Paradise”. Kofi covers and gets the win. After the match, Swagger runs down and attacks Kofi; after a few moments, Kane rises to his feet, grabs Swagger, and choke-slams him, causing Swagger to roll out of the ring. Kane then turns to Kofi; Kofi is on guard, ready to defend himself, but Kane instead sticks his hand out. Kofi thinks for a moment, and shakes Kane’s hand; Kane raises Kofi’s arm, and motions that the World Heavyweight Championship will soon be around Kofi’s waist.

SUMMERSLAM
R - WWE, "Lumberjack": SHEAMUS/Trips (Lumberjacks: Cena, Bourne, Morrison, Tatsu, Kidd, Smith, Henry, Khali, Barrett, Sheffield, Tarver, Gabriel, Slater, Young, Otunga)
S - World: SWAGGER/Kofi
R - Cena-Bourne/Jericho-Edge
S - “Mask-vs.-Mask”: Punk/Rey
R - US: MIZ/Orton
S - "Street Fight": Matt/McIntyre
N - Husky/Kaval/McGillicutty/Percy
R - Morrison/Truth
S - Show/Ziggler
2 - Tag: JEY-JIMMY/Kidd-Smith/Santino-Kozlov/Hawkins-Archer

///

Tag-Championships – The match starts with the three “Raw” teams attacking Hawkins-Archer, and it doesn’t take long for the Divas outside the ring to get into a big fight. A few minutes go by, and FINLAY makes his way to the ring; however, as he is walking down the ramp, he is assaulted by a woman with a chair. The chair doesn’t seem to have much affect on Finlay, though, who chases the woman towards the ring; Finlay is so distracted, though, that Archer simply jumps off the apron and clotheslines him down. This distracts the ref, while the mystery-woman runs around the ring, attacking the other Divas with the chair. With the ladies down and their respective teams caring for them, Archer easily drags Santino into the ring, hits his finisher, and makes room for Hawkins to hit the Flying Elbow; Hawkins-Archer win the match and the titles, and hightail it out of there with the mystery-woman before Finlay gets up. Upon replay, it becomes obvious that the mystery-woman is Rosa Mendes, with a new “trashed-out” look.

Show/Ziggler – Vickie accompanies Ziggler. Show uses his strength to keep the advantage through most of the match, but Ziggler shows a lot of tenacity by holding in there. Eventually, Ziggler jumps on Show’s back and applies the Sleeper; Show tries to fight out, but eventually passes out. Vickie celebrates with Ziggler.

Morrison/Truth – Truth is ruthless in his attack on Morrison, but Morrison catches him with a “Flying Chuck” and “Starship Pain” for the win.

Husky/Kaval/McGillicutty/Percy – Striker walks the four men to the ring, introducing each one to the audience. All four men have a short time on top, allowing them to display their repertoires and Signature Moves. At the end, Husky hits Percy with a big Pounce, sending Percy out of the ring; Husky then turns around into McGillicutty’s “McGilli-Plex”, but as McGillicutty is pinning Husky, Kaval comes off the ropes, hits the “Warrior’s Way” on McGillicutty’s exposed stomach, and pins McGillicutty.

“Street Fight”: Matt/McIntyre – Matt is all amped-up tonight, laying an incredible beating on McIntyre; every time McIntyre looks to be turning the tide a bit, Matt shuts him down. After a short, lop-sided match, Matt hits the “Twist of Fate” for the win, putting a big exclamation-point on their feud.

US: MIZ/Orton – Orton actually does a decent job of keeping up with the bigger “star”, Orton. At the end, Orton has Miz down, and begins pounding the mat in preparation for the “RKO”; however, upon noticing this, Miz rolls out of the ring. Orton exits the ring and gives chase, with Miz rolling back in the ring; Orton rolls back into the ring, too, and is met with an assault by Miz. Orton goes for another “RKO”, but Miz grabs Orton’s arms and hits the “Skull-Crushing” finale, instead. Orton is down, but instead of covering, Miz runs out of the ring and grabs a chair; Miz begins battering Orton with the chair, drawing the disqualification but retaining the title. The announcers speculate that while Miz may have been able to pin Orton, he wanted to send a message, possibly that Miz can be as ruthless as Orton.

“Mask-vs.-Mask”: Punk/Rey – The entire “SES” accompanies Punk to the ring, but before the match starts, Long enters and announces that “SES” is banned from ring-side; “SES” scoffs at this, so Long calls on Christian, Mvp, and Jtg to chase them to the back. With the ring-side cleared, the match begins. It’s a very back-and-forth match, with nobody getting any real advantage. Rey manages to kick out of a “Go To Sleep”, and Punk kicks out of the “Frog Splash”. Punk takes Rey down and gets him in the “Anaconda Vice”, but, after much struggling, Rey manages to reach the ropes. Punk again goes for the “Go To Sleep”, but Rey fights out, runs to the apron, and hits the “West Coast Pop” Springboard Huricanrana for the win. Punk tries to run, but Christian, Mvp, and Jtg intercept him; Rey unmasks Punk, and the faces all laugh at him. Punk runs up the ramp, covering his head with his hands.

Cena-Bourne/Jericho-Edge – Cena hits the “Attitude Adjuster” on Jericho, and tags Bourne; Bourne hits “Air Bourne” on Jericho for the win.

World: SWAGGER/Kofi – Back-and-forth match, and totally clean; Swagger’s lack of rule-breaking really impresses the announcers. Swagger hits the Gutwrench-Bomb on Kofi, but Kofi kicks out; Swagger goes for another Gutwrench-Bomb, but this time, Kofi manages to slide out and land on his feet, before hitting Swagger with “Trouble in Paradise” for the win. Kofi celebrates after the match, only for Swagger to get in his face; things are tense for a moment, but Swagger offers his hand to Kofi. Kofi shakes it, and Swagger leaves; Kofi continues to celebrate.

Backstage: Trips knocks on the locker-room of the “Raw” faces, to see if they’re ready for the “Lumberjack” match; after not receiving an answer, he opens the door and walks in to see that all of his lumberjacks – Cena, Bourne, everybody – has been knocked out cold. Trips calls for help; paramedics arrive, as does Bret. Trips asks Bret about the match; Bret tells Trips to go to the ring, and that he [Bret] will “figure something out”.

WWE: SHEAMUS/Trips – Trips walks to the ring, obviously nervous. Sheamus makes his entrance out of the crowd, flanked by “NXTreme”; the announcers notice that the recently-eliminated Riley is with them, seemingly having joined the group, and now giving both sides eight lumberjacks. “NXTreme” surround the ring, and stare daggers at Trips; they get on the apron and feign that they’re going to attack Trips, when all of a sudden, BOOM! Kane enters, flanked by Kofi, Show, Rey, Matt, Christian, Mvp, and Jtg! It seems that “Smackdown” will be supplying the lumberjacks tonight! The referee seems fine with it, and rings the bell. Trips and Sheamus go at it, and it quickly becomes evident that Sheamus is a lot stronger than Trips is, as Sheamus beats Trips in several tests-of-strength. Sheamus knocks Trips out of the ring, on the “NXTreme” side, but the “Smackdown” Superstars make sure that nothing happens to him. Sheamus actually goes on to dominate most of the match, out-muscling and out-wrestling Trips; Trips, however, refuses to stay down or submit, frustrating Sheamus. After about fifteen minutes, Trips reverses the momentum a bit, hitting the knee-lift on Sheamus; Trips then bounces off the ropes, but accidentally runs into the ref, taking him out. Almost instinctively, “NXTreme” and the “Smackdown” Superstars begin brawling; the “Smackdown” Superstars seem to get the advantage, only for several “Smackdown” heels (most notably, the lumberjacks’ opponents from earlier in the night) to run down the ramp; Swagger, Punk, McIntyre, Ziggler, Hawkins, Archer, Gallows, and Masque make it 16-on-8, with the “Smackdown” faces being overwhelmed by the odds. With the ref still down, “NXTreme” get into the ring and surround Trips… only to turn around and destroy Sheamus! The “NXTreme” group hit several finishers on Sheamus, topped off with a “Pedigree” from Trips; Trips covers Sheamus, Barrett wakes the ref, and Trips gets the win and the WWE-Championship. Barrett grabs the Championship, hands it to Trips, and the group flee through the audience.

Week of 8-16-10

RAW

9:00
The show cold-opens with Bret in the ring. Bret: “As you all know by now, last night, Triple H revealed himself to be the mastermind behind ‘NXTreme’. He not only turned his back on WWE, but he stole the WWE-Championship. The man that arguably felt his wrath the greatest, however, was Sheamus. Sheamus, who was led to believe that he was in charge of ‘NXTreme’, was double-crossed by his supposed compatriots. He was ‘screwed’. And if anybody can sympathize with getting screwed, it’s me. Now I know some of you aren’t going to want to hear this, but I feel sorry for Sheamus; that is why I’d like to invite Sheamus down to the ring right now. Please join me in welcoming the former WWE-Champion, and a man that I’m sure will win the championship again in the future, Sheamus!” Sheamus enters, limping, bandaged, and totally confused by Bret’s invitation; he begins walking down the aisle, but is blind-sided by Cena! Cena begins pounding on Sheamus, while the “Raw Army” (Bourne, Morrison, Kidd, Smith, Henry, Khali, and Tatsu) run down the ramp to join in the beating; the faces roll Sheamus into the ring, and hold him up so that Bret can talk to him. Bret: “Sheamus, you tried to screw me. You tried to screw everybody in this ring, and you tried to screw the WWE Universe! I want you to know that I will not stand for it. You will get no sympathy from us. No pity. No sorrow. Sheamus, you have nobody to blame for this but yourself. Sheamus… YOU’RE FIRED!” The faces toss Sheamus out of the ring, and demand that he walk out of the building; after protesting a bit, Sheamus hits the bricks, off to the side of the ramp. Bret: “Triple H, ‘NXTreme’, I don’t know where you are right now, but mark my words, I am not… WE are not going to stand for this. As far as I’m concerned, it’s no more ‘Mr. Nice Hitman’.” Trips and “NXTreme” appear on the Tron, live via satellite. Trips: “’Mr. Nice Hitman’? Seriously? That’s what you came up with? Let me tell you something, Bret, you’re not as smart as I am. Not even close. Hell, I’ve been telling you for the last MONTH that this Championship means the world to me, and you still couldn’t connect the dots. There’s a reason they call me the ‘Cerebral Assassin’; who else could have come up with such a brilliant plan? What, you think I just thought this up last night? Bret, this has been going on for months. I told you that I’m a bastard, I make no secret of the fact that I want to rule WWE. While I was out with my injury, I saw a lot of pretenders try to take my throne. So I went to Wade Barrett, and I asked him if he’d like to make some money. And I went to every Rookie that was eliminated from ‘NXT’, and asked if they’d not only like to make some money, but earn WWE contracts, as well.” Barrett continues the explanation: “And wouldn’t you know it, we all said ‘yes’. I made it clear since the first day I set foot here that I was in this business to make money, and I knew that this was my chance to make a lot of it. So we told Triple H that, as long as he was paying us, we’d do whatever he wanted; his first order of business? Sending a message to the biggest pretender of all, John Cena. After that, we had to position Sheamus to win the WWE Championship back from John Cena. Why? Because Triple H wanted to prove to Sheamus that he was the better man, and there was no better way for Hunter to prove that than to beat Sheamus for the title. Of course, Sheamus let us down at ‘Fatal 4-Way’, but with our help, he finally won the Championship back at ‘Money In The Bank’.” Trips: “And then the master-stroke, convincing you, Bret, to make my match with Sheamus a ‘lumberjack’ match, just so that we could ensure that we’d take out your little ‘Raw Army’. Granted, we didn’t expect Teddy Long to send out his troops, but then I remembered your words, Bret: that there was to be no contact between ‘NXTreme’ and any ‘Raw’ Superstar. The rule didn’t apply to ‘Smackdown’ Superstars. That was your mistake, Bret, and we capitalized on it. So now that we’ve explained all of that for your simple little minds, maybe I should let the final cat out of the bag. You know how I got all of these men WWE contracts?” Stephanie walks into frame, an evil smile on her face. “Remember, I’m a McMahon, and McMahons can do anything. And just to prove my power, next week, ‘NXTreme’ will be taking over ‘Monday Night Raw’. See you next week.”

9:20 – Commercials

9:25
Ryder/Orton – As we come back from commercial, Ryder is already in the ring, talking about how people should be more worried about him than “NXTreme”. He’s interrupted by Orton, who is obviously in a bad mood. Orton stares Ryder down, hits the “RKO”, and covers him for the win.

9:35
Backstage, Bret calls Jericho, Miz, Truth, and Regal into his office; they all wonder what Bret wants with them. Bret tries to compose himself as he explains: “I knew that being the General Manager of ‘Raw’ would be difficult. I knew it would be a challenge even before I accepted. And yet, somehow, I happened to take this job at the exact same time that the world began to crumble. Over the last month, and especially after last night, I realized that I would have to tighten my grip over ‘Raw’, because things have been insane as of late. I tried to be a nice guy, I tried to help every single one of you guys out, but some of you decided not to help me back. So let me tell you what’s gonna happen now. The four of you were all mentors on the first season of ‘NXT’, and as far as I’m concerned, your selfish attitudes rubbed-off on them; so tonight, I’m putting the four of you in a match against John Cena, Evan Bourne, John Morrison, and Yoshi Tatsu.” The heels protest, but Bret warns them not to question him; they all leave.

9:40 – Commercials

9:45
Kidd-Smith/Santino-Kozlov – Kidd and Santino try to out-wrestle each other, while Smith and Kozlov attempt to out-power each other. At the end, Santino attempts to trap Smith in a Fujiwara Armbar, but Smith powers up, positions Santino on his shoulders, and hits the Running Powerslam for the win.

10:00
Backstage, Orton is in his dressing-room, when Bret walks in. Orton, still in a bad mood, asks Bret what he wants. Bret composes himself, then explains, “A few months ago, you said that you didn’t care about ‘NXTreme’. I realize that you’re not exactly the ‘team player’ type, but I want you to know that I’m expecting you to step up. We need everyone we can get right now, and I don’t want to think that you’re not going to pick a side.” Orton: “I told you before, I don’t have a preference; my only concern is putting the WWE Championship back around my waist, and if everybody else wants to go to war, then that just makes it that much easier for me to pick up the scraps.” Bret: “I’m not going to threaten you, Randy, but I will say that I hope you do the right thing.” Orton: “With all due respect, Mr. Hitman, the right thing would be for you to get the hell out of my locker-room.” Bret: “With all due respect, Mr. Viper, you’re either with us, or against us.”

10:05 – Commercial

10:10
Edge/Primo – Before the match, Edge cuts a promo claiming that his loss the previous night was all Jericho’s fault, and that he’s going to make an example out of Primo. Primo makes his entrance, and begins to get mauled down pretty quickly. Edge goes for a Spear, but Primo jumps over him, sending Edge crashing into the turnbuckle! Primo kicks Edge in the face, huricanranas him across the ring, and rolls him up for the pin! Primo runs out of the ring, as Edge throws a temper-tantrum inside of it.

10:20
Backstage, Bret is in his office, when there’s a knock at the door; Cena enters. Cena: “I know you’re under a lot of stress, but are you ok?” Bret smiles for a bit, and reassures Cena that he’s ok. Cena: “You’ve just been going kind of nuts tonight; confronting Jericho, Miz, Orton, without worrying what might happen to you.” Bret: “John, I thank you for your concern, but I can handle myself.” Cena: “Bret, you’re one of the greatest wrestlers in history, one of the toughest men I’ve ever met, and you were one of my heroes growing up. But you’ve been through a lot since then, you been through strokes, and lawsuits, and you’re not getting any younger.” Bret gets a little peeved, but composes himself: “I understand that you’re worried about this job eating away at me, and yes, everything you said was true. But you’re forgetting one thing. I am the ‘Excellence of Execution’. I’m the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will. That will never change. John, you’ve been a great friend since I came back, and I love watching you in that ring. But this is my job, and I have to do it myself. If I ever need help, you’ll be one of the first people I call, but right now, I got this. I got this.” Cena: “Just worried about you, man.” Bret: “I know. Thank you.” Cena leaves, and Bret slumps down in his couch.

10:25 – Commercials

10:30
Jimmy-Jey/Henry-Khali – The Usos manage to keep their opponents off-balance with stick-and-move offense; they actually manage to keep the advantage for most of the match, but a quick “World’s Strongest Slam” seals their fate. Henry covers, while Khali intercedes with a Brain Chop. As Henry-Khali are celebrating, Cena makes his entrance.

10:40
Cena enters while Henry-Khali are still in the ring; he is flanked by Bourne, Morrison, and Tatsu; Henry-Khali welcome the other four into the ring, while “TheUsos” slink away. Cena grabs a mic: “So Triple H and Stephanie McMahon think that they can take over ‘Raw’. Well I got news from them, news handed down by our esteemed General Manager, Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart. If ‘NXTreme’ wants to take over ‘Raw’, they’re gonna have to go through us. And Wade Barrett, ‘Mr. Ring Leader’, ‘Mr. Next Big Break-Out Star’, you’re gonna have your chance to capture the spot-light… against me!” Cena hands Bourne the mic: “Skip Sheffield… big man… big bully… I want you to know that I asked Bret to sign a match next week between you and me. You’re going to find out that it’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.” Bourne hands the mic to Morrison: “Ya know, Yoshi and I were given the same opportunity to pick who we wanted to face, but the truth is, we don’t really care. If any of you want to take us on, go right ahead, cuz we’re gonna be kicking some teeth down some throats.” Morrison goes to hand the mic to Henry, but Jericho’s music interrupts; Jericho makes his entrance, mic in hand, flanked by Miz, Truth, and Regal. Jericho: “Oh, come on, come on, come on… is anybody actually buying this? You want to keep talking, and talking, and talking about what you’re going to do to ‘NXTreme’ next week, but I know what you’re really doing; you’re just delaying your match against us tonight. You’re blathering on, you’re filibustering, it’s axiomatic to everybody in this arena that you’re just doing everything you can to postpone the beating that we are about to lay on you. So why don’t we stop talking, and start wrestling? And as for ‘NXTreme’, well, I think it’s obvious that they’re going to wipe the floor with you next week. And why? Because we taught them everything they know.” The heels walk towards the ring, and cross paths with the departing Henry-Khali; they get in the ring, the match begins, and we go to commercial.

