WWE RAW Results: September 17, 2012

Controversy After Controversy.

One night after a surprising and controversial Night of Champions, the 1008th edition of WWE Monday Night RAW came to you, live, from the Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, CT. After the WWE Championship match ended in controversy at Night of Champions with both CM Punk and John Cena’s shoulders being pinned to the mat, resulting in a draw and successful title retention for CM Punk, what will both champion and challenger have to say about what went down at Night of Champions? Night of Champions also saw two titles change hands as Eve filled in for an injured Kaitlyn in the Divas Title match and ended up winning her third Divas Championship and the unlikely and feuding duo of Kane & Daniel Bryan actually dethroned R-Truth & Kofi Kingston to become the new WWE Tag Team Champions, but can Kane & Daniel Bryan even co-exist to hang on to the tag titles? Also, with Jerry “The King” Lawler being sent home to Memphis this week to recover, Lawler’s good friend and former colleague, Hall of Famer Jim Ross, would return to the announce position as “Good Ol’ J.R.” will join Michael Cole and John “Bradshaw” Layfield in calling all the RAW action!

Match Results

• Sin Cara & Rey Mysterio def. Primo & Epico by Sin Cara pinning Epico following the Swanton Bomb.
• Non-Title: Eve def. Beth Phoenix by roll-up.
• Brodus Clay def. Heath Slater (with Antonio Cesaro) by pin following the Funkasplash.
• Dolph Ziggler (with Vickie Guerrero) def. Santino Marella by pin following the Zig Zag.
• Wade Barrett def. Justin Gabriel by pin following a short-arm right hand.
• WWE Tag Team Championship: Kane & Daniel Bryan (c) def. R-Truth & Kofi Kingston by R-Truth tapping out to Daniel Bryan’s No Lock to retain.
• Randy Orton def. Tensai by pin following the RKO.
• Damien Sandow def. Zack Ryder by pin following the straightjacket neckbreaker.
• Sheamus & John Cena def. CM Punk & Alberto Del Rio by John Cena pinning CM Punk following the Attitude Adjustment.

Detailed Results

The show would appear to kick off with WWE Champion CM Punk, but instead of the WWE Champion, we get Punk’s associate, Paul Heyman. Heyman says that he got to witness “history” at Night of Champions as he got to see CM Punk successfully defend the WWE Championship against John Cena. Heyman admits that the match ended in controversy before asking the referee for the WWE Title match, senior referee Chad Patton, to come out and defend his ruling of the match as a draw. Heyman then shows a still from Night of Champions that shows both Punk and Cena’s shoulders being on the mat and Chad Patton counting both men’s shoulders down for the three-count. Patton says that he did make the right decision before Heyman then presents camera phone footage from a fan in attendance, which clearly shows that both men’s shoulders were indeed down and, for the 303rd day in a row, CM Punk is the WWE Champion. Before Heyman can continue, he is interrupted by the arrival of the man who thought that he had won his eleventh WWE Championship at Night of Champions, John Cena. Cena says that he actually agrees with Heyman because Chad Patton did make the right decision, saying that Patton is not biased. Cena continues that he did have a conversation with Patton over the “finality” of his decision. Cena says that the WWE Title match was a WrestleMania-caliber match and the fans did not want to see such a great match end in a draw. Cena then asks Heyman if, by retaining the WWE Title by way of a draw, does Heyman believe that Punk has earned respect? Heyman says that Punk did earn respect at Night of Champions, but Cena argues that respect is being able to hold one’s head high after a definitive decision. Cena says that, while the referee made the right call, he agrees with the fans because he wants to find out who the winner would truly be. Cena says that he is there and they’ve already got a referee and all they need is CM Punk to have the match on RAW. Heyman then reveals that the WWE Champion has not arrived yet, but he is the “voice of the voice of the voiceless”.

The proceedings are then interrupted by Alberto Del Rio and his injured personal ring announcer, Ricardo Rodriguez, as Del Rio tells Cena to “stop crying” about Night of Champions because Cena had his shot and lost. Del Rio continues that he never had a shot after Booker T reinstated the Brogue Kick moments before the World Heavyweight Title match at Night of Champions. Del Rio then claims that he was “not ready” at Night of Champions and, if there is anyone who deserves a rematch, it is him. RAW General Manager AJ Lee then skips down to the ring, saying that, on behalf of SmackDown General Manager Booker T, she is making a “super main event” as WWE Champion CM Punk will team with Alberto Del Rio to face the team of World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus and John Cena! Paul Heyman then tries to get a word with the GM, but AJ Lee just skips away, paying no mind to CM Punk’s associate.

Michael Cole then reveals the excellent news that his Hall of Fame colleague Jerry “The King” Lawler has arrived in his hometown of Memphis after spending the last week in a Montreal hospital after his heart attack during last week’s RAW. Cole also reveals that, on next week’s RAW, they will have an exclusive interview with “The King”. Michael Cole is then joined at the announce position by his Night of Champions color commentator, John “Bradshaw” Layfield, and the legendary voice of RAW for nearly fifteen years, Hall of Famer Jim Ross!

