The 1^st August 2011 episode of Monday Night Raw starts with a video recapping the events of the WWE Championship tournament, the second match later on between new Champion Rey Mysterio and challenger John Cena, and the confrontation at the end of last week between Cena and CM Punk.

The show kicks off with CM Punk’s music hitting and him making his way to the ring after playing to the crowd with the WWE Championship. CM Punk talks about how as far as a year go he was struggling with the life-changing decision that he had to make of possibly leaving, as he says that he likes the place he works, but hates the people in charge, so he felt that he could either go with the status quo or speak his mind, and he obviously did the latter and caused change.

He says that as proud as he was about backing up what he said, he realised that his voice needed to be heard, and he couldn’t change the business for what it should be sitting at home, so he picked up the phone and made the call to come back, and he says that his timing couldn’t have been better.

Punk says that the status quo is already back to what it was before with John Cena as the WWE Champion, but he says that Cena is no more the WWE Champion than a guy at ringside with a replica title from WWE Shop.

He tells Cena that no matter of the outcome of some bogus Championship tournament or whoever thinks that they are entitled to a Championship shot, what Punk holds in his hands proves that he is the best professional wrestler and the best the world has to offer.

Triple H’s music hits and he makes his way to the ring, with Punk quipping that it’s apparently time to play the game. Triple H talks about why he resigned Punk, saying that it was good for business, which he says is the same reason that he brought back Jim Ross and John Morrison.

He says that it is his job as the COO to give the WWE Universe what they want, and as they spoke and said they wanted CM Punk, he put his feelings aside and got them CM Punk. Punk wants to know what those personal feelings are.

Triple H says that it’s irrelevant, but he says that he thinks that Punk is smug, overrated, attention-seeking and a guy that puts too much stock in his own-hype, not that it’s a bad thing. Punk says it’s kind of looking in the mirror, and he admits that he’s smug, as for being overrated it’s not up for him to say, but he wishes that Triple H would just come out and say that he hates his guts, but also let him know what a commodity he is.

CM Punk talks about how Vince McMahon let Main-Event calibre talent go, such as Batista, Mick Foley, Chris Jericho, Brock Lesnar, and others. He says that not only did Triple H want to see him go anywhere else, he couldn’t afford to see him go anywhere else.

Triple H suggests that Punk say the truth about why he resigned, to which Punk says that he already did, that he wants to facilitate change, but Triple H says that another way of looking at it would be that he did it for him and wanted to hear his own voice.

He asks what would happen if a pipe bomb went off with nobody to hear it, would it make a noise? He says that the answer is no, and without the WWE Universe he means nothing, so he did it for his own ego.

Punk says that the truth is that he is the WWE Champion, but Triple H says that he is the WWE Champion, but so is John Cena, so he says that he is going to fix that later on. He goes to leave, but Punk asks him to hold on.

Punk says that the pipe bomb is to go off, as he says that just because he signed the contract he doesn’t want him to think that he’s going to shut up, that he’s going to tow the company line, and he says that he’s not going to promo class or media training, he’s here to stay and do his own way, and he suggests that maybe they do talk about egos.

He talks about Triple H hogging the spotlight many times over others, and how even carrying Shawn Michaels’ bags he liked to push people’s bags, and he asks how many times he said “Well, you know, I just don’t think he has what it takes” while lying in bed with his wife.

Punk says that no matter how Triple H is dressed, he is the same guy he has always been, a bully who likes to throw his weight around, but to be careful who he pushes, as he knows that Punk likes to push back.

Triple H admits that he has a massive ego, but that massive ego is telling him to slap CM Punk’s tattoos off him, but he’s not going to do that as this is bigger than that. He says that he took the job as the COO for the WWE Universe, a job which comes with certain responsibilities and rules, ones that he may not like, but he respects and follows, so he suggests that CM Punk not break them either.

Punk asks “or what?” and whether he would beat him up, or whether he’d have to ask his wife first. He drops the microphone as he calls it a pipe bomb, and leaves as his music plays.

Next is a Divas Battle Royal to determine Kelly Kelly’s opponent for the Divas Championship at SummerSlam, which sees Beth Phoenix get the victory when she eliminates both Bella Twins by herself.

Kelly Kelly enters the ring to congratulate her, but Beth attacks her and tells her that her days as the cute, perky, blonde little bimbo are over.

After R-Truth and The Miz talk backstage about how alike they may be, with R-Truth still being unable to fully spell the word “conspiracy”, John Cena is interviewed by Josh Mathews about the words of CM Punk, but he says that his focus is Triple H due to the decision he’s going to make about the WWE Championship, so he says he might be out there to see what he has to say in person.

Back in the arena, R-Truth and The Miz take on Rey Mysterio and John Morrison in a match which sees R-Truth get the victory for his team when he hits Morrison with a leaping reverse STO for the 3-count.

Afterwards, The Miz hits Morrison with the Skull-Crushing Finale and Truth hits Morrison in the head with a bottle of water.

Backstage, Josh Mathews interviews Triple H, who first suggests that Mathews shaves, but says that the “wife” bomb has been dropped for ten years so Punk should get in line, but as for John Cena coming out, he is happy for Cena, Punk, or anybody to come out as he will tell him at the same time as everybody else, but he suggests that Cena keep things completely professional.