10:45 – Commercials

10:50
Cena-Bourne-Morrison-Tatsu/Jericho-Miz-Truth-Regal (cont’d) – We come back with Miz in control of Bourne, tying him in knots on the mat. Jericho tags in, looking to inflict more pain on Bourne, but Bourne reverses, and tags Tatsu. Tatsu kicks Jericho in the face, sending Jericho scampering to the corner; Jericho tags Regal. Regal smiles as he gets in the ring against Tatsu, obviously feeling that Tatsu is beneath him; Regal attempts to out-wrestle Tatsu, but Tatsu surprisingly holds on, cementing his superiority with a big kick to the head. The rest of the match is pretty back-and-forth, until “NXTreme” runs down the ramp! “NXTreme” help the heels beat-down the faces; the camera cuts to the back, where several doors have been barricaded. Back in the ring, the 12-on-4 attack is just too much, and the faces are laid out, beaten and broken. Trips makes his entrance, flanked by Stephanie; he is carrying a mic. “So Bret Hart doesn’t think that we can take over ‘Raw’. Bret, we took ‘Raw’ over months ago, we have nothing to prove, we just took it over again right now.” Jericho, Miz, Truth, and Regal are applauding Trips and “NXTreme”. Trips: “But hey, if he wants to sacrifice his men to try to make a point, that’s his choice. Just know this: ‘NXTreme’ is the most awesome force in the history of this business. And when they’re unleashed, I promise you, it will be unlike anything you’ve ever seen. These are men with one goal in mind, to make as much money as possible, and NOTHING is going to stand in their way. Not John Cena, not Evan Bourne, not Bret Hart… and not even the four of you.” Realization hits Jericho, Miz, Truth, and Regal approximately three seconds before “NXTreme” attack them; after a sufficient beating, “NXTreme” stand victorious, while Trips and Stephanie look on approvingly from the ramp.

NXT

10:00
Striker opens the show, introducing the NEW World Heavyweight Champion; the rest of the Pros react accordingly. Striker then announces that there will be an elimination tonight, before the final two eliminations on next week’s Season Finale. “Tonight, each Rookie will be given the opportunity to show just how much they’ve learned from their Pro, as tonight, each Rookie will actually FACE their Pro! Here’s the catch, though: Each match will have a ten-minute time-limit.” Husky and Kaval look happy, Percy puts his game-face on, and Mcgillicutty looks really upset at the announcement.

10:05
Husky/Cody – Husky gets the early advantage, but Cody turns it around after a thumb to the eye. Cody maintains the upper-hand, but a big Pounce out of nowhere gives Husky the win.
Husky = 5-6-1

10:15 – Commercials

10:20
Kaval/Chavo – Chavo enters, carrying a microphone; he makes a big speech about how Kaval must be insane to think that he could be a Guerrero, and that this match should be a cake-walk for Chavo. The announcers note that not only is Kaval coming off a big win at “Summerslam”, but was on the winning team against Chavo on the previous week’s “Smackdown”. The bell rings, Kaval kicks Chavo in the face, 1-2-3. Striker is so impressed that he runs into the ring; he asks Kaval what he’s thinking, to which Kaval somewhat modestly says that it’s a total shock. “I never thought I would beat Chavo Guerrero so easily.” Everybody leaves so that the next match can start.
Kaval = 7-5

10:25
Mcgillicutty/Kofi – Before the match, Mcgillicutty grabs a mic: “Before we begin this match, I just want to remind the Pros that I am facing the World Heavyweight Champion. That means that I am facing much stiffer competition than my peers, and in fairness, I think that, win or lose, I should be graded on a curve.” The Pros scoff at the idea. Kofi offers a hand-shake; Mcgillicutty thinks for a while before accepting it. The match begins, and it’s almost all Kofi; Mcgillicutty does manage a quick reversal, but decides to show-boat instead of capitalizing, and ends up losing the advantage right back. “Trouble In Paradise” hits, and Kofi wins. After the match, Kofi offers to help Mcgillicutty to his feet; Mcgillicutty doesn’t want the help, though, and stomps to the back.
Mcgillicutty = 4-8

10:30 – Commercials

10:35
Percy/Mvp – The two shake hands, and get down to business. It’s a back-and-forth match, with neither man holding the advantage. Percy eventually hits the Float-Over DDT (with the announcers mentioning that that is Percy’s finisher), but Mvp kicks out! A minute later, Mvp hits the “Playmaker”, but Percy kicks out! Mvp is shocked, and goes back to working on Percy. The two trade the advantage, until time runs out. The match is ruled a draw, and the two shake hands.
Percy = 5-5-2

10:45 - Commercials

10:50
Striker announces the current win/loss-records:
            7-5: Kaval
            5-5-2: Percy
            5-6-1: Husky
            4-8: Mcgillicutty

Striker then announces the “Pro’s Poll”:
            1) Kaval [+1]
            2) Percy [-1]
            3) Husky [-]
            4) Mcgillicutty [-]
Mcgillicutty is obviously upset; Striker asks him for his thoughts. Mcgillicutty: “The truth is, Matt Striker, I’m feeling a little upset, a little angry, and most of all, I’m feeling really annoyed. I know that I didn’t have the best win/loss-record, but look at who I’ve had to face. I think it’s obvious that, from the very beginning, the stack has been stacked against me. Now I’m not blaming anyone, and I’m not even saying it was intentional, but maybe the decision-makers in the back wanted to put the son of ‘Mr. Perfect’ to the test, I don’t know. I just don’t think that I should be the one going home.” Kofi interrupts: “Michael. Listen, man, I understand how you’re feeling. Believe me, I do, it took me many years to make it to WWE, it took a lot of “No’s” and “Try Again Next Year’s”, but look at me now. As your Pro, I think I should be the one to explain why you were eliminated; it’s not often that most of us on the stage agree on something, but most of us felt that you had a little bit too much of an ego. And I’m not saying that ego is a bad thing, all of us, to some degree, have an ego; look at The Miz, he’s nothing BUT ego and faux-hawk, but he never made excuses for himself. When he was trying to break into WWE, he knew he had to keep working, keep improving, and he did, and now he’s the United States Champion. You had a golden opportunity to wrestle the World Heavyweight Champion tonight, and instead of focusing on doing your best, you were already prepared with excuses before the match even started. I like you a lot, and I think you have a lot of potential, but for now, you have to focus on building on your solid foundation; and let me tell you, if you do, there’s not a doubt in my mind that you could be the World Heavyweight Champion one day.” Mcgillicutty tries to digest what Kofi said, and eventually nods his head; he wishes the other Rookies the best of luck, walks up the ramp, and shakes the hands of all of the Pros. He turns to the audience, waves good-bye, and walks backstage. Striker then reminds everyone that next week is the Season Finale. “Goodnight, everybody!”

SMACKDOWN

8:00
The show opens, and the “Hell-in-a-Cell” structure is hanging above the ring; the announcers ponder what it is doing there. Kofi’s music hits, and he makes his entrance; he celebrates for a while, both in the ring and in the stands, before grabbing a mic. Kofi thanks the fans for their support, but is quickly interrupted by Swagger; Swagger stands on the ramp, and demands an immediate rematch from Kofi, but Swagger himself is quickly interrupted by Long! Long is obviously filled with rage as he stares at Swagger; Swagger tries to laugh it off at first, but after noticing that Long is in no mood, Swagger actually becomes a little fearful. Long: “Jack… after what you tried to pull at ‘Summerslam’, you’re very lucky that I’m not firing you. You had an absolutely phenomenal match with Kofi for that World Heavyweight Championship, you sucked up your loss like a true champion, and you SHOOK HIS HAND! And all it took was thirty minutes for you to turn around and stab him in the back! And you didn’t just attack Kofi, but you helped ‘NXTreme’ win the WWE Championship! I’m telling you this right now, Jack Swagger, your punishment WILL begin tonight, and it will begin… in HELL IN A CELL!” The cage begins to lower over Kofi; Swagger goes from false bravado, to obvious fear, to running away.

8:20 – Commercials

8:25
Finlay/Shad – Finlay is in an obviously bad mood; the announcers note that this is due to Hawkins-Archer hospitalizing Hornswoggle. Shad tries to intimidate Finlay, but Finlay responds with a punch in the mouth; Finlay dominates Shad, beating him from pillar to post, before hitting the “Celtic Cross” for the win. Finlay grabs a mic: “Hawkins! Archer! Get out here, now!” A few awkward seconds pass. “I’m not leaving until Hawkins and Archer get out here.” Cody enters, walks to the ring, and tells Finlay that he [Cody] has a match.” Finlay: “You want a match? You got one.” Finlay punches Cody in the mouth, and dismantles him, as well; Cody rolls out of the ring, while Finlay once again grabs the mic. “Hawkins, Archer, I’m still waiting.” The team of Barreta-Croft enter, and tell Finlay that “nobody came here to watch a fat old man have a temper tantrum”, prompting Finlay to dismantle them, too. However, as Finlay is working over Barreta-Croft, Hawkins-Archer (w/ Rosa) run down the ramp, leading to the five heels beating Finlay down. After a while, the heels leave, while the ref checks on Finlay.

8:40
As the five heels from the previous segment are heading backstage, Long is there to meet them when they get behind the curtain. The heels laugh, but Long is deadly serious. Long: “Croft, Barreta… I’ll come up with a punishment for you later. Get out of my sight.” Barreta-Croft realize that Long is serious, and leave. Long: “And as for you three… your punishment will be tonight. Hawkins, Archer, the two of you will be part of the same punishment that Swagger will face, tonight, in Hell in a Cell! And Rosa? Your punishment… will be having to watch.” Long walks away, while Hawkins-Archer-Rosa all look concerned.

8:45 – Commercials

8:50
Mvp-Jtg/Gallows-Masque – Serena accompanies Gallows-Masque; the announcers mention that this is in retaliation for Mvp and Jtg helping to unmask Punk at “Summerslam”. It’s a back-and-forth match, with nobody getting any real advantage. After about five minutes, Punk appears on the stage, wearing street-clothes and a new mask; he slowly makes his way towards the ring. After a few more minutes, Punk tries to interfere, but is caught by the ref; “SES” lose by disqualification, a big brawl erupts, and Rey comes flying down the ramp. Long makes his way out, and announces that this match will continue, as a 6-man tag. The heels argue as we go to commercials.

9:05 – Commercials

9:10
Rey-Mvp-Jtg/Punk-Gallows-Masque – We return from break with the match in progress; Gallows has Mvp down. The match continues as a back-and-forth affair, with Jtg hitting the “Shout-Out” on Masque for the win. Punk attempts to slither away, but Rey and Mvp catch him; Gallows attempts to help Punk, but a “Playmaker” from Mvp takes Gallows out. The faces rip Punk’s new mask off, and point and laugh again; Serena tries to help hide Punk’s head as they run to the back, but as they do, Long appears on the Tron. Long: “C.M. Punk… I know that you’re feeling quite embarrassed right now, and that you probably thought that your unmasking would be your punishment. However, you’d be wrong. See, you, Luke Gallows, and Masque will all be part of the same punishment that Jack Swagger, Curt Hawkins, and Vance Archer will be facing. I expect to see you all out here again in about thirty minutes. Holla!” Punk yells about how everybody is ganging up on him, as he and Serena head to the back.

9:25 – Commercials

9:30
Matt-Christian/McIntyre-Ziggler – Back-and-forth match with everybody hitting their high-spots. Christian hits the “Killswitch” on McIntyre for the win. After the match, Long again appears on the Tron: “Matt Hardy, Christian, congratulations on your win tonight. The two of you have always served ‘Smackdown’ honorably, and I thank you. As for Drew McIntyre and Nick Ziggler, your nights are not over; in fact, they’re just beginning, for the two of you will be serving the same punishment that Jack Swagger, Curt Hawkins, Vance Archer, and ‘SES’ will be. You two don’t even have to leave the ring, as that punishment is coming up next. And there isn’t anything that Vince McMahon or Vickie Guerrero can do about it! See ya in a minute, playas!”

9:45 - Commercials

9:50
We come back from commercial, with Punk, Gallows, and Masque (minus Serena) making their way to the ring; McIntyre, Ziggler, Hawkins, and Archer (minus Rosa) are already there. Vickie has vanished from ring-side, with the announcers noting that Long did not want any of the Divas out here. Swagger is the last to enter; he stares ominously at the “HIAC” structure above the ring, takes a deep breath, and heads into the ring. The Cell lowers, and as it does, Long enters and stands on the stage. Long: “Last Sunday, at ‘Summerslam’, the eight of you attacked the eight ‘Smackdown’ Superstars that volunteered to be lumberjacks in the Triple H / Sheamus ‘lumberjack’ match. Because of your actions, ‘NXTreme’ is now in control of the WWE Championship. I am not going to sit idly by and allow things like that to happen. Now you’ve already seen the first part of this punishment that I’ve concocted, that being the ‘Hell in a Cell’, but please allow me to introduce the SECOND half of this punishment…” BOOM! Kane’s music hits, and the eight men that served as lumberjacks (Kane, Show, Kofi, Rey, Matt, Christian, Mvp, and Jtg) make their entrance carrying steel chairs; Kane is also carrying a key, for the large pad-lock placed on the HIAC door. Kane opens the door, and the faces file in; Kane hands the key to Long, and Long locks the door behind them. The faces stalk the heels for a moment, before attacking with the chairs. After a sufficient beat-down, both with the chairs and several Finishing Moves, the faces raise their arms in victory; the cage is raised, and the camera pans to the beaten bodies of the heels as we fade to black.

Week of 8-23-10

RAW

9:00
The show cold-opens with ‘NXTreme’ (minus Trips) standing in the ring. The camera pans around the arena, revealing a very different look for the show: the Tron is displaying the yellow “N” logo (as well as several other “NXTreme”-related graphics); the ring-apron, turnbuckle-pads, and announce-tables are adorned with the “N” logo in place of the usual “WWE” logo; the ring-ropes are yellow; and even the large metal “WWE” sign on the stage has been covered with a banner bearing the “N” logo. Even the microphones have “N” logos on them. Barrett: “I realize that many of you were tuning in to watch ‘WWE Monday Night Raw’, but as we told you last week, we are taking over this show! This is not ‘Monday Night Raw’, this is ‘Monday NXTreme’! And I promise you that this will be the greatest episode of a Monday-night wrestling program that you have ever seen. The men that stand before you in this ring will bring a fire and passion unlike any you have ever seen before, and you will all quickly realize that we are the future of this business. It’s time for your John Cenas and Randy Ortons, your Edges, your Jerichos, to step aside, because WE are taking over.” Bret’s music hits; Bret enters and stands on the stage. “NXTreme” is shocked that Bret would interrupt. Bret: “Instead of telling everyone that you’re the greatest wrestlers who ever lived, why don’t you stop talking, and start showing it? You have the forum, you have the whole building! Thanks to Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, most of the ‘Raw’ roster weren’t even allowed in the building tonight! There are only eight other ‘Raw’ Superstars here tonight, and they happen to be the eight that you’ll be facing! The numbers are even, this is neutral territory, so why don’t you shut your mouths, and get down to business?” Barrett thinks for a moment: “You know what, you’re right. Actions speak louder than words, so Darren Young, David Otunga, you two are up first; why don’t you show everyone what you’re capable of?” Young and Otunga nod and prep themselves for their match; Bret goes back behind the curtain, while the rest of “NXTreme” take seats up on the stage. Henry’s music hits, and the team of Henry-Khali enter.

9:15
Young-Otunga/Henry-Khali – Henry-Khali are cautious as they enter, being that the rest of “NXTreme” is sitting around the entry-way. Henry-Khali get on the apron, but Young-Otunga attack them before the bell rings; Khali is knocked off the apron, while Henry is knocked back down the steps, resulting in both behemoths injuring their legs. Henry-Khali get back into the ring to start the match, but both are obviously hurting; the bell rings, and the heels target the legs of their larger opponents. It doesn’t take long for the odds to become too much, with the heels decimating and winning. Young-Otunga head back up the ramp to celebrate with the rest of “NXTreme”, while Henry-Khali remain in the ring, nursing their wounds. The announcers note that the “Raw” Superstars could be in for a long night, and we go to commercial.

9:20 - Commercials

9:25
Tarver/Morrison – Morrison is already in the ring as we come back from commercial; the “NXTreme” theme hits, and Tarver leaves his seat on the stage to walk to the ring. Morrison gets the early advantage, but Tarver soon turns it around with his brawling ability. Tarver keeps the advantage for most of the match, until Morrison hits a desperation “Flying Chuck”, knocking Tarver down. Morrison then positions Tarver for a running-knee to the face, connects, and gets ready to hit “Starship Pain”; as Morrison jumps, however, Tarver pops up, grabs Morrison from behind, and hits the “Tarver’s Lightning” (Reverse Powerslam) for the win. Tarver is groggy, but celebrates nonetheless. After the match, the rest of “NXTreme” walk to the ring and surround Morrison. Morrison struggles to his feet, and his met by the surrounding “NXTreme” members; the heels, however, create an opening, and allow Morrison to exit the ring, staring holes into him the whole time.

9:40 – Commercials

9:45
Backstage, security guards are escorting Morrison out of the arena. The camera then cuts to Bret’s office, where Bret is standing with the remaining members of “Team Raw” (Cena, Bourne, Kidd, Smith, Natalya, and Tatsu). Bret explains that Henry and Khali are both being checked by the trainers, and that Trips is having the rest of the “Raw” Superstars removed from the building after their matches; he and Cena then give a pep-talk to the rest, saying that knew they were walking into hostile territory, and that bad things may – and likely will – happen tonight, but they are here to send a message. “Never back down, never give up!”

