Raw - January 24, 2011 - Detroit, MI

On a Monday night before the Royal Rumble, Detroit's Raw felt like a pay-per-view. The night kicked off with the World Heavyweight Champion Edge as he was anxious to start the match with the WWE Champion The Miz. But the Raw General Manager had other plans, for while the champion vs. champion match was still set for later on, he put Edge in an 4-man over-the-top-rope match, and whoever could throw out Edge would receive the #40 spot in the Royal Rumble match. Jack Swagger, Drew McIntyre, & Tyson Kidd tried their best, but in the end, Edge prevailed, despite the rib injury he suffered last week on SmackDown. After the warmup, Edge had in mind to once again destroy the Raw laptop, but as Michael Cole blocked his path, the new Nexus appeared.




With the new Nexus in the ring, CM Punk introduced the newest member, Mason Ryan. As Punk continued to preach the word "faith", he had a few choice words for John Cena & even The Corre, who he considers "a poor man's Nexus". With that comment, The Corre (Wade Barrett, Ezekiel Jackson, Heath Slater, & Justin Gabriel) came out and confronted the Nexus. Before anything could go down, the Raw GM announced that Wade Barrett & CM Punk would compete in a one-on-one match and whoever lost, he & his group would be out of the Rumble match. In addition, the special guest referee would be John Cena!




In tag team action, John Morrison & Mark Henry took on King Sheamus & Alberto Del Rio. A hard fought match, but in the end, after Sheamus nailed Mark Henry with the broh kick, Alberto took advantage & made Henry tap out for the win.




For the Divas Championship, Natalya defended her title against Melina. In a match full of twisted holds & moves (litteraly), Natalya saved the best for last as she executed the sickest sharpshooter in history on Melina, allowing her to successfully retain her Divas title. But Natalya's celebration was cut short when Lay-Cool appeared & used their rematch clause for a 2-on-1 handicap match for the Divas title at the Royal Rumble.




In the champion vs. champion match between Edge & The Miz, Dolph Ziggler & Vicki Guerrero decided to do commentary for the match. This match was worthy of a pay-per-view, but as Edge was prepared to spear The Miz, Dolph jumped up and attacked Edge. Just as Dolph, The Miz, & Alex Riley ganged up on Edge, the crowd erupted with the arrival of Randy Orton, as he bulldozed everybody, trying to get to The Miz. After Orton gave a RKO to Riley & Ziggler, The Miz nailed Orton with a briefcase, long enough for The Miz to escape. Later in the night, a match was made for SmackDown as The Miz & Dolph Ziggler will take on the one-night reunion of team Rated RKO.




In a 6-person tag team match, United States Champion Daniel Bryan & the Bella Twins took on Ted DiBiase, Maryse, & Alicia Fox. The match ended rather quickly as Nikki Bella was distracted by her sister Brie, who was trying to make out with Bryan. Maryse took advatange and rolled up Nikki for the win, but the loss was of no concern as the Bellas argued all the way to the back.



However, the mood changed when the twins went to see Daniel Bryan.....




In a non-title match, Nexus members Husky Harris & Michael McGillicutty took on the WWE Tag Team Champions Santino Marella & Vladimir Kozlov. With David Otunga & Mason Ryan at ringside, it didn't long for the Nexus to take out Kozlov, long enough for Husky Harris to drive Santino's head to the mat and pick up the win.




Before the match between CM Punk & Wade Barrett could begin, special guest referee John Cena removed the rest of the Nexus & the Corre from ringside. Afterwards, Cena had fun provoking Punk & Barrett to hit him, but they couldn't, for he was the ref & they would lose the chance to be in the Rumble match. Moments later, after the two knocked each other out, Cena declared the match a double DQ, preventing both men & their groups to be the Rumble match. However, the Raw GM announced that both the Nexus & the Corre would indeed be in the Rumble and if Cena didn't apologize for his actions, he would be out. So after Cena reluctantly apologized, he started swinging on Punk & Barrett, until their groups showed up for a showdown. But instead, they focused their attention on Cena until the Big Show & the Raw locker room came out and cleared the ring as a prelude to the Royal Rumble.




*BONUS PICS FROM THE JOE*