The 1000th episode of RAW had it all.  The Rock returned to declare his championship intentions, and The Undertaker and a whole host of WWE legends also graced our screens.  Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman returned to answer Triple H’s challenge for a match at SummerSlam, while Christian put  his Intercontinental Championship on the line against The Miz.  And there was the wedding of Daniel Bryan and AJ, and John Cena’s cashing in of his Money in the Bank Contract against CM Punk.  But for all involved nothing worked out quite as planned, with RAW’s millennial episode being full of surprises.

With  Slick, "The Reverend of Style" acting as the celebrant, the wedding of AJ and Daniel Bryan was the centre piece of RAW's opening hour of their three hour 1000^th episode.  Bryan, dressed in a white suit, again pledged his undying love to AJ, placing the ring on her finger with a cry of "YES!" when asked by Slick if he accepted AJ to be his wife.  AJ also replied "YES!", but quickly explained that she wasn't saying yes to Bryan, she was saying yes to someone else who had proposed something to her earlier in the evening.

At this moment WWE Chairman Vince McMahon came out onto the stage.  "It's not that kind of proposal" McMahon told the fans, "no, it's a business proposal.  In order to make the 1001^st and future episodes of RAW as exciting as possible, I've asked AJ to be the General Manager of RAW!"  And AJ, beaming, shoved her bridal bouquet into Bryan's bewildered hands, before skipping her way up the ramp to stand next to McMahon, where she shouted "YES YES YES!" delightedly.

In the ring Bryan snapped, tearing apart the wedding decorations.  When the show returned from commercial Bryan was still there, fuming, until WWE Champion CM Punk came down to mock his former challenger.  "Couldn't happen to a nicer guy," Punk quipped, "but I wish you the best of luck anyway.  And I'll just carry on being WWE Champion and the best in the world."  "You're not even the best in the ring right now!" spat back Bryan, which proved the queue for The Great One, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson to make his entrance to the delight of the fans.

"You don't get to say who is the greatest of all time is," Rock informed Bryan, "the fans do."  And as the fans chanted his name Rock called out to the millions and millions, declaring "Finally, The Rock has come back to St. Louis!" 

Bryan interjected, informing Rock that he clearly didn't know who Bryan was.  "You don't interrupt The Rock" retorted The People's Champion, "but I'm not here to talk to you, Frodo.  I'm here to talk about the WWE Championship."

Rock then announced that at the 2013 Royal Rumble he would be challenging for the WWE Championship, and Punk smiled and said that The Rock would be challenging him, because he'd be defeating John Cena in the main event and going on to hold the title all the way to the Rumble.  "I want CM Punk versus The Rock and, with all due respect, at the Royal Rumble, I'll beat The Rock."

"No! No! No!' interrupted Bryan, making his own declaration that by Royal Rumble he'd be both WWE Champion and the face of WWE.  "The face of WWE?" responded Rock?  "What I appear to be looking at here is if a homeless lumberjack banged an oompa loompa!" Rock then mocked Bryan further, referring to him as a troll from Lord of the Rings, before turning to wish Punk good luck in his main event title defence. 

"And as for you, oompa loompa," Rock concluded, "I know this was supposed to be your special night.  But it's not all bad, because The Rock got you a wedding present anyway."  And to the fans delight Rock struck Bryan with a Rock Bottom, before grabbing the microphone to declare "if you smell what The Rock is cooking!"

Prior to the main event, The Rock happened across John Cena backstage, and the two glared at each other eye to eye before eventually Cena said "it's been a long time, Rock, a long time."  Cena then informed Rock that he'd be winning the WWE Championship as he cashed in his Money in the Bank contract, and Rock would be facing him at Royal Rumble.  "I'm looking forward to it," replied Rock, "good luck for your match."

Punk and Cena began the match with a handshake before trading holds in the opening minutes of their WWE Championship match. Punk appeared able to out-grapple the challenger, but Cena's immense strength always saw him break out of holds quickly, and the two soon seemed to be at a stalemate.  Kicks, punches and chops began to be exchanged as both moved to a different tactic, but it was Punk's agility that saw him gain the first near fall when he flipped out of a Cena neckbreaker to strike with a back breaker of his own.

Again Punk and Cena traded blows and kicks, and this time it was Cena who gained the upper hands, striking with his flying shoulder charge before hitting the proto-bomb.  Punk quickly recovered, however, and sent Cena to the corner and following up with his running knee.  Atop the turnbuckle, Punk briefly mocked Cena's "you can't see me," but this gave Cena a moment to recover and as Punk attempted his bulldog Cena was able to wrench himself free to strike with another proto-bomb.  Then it was Cena's turn to declare "you can't see me," but as he bent over Punk to deliver his taunt Punk's right leg shot up, kicking Cena right between the eyes.

Punk then called for the Go to Sleep, but as he attempted the move Cena was able to shove him away, propelling Punk backwards into the referee.  The referee and the WWE Champion clashed heads, and the referee rolled out of the ring, stunned.  Cena, meanwhile, delivered the Attitude Adjustment and covered the champion, but with no referee present the match continued despite Punk being unable to kick out.  Cena leant over the ropes to call to the referee, but unknown to him Big Show had lumbered down to the ring and as Cena turned back around Show charged in with a huge spear tackle.

Show then readied himself to let loose with a knockout punch as Cena struggled back to his feet, and all the while CM Punk supported himself in the corner of the ring, looking on with a conflicted expression on his face.  Show then delivered the punch before vacating the ring, and Punk seemed torn about what to do next.  Eventually he rolled out of the ring to bustle the referee back under the ropes before going in for the pin.  But the long delay had given Cena enough to recover some of his senses, and the challenger was just able to kick out before the referee hit the mat for the third time on a very long three count.

