One night after an unforgettable and controversial WWE Money-in-the-Bank event, the 895th edition of WWE Monday Night RAW came to you, live, from the BOK Center in Tulsa, OK. One night after The Nexus allowed him to nearly retain his WWE Title in a Steel Cage Match against John Cena, WWE Champion Sheamus would learn who the next challenger for his gold would be as “The Ultimate Opportunist” Edge, Chris Jericho, & “The Viper” Randy Orton would square off in a Triple Threat Match with the winner being named the new #1 Contender for the WWE Title with the new #1 Contender getting their shot at the gold at the summer extravaganza known as SummerSlam!
>>Match Results<<
- Triple Threat #1 Contender’s Match for the WWE Title: Randy Orton def. Edge & Chris Jericho by pinning Edge following the RKO to become the new #1 Contender for the WWE Title at SummerSlam.
- Eve Torres def. Maryse by pin following a hard kick to the head.
- Non-Title: Sheamus def. Evan Bourne by pin following the pump kick.
- Santino Marella & Vladimir Kozlov def. William Regal & Zack Ryder by Santino Marella pinning Zack Ryder following a modified headbutt.
- The Nexus Banned From Ringside: Wade Barrett (with The Nexus) def. Mark Henry by pin following the Barrett Wasteland.
>>Detailed Results<<
The show kicks off in a big way as, less than twenty-four hours after they were three of eight competitors in the RAW Money-in-the-Bank Ladder Match, “The Ultimate Opportunist” Edge, Chris Jericho, & “The Viper” Randy Orton would square off in a Triple Threat Match with the winner being named the new #1 Contender for the WWE Championship at SummerSlam! At the end of a hard-fought match by all three Superstars, it was Randy Orton leaving no doubt in anybody’s mind who the winner should be as “The Viper” laid out both Edge & Chris Jericho with the RKO en route to pinning Edge to become the #1 Contender for the WWE Championship at SummerSlam! Can Randy Orton win the WWE Championship for the sixth time in his career at SummerSlam?
After failing to become the new #1 Contender for the WWE Title at SummerSlam, Edge refused to leave the ring as “The Rated-R Superstar” demanded that Chris Jericho come back to the ring! Jericho comes out as Edge shouts that their rivalry has gone on long enough as the two of them have been at odds for eleven years and that their feud has to end “tonight”! Jericho then grabs a microphone and states that it is going to “end” for Edge because he had a conversation with Nexus spokesperson Wade Barrett last week and that Barrett told him that, as Jericho was his WWE Pro in NXT Season One, Jericho is responsible for The Nexus’ attacks on RAW! Jericho continued that he could just “snap his fingers” and The Nexus would come out there and, together, he and The Nexus would end the career of Edge “for good”! Edge responds by saying that he does not think that The Nexus “agrees” with Jericho and that he brings more to the table and that The Nexus would have “no problem” taking out the guy who has claimed all of their success as his own! Naturally, this prompts The Nexus to make their way to the ring and NXT spokesperson Wade Barrett states that both Edge & Chris Jericho are both “veterans” and the group would be “very lucky” to call either one of them an “ally”! The Nexus then surrounds Edge as Barrett states that Jericho was right by saying that The Nexus would “end” Edge’s career! Edge tries to fight The Nexus, but the seven-on-one odds overwhelm Edge as The Nexus beats down Edge before Skip Sheffield lays Edge out with his own Spear! Jericho would then add insult to injury by locking in the Walls of Jericho on Edge, but once Jericho sees The Nexus glaring at him, Jericho slowly releases the maneuver as Wade Barrett tells Jericho that Edge was also right as they don’t appreciate Jericho taking credit for the success of The Nexus! Realizing the situation he had found himself in, Jericho jumped at Wade Barrett and got a few shots in before The Nexus overwhelms Jericho and beats Jericho down before David Otunga lays Jericho out! As The Nexus continues to run roughshod over the WWE, who will step forward to try and stop the hostile takeover?
Backstage, after stating that his opponent later in the night, Mark Henry, is scared of him and The Nexus, Wade Barrett is confronted by WWE Champion Sheamus, who says he has a “proposal” for The Nexus! What does Sheamus have in mind? Can Sheamus really bargain with The Nexus?
One night after being cost the WWE Championship by The Nexus, John Cena makes a backstage appearance and states that he can see the “writing on the wall” before requesting to meet all seven members of The Nexus in the ring! Cena continues that The Nexus likes to say that “you are either Nexus or against us” before making the shocking statement that “if you can’t beat them…”! Does John Cena really plan on joining up with The Nexus?
The Divas were in action on RAW as former Divas Champion Eve Torres went one-on-one with fellow former champion Maryse with Maryse’s million dollar boyfriend, “The Fortunate Son” Ted DiBiase, on commentary! In the end, it was Eve Torres getting a controversial victory as Eve hit a hard kick to the head of Maryse before pinning Maryse. However, Maryse placed her foot on the bottom rope, but the referee did not see it and counted the three to make Eve the winner! After the match, an irate Ted DiBiase entered the ring and shouted at the referee for the error, but John Morrison rushed in and attacked DiBiase before hitting Starship Pain on “The Fortunate Son”! How will Ted DiBiase respond to this attack? How will Maryse respond to her controversial loss?
