The Big News: Edge returned to tell John Cena to get his head straight and to take down Lesnar in honour of the legends who have given their all to the business. Later in the night a visibly intimidated Cena then reluctantly signed himself up for the match after a cocky Brock Lesnar had forced Laurinaitis to agree to several outlandish contract demands which will come into effect should he defeat his opponent this Sunday. In a Nutshell: After this showing, I don't think too many people will be counting down the days till Raw's next three hour extravaganza. Teddy Long introduced John Cena first for the contract signing but Lesnar didn't show. Instead Laurinaitis came out and told Cena that Lesnar hadn't yet arrived and so the signing would take place later on. He then asked Cena to enjoy what could well be his last night on Raw before asking Long to instruct Cena to leave the ring. He was interrupted however by the surprise appearance of recent hall of famer Edge who stormed out to a big reception from the fans. Edge told Cena that he didn't know what man he was looking at anymore when he looked at Cena but he knew that it certainly wasn't the guy who had been his greatest rival in the business, the man who had sent him crashing through two tables in a TLC world title match or thrown him into the Long Island Sound. He suggested that perhaps Cena had lost his confidence after losing to The Rock and brought up examples of wrestlers losing their mojo after esteem crushing defeats. He then talked about how they had both grown up dreaming about the business whereas Lesnar didn't care about anything or anyone but himself and so Cena must stand up for the people who love the business like Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker and get the job done against Brock. He then got up close to Cena and passionately informed him that he wasn't asking him to beat Lesnar, he was telling him that he had to do it. This was a great motivational speech by Edge and refreshingly kayfabe too as he stuck to storyline details to help sell the story rather than inside truths. His words also helped to portray the wider scope of the Cena / Lesnar feud and how it doesn't just effect the men involved but also the business as a whole. 1.) Chris Jericho defeated Kofi Kingston via submission Fun match. Jericho was really slow and sloppy trying to get up in time for Kofi's wild moves near the beginning but it developed into a solid affair with Jericho beating on Kofi for a long time and Kingston coming back to hit the SOS and Boom Drop before having his trouble in paradise attempt thwarted. Kofi then avoided an attempt at the walls but saw his top rope springboard reversed into a mid air codebreaker which Jericho then followed up with the lionsault to make Kingston tap. *** Post-match Jericho ran down Punk's family again before promising to take the title at Extreme Rules. He also brought up the fact that he had sent Punk a gift basket of alcohol which became an important storyline strand later on in the show. Backstage John Laurinaitis offered Eve Torres the job of Executive Administrator. Eve accepted and they shook hands. In another backstage segment, CM Punk revealed to Josh Matthews the liquor basket that had been sent to him by Jericho as an apparent gift. Punk passed it on as a present to Josh Matthews but kept a bottle so that he could enact revenge on Jericho. 2.) Lord Tensai defeated R-Truth via pinfall Truth tried to gain some momentum but his offence came bouncing off Baldo who attacked Truth with hard fists, headbutts, a butterfly supplex, the baldo bomb and then finally a mist assisted claw. * I guess the match stoppage deal wasn't really catching on so they're trying a different angle instead. Tensai is still receiving the Albert chants though so I don't know if the change will make much difference in regards to increasing his heat. Kane came to the ring and cut an obnoxious promo in which he randomly emphasised certain words for dramatic effect. He said that bad things were coming Orton's way at Extreme Rules and that Orton couldn't even defeat him with rules let alone without them (I guess, neglecting their bizarrely timed wrestlemania rematch on Smackdown in which Orton did in fact defeat Kane in a match without rules). Kane then said that when he attacked Orton's father he saw fear in Orton's eyes and realised that he was still just the scared little boy waiting for his father's bedtime story and praying for the nightmare to end and for the monster to go away. He said though that he was a nightmare that Orton would never wake up from. Orton then appeared on screen and said that when you mess with his father there's no turning back. He then revealed that he had Paul Bearer tied up and proceeded to wheel him into a frozen room, before willing Kane to come and rescue him. Kane pretended to care for a moment and then laughed and said that he was a monster and didn't suffer the same weaknesses that mere mortals did. Or something of that nature, I had honestly tuned off at that point. Orton then made his way to the ring and attacked Kane with a pipe before the Big Red Monster managed to scamper away through the crowd. I can't wait for this feud to end and for Orton to get his career back on track again. Kane, it seems, is a bit like the heel version of John Cena with every babyface that feuds with him coming out of the programme looking a lot worse than when the feud began. Backstage Alex Riley informed Chris Jericho that he had been kicked out of the locker room by CM Punk after spotting him drinking out of the gift basket given to him by Jericho. Riley then led a suspicious Jericho to the locker room where Jericho peeked in and spotted Punk drinking from a plastic cup that was rested besides a bottle of liquor. Jericho then proceeded to look away, absorbing this image, look back again, look away again to absorb it once more and then took another peak with his face full of mischief and wonder. It was the start of a really stupid angle but Jericho's facial expressions in this particular segment were a sight to behold. 