The 27^th February 2012 episode of Monday Night Raw starts with a video recapping John Cena’s promo about The Rock last week, followed by a video recapping the events of the match between CM Punk and Daniel Bryan on last week’s Super SmackDown! Live (click here for our SmackDown! report), CM Punk taking on Daniel Bryan in a Champion vs. Champion match.

Instead of Daniel Bryan coming out second however, Chris Jericho makes his way out. He asks if Punk was expecting somebody else, and says that he knows that Punk has a big “Champion vs. Champion” match, but that what he has to say is more important.

Jericho prefaces it by saying that he thinks that Punk is an amazing performer, but he says that he is not as good as Jericho, and is not the best in the world at everything he does, but Jericho is. He says that he never had to say that he was the best in the world at everything he does, as others said it for him, and he never had to put it on a t-shirt either.

He talks about being part of a breed of performers who became famous before even making it to the WWE, and who cared more about having a good match rather than where they were located on the card. Jericho admits that he gained a chip on his shoulder and a bad attitude and reputation because of it, but he says that he didn’t give a damn, as he knew that he was the best.

Chris Jericho says that now CM Punk is like him; a maverick, a rebel that who went against the grain and became something more than anyone ever thought he would, but he says that it is because Punk just wants to be him. He says that Punk is a Jericho wannabe, and says that it is obvious from him blatant plagiarising Jericho.

At this point, Punk tells Jericho to stop – Jericho retorts not to tell him to stop as he is talking to Punk, but Punk says that he is listening, but he thinks that the fans are sick of listening. Punk says that he is going to go ahead, and comments that he knows how good Jericho is, as do the crowd, but his problem with Jericho is that he is coming out and accusing him of plagiarising him.

Punk says that everything he has, he has fought for and earned, showing the WWE Championship as proof. He asks Jericho if he thinks that he invented saying that he was the best, then referencing Bret “The Hitman” Hart and his “Best there is, best there was, and the best there ever will be” catchphrase, and also asks Jericho whether he thinks he invented Canada (in a funny note, Chris Jericho’s biography on Wikipedia was altered at some point after this episode of Raw aired, and for a few days did state that he invented Canada!).

Jericho says that it is typical of Punk to be sarcastic and take nothing seriously, but he says that Punk should take him seriously, as this is a whole different level from anything that he has ever had before. He says that he is the best in the world at everything he does, and says that he proves it every night in the ring as he has for the past twenty-two years, staying on the highest level of any performer in the history of the business.

He says that he has faced every legend, Hall Of Famer, and future Hall Of Famer, and beaten them all. Jericho says that he has won dozens of championships and had dozens of classic matches, classic WrestleMania “steal the show” matches, and dozens of classic moments that will be legendary long after either one of them are gone.

Chris Jericho says that he is proving with all of the evidence in front of everyone that he is the best in the world at everything he does, but Punk says that although Jericho tries to claim that, Jericho’s body language screams “inferiority”.

CM Punk asks who Jericho is trying to prove it to, whether it is to Punk, the crowd, of himself that he is the best. Punk admits to calling himself the best in the world, which he also admits is a little cocky, but he says that confidence is nothing that he has ever lacked, and didn’t think Jericho lacked either, but now apparently seems to be replaced in Jericho with jealousy.

He says that Jericho looks at him and sees somebody who came from the same shadows and place that he did, overcoming the same obstacles, but that the problem is that Punk surpassed everything that Jericho did, as Jericho was never really “The Man” in the way that Punk is, which is what bothers Jericho.

CM Punk says that the blame is only on Chris Jericho, and mentions that Jericho says that he is the best in the world at everything that he does, but that he himself says that he is the best wrestler in the world, which he says has a clear distinction to him, as he says that he was born to wrestle and it is who he is and what he does.

He says that Jericho chooses to go away and write books, be a rock star, and have a radio show, while Punk is in the WWE, on top, while Jericho is “dancing with stars”. Jericho says that when he was dancing with stars, killing it on The Tonight Show and becoming a bigger star than Punk ever was, he says that could only ever think of one thing – Punk ripping him off.

Jericho says that all of the 2^nd January 2012 vignettes, “Best In The World” verbiage, and his flashing jacket is all window-dressing, as he came back to the WWE for one reason only. He says that the reason was to embarrass Punk on the biggest stage in the world, to take back what he is and beat Punk for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania, and show that he is the best in the world at what he does.

Punk tells Jericho that he didn’t have to jump him to get his attention, and that all that he needed to do was simply grab him, and say “Hey Punk, ‘Best In The World’ vs. ‘Best In The World’ at Mania”, as this is the time of the year that everyone points at the WrestleMania sign.

He says that he is going to point at his WWE Championship, as he doesn’t need Chris Brown, Jericho doesn’t need Mickey Rourke, they don’t need all the pyro in the world, or inflatable letters to say how awesome they are, or a fancy entrance, and to screw Jericho’s stupid “light-bright” jacket.

CM Punk says that all they need is Chris Jericho and himself in a ring, and that on the 1^st April, they will find out who the “Best In The World” is, as to him they are the only ingredients they need for what could possibly be the greatest match in WrestleMania history.

