January 2014 - Week 1
Welcome to Monday Night Raw from Atlantic City, New Jersey! We've got a great show for you guys tonight, and here to help me, Michael Cole, are my partners Jerry "The King" Lawler and JBL!
Shut up Cole..
For once, I agree with JBL! Shut up Cole!
Atlantic City! I see you guys still love me. I'm going to cut right to it. Tonight, I've been given the night off but that's not something that I agree with. I want to issue an open challenge to anyone, or any group, in the locker room that wants to stand toe-to-toe with the.. Well, I'm not the Champ anymore.. so.. anyone who wants to stand toe-to-toe with John Cena to come on out right now and we'll get this show started early for these people!
Issuing an open challenge, John Cena stood in the ring as 3MB decided which was going to start the three-on-one handicap elimination match. Jinder Mahal would start early, arguing with Heath Slate and Drew McIntyre because he didn't want to start. As he turned around, John Cena lifted him up and hit him with an Attitude Adjustment and quickly picked up the pin. Next, Slater would hop into the ring and try to shake Cena's hand, but swung at him as he came in to return the shake. Cena would block the punch and start taking it to Slater. He irish whipped him into the ropes, coming back with a shoulder block. He threw his hand into the air as the crowd began to boo. He would deliver the Five Knuckle Shuffle to Slater before rolling him up for the three. Finally, McIntyre would make his way into the ring and they circled each other. They locked up, and McIntyre got the upper hand. He threw a headlock on Cena in the middle of the ring but Cena would use his strength to deliver a German suplex. McIntyre would quickly get up but he was met with a big shoulder block. Cena picked him up off the canvas and began to beat him down in the corner. McIntyre would start to craw away but Cena quickly jumped on him and threw him into an STS! McIntyre looked as though he was ready to tap before Slater and Mahal made their way back to the ring and broke up the submission. The ref quickly called for the bell as the three-on-one beat down began. To the surprise of everyone, Los Matadores made their way to the ring and helped even the score! Cena would regain composure and clear the ring with the help of Diego and Fernando before celebrating with El Torito on his shoulders.
Dean Ambrose would start by getting the upper hand early, using his size advantage to take control. CM Punk looked to turn the momentum multiple times, but Ambrose's size seemed too much in the beginning. Ambrose would quickly lose the advantage after wearing himself out by trying to take Punk out fast and early. Punk jumped on Ambrose and hit a GTS early in the match, but he didn't connect completely. Ambrose would kick out and catch a second wind, turning the tables on Punk again. He would hit his headlock driver on Punk and drag him to the middle of the ring, but it was not enough! The match would go back and forth for the rest of the match until Ambrose hits another headlock driver to Punk! It was again, not enough to keep Punk down! Ambrose looked as though he was going to end it soon after, but Punk would hit a surprise GTS in the middle of the ring! The second GTS would be enough to pick Punk up the win.
In a battle of big men, Mark Henry and Roman Reigns would square off tonight. In what was a fairly even match with neither men having much success taking the other down. Reigns began to take the advantage at the end of the match, but whenever he attempted his superman punch, Henry would not go down. He would attempt it again to no avail. Frustrated, he would go to the top rope and attempt the superman punch from there, but Henry would use his overpowering strength to catch Reigns and finish him off with a World's Strongest Slam.
Don't forget, the Royal Rumble is coming at the end of the month from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania! Get your tickets today if you haven't already!
Bray Wyatt would begin the match with a "hand shake", kicking Daniel Bryan in the gut to get the upper hand early on in the match. It would not keep Bryan down for long, but neither truly took the advantage of the match and it was back and forth from beginning to end. Bryan would start to take advantage of Wyatt but out of nowhere, Wyatt would hit a Sister Abigale. He was not able to capitalize on it, getting only a two count. Bryan would once again seemingly gain momentum, but Wyatt would get him in a bear hug and eventually force him to tap out.