3.) Tag Match: Big Show and Great Khali defeated Cody Rhodes and Alberto Del Rio via pinfall The heels took Show to the mat and kept him grounded with some neat rotating stomps but Show recovered by pelting Rhodes with his leg after being locked in the figure four submission. Show then slapped Rhodes around with Rhodes crawling for the tag to Del Rio who took one big slap and then left the ring wanting to no longer to be associated with this shambles. Unfortunately for Cody he was then left out there to suffer the humiliating loss as he received a slap from Show and a chop from the outside by Khali before finally being sent to the mat with a chokeslam for the pinfall. * ½ Fresh from having seen Punk drink in the locker room Chris Jericho informed John Laurinaitis that CM Punk should be stripped of his title. He was backed up by Eve who had been constructing some astonishingly convenient research about how wrestlers were prohibited from drinking within 12 hours of an event and so Laurinaitis could in fact strip Punk of his gold. Laurinaitis said that to avoid legal action there would have to be proof and so Jericho suggested a sobriety test. Laurinaitis then ordered Long to go and set one up. Brock Lesnar arrived in the arena and shoved Josh Matthews up against a wall after becoming annoyed with his probing questions. Matthews argued that he was just doing his job and so Lesnar threw him into a metal structure. Later Matthews was shown being carted off on a stretcher. This all felt very phoney. 4) Divas Title: Nikki Bella defeated Beth Phoenix via pinfall in a Lumberjill match to win the Divas Championship Cole informed everyone before the match that Phoenix was on the verge of breaking the record for the longest Divas championship reign in history thus immediately spoiling the outcome of the bout. Eve then came out and immediately put her executive power to use by making the match a lumberjill contest. Phoenix dominated to start but Nikki escaped outside to avoid a Glam Slam attempt and Phoenix sold an injury as she landed awkwardly from the apron to the floor. It looked very legitimate so if she isn't genuinely hurt then it was an absolutely masterful piece of acting from the Glamazon. Both women then brawled outside the ring and Bella took advantage of her opponents injury to win the match and the title with a roll up pin. * Next came the CM Drunk angle. Teddy Long was in the ring with two police officers and Jericho came out so that he could be handed the title as soon as it was confirmed that Punk had been drinking. Punk came out pulling such a blatant impression of a drunk man that it killed the segment stone dead as were then supposed to believe that Jericho, the master manipulator heel was really buying this charade as authentic. Punk then failed to recite the alphabet backwards and walk in a straight line across a red strip in the ring. Long prepared to hand the title to Jericho but Punk asked for another chance. He then quickly recited the alphabet backwards whilst flamboyantly parading across the red strip in order to expose the drunkenness as a farce before beating up a shocked Jericho. With this they turned a serious minded alcoholism plot that few people cared about into a comedy plot that people now care about even less so a bit of an all round failure here. Not entertaining, not a good sell for an upcoming street fight and not a good advert for two men fighting for the primary world championship. 5.) Mark Henry defeated Sheamus via pinfall Daniel Bryan was the special guest referee and the match was really just a fun angle used to further conflict between Bryan and Sheamus as Bryan distracted the Irishman and played the smug heel role to perfection as he mocked and teased Sheamus by asking him to hit him in the face. When Henry then recovered to charge the Celtic Warrior to the mat Bryan executed a super fast count to cost his rival the match. * Post-match Sheamus chased after Bryan and threw him back into the ring where he then took the initiative to paste the brooding Mark Henry with a Brogue Kick. In that moment however he gave Bryan the window of opportunity to target the Irishman's legs and take him to the mat with the Yes! Lock as numerous fans chanted along in unison. This was really good stuff. Backstage Sheamus then cut a brief but effective tough man promo in which he labelled Bryan a snake and hinted at what happened to snakes in Ireland. 