The 844th edition of WWE Monday Night RAW came to you, live, from the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.
Quick Match Results
- Beat The Clock Challenge: Mark Henry def. Carlito by pin following the World’s Strongest Slam to set the time to beat at 6:49.
- 6-Diva Tag: Mickie James, Gail Kim, & Kelly Kelly def. Beth Phoenix, Rosa Mendes, & Alicia Fox by Gail Kim pinning Alicia Fox following a missile dropkick.
- Beat The Clock Challenge: MVP & Chris Masters (in his WWE return) fight to a Double Count-Out; Mark Henry’s time of 6:49 stands.
- Non-Title: Kofi Kingston def. The Brian Kendrick by pin following Trouble In Paradise.
- Beat The Clock Challenge: Triple H & Cody Rhodes (with Ted DiBiase) fight to a Time Limit Draw; Mark Henry’s time of 6:49 stands.
- Hornswoggle def. Chavo Guerrero (blindfolded) by pin following the Tadpole Splash.
- Beat The Clock Challenge: Evan Bourne def. Jack Swagger by roll-up to prevent Jack Swagger from advancing; Mark Henry’s time of 6:49 stands.
- Beat The Clock Challenge: John Cena def. The Miz by submission to the CSTF with a time of 4:28 to become the #1 Contender for the WWE Title at SummerSlam.
- Special Enforcer- Shaquille O’Neal: Non-Title: Cryme Tyme def. Big Show & Chris Jericho by DQ after Big Show refuses to exit the ring as the illegal man.
Match Quality
- Triple H Vs. Cody Rhodes
- Mark Henry Vs. Carlito
- Cryme Tyme Vs. Big Show & Chris Jericho
- MVP Vs. Chris Masters
- Evan Bourne Vs. Jack Swagger
- John Cena Vs. The Miz
- 6-Diva Tag
- Kofi Kingston Vs. The Brian Kendrick
- Hornswoggle Vs. Chavo Guerrero
Detailed Results
The show kicked off with WWE Hall of Famer Jerry "The King" Lawler in the ring. Lawler introduced the Guest Host of RAW- Shaquille O’Neal! Shaq made his way to the ring and promised that it would be a "great night" with him in charge. Shaq wasted little time in making an impact as he announced that there would be a 5-Man Beat The Clock Challenge to determine who would face Randy Orton for the WWE Championship next month at SummerSlam! A Beat The Clock Match sees a Superstar face off with an unknown opponent. The first match of the night will set the time for the matches to follow. For example, if the first match is won by the announced Superstar in 3:00, then the other Superstars must beat that time in order to advance. However, to successfully "beat the clock", the Superstar must beat their opponent. If the mystery opponent wins, then the Superstar will not advance. At the end of the night, whoever has the fastest time would be named the #1 Contender. Shaq revealed the five competitors in the challenge as being Triple H, MVP, Jack Swagger, Mark Henry, & John Cena! After this blockbuster announcement by the legendary NBA star, Unified Tag Team Champion Chris Jericho came out and attempted to come face-to-face with the seven foot tower known as Shaquille O’Neal. Jericho told the Guest Host that he and Big Show are the "most dominant team" in any sport. Jericho then alleged that, like all the prior Guest Hosts, Shaq has disrespected Jericho by not "catering" to the Unified Tag Team Champion. A confident Jericho then brings out the other half of the Unified Tag Team Champions, "The World’s Largest Athlete" Big Show. Big Show made his way into the ring and actually got face-to-face with the fellow seven-footer. Big Show tells the Guest Host that Shaq can not intimidate him and calls the NBA All-Star a "toothpick" and tells the Guest Host to leave the ring. Shaq responds by calling Big Show "fat boy" and then challenges Big Show to a match! Big Show responds to the challenge by telling Shaq that he does not want the NBA coming after him after he "destroys" Shaq, so Show & Jericho both refuse to fight O’Neal. Shaq stated that he knew that Show & Jericho would back down, so he hired "help". With those magic words, Cryme Tyme from Friday Night SmackDown came to the ring and stood by Shaq as Show & Jericho backed away from the trio. Shaq then announces that it will be Unified Tag Team Champions Big Show & Chris Jericho facing off with Cryme Tyme in a non-title match in the main event and Shaquille himself will serve as the Special Enforcer for the match! What will happen in this huge main event with Shaq at ringside ready to jump in if things get bad? Would we see the NBA All-Star mix it up with Show and/or Jericho?
The opening match of the night was the first of five Beat The Clock Challenges as "The World’s Strongest Man" Mark Henry squared off with "The Caribbean Back Stabber" Carlito. Carlito tried to play the role of "spoiler" by trying to either defeat Henry or run the clock so high that the other four Superstars could beat the time with ease. Carlito lasted 6:49 before Mark Henry planted him with the World’s Strongest Slam for the victory. Can MVP, Jack Swagger, Triple H, or John Cena beat the time set by "The World’s Strongest Man"? Who will the other four men face?
New Diva’s Champion, Mickie James was in action as she teamed up with Gail Kim & Kelly Kelly to defeat the team of Beth Phoenix, Rosa Mendes, & Alicia Fox in a 6-Diva Tag Match. Who will be the first Diva to challenge Mickie for the gold?
