WWE Week In Review: July 18, 2010- July 24, 2010

Welcome to the one-hundred sixteenth edition of the WWE Week in Review. Feel free to contact me on TWO or Wrestling 101 anytime with comments, questions, and anything in between. Make sure to check out the section at the end of the article highlighting a different WWE Superstar, Diva, or Alumni every week. I have also added a section that lists where WWE will be hosting their weekly television shows and monthly pay-per-views.

The debut edition of WWE Money-in-the-Bank came to you, live on pay-per-view, from the Sprint Center in Kansas City, MO. After the ruthless group known as The Nexus interfered in their recent rematch, Sheamus would defend the WWE Championship against former champion John Cena in a Steel Cage Match! Since losing the World Heavyweight Title at WWE Fatal 4-Way, a new side of Jack Swagger has emerged; a side that enjoys inflicting pain upon others using his new, dangerous submission hold, the ankle lock, as Swagger has hobbled “The World’s Largest Athlete” Big Show and even the new World Champion, Rey Mysterio, and now “The All-American American” Jack Swagger will get his rematch for the World Title as he challenges new champion Rey Mysterio for the gold! Eight RAW Superstars would get the opportunity to challenge for the WWE Championship at any time for the next year as two-time holder of the Money-in-the-Bank title opportunity, “The Ultimate Opportunist” Edge, “The Viper” Randy Orton, former World Champion Chris Jericho, United States Champion The Miz, “The World’s Strongest Man” Mark Henry, the high-flying Evan Bourne, “The Guru of Greatness” John Morrison, & “The Fortunate Son” Ted DiBiase would all vie for the prestigious opportunity! The Superstars of SmackDown would also get the chance to earn a title shot at any time for the next year as an unstable and revenge-fueled Kane, “The World’s Largest Athlete” Big Show, Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston, “The Chosen One” Drew McIntyre, “Dashing” Cody Rhodes, “The Platinum Superstar” Dolph Ziggler, and ladder match veterans Christian & Matt Hardy would all compete in a Money-in-the-Bank Ladder Match with the winner earning that very right to challenge for the World Championship whenever that Superstar sees fit! The Unified WWE Tag Team Titles would also be defended at the inaugural event as The Hart Dynasty would defend their gold against Jey & Jimmy; The Usos! The Women’s Title would also be up for grabs as Layla would make her first defense of the coveted title against the recent target of Layla & Michelle McCool’s torment, Kelly Kelly! After feigning an injury in order to retain her title, Alicia Fox would defend the Divas Title against the Diva she wronged, Eve Torres!

WWE Money-in-the-Bank (July 18, 2010)
Good Night For: Kane (won the SmackDown Money-in-the-Bank title opportunity and cashed it in to win the World Heavyweight Title)
Bad Night For: John Cena (was, once again, cost the WWE Title thanks to The Nexus)