Punk hesitated, again, before picking Cena up for the Go to Sleep.  This time Cena was able to drop down and grab Punk's leg, tripping him up into the STF.  Show, who had been lurking outside the ring saw Punk was close to tapping out and returned to the fray, landing on Cena with a huge elbow drop, forcing the groggy referee to call for the bell due to disqualification.

Again, Punk just looked on from the corner of the ring as once again Show started to assault Cena.  Surprisingly it was The Rock who decided to intervene, rushing down to the ring as Punk simply shrugged and slide away leaving The Rock to take on the giant alone.  A few Rock strikes stunned Show, and a double-leg takedown saw Show down on the canvas and The Rock calling for the People's Elbows. 

But as Rock turned Punk slid back under the ropes, and as The Great One ran off the ropes to strike Punk ran across the ring and, leaping across the prone body of Big Show, took Rock down with a huge flying lariat. As Big Show rolled out of the way, Punk stomped his feet impatiently, waiting for Rock to return to standing.  When he did Punk grabbed Rock from behind for a Go To Sleep, striking his finishing blow hard, leaving Rock lying motionless in the ring.

Punk then grabbed his title belt and looked down dismissively on The Rock.  Then, with a shrug and never once looking back, Punk sauntered out of the arena, seemingly deaf to the fans whose cheers had turned to a vicious bray of boos and cat calls.

RAW 1000 opened with a Degeneration X reunion in the ring; not just Triple H and Shawn Michaels but also Road Dogg, Bad Ass Billy Gunn and X Pac.  Fun, jokes and mockery abounded, culminating in a beat down of Damien Sandow who, against all obvious common sense, decided to come down and criticise the group for their degeneracy.

But fun and games were far from Triple H's mind later in the evening when he called down Brock Lesnar to answer his challenge for a fight at SummerSlam.  Again it was Lesnar's representative, Paul Heyman, who answered his challenge, and once again Heyman declined the challenge before using Triple H's family to attempt to goad Triple H into once again resorting to violence, under threat of yet further legal action.

What Heyman wasn't betting on, however, was the appearance of Stephanie McMahon, and the wife of Triple H, mother to his children and daughter of Vince McMahon once again showed her formidable intelligence, turning the tables on Heyman by criticising his own failures in both wrestling and in life.  A slap across Heyman's face ended Stephanie's tormenting of the former ECW head, and The Million Dollar Princess had achieved her goal - incensed, Heyman changed his mind and agreed to the match between his client and Triple H at SummerSlam.

Almost immediately Heyman regretted his words, and he whined and wheedled congratulations to Stephanie about being outplayed at his own game.  But again raising the issue of family saw Stephanie snap, and she tackled Heyman to the ground, raining down punch after punch as Triple H looked on smiling.

But then Brock Lesnar's music played, and the MMA monster charged down to the ring while Triple H hurriedly bustled his wife out of the ring to safety.  At first Lesnar had the upper hand, but Triple H quickly recovered, slamming some sharp knees into the gut of Lesnar before sending Lesnar toppling back over the ropes with a clothesline.  The fuming Lesnar was then led away by Heyman, the slimy manager hurling abuse back towards Triple H and Stephanie McMahon as the stood in the ring.

In other RAW action it was revealed that the unknown challenger to Christian's Intercontinental Championship would be The Miz, and the former WWE Champion announced his return to "awesomeness" by earning a hard-fought victory over Captain Charisma.  A six-man tag team match also took place, with Chris Jericho, Dolph Ziggler and Alberto Del Rio teaming together to face Sin Cara, Rey Mysterio and World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus.  Unfortunately the tension between Ziggler and Jericho once again flared, and a cheap shot by Ziggler onto his own team mate caused Jericho suffer the Brogue Kick and take the pinfall from the champion.

Legends were also out in force for RAW 1000, with Brodus Clay celebrating with Dude Love after a quick victory over Jack Swagger, and Heath Slater finding his weekly challenge to WWE legends answered by Lita.  Lita had bought along some backup, however, and as Bradshaw and Simmons from the APA came down to the ring Slater bailed, attempting to head backstage.  But his escape was cut off by Road Warrior Animal and all the other legends he'd been humiliated by over recent weeks.

Chased back to the ring, Slater was punched then rolled under the ropes by Animal.  In the ring Lita struck with a Twist of Fate before Bradshaw turned him inside out with a Clothesline From Hell.  Lita then culminated with a Swanton Bomb, before Simmons put an end to proceedings with an emphatic "Damn!"

The Brothers of Destruction also reunited for one night only, with The Undertaker making his first appearance since WrestleMania XXVIII to come to the assistance of his brother when Kane was attacked by a half-dozen wrestlers looking for a moment in the spot light. 

Even combined the likes of Jinder Mahal, Tyler Reks, Curt Hawkins, Camacho, Hunico and Drew McIntyre were easily beaten down by Undertaker and Kane, who delighted the fans with first double Choke Slams then double Tombstone Piledrivers on Hawkins and Camacho.

RAW 1000 results:

• World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus, Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara def. Chris Jericho, Dolph Ziggler & Alberto Del Rio
• Brodus Clay def. Jack Swagger
• The Miz def. Intercontinental Champion Christian
• Lita def. Heath Slater (no-DQ)
• John Cena def. WWE Champion CM Punk (via DQ, Cena cashes in his Money in the Bank contract but doesn't win the championship)