The March 5, 2012 Edition of RAW is a Professional wrestling television show of the WWE's RAW brand, which took place on March 5, 2012 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.
Summary[]
As the WWE Universe races toward WrestleMania XXVIII, The Rock and John Cena continued their war of words, Shawn Michaels revealed himself as guest referee for Triple H vs. The Undertaker, and Santino Marella won the U.S. Championship in a historic, jam-packed edition of Raw SuperShow. Also, the power struggle between Teddy Long and John Laurinaitis grew even fiercer, as the WWE Board of Directors’ GM-swap experiment became a reality.
Before a sold-out TD Garden, Raw SuperShow kicked off with the hotly anticipated return of Shawn Michaels. HBK wasted no time in inviting longtime ally Triple H to the ring to explain his decision behind not only accepting The Undertaker's challenge for a match at WrestleMania, but also demanding that the match take place inside Hell in a Cell.
After dismissing HBK's suggestion that being unfavorably compared to Michaels is what led him to accept the match, Triple H acknowledged HBK's WrestleMania XXVI loss to The Phenom – a loss that sent Michaels into retirement – and stated that it pains him to look at Michaels as a “loser.” The Game said that when he steps into Hell in a Cell with The Undertaker at WrestleMania, he'll end both The Undertaker, and his Streak, in HBK's honor.
Visibly taken aback by the comment, an offended Michaels told Triple H that, much like last year, he knows who's going to win The Undertaker-Triple H match this year because he will serve as special guest referee.
The Milan Miracle continued his winning ways and captured his first U.S. Championship after reversing an ankle lock and surprising Jack Swagger with a schoolboy pin. SmackDown General Manager Teddy Long granted the title opportunity to Marella following the WWE Board of Directors’ decision last week for Long to swap shows, and managerial duties, with Interim Raw GM John Laurinaitis.
During the bout's opening moments, Dolph Ziggler – who, along with Vickie Gurrero, seconded Swagger at ringside – distracted Marella, enabling The All-American American to deliver a gut-wrench powerbomb. In addition to Ziggler and Vickie, Laurinaitis and his legal counsel, David Otunga, showed up to ringside, as did Long's contingency of his girlfriend, Aksana, and Raw Superstar Kofi Kingston.
The warring GMs scuffled throughout the match, distracting referee Scott Armstrong on numerous occasions. At one point, Marella sent Ziggler, who was trying to interfere on Swagger's behalf, flying off the ring apron with the Cobra. Amid all the commotion, Marella was able to stun The All-American American with a pinfall. After the match, Laurinaitis grabbed the microphone and complained that Long was taking over his show. Long replied by calling for security, who escorted Laurinaitis and Otunga out of the TD Garden.
After admitting on last week's Raw SuperShow that she has no qualms about using men to get what she wants, the newly cold-hearted Eve faced Alicia Fox in a brief battle that ended when Eve rolled up Alicia. During the bout, Kelly Kelly, fresh off a Twitter war with Eve, sat in on commentary and spoke with disappointment of her former friend's troubling new attitude.
After the match, Zack Ryder, with the help of a walking cane, appeared on stage before the WWE Universe. Long Island Iced-Z tersely told Eve that he's glad they never hooked up, and he reiterated an aphorism that's quickly become the stuff of legend: “Broskis before Hoeskis.”
Moments later, Eve locked lips with a stunned Ryder in the backstage area.
WWE Champion CM Punk and the World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan, along with their respective No. 1 contenders, Chris Jericho and Sheamus, all took to the ring for this high-octane tag team contest.
The match started out with the two Superstars seeking to lay claim to the “Best in the World” title – Punk and Jericho – trading holds and exchanging blistery strikes. As the action picked up steam, Sheamus and Bryan each found their way into the mix. Midway into the bout, Sheamus reversed a bulldog attempt by Jericho and launched Y2J knee-first into the turnbuckle. Moments later, however, Jericho was able to break up Sheamus’ attempt at giving Bryan The Celtic Cross.
