Posted on 11/11/125 by Bob Magee
John Cena kicks off Raw
The crowd continued chanting for Cena, but they were instead
greeted with Paul “Triple H” Levesque, already in the ring.
His music played for a while as he soaked up his own crowd
reaction. He waited a full minute after the ring announcer
said his name before he began speaking.
He said everyone had an opinion, and there weren’t many
agreements. Everyone had an opinion on who the greatest of
all time was. You can measure it by in-ring performance,
charisma, ability to tear down your opponent on the mic,
etc. It was all subjective. However, Levesque was in the
position to see it from all sides (he began getting ‘What’
chants here), and he knew that tonight, we’d all be able to
agree on one thing.
From an objective measure, there was one person at the top
of that list. As a box office attraction, someone who gave
it all in the ring, ruthless on the mic, and did it all with
a smile on his face because he loved the business and wanted
to see it elevated to the highest level possible. He was the
single greatest asset the business has ever seen. He was,
without a doubt, the greatest of all time. (Imagine that
being a great asset to a company is the reason you’re
considered the greatest wrestler ever.)
Finally, Levesque introduced John Cena.
Cena entered to a huge reaction, and he shook Levesque’s
hand. Fans chanted, “Thank you, Cena.” Cena has been asked a
lot about who he wanted to face. But only one person asked
him what he wanted to do with this exercise. (He pointed at
Levesque.)
Cena’s goal was to leave the business better than he found
it. To pay back all the opportunities that the company gave
him, and that the fans were gracious enough to put up with.
The Last Time is Now tournament would determine who could
retire John Cena, and that started tonight.
Cena also had an announcement about December 13th at
Saturday Night’s Main Event. It would close one chapter, but
it would open an opportunity. It would be an opportunity for
main roster wrestlers to host exhibition matches against the
best from NXT. (That’s what he wants?) That night would
close one chapter but would pave the road ahead.
Cena didn’t make the schedule, but he did want to come to
Boston one last time. It meant everything to be in TD Garden
again and feel the atmosphere, surrounded by family and
friends.
Dominik Mysterio interrupted. He was booed and greeted with
obscenities. Dom confronted Levesque and wanted to know what
he would do about last week, when he was interrupted by a
deadbeat. Dom was the one who should be interrupting old
men.
Cena interrupted and welcomed him to Boston. Dom said this
wasn’t about him and told Cena to go to the corner—or else
he’d put him down. Cena reminded Dom of who he was.
Cena said Dom might have a chance on any other night, but
tonight, Cena felt invincible. If Dom wanted to pick a
fight, Cena promised that he would lose. However, Cena
respected Dom’s father, so he offered Dom a chance to leave.
Dom was amused because he wasn’t even at his peak yet, but
was already better than Cena in his prime. Dom said he
would’ve whooped Cena in any era. (The fans told Dom that he
f—cked up.)
Levesque interjected to make an announcement: Dom would
defend his Intercontinental Championship right now against
Cena (who, fortunately, is always dressed in his gear). The
crowd went nuts.
(It’s always nice to see Cena at this point, but this was an
odd segment until Dom came out. Cena’s SNME announcement
aside, Levesque’s opening promo felt out of place, and it
couldn’t have been more obvious that he wanted to be the one
to make the announcement that would obviously get a big
pop.)
Intercontinental Championship match: Dominik Mysterio (c)
vs. John Cena
Cena’s final match in his hometown started during a
commercial break. They did the in-ring introductions during
the break, and Dom attacked Cena when they were done, so the
referee started the match.
Cena had the better of it until Dom tossed him into the ring
post. Dom countered an AA and hit a DDT. Dom hit a slingshot
senton, but Cena got his knees up on another attempt as they
returned from a second break (two breaks before the match
was ten minutes old).
Cena did his usual comeback and five knuckle shuffle. Dom
slipped out of the AA again and shoved Cena shoulder-first
into the ring post. Dom exposed the metal turnbuckle to
distract the referee while he grabbed a steel chair. Dom
tried the Eddie Guerrero trick of faking a chair shot and
tossing the chair to Cena, but Cena dropped the chair and
lay down on the mat. The crowd chanted for Eddie while Cena
winked at Dom.
Cena hoisted Dom up for the AA again, but they bumped the
referee. Cena applied an STF, and Dom tapped out. Cena, who
has been doing this for more than 20 years, leaped to his
feet to celebrate as if it was over, but there was no
referee.
Dom tried a belt shot, but Cena ducked it and hit an AA. A
new referee ran out to make the cover, but Dom kicked out.
The fans were on their feet.
Dom tripped Cena on the ropes and hit a 619, followed by a
frog splash. However, Cena rolled through and hit an
emphatic AA for the pinfall win. The crowd exploded.
Cena celebrated with the Intercontinental title, a belt he
has now won for the first time. Cena is now a grand slam
champion. He thanked Boston and said the champ was here.
