The 2^nd January 2012 episode of Monday Night Raw starts with the announcers hyping the WWE Championship to take place later on in the show, followed by a video recapping the events of last week involving Kane and John Cena.

John Cena makes his way to the ring and wishes everybody a Happy New Year, before saying that he is going to make some changes to himself. He says that one of them will be wearing less underwear, another is that his father is banned from WWE television due to the “This Is Your Life” segment (click here for our 14^th November 2011 Raw report), and third is that he will prove to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson that he has lost his “lady parts” after he defeats him in their match at WrestleMania.

He says that the one thing that will not change in 2012 is the same thing that has not changed in the last ten years that he has been in the WWE, which is that he will remain who he is and that his convictions will remain true. Cena says that words like “Hustle, Loyalty, and Respect” do not fall to pieces just because of fire being thrown in his face.

Cena says that he has often said that a man’s character is not judged by how much he is loved, but rather how he acts when his back is against the wall. He says that he was emotional last week, but that it was not towards any of the fans, and as people have paid their hard earned money to attend, he is not in a place to judge what they say, how they say it, or how loud they say it, as they have earned the right to do what they want to do.

He says that his disappointment was in Kane, who he says is an iconic Superstar who can’t settle things the way that things are usually settled in the WWE, that way being by getting in the ring, the bell being rung, and them having a match. Cena says that Kane wants Cena to turn his back on the fans and the thing he loves the most, but he says no, not tonight or any night, as he is like each and every WWE Superstar whether he is loved or hated, in that there is no better feeling than being in the ring in front of the fans.

John Cena says that he is going to start the year off the way it should be, by thanking the fans, but before he can continue, Kane’s music and lighting hits, and Kane is heard addressing John Cena. Kane says that Cena can try to hold off the inevitable all he wants, but that he will embrace the hate, and that he will witness the true power of hate later on, punctuating the statement by his pyro being set off in the corners of the ring.

Next, Daniel Bryan takes on Cody Rhodes in a match which sees Bryan get the victory, when he counters a suplex attempt into a small package for the 3-count.

After a video recapping R-Truth’s return and attack on The Miz last week, an interaction between The Miz and John Laurinaitis that includes a video recapping The Miz’s attack on R-Truth two months ago, sees Laurinaitis inform The Miz that he has a match later on against Sheamus, and also sees R-Truth imitate a duck after The Miz has left yelling that he will not be a sitting duck.

After a video recapping the 1988 Royal Rumble that was won by “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan, and a video recapping the events involving Wade Barrett and Randy Orton last week on SmackDown! (click here for our SmackDown! report) and the announcers report Orton’s resulting injury, Barrett talks about how he doesn’t care about the New Year.

He says that he is happy about 2012 so far however, as it is one that is devoid of Randy Orton, and that though he didn’t plan on throwing Orton down the stairs on SmackDown!, he says that it was either Orton or himself. Barrett says that you could say that Orton is not a victim of the “Barrett Barrage”, but Orton is now in his past and he is looking to the future.

Barrett says that he is looking forward to winning the 2012 Royal Rumble and going to WrestleMania and Main-Eventing. He says that after what he did to Randy Orton, there isn’t a person on the planet who can deny that he is quite nearly…something, as he is interrupted by his opponent for this match, Santino Marella.

Marella asks Barrett who lasted longer in last year’s Royal Rumble out of the two of them, only giving a moment before saying that time is up and pointing out that it was himself, Santino Marella, who did (click here for our 2011 Royal Rumble report).

He says that will be the same last year, as the “Barrett Garage” will be run over by the Santino Marella “choo-choo trains”, before imitating a train and then getting ready for the match. The match sees Barrett get the victory, when he hits Marella with a sidewalk slam, which the announcers say he calls the “Winds Of Change”, for the 3-count.

After an interaction between The Bella Twins and The Miz about whether they have seen R-Truth, Sheamus is pitted against The Miz in a match which never officially gets going, as The Miz attacks Sheamus, only to get attacked in return, forcing him to to high-tail it through the crowd instead.

Elsewhere in the crowd, R-Truth makes his presence known and says that he was watching his match from the crowd and ran into Little Jimmy, and that Little Jimmy said that he doesn’t like The Miz.