The inaugural edition of WWE Money-in-the-Bank kicks off in a big way as the opening match of the night would be the SmackDown Money-in-the-Bank Ladder Match as “The Big Red Machine” Kane, “The World’s Largest Athlete” Big Show, Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston, “The Chosen One” Drew McIntyre, ladder match veteran Christian, “Dashing” Cody Rhodes, “The Platinum Superstar” Dolph Ziggler, and ladder match veteran Matt Hardy would all compete for the SmackDown Money-in-the-Bank title opportunity as its holder would earn a guaranteed shot at the World Heavyweight Championship at any time that Superstar sees fit for the next twelve months! Early on in the match, the two biggest Superstars of the match squared off with Big Show getting the best of Kane and sending “The Big Red Machine” to the outside, but when Big Show tried to climb the standard ladder, the rungs snapped, which led to Big Show heading to the outside of the ring to seek his monster ladder, but the other seven competitors stopped Big Show from going for the mega ladder! Shortly after this, the two ladder match veterans, Christian and Matt Hardy, went at it as the two Superstars battled each other to prevent the other from unhooking the Money-in-the-Bank briefcase! Following this, Dolph Ziggler came within seconds of winning the match, but Christian returned to the ring and knocked Dolph from his perch atop the ladder! This left Christian and Matt Hardy to resume their battle, but after Kane tried to utilize a double chokeslam on the two of them, Matt & Christian temporarily worked together to take Kane out of the equation for the time being, leading back to a battle between the two veterans of the ladder match! Christian would get the better of the exchange, but when Christian went for the briefcase, “Dashing” Cody Rhodes entered the ring and sent Christian off of the ladder all the way to the outside of the ring, where Christian collided with Big Show! Cody Rhodes and Matt Hardy would then square off, but Drew McIntyre would interject himself and send both competitors shoulder-first into the steel ring posts! McIntyre would then get ready to climb the ladder to retrieve the briefcase, but an incensed Kane pulled “The Chosen One” out of the ring and was set to deliver a chokeslam to McIntyre through the Spanish announce table, but McIntyre would fight Kane off for the time being. With Drew McIntyre still in a vulnerable position, McIntyre’s intense rival, Kofi Kingston, hit Trouble in Paradise on McIntyre before the daredevil Intercontinental Champion would scale a ladder and deliver the Boom Drop to McIntyre all the way through the Spanish announce table! Meanwhile, back in the ring, Dolph Ziggler once again tried to retrieve the Money-in-the-Bank briefcase, but Big Show re-entered the ring and knocked Dolph off of the ladder before delivering a high-impact chokeslam to Ziggler! Big Show would then take Kane out of the equation by smashing “The Big Red Machine” between the steel ladder and the corner of the ring! Big Show would utilize a ladder to take out Christian & Matt Hardy before Show would go under the ring and, after having some trouble maneuvering the monster ladder, Show would set up the huge ladder in the center of the ring, but Cody Rhodes would re-enter the ring and blast Show in the braced knee of “The World’s Largest Athlete” with a step ladder! Rhodes would then attempt to climb the ladder to retrieve the briefcase, but Dolph Ziggler intervenes and takes Rhodes out for the time being! Dolph would then start to scale the monster ladder, but Big Show would come back into the fray and, working essentially on one leg, would knock Dolph off of the ladder, but, after sending Drew McIntyre through the Spanish announce table earlier in the match, Kofi Kingston would re-enter the ring and plant Big Show with a DDT before the Intercontinental Champion would begin his ascent of the monster ladder, but Cody Rhodes would lead from the top rope and deliver a missile dropkick, taking Kofi off of the ladder! Rhodes would then go for the briefcase again, but Dolph Ziggler would jump in again and take Rhodes off of the ladder before delivering a modified Zig Zag to the steel ladder, taking himself out in the process! Big Show would then recover and try to climb the monster ladder, but Kane would come in and tip the monster ladder over, sending Big Show to the outside, where the other seven combatants would pile several steel ladders on top of Big Show! Several of the other competitors would then scramble to try and retrieve the briefcase, but Kane would ultimately take them all out! Kane would then scale the ladder, but Dolph Ziggler would come back in and lock the sleeper hold on Kane, but Kane would get out of the hold and ultimately chokeslam Dolph onto the pile of ladders on the outside of the ring; a fate that Kane would also deal out to Kofi Kingston before Kane would set his sights on Cody Rhodes as Kane would take Rhodes all the way to the staging area, where Kane would launch Rhodes into one of the armored trucks set up for the event! Kane would then make his way back to the ring where Matt Hardy was scaling the monster ladder to try and retrieve the briefcase and Kane would take Matt off of the ladder, but Christian would re-enter the fray and the two ladder match veterans, Christian and Matt Hardy, would work together to take Kane out of the match before the two Superstars would both find themselves battling for the briefcase atop the ladder! After Matt & Christian simultaneously took themselves out of the match, Drew McIntyre somehow re-entered the ring and it looked like “The Chosen One” would earn the right to choose his spot to face the World Heavyweight Champion for the gold, but Kane would come back into the ring and would chokeslam Drew McIntyre off the top of the ladder before Kane would be the one to finally unhook the briefcase; making Kane the winner of the SmackDown Money-in-the-Bank title opportunity, meaning that “The Big Red Machine” can now challenge for the World Heavyweight Title at any time he sees fit for the next year! How will being the holder of the SmackDown Money-in-the-Bank title opportunity affect Kane’s ongoing investigation into the attack on his brother, The Undertaker? When will Kane cash in his prestigious title opportunity?

The first of five title matches would then take place as Eve Torres would get a second opportunity to regain the Divas Title as she would challenge Alicia Fox for the gold! After working over the back of Eve Torres throughout the match, Alicia Fox was able to take advantage of the injury before hitting the Fox Kick and pinning Eve en route to successfully retaining the Divas Title!

Backstage, Jack Swagger is on the phone with his “hysterical” mother and, after telling his own mother to “shut up”, Swagger told his mother that his father “deserved” to be the victim of Kane on SmackDown because Mr. Swagger has tried to steal his “spotlight”! Swagger then tells his mother that he will “snap” the ankle of Rey Mysterio and regain the World Heavyweight Title! Will Jack Swagger make good on his promise?