Match result: John Cena defeated Dominik Mysterio to win the
Intercontinental Championship (13:30)
********
During a break, Byron Saxton interviewed LA Knight, who is
in the Cena tournament. Knight congratulated Cena, but he
never cared about having a ‘dream match’ with anyone. But
now Cena had something he wanted. Knight kept going, and his
promo was actually cut off mid-sentence as they returned
from break.
Babyface members of the roster greeted Cena backstage and
congratulated him. Rey Mysterio shook his hand, and the
crowd cheered. They popped even bigger when Cena bumped into
Cody Rhodes. They shook hands.
********
There was a Veterans Day video.
A SmackDown clip showed that Aleister Black was to blame for
Priest having a bad eye.
The Last Time Is Now Tournament Round One: Damian Priest vs.
Rusev
The crowd came right down for this match, and they were dead
silent for Rusev getting the heat on Priest during a break.
Priest eventually came back with kicks and a crossbody off
the ropes, but Rusev targeted his eye (as he did earlier).
Rusev raked Priest’s eye and hit a Matchka Kick for the
pinfall win.
Match result: Rusev defeated Damian Priest (8:51)
Extraordinarily dull match and weak finish.
*******
AJ Styles and Dragon Lee met with Adam Pearce backstage.
Dragon Lee suggested their team name be Dragones Con Estilo
(Dragons with Style), but Styles didn’t like that. Styles
said they’d work on it.
Maxxine Dupri approached Pearce. He asked her if she was
ready for Becky Lynch. She said yes… and no. She knew she
could train forever, but there was nothing that would make
her feel “ready.” She wanted the match. Pearce made it
official for Madison Square Garden next week.
Pearce left, and Lynch appeared out of thin air to punch
Dupri in the face. Lynch told Dupri she didn’t stand a
chance.
********
CM Punk segment
Punk entered, and he made his way to the ring as they went
to break. During the break, Punk went to the announce table
and saw they had some action figures of Dusty Rhodes, John
Cena, Hulk Hogan, and Logan Paul. Punk put down the Paul
figurine and put Dusty to stand over him.
Punk was pissed off and wasn’t about to wait for a douchebag
to interrupt him. Punk was calling him out. Punk was in
Boston, and he was dressed for a street fight. He knew Logan
Paul was a piece of garbage, but didn’t quite know how big a
piece of garbage he was. Punk said Paul wasn’t about to get
a title shot, but Punk would still fight him. Paul had his
eyes on Punk’s belt, but Punk would put his boot up Paul’s
broccoli-headed millennial ass.
Paul sauntered out and remained on the stage. He wondered
why Punk was so mad, and Punk told him to stop wasting time.
Paul told Punk that he once got punched by the greatest
boxer of all time, Floyd Mayweather, but that was nothing
compared to getting flattened by Bronson Reed last week.
After dropping Seth “deadweight” Rollins, The Vision would
crack anyone who didn’t conform to them. Paul didn’t want to
get cracked every week.
Paul thought he knew it all, but after getting hit with that
Tsunami, his eyes were opened to a whole new vision. Paul
Heyman, Reed, and Bron Breakker entered to join Logan.
Heyman led his men to the ring as he called Punk the single
most unlikable person in the world. Punk had no friends. His
friends didn’t betray him; he betrayed his friendships. Punk
was a miserable, rotten bastard, and he couldn’t be more
unlikable unless his name was AJ Lee.
Punk said Lee would leave the four of them in a pool of
their own piss and blood. She wasn’t there, so Punk would do
it instead. He invited them to the ring.
Jey Uso joined Punk in the ring from the crowd (without his
music). They were still outnumbered, so Cody Rhodes ran out
to his music to even the odds.
The two sides brawled as Punk grabbed Heyman by the shirt.
Logan saved Heyman, but Punk chucked him into the barricade.
Reed wound up alone in the ring, so the babyfaces took shots
at him before tossing him from the ring.
The heels bailed as the babyfaces stood tall in the ring
(with the fans loudly singing Rhodes’ name).
********
Women’s World Championship match: Stephanie Vaquer (c) (w/
Nikki Bella) vs. Raquel Rodriguez (w/ Roxanne Perez)
Vaquer set up for Devil’s Kiss early on, but Rodriguez
blocked it, hoisted Vaquer up on her shoulders in an
electric chair drop position and dropped her face-first on
the turnbuckle.
As with the opening match, the crowd was dead quiet for the
heel’s heat during the break. A smattering of applause
greeted Vaquer’s comeback. She tried SVB, but like last
week, Rodriguez was too damn big. Vaquer tried a tornado
DDT, but Rodriguez blocked that too and transitioned into a
vertical suplex, followed by a big boot for two.
Vaquer tried a running corner meteora (for the second time),
but Rodriguez blocked that too and hit a powerbomb for two.
Vaquer caught Rodriguez in a submission between the ropes,
and the ref checked on Rodriguez after she let go. Perez
tried to attack Vaquer, but Nikki tossed her into the
barricade.
Vaquer tried a flying crossbody, but Rodriguez caught her
and hit a fallaway slam. Vaquer dodged an elbow drop and hit
Devil’s Kiss, a thrust kick, and a corkscrew moonsault for
the pinfall win.
