WWE Raw live event
Sacramento, Calif.
Report by Dot Net reader Peter

The 17,000 person PowerBalance Pavilion was half-full. The entire upper-deck minus two segments were tarped off, but both those were completely empty. The entire lower section was full. I'd guess about 8,000 or 9,000 people. Lots of people either in C.M. Punk's 'Best in the World' shirt or some John Cena apparel.

The show started right at 7:30. The Miz was first out to pretty good heat. He grabbed a mic and mocked the crowd. He continued until R-Truth came out and let him know he would be in a match with him, tonight.

1. R-Truth defeated The Miz. Miz tried to bail early, but Truth chased him down and threw him back inside the ring. A pretty hard hitting match with Miz in control throughout. The finish saw Miz grab a water bottle and try to KO Truth with it, only to miss. This led to Truth hitting his finisher for the three. A good opening match between two guys the crowd was in to.

2. Ryback beat Alex Riley. Ryback (a/k/a Skip Sheffield) is in a black singlet with upper arm-bands with an 'R' on them. No one had any clue who Ryback was, and A-Ry got a decent pop. The match was all about Ryback. He hit a massive torture-rack slam, huge lariat, and Saito suplex before A-Ry tried to come back. Riley hit a few flying clotheslines before getting killed with a spear. A squash for Ryback. He's a beast.

After the match David Otunga came out with a mic and told Alex Riley he sucked. Before Riley could attack, Otunga told him that in just one phone call to Raw Interim GM John Laurinaitis he could have Riley fired. Riley turned around only for Otunga to throw his phone and coffee mug down to lay down the punches. Otunga threw Riley over the top, grabbed his phone and mug, took a sip and left.

3. Brodus Clay beat Tyler Reks. Tyler got zero reaction. Brodus got initial laughs and a slight pop for his Funkalicious entrance. The match began with Brodus dancing and gyrating much to Reks' confusion. Reks eventually went on offense and kicked out Brodus' knees and went to a few submission attempts. Brodus was getting more cheers as Reks wore him down with "Planet Funk" chants. Brodus came back with the headbutt, an exploder suplex, the corner splash, a belly to belly throw, a dancing elbow drop, and finally a dancing Hogan leg-drop to finish.  No flying cross-body tonight.   Brodus grabbed a sign a danced his way to the back with it. He tweeted a picture of it, if anyone wants to check it out.  

4. Air Boom defeated Primo and Epico (w/Rosa) to retain the WWE Tag Titles. I'll admit. This one was hard to pay attention to with Rosa bouncing and gyrating nearly right in front of me. The match was dominated by Primo/Epico with Bourne being the face-in-peril. Bourne was worked over for about 10 minutes before hitting a great huracanrana that sent one Colon into the other. Bourne got the tag, but Kofi was hit with a backstabber for the three!

However, his foot was on the bottom rope, and another ref came out and restarted the match. Right after the restart, Bourne got Backstabbed, the Colons tried and failed a double-team and Kofi hit Trouble in Paradise for the win. Dull match. Bourne's hope spots were fun, but the beatdown lasted too long. No Air Bourne in victory was sad.

Justin Roberts tried to plug a soda, but the arena then went dark. Jericho's jacket let up the top of the stage. He came down slapping hands and smiling. He milked the moment like his original 1/2/12 appearance until he was interrupted by Jack Swagger. Swagger called Sacramento idiots, reminded Jericho he was the one who took his World Heavyweight Title not too long ago, and told him to take off his stupid jacket.

Swagger continued to yell at Jericho until he dejectedly took off his jacket, gingerly put it over the corner and proceed to blast Swagger in the head with the mic. Jericho put Swagger in the Walls of Jericho to wrap this up. I have to say, Jericho's absolutely ripped in the abs. I have or at least cant remember a time he has looked like he does now.

Intermission. Roberts finished the soda pitch he started before Jericho:.

5. Beth Phoenix beat Eve to retain the WWE Divas Championship with a Bella Twin as special ref. Beth had lots of fun with a group of fans yelling sexual harassments at her. She kept playfully covering her behind and acting shocked at what people were yelling at her. My favorite was "I WANT YOU TO HAVE MY FOURTH CHILD!"

Beth took control, hitched her skirt up to show her behind to the vocal crew, and went for a GlamSlam. Eve countered into a roll-through hit a weak Beautiful Disaster, and her beautiful moonsault. Bella ref feigned an arm injury and Beth hit the GlamSlam for the win. This was the best Divas match I've seen in a while. Beth seemed to be having a great time playing with the fans, and Eve is also pretty good.

6. John Cena beat Kane by DQ. Cena had a pretty good reaction. Probably 90/10 cheers to boos, but not that loud. Disappointing match. Cena was bouncing around like crazy during simple headlocks. Cena hit his shoulder-blocks, went for the Five Knuckle Shuffle only to get goozled. Kane got sent to the floor and got a chair. He hit Cena for the blatant DQ. He then chokeslammed Cena and started to leave. When he got to the top of the ramp it was announced Cena won. Kane came back and went for a Tombstone only to be reversed into an AA.

7. C.M. Punk defeated Dolph Ziggler to retain the WWE Championship. Ziggler was out first without Vickie. He grabbed a mic and started talking about how he's the best, CM Punk is only cheered because we relate to him, and we will remember this night as the night he wins his first WWE Championship. I love Ziggler's promo style. Punk was out next to big cheers. He played to the crowd, grabbed the mic and said he wants to kick both Ziggler's and Laurinaitis' ass.

I can't say much here. I was way into this match! A few of the best spots were Punk hitting a sit-out powerbomb, which saw Ziggler spit his gum some 10/15 feet into the air upon impact for a two count. And when Punk went for a GTS, Ziggler countered into a Fame-ass-er. Look for that in a future PPV, it was beautiful!

Ziggler eventually ripped the turnbuckle cover off, and the ref got KO'ed. Otunga came out again and was tutoring the new ref while Ziggler hit Punk with two chairshots. Otunga shoved the ref in and demanded he count for a two. Otunga got in the ring, berated the ref, and took the GTS. Ziggler hit the Zig Zag for a great nearfall. Punk sent Ziggler into the previously exposed turnbuckle for the three!

Biggest Pops:
1: Punk
2: Cena
3: Y2J

Best Heat:
1: Miz
2: Ziggler
Distant 3: Swagger

RECOMMEND THIS ARTICLE: