Raw Fusion: Thunder Forecast
The 24th October 2011 episode of Monday Night Raw starts with the announcers recapping some of the events of the Vengeance Pay-Per-View, followed by Triple H making his way to the ring and talking about how it is a tough business and that he was taught early that you can either make friends, or you can make money.
He says that he has pretty much always lived by that credo in the business, but he considers himself lucky as he has managed to have both, that there were guys he thought he could count on that were true friends and would always be a part of his life.
Triple H names Shawn Michaels as one of those, as well as Sean Waltman, and Kevin Nash. He says that somewhere along the way he guesses money and power became more important, and though he thought that he still had friends, it seems that as he got power, some of those friends were just there for a reason.
He says that Nash was one of those guys that he thought was there for his whole life, but then he came back and he watched it all change. Triple H says that Nash came to the ring at Vengeance and tried to break his neck.
Triple H says that he doesn’t care about that as like he said, it is a tough business, but he says that although it may sound corny, Kevin Nash broke his heart. He says that now he wants to take it out on Nash, and as he has known him for twenty years, he knows that he is present at the arena, so if the past twenty years means anything, he should get his ass in the ring and face him man to man as Triple H kicks his ass.
Vice President of Talent Relations and Interim General Manager of Raw John Laurinaitis makes his presence known and says that he also heard a rumour that Nash is there, but that he also heard that Nash is at home and watching Raw, but to his own knowledge, Nash is not there.
Triple H tells Laurinaitis to shut up and tells him not to enter the ring, otherwise it will not end well for him. Triple H tells Laurinaitis that he still reports to him as he is still the COO, so Laurinaitis is going to be the man who scours the building and finds Kevin Nash, before bringing him out to the ring to Triple H.
He says that if he doesn’t want to embarrass the company, then he is going to find Nash, even if he has to go to his house, and then bring him there and offer him a contract that he cannot refuse, otherwise Triple H will go to his house and find him, and whatever he does to him when he finds him, he will get arrested for and go to jail, thus embarrassing the company.
Triple H tells John Laurinaitis to get Kevin Nash, offer him the biggest contract he can, and then bring him to him so that Triple H can kick his ass. He exits the ring and starts to leave, but turns around at the stage to address Laurinaitis, who is telling Triple H that he is being unreasonable.
Unfortunately for Triple H however, this is when Kevin Nash takes the opportunity to make his presence known, as he nails Triple H in the back with a sledgehammer. Laurinaitis yells at Nash that he is not supposed to be there and to leave, and also yells for a Doctor to get out there.
Some security come out to escort Nash out, but he knocks one down before leaving with them following behind him. A Doctor, referees, and the trainer tend to Triple H on the stage, as Nash is shown walking through the halls backstage.
Triple H is helped through the back by the Doctor, trainer, and referees, but after he falls down after refusing their help, they want some paramedics. After a recap of the events on the stage, Triple H is shown being loaded into an ambulance by paramedics, but Kevin Nash shows up once more, still with a sledgehammer in hand.
Nash threatens them to put Triple H down, before picking up Triple H, who at this point is strapped to a stretcher, and propping him up against some boxes, where he then takes the opportunity to use the sledgehammer once again, this time with a shot to the head.
Those present yell at Nash to just leave, as they try to attend to Triple H, while Laurinaitis is heard apologising to Triple H, after which the ambulance is shown leaving with the lights flashing and siren going.
Next up, Randy Orton and Sheamus take on Christian and Cody Rhodes in a tag team match which sees Sheamus get the victory for his team, when he hits Rhodes with the crucifix powerbomb for the 3-count.
After photos of R-Truth and The Miz’s interference in the WWE Championship match at Vengeance (click here for our Vengeance report), John Laurinaitis is shown talking on the phone to an apparently upset Stephanie McMahon.
After he ends the call, David Otunga assures him that Stephanie is just upset. Laurinaitis says that he knows this, but that it makes it look like there are unsafe working conditions. John Cena makes his presence known and addressing Otunga, tells “Carlton Banks” to hit the bricks, asking if Uncle Phil and the Fresh Prince are looking for him, and telling him on his way back to Bel-Air, to tell Hilary that she is still hot.
Turning his attention to Laurinaitis, Cena demands that they talk. Laurinaitis says that he has a lot on his plate, but asks what he can do for Cena. John Cena says that he sees that he has a Twitter account (@WWERawGM), so to follow Zack Ryder on Twitter (@ZackRyder), followed by taking two weeks off, before quitting, and thirdly giving him a match against The Miz and R-Truth, as he is fed up.
