Raw Fusion: Here Comes The Pain

by Firefly on 6th April 2012

The 2nd April 2012 episode of Monday Night Raw starts with Superstars, Divas, and referees sitting backstage talking, where they are then addressed by John Laurinaitis, as he says that he made WrestleMania history last night, when he earned the right to be the General Manager of both shows (click here for our WrestleMania XXVIII report).

He says that this is a power he will not abuse, but instead give back to the people and give them the matches that they want to see. To illustrate this, he tells Santino Marella that he will be defending his United States Championship later on in a Triple Threat match against Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger.

CM Punk makes his presence known, and he says that he speaks for all of the fans and the vast majority of those sitting in the room, and that despite the fact that Laurinaitis is indeed the GM of both shows now, they all consider him to be a “giant tool box”.

Laurinaitis says that he knows that Punk is a prankster, always telling jokes, but Punk says that although he likes a good joke, he wasn’t joking. Laurinaitis’ response to this is to tell Punk that he isn’t joking either, when he says that Punk will be defending his WWE Championship later on against Mark Henry. He welcomes those in the locker room to a new era, an era which he says is “People Power”.

In the arena, The Rock’s music hits and he makes his way to the ring, where after a “You’ve still got it” chant, he talks about how he came back to the WWE fourteen months ago (click here for our 14th February 2011 Raw report), but that it wasn’t until WrestleMania where he stood before a history making seventy-eight thousand fans at Sun Life stadium where he was victorious, to to truly stand there right now and say “Finally, The Rock has come back… home”.

He points out the goosebumps on his arm, before saying that there is one man who he has to thank – John Cena. After a “Cena sucks” chant from the crowd, The Rock continues by saying that Cena brought it to him like never before, and he says that it was an honour to have the biggest match with all time for him, and win or lose, they did it for the fans.

The Rock says that he wants to thank Cena, his friends and family who came from around the world, but more importantly than that, he has to thank the millions – and millions! – of The Rock’s fans.

He says that it is because of the fans that he stands before them today as the “Most Electrifying Man In All Of Entertainment”, but more important than that, he stands before them as their “People’s Champion”.

The Rock says that for those who think that this is the end, then he says that he guaran-damn-tees that this is just the beginning, prompting a “YES! YES! YES” chant and “Thank You Rocky” chant from the crowd.

He continues by saying that since WrestleMania he has had a vision, which he says that people told him is impossible when he told them about it. The Rock says that what those people do not realise however, is that The Rock wipes a monkey’s ass with the word “impossible”.

The Rock asks if “The People” would like to hear his vision, prompting another “YES! YES! YES! chant from the crowd. He says that the vision is that he will one day walk down the aisle as the “jabroni-beating, pie-eating, trail-blazing, eyebrow-raising, one vision in mind, don’t need no revampin’, The Rock’s gonna be WWE Champion”.

Next, Santino Marella takes on Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler (accompanied by Vickie Guerrero) in a Triple Threat match for the United States Championship which sees Marella get the victory and retain his title, when he hits Swagger with The Cobra for the 3-count.

Afterwards, Swagger and Ziggler apparently think about taking out their anger of losing out on Marella, but he manages to get out of the ring and heads up the ramp, towards Brodus Clay who has made his way out to even up the odds.

Swagger and Ziggler are hesitant to do anything, but eventually decide to attempt something, only for Ziggler to run into a headbutt from Clay. As the crowd chant “Funkasaurus” and both Swagger and Vickie tend to Ziggler, Clay, Marella, Naomi, and Cameron dance on the stage to “Somebody Call My Momma”.

Next up, Lord Tensai (previously known in the WWE a number of years ago as “Prince Albert” and “A-Train”) makes his début (accompanied by Sakamoto) by being pitted against Alex Riley in a match which sees Tensai get the victory, when he hits Riley with chokebomb and the referee stops the match after determining that Riley cannot continue.

Afterwards, Tensai grabs Riley once again, and takes him down with a claw to the head.

Now, CM Punk goes against Mark Henry in a match which sees Henry get the victory as a result of a count-out, when he counters Punk’s bulldog attempt from the corner by dropping him over the ropes to the outside of the ring, where Punk is unable to get to his feet and back into the ring to answer the ten count.

As the title doesn’t change hands on a count-out however, Punk retains his title. Afterwards, Henry realises that and exits the ring, where he hits Punk with the World’s Strongest Slam onto the floor. Following this, John Laurinaitis makes his way out onto the stage with David Otunga.

Laurinaitis says that people want Punk to defend his title on a consistent basis, and so he is going to. He says that he sees some dark clouds in Punk’s horizon, but he isn’t talking about a thunderstorm, but rather a natural disaster.

Chris Jericho makes his way out through the area by the timekeeper, and he decides that he and CM Punk as gentlemen need to celebrate with a drink. He then proceeds to grab a bottle of alcohol, approaches a downed Punk, proposes a toast, and pours it onto Punk’s face, possibly getting some into his mouth.

Jericho beats Punk down further, before grabbing another bottle of alcohol, talking about Punk’s family, and then smashing the bottle against the back of Punk’s head.