9:50
Gabriel-Slater/Kidd-Smith – Natalya accompanies Kidd-Smith, and as they enter, Riley decides to hit on Natalya; Kidd-Smith get in Riley’s face, prompting the rest of “NXTreme” to stand up. Natalya tells Kidd-Smith not to worry about it, and the three walk to the ring. The team of Gabriel-Slater walk to the ring. Back-and-forth match, with no real advantage gained on either side. The end comes when Slater hits “Sweetness” (Leaping Russian Legsweep) on Smith, then quickly tags Gabriel; Gabriel hits the 450-Splash on the prone Smith, while Slater intercepts Kidd, allowing Gabriel to pin and win.

10:05 – Commercials

10:10
Sheffield/Bourne – Back-and-forth match, with Bourne having too much heart to fall to Sheffield’s power-moves, and Sheffield being too powerful to be knocked-out by Bourne’s kicks and flying attacks. After a while, Bourne has Sheffield down, and prepares to hit “Air Bourne”; however, just after Bourne leaps, Sheffield gets up, and as Bourne makes his way down, Sheffield hits him with a HUGE clothesline! Sheffield wins, and kicks Bourne a few times after the match for good measure.

10:25 – Commercials

10:30
Riley/Tatsu – Tatsu is already in the ring as we return from commercial; Riley is the next one up, and he’s all talk on the way to the ring. The bell rings, Riley runs his mouth, Tatsu kicks Riley in said mouth, Tatsu wins! The rest of “NXTreme” immediately head towards the ring, anger burning in their eyes; they allow Tatsu to exit, and surround Riley. As Riley gets to his feet, he realizes what is coming, and attempts to make excuses; “NXTreme” isn’t hearing it, however, and give him a vicious beat-down! After a few minutes – and a few Finishing Moves – Cena’s music hits; Cena enters and stands on the stage, prompting “NXTreme” to immediately end their beat-down and focus their attention on him.

10:35
Cena’s on the ramp, holding a microphone. “You know, I have to hand it to you. With the exception of the last match, ‘NXTreme’ has been damn near unbeatable tonight. Not only that, but you haven’t attacked a single ‘Raw’ Superstar. Granted, you’ve had them all escorted out of the arena, but still, I gotta admit, I’m surprised. More than that, I’m impressed. You came here to make a statement, and you’ve made it loud and clear, that ‘NXTreme’ is here to stay. You came here to win, and we see now what the consequences are if you lose. You’re hungry. You’re focused. Every single one of you has got all the tools needed to be a WWE Superstar. It begs the question: Why? Why align yourselves with Triple H, with Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley? Why do the things you’ve done, why attack everyone in sight, why attack commentators and referees when you could be standing on your own two feet? Any one of you could be WWE Champion, but you’d rather be Triple H’s hired thugs. Why? I’ll tell you why: Fear. You can have all the talent in the world, but if you don’t have confidence in yourself, if you’re afraid of failure, you’ll never accomplish anything. Wade Barrett, if you want to prove that you don’t have any fear of me, why don’t you have security escort the rest of ‘NXTreme’ out of the arena, and face me like a man?” Barrett scoffs at the suggestion. “Come on, Wade, I’m not stupid, I know the only reason you had the other ‘Raw’ Superstars kicked out was so that you could orchestrate another 8-on-1 attack on me. The difference is, I don’t fear walking into the lion’s den, and the statement I make will be bigger and louder than anything you’ve done tonight. And that message is that even if I go down, I’m taking you with me. So what do you say, Wade?” Barrett thinks for a moment, then orders the rest of ‘NXTreme’ to leave; the other members argue it, but Barrett insists. The rest of “NXTreme” eventually head up the ramp; they each try to intimidate Cena as they walk by, but Cena doesn’t flinch. With “NXTreme” gone, the match begins…

10:40
Barrett/Cena – It’s a feeling-out process to begin, as both men try to land a quick strike or take-down, but are very cautious around each other. Barrett finally goes on the attack, but Cena counters, beating him down. Cena keeps the advantage for a minute, but makes the mistake of running the ropes; Barrett takes him down with a Drop-Toehold, and begins stomping on him and stretching him with submission-holds. Barrett gets Cena up for his “Wasteland” Fireman’s Carry Slam, but Cena wriggles out; Cena clotheslines Barrett down, and picks him up for the “Attitude Adjuster”, but now Barrett wriggles out. Cena turns to hit Barrett, but Barrett hits a big boot to Cena’s face; Barrett again lifts Cena for “The Wasteland”, but instead of slamming him down to the mat, he dumps him out of the ring! Cena’s on the ground, writhing in pain, and we cut to commercial.

10:45 – Commercials

10:50
Barrett/Cena (cont’d) – We come back with Barrett working on Cena’s back. Barrett spends the next few minutes working Cena over, but Cena eventually mounts a comeback. Cena gets Barrett down, hits the “Five Knuckle Shuffle”, and preps for the “Attitude Adjuster”; however, as Cena lifts Barrett, “NXTreme” run back out and attack Cena. Cena tries to fight back, but the odds are just too great. The eight-on-one attack continues for a minute or so, until BOOM! Kane’s music hits, and the “Smackdown Army” (Kane, Show, Kofi, Rey, Matt, Christian, Mvp, and Christian) charge the ring! It’s a wild brawl, in and around the ring, which eventually branches out in all directions –

11:00
The ring and staging-area are cleared of all wrestlers, with the camera lingering on an empty ring. IT’S TIME TO PLAY THE GAME! Trips and Stephanie make their way to the ring. Trips: “You know, I always knew that Bret wasn’t the stand-up kinda guy he always bragged he was. I was under the impression that we were operating under a Gentleman’s Agreement tonight, he promised me that the only Superstars that would be here tonight would be the ones that were competing, but nooooooo. Bret, you think you run this show, I’m calling you out here, right now!” A moment of silence. “Come on, Bret, I know you’re back there. Let’s see if you’re really as gutsy as you say you are.” Bret’s music hits, and he walks to the ring. Trips questions him about the “Smackdown” Superstars being here, to which Bret smirks that he had no idea they were in the building. Trips realizes that Bret is lying, and threatens that he’s going to make him pay; a little pointing, a little shoving, Trips is reveling in what he is about to do to the past-his-prime Bret. The announcers are very openly worried about the situation, calling Trips a bully, and mentioning Bret’s health issues. NO CHANCE! Vince’s theme hits, and Vince marches to the ring! Vince: “You want to know who flew the ‘Smackdown’ Superstars here? I did! I flew them here! And you want to know why? Because I’m not going to let you, or ‘NXTreme’, or anybody else, take over this company! I put Bret Hart and Teddy Long in charge for a reason, not you!” Trips: “That’s where you’re wrong. I’m already in charge.” Vince: “You’re in charge, huh? Well then let’s see you fire me after I do this.” Vince punches Trips right in the mouth! Vince beats on Trips, while Bret keeps Stephanie at bay. Trips and Stephanie eventually get free, fleeing up the ramp. The announcers ask when we ever thought we’d see Vince and Bret on the same side, as we fade to black.

NXT

10:00
The show begins with Striker in the ring; he introduces former-contenders Titus, Lucky, Cottonwood, and Mcgillicutty. Once the four get into the ring, Striker introduces the three finalists: Kaval, Husky, and Percy all enter and stand on the stage. Striker reminds everybody that tonight is the Season Finale of “NXT”, and that only one man will be named “WWE’s Next Break-Out Star”; with that, Striker asks the four former-contenders their opinions on the matter: Titus chooses Percy, citing his positive attitude; Lucky picks Husky, noting his strength, speed, and surprising athleticism; Mcgillicutty picks Kaval, saying that he’s the best in-ring competitor; and Cottonwood insists that he should be named the winner. Striker (to Cottonwood): “It’s funny you mention that, as I have a big surprise for all of you: We are going to test your theory on whether or not the three finalists deserve to be here, as Percy Watson, Husky Harris, and Kaval, will take on Titus O’Neill, Lucky Cannon, Michael McGillicutty, and Eli Cottonwood, in a 4-on-3 handicap match! And that match is next!”

10:10
Percy-Husky-Kaval/Titus-Lucky-Mcgillicutty-Cottonwood – All of the Rookies are allowed to look strong, hitting their spots, and trading advantages. Titus dumps Kaval out of the ring, and we go to commercial.

10:15 – Commercials (Before and after the commercial-break, we get brief intros to two new Rookies for Season 3 – “FCW” competitors Conrad Tanner and Derrick Bateman. No Pros are named, however.)

10:20
Percy-Husky-Kaval/Titus-Lucky-Mcgillicutty-Cottonwood (cont’d) – Mcgillicutty is out-wrestling Percy as we come back from break. The end comes when Cottonwood whips Husky into the ropes; Husky ducks under a clothesline from Cottonwood, hits the opposite ropes, and hits a big POUNCE for the win. Even the announcers are impressed with the way Husky took-out Cottonwood. The finalists celebrate their victory, but Striker comes out to make an announcement: “Congratulations finalists, that was an incredible victory. However, the night is not over for any of you. The three of you have just shown why you are in the finals of this competition, but now you will all have a chance to show why you should WIN this competition. Husky Harris, Kaval, and Percy Watson will compete in a three-way match, and that match, is NEXT!”
Kaval = 8-5
Percy = 6-5-2
Husky = 6-6-1

10:30 – Commercials (Before and after the commercial-break, we get brief intros to two new Rookies for Season 3 – “FCW” competitors Devin Allen and Donny Marlow. No Pros are named, however.)

10:35
Percy/Husky/Kaval – Again, all three take turns hitting their spots and getting the advantage. The end comes when Percy and Husky are stuck in a collar-and-elbow tie-up, both men trying to over-power each other; Kaval jumps off the ropes, hits “Warrior’s Way” to the back of both men’s heads, and pins Husky. After the match, Striker announces that the winner will be determined after the commercial-break.

10:45 – Commercials (Before and after the commercial-break, we get brief intros to two new Rookies for Season 3 – “FCW” competitors Jacob Novak and Johnny Curtis. No Pros are named, however.)

10:50
The three finalists are in the ring; Striker gives each one a chance to state their case. Kaval talks about his strict discipline and overcoming obstacles; Husky says that he wants to prove that a big man can be just as athletic as any body-builder; and Percy promises to entertain the fans like nobody else can. Striker reveals the current win/loss-records:
9-5: Kaval
6-6-2: Percy
6-7-1: Husky

Striker then asks the Pros to reveal their votes:
- MVP: Husky (“Like he said, he’s fast, he’s strong, and he’s all business in the ring.”)
- LayCool: Percy (“We went with the strong, fast guy that ISN’T a big tub of goo.”)
- Morrison: Kaval (“He’s extremely disciplined, and proves that size doesn’t matter.”)
- Cody: Kaval (“I can’t vote for Husky, and Percy is an idiot. Kaval wins by default.”)
- Kofi: Percy (“All three are great athletes, but Percy is the most entertaining.”)
- Henry: Husky (“He reminds me of myself, he’s deceivingly athletic, and a nice guy.”)
- Ryder: Nobody (“None of these guys are as good as Titus O’Neill.”)
- Miz: “So it all comes down to me, huh? Well, why wouldn’t it? Out of all the Pros, I am the only one to have been on both seasons of ‘NXT’, and as such, I am the Pro whose opinion carries the most weight around here.” Miz leaves the seating area, and walks to the ring. “Right now, all three of your futures rest in my hands, they rest on my words, and if you have any intelligence, my very presence should be giving you butterflies.” Miz gets in the ring, and stares each Finalist down. “But are those butterflies too much to handle? Kaval, can you handle those butterflies? Percy, are you feeling sick? Something bubbling up in your throat, Husky? Get used to that feeling, because if you’re not, the WWE Superstars will eat you alive. If you can’t handle this, then you have no chance of surviving in that locker-room. The pressure you’re feeling right now as I stare you in the eyes is nothing compared to the pressure you’ll feel when you have to face me in the ring. I hope you’re ready, because if you’re not, you’ll be right out the door. All that said, there is one man that has impressed me. One man that I think has shown the type of heart and desire that is needed to make it in this company.” Miz puts the microphone down and stares at all three. Striker asks Miz for his choice; Miz extends his hand to Kaval. Kaval is shocked, but shakes Miz’s hand. Miz: “Don’t blow it.” With that, Miz exits the ring, and Striker announces Kaval as the winner. Percy and Husky congratulate Kaval; Kaval celebrates the win, and the announcers tell us to tune in next week, as we go off the air.

SMACKDOWN

8:00
Mvp/Punk – The show opens with Punk and “SES” making their entrance; as they walk to the ring, the announcers note that, due to all of Kofi’s commitments as World Heavyweight Champion, Long has organized an eight-man tournament to crown a new Intercontinental Champion. Mvp enters next, flanked by Christian and Jtg. Back-and-forth match with lots of reversals; “SES” attempt to interfere, but are countered by Christian and Jtg. The end comes when Mvp sets Punk up for the “Playmaker”, but Punk reverses into the “Go To Sleep” for the win. After the match, Punk gets on the mic, and claims that he is going to become the new IC-champ; Long appears on the Tron, and announces the seedings:
-          Mvp/Punk (Punk)
-          Matt/McIntyre
-          Christian/Ziggler
-          Swagger/Show
He also announces that Matt/McIntyre will be tonight, and that the other two quarter-final matches will take place next week. Punk again promises to win the IC-title.

8:20 – Commercials

8:25
Finlay/Cody – The announcers note that Cody requested this match, feeling that Finlay attacked him for no reason last week. Cody manages to hold his own against the angry Irishman, but eventually succumbs to the “Celtic Crunch” (his renamed “Celtic Cross” Over-the-Shoulder Reverse Piledriver). Finlay grabs the mic, and once again challenges Hawkins-Archer to come down to the ring; Hawkins-Archer-Rosa appear on the ramp, and tell Finlay that he doesn’t want any part of them. Finlay: “I’m afraid you’re mistaken, because I very much want a piece of both of you. And if you’re not gonna give it to me, I’m gonna take it.” Finlay begins to exit the ring, but Long appears on the Tron again; he announces that, since Finlay just had a match, and Hawkins-Archer have a match later, he doesn’t want any problems between them tonight. However, if Finlay can find a partner for next week, he will gladly sign it. Hawkins-Archer: “Whoa, since when do we have a match tonight? You didn’t tell us anything about a match tonight.” Long: “That’s right, I didn’t. And since you seem to like surprising people, I figured I’d wait until now to surprise you: Tonight, Curt Hawkins and Vance Archer, you will be defending your Unified Tag-Team Championships against… The Big Show… and Kane!” Hawkins-Archer begin to argue Long’s decision, but Long’s broadcast ends, and Finlay chases them to the back.

8:40
Backstage, Ziggler and Vickie are relaxing in their dressing-room. Ziggler is upset about having the night off, as he would have liked a warm-up for his IC-tournament match next week; Vickie admits that she asked Long to give him the night off, and says that she had a different type of warm-up in mind. Ziggler likes where this is going, and reaches in to kiss her; Vickie tells him to wait a minute, “I have to get Teddy”. Vickie runs off screen, and Ziggler is confused about why she needs to get Teddy Long; Vickie returns, with a sheer teddy on a hanger. Ziggler smiles, lust in his eyes, and whisks Vickie off her feet, out of the room, and – presumably – out of the building.

8:45 – Commercials

8:50
Matt/McIntyre – The announcers note that this is the second qualifying match in the IC-tournament. McIntyre is very cautious in the beginning, knowing how dangerous Matt can be. Matt gains the advantage right off the bat, but McIntyre turns it around with a low-blow. Matt, however, fights back, hitting the “Twist of Fate” for the win.

9:05 – Commercials

9:10
As we come back from commercial, Long is in the ring; he says that “Night of Champions” is coming up soon, and that he would like to invite a very special guest to the ring. Kofi’s music hits, and he makes his way to the ring. Long: “First of all, congratulations again on winning the World Heavyweight Championship; it looks good on you, playa. However, there was a reason that I brought you out here: Some people may be wondering why I stripped you of the Intercontinental Championship, and I was hoping that you could help clear that up.” Kofi: “Absolutely. As some of you may already know, it’s been a long-standing rule that no Superstar may wear both the World and Intercontinental Championships at the same time. Being the World Heavyweight Champion is a full-time job, with many extra responsibilities; more media-appearances, longer travel, tougher matches... it’s long been felt that no Superstar, no matter how talented or devoted, could possibly fulfill all of their obligations to both championships. It is for that reason that I had to vacate the Intercontinental Championship; there were no hard feelings, though, and Teddy even consulted with me on who I thought should be in the tournament to crown a new IC-champion. After some discussion back-and-forth, I think we came up with eight very talented – and very deserving – names to fill in those slots. However, you may notice one name that is missing from our list: one of the most talented and deserving wrestlers to ever step in this ring, the one and only, Rey Mysterio. Rey, if you would be so kind, I’d like to invite you out here.” After a few moments, Rey enters and walks to the ring; Kofi and Long welcome him and shake his hand. Kofi: “Rey, I want you to know something. When I was given this chance to help put this tournament together, you were the first name that I thought of. You truly are one of the greatest to ever lace-up a pair of boots, and, truth be told, you’ve always been a hero to me. I’ve been watching you for as long as I can remember, and while you’re not that much older than me, you began your career at a much younger age than I did, and I followed you everywhere you went. You truly were my inspiration to get into this business. And since I’ve been here, you’ve been a good friend, too.” Rey: “I thank you for those kind words, and to be honest, I’m a big fan of yours, too. You are one of the most gifted athletes I’ve ever seen, you’re an honest, stand-up guy, and your rise to the top of this industry has been both incredible and well-deserved. And if I inspired you in any way, then that really means a lot to me, because that means that I’m part of the reason that you’re where you are today.” Rey congratulates Kofi, and the two hug. Kofi: “That really means a lot to me, and I hope that what I’m about to say means a lot to you, because there’s not going to be a lot of hugging afterwards. I asked Teddy for a favor, and he was kind enough to grant it to me; I asked if I could face YOU at ‘Night of Champions.” Rey is taken aback. Kofi: “It would be an absolute honor to step into this ring against you, and win or lose, it would be the highlight of my career. Would you do me the honors?” Rey is overwhelmed, and accepts; Long announces the match as official. JACK ONE TWO! Swagger interrupts, beat-up, limping, and wearing street-clothes; he’s carrying a mic as he makes his way to the ring: “Aww, isn’t that precious. Kofi and Rey-Rey are bestest buddies in the whole world, and are going to have a match to determine which of them is the better midget. Oh, come on, you know that’s true.” Swagger enters the ring. “Just one more reason why Teddy Long is such a disgrace as General Manager of this show. Last week, he forced me to take on eight armed men in the Hell-in-a-Cell, and now he allows Kofi to put me into the Intercontinental-Championship tournament. In case you missed it, I am the former World Heavyweight Champion, and as such, I am entitled to a rematch. And what better place for that rematch to happen than at the PPV that was practically named after me, ‘Night of Champions’?” Long thinks for a moment: “You know what, Jack Swagger? You’re right. You deserve a rematch. But honestly, I would feel horrible if you had to wait all the way until ‘Night of Champions’. A man of your stature and accomplishments should never be forced to wait. So how about, we have that rematch… right now?” Swagger argues: “No, we can’t have that match now, I’m injured! You injured me last week, you’re the reason I’ve seen seven doctors in seven days, you can’t do this!” Long: “No, Jack, I can. And that match, will be next.” Long and Rey clear the ring, while Swagger complains.