He says that Little Jimmy said that The Miz needs to get got, as he then starts making his way towards The Miz, causing The Miz to head back over the barricade, only to be hit with a Brogue Kick from Sheamus.

R-Truth approaches The Miz and after grabbing a bottle of water from the announce table, hits The Miz with it, and then heads back up through the crowd. He says that this weekly beat-down of The Miz was brought to you by Little Jimmy, and asks a nearby kid what he has to say about that, with the kid replying “Happy New Year, Miz!”.

After a video recapping the gauntlet match between Dolph Ziggler and CM Punk last week, Josh Mathews interviews Dolph Ziggler about his upcoming WWE Championship match against CM Punk, and Ziggler hypes himself and says that everyone will want to remember the time that he became the WWE Champion.

An interaction backstage involving Eve Torres, Zack Ryder, and Jack Swagger, sees an interjection by John Laurinaitis, as he makes a match for later on between the team of Zack Ryder, The Big Show, and John Cena and the team of Jack Swagger, Kane, and Mark Henry.

Back in the arena, CM Punk goes against Dolph Ziggler (accompanied by Vickie Guerrero) for the WWE Championship in a match which sees Ziggler get the victory but Punk retain the title, when Punk is sent over the rope and out of the ring due to John Laurinaitis pulling down the top rope, shortly after having distracted the referee from seeing Ziggler tap out to Punk’s Anaconda Vise.

Afterwards, Ziggler and Vickie celebrate with the WWE Championship as if he had indeed won the title, despite the fact that the title doesn’t change hands on a count-out or disqualification.

After a video hyping the 2012 Royal Rumble, and recapping the 1995 Royal Rumble which was won by Shawn Michaels, The Bella Twins take on Kelly Kelly and Eve Torres in a tag team match which sees The Bella Twins get the victory, when Brie uses “Twin Magic” and takes the place of Nikki, before rolling up Eve Torres into a small package for the 3-count.

After an interaction involving John Laurinaitis, CM Punk, and David Otunga in which Laurinaitis announces that CM Punk will face Dolph Ziggler at the Royal Rumble for the WWE Championship, with Laurinaitis himself as the Special Guest Referee, a video is shown that states the end of the world is here, as it is it time to find out just who the mystery person hyped in the videos of the past few weeks is.

In the arena, the camera shakes and sound plays as if to simulate an earthquake, before the lights go out and a few moments later a jacket is seen lighting up and raising its arms. If the positioning wasn’t enough to guess to anyone, the identity is soon made clear is pyro goes off and Chris Jericho’s music hits as he is revealed as the person who has been hyped over the past few weeks.

Though Jericho appears to be ready to speak a number of times for the whole time he is out there, each time he instead continues to play to the crowd and celebrate his return, eventually making his way up the ramp, where after playing to the crowd once again, he exits.

Now, The Big Show, Zack Ryder, and John Cena are pitted against Mark Henry, Jack Swagger, and Kane, in a six-man tag team match. Kane does not make his way out however, and after an appearance by David Otunga, it is revealed that Kane will not be participating in the match, and that as a result, it will instead be a three-on-two handicap match.

The match sees Cena get the victory for his team, when he hits Jack Swagger with the Attitude Adjustment for the 3-count. Afterwards, Kane’s pyro and music hits, causing Cena to exit the ring and stand at the bottom of the ramp in an attempt to intercept Kane.

Instead however, Kane appears through a hole in the ring and starts to attack Zack Ryder, before turning his attention to Cena and attempting to suffocate him outside the ring. Once Cena is sufficiently downed, Kane starts to drag him by the leg, before appearing to think for a moment and decide to change his target to Ryder.

Re-entering the ring, Kane thwarts Ryder’s escape attempts and starts to drag him through the hole in the ring. Luckily for Zack Ryder however, John Cena reappears and manages to grab a hold of him and pull him back out.

Moments afterwards as they recover in one of the corners, the hole that Kane had been trying to drag Ryder down into erupts into flames along with Kane’s music hitting, and John Cena’s reaction is shown as Raw goes off the air.