John Laurinaitis says that he too is fed up, pointing out that it also makes him look bad that The Miz and R-Truth interfered in John Cena’s WWE Championship match against Alberto Del Rio at Vengeance. He says that if Cena wants The Miz and R-Truth, then he has them later on, with The Miz and R-Truth facing Cena and a partner of Laurinaitis’ choosing.
Back in the arena, Santino Marella is pitted against Dolph Ziggler (accompanied by Jack Swagger and Vickie Guerrero) in a match which sees Ziggler get the victory, when Ziggler takes advantage of the distraction provided by Swagger, and hits Marella with the Zig-Zag for the 3-count.
Afterwards, Ziggler and Swagger attack Marella and taunt him – until Mason Ryan hits the ring for the save.
Backstage again, The Bella Twins are shown talking when an excited Zack Ryder interrupts and tells them that John Laurinaitis chose him to be John Cena’s partner for the tag team match later on.
Back in the arena once more, Alberto Del Rio makes his way to the ring and talks about how all of the “idiotas” in the crowd thought that he would be beaten for the WWE Championship by John Cena, but instead he proved once and for all that he is the better man.
As far as Cena goes, he says that he is done with him, so he will move on to new challengers. He says that the problem however, is that there is nobody better than Alberto Del Rio, so we should get used to seeing him for a long time.
CM Punk’s music hits and he makes his way to the ring, Punk says that he hates to interrupt anybody when they are talking, but he says that he thought he heard him say that nobody can beat him.
He suggests that maybe Del Rio got hit in the head too much, as he has beaten him a number of times, the last time being four weeks ago on Raw. Punk says that another thing that he may not remember is that CM Punk never received his WWE Championship rematch after Alberto Del Rio cashed in his Money In The Bank briefcase against him.
As a result, CM Punk asks if Alberto Del Rio has the “cojones” to put the title on the line against him. Del Rio says that he will defend his title against any worthy opponent, but that the problem is that Punk is not worthy, pointing out that Punk didn’t even win his match at Vengeance, and as that makes him a loser, losers don’t deserve title shots.
Del Rio suggests that he come and see him again, when he does something right, when he gets a victory against somebody. In this moment, he says that Punk is at the back of the line.
Punk says that he had a feeling that Del Rio would says that and says that he brings up a lot of great points, and that maybe he doesn’t deserve a title shot. He says that maybe he’s at the back of the line, and that maybe he is a loser. He continues by saying that maybe if he doesn’t get him a title shot, he will just put him to sleep anyway.
John Laurinaitis makes his presence known and says that he is in charge and that this may have happened before, but it won’t happen on his watch. After Punk gives Laurinaitis pointers on how to hold the microphone properly, Laurinaitis says that both men bring up good points and he gives the WWE Universe what they want, so he is thinking of a match between CM Punk and Alberto Del Rio for the WWE Championship at Survivor Series.
CM Punk asks what the catch is, and Laurinaitis says that there is one thing that he has to do. Laurinaitis says that Punk needs to tell him in front of the WWE Universe that he respects him. Punk’s response is to ask him if he is Aretha Franklin, asking him if he wants him to say that he respects him, when he knows that Laurinaitis doesn’t respect Punk.
Punk says that respect is earned and not just given, and if he is going to come out and claim that he runs a tight ship, he wants to know if he watches the product, as there are rings collapsing, Kevin Nash interfering in every match that he has, and he says that the place isn’t any better with him in charge.
John Laurinaitis tells CM Punk that he is about to make a mistake, so asks him to swallow his pride and tell him that he respects him. Punk puts on a voice and says that he respects him, calling him “Funk Man” in the process, and asks him if that works.
Laurinaitis says that he has one more chance to tell him that respectfully, so Punk tells him that he respects him; that he respects the fact that each week he comes out in front of the millions of fans in the WWE Universe with a completely lost deer-in-the-headlights look on his face, not knowing how close to hold the microphone, and the fact that he used to compete in the ring with his awesome Kentucky mullet.
He continues with saying that he respects the fact that despite not being any good in the ring, somehow ascended to the top of the WWE corporate structure with new-found levels of “brown-nosery”, but that above all, never before in the business has someone with so little done so much.
CM Punk finishes with asking him if that is good enough, but unsurprisingly, Laurinaitis doesn’t think it is. Furthermore, Laurinaitis says that he doesn’t think that Punk is suitable for a title shot, so he is going to take another week to think about it.