9:25 – Commercials

9:30
WWE: KOFI/Swagger – Swagger is still complaining as we return from commercial: “I’m hurt! I can’t compete tonight, I’m hurt! I’ve seen seven doctors in seven days, Teddy, please, you can’t do this! I just had a ‘Hell-in-a-Cell’ match last week against armed assailants! Teddy!” The bell rings, and the match starts; Swagger gingerly makes his way around the ring and tries to avoid Kofi, but is unable to defend himself. After five minutes of a pathetically one-sided match, Kofi hits “Trouble in Paradise” for the win. Kofi can only shake his head at Swagger.

9:35
Backstage, Long is in his office, surrounded by Rey, Christian, Matt, Mvp, and Jtg; they’re all relaxing on the couches, watching the monitor, and laughing at Swagger’s defeat. Long rewinds the feed, and everyone laughs again. Long: “Just wait ‘til Kofi gets back here to watch it!” Rey tells Long to switch to the live-feed, because Kane-Show should be starting.

9:40
Tag: HAWKINS-ARCHER/Kane-Show – Kane-Show make their entrance first; Hawkins-Archer (w/ Rosa) follow. Hawkins-Archer use a lot of stall-techniques to keep the match from starting, but the ref eventually decides to just ring the bell; the match starts with Hawkins and Show in the ring, but again, Hawkins uses a lot of stalling techniques to psyche-out his opponents. Hawkins tries to use a bit of stick-and-move offense, but quickly decides to jump out of the ring again; Show yells at Hawkins to get back in the ring, allowing Archer to sneak in and hit Show with the Big Boot to the face. Hawkins then quickly climbs the ropes and drops the Elbow on Show, but Show kicks-out at 2. The announcers note that Show is already in bad-shape, though, and we go to commercial.

9:45 – Commercials

9:50
We come back from break with the heels working over Show; the announcers and replays note that Hawkins-Archer have been making quick tags and constantly working on Show. After another minute or two of heel-domination, Show powers out, and tags Kane. Kane comes in, knocks Hawkins down, knocks Archer down, and signals that he’s about to Choke-Slam Archer; Archer, however, powers out, and rocks Kane with some big punches. Archer and Kane go toe-to-toe, with Archer getting the early advantage, but Kane turning the tide. Kane grabs Archer by the throat, prompting Hawkins to try to save his partner; Show enters the ring, grabs Hawkins by the throat, and the two behemoths hit stereo Choke-Slams. GONG! The sound of Taker’s trademark “gong” instantly causes Kane to lose focus; the “gong” hits again, and the arena goes dark. The “Druid” theme hits, the arena is bathed in purple light, and eight druids march down the ramp. As this is going on, Hawkins-Archer roll out of the ring; the druids enter the ring, as Kane yells “He’s awake! He’s awake!” The druids begin to encircle Kane-Show; Show is a little creeped-out, but Kane continues to yell “The Undertaker is awake! The Phenom is awake!” Suddenly, the druids ATTACK Kane and Show! The lights come on, and the druids are laying a beating on the faces; Hawkins-Archer scamper away. Some of the druids exit the ring to grab weapons, then continue to beat-down. The druids remove their hoods, and it’s “NXTreme” (w/ Riley, minus Trips). IT’S TIME TO PLAY THE GAME! Trips and Stephanie enter, and make their way to the ring; once there, they direct traffic, as the rest of “NXTreme” continue to beat on Kane and Show. Trips grabs a mic: “We gave you a pass the first time. But last Monday, you stuck your noses in our business for the second time. Production-truck, why don’t you go take a look backstage.” The camera cuts to Long’s office, where everybody in the room (Long, Kofi, Rey, Matt, Christian, Mvp, and Jtg) has been laid out. Trips: “You want to take-up the charge? Realize who you’re taking it up against.” Finlay and Masters run down to try to help, but they’re no match for the sheer numbers; “NXTreme” then turn their attention to the announcers, time-keeper, cameramen, etc., in a scene reminiscent of their very first attack on Cena. After destroying everyone and everything around them, “NXTreme” get in the ring, and chant “NXTreme! NXTreme! NXTreme!” as the show goes off the air.

Week of 8-30-10

RAW

9:00
The show opens with Vince, Bret, and the “Raw Army” (Cena, Bourne, Morrison, Tatsu, Kidd, Smith, Natalya, Henry, and Khali) in the ring. Vince: “Last Friday, just as ‘Smackdown’ was about to go off the air, ‘NXTreme’ showed up and assaulted half of the roster. Kane and The Big Show suffered numerous injuries and will likely be out of action for some time to come; World Heavyweight Champion Kofi Kingston, Rey Mysterio, Matt Hardy, Christian, Montel Vontavious Porter, and JTG all sustained injuries as well. Perhaps most disturbing was their treatment of General Manager Theodore R. Long; they took a respected 62-year old man, a man who barely weighs three digits, and they hit him in the head with a sledgehammer. Now it’s no secret that Teddy and I have not always seen eye-to-eye; truth be told, I’ve actually mistreated Teddy a lot during his time as a WWE employee. However, with the help of Bret Hart, John Cena, Evan Bourne, and everybody else in this ring, I have seen the error of my ways. Now I know you’ve heard me give phony apologies before, and all I can do is work as hard as I can to prove that this one is genuine, but Teddy Long, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything I ever did to you. You are a wonderful General Manager and a wonderful human being. I hope you know that every single member of the WWE Universe is wishing you a speedy recovery. And to everybody in this ring, and everybody in this audience, that I have wronged in the past, I apologize to all of you, too. Because I want you all to know, that this ends now. I don’t know what I’m going to do, I don’t know how I’m going to do it, but I have all of my lawyers, all of Bret’s lawyers, and all of Teddy’s lawyers working together to find a way to get ‘NXTreme’ not only fired, but arrested. Unfortunately, we’re not making much leeway, but I promise everybody in this building, and everybody watching at home, we WILL put a stop to this. That said, we still have other matters to tend to. In less than three weeks, our annual ‘Night of Champions’ pay-per-view will take place, and in order to award these men for their loyalty and bravery, I want to give every one of them a shot at a championship. John Cena, Evan Bourne, I am expecting one of you to bring the WWE Championship back home, when you take on Triple H in a three-way match. John Morrison, I know you’ve had your problems with The Miz, and Yoshi Tatsu, I know you’ve had your problems with Randy Orton, which is why I’m adding the two of you to the Miz/Orton United States Championship match! “Hart Dynasty”, Henry-Khali, you are two great tag-teams, which is why I am giving you both a shot at the Unified Tag-Team Championships. And Natalya, you will be receiving a shot at the Diva’s Championship. I am on a mission to right all my wrongs, and I hope that this is a good start. I thank you all for your patience, and Teddy Long, get well soon.” Everybody exits the ring.

9:20
Backstage, Jericho enters Edge’s locker-room. Edge: “What do you want, Chris?” Jericho: “I know what you’re gonna say, but just hear me out. You heard what Vince just said, right? He’s giving John Cena and Evan Bourne a shot at the WWE-championship? I don’t know about you, but I think that’s bull. I think we deserve that shot. I say we march into Bret’s office, and demand he give US the match instead.” Edge: “I should know by now not to trust you, I realize you must have some plan up your sleeve, but I’ll tell you what – if you can get me a shot at the WWE-Championship… I’ll go along with it.” Jericho: “I knew you would.”

9:25 – Commercials

9:30
Santino-Kozlov-Jillian/Jey-Jimmy-Tamina – Back-and-forth match while the men are competing, but all hell breaks loose when the women get in there; they’re super-aggressive with each other, prompting the men to pull them apart. The women continue fighting, the men all fight, it’s a giant brawl; the ref eventually throws the match out, but it’s no use, as the women keep fighting. Several referees come down to break everything up.

9:40
Backstage, Bret is in his office, when there is a knock at the door; Bret yells for the person to enter, and Jericho and Edge walk in. Bret is obviously not thrilled to see them. Jericho and Edge both suck-up to Bret, telling him that they were wrong to ever question his leadership, and that, like Vince, they’ve seen the errors of their ways. Bret: “Oh have you, now?” Jericho: “Yes. And, with all due respect, the two of us feel that we have been overlooked recently.” Bret: “Oh really, how so?” Edge: “Well, for starters, we weren’t even part of ‘Team Raw’ last week. And let’s be honest, we didn’t do so hot, we would have won more matches if the two of us had been on the team.” Bret: “That may be true, but the two of you obviously didn’t come in here out of the goodness of your hearts, so why don’t you tell me what’s really going on?” Jericho: “Well, the truth is, we think that the two of us have a better shot of beating Triple H at ‘Night of Champions’ than John Cena and Evan Bourne do.” Edge: “Evan Bourne lost last week, and John Cena was about to lose before the ‘Smackdown’ Superstars came to his defense.” Bret: “So you think you two should get to face Triple H instead of Cena and Bourne? The truth is, I don’t think you deserve it. Actually, to be completely honest, I think the two of you should leave my office without saying another word. However, knowing John and Evan the way I do, they’d be willing to give you a shot. So here’s what I’m going to do: tonight, the two of you will team-up against Cena and Bourne, and the winning team will go on to face Triple H at ‘Night of Champions’.” Edge: “We knew you’d do the right thing.” Bret: “Don’t push it.”

9:45 - Commercials

9:50
Morrison/Truth – As the contestants make their way to the ring, the announcers recap the saga of the two ex-friends. Truth dominates the match with his brawling skill, and throws a few cheap-shots (an eye-poke, a low-blow) in for good measure. Morrison recovers with a “Flying Chuck”, and soon follows that up with “Starship Pain” for the win.

10:05 – Commercials

10:10
Miz enters and walks to the ring. Miz: “So everybody wants to know where I’ve been lately. After my glorious victory at ‘Summerslam’ over ‘The Viper’ Randy Orton, it seemed that I fell off the face of the planet. Well allow me to put your minds at ease, for I did not fall off the face of the planet, I was simply touring it. After decimating and defeating Randy Orton and retaining my United States Championship, I thought it only appropriate that I celebrate my victory with a whirlwind tour of the World’s hottest beaches, drinking the finest drinks, and scoring with the hottest babes. Now I know what you’re thinking, you’re thinking ‘Wait a second, Miz, didn’t you lose to Randy Orton by disqualification?’, and technically, you’d be right. But I’m so good, that even when I lose, I win, and by retaining this United States Championship, and letting Randy know that I can be every bit as psychotic and cold-blooded as he is, I came out the winner. And now I have to look forward to facing John Morrison and Yoshi Tatsu at ‘Night of Champions’? I’ve beaten John so many times I lost count, I was always the talent of our team, and anybody that disagrees is probably named ‘Eugene’. And who exactly is Yoshi Tatsu? He’s already lost of Randy Orton, and if he can’t beat Randy Orton, what makes him think he can beat me? Let me tell you something, the only reason Yoshi Tatsu even has a job here is because of Affirmative Action, he is NOT in MY LEAGUE! What, did I cross the line or something? Are you all so afraid of the truth that you can’t handle what I’m saying? Let me tell you something-” I HEAR VOICES IN MY HEAD! Orton walks to the ring, a slight disgust on his face. Orton stares Miz down, and swipes the mic out of Miz’s hand. Orton: “No, Miz, let me tell you something: If I were you, I wouldn’t worry about John Morrison or Yoshi Tatsu. You saw how quickly I snatched this microphone out of your hand? That’s how quickly I can do this:” Orton goes to hit the “RKO” on Miz, but Miz pushes Orton off and into the ropes; when Orton bounces back, Miz goes to lock-in the “Skull-Crushing Finale”. Orton fights out, however, and hits the “RKO” on Miz. Orton grabs the US-championship, holds it over his head, and then throws it down onto Miz before leaving.

10:25 – Commercials

10:30
Tatsu/Tj – Before the match, TJ grabs a mic: “Yoshi, before we begin this match, I’d like to clear the air on something. Over the last few weeks, there have been a lot of rumors flying around about me, and I’d like to clear them up. Some people have accused me of being… well, of being racist. Now those things that Miz just said about you, THAT was racist, I don’t agree with that. I respect all people and all cultures, and I just wanted you to know that. I mean, if I were a racist, would I have bought Virgil? No, of course not, that’d be stupid. In fact, I am such a big fan of yours that I would like to offer you a job. Yes, that’s right Yoshi, I would like to offer you a job! I’d give you great benefits, you could sleep in my spacious guest-house, and in return, you could teach me Kung Fu and make me sushi. How’s that sound?” Yoshi: “Sushi?” Tj: “You could even take over as my head launderer! Virgil does it right now, but he always mixes the whites and colors, I hate that.” Yoshi: “Whites and colors?” Tj: “I know, right, I always tell him that whites and colors don’t mix.” Yoshi gets angry, and kicks Tj in the face! Tj goes down like a ton of bricks; the ref isn’t sure what to do, but eventually decides to ring the bell. Yoshi covers, 1-2-3, Yoshi wins. Virgil tends to Tj as Yoshi exits the ring.

10:35
Backstage, Bret is in his office, talking to Vince; they discuss the need to put past rivalries to bed when faced with a new enemy. Vince’s phone rings; Vince gives short replies, like “uh-huh”, “yes”, and “ok”. After Vince hangs-up, he reveals that Long is still in the hospital, and probably won’t be able to return to work for a while. Bret asks what that means; Vince coolly replies, “Looks like I’m going to ‘Smackdown’.”

10:40
Cena-Bourne/Jericho-Edge – The contestants make their entrances separately, heels first, faces second. The match begins with the heels dominating Bourne; Jericho tosses Bourne to the outside, and we go to commercial.

10:45 – Commercials

10:50
Cena-Bourne/Jericho-Edge (cont’d) – As we come back from break, Jericho is stretching Bourne with submission holds; Bourne eventually fights back, and kicks Jericho down, and tags Cena. After about ten more minutes of back-and-forth action, Cena hits the “Attitude Adjuster” on Jericho, and tags Bourne; Bourne hits “Air Bourne” on Jericho for the win.

11:00
After the match, Cena grabs the mic: “Tonight, we took our first steps towards reclaiming what is rightfully ours. And I’m not just talking about the WWE Championship; I’m talking about this company. For the last two months, ‘NXTreme’ has run roughshod over ‘Raw’. Last week, they extended their attacks to ‘Smackdown’. Tonight, we say ‘no more’. You have awakened a beast that you cannot imagine, you have forced us all to reevaluate what is important to us.” Cena turns towards Jericho and Edge, both of whom have been outside the ring. “Edge, Jericho, I’d like you to join me in this ring right now.” The heels are confused, but climb into the ring. Cena: “Now I realize that your reasons for wanting the WWE Championship are not entirely altruistic, you’re not doing it for the fans, or for this company, but you’re doing it for yourselves. However, I also know that you two are smart enough to realize what would happen if you WERE to win that championship – ‘NXTreme’ would target you, take you out, and rip you to shreds. This is bigger than our differences, this is our survival. Will you stand by us in this war?” Jericho and Edge both think about it, and extend their hands; Cena and Bourne accept the gesture. Cena: “The four of us make a hell of a team, but even that isn’t enough to stop the force known as ‘NXTreme’. So boys, let’s show them what they’re up against!” Bret’s music hits, and he walks to the ring; he is followed by Kidd, Smith, Natalya, Morrison, Tatsu, Henry, Khali, Ranjin, Goldust, and Primo. Everybody enters the ring; Bret grabs the mic: “You know what, John, I think this is a pretty amazing collection of Superstars we got here. But let’s be honest, there’s no telling just how dangerous ‘NXTreme’ can be; we may have to call in some back-up. And like you said, sometimes you have to put your differences aside.” Bret motions to the back; Vince’s music hits, and Vince comes out, flanked by Miz, Truth, Tj, Ryder, Regal, Jey, Jimmy, Tamina, Santino, Kozlov, and Jillian. They are followed by the rest of the Divas, all the referees, backstage agents, and are finally joined by Cole, King, and Roberts. Cena: “’NXTreme’… you wanted a war? Meet the opposing army.” I HEAR VOICES IN MY HEAD! Orton makes his way onto the stage; Orton simply stares at everyone in the ring, while Bret, Vince, and several others yell at him to stand with them. Orton looks disinterested; fade to black.