The Unified WWE Tag Team Titles would be on the line as The Hart Dynasty would defend the tag team gold against Jey & Jimmy; The Usos! After Natalya took out Tamina and Tyson Kidd taking Jey Uso out of the equation, it left David Hart Smith and Jimmy Uso as David Hart Smith would synch in the legendary Sharpshooter, which would force Jimmy to tap out, meaning a successful defense of the Unified WWE Tag Team Titles for The Hart Dynasty! Which team will step up next to challenge The Hart Dynasty for the Unified WWE Tag Team Titles?

With the health of the champion’s ankle still in serious question, the World Heavyweight Championship would be up for grabs as the injured World Champion, Rey Mysterio, would defend the gold against the Superstar that injured the champion, “The All-American American” Jack Swagger! Despite Jack Swagger working on the already injured ankle of Rey Mysterio throughout the match, Rey was somehow able to come back and, even with his severely injured ankle, catch Swagger with a hurrincanrana roll-up en route to successfully retaining the World Heavyweight Championship! However, after the match, an incensed Jack Swagger blasted Rey Mysterio from behind and locked in the ankle lock on the exposed ankle of Mysterio! Swagger continued to wrench on the destroyed ankle of Rey Mysterio, but Kane came out and attacked Swagger! Kane would then fight Swagger all the way backstage as Rey Mysterio celebrated his successful defense of the World Heavyweight Title! It looked like Rey Mysterio had narrowly escaped as the World Heavyweight Champion, but a certain SmackDown Superstar had different plans as, roughly an hour after winning the SmackDown Money-in-the-Bank title opportunity, “The Big Red Machine” Kane re-emerged, this time with his Money-in-the-Bank briefcase and Kane shocked the world by cashing in his newly acquired title opportunity to challenge an injured Rey Mysterio for Rey’s World Heavyweight Title! As expected, the badly injured Rey Mysterio was no match for “The Big Red Machine” Kane and, a chokeslam and Tombstone Piledriver later, Kane became the World Heavyweight Champion for the first time in his career! How will former champion Rey Mysterio react to Kane cashing in his Money-in-the-Bank title opportunity to win the World Heavyweight Title? Can anyone stop Kane now that he is the World Heavyweight Champion?

The Women’s Championship was also on the line as Layla, with the other half of the self-proclaimed “Co-Women’s Champions” Michelle McCool, would defend the Women’s Title against Kelly Kelly, who brought Tiffany as backup! During the match, Michelle McCool got involved in the match on the outside of the ring, but Kelly Kelly fought back by tipping McCool over the barricade and onto the concrete arena floor! Kelly Kelly would then hit the K2 on Layla, but Michelle McCool would place the foot of Layla on the rope! Kelly Kelly & Tiffany would then take Michelle McCool out of the equation on the outside of the ring, but this gave Layla time to recover and Layla was able to counter a roll-up attempt by Kelly Kelly to successfully retain the Women’s Title!

