Six days before WWE Hell in a Cell, the 853rd edition of WWE Monday Night RAW came to you, live, from the Times Union Center in Albany, NY.
Quick Match Results
- Unified Tag Team Championship: Big Show & Chris Jericho (c) def. MVP & Mark Henry by Chris Jericho (c) pinning MVP following the Codebreaker to retain.
- Non-Title: Mickie James def. Rosa Mendes (with Alicia Fox) by pin following the Mick Kick.
- Jack Swagger def. Evan Bourne by pin following the Swagger Bomb.
- Chavo Guerrero & Chris Masters def. Santino Marella & Hornswoggle by Santino Marella submitting to Chris Masters’ Masterlock.
- Gauntlet Match: Match #1: John Cena def. Chris Jericho by DQ when Chris Jericho ignored the referee’s five-count for a break.
- Gauntlet Match: Match #2: John Cena def. Big Show by DQ after Chris Jericho interferes.
- Gauntlet Match: Match #3: John Cena & Randy Orton fight to a No Contest after the Hell in a Cell is lowered.
Match Quality
- Unified Tag Team Championship
- Jack Swagger Vs. Evan Bourne
- John Cena Vs. Chris Jericho
- John Cena Vs. Big Show
- John Cena Vs. Randy Orton
- Mickie James Vs. Rosa Mendes
- Chavo Guerrero & Chris Masters Vs. Santino Marella & Hornswoggle
Detailed Results
RAW kicked off with MVP & Mark Henry as MVP presented The VIP Lounge! "The Franchise Player" was about to introduce the Guest Host for RAW, but MVP was interrupted by the Unified Tag Team Champions Big Show & Chris Jericho! Jericho scolds MVP for the introduction that "The Ballin’ Superstar" was about to give. After arguing over the introduction of the man, MVP finally, with a little unwanted help from Jericho, introduced the Guest Host for the night- Reverend Al Sharpton. The controversial Baptist minister made his way into the ring and into The VIP Lounge, where the Reverend was immediately showered with praise from Chris Jericho. MVP then took his turn to address the Guest Host and told Sharpton that the Unified Tag Team Titles needed to be "reformed". MVP then asked for a championship match from the Reverend! Chris Jericho cuts in and explains that they can not defend the titles because they will be competing in the 3-on-1 Gauntlet Match against John Cena later in the evening. The religious politician then put the decision in the hands of the audience, who roared their approval for the title match! With the support of the people behind him, the Reverend made the match official and announced that the title match would also be the opening match!
In a match made official by Guest Host Al Sharpton, MVP & Mark Henry got a second chance to win gold as they challenged Big Show & Chris Jericho for the Unified Tag Team Titles just six days before the champions are scheduled to defend the same titles against Batista & Rey Mysterio and shortly before they faced John Cena in a Gauntlet Match in the main event! Despite the impromptu championship match, Big Show & Chris Jericho proved why they are the Unified Tag Team Champions by successfully defending the titles against MVP & Mark Henry. How will the Unified Tag Team Champions fair in the main event?
Divas Champion Mickie James was in action as she squared off with Rosa Mendes in a non-title match. Even with the help of Alicia Fox, Rosa Mendes was not able to defeat the Divas Champion and Mickie James picked up the win. It was announced on RAW that Mickie James will be defending the Divas Title this Sunday at WWE Hell in a Cell against Alicia Fox! Can Mickie retain the title against Alicia Fox or will Fox upset Mickie to win the Divas Title?
With their Hell in a Cell Match against D-Generation X drawing near, Legacy made an appearance on RAW. Ted DiBiase stated that people should "expect" them to win at WWE Hell in a Cell after what Legacy has done to DX lately. Cody Rhodes then proclaimed that no one expected them to do what they did to DX. Rhodes then stated that Triple H can sit out the rest of his career and take up a job with his "relatives" at WWE Headquarters. Rhodes then vowed to leave Shawn Michaels broken this Sunday. With a slow chant of "boring" coming from Shawn Michaels, DX interrupted the cocky young duo as Triple H & Shawn Michaels were addressing their Hell in a Cell opponents from a skybox behind the Albany crowd. After making some classic DX jokes at the expense of Legacy, Triple H proclaimed that they like when "the monster comes out". With that statement, DX made their way through the crowd and to the ring to meet Legacy. However, as soon as DX entered the ring, Legacy left the ring; leaving through the crowd. Triple H then proclaimed that there will be "no running and no hiding" inside Hell in a Cell and this Sunday will be "pure hell" for Legacy! What will happen inside Hell in a Cell when these two rival teams meet inside the confines of the sadistic structure? Will the Cell veterans, DX, emerge victorious or will the first time Cell combatants, Legacy, pick up an even more shocking win than they did at Breaking Point?
