The 31^st January 2011 episode of Monday Night Raw starts with Ricardo Rodriguez making his way to the ring with a Mariachi band playing Alberto Del Rio’s theme music, and Del Rio then making his own way to the ring just like his regular entrance.

Del Rio says that people never listen, that he told everyone that it was his destiny to win the Royal Rumble but people didn’t listen, and that is their problem; they never listen and he told them – Rodriguez repeats these last points.

He says that even though the crowd don’t deserve it because he knows that it is a blue-collar town, he has hired the best Mariachi band in Mexico; one that only plays for the Mexican president and himself.

Del Rio says that it’s not Justin Beiber’s music, but it’s real music. As the winner of the Royal Rumble, he says that he can choose who he wants to face at WrestleMania – the WWE Champion of the World Heavyweight Champion.

He says that he has made his decision, and the one he will be facing is… not said yet as The Miz’s music hits and he makes his way to the ring with Alex Riley. The Miz congratulates Del Rio on winning the Rumble and says it’s almost as impressive as what he himself has done, but that he hopes that Del Rio faces him at WrestleMania as he assures him that he will still be the WWE Champion by then.

The Miz doesn’t think he can say the same for the World Heavyweight Champion Edge however, and that there is something that Del Rio should know about Edge. He says that last night Edge was celebrating and telling everyone who would listen that he’s going to embarrass Del Rio at WrestleMania, mocked his accent, said that “real champions” don’t wear cute little Eddie Bauer scarves, and even said that the cars he drives around are rentals.

Riley backs The Miz up by telling Del Rio that he heard Edge saying that he has no respect for a “second-rate JBL meets Tito Santana knock-off like Alberto Del Rio”. Del Rio says that he knows The Miz, and to him it sounds like a ploy to make him choose Edge instead of The Miz, and then asks if he’s lying to him.

The Miz says that Del Rio took out Edge’s buddy Christian, so he’s threatened by him and he doesn’t like him or respect him, so he thought he’d tell him the truth about Edge talking about him behind his back.

Edge’s music hits and he makes his way to the ring to give his own perspective on things. Edge says that The Miz is right; he doesn’t like or respect Del Rio – but he’s wrong about one thing; he wouldn’t talk about him behind his back, but would rather tell him to his face.

Edge says that he will be the champion at WrestleMania, and if Del Rio faces him, he will beat Del Rio, because he’s (rolling his “R”’s) the “Rated R Superstar” – but he already knew that, didn’t he? Del Rio says that the only thing he knows is that it’s his destiny to be the greatest of the great, and at WrestleMania he will be the new… World Heavyweight Champion.

Edge congratulates him and tells him to take “this” with him; “this” is a shot to the face with the microphone that knocks him down. Del Rio gets the last laugh however as he hits Edge with a guitar and then applies the Cross-Armbreaker to Edge, leaving him to stand tall over Edge.

Next, Michael Cole receives an email from the Anonymous Raw General Manager which states that for the first time ever, later on there will be a “Raw Rumble” match, in which seven Superstars will participate, with the winner facing The Miz at the Elimination Chamber Pay-Per-View, and the other six participants competing in the Elimination Chamber itself at the Pay-Per-View to determine who will face the WWE Champion at WrestleMania.

The participants are Randy Orton, CM Punk, John Morrison, R-Truth, Sheamus, Jerry “The King” Lawler, and John Cena.

Now, the WWE Tag Team Championship is on the line as the current champions Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov take on Husky Harris and Michael McGillicutty of The New Nexus. The match ends with the champions retaining their titles after Marella hits Harris win The Cobra for the 3-count.

Afterwards, Orton runs down to the ring and gives McGillicutty and Harris an RKO each, likely in payback for The New Nexus’ interference in his match at the Royal Rumble. Orton isn’t finished as he backs himself up into the corner and looks like he might be setting up to punt Harris in the head, which brings Punk out onto the stage with Otunga and Ryan, with him telling Orton not to do it.

