Raw Fusion: Electricity & Emotion

by Firefly on 30th March 2012

The 26th March 2012 episode of Monday Night Raw starts with Sheamus and Randy Orton taking on Kane and Daniel Bryan (accompanied by AJ) in a tag team match which sees Daniel Bryan get the victory for his team, when Kane takes advantage of the distraction provided by AJ, and gives Sheamus a chokeslam, allowing Bryan to get the 3-count.

Next, Michael Cole is in the ring and is wearing a “Team Johnny” shirt, where he proceeds to say that he was named moments ago as the official commentator for “Team Johnny” at WrestleMania. He then introduces the man whose team he states will be victorious at WrestleMania, John Laurinaitis.

Laurinaitis thanks Cole as he comes out onto the stage, before then introducing the official flag bearer of “Team Johnny”, Vickie Guerrero, followed by the captain of his team, David Otunga, with all three then making their way to the ring.

Booker T names himself as the official commentator for “Team Teddy”, as he then climbs upon the announce table with a microphone and introduces the man who he claims will send Laurinaitis back to his office cubicle, Teddy Long.

Long comes out and introduces his team captain Santino Marella, who he states will lead his team to victory at WrestleMania, and whom makes his way out with official “Team Teddy” mascot Hornswoggle, with all there then making their way to the ring.

David Otunga is pitted against Santino Marella in a match which sees Marella take advantage of Otunga accidentally hitting himself with the “Team Teddy” flag, hitting him with The Cobra for the 3-count.

Afterwards, Laurinaitis is furious and tries to protest the result, only for Marella to crouch down behind him and Long then push him over. This serves only to make John Laurinaitis even more angry, but behind him Santino Marella is laying in wait to hit The Cobra, only for The Miz to appear and hit Marella with the Skull-Crushing Finale before he can do so.

Laurinaitis then congratulates The Miz and tells him that he is on “Team Johnny” (after initially messing up by saying “Team Teddy” instead) and that he is going to WrestleMania.

After a video recapping the events leading up to the Hell In A Cell match to take place at WrestleMania between Triple H and The Undertaker, with Shawn Michaels as the Special Guest Referee, as well as hyping it, Eve Torres (accompanied by Beth Phoenix) goes against Kelly Kelly in a match which sees Kelly get the victory, when she avoids Eve’s moonsault attempt, and pins her for the 3-count.

Now, Christian is set to take on CM Punk, but before the match takes place, Chris Jericho appears on the titantron. Jericho says that Punk claims to be the “Best In The World”, but he says that they both know that isn’t true.

He says that at WrestleMania, he is going to beat Punk for the WWE Championship and exposure him for the fraud he is, not only the professional fraud but personal fraud as well. Jericho repeats his claims of Punk’s father being an alcoholic and sister having problems with substance abuse.

Jericho says that he has found some more information that has come to light, and that he has found out some facts about Punk’s mother. He says that it turns out that Punk’s mother is actually a kind and decent woman, with no vices whatsoever, so he then congratulates Punk on there being someone in his family who is not an embarrassment.

He says that he did find out one piece of information however, as he says that he found out that Punk’s parents’ wedding date is after Punk’s birth-date, which makes Punk the legal definition of a “bastard”.

Christian takes advantage of CM Punk’s distracted state and attacks him from behind, before then picking him up and throwing him out of the ring. Punk gains the upper-hand, as he then proceeds to attack Christian in return, slamming his head off the announce table multiple times, hitting him with multiple elbows to the head, dropping him face first from the GTS position onto the steel steps, and finally by putting Christian in the Anaconda Vise.

Referees try to get Punk to release the hold, but Punk keeps on refusing and yells “this is you, Jericho!”, until they are finally able to separate them. The separation is short, as Punk manages to break away from the referees again and continue the attack on Christian, putting him in the Anaconda Vise once again.

Next up, “Funkasaurus” Brodus Clay (accompanied by Cameron and Naomi) is pitted against Curt Hawkins in a match which sees Clay get the victory, when he hits Hawkins with a jumping body-splash for the 3-count.

After a video recapping Cody Rhodes’ attack on The Big Show last week, The Big Show goes against Primo (accompanied by Epico and Rosa Mendes) in a match which sees Show get the victory, when he hits Primo with a chokeslam for the 3-count.

Afterwards, Rosa distracts Show while Epico attempts to attack him, only for Show to turn around and hit Epico with a chokeslam too.

Cody Rhodes takes this opportunity to make an appearance as he walks out onto the stage, but he advises The Big Show to stay where he is, as he states that he’d be unlikely to catch him as it would be like a giant water buffalo trying to catch a cheetah.