Next, Justin Roberts introduces Sheamus, to many boos from the crowd. Before Sheamus can say anything however, he is interrupted by Alberto Del Rio’s music hitting and Del Rio making his way to the ring in his usual way, introduced by Ricardo Rodriguez, who elongates Del Rio’s first name for as long as possible.

After some “SI! SI! SI!” chants from the crowd, Del Rio talks about how Sheamus won the title in a record time of eighteen seconds, but says that although it is impressive, it is too bad that nobody is going to remember that in a month.

He says that this is because as fast as Sheamus won it, he is going to lose it, as now he has a new challenger, and this challenger doesn’t hide behind a “chica”, and his name is – cue Rodriguez – Alberto Del Rio.

Sheamus says that he is glad to see him, as the fans don’t want him to talk on and on and on, but instead want him to Brogue Kick someone right in the face. He says that now he gets an opportunity to show the fans something that they will never forget, but Del Rio says that he is not looking for a fight.

Del Rio says that this is because he already has one, as in honour of his return, John Laurinaitis has agreed to give him a match on the upcoming episode of Friday Night SmackDown!, and when he wins, he is going to get a future World Heavyweight Championship title shot.

He tries to continue, but seems to be having issues with the microphone, but after exchanging it for another one, he turns around only to receive a Brogue Kick from Sheamus. Daniel Bryan and AJ are then shown watching on a monitor backstage, and Josh Mathews attempts to interview Bryan about how upset he may be, only to get no response (though the crowd are clearly heard chanting “Daniel Bryan).

Next, Cody Rhodes takes on Kofi Kingston in a match which sees Kingston get the victory, when he takes advantage of the distraction provided by The Big Show and pictures of Rhodes’ defeat at WrestleMania, and hits Rhodes with Trouble In Paradise for the 3-count.

After an interaction backstage between Mark Henry and Abraham Washington, where Washington offers his services as a manager, Eve Torres makes her way out onto the stage, where she talks about how she manipulated Zack Ryder and how it was easy to do so, just like she can with any man, except one man – John Laurinaitis, as powerful people cannot be manipulated.

After a video recapping The Rock’s comments earlier on, The Miz is pitted against Zack Ryder in a match which sees The Miz get the victory, when he hits Ryder with the Skull-Crushing Finale for the 3-count.

Next up, John Cena makes his way to the ring, where he talks about how he never thought of losing, but that now that he has lost, he has the obligation to do it right. Referencing clips that have been shown throughout the show of what he said during the Road To WrestleMania, he says that anyone else would be backtracking at this point and saying that it wasn’t their fault.

He says that this is not him and will never be him, and that he meant every single thing that he said. Cena says that he meant it then and he means it now, and there was not a single second in the year-long build-up to WrestleMania that he thought that he would lose, because if you do think like that, you have already lost.

Cena talks about how at this point, others would lash out at the WWE Universe, and wonders if this is when he will finally lash out at the WWE Universe. Continuing the trend that has been going on all night, the crowd respond with an emphatic chant of “YES! YES! YES!”.

Despite the chant however, he says that will not happen, prompting a boo from the crowd. He says that he is a man and was beaten, so as a man he will own up and admit defeat, that at WrestleMania he lost to The Rock – prompting yet another “YES! YES! YES!” chant from the crowd.

John Cena says that there will be some critics who make his loss at WrestleMania the most important moment of his career, but he assures everyone that it will not be his last. Addressing all those that have supported him, he says that if he has let them or anyone else down, he apologises, and the only thing that he can do to make up for it is to wipe the slate clean and work his ass off to try to beat the best that he can be.

He says to address the rumour mill that he is there to call out The Rock, he is not out to call out The Rock, as when you call somebody out, you want to fight, and they have called each other out before and settled it at WrestleMania.

Cena pauses for a “We want Lesnar” chant and comments that he actually wants The Rock, as he then invites The Rock to come back down to the ring, not to talk trash or fight, because respect is a word that he holds close and after all that he has been through with him, The Rock has earned his respect and he considers him a champion, an inspiration, and after WrestleMania, the greatest WWE Superstar in the industry.

After pausing for another “We want Lesnar” chant, he says that he put his heart and soul into WrestleMania, and he admits that he came up short and that The Rock was the better man. This prompts another “YES! YES! YES” chant from the crowd, one which Cena joins in on and quips that Daniel Bryan owes him one.

After then pausing for a “Daniel Bryan” chant and commenting that this is why he loves Raw, Cena says that he just wants one second to publicly congratulate The Rock on his victory, and turns in the direction of the entrance to await his appearance.

After a few moments however, it is not The Rock’s music that hits however, but instead that of Brock Lesnar (along with his titantron video), as Lesnar then plays to the crowd on the stage and then makes his way to the ring.

As Lesnar walks around the ring before entering, the crowd chant “holy shit”, but when he enters it and poses before Cena, he approaches him a holds out his hand. He then grabs Cena and hits him with an F-5, much to the approval of the crowd, before observing his handiwork and celebrating in the ring as Raw goes off the air.

About the Author: Firefly

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Discovering WCW Monday Nitro in the 1990s, he has been hooked on wrestling ever since, later going on to also discover WWF (now WWE), and even later numerous independent promotions, TNA and now the very captivating challenger known as AEW.

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