After Kane cashed in the SmackDown Money-in-the-Bank title opportunity to become the new World Heavyweight Champion, eight RAW Superstars would be looking to do the same with the WWE Championship as two-time Money-in-the-Bank winner Edge, “The Viper” Randy Orton, Chris Jericho, United States Champion The Miz, “The World’s Strongest Man” Mark Henry, Evan Bourne, “The Monday Night Delight” John Morrison, & “The Fortunate Son” Ted DiBiase would all compete in the RAW Money-in-the-Bank Ladder Match with the winner earning the RAW Money-in-the-Bank title opportunity; an opportunity they can cash in for a shot at the WWE Championship at any time for the next year! Edge would immediately live up to his moniker as “The Ultimate Opportunist” as, just before the match began, Edge slid a ladder into the ring, but when the bell rang to begin the match, Edge slid out of the ring as the other seven combatants battled it out, but with the other competitors seemingly out of the equation, Edge re-entered the ring and quickly scaled the ladder to try and secure the quick victory, but Randy Orton would foil the plan of Edge as the two spilled to the outside! Shortly after this, former tag team partners The Miz and Chris Jericho battled, but the largest competitor in the match, Mark Henry, re-entered the fray and took The Miz out of it before Mark Henry was blasted in the face with a ladder by Chris Jericho! Jericho would then come back into the ring, but Jericho was taken out of the match for the time being by Evan Bourne and Bourne would also fight Edge off, but Randy Orton would get his hands on Bourne as “The Viper” would proceed to plant Bourne with a suspended DDT! John Morrison would then head back into the ring and deliver the Flying Chuck to Orton, but The Miz & Ted DiBiase would then double team Morrison, but Morrison would fight back and send both Miz & DiBiase face-first into a ladder! Morrison would then set up and scale a ladder, but Edge would come in and battle with Morison atop the ladder as Chris Jericho brings in a second ladder to climb, but Randy Orton comes in and meets Jericho at the top of the ladder! With four of the eight competitors on top of two ladders reaching for the briefcase, Mark Henry comes in and knocks over both of the ladders! With everyone down and out, Maryse, who accompanied Ted DiBiase, made the bold decision to try and retrieve the Money-in-the-Bank briefcase herself! However, John Morrison would take Maryse down from the ladder and told Maryse to leave, but as this is taking place, Ted DiBiase is climbing the ladder to the briefcase! Morrison would then prevent DiBiase from getting the briefcase and would take DiBiase out on the outside, followed by The Miz targeting Morrison on the outside! Morrison would get the better of The Miz and, with Edge reaching for the briefcase in the center of the ring, Morrison rides another ladder to get to the ladder that Edge is on top of! Edge would then trap Morrison in the standing ladder as Edge & The Miz would proceed to use another ladder to smash it into the ribs of Morrison before Edge would shove the steel ladder into the face of The Miz! Ted DiBiase would then re-enter and take Edge down before knocking both Chris Jericho & Randy Orton off of the apron to the arena floor! DiBiase would then set up a ladder upside down next to the original ladder and would lean a third ladder to the upside down ladder! Mark Henry would then re-enter the match and would proceed to deliver the World’s Strongest Slam to Ted DiBiase before using a step ladder to take out both Chris Jericho & The Miz! Mark Henry would then start to climb the ladder, but Evan Bourne would jump on the back of Mark Henry and Bourne would climb the ladder, but Edge & Randy Orton would attack Henry and send Henry to the outside of the ring before Edge & Orton toss Bourne on top of Mark Henry, which leads to Henry planting Bourne with the World’s Strongest Slam on the arena floor! Mark Henry would then be taken out by a trifecta of signature maneuvers as John Morrison would hit the Flying Chuck on Mark Henry, followed by Chris Jericho hitting the Codebreaker and, finally, Edge hitting the Spear on Mark Henry! The other six capable combatants would then engage in a war of attrition with Ted DiBiase pulling The Miz off of the ladder and sending Miz face-first into another ladder! With a ladder bridged between the central ladder and the ropes, Edge & Randy Orton would lay Ted DiBiase face down on the suspended ladder and sliding the ladder over the top rope to the outside, where DiBiase and the ladder crashed! After working together to take Ted DiBiase out, Edge would take a run at Orton, but Orton would plant Edge with the RKO! Orton would then deliver the RKO to John Morrison as well, but as soon as Orton lands with the RKO, Evan Bourne hits Air Bourne on Orton! This leaves Chris Jericho & Evan Bourne to battle it out over the Money-in-the-Bank briefcase and, after Jericho knocks Bourne off of the ladder, it looks like Jericho could win the title opportunity, but Edge comes back in and meets Jericho at the top of the ladder! Edge would knock Jericho down a few rungs on the ladder, which positions Jericho for Orton to deliver the RKO! Edge would continue to reach for the briefcase, but Orton would knock Edge off of the ladder and ribs-first into the upside down ladder! It looked like Randy Orton would win the title opportunity, but The Miz would re-enter the match and knock Randy Orton off of the ladder before climbing the ladder himself and securing the briefcase; meaning that The Miz can now challenge for the WWE Championship any time he sees fit for the next year! Never at a loss for words, The Miz proclaims that everyone is living in his “moment” and by winning the Money-in-the-Bank title opportunity, he has “made it”! Now that he is the holder of RAW Money-in-the-Bank title opportunity, when will The Miz cash in his guaranteed WWE Title opportunity? Will The Miz become the first Superstar in history to hold the WWE Title and United States Title at the same time?