— Nikki turned heel after the match.
Perez tried to attack Vaquer, so Nikki made the save. She
stood tall with Vaquer before nailing her with the world
title belt. The crowd booed her.
Nikki posed with the belt. She also ripped off her red top
that read “Fearless,” to reveal a black top that also read
“Fearless.”
Match result: Stephanie Vaquer defeated Raquel Rodriguez to
retain the Women’s World Championship (10:38)
The match itself was pretty good despite the crowd. I
thought they might wait until Perez got a title shot before
doing this turn. Perez has two wins over Nikki in recent
weeks, so we’ll see how she plays into this, if at all.
********
Men’s WarGames announcement
Pearce approached Punk, Rhodes and Jey backstage. Punk said
he was pissed. He had a team and wanted Heyman to get a team
because he was tired of the ‘games.’ Pearce asked Punk if he
meant what he was thinking. Punk yelled, “Regal!” and
William Regal suddenly appeared (to a nice pop). He yelled,
“War Games!” and people cheered.
********
The Last Time Is Now Tournament Round One: Shinsuke Nakamura
vs. Sheamus
Sheamus was mostly in control through a break, in between
some offence by Nakamura. After the break, Nakamura hit a
superplex for two. Sheamus no-sold some kicks and hit ten
beats of the Bodhrán. Sheamus went for a Brogue Kick, but
Nakamura cut him off with a slingblade.
Nakamura came off the top, but Sheamus hit a lifting knee
strike for two after Nakamura grabbed the bottom rope.
Sheamus went for an avalanche White Noise, but Nakamura
blocked it and hit a powerbomb for two. Nakamura hit an
enziguri, but Sheamus came right back with a Brogue Kick for
the pinfall win.
— Nakamura hugged Sheamus after the match and raised his
hand.
Match result: Sheamus defeated Shinsuke Nakamura (10:52)
This was a nice TV match that didn’t follow the usual
pattern. The crowd was more into it than the previous two,
and they popped for Sheamus’ win.
********
The Last Time Is Now Tournament continues next week with:
Je’Von Evans vs. Gunther
Solo Sikoa vs. mystery opponent
Yes, they did the mystery gimmick again.
Also next week on Raw at Madison Square Garden in New York
City:
Becky Lynch (c) vs. Maxxine Dupri for the Women’s IC title
John Cena appears
********
Women’s Tag Team Championship match: Charlotte Flair & Alexa
Bliss (c) vs. Asuka & Kairi Sane
They followed the usual pattern here with the heels getting
the heat over Bliss ahead of an early break. Charlotte was
previously getting the better of her opponents, but Asuka
and Sane outsmarted Bliss to take control.
Bliss hit both opponents with a double DDT as soon as they
returned from break. Charlotte made the hot tag and hit a
double flying crossbody. Charlotte hit each of them with a
fallaway slam, and with Asuka and Sane lying next to each
other, Charlotte hit a moonsault on both for a two count (on
Asuka).
Bliss hit Sane with a Natural Selection, but Asuka blocked
Charlotte’s attempt and applied an Asuka Lock. Charlotte got
out of it and went for a tag, but Sane yanked Bliss off the
apron. Asuka hit Charlotte with a knee strike and applied an
arm bar, but Charlotte countered into a Walls of Jericho.
Asuka countered that into a cradle for two, followed by a
kick to the head.
Charlotte responded with a big boot and Figure Four. Sane
tried to break it up with an Insane Elbow, but Bliss caught
her and hit Sister Abigail. (Bliss’ Sister Abigail got the
only significant crowd reaction all match.)
Charlotte had Asuka in a Figure Eight, but as the referee
was distracted, Nia Jax and Lash Legend broke up the
submission. Bliss confronted Jax and Legend, so Sane shoved
her into the announce desk.
Asuka attacked Charlotte from behind and held her in
position so Sane could hit the Insane Elbow for the pinfall
win. New champs.
— Bliss chased Asuka and Sane out of the ring. Bliss stood
up to Legend and Jax, but they laid her out. Asuka and Sane
returned to the ring and joined the attack.
Iyo Sky ran out to her music. She dropped the rope on Legend
to get her out of the ring, and laid out Asuka and Sane with
a double springboard dropkick. Sky went after Jax, but
Legend absolutely clobbered Sky with a forearm.
The five heels continued the beat down until Rhea Ripley ran
out next (wearing a face mask to cover her broken nose).
Ripley attempted to clear the ring, but Jax punched her.
However, the babyfaces now had the edge, so they got rid of
Jax after Charlotte booted her right in the face. Sane was
alone in the ring, so Ripley gave her a Razor’s Edge over
the top rope and into the other heels.
Ripley grabbed a mic and yelled, “War Games!”
Match result: Asuka & Kairi Sane defeated Charlotte Flair &
Alexa Bliss to win the Women’s World Championships (10:12)
The crowd didn’t seem that into this match, either. It
seemed like they were waiting for the finish, but they
didn’t even pop for the title change. Perhaps the Jax and
Legend run-in didn’t help. They did cheer for people running
out to their music, though.