NXT

10:00
The intro hits, featuring eight new Rookies (in reality, eight members of “Florida Championship Wrestling”), but not featuring any Pros. The show begins with the announcers sitting at their table; Cole: “Welcome everybody, to the third season of ‘NXT’! Thank you for joining us for what promises to be a wild ride, as we have eight new Rookies, but we have no idea who the Pros are!” Mathews: “And if we’re just starting out the season like this, I can only imagine what we have on tap as the season progresses!” Cole: “To find out more, let’s go to the ring, with our host, Matt Striker!”

10:05
Striker is in the ring, and introduces the eight new Rookies – one-by-one, Conrad Tanner, Derrick Bateman, Devin Allen, Donny Marlow, Jacob Novak, Johnny Curtis, Rudy Parker, and Rhys Ali are introduced and make their way to the ring. Striker: “Welcome Rookies, to the third season of ‘NXT’! As you know, on ‘NXT’, each Rookie is paired-up with a WWE Pro, whom is then responsible for imparting their knowledge and wisdom on the Rookies as they strive to grow and improve. One by one, the Rookies will be eliminated, based on such criteria as talent, potential, and attitude, until only one Rookie is left standing. Of course, this process cannot begin until we meet our Pros; however, unlike previous seasons of ‘NXT’, WWE-management has decided not to reveal the Pros ahead of time. So without further ado, let’s meet the WWE Pros!” Striker motions towards the entrance, but nothing happens; Striker introduces the Pros again, but there is nothing but a long, awkward pause. Striker turns towards the announcers, and asks if they know what’s going on; Cole and Mathews are as clueless as Striker. Suddenly, the “NXTreme” theme hits, and “NXTreme” (with Riley, minus Trips) walk to the ring! Striker cannot hide his fear as “NXTreme” enter the ring; “NXTreme” hesitate for a few moments, make like they’re a peaceful presence, and then obliterate the eight Rookies! Striker bails out of the ring, while “NXTreme” take turns hitting their finishers on the Rookies. After a few minutes, Barrett grabs a mic: “We told you that we were taking over WWE, and tonight is just another mile-stone in our quest. Thanks to the benevolent Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley, we are now in charge of ‘NXT’. We’ve already proven our dominance on Monday nights, we’ve proven our dominance on Friday nights, and now we’re taking over Tuesday nights! Despite what John Cena, Bret Hart, Kane, Teddy Long, or even Vince McMahon himself would have you believe, there can be no denying that ‘NXTreme’ rules this company. We make champions, and we break careers; what we say goes, and what we decide, happens. We are the most powerful force in the history of World Wrestling Entertainment, and now, we have the forum to prove it. No longer will we be silenced, no longer will we be banned from television by a bunch of insecure glory-hogs; tonight starts another glorious chapter in the book of ‘NXTreme’, and we promise you, nobody will be writing our story but US!” The announcers are in absolute shock, and question what the night has in store as we go to commercial.

10:15 – Commercials

10:20
We return with the members of “NXTreme” forcing two of the Rookies (Conrad Tanner and Derrick Bateman, for instance) towards the ring; Tanner and Bateman are told that they have to compete against each other. Barrett and Otunga walk over to the announce-table, and proceed to chase everybody away; Barrett and Otunga take over on commentary, and quickly espouse the virtues of “NXTreme”. Tarver deems himself the referee, while Young takes over as time-keeper, and Slater does ring-intros; Sheffield and Gabriel stand guard. The Rookies are obviously hurting from the earlier beating they received, but do their best to put on a match. Barrett and Otunga are obviously not impressed, and after a few minutes, decide that they’ve had enough; Barrett motions to the rest of the group, and signals for them to attack the two Rookies a second time! The group once again hits several Finishers. The other six Rookies decide to try to help, but they also get destroyed. Sheffield grabs a mic: “This is what we’re talking about. This is what we mean when we say we’re in charge of this show. We can do whatever we want, whenever we want, to whomever we want, and there’s nothing that anybody can do about it.” Sheffield hands the mic to Young: “Ever since we first appeared as Rookies ourselves on this show, we were made to act like circus-animals. We were forced into subservience to Pros that didn’t care about us, we were made to compete in humiliating competitions that had absolutely NOTHING to do with the art of wrestling, and we had carrots dangled in front of us only to have them taken away. We had our dreams and our livelihoods toyed with on a weekly basis, in front of a world-wide audience, and for what? Ratings? Money? This company destroyed our dreams, and in turn, we’re going to destroy everybody in it.” Barrett: “Tonight’s demonstration has only begun, though. We still have much more to say, and much more to prove. We are a united front, and by the end of the night, NOBODY shall ever again question our authority.”

10:30 – Commercials

10:35
The eight Rookies are in the ring, all of whom are beat-up and hurting; Barrett and Slater provide commentary, while the other six members of “NXTreme” encircle the ring. Otunga announces that the eight Rookies will now compete in a Battle Royal; the Rookies obviously aren’t in any condition to fight, but do their best. The match is pretty poor, however, as several of the Rookies are in too much pain to even lift each other; this prompts “NXTreme” to threaten them with violence if they don’t try harder. Another few minutes, and “NXTreme” once again threaten them. This time, however, one of the Rookies attempt to punch Sheffield; this proves to be a mistake, however, as Sheffield has a short-fuse, and proceeds to destroy the eight Rookies ON HIS OWN! Sheffield is so riled-up that the rest of “NXTreme” actually have to calm him down! Cooler heads seem to be prevailing, but then the rest of “NXTreme” join in the beating! Paramedics run to the ring, and begin strapping the eight Rookies to gurneys as we go to break.

10:45 – Commercials

10:50
We come back from break, with the eight Rookies still being tended to by the paramedics; “NXTreme” looks at the carnage, and begin to show some remorse. Barrett: “When we came out here tonight, we made a promise to ourselves that we would give you a show that you would never forget. We were given the responsibility of running ‘NXT’, and we wanted to provide you with something different, something special, we wanted to give you a show that was unlike anything you’d ever seen before. And in retrospect, we may have gone overboard. We were so singularly focused on making a statement, that we didn’t take heed of the casualties. That said, I believe that we should all apologize.” One-by-one, the members of “NXTreme” each offer their apologies for their actions. Barrett: “Each one of us is sorry for taking things to this extreme. Each of us is sorry for robbing these eight young men of their dream. But most of all, we are sorry, for what we are about to do.” Barrett nods his head, and “NXTreme” begin to attack the eight Rookies while they are strapped to the gurneys! They punch them, toss them off, and even send them crashing into one another. After doing that for a while, they turn their attention towards the PARAMEDICS! The paramedics try to run, but are caught! “NXTreme” beat the paramedics for a while, and then regroup in the ring. Barrett: “We told you that we’d give you a show you’d never forget. But this is only the beginning; just wait until next week, when we up the ante. Tune in next week, same “NXTreme” time, same “NXTreme” channel.” The group lines up in the ring, and begins chanting “NXTreme! NXTreme! NXTreme!”; the chants continue until we fade to black.

SMACKDOWN

8:00
The show opens with the announcers recounting “NXTreme’s” attack on the “Smackdown” roster last week, noting that Long, Kane, and Show are all in the hospital right now. Kofi’s music hits, and he enters, bandaged up, and much more melancholy than usual. Kofi gets in the ring and grabs a mic: “Teddy Long is not a wrestler. He is not a trained athlete, he is not a sports-entertainer, and he certainly is not what one would call an imposing figure. However, there’s something you should all know about Teddy Long: he’s a man that every WWE Superstar in the back looks up to. He’s never been afraid to stand-up for what he believes in. Don’t let his small size and happy-go-lucky attitude fool you, he was as brave as they came; whether it was a seven-foot monster or his billionaire boss, inside, Teddy was a giant. When ‘NXTreme’ busted into his office last week, looking to take all of us out, Teddy jumped in front of us; he was willing to sacrifice himself for his boys. As a reward for his bravery and nobility, Teddy Long is lying in a hospital bed right now; he’s right there next to Kane and Big Show, and while there’s no doubt that Kane and Show will be back sooner rather than later, Teddy’s prognosis isn’t as good. At this point, the doctors don’t know when he’ll be back, if at all. He absorbed terrible blunt-force trauma to his head, due to Triple H’s sledge-hammer, and has been slipping in and out of consciousness since it happened. Teddy, you’ve been a wonderful friend and mentor to me since I arrived on ‘Smackdown’, and I know I’m not the only one that feels that way. I promise you, we will avenge you; we will extract our pound of flesh, and ‘NXTreme’ will atone for their sins. Right now, though, I would like to ask for a moment of silence; we know that you’re fighting, and I’m sure that the ‘WWE Universe’ would like to wish for your speedy recovery.” Kofi puts his head down, and the moment of silence begins. JACK, ONE, TWO! Swagger makes his entrance, mic in hand; he stands on the stage: “Oh, please! Teddy Long was a horrible General Manager, and a despicable human being! It was just two weeks ago that he went completely insane with power, and forced me into a ‘Hell-in-a-Cell’ punishment FOR NO REASON AT ALL!” Swagger continues, prompting Kofi to exit the ring; Kofi begins to walk up the ramp, but Hawkins-Archer-Rosa appear behind Swagger. Kofi thinks for a moment, and decides to keep walking up the ramp. Punk is the next out, flanked by Gallows, Masque, and Serena; Kofi now realizes that he shouldn’t get any closer. Ziggler, Vickie, and McIntyre now enter and stand by Swagger. Swagger: “What you see before you is just a sampling of how many people couldn’t stand Teddy Long. To be quite honest, we’re GLAD he’s in the hospital! We’re GLAD that ‘NXTreme’ attacked him, and we’re GLAD that he’ll never return to work! And if you think that what ‘NXTreme’ did to Teddy was bad, just wait until you see what we do to you.” The heels begin approaching Kofi, until NO CHANCE IN HELL! The heels stop on a dime as Vince enters; he forces the heels to part like the Red Sea in order to allow him through. Vince and Kofi get into the ring. Vince: “Enough! I will not hear any more negatives about Teddy Long, because quite frankly, he didn’t have any. As Kofi said, he was a wonderful General Manager and an incredible mentor to so many WWE Superstars, and if he had a problem with any of you, I have to believe that it was for good reason. Now let me tell you what’s going to happen tonight: I am going to be the interim General Manager. And the first thing I’m going to do is tell Jack Swagger to get ready for his match, because it’s coming up next; I realize that your scheduled opponent in the Intercontinental Championship tournament, the Big Show, is not here tonight, but you won’t be receiving a bye; instead, I’ve found a suitable replacement. And you won’t find out who it is until they make their entrance. Swagger is outraged, and shouts from the stage. Vince: “And Dolph Ziggler-“ Ziggler yells that his name is “Nick”; Vince: “Nick? Really? Like ‘Nicky’? Like that guy that used to be in the ‘Spirit Squad’?” Ziggler is upset. Vince: “I wonder what ever happened to him, he wasn’t bad. Anyway, Nick Ziggler, if I’m not mistaken, you also have an IC-tournament match tonight, against Christian; I suggest that you get warmed-up for that match, and I don’t mean by warming-up Vickie Guerrero. Ewwww.” Vickie yells at Vince. Vince: “As for the rest of you, CM Punk, seeing as you don’t have a match tonight, and you want to take your aggression out on Kofi, why don’t we make it official? Kofi, Punk, for the World Heavyweight Championship, tonight! And the ‘Straight Edge Society’ is banned from ring-side! Maybe they can spend their time backstage, watering each others’ heads, trying to get something to grow!” The “SES” yell at Vince. Vince: “Hawkins and Archer? You’re going to be taking on the team of MVP and JTG, and as far as I’m concerned, that makes you SOL!” Hawkins-Archer yell at Vince. Vince: “And Drew McIntyre… when was the last time you won a match? Let me tell you something Drew, I received all of your voice-mails lately, all ninety-six of them, and you want to know why I never got back to you? Because you SUCK! But I’ll tell you what, I’m a fair man, I’ll give you a shot to get back in my good graces; all you have to do… is beat Matt Hardy!” Drew freaks-out at the idea. Vince: “Now I don’t want to hear another word out of any of you. You are to allow us through, without any interference. And Jack? Get ready for your match.” The heels part as Vince and Kofi exit; the rest of the heels then make their way to the back, while Swagger makes his way to the ring.

8:20 – Commercials

8:25
Swagger/Masters – As Masters makes his entrance, Swagger can only smirk, as he feels this should be a cake-walk; Masters does surprise Swagger, however, and starts the match with a lot of aggression. Masters uses his power, but Swagger’s technical ability overcomes it; one “Swagger Bomb” later, and Swagger wins.

8:40
Backstage, Vince is in his office; there’s a knock at the door, and McIntyre enters. Vince: “Ahh, good, Drew, glad you’re here.” Drew: “You are?” Vince: “Of course! I’m all out of coffee, and who better to refill my cup than good ol’ Drew ‘Sucky Scotsman’ McIntyre?” Drew: “With all due respect, Sir, I don’t fetch coffee.” Vince: “Are you sure? Because you look like you’d be good at it, you have those long legs, you could run real fast, get it back to me while it’s still hot…” Drew: “Again, not to question your leadership, but you didn’t hire me to bring you coffee.” Vince: “Well, I also didn’t hire you to lose all the time, but things don’t always go as planned. So why don’t you go get me my coffee, and maybe one of those Bear Claws while you’re at it, those things are tasty!” Vince hands his cup to McIntyre; McIntyre slaps it out of Vince’s hand. Drew (losing his patience): “I’m not your coffee boy.” Vince (angrily): “But you are my employee, or maybe all that time staring up at the lights has made your brain malfunction. Now you go get me my coffee, or you’ll have bigger problems than Matt Hardy.” Drew stares a hole through Vince, and exits the office.

8:45 – Commercials

8:50
Christian/Ziggler – The announcers note that this is the final qualifying-match of the IC-tournament. Vickie attempts to interfere, but is caught by the ref; the ref’s admonishing of Vickie distracts Ziggler, allowing Christian to his the “Killswitch” for the win. The announcers note that the two semi-final matches (Matt/Punk and Christian/Swagger) will be held next week.

9:05 – Commercials

9:10
Backstage, Vince is reclining in his office, sipping his coffee and eating his bear-claw. The camera pulls back to reveal McIntyre fanning Vince with a giant fan. Vince: “See, I knew there was a reason I hired you. You’re the best personal assistant I’ve ever had.” Drew: “Surely, there must be some other service I could provide.” Vince: “Come to think of it, there is. My shoes are scuffed, shine them for me.” Drew: “I meant more along the lines of having my match now.” Vince: “Finish my shoes first, then we’ll talk about your match.” Drew begrudgingly gets to work.

9:15
Tag: HAWKINS-ARCHER/Mvp-Jtg – Back-and-forth match, with Archer eventually Big-Booting Jtg off the apron, allowing Hawkins to hit the Flying Elbow on Mvp for the win.

9:25 – Commercials

9:30
Backstage, Vince is in his office; the camera pulls back to reveal that he’s not wearing any pants. The camera then pans over to McIntyre, who is ironing Vince’s slacks. There is a knock at the door; Finlay enters. Vince: “Well if it isn’t the Fighting Irishman, Finlay! How have you been?” Finlay is a bit surprised by Vince’s demeanor: “Umm, fine.” Vince: “And how’s Hornswoggle?” Finlay: “Umm, doing better.” Vince: “I tell you, I know I had a few problems at first when I thought that he was my son, but I gotta be honest, I really miss the little bugger. He was so mischievous, but he was really such a little ray of sunshine.” Finlay: “Umm, yeah, he is.” Vince: “So what brings you here, what can I do for you?” Finlay: “Well, I’m sure you know that a few weeks ago, Hawkins and Archer attacked Hornswoggle.” Vince: “I do, and I have to say, it sickened me.” Finlay: “Well, I was hoping that, at ‘Night of Champions’, you would give me a chance to get revenge. I’ve found a tag-team partner, and I’d really like a shot at their tag-titles.” Vince: “I’ll tell you what, because you’ve always been such a great employee, and because my heart goes out to that little guy, you’ve got your wish.” Finlay: “Thank you.” Vince: “So, uhh, just between us, who’s your tag-team partner?” Finlay: “Actually… I don’t think I should tell you just yet.” Vince: “That big, eh?” Finlay: “That big.” Finlay goes to leave, but turns around: “Umm, can I ask you something? Why aren’t you wearing pants?” Vince grins, and coolly replies: “That big.” Finlay leaves, giving Mcintyre a disgusted look as he leaves; Mcintyre loses his patience, and begins to tell Vince off. Mcintyre is yelling at Vince, not even noticing that Matt has crept up behind him; Vince interrupts: “Drew, you’re right, I haven’t been fair to you. I’ll tell you what, you want your match, well let’s have it right now. And just for the Hell of it, let’s make it a ‘Falls-Count-Anywhere’ match!” Drew is happy, and turns to leave; he’s caught by Matt with a “Twist of Fate”, and Vince counts the pin. Vince: “Matt Hardy, what happens to bring you around at this exact moment?” Matt: “Someone told me to come to your office at exactly 9:35.” Vince: “Ahh, that’s right, I forgot about that. Well, the main-event’s about to start, want to watch?” Matt: “Sure!” Matt sits next to Vince, and they watch the show. Matt: “Umm, Sir, if you don’t mind me asking, why aren’t you wearing any pants?” Vince: “Well… it is half-past ten.”

9:35
WWE: KOFI/Punk – Punk enters first, flanked by the rest of “SES”; as they get to the ring, though, the ref informs “SES” that they are banned from ring-side. After a bit of arguing, “SES” accept the ruling. Kofi enters, and the match is on. It’s a real back-and-forth encounter, with neither man really getting any advantage; the match is completely clean as we go to break.