Then it was time for the main event as the WWE Championship would be decided inside a solid steel cage as Sheamus would defend the WWE Title against former champion John Cena in a Steel Cage Match! In an intense back-and-forth battle that saw both champion and challenger dish out the best in their arsenal against the other, it looked like John Cena would emerge the victor and WWE Champion after planting Sheamus with the Attitude Adjustment, but Sheamus managed to kick out of Cena’s signature maneuver, but this left both men out of it in the middle of the ring! With both champion and challenger at their, the six ruthless members of The Nexus come out with Nexus member Michael Tarver carrying bolt cutters with the clear intent of allowing The Nexus to enter the cage, but before The Nexus could get a chance break into the structure, a referee comes out and makes the bold move to take the bolt cutters out of the hands of Michael Tarver! With their plan to break into the cage foiled, The Nexus confronted the referee who had possession of the key needed to unlock the cage door and the referee started to hand the key over to Nexus spokesperson, Wade Barrett, but the referee made another bold move by tossing the key clear out into the crowd! As The Nexus confronted the referee on the outside, the action between Sheamus & John Cena continued, but the referee who was calling the match was distracted by the activity and the two combatants inadvertently knocked the referee down! Cena then locked in his STF and Sheamus tapped out, but with the referee out of commission, it did not matter, so Cena took to trying to escape the cage instead! However, The Nexus spotted Cena trying to escape the cage and the group gathered on the floor as Nexus member Justin Gabriel scaled the cage to meet Cena at the top! John Cena then gets the better of the exchange with Justin Gabriel and hurls Gabriel from the top of the cage to the ring below! Cena then begins to climb down the outside of the cage, but Nexus members Darren Young & Michael Tarver meet Cena on the way down! Meanwhile, on the other side of the cage, Sheamus begins to climb out of the cage, but is met by Nexus member Heath Slater! Sheamus manages to knock Slater to the floor and, with the rest of The Nexus occupied with John Cena on the other side of the cage, Sheamus managed to land with both feet on the arena floor, meaning that Sheamus retains the WWE Title! As soon as his feet hit the floor, Sheamus hightails it out of the arena with his title intact! Once again cost the WWE Title by The Nexus, John Cena took his frustrations out on two of The Nexus members, Darren Young & Michael Tarver as Cena beat down Young before waylaying Michael Tarver with a vicious clothesline and topping it off by blasting Tarver in the face with the steel ring steps! What is next for The Nexus? What is next for John Cena?

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!

Monday Night RAW (July 19, 2010)
Good Week For: John Cena (introduced an all-star team more than capable of taking The Nexus out at SummerSlam)
Bad Week For: Sheamus (was assaulted by The Miz and, once again, narrowly escaped losing his WWE Title)

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?

The seventh week of NXT Season Two came to you from the Verizon Arena in Little Rock, AR. One week before the second NXT elimination takes place, the seven NXT Rookies would be looking to make an impact as Alex Riley, Kaval, Husky Harris, Lucky Cannon, “Showtime” Percy Watson, Eli Cottonwood, & Michael McGillicutty would be looking to impress the WWE Pros and the WWE fans into voting them one step forward in becoming the winner of NXT Season Two!

WWE NXT (July 20, 2010)
Good Week For: Michael McGillicutty (earned immunity from elimination by winning the Obstacle Course Challenge)
Bad Week For: Lucky Cannon (lost to Alex Riley and was assaulted by The Miz after the match)

The show kicks off with a special edition of The VIP Lounge with WWE Pro, “The Ballin’ Superstar” MVP, who states that that “serious” matters are at hand before introducing his NXT Rookie, “Showtime” Percy Watson! With his Rookie in the ring, MVP admits to Watson that the two of them are a lot alike as the brash MVP that originally debuted on SmackDown a few years ago would have done the same thing! MVP then asks his Rookie if Watson learned anything last week after luring MVP into facing the seven NXT Rookies; a confrontation that would spark a Battle Royal between the WWE Pros, NXT Rookies, & The Nexus! Watson tells his Pro that he does “respect” MVP, but that the “go-getter mentality” got the better of him last week before apologizing to MVP! MVP accepts the apology and calls what happened last week “water under the bridge” before NXT Co-Host Matt Striker interrupts and asks MVP why he thinks Percy Watson should be ranked number one in next week’s NXT Poll! MVP states that Percy needs to be the “complete package” to be the next breakout star and that he believes that Percy has all of the attributes to do so! Percy Watson then states his case by saying that his a “go getter and not a quitter” and that he knows what it is like to work hard to get what he wants! Following Percy Watson’s statement, “Dashing” Cody Rhodes and his NXT Rookie, Husky Harris, comes out and Cody Rhodes explains that Husky could use some “grooming advice” and that he could be a “great representative” for Little Rock given his size, but that Husky is an “army tank with a Ferrari engine”! Husky then states that he is not like the other big name Superstars the WWE has seen as of late, but that he is “real”, which MVP comments on by calling Husky “real fat”!

With the second NXT elimination just a week away, the opening match of the night saw “The Ballin’ Superstar” MVP team with his NXT Rookie, “Showtime” Percy Watson to face the team of “Dashing” Cody Rhodes and his NXT Rookie, Husky Harris! In the end, it was Husky Harris hitting his Husky Senton on MVP en route to pinning the WWE Pro to pick up the win for himself and Cody Rhodes! After narrowly escaping elimination in the previous NXT elimination, can Husky Harris avoid elimination the second time around?

With his WWE Pro, Mark Henry, unable to be there after his match with Wade Barrett on RAW, NXT Rookie Lucky Cannon would go one-on-one with fellow Rookie, Alex Riley, but before he competed, Cannon stated that, on NXT, he has had the “time of his life” and it is like a “dream” that he does not want to end before thanking the WWE fans! Alex Riley then states that the NXT competition is about who should “run” the WWE and implores the WWE fans to “do the right thing” by voting for him! Money-in-the-Bank holder and United States Champion The Miz proclaims that as a future WWE Champion, the fans should vote for Alex Riley because he “told” them to!