Punk tries to convince Orton not to do it and says that if he does then there will be serious consequences and repercussions, which appears to get through to Orton until he looks to the crowd who advise the opposite, so he goes ahead and gives Harris a punt to the head and then bails out through the crowd as Punk, Otunga and Ryan run down after him.

Next up, Ted DiBiase makes his way to ringside accompanied by Maryse and addresses Jerry “The King” Lawler. He says that Lawler’s career is over and his own is just getting started, so he should step aside for the future and do the right thing by giving DiBiase his spot in the Raw Rumble.

Lawler looks about to comment but Cole says that he will handle it instead. Cole calls Lawler the “scene stealer” and says that there is no way Lawler will let his selfish, self-centred, narcissistic ego take himself out of the match and give him the spot – not in DiBiase’s lifetime.

Lawler snatches the microphone and speaks for himself, telling them both that he’s not going to give up his spot for anybody, and that though people always talk about the Road to WrestleMania, his own has always been under construction.

Despite being in the WWE for eighteen years, he has never competed in a match at WrestleMania, so as far as he is concerned, his Road to WrestleMania starts later on in the ring – and that if it weren’t for Cole, he would probably be the WWE Champion right now, as he knows he can beat The Miz, and he’s going to win the Raw Rumble.

DiBiase slaps the back of Lawler’s head and quickly walks away with Maryse, but Lawler follows after him and raises his fist ready to hit him, causing DiBiase to position Maryse in front of him so that Lawler won’t try to do so.

After a few moments, Maryse turns around with an incredulous look on her face and slaps DiBiase, shows him the hand, and then walks away. Lawler doesn’t waste any time and gets his shot in on DiBiase, knocking him down.

Now, The Bella Twins join commentary as Daniel Bryan (accompanied by Gail Kim) is pitted against Tyson Kidd in a match which sees Bryan get the victory after he applies the LeBell Lock, which forces Kidd to tap out.

Afterwards, The Bella Twins enter the ring and approach the celebrating Bryan and Gail, but it soon degenerates into a cat-fight between The Bella Twins and Gail, as the referees and Bryan try their best to separate them all.

Next, The Miz (accompanied by Alex Riley) goes against Edge in a match which sees Edge get the win with a Spear, thanks to John Cena distracting The Miz by getting the crowd to chant “Miz is awful” from his place in the Press box.

After the announcement that “Stone Cold” Steve Austin will be hosting the returning Tough Enough reality show, Vickie Guerrero makes her way out onto the stage and says that though Edge won his match, his odds of winning on Friday are nearly impossible.

She says that is because she has quite a surprise for Edge as on SmackDown! the World Heavyweight Championship will be defended in a way that it has never been defended before, so she invites everyone to tune in on Friday to witness the historic occasion.

It’s time for a Divas Tag Team match as Natalya and the new Divas Champion Eve take on Lay-Cool in a match which sees Layla get the win for her team after hitting her with what appears to be a rolling stunner from the second rope, which Cole says is called “The Facelift”.

Now, Mark Henry and The Great Khali (accompanied by Ranjin Singh) is pitted against The Uso’s, but Cole receives an email and says that The Uso’s don’t have a chance in a regular match, so instead they will compete in a dance-off.

Both teams are bad, but it appears that The Uso’s are still somewhat better than Henry and Khali. After both teams have done their dances, The Uso’s don’t wait for a decision and attempt to attack Henry and Khali. Unsurprisingly, Khali and Henry get the better of the exchange, though Khali oddly tries to go for the pin after hitting his move, when it obviously wasn’t an actual match.

After a trailer hyping Triple H’s movie “The Chaperone”, the time has come for the Raw Rumble match. The match ends with Jerry “The King” Lawler being declared the winner as he ducks Sheamus’ Brogue Kick attempt, which ends in Sheamus being eliminated thanks to John Cena assistance by pulling down the rope.

Lawler celebrates in the ring, with The Miz and Riley watching on a screen backstage as Raw goes off the air.