9:40 – commercials

9:45
WWE: KOFI/Punk (cont’d) – More back-and-forth action, with the match remaining completely clean until the very end, when a thumb to the eye gives Punk the advantage. Punk lifts Kofi for the “Go-To-Sleep”, but Kofi wriggles out, and hits “Trouble-In-Paradise” for the win.

9:55
As Kofi is celebrating, Long’s music hits; Vince makes his way out, following by Rey, Christian, Matt, MVP, JTG, Finlay, and Masters. Everybody gets in the ring. Rey grabs the mic: “Teddy, you’ve been a great friend to all of us, and we just wanted to take this opportunity to once again wish you a speedy recovery.” Rey passes the mic around, with each Superstar sending their well-wishes to Long. Vince: “Teddy Long, we can’t wait to have you back. And ‘NXTreme’… your time is drawing near. Your reign of terror is coming to an end. Control of WWE will be returned to the ‘WWE Universe’.” Long’s music plays, and the faces celebrate as we go off the air.

Week of 9-6-10

RAW

9:00
Santino-Kozlov/Jey-Jimmy – The ring-announcer notes that the winning team will go on to “Night of Champions” to compete in the “Tag-Team Turmoil” match for the Unified Tag-Team Championships. It’s a back-and-forth match, with both teams trying to out-wrestle the other. After a few minutes, Jillian and Tamina start to fight on the outside; refs come out to pull the ladies apart. The original ref goes to throw the match out, but Bret’s music hits; Bret announces that the match will continue, but as a 6-person tag. The match restarts, and the women go back to fighting each other; the men tag back in, wrestle a bit more, and then tag the ladies back in. Tamina gets Jillian down, and goes for the “Superfly Splash”, but Jillian rolls out of the way; Jillian picks Tamina up, and hits the Facebuster for the win.

9:15
As the participants from the first match are leaving the ring, Orton’s music hits; he slowly stalks to the ring, eyeing up the previous contestants as they pass. Orton: “Last week, as the entire ‘Raw’ locker-room was standing in this ring, they were all yelling to me to stand with them. The truth is, I have no interest in standing by them. It’s no secret that I only have one goal in this business, and that’s to be the greatest of all time. Unfortunately, before I can once again wear the WWE-Championship around my waist, I have to eliminate a thorn in my side by the name of ‘The Miz’. You see, the Miz wants to prove that he has what it takes to match my intensity, to match my determination and will to win by any means necessary; the only problem is that he can’t. He’ll talk a big game, he’ll get himself disqualified a few times, but the truth is that he will never BE me. And at ‘Night of Champions’, I will prove that to Yoshi Tatsu, I will prove that to John Morrison, and most of all, I will prove that to The Miz.” Orton drops the mic and prepares to exit, when Cena’s music hits; Cena grabs a mic, and gets in Orton’s face. Cena: “So you have no interest in standing by us. I’m going to be honest with you, Randy, we are a unified front, we are a POWERFUL front, and quite frankly, we don’t need you. Personally, I don’t even want you. But I’d be lying if I said it wouldn’t be nice to have you. I think you and I have wrestled each other more often than we’ve wrestled anybody else; we’ve had some wars, we’ve put on some classics, and there’s no denying that you are an absolutely incredible competitor. There’s also no denying that a lot of people don’t like me. They call me a company-man, a parrot towing the company-line. And maybe I am. But if I am, it’s because I love this company, I love this business, and I love the ‘WWE Universe’. And I am not going to let anything happen to any of them. So in the best interests of all involved, I want to ask you one more time to stand with us.” Orton thinks for a moment before hitting Cena with an “RKO”! Orton walks back up the ramp.

9:25 – Commercials

9:30
Backstage, Bret approaches Orton, and informs him that he has signed Cena/Orton for tonight; Orton is glad to have the match. Bret: “Also, I just want you to know that I usually don’t subscribe to an ‘us-or-them’ mentality. However, in this case, I’m willing to make an exception.” Orton: “You should know by now that I don’t respond well to threats. You should also know by now that I have no fear when it comes to the consequences of my actions. Tread lightly, Hitman.”

9:35
Divas: MARYSE/Gail – [I generally do not book the Divas, so in this case, Maryse has regained the Divas-Championship at some point over the last few months.] Gail attempts to get the advantage with several high-flying offensive moves, but Maryse manages to ground her and get the win.

9:45 – Commercials

9:50
Bourne/Edge/Jericho – The announcers note that Bourne specifically requested this match, as a way to prepare for his 3-way WWE-Championship match at “Night of Champions”. The heels begin the match by working over Bourne, taking him apart and enjoying doing so. However, both decide to try to cover Bourne, resulting in a mutual feeling of “stepped-on toes”; the heels begin fighting while Bourne recovers. A few more minutes go by, and Bourne is back into it; he confuses the opponents with his high-flying offense, and takes them out with kicks and knee-strikes. Bourne climbs the ropes, and hits “Air Bourne” on Jericho for the win.

10:05 – Commercials

10:10
Morrison-Tatsu/Truth-Tj – The faces begin the match with their flashy offense, and manage to keep the advantage for most of the match. Tatsu kicks Tj in the face for the win. Morrison and Truth celebrate the win, when Miz makes his entrance.

10:20
Miz enters and stands on the ramp. “Well isn’t this just swell? At ‘Night of Champions’, John Morrison and Yoshi Tatsu have a shot at my United States Championship, and instead of preparing to face each other, they’re busy putting on very public displays of BFF affection. That right there is why neither of you have any chance at beating me. You don’t have that killer instinct. When I know I have a match, I break my opponent down. I beat them mentally long before I beat them physically. John, I’ve beaten you so many times I’ve run out of fingers and toes, and Yoshi… well, I’m sure my words aren’t making it past all that fried-rice in your ears, so I’ll just say this: Me, Godzilla; You, Tokyo. RRRAAARRGGGHH!!!!” Morrison grabs a mic: “You know what, Miz, enough. You’re not ‘getting into my head’, you’re just annoying me. And really, your comments about Yoshi are really disgusting, as much as I want to win the US-championship, I’d actually be very happy if Yoshi won it, as long as he kicked your face in to do it! Maybe that’s what we’ll do at ‘Night of Champions, Yoshi and I will play soccer with your head! How does that sound, Yoshi?” Yoshi: “At ‘Night of Champions’, we Bend It Like Beckham with your ugly face!” Miz rolls his eyes. Miz: “You want to see what I’m going to do to you at ‘Night of Champions’? Get somebody out here, I’ll show you why I’m the champion. Get someone out here! Get a ref out!” Miz gets ready to compete as we go to commercial.

10:25 – Commercials

10:30
US: MIZ/Primo – When we come back from break, Miz is already in the ring; Primo enters, and makes his way to the ring. Miz makes quick work of Primo, decimating him from the opening seconds, and hitting the “Skull-Crushing Finale” for the win. After the match, Miz brings the US-title into the ring, lays it on the ground, and gives Primo another “Skull-Crushing Finale” face-first onto the belt.

10:35
Backstage, Bret is in his office, along with Kidd, Smith, and Natalya. There is a knock at the door; the Harts are wary of another attack, and brace themselves for a fight, but it’s only Cena behind the door. Cena promises that he will make Bret and WWE proud tonight; Bret tells Cena that he already does, and wishes him luck.

10:40
Cena/Orton – The competitors make their entrances, Orton first, Cena second. The match begins as a feeling-out process; Cena tosses Orton out of the ring as we go to commercial.

10:45 - Commercials

10:50
Cena/Orton (cont’d) – Cena is in control as we come back from break. The match continues as a back-and-forth affair. The end comes when Cena goes for the “Attitude Adjuster”, only for Orton to flip onto his feet, and hit the “RKO” for the win! After the match, Orton stands over Cena, while Cena struggles to his feet; it seems that Orton may help Cena up, but simply walks back up the ramp instead.

11:00
As Orton is walking up the ramp, Bret’s music hits; Bret enters onto the stage, flanked by the entire “Raw” locker-room once again. The “Raw” Superstars make their way to the ring, filing past Orton; the first few Superstars to reach the ring (Bourne, Morrison, Tatsu) help Cena to his feet. Bret grabs the mic: “Randy Orton, I told you that you’re either with us or against us. Please, Randy, stand here with your WWE brothers and sisters.” Orton is conflicted, but eventually walks towards the ring; he stops short of getting onto the apron, though. Bret pleads with him again, drawing Orton onto the apron, but Orton again stops before actually climbing through the ropes. The Superstars are chanting for Randy to join them, and eventually, Orton does climb into the ring… and attacks Miz! The other Superstars try to pull him off of Miz, which leads to a lot of shoving between the faces and heels, and then to an all-out brawl! Bret gets out of the ring and pleads for everybody to stop; his pleas are unanswered, as we fade to black.

NXT

10:00
The show opens with a new theme and intro, and features a revamped “NXTreme”-inspired theme; much like when “NXTreme” took over “Raw” two weeks prior, the “N” logo is plastered all over the place, including a large sheet placed over the “WWE”-sculpture on the stage. Josh Mathews and Matt Striker serve as announcers.

10:05
Sheffield/Goldust – Goldust uses his experience to grab a quick advantage at the beginning, but Sheffield quickly regains momentum and scores the win with the big Lariat.

10:10
As the previous match ends, Sheffield grabs a mic: “Last week, ‘NXTreme’ made a statement; unfortunately, our statement may have been TOO bold. You see, after we went off the air, Triple H called us up, and told us that several of our broadcast affiliates were uncomfortable with the high level of violence and destruction we brought upon the poor ‘Season 3’ Rookies; if it weren’t for Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley’s quick thinking and incredible negotiating skills, we wouldn’t be on the air right now. We were almost pulled off the air for being TOO violent. Have you ever heard anything so ridiculous? Wrestlers getting in trouble for being TOO violent? Well let me tell you something, ‘NXTreme’ is not worried about what a bunch of corporate suits think about us, as far as we’re concerned, we wanted to make a statement, and we made it loud and clear. However, be that as it may, Triple H and Stephanie have asked us to be on our best behavior; so tonight, get ready for a kinder, gentler ‘NXTreme’.” Skip drops the mic, as the announcers wonder exactly what a “kinder, gentler ‘NXTreme’” entails; Skip answers that immediately, by lifting Goldust, and hitting him with his Backpack Stunner – now renamed “The Skip-Shot” – before leaving.

10:15
Tarver/Masters – As Skip is leaving the ring, Tarver enters; Tarver congratulates Skip, while Skip wishes Tarver luck. Tarver gets in the ring, and “gently” kicks Goldust’s carcass to the outside. Masters enters, and the match is on. Tarver gets the early advantage, but Masters manages to fight back a bit; the “Master Lock” is countered, though, and Tarver hits his newly-rechristened “T-Time” (fka “Tarver’s Lightning”) for the win.

10:20 – Commercials

10:25
Riley/Regal – As Riley is walking to the ring, he is confronted by Barrett; Barrett wishes him luck, but adds “Don’t let us down this time.” Riley gulps, and finishes walking to the ring. Riley is very aggressive out of the gate, but quickly gets out-wrestled by the veteran Regal. Regal holds the advantage for a few minutes, and with Riley not doing so well, Barrett enters onto the stage; Barrett continues to slowly walk to the ring as Regal continues to dominate. After a few more minutes, though, Riley manages to hit a low-blow on Regal behind the ref’s back, and hits his “Dismissal” Fireman’s Cutter! Riley’s makes the mistake of show-boating to Barrett, though, giving Regal time to recover; when Riley finally turns his attention back towards the match, Regal catches him with a Double-Underhook Suplex, and locks in the “Regal Stretch” for the win. Barrett gets on the apron, motions for Regal to get out of the ring, and waits for Riley to get back to his feet; Riley makes excuses about Regal cheating, but Barrett simply grabs him and hits him with “The Wasteland”.

10:35 – Commercials

10:40
Gabriel-Slater/Croft-Barreta – “NXTreme” make quick work of Croft-Barreta, hitting their finishers and debuting new names for them: Slater hits his “Southern Beat” Jumping Leg-Sweep, and Gabriel hits his “Red-Eye” 450-Splash.

10:45 – Commercials

10:50
Barrett/Shad – Big Shad tries to intimidate Barrett, but fails to back it up in the ring; Barrett makes quick work of Shad, stretching him and tossing him around the ring. One “Wasteland” Fireman’s Slam later, and Barrett wins. After the match, Barrett pulls Shad to his feet, and tosses him out of the ring; after this happens, the rest of “NXTreme” march to the ring.

10:55
With all of “NXTreme” in the ring, Barrett grabs a mic, and begins bragging about how unstoppable they are. BOOM! Kane makes his entrance, followed by Show, Kofi, Rey, Matt, Christian, Mvp, and Jtg! The “Smackdown Army” runs down to the ring, and attacks “NXTreme”! “NXTreme” quickly run out of the ring, jump the barricades, and run into the audience; after getting about half-way through the audience, they stop to turn and look at the “Smackdown” Superstars in the ring. The show ends as the two sides taunt each other.

SMACKDOWN

8:00
Tag: HAWKINS-ARCHER/Kane-Show – The show begins with the challengers entering first; the announcers note that Kane-Show are NOT in a good mood tonight. Hawkins-Archer enter next, not showing any fear; however, as they walk down to the ring, FINLAY runs up from behind and attacks them. Finlay uses the shillelagh to hurt the heels, but the heels double-team him; Kane-Show leave the ring to help Finlay. Hawkins-Archer begin to exit up the ramp, only to be stopped by Vince! Vince announces that, if Finlay wants to fight so badly, he will grant him the opportunity; Vince will allow Hawkins-Archer to find a partner for a 6-man tag later in the evening. Finlay can’t wait.

8:15
Backstage, Vickie is talking to Ziggler, McCool, Layla, Chavo, and Kaval; she promises to have a word with Vince, and make sure that they all have a great night.

8:20 – Commercials

8:25
Christian/Swagger – The announcers remind everyone that this is the first of two semi-finals in the Intercontinental-Championship Tournament; they also note that these two previously feuded over the ECW-championship. It’s a back-and-forth match, with Swagger using his size and Christian using his smarts. The end comes when Swagger goes to hit a “Swagger Bomb”, which Christian reverses into the “Killswitch” for the win.

8:40
Backstage, Punk is giving a pep-talk to the rest of the “Straight-Edge Society” – he mentions that Gallows-Masque have a match against Kofi-Rey tonight, and preaches that, with Punk as their leader and “Straight-Edge” in their hearts, there’s no way that Gallows-Masque can lose.

8:45 – Commercials

8:45
Finlay-Kane-Show/Hawkins-Archer-??? – The faces enter first; the heels then enter, and announce their team-mate for the evening: ZIGGLER! Ziggler enters with Vickie by his side. It’s a big brawl to start, with the ref giving a lot of leeway to both sides; after plenty of brawling from both sides, Kane hits the Chokeslam on Ziggler for the win. The faces celebrate, Vickie cries for her man, and Hawkins-Archer sneak away before Finlay can get his hands on them.

9:05 – Commercials

9:10
Striker is in the ring, and introduces the newest member of the “Smackdown” roster, Kaval! Kaval enters, flanked by “Lay-Cool”, waving to the fans and high-fiving the kids at ring-side. Striker hands the mic to Kaval; Kaval thanks the fans, and promises to do his best, both in his matches, and to entertain the fans. “Lay-Cool” interrupt him, however, and inform him that he actually has a match tonight: against their “BFF” Vickie’s nephew, Chavo! Chavo enters, and motions that he’s going to make quick work of Kaval.

9:15
Kaval/Chavo – It’s a quick back-and-forth, with Kaval ultimately kicking Chavo down and hitting the “Warrior’s Way” for the win.

9:20 – Commercials

9:25
Matt/Punk – Punk enters first, carrying a mic; he promises that tonight will be a big night for “SES”, as he will beat Matt on his way to winning the IC-championship, and Gallows-Masque will prove that – by accepting “Straight Edge” into their lives – they can beat the World-Champion and #1-contendor. Matt enters next, as the announcers remind everyone of their previous battles. It’s a back-and-forth match, with Matt eventually escaping a “Go To Sleep” and hitting a “Twist of Fate” for the win.

9:35 – Commercials

9:40
Kofi-Rey/Gallows-Masque – Both teams make their entrances; the match begins as a back-and-forth affair, with Gallows controlling Rey as we go to break.

9:45 – Commercials

9:50
Kofi-Rey/Gallows-Masque (cont’d) – Masque is controlling Rey as we come back from break; Rey eventually makes a hot-tag to Kofi, and Kofi cleans house. Suddenly, the announcers mention that there’s some sort of disturbance backstage; the camera cuts backstage, where Vince has been found unconscious in his office! Upon seeing this on the Tron, Kofi gets distracted, long enough for Gallows to hit the “Gallows Pole” for the win; Gallows-Masque high-tail it out of there, while the Tron shows referees and EMTs crowding around Vince. Suddenly, Barrett’s voice is heard over the PA system: “Kofi. Kofi, up here.” The camera pans around the arena, trying to find Barrett; they eventually find him – along with the rest of “NXTreme” (including Riley) – up in one of the sky-boxes. Barrett: “That’s right, Kofi, we’ve been here all night. How does it feel to have an intruder in your home? How does it feel to know that, at any moment, we could have attacked you and the rest of the pathetic ‘Smackdown’ Superstars. You want a war with us, you’ve got one, and we just took out your General. That’s what we do, we take people out. There’s no telling when, or where, or even how we do what we do, but we always get the job done. You’ve seen what we’ve done to ‘Raw’, and you’ve seen what we’ve done to ‘NXT’; you just couldn’t keep your noses out of our business, and now we’re going to decimate you the same way we’ve decimated everyone else. And there isn’t a person, or team, or entire army that can possibly stop us!” GONG! Barrett looks concerned. GONG! “NXTreme” look around at each other. A bolt of lightning hits the stage! The arena goes blue, Taker’s music hits, and a simple message appears on the Tron: “One For All, All Will Pay.” Taker’s voice is heard over the PA system, reciting the message, adding “Rest In Peace” at the end. Barrett gulps, and signals for “NXTreme” to run away. The sky-box is empty, and the announcers question what this message means for the future of WWE as we go off the air.

