This week on RAW, Dolph Ziggler has had enough of his recent run of loses, AJ inserts herself into the feud between CM Punk and Daniel Bryan, while The Miz continues to not be able to catch a break.  And Big Show made it clear he has no regrets for backing John Laurinaitis and, given a choice for his opponent, chose Brodus Clay to make an example of.

“It was easy making you all smile;” said Big Show at the start of RAW, “but I don’t regret for a moment what I did. I made a calculated business decision and got myself an iron-clad contract and a nice bonus.  And now I don’t have to worry about making any of you smile anymore.”

“I’m not an entertainer, I’m a giant” continued Show, “and there’s no one in NFL, in UFC or in WWE who can compare to me.  This is why, I guess, that no one came to my defence when I was fired.  In fact, just minutes later Brodus Clay was out there in the ring, dancing, with children, without a care in the world.”

“You’re all shallow and phoney and none are phonier than John Cena.  I thought he was going to start a locker room mutiny to get me rehired but, no, all he did was tell jokes.  You all seem to think of me as nothing but a big joke.  Well, Cena found out I’m not joking when I knocked him out twice within twenty-four hours last week.  And at No Way Out Cena will be looking across the ring not at a businessman, he’ll be looking at an unstoppable giant!”

Backstage Executive Administrator Eve informed Show that he’d been granted his choice of opponent that night, and after slamming Alex Riley into a wall and terrifying Santino Marella to send a message to the locker room it was Brodus Clay who stepped forward to ask show “we got beef?  Then pick me as your opponent, so I can give you something else to cry about.” 

“Ok big guy,” replied Show, “but tonight you won’t be dancing, because you won’t even be able to walk.”

Big Show may good on his words before the main event got underway, first running down Clay as a laughable joke who didn’t even have the talent of Doink the Clown before slamming hard into Clay’s midsection with a running spear outside of the ring.  Show then kicked Clay as he lay on the ground before hurling him into the ring post when The Funkasaurus attempted to fight back.  Show then kicked apart the announcer’s table, before dealing to Kofi Kingston and R-Truth who’d rushed down to the ring to come to Clay’s aid.  Show picked up one of the metal-bound sides of the announcer’s table and slammed it down three times onto Clay, bringing cries of pain and gasped expletives from the injured man. 

Kingston and R-Truth attempted another attack, only for Kingston to end up hurled through a safety barrier while Truth was slammed into the ring steps.  Show then turned to see Clay struggling back to one knee and so, with his giant right hand Show punched Clay in the jaw, leaving the big man laid out cold as the show came to an end.

Earlier R-Truth and Kofi Kingston were in action, defending their tag team titles once again against Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger.  But once again Swagger and Ziggler fell short, with Swagger falling prey to a swift Little Jimmy while Kingston kept Ziggler occupied outside of the ring.  As Kingston and Truth celebrated with their retained titles on the stage Ziggler blew his top at Swagger and their manager Vickie Guerrero, yelling that he was better than the results they’d been getting, storming away as Guerrero pleaded with him to remain calm.  Later, backstage, Ziggler was heard to say to Guerrero that he should be a star in his own right and wanted out of the tag team with Swagger, to which Guerrero responded “I’ll see what I can do.”

John Laurinaitis came down to the ring to present what he claimed to be the cover art for the upcoming WWE ’13 game – a big picture of himself.  “It’ll sell more copies than Pac Man!” he declared, but his gloating was cut short when CM Punk came down to the ring to present the actual cover of the game, featuring the Straight Edge Superstar himself.  “Imagine that,” Punk declared, “a wrestling game with an actual wrestler on the cover!”  Punk then ordered Laurinaitis and his cohort out of the ring as he had a match against Daniel Bryan to prepare for.

Once again Punk and Bryan put on a wrestling clinic, but some time into the match AJ Lee came down to the ring, wearing a CM Punk t-shirt and making eyes at the WWE Champion.  AJ’s presence proved problematical for Punk, however, as when AJ spied Bryan attempting to interfere with the turnbuckle she attempted to draw the referee’s attention, instead only distracting the referee more, allowing Bryan to completely strip the padding from the top turnbuckle.  Punk was also distracted, telling AJ she didn’t belong at ringside, and the WWE Champion then turned around to be immediately back-flipped by Bryan into the exposed turnbuckle.

Bryan then slide in to secure the pinfall while AJ looked on aghast, but Bryan’s celebration was short lived as The Big Red Monster Kane entered the ring, chair in hand, intent on revenge.  Kane smashed Bryan down with the chair before delivering a Choke Slam to Bryan, sending Bryan crashing onto the chair laid out in the ring.  Kane then picked up the chair and turned towards Punk, but AJ slid a chair into the ring to the WWE Champion, and Punk was able to meet Kane’s blow with a chair shot of his own.  A few more swings and Kane rolled out of the ring to safety, and Punk stood proud while AJ looked on with adoration in her eyes.

In other RAW action The Miz once again attempted to get his career back on track with a non-title match against newly crowned Intercontinental Champion, Christian.  Unfortunately for Miz, Christian continued the good form he’s been in since his return, and a Frog Splash secured the win for Captain Charisma.  Afterwards Miz picked up the microphone to whine that he’d secured the win for Team Johnny at WrestleMania but he hadn’t been rewarded or given a title bout, but before Miz’s complaints could continue Randy Orton came down to the ring and, without a word, laid out the petulant superstar with a RKO.

Santino Marella’s recent mockery of Alberto Del Rio and Ricardo Rodriguez also came to an end this week when Del Rio defeated Marella in short order with the Cross Armbar.  Afterwards, Rodriguez hollered Del Rio’s name over and over again at the writing Marella while Del Rio stripped off his Cobra glove and crammed it into the unfortunate Italian’s mouth.

RAW results:

·         Alberto Del Rio def. Santino Marella

·         WWE Tag Team Champions Kofi Kingston & R-Truth def. Dolph Ziggler & Jack Swagger w/ Vickie Guerrero

·         Daniel Bryan def. WWE Champion CM Punk (non-title)

·         Intercontinental Champion Christian def. The Miz

·         World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus def. David Otunga