After stating why they should avoid elimination next week, NXT Rookies would square off as Lucky Cannon would go one-on-one with Alex Riley! In the end, it was Alex Riley making quick work of Lucky Cannon by picking up an impressive win! After the match, things went from bad to much, much worse for Lucky Cannon as The Miz rushed back into the ring and blasted Lucky Cannon in the mid-section with his briefcase and planting Lucky with the Skull Crushing Finale into the briefcase! What is the status of Lucky Cannon following this vicious attack by The Miz?

WWE Pro John Morrison then speaks on his NXT Rookie, Eli Cottonwood, as Morrison describes Eli as a “long term investment” worth more than any other Rookie! The unique Eli Cottonwood then takes the mic and asks NXT Co-Host Matt Striker who Striker will vote for; intimidating Striker into wanting to vote for Cottonwood! WWE Pros, LayCool, then speaks on their NXT Rookie, Kaval, and states that Kaval has some of the big factors to make it and he is “almost flawless”! Kaval then states his own case by saying that he has the “confidence” in his “abilities” to make it, but while he has the “ability”, the fans have the “power” to make him NXT’s next breakout star!

Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston then speaks on why his NXT Rookie, Michael McGillicutty, should be the next breakout star and Kofi states that McGillicutty is “hungriest” of all the NXT Rookies and states that Kofi was “born” to be a WWE Superstar! Michael McGillicutty then states that he has a “perfect record” of 4-0 on NXT and the fans need to make the “perfect choice” in voting for him!

Then it was time for the NXT Rookies to battle for immunity as the seven Rookies would compete in an Obstacle Course Challenge with the winner earning immunity from being eliminated next week! The Obstacle Course Challenge would consist of four parts; the first would see the Rookie hop through a series of tires, then the Rookie would jump over three hurdles, each a different height, then the Rookie would have to do ten pushups, then walk across a balance beam and, finally, the Rookie must push an anvil case over the finish line! The first Rookie to compete in the Obstacle Course Challenge was Michael McGillicutty and McGillicutty finished with a time of 26.7, setting the time to beat for the other Rookies! Next up was Alex Riley and “The Varsity Villain” stumbled in areas on the Obstacle Course and ended up registering a time of 40.3! After being halfway out of the designated box for the pushups and falling off of the balance beam, Eli Cottonwood still finished the course, but it did not matter as Cottonwood was disqualified! Even after being assaulted by The Miz, Lucky Cannon still competed in the challenge and came the closest to beating Michael McGillicutty’s time by registering a time of 28.2! With Michael McGillicutty’s time of 26.7 still the time to beat, Kaval was the next one to take on the Obstacle Course Challenge and “The World Warrior” impressed on all of the aspects of the course until he came up against pushing the anvil case as Kaval had some trouble with the heavy case and ended up registering a time of 29.1! “Showtime” Percy Watson faced the Obstacle Course Challenge next and Watson finished with a time of 31.5! Husky Harris was the last Rookie to face the Obstacle Course Challenge and, did good until he came up to the third and tallest hurdle in the challenge as the former football player opted to tackle the hurdle instead of jumping it! Husky walked through the rest of the course and registered a time of 50.3! Hanging on to his time of 26.7, Michael McGillicutty earned immunity from elimination next week! With Michael McGillicutty earning immunity from elimination, that means that Alex Riley, Kaval, Husky Harris, Lucky Cannon, Eli Cottonwood, or “Showtime” Percy Watson will be going home next week! Which NXT Rookie will be eliminated next week and which Rookie will take one step close to becoming WWE’s next breakout star?

The 66th edition of WWE Superstars came to you from the BOK Center in Tulsa, OK and from the Verizon Arena in Little Rock, AR. Four nights after failing to win the Unified WWE Tag Team Titles at WWE Money-in-the-Bank, Jimmy & Jey Uso would be looking to regain their spot as the number one contenders for the gold as The Usos would face Unified WWE Tag Team Champions The Hart Dynasty in a non-title match! After having some trouble with their double team tactics as of late, “The Masterpiece” Chris Masters would recruit “The Ballin’ Superstar” as Chris Masters would team with MVP to face The Dude Busters; Caylen Croft & Trent Barreta. In a rematch from last week’s WWE Superstars, “The Brooklyn Brawler” JTG would be looking to avenge his loss as he would go one-on-one with the Superstar who defeated him last week, Chavo Guerrero. WWE Superstars would also see an international high-flying face off as Yoshi Tatsu would go one-on-one with Primo.