Punk is okay with that, but says that while Laurinaitis thinks about it for a week, he wants to think about “this”, as he then proceeds to attack Alberto Del Rio. As Punk tries to hit Del Rio with the GTS, Ricardo Rodriguez provides enough of a distraction for Del Rio to escape.
CM Punk will not be denied hitting the GTS however, and simply changes his target to Ricardo Rodriguez, grabbing him before he too can escape, and hitting him with the GTS as Del Rio watches from the ramp.
Now, Beth Phoenix joins commentary as Natalya goes against Alicia Fox in a match which sees Alicia get the victory, when she hits Natalya with a sunset-flip for the 3-count. Afterwards, Natalya and Beth attempt to attack Alicia, but she manages to escape and back off up the ramp, much to their frustration.
Next, John Morrison takes on Wade Barrett in a match which sees Barrett get the victory, when he hits Morrison with The Wasteland for the 3-count.
After the events involving Triple H and Kevin Nash earlier on the night are recapped once again, Michael Cole takes off his headset and grabs a microphone, before standing upon the announce table, where he says that Jim Ross has been on Twitter and in the WWE.com chat room, spreading rumours about how he beat him last week on Raw.
Cole says that what J.R doesn’t realise, is that he seems to be a bit tipsy, as he seems to have sent out a few photographs via his Twitter (@JRsBBQ) that he has sent to the entire world, with Cole then showing the supposed photographs.
Finally, Cole says that he has had enough of this and wants to put it to an end once and for all, as he is sick and tired of J.R. He says that next week on Raw in Atlanta, Georgia, he challenges him to the “Michael Cole challenge”.
Michael Cole says that he will keep the rules under wraps, but all that he needs to know is that if he beats him, he can have his seat back, because if Cole loses to Jim Ross, he quits.
Josh Mathews interviews Zack Ryder about his tag team match coming up next, but The Miz and R-Truth attack him, before referees make their presence known and get them to leave.
It’s time for the aforementioned tag match, but as The Awesome Truth (The Miz and R-Truth) make their way to the ring, they want to say something first. They say that when Triple H fired them from the WWE, he tried to contain the revolution that has been happening for quite a while and that they started.
They say to look at Triple H now, as he got exactly what he deserved. The Miz and R-Truth says that they stood up to the faces of the conspiracy, and when they rise up, nobody will be safe from the truth, which he says was found out by Triple H and Zack Ryder.
They say that this is only the beginning, as Cena thought the conspiracy was going to help him with that joke of a tag team partner, but nothing is going to save him until he gets got. The Miz and R-Truth say that he can wear all the dippy catchphrases he wants, but he can’t rise above this, because that’s the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, and it’s awesome.
We are informed that as per the orders of John Laurinaitis, the tag team match will now be a handicap match. The match ends with Cena getting the victory as a result of a disqualification, when R-Truth hits Cena with a water-bottle, and The Awesome Truth follow it up with a Skull-Crushing Finale by The Miz and a jumping-reverse STO by R-Truth.
Afterwards, both men grab a steel chair each and obviously plan on using them on John Cena, but once again, John Laurinaitis decides to make his presence known, as he makes his way to the ring accompanied by some referees.
He says that he will not stand for the chaos any longer, as they have disrespected him just like Punk did earlier on, so he wants them to do what the crowd what them to do, that being to get out. He orders the referees to walk them out, and The Miz and R-Truth appear to comply with this, before Laurinaitis changes his mind about something and tells them to stop for a moment as they walk up the ramp.
Laurinaitis says that he will put them in a legitimate tag team match, and addressing John Cena, he says that he chose his tag team partner, but it didn’t work out too well for him, so he’s going to allow him to choose his own partner.
As a result, he says that it will be The Miz and R-Truth against John Cena and a partner of his choosing, in a tag team match at Survivor Series. Cena asks if it’s another setup, citing what happened to Triple H in Mexico, and Zack Ryder earlier on, before cutting himself off.
He clarifies that he can choose any partner that he wants, and addressing The Miz and R-Truth, he says that he is sick of them acting like they run the programme. John Cena says that he certainly isn’t going to do it out of friendship, but if he is going to defeat The Miz and R-Truth, then his partner is going to have to be someone who can bring it.
Cena says that he is going to send the invite out, but he doesn’t know if he will reply to it, but he chooses his partner for Survivor Series to be The Rock.
Cena and The Awesome Truth stare each other down from their respective positions, as Raw goes off the air.
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