6.) Tag Match: Zack Ryder and Santino defeated Primo and Epico via pinfall Ryder was really over in this match so we can probably expect a further depush in the near future. (Superstaaarrsss aren't supposed to get over on their own daaaammmiitttttttt!!!!!!!). Ryder ran wild at the start executing the broski boot and getting ready to hit his finisher but a distraction caused him to run outside where he was thrown into the ringpost and then worked over by the tag champs as the crowd chanted Let's go Ryder!. Primo did all kinds of cool high flying moves during his beatdown on Ryder but then missed a rope assisted dive which enabled Santino to fly in with the hot tag and prove victorious with the cobra. That's back to back losses on Raw for the tag champs. ** Backstage Kane walked by the freezer and helped out a shivering Paul Bearer. Bearer thought he had come to save him but Kane then put him back in the freezer where presumably his character was left to freeze to death. Abraham Washington confronted Primo, Epico and Rosa Mendes backstage and wondered why the tag team champions weren't even included on the wrestlemania card. He then said that they were being treated like jokes before giving them his card. Primo and Epico's defensive expressions were tremendous here. They have personality, can work and could really light up the tag division if the company would just let them. 7.) Brodus Clay and Hornswoggle defeated Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger via DQ Ziggler went down on his knees to start and asked for Hornswoggle who still managed to take down the show-off with a hurricanrana before tagging in Clay. Ziggler seems to love taking bumps but it must have hurt his pride having to sell for such a buffoon. Clay then ran wild on Swagger and headcharged Ziggler into oblivion before Vickie came in to prevent him from kicking any further ass. The ref subsequently called for the disqualification. ½ * Post-match Vickie found herself cornered by Clay and the dancers and had her ass bit by Hornswoggle. This was wretched. Extreme Rules Contract Signing Brock came out first but Cena failed to show when his music played. Brock called Cena scared and then proceeded to to discuss some of his contract demands with Laurinaitis. He said that in order to sign the contract, he wanted all major decisions to go through him first, to receive access to Vince McMahon's private jet for all Raw appearances and to show up on the show itself when and how he wanted and insisted that the name of the program be altered to read WWE Raw starring Brock Lesnar. Laurinaitis clearly wasnt happy with all this but had little other option but to agree. Cena came out wearing a chain which he wrapped around his wrist for self-protection. His movements were heavy and his face appeared solemn and stern. Cena absorbed the crowd as Lesnar teased him about signing the contract and then finally relented after extended pressure from his rival. Lesnar then physically intimidated Cena by toppling over the table separating them but despite Cena back-pedalling Brock didn't bite, finding his rivals fear amusing instead. This was a good segment because it rid itself of the two negatives surrounding the storyline thus far. Firstly Lesnar bossing Laurinaitis around was the appropriate direction to embark upon because there is no way a legit, no nonsense ass kicker would want to follow orders from such a goofball character. Now that their relationship is based on Lesnar ruling the company through Laurinaitis as it were it improves the dynamic ten-fold and actually elicits some sympathy for the feeble Laurinaitis thus making Lesnar appear even more of a bully. Secondly, Cena acting scared or at least anxious is a refreshing change of direction for a man who usually only has one emotion and who has never really been intimidated by an opponent before. For once there are question marks surrounding Cena's state of mind as he heads into a match-up and this can only be a good thing for a character who has grown so unbelievably stale over the past few years. The negative with this angle was that Lesnar lost some heat though having to speak too many words for too long. He is great at short, snappy ass kicking lines but is not suited to delivering monologues and the manner in which he stumbled over his words made him lose his fear factor slightly during this speech even though his physical mannerisms were as usual pitch perfect. Verdict: I like the fact that the Cena character is showing signs of doubt and apprehension for the first time but if we think about this logically then this turn of events really makes very little sense. Three weeks ago Lesnar returned to take out Cena with an F5. A week later Cena retaliated by slapping Lesnar at which point Lesnar took him to the mat and busted open his tooth resulting in a brilliantly heated pull apart. Last week when Cena should have shown fear in London he instead made jokes in between pulling off a courageous promo about how he was going to come at Lesnar no matter what the costs. This week though he's now suddenly scared despite showing no signs of fear in the build up. This should have been a gradual transition following on from weeks of esteem killing angles for Cena but because the PPV is this Sunday the whole storyline has been rushed. So whilst I like the route they've gone down, I'm not a fan of how they skipped from A to D without going through B and C first. With 8-9 PPV's a year instead of 13-14 these sort of problems would occur far less often and the headline bouts would actually seem a much bigger deal and no doubt make a lot more money. On the whole, this was a bad show redeemed by a few productive segments. Cena / Lesnar and Bryan / Sheamus effectively escalated their feud for the Extreme Rules PPV but this three hour edition of Raw really highlighted just how disorganised the roster is and just how illogical some of the storylines are with Show randomly teaming with the useless Khali, the tag team champs losing yet again, Ziggler taking bumps for a dwarf and the alcohol angle between Jericho and Punk becoming cartoonish and inane.