The 25^th July 2011 episode of Monday Night Raw starts with the match that was postponed from last week due to Vince McMahon wanting to make his announcement of apparently being about to fire John Cena, only to be informed by Triple H that he has been relieved of his duties (click here for last week’s Raw report).

The Miz takes on Rey Mysterio for the WWE Championship in a match which sees Rey Mysterio get the victory to become the new WWE Champion when he hits The Miz with a 619 and follows it up with a splash from the top rope for the 3-count.

Afterwards, Mysterio celebrates until The Miz attacks him from behind, and as The Miz leaves the ring, Alberto Del Rio’s music hits and he makes his way down to ringside with a referee and the Money In The Bank briefcase, apparently about to cash it in on Mysterio, but he turns around after explaining it to the announcers only to catch Mysterio who has vaulted out of the ring onto him – unsurpsingly, this makes Del Rio change his mind and quickly leave instead.

After we see Mysterio getting congratulated backstage by a number of Superstars including John Cena, Josh Mathews interviews him and asks him how he feels right then. Mysterio’s response is to quote School Of Rock and say that it’s a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll, and he says that everybody has to make sacrifices if you want in life and he has done so, and he says to his kids that “Daddy is coming home, and he’s bringing the gold”.

After a video recapping Triple H’s announcement last week informing Vince McMahon that he is relieved of his duties, Dolph Ziggler (accompanied by Vickie Guerrero, and sporting a new version of his music by Downstait) is pitted against Evan Bourne in a match which sees Ziggler avoid Bourne’s shooting star press, hit Bourne with the Zig-Zag, and apply a sleeper-hold to get the victory when the referee calls for the bell.

After a video of an earlier argument between The Bella Twins and Eve Torres that is solved by “Keith Stone”, Maryse and Melina go against Kelly Kelly and Eve Torres in a match which sees Kelly get the victory for her team when she hits Melina with the K2 for the 3-count.

Next, Triple H’s music hits, and he makes his way to the ring before he gives his “State of the WWE” address. Firstly he acknowledges Vince McMahon as the reason the WWE is where it is today, but he says that he’s not there to talk about the past but rather the future.

He announces that there will be a second WWE Championship match on this episode of Raw, and both men are in agreement that it needs to happen, so Rey Mysterio will be defending his newly won WWE Championship against John Cena.

Triple H says that everywhere he goes, the WWE Universe worldwide has been agreeing a certain someone should be back on Raw, and he says that he has taken it upon himself to contact that person and resign them, and after the crowd chant “CM Punk”, he asks the person to make their way out – and it is revealed to be “Good Ol’ J.R” Jim Ross.

Michael Cole isn’t happy about this decision, and after refusing to shake Ross’ hand, he stands on the announce table complaining to Triple H, saying that he’ll do anything for the WWE, but he won’t work with him.

Triple H says that he had a feeling that he would be upset about it, which is why his first inclination was to fire him and bring J.R back, but he says that he looked into it and it would cost him more to not use Cole than it would to keep him on TV, as he says that he has a ridiculous severance package.

He says that if Cole wants to leave, he understands, but if he does then he should understand that he would be in breach of contract and would surrender any future earnings he would have. Triple H says that he knows that he has sprung it on him on the last second, so he’ll let him take the night off from commentary and he has until Friday to decide – if he shows up for SmackDown! then he’ll know he wants his job, but if not then he’ll wish him well in his future endeavours.

Cole says not to get carried away and says that he’s not quitting under any circumstances, and he’ll just sit down and do his job for the rest of the night. Triple H says that it’s great if he’s made his decision, but he shouldn’t sit back down as he has given him the night off from his commentary, plus the fact that if he sits back down, he’ll probably be late for his match.

Cole expresses confusion as he says that he doesn’t have any gear and that he retired, but Triple H says that he understands that and he gave him the night off from commentary, but he booked him in a match, and as he knew he didn’t have gear, he personally selected some himself which can be found in the trainers room in the back, and Cole should hurry up as his match is next.

As Cole leaves, R-Truth decides to make his presence known, apparently with two invisible friends, as he says that the man who has been a part of the conspiracy from day one, is now the man in the WWE.

He says that unlike Cole, he likes what he can see, as he sees a new day and a new regime, but what he really wants to know is what he is going to do for him, pointing out that “Little Jimmy” cost him his match at Capitol Punishment and spiders and heights cost him at Money In The Bank, so he asks what he is going to do to rectify the conspiracy against him.

Triple H makes fun by asking whether he’s talking to him or the other guys, with R-Truth pointing out that there is nobody else there, but still continuing to speak to his invisible friends anyway, which Triple H copies to make fun of him, which makes R-Truth call him crazy, and say that he might be the game, but he’s not playing, and he starts to leave.

Triple H calls out for R-Truth and anybody with him to stop as there is one thing that he forgot to tell him about, and he says that he resigned another guy, someone who he says told him that he wanted a piece of R-Truth – that man is revealed to be John Morrison, whose music then hits and he walks out before starting to attack R-Truth, ending the attack when he hits Truth with Starship Pain in the ring.

Now, Triple H’s King Of King’s entrance hits and Michael Cole makes his way out with Triple H’s gear and ring movements, for his match against a mystery opponent who is revealed to be “Long Island Iced Z” Zack Ryder.

Unsurprisingly, the match doesn’t last very long and Ryder gets the victory when he hits cole with the Rough Ryder for the 3-count.

Next, Alberto Del Rio (introduced by Ricardo Rodriguez) takes on Kofi Kingston in a match which sees Del Rio get the victory when he forces Kingston to tap out to the cross-armbreaker.

Backstage, The Miz is interviewed by Josh Mathews about his loss, but The Miz tells him to shut his mouth and says that this entire night has been screwed up, and he expresses disbelief at John Cena having a title match, when it was Cena’s fault for losing the title to “he whose name we shall not mention” (causing the crowd to chant for Punk).

Mathews starts to say something about Vince McMahon, but The Miz cuts him off and says that McMahon isn’t here any more and things have gone from bad to worse with Triple H in charge, and he says McMahon was going to do what he said he was going to do last week, which was fire Cena for all the right reasons, only for Triple H to come along and do the opposite, and also bring back a castaway and loser like Jim Ross.

The Miz says that the face of the company is now a masked man and he asks how that is going to work, as it’s not going to be as good as when he himself is on the George Lopez show this Wednesday, and he says that he is the most must-see champion in history, and Triple H’s new WWE is a huge mistake.

Back in the arena, it’s time for the second WWE Championship match of the night, with Rey Mysterio being pitted against John Cena for the title, in a match which sees Cena get the victory, ending Mysterio’s reign already by becoming the new WWE Champion when he hits Mysterio with the Attitude Adjustment for the 3-count.

Afterwards, John Cena celebrates in the ring and shows respect to Mysterio, but some unfamiliar music hits and after a while CM Punk walks out (the music is Cult of Personality by Living Colour and was used as one of Punk’s themes in Ring Of Honor). He plays to the crowd before making his way to the ring with his own WWE Championship around his waist.

When approached by Punk, Cena raises his title aloft, but when CM Punk raises his own WWE Championship aloft, he gets a more favourable response from the crowd. Both men stare each other down with their titles as Raw goes off the air.