Eventually, Sheamus and Bryan spilled to ringside, where The Celtic Warrior clobbered The Submission Specialist with a thunderous double-axehandle. Inside the ring, Punk reversed the Walls of Jericho into a small package, but the veteran Jericho managed to roll over Punk just enough to secure Punk's shoulders to the mat for the three-count. After the match, Jericho grabbed the WWE Championship and pointed to it, while a frustrated Punk could only look on.
What does the pinfall mean for either Superstar's claim of being the world's best? Join the conversation at WWE InterAction and tweet your replies using the hashtag #bestintheworld.
Just as the match was getting under way, Intercontinental Champion continued in his efforts to embarrass his WrestleMania XXVIII opponent, Big Show. This time, instead of showing video of The World's Largest Athlete losing a match on The Grandest Stage of Them All, Rhodes played a clip of Show eating at the WWE Restaurant New York on the day of WrestleMania X8 and played it off as footage of Show in his “natural habitat.”
The video distracted Show long enough to give The Miz an opening to attack him from behind. The advantage was short-lived, however, and in a matter of moments, Show turned things around with a mammoth spear. He then finished off his former Show-Miz partner with a jaw-shattering WMD.
How will The Phenom react to the news that HBK will referee The Undertaker vs. Triple H, inside Hell in a Cell, at WrestleMania XXVIII?
R-Truth, one of the six Superstars laid out by Kane's ambush last Monday, used his speed and agility to build a furious, but fleeting, onslaught early on. Before long, Kane's power took over, and The Big Red Monster bullied Truth around the ring. Truth mounted a slight comeback, but after missing a scissor-kick, he fell victim to a chokeslam.
As Kane stood victorious, Randy Orton – who The Big Red Machine rudely welcomed back to SmackDown last Friday night – approached the ring. With Truth holding onto his leg, Kane was sitting prey for The Viper, who nailed an RKO and told Kane, “It’s good to be back.”
While in Boston for Raw SuperShow, The Rock took to the streets to film "history lessons" tailored to Massachusetts' native son John Cena.
One week after his epic confrontation with The Rock on Raw SuperShow, Massachusetts native John Cena entered Boston's sold-out TD Garden to address last week's headline-grabbing showdown. Describing The Rock as the “Michael Jordan of the mic,” Cena said that he did the unthinkable by getting the better of The Rock in their verbal exchange and turning tongue-tied the normally unflappable Great One.
Wondering whether the Superstar who shows up April 1 will be the “dude who talks about Chinese takeout” or the greatest Superstar in WWE history, Cena said he hopes The Rock who appears in Miami is at his best WrestleMania day.
Having heard enough, The Rock entered the arena and dismissed the possibility that Cena had shaken The Great One last week. Rather, The Rock said that he senses fear and doubt in Cena's words. If Cena loses, the Rock continued, it will negate all off Cena's many accomplishments in WWE – a point that the Cenation leader conceded.
However, it was Cena eventually scored the last word in this battle, telling The Rock – who by that point had returned to the locker room area – that if he believes Cena's lost his confidence, then The Rock has lost his mind.
Results[]
- Numbers in parentheses indicate the length of the match.
- (c) refers to the champion(s) heading into the match.
- Dark Match: The Great Khali defeated Curt Hawkins (w/ Tyler Reks)
- Santino Marella defeated Jack Swagger (w/ Dolph Ziggler & Vickie Guerrero) (c) to win the WWE United States Championship (6:30)
- Eve Torres defeated Alicia Fox (0:35)
- Chris Jericho & Daniel Bryan (w/ AJ) defeated CM Punk & Sheamus (12:00)
- The Big Show defeated The Miz (2:00)
- Kane defeated R-Truth (1:25)
Other on-screen talent[]
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Trivia[]
- This night marked the first singles title regin of Santino Marella since 2008.
- This night also marked the first time The Rock was booed in the audience and the first time "Tooth Fairy" chants were heard.
Image Gallery[]
Michaels will be the special guest referee at WrestleMania[]
Santino Marella v Jack Swagger[]
Eve Torres v Alicia Fox[]
Jericho & Bryan v CM Punk & Sheamus[]
The Big Show v The Miz[]
Kane v R-Truth[]
Rock educated Cena about historic locations throughout Boston[]
Rock and John Cena resumed their war of words[]
