Triple H returned to tell a tearful Vince McMahon that he will be taking over to manage the day to day affairs of the company. Meanwhile a world championship tournament for the vacant title was setup!
THE BIG NEWS: Triple H returned to tell a tearful Vince McMahon that he will be taking over to manage the day to day affairs of the company. Meanwhile a world championship tournament for the vacant title set up a final pitting Rey Mysterio against The Miz which is scheduled to take place next week. A night after putting on the best company pay per view in years, Monday Night Raw continued down the road of providing a more tense, unpredictable and edgier product. It began with Vince McMahon walking out with executive vice president John Laurenitis and addressing the situation of last night concering CM Punk leaving the company with the World Championship. He told fans that this is the last time they would hear him utter Punk's name and that later there would be severe consequences for John Cena who had refused to let Vince accommodate him to victory. Talent were shown glued to the monitor backstage which was a nice touch in a business that so often neglects the wider intenral impact of its major storylines. Back in the ring, Vince announced a one night, eight man world championship tournament in order to quickly erase the embarassment of a vacant title. The first round encounters were revealed as: Rey Mysterio versus Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger versus R-Truth, Kofi Kingston versus Alberto Del Rio and Alex Riley versus The Miz. World Championship Tournament Round 1 Matches:The Miz defeated Alex Riley via pinfall Mat based start with Riley targeting the leg that Miz had injured in the ladder match the night before. This turned into a tight back and forth tussle with Riley repeatedly going for a texas cloferleaf style submission and Miz twice making the ropes to counter out. They keep emphasising Miz's bravery as of late which makes me think that a face turn must be imminent. He did win this bout however in a heelish manner as the referee accidentally got in the way of proceedings and Miz used the distraction to dazzle Riley with his skull crushing finale finisher. TWO STARS R-Truth defeated Jack Swagger via pinfall Swagger dominated most of the match with his superior technical skills and power. He knocked Truth down with a succesion of slams and supplexes but in the end however an Ankle Lock attempt was cleverly reversed into a winning pinfall combination as Truth prevailed with his intellect prevailing over Swagger's raw strength. TWO STARS Del Rio cut a convincingly, snappy promo before his match boasting about being Money in the Bank whilst mocking Punk for running away when he tried to cash in the night before and arguing that John Cena should rightfully be fired as promised for not getting the job done. He went on to declare that the wwe doesn't need a coward like John Cena but someone like himself to lead the company. Lots of passion and character in his delivery but unfortunately he is only garnering a midcard reaction at the time being which is a shame considering the man's genuine talent and charisma. Kofi Kingston defeated Alberto Del Rio via pinfall Good fast paced encounter. Kofi repeatedly ran wild whilst Rio kept trying to ground him down onto the mat. The finish saw Rio attempt to set up his submission before Kofi countered into a pinfall, Rio transitioned the move into a pinfall of his own before yet another reversal saw Kofi land the winning count. Really cool and unpredictable final sequence and the right result with Del Rio already in possession of the Money in the Bank briefcase. TWO AND A HALF STARS Rey Mysterio defeated Dolph Ziggler via pinfall Quality match considering the time allocated. The story was that Ziggler kept taking control with his high impact offense whilst Rey kept making increasingly desperate comeback attempts which were constantly cut short by his aggressive opponent. The little magician proved resilient however and eventually found the opening he needed with a succesful 619 and top rope splash. An excellent job of promoting the brave nature of a top babyface. THREE STARS Vince McMahon was shown talking backstage to John Laurenitis. 