After coming up short in the Fatal 4-Way Match for the Intercontinental Title at Night of Champions, Sin Cara & Rey Mysterio would face Primo & Epico, with Rosa Mendes in their corner, on RAW. In the end, it was Sin Cara landing the Swanton Bomb on Epico en route to picking up another win for the high-flying team. After the match, The Prime Time Players come out of nowhere, ambushing Sin Cara & Rey Mysterio as Darren Young hits his double knee gutbuster on Mysterio while Titus O’Neil hits his sit-down spinebuster. Titus O’Neil then says that their #1 Contenders spots were taken away from them and now they are going to start taking what they want.

One night after filling in for Kaitlyn in the Divas Title match, actually winning the Divas Title, new Divas Champion Eve went one-on-one with Beth Phoenix in a non-title match, with former champion Layla a guest on commentary. In the end, it was Eve rolling Beth Phoenix up to pick up the win.

With United States Champion Antonio Cesaro a guest on commentary, “The Funkasaurus” Brodus Clay went one-on-one with Heath Slater on RAW. During the match, Antonio Cesaro would distract Brodus Clay, allowing Heath Slater to briefly take advantage, but “The Funkasaurus” would persevere, hitting the Funkasplash en route to picking up the win.

After successfully defending his Intercontinental Title in a Fatal 4-Way Match at Night of Champions, Intercontinental Champion The Miz would debut his new talk show segment, Miz TV, and The Miz’s first guest would be the man who put him in the Fatal 4-Way Match, SmackDown General Manager Booker T. The Miz says that he had the “worst odds” of winning at Night of Champions, but he still won the match and kept his title and he has been rewarded with his own talk show. Miz then welcomes everyone to Miz TV, saying that talk show segments like Piper’s Pit, The Cutting Edge, and The Highlight Reel never had a host as great and charismatic as him. The Miz then introduces his guest, the General Manager of SmackDown Booker T, who makes his way to the ring as Miz TV’s first guest. Miz does not let the GM speak, saying that Booker’s appearance on the show is the highlight of his entire career before asking why Booker is “against” him and why Booker reinstated the Brogue Kick at the last minute. The Miz claims that Booker misses the “spotlight”, telling Booker that his “time is over”. Finally, Booker snatches the microphone away from the Intercontinental Champion, saying that Miz likes to talk, but it is time that Miz gets a “new guest” for his show, saying that Miz needs to interview a Superstar who is used to defeating multiple opponents at once. As Booker T exits the ring, “The Sin City Cyborg” Ryback marches to the ring, prompting a quick retreat by The Miz. Ryback then wrecks the Miz TV set, hurling furniture at the Intercontinental Champion, leaving Miz in shock!

Following his loss to Randy Orton at Night of Champions, “Mr. Money-in-the-Bank” Dolph Ziggler, with Vickie Guerrero in his corner, went one-on-one with Santino Marella. During the match, a distraction by Vickie Guerrero would allow Dolph Ziggler to hit the Zig Zag on Santino Marella, but Ziggler would hit a second Zig Zag for good measure, pinning Santino to pick up the win.

After proclaiming that Wade Barrett is “open for business” and he would let a Superstar get a “sample”, Wade Barrett would go one-on-one with a former follower and teammate in Justin Gabriel. In the end, it was Wade Barrett putting Justin Gabriel down with a hard right hand en route to pinning Gabriel for the win.

One night after their unlikely winning of the WWE Tag Team Titles, new WWE Tag Team Champions Kane & Daniel Bryan defended their newly acquired gold against the former champions, R-Truth & Kofi Kingston. During the match, an argument erupts between Kane & Daniel Bryan and Bryan hangs Kane up on the top rope, allowing R-Truth to hit the Little Jimmy on Kane. However, Daniel Bryan would correct his own mistake by breaking up the pin. Kane would then plant R-Truth with a chokeslam before Daniel Bryan tags in, locking in the No Lock on R-Truth, making Truth tap out to retain the WWE Tag Team Titles for himself and Kane. After the match, Daniel Bryan would grab both title belts, screaming “I’m the tag team champions” before Kane does the same. Bryan then calms down and asks Kane to “hug it out” with the WWE Tag Team Champions hugging in the middle of the ring, but during the hug, Bryan would grab one of the title belts and both men would resume shouting “I’m the tag team champions”!

After his victory over Dolph Ziggler at Night of Champions, “The Viper” Randy Orton went one-on-one with Tensai, with Sakamoto in his corner. In the end, it was Randy Orton striking with the RKO on Tensai en route to picking up the win.

Damien Sandow made an appearance on RAW as “The Intellectual Savior of the Masses” tries to give a vocabulary lesson to Bridgeport, but Zack Ryder interrupts, revealing that AJ Lee has put him in a match against Sandow right now.

Per the orders of AJ Lee, “The Intellectual Savior of the Masses” Damien Sandow went one-on-one with “The Long Island Iced Z” Zack Ryder. In the end, it was Damien Sandow hitting the straightjacket neckbreaker on Zack Ryder en route to picking up the win.

The respective champions and challengers from Night of Champions would face off as the main event of RAW would see WWE Champion CM Punk, with Paul Heyman in his corner, team with Alberto Del Rio, with Ricardo Rodriguez in his corner, to face the team of John Cena and World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus. In the end, John Cena hits the Attitude Adjustment on CM Punk and, despite Punk getting his foot on the bottom rope, the referee would count to three as Cena and Sheamus pick up the win. After the match, CM Punk and Paul Heyman protest to the referee that his foot was on the bottom rope. Heyman even restrains an irate CM Punk at one point before Punk continues to follow the referee to the back, protesting the controversial end to the match.

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