MVP was faced with the task of beating the clock with a time less than 6:49 and MVP’s chances of beating the clock started to lessen once everyone learned who MVP’s opponent would be- it would be none other than "The Masterpiece" Chris Masters! After an almost two year hiatus from the WWE, "The Masterpiece" was back in action! Chris Masters gave MVP all "The Ballin’ Superstar" could handle and more. In the end, it was Masters locking in the grueling Masterlock on MVP on the outside of the ring that led to both men getting counted out! With a double count-out decision, MVP would not advance in the Beat The Clock Challenge. Can Jack Swagger, Triple H, or John Cena beat Mark Henry’s time of 6:49 and punch their ticket to SummerSlam?
Before The Brian Kendrick squared off with United States Champion Kofi Kingston, Kendrick had some choice words for the man he lost to last week, Hall of Famer Jerry "The King" Lawler. Kendrick told Lawler that he would "not be embarassed" and that after the match, he is coming for Lawler. Despite what he thought, The Brian Kendrick was "embarassed" as as soon as Kendrick turned around to face his opponent, Kofi blasted Kendrick with Trouble In Paradise to pick up the quick win! How will The Brian Kendrick respond to this humiliating quick loss?
Backstage, Triple H is shown heading towards the ring for his Beat The Clock Challenge match with Cody Rhodes. However, in a heinous hit and run attack, Ted DiBiase blasted "The Game" from behind, in the knee, with a club! How can Triple H possibly beat Cody Rhodes on one leg, much less beat the clock?
With an injured leg courtesy of the diabolical Ted DiBiase, Triple H squared off with Cody Rhodes as "The Game" would try and beat Mark Henry’s time of 6:49 and get another shot at Randy Orton and the WWE Champion. Just like at Night of Champions, Legacy once again cost Triple H the WWE Title. Triple H did his best to compete in the match with his bad knee and had Cody Rhodes finished off when Ted DiBiase got on the apron of the ring and distracted Triple H. Triple H responded by throwing Cody Rhodes into Rhodes’ partner. However, the distraction served it’s purpose as Triple H hit the Pedigree on Cody Rhodes, but time expired before "The Game" could get the pinfall, meaning Triple H would not advance and would not be facing Orton for the WWE Title at SummerSlam. How will Triple H respond to Legacy’s continued efforts to cost him the WWE Championship?
Once again, with the help of a Guest Host, Chavo Guerrero was humiliated with a loss to Hornswoggle. This time, Guest Host Shaq ordered Chavo Guerrero to be blindfolded for the contest! As one would imagine, "The Mexican Warrior" had plenty of trouble in the match. Chavo accidentally attacked the referee, mistaking him for Hornswoggle. Chavo’s downfall came when Chavo tried to climb to the top rope blindfolded. Hornswoggle took advantage of Chavo’s impaired vision and hit the Tadpole Splash to beat Chavo for the fourth time!
It was "The All-American American" Jack Swagger’s time to shine as he tried to do what Triple H & MVP failed to do; beat the 6:49 time set by Mark Henry. However, Swagger would have his work cut out for him as he would square off with Evan Bourne. In the end, it was Bourne surprising "The All-American American" with a roll-up to defeat Swagger! Can John Cena beat Mark Henry’s time or will "The World’s Strongest Man" be heading to SummerSlam to challenge Randy Orton for the WWE Title?
Backstage, a furious Triple H states that he has made the mistake of aiming directly for Randy Orton and the WWE Championship when he should have taken care of Legacy first. "The Game" then challenges both Legacy members to a 2-on-1 Handicap Match on next week’s RAW! Triple H then informed Rhodes & DiBiase that they "messed with the wrong guy". Triple H has apparently had enough of Legacy’s interference in his business; will "The Game" take away Randy Orton’s back up next week or does Legacy have a plan to deal with Triple H?
A major main event was announced during RAW for this week’s SmackDown- new World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Hardy will make his first title defense this Friday night against John Morrison! Can "The Charismatic Champion" hang on to his newly obtained gold or will Morrison spoil the celebration and win the World Heavyweight Title?
Then it was down to one man, John Cena, to try and beat the time of Mark Henry. Cena would face a familiar foe in The Miz. Despite Miz’s attempts to take the match to the time limit, Cena managed to catch Miz and force Miz to submit to his STF to beat the time of Mark Henry and head to SummerSlam to challenge Randy Orton, one-on-one, for the WWE Championship! "The Viper" slid into the ring and came face-to-face with his new #1 Contender. Who will come out on top in this classic clash between Orton & Cena? Who will emerge from the Staples Center as the WWE Champion?
There was still business to tend to as Unified Tag Team Champions Big Show & Chris Jericho would square off with Cryme Tyme, but the big news was that Guest Host Shaquille O’Neal would be keeping the peace on the outside as Special Enforcer! After the match ended in a disqualification win for Cryme Tyme due to Big Show refusing to leave the ring as the illegal man in the match, Big Show disposed of Cryme Tyme and challenged Shaq to come into the ring to face him! The NBA All-Star gladly obliged as the two giants of the sports industry came face-to-face. Big Show shoved Shaq but Shaq shoved back. Big Show then grasped the throat of the NBA MVP! Even more surprising, Shaq grabbed Show’s throat in response! Seeing that Shaq might be in trouble, Cryme Tyme came in and attacked Big Show, forcing Big Show to release his grip. Shaq then shocked everyone as he ran right through "The World’s Largest Athlete" with a shoulder block! The maneuver sent Big Show reeling to the outside! What an impact Shaquille O’Neal made as Guest Host of RAW. What will happen next week when the star of "The Goods", Jeremy Piven is the Guest Host of Monday Night RAW? What can we expect from the Emmy award winning star of "Entourage"? What can we expect when Triple H faces off with Legacy in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match? What will we see from Randy Orton & John Cena as their encounter for the WWE Title at SummerSlam draws near?