He says that he has something that Jericho covets, and that at the end of the night when Jericho looks over his shoulder and sees “this”, with Punk then imitating how he will celebrate and yelling “Best In The World”, he says that it will not be the end of the world, only the end of Jericho’s.

It’s time for the scheduled match to get under-way now however, as Daniel Bryan (accompanied by AJ, John Laurinaitis, and David Otunga) makes his way to the ring for the match, which sees Bryan get the victory as a result of an apparent disqualification, when Sheamus rolls Bryan (who is attempting to take advantage of the argument outside of the ring between Laurinaitis, Otunga, Marella, and Long, which all has the referee’s attention, and leave with his World Heavyweight Championship and AJ) back into the ring and Punk hits him with the GTS, but which sees Laurinaitis bring the interference to the attention of the referee.

When Punk yells at Laurinaitis, Long enters the ring and pushes Laurinaitis down, causing Punk to smile. Laurinaitis takes off his jacket, as does Long, but Otunga, Marella, and the referee keep them apart as Punk celebrates at the top of the ramp.

Punk’s celebration does not last for long however, as he is attacked from behind by Chris Jericho, who then poses with the WWE Championship over the downed Punk, and tells him to enjoy the title while he can.

After a video recapping the match between Triple H and The Undertaker at last year’s WrestleMania (click here for our WrestleMania XXVII report), Nikki Bella (accompanied by Brie Bella) is pitted against Kelly Kelly in a match which sees Kelly get the victory, when she counters Nikki’s pin attempt into a bridging pin of her own for the 3-count.

Next, John Cena goes against The Miz. Before the match takes place however, The Miz talks about how he worked too hard to be treated like this, and that in the past year nobody has worked harder than him, not even Cena, saying that it is The Miz who the WWE calls on to do various PR, yet his name has yet to be called upon for WrestleMania.

The Miz says that it is a crime, one that he will rectify when he proves that he is WrestleMania-worthy and that he is WrestleMania, which he will do by beating the man that he beat in the Main Event of last year’s WrestleMania, because he’s The Miz, and he’s Awesome.

The match sees Cena get the victory, when he hits The Miz with an Attitude Adjustment and follows it up with the STF, forcing The Miz to tap out.

Now, the team of R-Truth and Kofi Kingston, the team of Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger (accompanied by Vickie Guerrero), and the team of Epico and Primo (accompanied by Rosa Mendes) take on each other in a Triple Threat Tag Team match for the WWE Tag Team Championship, which sees Epico get the victory to retain the titles, when Primo hits Swagger with the backstabber and pushes Kingston out of the ring, allowing Epico to get the pin on Swagger for the 3-count.

The celebration isn’t allowed to last long however, as Kane’s pyro going off marks him making his way to the ring, where he ends up taking out Primo, Dolph Ziggler, and R-Truth, before setting off his ring pyro and leaving again.

After an interaction backstage between John Laurinaitis, David Otunga, and Teddy Long, which sees mentions that there are rumours of each other not being the General Managers of their respective shows next week, and also sees Long call Laurinaitis “a horse’s ass” which he says is not a rumour.

After a video recapping the events of last week involving Eve Torres, Eve Torres makes her way to the ring and talks about how men love to be used by a woman like her, and that it is not her fault that men can not resist her.

She says that she didn’t ask for it and that men crumble at her feet like puppies begging for affection, so she shouldn’t blamed for her natural strengths, and that instead, men should blame themselves for their weaknesses.

She then leaves, but as she reaches backstage, she is confronted by Kelly Kelly, who doesn’t understand what has gotten into Eve, being friends before but now being totally ignored by her, and when Kelly says that it is like Eve is a different person, Eve simply laughs and walks away.

After a movie trailer hyping upcoming movie “Bending The Rules” starring upcoming Hall Of Fame inductee Edge, and a video recapping the battle royal last week to determine CM Punk’s opponent for WrestleMania for the WWE Championship, and a video recapping The Big Show’s loss against Floyd Mayweather at WrestleMania 24, The Big Show and Sheamus are pitted against Mark Henry and Cody Rhodes in a tag team match which sees Sheamus get the victory for his team, when he hits Henry with a Brogue Kick for the 3-count.

After a video recapping John Cena’s comments about The Rock last week, and the announcement that Shawn Michaels will make another appearance next week on Raw, The Rock makes his way to the ring.

He responds to Cena’s comments from last week and talks about how he respects the audience and loves the WWE, as well as how tired the audience is of Cena, and then attempts to make things trend worldwide.

After his attempt to make “Cena’s missing balls” trend worldwide, John Cena makes his way to the ring and says that he wasn’t going to miss this. John Cena doesn’t believe that The Rock really cares about the WWE, even if they were to close their doors tomorrow, and after telling The Rock that he will beat him at WrestleMania, he leaves, quipping to The Rock to “continue trending”.

The Rock says that Dwayne Johnson and The Rock are the same man and that he will kick John Cena’s candy ass at WrestleMania, and he then does his “If ya smell…” catchphrase and celebrates as Raw goes off the air.