14 Divas Tag Match: Beth Phenoix pinned Rosa Mendes via pinfall for her team's win Nothing match that was clearly there to provide some light relief between the tournament clashes. Beth Pheonix pinned Rosa Mendes with the Glam Slam after a brawl had broken up on the outside between the other participants. A hell of an easy payday for these women. World Championship Tournament Semi-Final 1: The Miz defeated Kofi Kingston via pinfall A very sloppy start fortunately escalated into an exciting scrap with Kofi going for the injured leg and high flying his way into the early advantage. Miz managed to fight back however despite his injury and succeeded with a second skull crushing finale attempt after the first had been thwarted. TWO AND A HALF STARS Semi-Final 2: Rey Mysterio defeated R-Truth via pinfall Boy is this company going to miss Mysterio when he finally hangs up his boots. Here he hooked fans with another gripping encounter with intense, evenly fought action and a match that promoted the determination and grit of both competitors. Truth began by attempting to wear Mysterio down with a series of holds but when Rey kept countering and launching into high speed comebacks, it forced Truth into becoming more openly aggressive and in the end the harder he tried the more exposed he became to Rey's dazzling high flying arsenal. The finish was very inventive as Rey stood outside the ropes and launched himself back in whilst simultaneously throwing Truth into the ropes and leaving his opponent vulnerable for the 619 / Top Rope Splash combo. Excellent televison match to set up a Rey Mysterio / Miz final in this one night world championship tournament. THREE AND A HALF STARS The final was supposed to take place straight afterwards but Vince took it upon himself to stroll down to the ring and postpone the match until next week owing to a huge announcement that he couldn't wait any longer to announce. Initially I was annoyed with this because the whole show had been based around the tournament concept and the fans were invested in a final that would have heavily promoted the tough nature of a competitor having to valiantly fight three times in one night in order to win the top prize. However Vince's decision made him seem even more ego-driven and this played well into the ensuing storyline. The show ended then with what was supposed to be the firing of John Cena which thankfully after last year's debacle is not the path they decided to go down. Vince began his speech by thanking Cena for all his hard work and dedication and insisted that the firing was nothing personal, just business. He then asked Cena to come out to continue proceedings. Cena grabbed the microphone and cut an amazing promo about how he knew what Vince was going to say and he was going to let him say it but first he wanted him to know that he was damn proud of the match he has the previous night with CM Punk and that he was also proud to be walking away with his dignity intact and not having to carry the shame of screwing over his opponent. He said that he loved the company but he was not going to stay onboard as a result of kissing Vince's ass and was not going to let his boss demean the prestige of the world championship. Vince got ready to lay a verbal firing smackdown but was interrupted by the genuinely surprising appearance of Triple H who was dressed in formal suit and tie. Hunter stumbled slightly over his words as he tried to subtely inform Vince about a board of directors meeting that he had been a part of in earlier in the day. He asked Vince if he'd rather talk backstage but Vince told him to come out with it and so Hunter delivered the bad news, telling his father in law that following the recent superstar backlash the board of directors had begun to lost confidence in Vince's ability to effectively run the company and had decided that he should be replaced by Triple H himself. At this moment Vince had the authentic look of a broken man as an emotional Hunter tried to convince him that it was just business. Triple H went on to announce that subsequently John Cena would not be fired before telling Vince that he loved him. That line came off as incredibly lame but the rest of the angle was superb as we were left with the final shot of a tearful Vince standing alone and deflated inside the middle of the ring.
VERDICT:
This was another genuinely exciting edition of Raw with the company continuing to generate some intriguing twists in this close to the bone storyline. Because the plot is dealing with real issues it is allowing superstars to act more like themselves and this is making for storylines that feel gripping and human thus contrasting greatly with the usual stench of phoniness. It was a shame not to see the conclusion of the world title tournament but the fact that Vince put a stop to it actually provided some good storyline evidence as to why a board of directors would want to fire a man who seems to care more about himself than his company and his performers. I'm not sure where the company go with this storyline from here but at the moment I have faith that they will proceed to do this brilliant angle justice. Man of the Night: Rey Mysterio for working two top matches and continuing to defy his years with his dazzling, ever impressive high flying style. Funniest Moment of the Night: The individual in the crowd who passionately shouted for Triple H to give Vince a hug as they noticed the boss starting to well up.