With the United States Title belt that he stole from Kofi Kingston last week, "The All-American American" Jack Swagger was in action on RAW as he picked up an impressive win over Evan Bourne. After the match, the cocky Oklahoma native proclaimed that he would be the next United States Champion come this Sunday. This brings out The Miz who stakes his claim to being the next United States Champion. Then, after Miz puts his hands on Swagger, the two confident Superstars brawl in the middle of the ring. While this brawl is going on, Kofi Kingston sneaks in and regains his title belt! What will happen this Sunday when these three men do battle in a Triple Threat Match for the United States Championship?
RAW was also host to a unique tag team match as Chavo Guerrero teamed with "The Masterpiece" Chris Masters to defeat the team of Santino Marella & Hornswoggle! After the match, Masters locked Hornswoggle in the Masterlock! Even more shocking than that, Chavo actually hit Masters with a right hand while Masters had the Masterlock on Chavo’s bitter rival! Chavo then exited the ring, unsure of what he just did. What did Chavo do? Why did he save Hornswoggle from the Masterlock? Does even Chavo know why he did it?
On next week’s RAW, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will serve as the Guest Host of Monday Night RAW! What will happen when "Big Ben" brings the offensive line of the Pittsburgh Steelers into the Steelers’ home state of Pennsylvania? How will Ben run RAW?
Then it was time for WWE Champion John Cena to face the 3-on-1 Gauntlet Match against Unified Tag Team Champions Big Show & Chris Jericho and Cena’s opponent inside Hell in a Cell this Sunday- Randy Orton. The first match of the Gauntlet saw John Cena go against Chris Jericho. After a back-and-forth fight between the two familiar rivals, Jericho is able to lock in the Walls of Jericho on Cena! Cena gets to the ropes, but Jericho refuses to break the hold and ignores the referee’s five-count, resulting in a disqualification win for John Cena! The plan started to piece together as Jericho refused to release the hold even after the match was over. Big Show then came to the ring and the second stage of the Gauntlet Match began! Somehow, Cena was able to overcome the effects of the Walls of Jericho and lift Big Show up for the Attitude Adjustment. However, Jericho blind-sided Cena for the disqualification, which caused the weight of Big Show to fall onto the head and neck of Cena! Big Show & Chris Jericho then continued the assault on Cena before Big Show locked in the devastating Colossal Clutch on the broken WWE Champion!
"The Viper" Randy Orton then slowly made his way to the ring to pick the bones of John Cena. However, Cena was able to use the ropes to get to his feet and get into the face of Orton. Cena then pointed to the Hell in a Cell hovering over the ring that was now being lowered to surround the ring! Orton desperately tried to escape being imprisoned inside the demonic structure, but Cena prevented Orton’s escape from the Cell. Luckily for Orton, the door to the Cell was still open; however, he had to go through Cena to get out. Faced with only one option, Orton ensued in a brawl with "The Champ" that went to the outside of the Cell. Cena then prepared Orton for an Attitude Adjustment on the outside of the ring, but Orton frantically got out of the situation and quickly climbed to the roof of the Cell in an attempt to escape Cena! However, the WWE Champion followed "The Viper" to the roof and was able to plant Orton with the Attitude Adjustment on top of the steel roof of the Hell in a Cell! Cena then stood tall over the broken body of Orton as it lay on the cold, unforgiving steel that makes up the roof of the Cell. Will this be the scene this Sunday at WWE Hell in a Cell when these two go to war for the WWE Championship inside the satanic structure? Who will survive hell this Sunday and walk out as the WWE Champion?