He points out that they both have their time anyway, specifically on Sunday at WrestleMania. Rhodes asks is the word “WrestleMania” scares Show, “The Showcase of The Immortals”, where time after time, Show fails.

Rhodes says that there is a wonderful quote, “It is in the nature of every person to error, but only a fool perseveres in error”, and that with that said, after their match he is going to take The Big Show’s name and turn it into a verb.

He says that students are going to pray that they don’t “Big Show on their finals”, young men going to the bar are hoping they don’t “Big Show with the ladies”, and even better “I’ve got to take a Big Show”.

Cody Rhodes tells Show that he is going to “Big Show himself”, when Rhodes retains his Intercontinental Championship on April Fools’ Day, where on that day, just like every other WrestleMania, The Big Show will be the biggest fool of all.

After a video hyping Lord Tensai, an interaction backstage between The Bella Twins and Zack Ryder, and an interaction between Ryder and Eve Torres, Josh Mathews interviews CM Punk about his thoughts on what Chris Jericho said earlier on.

CM Punk says to ask Christian how Punk feels, and that he understands that he himself is not off-limits, but that as far as he is concerned, his family is. He says that Jericho can call him whatever he wants and he doesn’t care, but he admits his father had problems but that he is in a better place right now, just like the whole family is.

Moving on to his sister, he says that she is off-limits, and that what Jericho said about her is a complete fabrication. As for what he said about his mother, it is not only reprehensible, but a total lie. Punk says that he is not a bastard, but that he is the best wrestler in the world.

After the announcers inform us that Christian is officially off “Team Johnny” as he can’t medically compete, and that Laurinaitis has tweeted that he has replaced him with Drew McIntyre, Mark Henry (accompanied by John Laurinaitis) takes on The Great Khali (accompanied by Teddy Long) in a match which sees Henry get the victory, when he counters Khali’s Punjabi Plunge attempt, and hits him with the World’s Strongest Slam for the 3-count.

Afterwards, Laurinaitis grabs Long and rolls him into the ring to a waiting Henry. Laurinaitis then calls for the rest of “Team Johnny” to make their way to the ring, which they do, including newest team member, Drew McIntyre.

They line up at the bottom of the ramp to block off any rescue attempts, as “Team Teddy” members Santino Marella and Zack Ryder attempt to do just that, only to get beaten down. R-Truth is the next member to run down in an attempt to help, followed by Kofi Kingston, who does indeed make it into the ring.

Unfortunately Kingston’s springboard dive into the ring is to no avail, as he is caught by Mark Henry, and hit with the World’s Strongest Slam. Henry grabs Long and puts him in the position ready to hit him with the World’s Strongest Slam, but he is foiled by Booker T getting up from the announce table and entering the ring.

Booker goes after Henry and ends up hitting him with the scissors-kick, after which the “Team Teddy” members congregate in the ring and Teddy Long publicly thanks him for helping. Long then continues by saying that the best way for him to say that, is to ask him to join “Team Teddy” on Sunday at WrestleMania”.

Booker T’s response is an apparent yes, as he asks “Now can you dig that, Sucka?!” and then proceeds to celebrate with a Spinaroonie.

After another clip of the events leading up to the match to take place at WrestleMania between The Rock and John Cena, as clips have been peppered throughout the night, The Rock’s music hits and he makes his way to the ring.

The Rock says that at WrestleMania XX (20), he competed in what everybody thought would be his last match ever, and that every day since then, everyone has asked when he’s coming back, everywhere he went.

He says that he knew that he was coming back, but that he just didn’t know when, and that for seven years he didn’t know when – that is until last year. The Rock says that last year when he went to Georgia, walked into the Georgia Dome, and delivered a Rock Bottom that was heard around the world, and he felt the electricity, that was when he knew that the wait was over (click here for our WrestleMania XXVII report).

The Rock says that the very next night on Raw, there in that very same arena that he is standing at this time, the match between himself and Cena was made for WrestleMania XXVIII (28), and that history was made that night because of the fans (click here for our 4th April 2011 Raw report).

He says that in six days, he finally returns to the grandest stage of all time, and doing what he does best, better than anybody, which is electrifying the audience. The Rock says that this means that it all happened in that arena, which means that he is damn proud to say that “Finally, The Rock has come back to Atlanta!”.

The Rock says that there is only one man who the millions and millions of The Rock’s fans wanted him to face on Sunday at WrestleMania, with that man being John Cena. He says that his last WrestleMania was John Cena’s first, and that since then, Cena transcended the industry and became the heartbeat of the WWE, one of the biggest stars that the industry has and will ever see, but he has never – and The Rock means EVER! – faced anybody like The Rock.