Week of 9-13-10

RAW

9:00
Theme, pyro, and “NXTreme” (w/ Riley, minus Trips) make their way through the crowd and into the ring; as they walk, the announcers mention their attack on Vince last Friday. Barrett grabs a mic: “We are here tonight, to deliver a statement. This Sunday, at ‘Night of Champions’, not only will Triple H retain the WWE-championship against John Cena and Evan Bourne, but ‘NXTreme’ will once again reaffirm why we are the most dominant force in World Wrestling Entertainment history.” Barrett is quickly cut-off by Bret’s music; Bret enters the stage, holding a mic: “Shut up. Seriously, just shut up. I am SO sick of hearing you toot your own horns, and it’s going to stop right now. Let me tell you what’s going to happen. First of all, as far as ‘Night of Champions’ is concerned, I’ve spoken with the WWE Board of Directors, I’ve spoken with a whole team of lawyers, and we’ve come to a decision: seeing as how you like to survey your surroundings from sky-boxes, should any of ‘NXTreme’ decide to show-up to the building that night, a group of armed guards will escort you to your very own private sky-box, where you will remain until the end of the PPV. Should you attempt to leave this sky-box while the show is going on, those guards will have no problem demonstrating that they are, indeed, armed.” “NXTreme” looks shocked and dismayed at the news. Bret: “Furthermore, as far as tonight goes, as the General Manager of ‘Raw’, I am still in control of the WWE Championship. I know that Triple H is in the building, and I am ordering him to compete, tonight, with the WWE Championship on the line!” “NXTreme”, in their concern, glance up into the stands; the camera follows their stare, discovering Trips and Stephanie in a sky-box. Trips stands up slowly, an angry look on his face; he has his own mic, and dares Bret to make him compete. Bret: “Triple H, we’ve been locked in legal battles for three months now; do you really want to start another one?” Trips doesn’t take the bait: “What if, instead of defending the WWE Championship, I order ‘NXTreme’ to take you apart?” Before Bret can answer, Cena’s music hits; Cena enters, flocked by “Team Raw” (Bourne, Morrison, Tatsu, Henry-Khali, Kidd-Smith). Bret: “What if, instead of ‘NXTreme’ taking me apart, ‘Team Raw’ take ‘NXTreme’ apart?” The heels challenge the faces to follow through on the threat; the faces motion that they would love to. Trips gives in a bit: “Fine. I’ll defend the WWE Championship, on one condition… I don’t have to face any of those guys right there.” Bret thinks, but is interrupted by Jericho’s music; Jericho immediately argues his case, but is quickly cut off by Edge’s entrance and subsequent argument for himself. Jericho and Edge argue for a few moments, until- I HEAR VOICES IN MY HEAD! Orton makes his way onto the stage; he grabs the mic: “You want an answer from me? I’ll do it.” Bret makes the Trips/Orton match official, and mentions that “there’s only one more thing to take care of…” “Team Raw”, Jericho, and Edge run to the ring to attack “NXTreme”, and a big brawl erupts; oddly enough, Orton opts to return to the back instead of join the fray. Bret begs him to help, and we go to commercial with the brawl on-going.

9:20 – Commercials

9:25
Morrison/Tatsu/Truth/Ryder – The announcers mention that this match was signed for two reasons: To prepare Morrison and Tatsu for their 4-way match at “Night of Champions”, and because Truth and Ryder both feel like they belong in the match, instead. The announcers also mention that it took a whole lot of security to calm-down the “Raw”/”NXTreme” brawl and get everyone back to their corners. The match begins, and it’s an all-out 4-way, with everybody getting their time to shine. The end comes when Truth and Morrison brawl to the outside, giving Tatsu the opportunity to kick Ryder in the face and pin him.

9:35
Backstage, Edge and Jericho barge into Bret’s office; Bret sarcastically remarks that he thought they had learned better by now, but the heels feign ignorance. The heels argue – somewhat amongst themselves – that they both deserve the WWE-championship match tonight, but Bret cuts them off; Bret does mention that he has two other big stars that are looking for matches tonight, and if Edge or Jericho want them, they can have that instead. The heels scoff, but Bret tells them “Take it or leave it”. The heels accept, prompting Bret to reveal that the mystery opponents are Cena and Bourne; Bret then gives Edge and Jericho the option of picking which one they want to face. Jericho: “I want Bourne.” Edge: “Of course you want Bourne, you’re afraid of Cena.” Jericho: “I’m not afraid of Cena.” Edge: “Then let me face Bourne.” Jericho: “I think you’re saying I’m afraid of Cena so that YOU won’t have to face him.” Edge: “No.” Jericho: “Fine, face Bourne, that means you’re afraid of Cena.” Edge is upset, and accepts to face Cena, just to prove Jericho wrong. Bret makes the matches, and informs Jericho that his match is next. Edge smirks as Jericho leaves.

9:40 – Commercials

9:45
Bourne/Jericho – Jericho controls to start, spending most of the match in control and stretching Bourne. After a while, and after a sufficient beating, Jericho decides to gloat a bit; with Bourne down in the ring, Jericho walks over to the announcers, and tells them that he’s going to show them some “real” high-flying moves. Jericho lifts Bourne onto the top turnbuckle, and yells that he’s going to perform “the greatest huricanrana in history!” Bourne, however, fights him off, pushing him off the ropes, and following with “Air Bourne” for the win. Bourne is obviously in pain as he celebrates the win.

10:05 – Commercials

10:10
When we return from break, Miz is in the ring, soaking in the boos. He begins ripping on his opponents at “Night of Champions” (Orton, Morrison, and Tatsu), and when he gets to making fun of Tatsu’s race, he’s interrupted by TJ! Tj enters with Virgil, speaking into a mic as he walks to the ring: “You know, over the last month or so, I’ve developed this reputation, and I have no idea why. For some reason, a lot of people are calling me a racist. Now I realize that some of the things I’ve said can be misconstrued, that they can be taken out of context and twisted around, but I’m here to tell you that I am no racist.” Tj enters the ring and gets Miz’s face. Tj: “To tell you the truth, some of the things that you’ve been saying about Yoshi lately really turn my stomach. Somebody needs to shut you up, and it’s going to be me.” Miz asks Tj if he wants a shot at his US-Championship right here, right now; Tj accepts. Miz smirks as he says “You got it.”

10:15
US: MIZ/Tj – Tj gets a flurry of punches and offense early on, but Miz turns the tide relatively quickly; one “Skull-Crushing Finale” later, and Miz gets the win.

10:20
Backstage, Kidd, Smith, and Natalya are hanging-out with Bret in his office; Santino-Kozlov-Jillian barge in, and tell Kidd-Smith that, come “Night of Champions”, they’re winning the Unified Tag-Team Championship. Kidd-Smith tell them that they look forward to seeing them there, provided they [Santino-Kozlov] can get past Henry-Khali. The heels leave, but as the Hart family turn back towards their seats, Maryse runs in and attacks Natalya! Kidd-Smith pull Maryse off, but Natalya fights back, tossing Maryse out of the room! Bret: “Are you ok?” Natalya: “I think I broke a nail… off in her face…”

10:25 – Commercials

10:30
Cena/Edge – Back-and-forth match, with Cena hitting the “Attitude Adjuster” for the win. After the match, Cena points towards the sky-box that “NXTreme” is occupying, and motions that it’s time for Trips’ match. “NXTreme” begin making their way down to the ring as we go to commercial.

10:45 – Commercials

10:50
WWE: TRIPS/Orton – As we come back from break, Trips is already in the ring, with Stephanie and the rest of “NXTreme” at ring-side. However, instead of Orton entering next, Bret makes his entrance; Bret announces a surprise stipulation for the match, that being that it will be a “Lumberjack” match! “Team Raw” make their way out, and are soon joined by the rest of the “Raw” locker-room (Edge, Jericho, Miz, all the heels, all other faces, Divas, etc.); everybody makes their way to the ring, surrounding it. Bret: “Now if ‘NXTreme’ would like to stay for the festivities, then they are more than welcome to.” “NXTreme” look concerned, and decide to stand just on the other side of the fan-barrier. Orton enters, and the match begins. Orton holds the advantage for most of the match, with Trips trying to mount comebacks but always getting shut down. After about ten minutes of wrestling, Miz jumps into the ring, preparing to attack Orton; Morrison and Tatsu see him, however, and jump through the ropes to stop him. This prompts the rest of the WWE Superstars/”Lumberjacks” to jump into the ring, and a big brawl erupts; the referee has no choice but to rule the match a “No Contest”, and Trips sneaks out of the ring. Trips and “NXTreme” run back through the audience, as the announcers question whether Trips’ luck will continue through “Night of Champions”, or if “NXTreme” may have some plan in mind.

NXT

10:00
The show begins with “NXTreme” (minus Trips) in the ring. Barrett has a mic: “So it seems like everybody is expecting this Sunday, at ‘Night of Champions’, to be the end of the line for ‘NXTreme’. Triple H will be defending his WWE-Championship against John Cena and Evan Bourne, while the rest of us are to be confined to a sky-box, way up in the nose-bleed sections, and monitored by armed guards. We’ve been attacked by the ‘Raw’ locker-room, we’ve been attacked by the ‘Smackdown’ locker-room, and the odds have been stacked against Triple H like they’ve never been stacked before. Everybody is expecting us to cave to the pressure… but we didn’t. We had no problem marching into enemy territory last night, standing defiantly in the middle of a ‘Raw’ ring, and we plan to do the same come ‘Smackdown’. The fact of the matter is that ‘NXTreme’ is stronger than ever, and by the end of the show, you will know exactly what we mean. However, first thing’s first, Darren Young, I do believe that your match is up next.” Young preps himself for his match, while the rest of “NXTreme” take seats at the top of the ramp.

10:10
Young/Primo – Primo tries to confuse Young with his high-flying moves, but Young is able to ground him and take over the momentum. One “Restless Night” Nelson-Flapjack later, and Young wins. After the match, Young grabs the mic, and promises that things are just warming up.

10:15 – Commercials

10:20
Otunga/Cody – Otunga gets the early advantage due to his superior strength, but Cody mounts a comeback by outwrestling him. It’s a back-and-forth match, until Otunga powers out of Cody’s “Cross Rhodes” attempt, and delivers his Thrust Spinebuster for the win. After the match, Otunga mentions that Cody “just got ‘F-Bombed’”, explaining that while he himself is the “A-Lister”, Cody deserves a big, fat “F”.

10:30
Back on the stage, Barrett announces that he has a “surprise” for Riley: seeing as how Riley has repeatedly proven to be the “weak link” of the group, if Riley doesn’t win tonight, he’s out of “NXTreme”. Riley begins arguing that those losses were flukes, but Barrett cuts him off: “I don’t want to hear it. Three strikes and you’re out.” The rest of “NXTreme” stare holes through Riley.

10:35
Gabriel-Slater/Jey-Jimmy – Tamina accompanies Jey-Jimmy to the ring. Back-and-forth match, with Slater eventually hitting the “Southern Beat” for the win.

10:45 – Commercials

10:50
Riley/??? – Riley leaves the stage and walks to the ring; as he is waiting for his opponent, Barrett stands up, and announces that he has hand-picked Riley’s opponent tonight… Sheffield! Sheffield is all smiles as he walks to the ring. The match begins, and Riley comes out swinging; he connects with a few good shots, but Sheffield pretty much ignores them and tears Riley apart. Riley is literally beaten from pillar to post, with Sheffield’s big Lariat scoring the win.

10:55
After the match, the rest of “NXTreme” get into the ring and surround Riley; as Riley slowly regains consciousness, he rises to his feet, and notices all the angry faces around him. Riley begins making excuses; Barrett grabs a mic: “Alex, Alex, Alex. Calm down. I know what you must be thinking right now. You lost the match, you’ve failed your brothers, and you’ve proven yourself a complete disgrace. And while this is the end of the line for you as a member of ‘NXTreme’, I don’t want you to worry that we are going to attack you. I know we have a reputation for gangland-style attacks, but I give you my word, we will not lay a hand on you. Ok? I promise you, we will not lay a hand on you… They will!” The “NXTreme” theme hits, and out come Husky, Percy, Mcgillicutty, Lucky, Cottonwood, and Titus, all wearing “N” arm-bands! Riley tries to run, but “NXTreme” block him! The six Season-Two “Rookies” get in the ring and decimate Riley, taking turns hitting their finishers on him! Barrett: “I told you that we were stronger than ever, and when I tell you something, you better believe it!” The beat-down continues, and the announcers wonder what this means for the future of WWE. Fade to black.

SMACKDOWN

8:00
The show cold-opens with a close-up shot of Kane against a white wall; there are several “blips” and “bleeps” in the background, and the camera pans back to reveal that Kane is sitting in Taker’s hospital room. Taker looks terrible; his eyes are closed, he’s hooked-up to all sorts of tubes, and his beard has grown quite bushy. Kane: “I know you’re in there. I know you hear me, and I know that you’ve been sending me signals lately. All this time… all this time, and I never realized that I could communicate with you. For almost four months, you’ve been lying in this bed, in this vegetative state, and all this time, you could have given me the answer that I was looking for. I’ve accused a lot of people of being responsible for your attack, most of whom were only trying to help. But I finally realized that no one person could be responsible for your downfall, no single attacker could have ever left you in this… this kind of condition. There wasn’t just one attacker that night, was there?” The lights in the hospital flicker. “There were seven, weren’t there?” The lights flicker again. “There weren’t seven?” The pattern and sound of the EKG speeds up, signaling that Taker’s heart-rate is increasing. “There were eight…” The EKG continues to speed up. “And one of them had a sledge-hammer…” Taker’s heart is racing. Kane has solved the puzzle: “You were attacked by ‘NXTreme’ and Triple H!” Taker’s heart goes into over-drive, the lights go hay-wire, thunder and lightning are heard outside, and TAKER’S EYES OPEN! The room starts shaking [actually, the camera and Kane shake], and a look that can only be described as “burning rage” crosses Taker’s face. Kane yells for a nurse and runs out of the room, while Taker begins ripping his IVs out.

8:05
Theme and pyro. The announcers note that the footage we just saw was a live-feed from Taker’s hospital-room; they note that we’re already off to a surprising start, and with Vince out from last week’s attack, nobody has any idea of what to expect tonight. Almost as if on cue, Vickie makes her way to the ring, flanked by Ziggler, Chavo, Kaval, Mccool, and Layla. [For all intents and purposes, Mccool is once again the Womens Champion by this time.] Vickie announces that, with Vince out, she is in charge tonight! She first order of business? Giving Ziggler a shot at Kofi’s World Heavyweight Championship, tonight! The rest of Vickie’s entourage clap for Ziggler. Vickie is about to announce another match, but is cut off by JACK ONE TWO! Swagger stands on the stage, mic in hand, and pleads to be included in the World-Championship match at “Night of Champions”; he mentions how unfairly he’s been treated by Long and Vince, and thinks that it’s about time he gets a “fair” 1-on-1 rematch. Vickie goes to respond, but is interrupted by Punk’s theme! Punk argues that if anybody should be inserted into the match, it’s him; “I’m not only a champion in this ring, but a champion in life.” After some bickering back and forth, Vickie announces Rey/Punk/Swagger for tonight, with the winner going on to challenge for the World-Championship. Show is the next to interrupt; everybody assumes that he is out to ask for a title-shot, but Show corrects them: “I realize that that World-Championship is the be-all, end-all in this business, but I think everybody’s forgetting that ‘NXTreme’ promised to show up at the arena tonight. I mean, I know ‘the show must go on’ and all, but isn’t anybody worried about what might go down tonight?” Swagger: “Hey, if they want a piece of us, then they’re more than welcome to try, but until that happens, I’m focused on becoming the three-time, three-time, three-time, All-American, American, American World Heavyweight Champion.” Show: “Punk, you too?” Punk: “It’s not often that I would find myself agreeing with ‘The All-American Reject’ Jack Swagger, but nothing is going to stand between myself and that title.” Show: “Vickie, you don’t care?” Vickie: “Look around you, Show. You’re surrounded by greatness. If ‘NXTreme’ want to try something, let them try it.” Show: “Ok, fine. I’m the only one that cares. You think ‘NXTreme’ isn’t going to follow-through on their promise? I got news for you Vickie, for your sake, I really hope you’re right… just remember what happened to the last two people in charge of this show. And that was BEFORE they added six more members. I’m going to go search this building, you do whatever you want.” Show leaves; Vickie is obviously taking Show’s words to heart, though, and glares angrily at Kaval. Kaval can only ask why she’s staring at him, but instead of answering him, she turns and leaves the ring.

8:20 – Commercials

8:25
We’re back in the hospital; Taker, still in his hospital-gown (tied in the back, of course) is walking out of the hospital, while Kane, nurses, and security all plead with him to stay in bed. The camera is behind Taker, following as he makes his way out of the hospital. One orderly mentions that he has to sign the proper discharge-forms, but Taker walks right past her; Kane apologizes and tells her that he’ll take care of them later.

8:30
#1: Tiffany/Kelly/Serena/Rosa – The announcers note that this match was made last week, before Vince was attacked; the winner gets to face Mccool for the Womens-Championship at “Night of Champions”. Serena is accompanied by Gallows-Masque, while Rosa is accompanied by Hawkins-Archer. It doesn’t take long for Finlay to run down to the ring and attack Hawkins-Archer; the three men fight to the back, prompting Rosa to leave the ring and follow. Serena manages to toss Kelly out of the ring, but as she goes to turn her attention towards Tiffany, Tiffany begins wailing on her. With the advantage, Tiffany goes to bounce off the ropes, but is tripped by Gallows; Serena tries to take advantage of the distraction, but Tiffany reverses, and scores the pin.