WWE Superstars (July 22, 2010)
Good Week For: Chavo Guerrero (defeated JTG for the second week in a row)
Bad Week For: The Usos (lost to The Hart Dynasty for the second time this week)

The opening match of the night saw tag team action as “The Ballin’ Superstar” MVP & “The Masterpiece” Chris Masters, with MVP’s NXT Rookie “Showtime” Percy Watson at ringside, would face The Dude Busters; Caylen Croft & Trent Barreta! In the end, it was MVP hitting the Play of the Day en route to pinning Caylen Croft and picking up the win for himself and Chris Masters!

Then, in a rematch from last week’s WWE Superstars, “The Brooklyn Baller” JTG would go one-on-one with Chavo Guerrero! In the end, it was Chavo hitting the Frog Splash on JTG en route to defeating JTG for the second straight week!

WWE Superstars also featured an international high-flying face-off as Yoshi Tatsu would go one-on-one with Primo. In the end, it was Primo hitting a modified Back Stabber on Yoshi Tatsu en route to picking up the win!

Then it was time for the main event as, four nights after they squared off with the Unified WWE Tag Team Titles on the line, Jimmy & Jey Uso would get their chance to earn another title opportunity as The Usos would face Unified WWE Tag Team Champions The Hart Dynasty in a non-title match! In the end, it was The Hart Dynasty taking out both Usos with the Hart Attack en route to Tyson Kidd pinning Jey Uso to pick up the win!

Five nights after a memorable and controversial WWE Money-in-the-Bank, the 570th edition of WWE Friday Night SmackDown came to you from the Verizon Arena in Little Rock, AR. Five nights after successfully defending his World Heavyweight Title against Jack Swagger at WWE Money-in-the-Bank only to lose the World Heavyweight Title mere moments later after Kane successfully cashed in his Money-in-the-Bank title opportunity, former World Heavyweight Champions would square off as “The Master of the 619” Rey Mysterio would go one-on-one with “The All-American American” Jack Swagger in a 2-out-of-3 Falls Match with the winner earning a shot at the World Heavyweight Title at “The Biggest Party of the Summer”, SummerSlam!

Friday Night SmackDown (July 23, 2010)
Good Week For: Rey Mysterio (defeated Jack Swagger to become the new #1 Contender and managed to hit the 619 on Kane)
Bad Week For: Joey Mercury (was unmasked by Big Show during their one-on-one match)

Five nights after winning the SmackDown Money-in-the-Bank title opportunity and cashing it in on the same night on a weakened Rey Mysterio to win the World Heavyweight Title, the show kicks off with the new World Heavyweight Champion, Kane! The new champion describes the last thirteen years of his career as “slowly dying” until Sunday night where he laid seven other competitors to “rest” to earn the Money-in-the-Bank title opportunity and that he “made history” by cashing in the opportunity on the same night to become the new World Heavyweight Champion! Kane then states that winning the World Heavyweight Title was the “most gratifying moment” of his entire career! Kane then tells Rey Mysterio that he just did what anyone else in his position would have done! Kane then shouts that he “did it”, but that he did not do it for himself, but for his fallen brother, The Undertaker! Kane then explains that he went to visit The Undertaker and upon seeing his brother being “unable to appreciate” the momentous occasion, he “vowed” to The Undertaker that “no one” would ever take the “holy grail”, the World Heavyweight Title, away from him! Kane then vows that he “will not rest” until he finds the culprit responsible for the attack on his brother and “hell will reign supreme when the World Heavyweight Champion finally achieves his vengeance”! Who will the new World Heavyweight Champion seek out next in his ongoing quest for revenge?

Five nights after competing in the SmackDown Money-in-the-Bank Ladder Match, four of the eight competitors in that match were in action as “Captain Charisma” Christian would team with Matt Hardy to face the team of “The Chosen One” Drew McIntyre and “Dashing” Cody Rhodes! The match took an interesting turn, however, as during the bout, Cody Rhodes entered the ring and Christian followed, leading to the two teams brawling. However, Matt Hardy then missed hitting Cody Rhodes and inadvertently struck Christian! Shortly after this, Matt went to check on Christian, but doing so left Matt vulnerable to a big boot by Drew McIntyre, which ended up spelling the end of the match for the team! After the match, Christian re-entered the ring and pulled Matt Hardy to his feet before the two Superstars reluctantly shook hands! Are Christian and Matt Hardy truly at peace with each other?

Backstage, SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long confronts the self-proclaimed “co-Women’s Champions”, LayCool, that Layla will be defending her Women’s Title on next week’s SmackDown against Tiffany! Can Layla successfully retain her gold or will Tiffany claim her first championship?