Back in the arena once again, Dolph Ziggler makes his way to the ring with Vickie Guerrero, and Vickie introduces her client who she says has gone above and beyond to prove himself superior to Punk and Cena, her client being Dolph Ziggler.

Ziggler says that his line after his match last week to “follow that” was directed at the other superstars, as he says that it means that nobody else will ever have his technique, talent, or charisma.

Alex Riley apparently wants to test this, as his music hits and he makes his way to the ring, so he asks Ziggler if he’s such a man, why he hides behind a woman, or in his case, Vickie Guerrero. Vickie says that thanks to her, Ziggler is a former World Heavyweight Champion, a former Intercontinental Champion, and the current United States Champion.

Riley says that she brings up a good point and that Ziggler has had a hell of a career so far, but he asks when the last time was that Ziggler accomplished something on his own, and says that he reminds him of The Miz, as he’s hiding behind Vickie like The Miz hid behind Riley.

He suggests that Ziggler be a real man and make the decision to drop her, otherwise he’ll be exposed for what he is, a bleach-blond, arrogant fraud. Ziggler leads Vickie away and though it appears that he is getting ready to fight Riley, he instead bails out of the ring and backs up the ramp with Vickie.

Now, David Otunga and Michael McGillicutty (who are no longer billed as part of The New Nexus) are pitted against “Long Island Iced Z” Zack Ryder and Santino Marella in a tag team match which sees Otunga and McGillicutty get the victory after hitting Ryder with a double-team move combining a backbreaker and diving fist-drop from the second rope for the 3-count.

After a video recapping the earlier confrontation between Triple H and CM Punk, Punk is interviewed backstage by Josh Mathews who asks him what he thinks Triple H’s decision will be about the WWE Championship.

Punk says that when he consulted his magic 8-ball, it was cloudy at best, so he’s waiting just like everybody is, and he says that the confrontation that they had earlier was a test that Triple H passed with flying colours.

He says that he and John Cena had one of the greatest WWE Championship matches in history, but the result was that he won, and Cena lost, so the champ is standing right there.

Next up, Alberto Del Rio goes against Evan Bourne in a match which sees Del Rio get the victory when he applies the cross-armbreaker, which forces Bourne to tap out. Afterwards, Del Rio decides that the punishment isn’t over as he re-applies the cross-armbreaker, until Kofi Kingston hits the ring for the save, causing Del Rio to quickly bail out.

It’s time to find out what Triple H is going to do about the situation of having two WWE Champions, as he makes his way to the ring, but before he can do so, he is interrupted by John Laurinaitis who makes his way to the ring too.

Laurinaitis says that Triple H has been a part of the WWE corporate structure for a short time, whereas he himself has been a part of it for over ten years, so he knows how McMahon thinks and how he would want Triple H to handle the situation, which he says is to strip John Cena of the WWE Championship.

John Cena’s music hits and he makes his way to the ring, as he decides to make his presence known. Cena says that Laurinaitis has never thought for himself and is one of the yes-men that CM Punk talked about, as he then mocks him.

Cena says that he thinks that Laurinaitis wants him stripped of the championship because he punched him at Money In The Bank to stop him from reaching the timekeeper and ending the match in a screw-job.

Addressing Triple H, he says that if the time comes where he loses the championship and it’s legitimate, then that’s fine, but he will not have the championship stripped because a suit that used to carry a skateboard doesn’t like him.

Laurinaitis tells Cena that he’s out of line and says that he didn’t make his decision on his unprofessional behaviour, but rather that Punk beat Cena.

Cena reiterates what he said about punching Laurinaitis and suggests that it was so good, maybe he should do the same right now, and Triple H comments that he has no problem with it either, so Laurinaitis exits the ring.

After John Cena puts forth his argument to Triple H, Triple H says that Cena’s claim to the WWE Championship is legitimate, and that the fact is that after Vince McMahon left, he didn’t speak with CM Punk until after Comic-con, then speaking to him and sending him a new contract.

He says he didn’t speak to him again until the moment Cena was beating Rey Mysterio to become the new WWE Champion, as CM Punk walked up to him with a signed WWE contract and told him to hit his music, so that is why it is legitimate and he will not strip Cena of the WWE Championship.

CM Punk’s music hits and he makes his way to the ring too, and he says that he has been here before as he’s seen the writing on the wall. He asks Triple H if he’s going to strip him of his rightfully won championship instead, and everything go back to normal.

Triple H tries to continue, but Cena interrupts to try to calm Triple H down, only to be told that it’s not “Hunter”, he’s his boss. Triple H says that they are going to settle it his way as neither are going to be stripped of their titles, as the WWE Champion John Cena will take on the WWE Champion CM Punk at SummerSlam, to determine the Undisputed WWE Champion.

Triple H exits the ring, leaving John Cena and CM Punk to stare each other down, until they each decide to play to the crowd. Every time Punk lifts his title, his music cuts in, and every time Cena does it, his music cuts in instead.

Punk’s music is the one playing as Raw goes off the air.