He starts to talk about what he is going to do at WrestleMania, but he is interrupted by John Cena’s music hitting and him making his way to the ring. After John Cena asks if The Rock hears the crowd and says that he’s sure it will be the same at WrestleMania, he refers to The Rock’s last statement and says that as usual, The Rock is only half right.

John Cena says that The Rock will never see anything like John Cena, because for a year now he has listened to the best trash talk from undoubtedly the best trash-talker in the business, the man who defined the era of Attitude.

He says that The Rock brought his mother into this situation, but here he is, like he is every single night, happy to be there, with a smile on his face. Cena says that The Rock is the best at the trash talk, but that he isn’t the first.

Cena says that when The Rock left was a ten-year gap, with one name that got served to the wolves if anyone wanted to make a name for themselves, which was him. He says to think about how many people have actually talked trash about John Cena, with the list being as long as whatever The Rock is calling his penis.

He says that just like you cannot deny the electricity that happens whenever The Rock enters the arena, you cannot look past the pure emotion that happens every time Cena steps into the ring. Cena says that if The Rock doesn’t believe him, he can sum it up in five words – “Let’s Go Cena, Cena Sucks”.

John Cena says that these are words that he has heard for years, an audience divided, sometimes hostile, but that every other Superstar who found themselves in that position – including The Rock as he has seen his DVD – has turned their back on the WWE Universe, so what makes it unique is that finally there is one man who does what the t-shirt says, he rises above hate – and that the kicker is that he rises above and wins.

He says that although there are some people who hate that, they know what he knows, which is that he is going to win at WrestleMania. Cena says just for kicks to throw some truth in The Rock’s trash, as he asks if The Rock knows that he has been an active member of the WWE longer than The Rock.

Cena says that The Rock blew up in the Attitude Era, sold-out crowds every night, and has come back as a global Superstar with unbelievable prosperity. He says that he has had some great moments in the WWE too, but he has been there when it wasn’t so cool to be a WWE Superstar, but in the good times and the bad times, he has beat the company drum loud, saying “this is where I belong, and this is what I do and I am proud of it, and this is what I love”.

He says that so many people say that nowadays that it is a cliché, but after ten years of doing this every night, when one guy says it, regardless of whether the fans like his character, the fans know that he means it.

John Cena says that this is why at WrestleMania he has to win, as after WrestleMania, life goes on for The Rock, as The Rock will be starring in GI Joe this Summer, but Cena’s office doesn’t change and this is still his life.

He says that this past year they have said a lot of things to each other and he is comfortable saying this to The Rock’s face, that he will be “God-damned” if The Rock comes in as a visitor, regardless of how good he is, and takes his life from him.

Cena says that he has been there for ten years and is just getting started, risking his life every single night. He knows that nobody remembers second place, which is why he can’t lose and why he has to win more than anything in his entire life.

The Rock says that he knows how important this match is to Cena, as it is just as important to him too, but as for what he said about the “People” know, they know that he isn’t a “God-damned” visitor.

He says that he helped build this house/office, and that what the fans know is that Cena has never before had an opponent he couldn’t overcome – until The Rock. The Rock says that the fans know that to him it is more than just the biggest match of all time and The Rock and Cena making history, that they know that “The People’s Champion” has come back after all of these years to beat John Cena.

The Rock says that is what drives him, that never before has a man every been able to say that he has walked into WrestleMania and beat Hulk Hogan, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, and John Cena. He says that on a professional level, The Rock needs to beat Cena to become the greatest WWE Superstar of all time.

He says that on a personal level, he just doesn’t like John Cena. The Rock says that because of this, not only will he beat him in six days, but he will give him the ass-kicking off a lifetime, which he says that Cena knows, The Rock knows, and Cena can bet his ass that the fans know it too.

John Cena says that it is a fine speech and that he is glad that The Rock feels that way, but taking a page out of The Rock’s play-book as he says that it really fits here, he says that it doesn’t matter what The Rock thinks.

He says that he is going to put it in terms that The Rock can understand, that he has seen this movie before a thousand times. Cena says that he has made a living out of being the guy that “you can’t see”, but that on 1st April at WrestleMania, The Rock will see him.

Cena says that he will be standing there over The Rock’s carcass, plain as day, with his hand raised high, with the headline reading as he predicted “John Cena whips The Rock’s ass at WrestleMania”.

John Cena and The Rock stare each other down, as Raw goes off the air.

About the Author: Firefly

Avatar of Ron Simmons saying "Damn!"
Discovering WCW Monday Nitro in the 1990s, he has been hooked on wrestling ever since, later going on to also discover WWF (now WWE), and even later numerous independent promotions, TNA and now the very captivating challenger known as AEW.

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