One night after narrowly escaping as the WWE Champion at WWE Money-in-the-Bank and after confronting Nexus spokesperson Wade Barrett with a “proposal” for The Nexus earlier in the night, WWE Champion Sheamus makes an appearance on RAW and states that, now that he has beaten John Cena three times, it is called “dominance”! Sheamus continues that, now John Cena goes to the “back of the line” and will not be getting another shot at the WWE Title as long as he is champion! Sheamus then reveals that he “demanded a truce” from Wade Barrett and The Nexus where they would stay out of each other’s “business” and that Barrett “agreed” and now, the “truce” between Sheamus and The Nexus is “in effect”! Sheamus then states that this is “bad news” for Randy Orton because The Nexus getting involved is the “only way” that Orton would be able to beat him and, now, Orton does not “stand a chance” and Orton can sit back and watch him become the “longest reigning WWE Champion of all time”! This brings out the holder of the RAW Money-in-the-Bank title opportunity, United States Champion The Miz, who tells Sheamus that the WWE Champion now has a “Miz problem” because he “controls the fate” of the WWE Championship, not Sheamus, because he holds the Money-in-the-Bank title opportunity! The Miz continues that he will be “watching” Sheamus to pick just the right moment to cash in his title opportunity; even teasing the idea of waiting until WrestleMania or cashing it on RAW! The Miz then starts to proclaim that he is “awesome”, but Sheamus interrupts and states that he is the WWE Champion before leaving the ring! However, the anonymous RAW General Manager chimes in with an email that suggests that The Miz take a seat at ringside as Sheamus would go one-on-one with Evan Bourne!
In an impromptu match made by the anonymous RAW General Manager, WWE Champion Sheamus would go one-on-one with Evan Bourne in a non-title match with the RAW Money-in-the-Bank briefcase holder, The Miz, watching closely from ringside! In the end, it was Sheamus catching Evan Bourne with the pump kick en route to pinning Bourne and picking up the win! After the match, The Miz entered the ring and blasted Sheamus from behind with the Money-in-the-Bank briefcase and assaulted Sheamus with the briefcase a couple more times before delivering the Skull Crushing Finale to the WWE Champion onto the briefcase! With Sheamus extremely vulnerable, The Miz handed his Money-in-the-Bank title opportunity over to the referee and it was announced that The Miz was cashing in his title opportunity! However, the referee had to get Sheamus to his feet before the match could begin and, before that took place, a revenge-driven R-Truth would return; prompting The Miz to take his briefcase back and wave off cashing in his Money-in-the-Bank title opportunity! The Miz would swing and miss hitting R-Truth with the briefcase before R-Truth would chase The Miz backstage! The Miz is still the holder of the Money-in-the-Bank title opportunity, but the question still remains, when will The Miz cash in?
RAW would also feature tag team action as Santino Marella & Vladimir Kozlov would face off with the team of the 2008 King of the Ring William Regal and “The Long Island Iced Z” Zack Ryder! In the end, it was Santino Marella utilizing a unique new headbutt maneuver that led to Santino & Kozlov picking up the win!
Then it was time for the spokesperson for The Nexus, Wade Barrett, to go one-on-one with “The World’s Strongest Man” Mark Henry and, per the orders of the anonymous RAW General Manager, the other six members of The Nexus would be banned from ringside! In the end, The Nexus found a way as the other six Nexus members lined up on the stage and this distracted Mark Henry long enough for Wade Barrett to, somehow, load Henry up on his shoulders and deliver the Barrett Wasteland en route to picking up the win!
After his big victory over Mark Henry, Wade Barrett was joined in the ring by the rest of The Nexus as Barrett called John Cena out for Cena’s requested meeting with the group! Nexus member Michael Tarver states that they will hear John Cena out if Cena acknowledges that The Nexus “runs” RAW and vows that, if Cena continues his “futile resistance”, then they will continue to torture Cena for the remainder of his career! Tarver continues by saying that Cena should come out and show “remorse” for his attacks against The Nexus and, if Cena complies, then they will “consider” ending it and stating that everything is “on” John Cena! Cena then makes his way to the ring and states that, earlier in the night, Sheamus made a “truce” with The Nexus, which is something he should have done a “long time ago before asking The Nexus for a “truce”! Wade Barrett refuses Cena’s request for a “truce” and states that The Nexus is looking for something “much bigger” before saying that he wants Cena to join The Nexus! Barrett continues that, what Cena has accomplished by himself could turn into something “ten times” more by joining up with The Nexus before Barrett states that, Cena does not really have a choice before proclaiming that “you are either Nexus or against us” before asking Cena if he wants to join them and “make history together”! Cena then refuses the offer and says he “can’t” join them, which prompts Wade Barrett to give Cena the choice to either leave the ring and show the world he is a “coward” or stand in the ring and The Nexus will deliver the “most vicious beating” that they have “ever administered”! Cena then opts to leave the ring, but after doing so, Cena starts to walk back towards the ring as he states that he will take each and every one of them out before revealing that his peace offering was just a “test” and, by saying “no”, The Nexus has “sealed their fate” because he has gotten himself some “help”! Cena then reveals that, ever since The Nexus made their abrupt arrival, he has been forming a “team”; a team that will “take down” The Nexus at SummerSlam! Cena then proclaims that he wants The Nexus to meet his team and realize that The Nexus “is history” before Cena introduces his team, which consists of himself, “The Rated-R Superstar” Edge, “The Monday Night Delight” John Morrison, R-Truth, the seven foot tall Great Khali, Chris Jericho, and Hall of Famer Bret “The Hitman” Hart! John Cena, Edge, John Morrison, R-Truth, The Great Khali, Chris Jericho, & Bret “The Hitman” Hart then rush the ring, which prompts The Nexus to hightail it out of the ring and through the crowd! After John Cena dropped the bombshell announcement that he has recruited this all-star team of Superstars, does The Nexus stand a chance come SummerSlam or will Cena’s team put down The Nexus for good?