8:40
Vickie is backstage with her gang (Ziggler, Kaval, Chavo, Mccool, and Layla), watching the TV; everybody laughs at the idea of Tiffany posing any kind of threat to Mccool, with the exception of Kaval, who is texting on his phone. Vickie yells at Kaval for not paying attention, and demands to know with whom he is conversing; Kaval says it’s just his Mom, but Vickie doesn’t buy it. Vickie grabs the phone out of his hand, and reads it: “I love you more than anything, my little Pookie Boy.” Kaval grabs his phone back, and asks what Vickie’s problem is; Vickie is upset at Kaval’s seeming disrespect, so Chavo answers for her: “Well, we’ve already had two attacks here on ‘Smackdown’, and since your former opponents on ‘NXT’ have now joined ‘NXTreme’, we’re wondering if you’re planning on doing the same?” Kaval is insulted and replies that that’s ridiculous. Chavo: “Ridiculous, huh? We’ll just see about that.”

8:45 – Commercials

8:50
We’re outside, where a camera is following behind Taker as he walks along an empty road, bare foot and still wearing nothing but his hospital gown; Kane is right next to him, pleading the whole time. “You’re gonna walk all the way to Chicago? You’re going to walk all the way to ‘Night of Champions’? That’s two thousand miles away! At least let me get you some shoes, and some pants while we’re at it! Or how about a car, ever hear of a car, we could even get a hearse if you really want. What, you’re not going to eat or sleep for the next two days, you’re just going to march across six states until you get to them? Then what, you’re in no condition to take them on! Brother, listen to me!” Taker just continues marching, not saying a word, not even turning his attention towards Kane.

8:55
Rey/Punk/Swagger – As the wrestlers make their way to the ring, the announcers remind the audience that the winner of this match will face the winner of Kofi/Ziggler at “Night of Champions”, and discuss the various possibilities of championship-match we may get. The heels begin by double-teaming Rey, looking to eliminate him early; they begin stepping on each others’ toes, however, and begin wrestling each other. Just before going to break, however, Rey makes his way back into the ring, and manipulates both men out of the ring; Rey then dives out of the ring and onto both Punk and Swagger, and we go to break.

9:05 – Commercials

9:10
Rey/Punk/Swagger (cont’d) – As we come back from commercial, the heels have managed to get back into the ring and are taking turns beating on Rey; the heels maintain the advantage, but Rey eventually huricanranas Swagger into Punk, knocking Punk out of the ring, and then hits the “619” on Swagger for the win.

9:15
Backstage, Vickie orders Kaval to the ring, suddenly claiming that he has a match tonight; Kaval says that he wasn’t originally scheduled for one, but Vickie snaps that, as Interim General Manager, she can change the schedule whenever she wants. Kaval just rolls his eyes and heads towards the ring.

9:20
Kaval/? – Kaval makes his way to the ring, and anxiously awaits the reveal of his opponent. After a dramatic pause, Mcintyre’s music hits! Mcintyre gets into the ring, and threatens that he’s going to snap Kaval in half. The bell rings, and Kaval kicks the crap out of Mcintyre! Mcintyre manages a brief comeback here and there, but the match is pretty much all Kaval; he kicks Mcintyre down, and climbs the ropes. However, as Kaval jumps, Mcintyre rolls out of the ring; Kaval yells for Mcintyre just keeps walking, resulting in a count-out victory for Kaval. The ref raises Kaval’s hand, but Kaval isn’t happy about accepting such a cheap win.

9:25 – Commercials

9:30
We come back from break, with Christian in the ring, ready to host another edition of “The Peeps’ Show”; he cuts right to the chase, and invites Matt to the ring. Matt enters, and shakes Christian’s hand upon entering the ring. Christian makes some small-talk, discussing their past wars, and the friendly competition that has developed between them; Matt nods his head in agreement. Christian says that the two of them have helped revolutionize the industry, and declares them two of the most beloved, respected names in the history of the business. Matt smirks as he realizes where Christian is going with this; Christian formally asks him if he would like to set the industry on fire once again, by making their IC-Championship match at “Night of Champions” a “Ladder” match; Matt accepts, and the two shake.

9:40 – Commercials

9:45
WWE: KOFI/Ziggler – It’s a back-and-forth match, with Ziggler putting up a real fight, and getting Kofi down for several two-counts. However, when Ziggler goes for the “Zig Zag”, Kofi holds onto the ropes, causing Ziggler to fall to the mat; as Ziggler gets back up, Kofi hits him with the “Trouble-in-Paradise” for the win. Kofi celebrates, and Ziggler rolls out of the ring and heads to the back with Vickie.

9:55
As Kofi is celebrating in the ring, Show’s music hits; Show enters onto the stage, followed by Mvp and Jtg. Show: “Kofi, first of all, I apologize for interrupting your celebration; believe me, I mean absolutely no disrespect. However, I thought it was important to let everybody know that we seem to have dodged a bullet tonight; Mvp, Jtg, and I have spent the last two hours scouring every inch of this building, and we haven’t been able to find any sign of ‘NXTreme’ anywhere. I guess all that talk of showing up tonight was just a bunch of gum-flapping.” Just as Show finishes his sentence, the Tron cuts to Taker and Kane still walking along an empty road; suddenly, a limo screeches into view, cutting in front of Taker and Kane. The seven original members of “NXTreme” hop out, and begin to beat-down both Taker and Kane; Taker falls more quickly than Kane, who puts up a valiant effort. After a sufficient beating, Barrett speaks directly into the camera: “Just a bunch of gum-flapping, huh, Show? Maybe it was, or maybe it was a brilliant bit of misdirection. Let me ask you something, Show: Who would have the power and influence to find-out when Kane was visiting his brother? Who would be able to pay-off a few hospital staff members to get constant updates on The Undertaker’s condition? And who would be smart enough to station a cameraman in Taker’s room when it looked like he might wake up soon? Once again, we’re a step ahead of everyone else; this cameraman has been giving us updates all night long, letting us know EXACTLY where we could find them.” With that, Barrett orders his allies back into the limo, and they drive away. The cameraman cries for them to come back for him, but his pleas are ignored; instead, Kane gets to his feet, catches the cameraman, and Choke-Slams him, camera and all, resulting in the feed being cut. The camera cuts back to inside the arena, where Kofi, Show, Mvp, and Jtg are in shock at what just happened. Fade to black.

NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS

R – WWE: TRIPS/Cena/Bourne
S – World: KOFI/Rey
R – US: MIZ/Orton/Morrison/Tatsu
S – IC, “Ladder”: Matt/Christian
R – Divas: MARYSE/Natalya
S – Womens: MCCOOL/Tiffany
2 – Tag, “Turmoil”: HAWKINS-ARCHER/Finlay-?/Kidd-Smith/Henry-Khali/Santino-Kozlov

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The PPV begins, with the usual intro-video and pyro; the camera then pans up towards the sky-boxes, where the seven original members of “NXTreme” are locked in one, the six new members locked in the one next to that, as the announcers remind the audience that one of the stipulations of the night was that “NXTreme” would be confined to these sky-boxes for the duration of the night. There is a second camera up there, which shows that there are indeed armed guards standing outside the doors.

Tag, “Turmoil” – Croft-Barreta enter first, as surprise entrants in the match; Henry-Khali are the next out. The bell rings, and Henry-Khali make quick work of the heels. Santino-Kozlov are the next in, with Kozlov taking Henry down and making him tap to a Fujiwara Armbar. Kidd-Smith are next, with Smith trading power with Kozlov, and Kidd trading holds with Santino; Kidd eventually gets Santino down, and hits the Springboard Elbowdrop to get the pin. Hawkins-Archer are the next in; they stall getting into the ring, and Rosa goes to attack Natalya outside the ring. Natalya, however, fights back, but the shenanigans distract the faces long enough for the heels to attack the faces from behind. This is the first pairing that actually lasts a while in the ring, with both teams going all out to win; eventually, though, Archer catches him with his newly-rechristened “Arrowhead” drop, followed by Hawkins hitting his top-rope Elbow for the win. Hawkins-Archer know that Finlay is due out next, and the heels prep for his entrance. Finlay’s theme hits, and he slowly walks onto the stage; Finlay surveys the arena, building the anticipation for his mystery opponent. IT’S A SHAME FOR THEY, LOST THEIR HEAD! Sheamus enters, and the announcers question their own eyes; Sheamus shakes Finlay’s hand, and the two Irishmen race to the ring! Finlay and Sheamus beat the tar out of Hawkins-Archer! The heels try to bail on the match, but as they go to leave, Hornswoggle reaches out from under the ring and grabs Rosa! As Hawkins-Archer try to pull Rosa away from Hornswoggle, the faces pull them back into the ring and put the boots to them! Finlay hits the “Celtic Crush” on Hawkins to immobilize him, while Sheamus hits the “Celtic Cross” on Archer for the win. The ref hands the belts to Finlay-Sheamus, Sheamus hugs Finlay, and Hornswoggle celebrates with both of them. Sheamus is uncharacteristically all-smiles, as the announcers question the relationship between he and Finlay.

Womens: MCCOOL/Tiffany – Mccool enters first, and is accompanied by Layla and Vickie; Tiffany makes her way to the ring alone. It doesn’t take long for Layla to attempt to interfere, but the ref notices, and orders both Layla and Vickie to the back. After a few minutes, Tiffany powers Mccool down, and looks to have total control of the match; at this point, Chavo tries to sneak his way down to the ring. Chavo looks like he will interfere at any moment, prompting Kaval to sneak down to the ring, as well; when Chavo gets on the apron, Kaval jumps up as well, and kicks Chavo off. This distracts Mccool, allowing Tiffany to get the advantage and the win.

US: MIZ/Orton/Morrison/Tatsu – Miz enters first, mic in hand, and talking smack all the way to the ring. Tatsu enters next, followed by Morrison, then by Orton. The end comes when Miz goes for the “Skull-Crushing Finale” on Orton, but Orton reverses to the “RKO” for the win and the US-Championship.

IC, “Ladder”: Matt/Christian – The two men shake hands, and the match begins; it’s a hard-fought, back-and-forth match. The end comes when there is one ladder set-up directly under the belt, and one down on the mat next to it; Matt and Christian, both already beaten and exhausted from the match, are trading punches on the mat, when Christian manages to hook Matt for the “Killswitch”, and hits it on the downed ladder on the mat. Christian then begins to climb the ladder, extremely slowly due to his aching body; Matt slowly manages to get to his feet, and begins to climb the opposite side of the same ladder that Christian is on. The two go back to trading punches, climbing upwards as they do; with Christian eventually at the top of the ladder, and physically able to grab the case if Matt weren’t attacking him, Matt hooks Christian for the “Twist of Fate”, and hits it ALL the way from the very top of the ladder onto the downed ladder on the mat! Christian is DONE! Matt climbs back up, and grabs the IC-Championship. Matt slowly climbs back down the ladder, helps Christian to his feet, and the two hug. The two men praise each other, with Matt leading a clap for Christian, and Christian raising Matt’s hand in victory.

Divas: MARYSE/Natalya – Before the bell rings, Maryse attempts to intimidate Natalya, but Natalya doesn’t bat an eye; the match begins, and Maryse violently attacks, but Natalya quickly reverses the momentum. Maryse can’t get out of the gate, and Natalya wins after utilizing her father’s old “Anvil Flattener” Powerslam. Kidd, Smith, and Bret all come out to congratulate her.

World: KOFI/Rey – The match is back-and-forth and perfectly clean. The end comes when Rey huricanranas Kofi into the ropes and follows with the “619”; Kofi staggers back, virtually out on his feet, and Rey positions himself on the apron for his Springboard Senton. Rey springboards up onto the rope and then jumps towards Kofi, but as he’s in mid-air, Kofi catches him with the “Trouble In Paradise”! Kofi wins, the two shake hands, and Rey leaves the ring so that Kofi can celebrate.

Before the main-event, the announcers mention that we’ve been treated to several wonderful displays of sportsmanship during the course of the evening, but guarantee that the same will not happen in the next match. Bret enters and stands the stage; he states that the main-event is being held under a Gentleman’s Agreement, that being that, since “NXTreme” are securely locked in their sky-boxes for the evening, he promises that neither Morrison, Tatsu, Kidd, Smith, Henry, nor Khali will interfere either. “May the best man win.”

WWE: TRIPS/Cena/Bourne – Bourne enters first, followed by Cena; once in the ring, the two wish each other luck. There is a long pause before Trips’ music hits, and another long pause between the time that his music hits and the time that he actually emerges from the back; he’s accompanied by Stephanie, and does his best to look cool, calm, and collected. The match begins, and the faces double-team Trips for a while, taking turns beating him down. After a while, Trips rolls out of the ring to recover, leaving Cena and Bourne in the ring; the two shake hands, and begin circling each other. Cena goes to grab Bourne, but Bourne dodges out of the way; Cena again tries to grab Bourne, but Bourne not only dodges again, but also manages a quick kick to Cena’s face. Cena smirks, and grabs Bourne in a collar-and-elbow tie-up; he pushes Bourne back into the corner, but gives a clean break. Cena grabs another collar-and-elbow, and again pushes Bourne back into the corner; this time, however, Cena tries to elbow Bourne, but Bourne dodges, and hits a spinning back-kick to Cena’s face, knocking him into the corner. Things escalate in intensity from here, as Cena and Bourne trade blows. Bourne crumples under the force of each of Cena’s blows, but always manages to fight his way back to his feet; likewise, Cena sells Bourne’s kicks like hammer-blows. With the two men fighting so hard, they don’t notice Trips getting back into the match; Trips rushes Cena from behind, knocking him into Bourne. Trips gains the advantage for a while, first on Cena, and then on Bourne. Eventually, Trips hits Cena with the “Pedigree”, but then turns around into a kick-in-the-mouth by Bourne that drops Trips like a ton of bricks. Bourne goes through the ropes, and heads to the top-rope; he climbs the turnbuckle and positions himself on top. However, as he’s steadying himself, EDGE AND JERICHO run down to the ring! They push Bourne off the rope, and begin attacking Bourne and Cena! “The Raw Army” (Morrison, Tatsu, Henry, Khali, Kidd, and Smith) run to the ring, and attack Edge, Jericho, and Trips! Seeing this, “NXTreme” attempt to get out of their sky-boxes; Barrett opens the door to his, only to find “The Smackdown Army” (Kane, Show, Kofi, Rey, Matt, Christian, Mvp, and Jtg) standing there! “Team Smackdown” barge into Barrett’s sky-box, and proceed to destroy the seven original members of “NXTreme”; meanwhile, the six new members are unable to leave their sky-box, due to the slew of armed guards blocking their way. Back in the ring, “Team Raw” is beating on Trips, Edge, and Jericho, when… GONG! The lights go out, Taker’s music hits, and Taker enters the arena! The action in the ring stops, as Taker – clad in his trademark black attire – makes his way to the ring. The faces in the ring hold Trips, Jericho, and Edge up for Taker; Taker motions to let Edge and Jericho go. Edge and Jericho run for the hills, while the faces climb out of the ring, encircling it. Taker stares Trips down, cracks his knuckles, and begins DECIMATING Trips! Taker beats Trips from pillar to post, capping off the beat-down with a big “Tombstone”. The cameras pan the broken bodies of Trips and the rest of “NXTreme”, and focuses on Taker as we fade to black.

Week of 9-20-10

RAW

9:00
The show opens with Bret, Cena, and Bourne standing in the middle of the ring, surrounded by a Steel Cage; the arena is dark, and the mood is somber. Bret grabs the mic, and recounts the way Edge and Jericho interfered in the WWE-Championship match last night, essentially costing either Cena or Bourne the win, and allowing “NXTreme” to remain in control of the WWE-Championship. Bret: “A lot of people have asked why I don’t just strip Triple H of the title. The truth is, I could. However, and maybe I’m just naïve or old-fashioned, but I believe that championships should be won and lost in this ring. In addition, Triple H’s lawyers would have a field-day with my ruling, and I really want to spend as little time in court as possible.” Bret hands Cena the mic. Cena explains what the WWE-Championship means to him and all the Superstars in the back; that it is not just a hunk of metal, a simple prop to be passed around by rulings and personal biases, but an almost sacred acknowledgment of just who truly is the greatest. Cena agrees with Bret, that simply stripping Trips of the title wouldn’t accomplish anything, as who does or doesn’t deserve to hold the title has to be proven in the ring. Cena hands the mic to Bourne; Bourne says that last night was his shot at proving that he could run with the big dogs, and that he wanted to prove to Triple H and the rest of “NXTreme” that the smallest guy could have the biggest heart. Bret: “I do not know why Chris Jericho and Edge felt the need to interfere in last night’s match, but what I do know is this: Chris Jericho and Edge are not in the building right now. After what they did last night, they realize that they both have giant targets on their back. The funny thing is, I don’t remember giving them the night off. In fact, I have them booked in tag-team action, tonight! And that match will take place right here, inside of this fifteen-foot high Steel Cage! Furthermore, if they do NOT compete tonight, whether because they don’t hear my decree, or simply decide to ignore it, they will be fired. Benedict Edge, Benedict Jericho, you will both pay for turning your backs on the ‘WWE Universe’.”

9:20 – Commercials

9:25
“Elimination”: Kidd-Smith/Santino-Kozlov/Jey-Jimmy/Henry-Khali – The announcers note that the winner of this match will get to face new tag-champions Finlay-Sheamus next week for the titles; they also note that all of the women (Natalya, Jillian, and Tamina) have been given “very stern” warnings about getting involved in the match or physical with each other. Henry-Khali are the first eliminated, after Khali submits to Kozlov’s Fujiwara Armbar. Santino-Kozlov are eliminated soon after, when Jey hits Santino with a “Superfly Splash”. It’s down to Kidd-Smith and Jey-Jimmy; it’s a back-and-forth match, with Kidd eventually hitting the Sprinboard Elbow-Drop for the win. Natalya celebrates with Kidd-Smith; Tamina stares holes through Natalya.

9:45 – Commercials