Five nights after they both competed in the SmackDown Money-in-the-Bank Ladder Match, Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston, with his NXT Rookie Michael McGillicutty at ringside, would go one-on-one with “The Platinum Superstar” Dolph Ziggler, with SmackDown Consultant Vickie Guerrero in his corner! During the match, Kofi Kingston gets knocked to the outside and Kofi’s NXT Rookie Michael McGillicutty goes to check on his WWE Pro, but SmackDown Consultant Vickie Guerrero confronts McGillicutty and orders McGillicutty to leave the ringside area! In the end, it was Vickie Guerrero grabbing the foot of Kofi Kingston that allowed Dolph Ziggler to hit the Zig Zag and inevitably lock in the sleeper hold to put Kofi to sleep to pick up the win! After the match, Dolph picked up the Intercontinental Title belt and celebrated with it as if he had just won it! After defeating the Intercontinental Champion, Dolph Ziggler certainly has a title shot, but when will Dolph get it?

Five nights after competing in the SmackDown Money-in-the-Bank Ladder Match and one week after humiliating CM Punk by exposing Punk’s bald head, “The World’s Largest Athlete” Big Show was in action against “The Straightedge Disciple” of CM Punk, Luke Gallows, but before the match began, CM Punk had a discussion with Luke Gallows before deciding to send the masked ally of The Straightedge Society to face Big Show instead! The masked ally put up a fight against Big Show, but that did not stop Big Show from ripping the mask off of the masked ally, just like Big Show did to CM Punk last week, to reveal that the masked ally is actually a former WWE Tag Team Champion who had been missing from the WWE for three or four years as the masked ally is actually the former MNM member, Joey Mercury! After exposing Joey Mercury, Big Show leveled Mercury with the Knockout Punch en route to picking up the win! Did CM Punk throw Joey Mercury to Big Show knowing that Show would unmask Mercury? How will The Straightedge Society respond to Big Show unmasking CM Punk and Joey Mercury?

Then it was time for the main event as, five nights after successfully retaining the World Heavyweight Title against Jack Swagger only to have Kane cash in the Money-in-the-Bank title opportunity to win the World Heavyweight Title at WWE Money-in-the-Bank, former World Heavyweight Champion Rey Mysterio would face “The All-American American” Jack Swagger once again, but this time it would be in a 2-out-of-3 Falls Match with the winner earning the right to challenge Kane for the World Heavyweight Title at SummerSlam! The first fall was determined after Jack Swagger locked in the ankle lock on Rey Mysterio as Swagger ignored the referee’s five count and got himself disqualified, taking Rey up one fall to none! Then came the second fall and Jack Swagger locked in the ankle lock and, after all of the abuse that Rey Mysterio’s ankle had taken, Rey had no choice but to tap out, tying the match at one fall a piece! In the end, quickness won out as Rey was able to outmaneuver Swagger and roll Swagger up to win the third fall and punch his ticket to face Kane for the World Heavyweight Title at SummerSlam! After the match, Jack Swagger grabbed Rey Mysterio by the ankle, but before Swagger could deal any further damage, World Heavyweight Champion Kane intervened and delivered a thunderous chokeslam to Swagger! Then it looked like Kane would do the same to Rey Mysterio, but instead, Kane raised the hand of the new #1 Contender before exiting the ring! However, Kane was not done with Rey as Kane returned to the ring and was set to deliver the chokeslam to Rey, but Mysterio countered and managed to hit the 619 on the World Heavyweight Champion! Can Rey Mysterio do the same at SummerSlam and regain the World Heavyweight Title or will Kane reign supreme at “The Biggest Event of the Summer”?

Superstar of the Week: NEW World Heavyweight Champion Kane

 

Accomplishments
2007 WWE Hall of Famer
One Time NWA World Heavyweight Champion
One Time NWA United States Champion
Two Time NWA World Television Champion
Two Time NWA World Tag Team Champion (1x w/ Dick Slater & 1x w/ Manny Fernandez)
Two Time NWA World Six-Man Tag Team Champion (w/ The Road Warriors)
Winner of the Jim Crocket, Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournament (w/ Nikita Koloff)
Winner of the Bunkhouse Stampede (1985, 1986, 1987, & 1988)
1995 WCW Hall of Famer
Father of Goldust & “Dashing” Cody Rhodes

Did You Know?
Dusty Rhodes currently works at the WWE developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), where he is the head creative writer, as well as the color commentator.

Next Week’s WWE Television Schedule
Monday, July 26: RAW, LIVE from the AT&T Center in San Antonio, TX
Tuesday, July 27: WWE NXT from the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, TX
Thursday, July 29: WWE Superstars from San Antonio, TX & Corpus Christi, TX
Friday, July 30: The American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, TX Hosts SmackDown