WWE Raw house show results
March 26, 2011
Evansville, Ind.
Report by David Barton, PWTorch reader

The show started with WWE champion The Miz out to big heat. He gave a heel promo and then said he wasn't going to wait for his title match. Miz called out Orton, who came out to a huge pop.

(1) Randy Orton beat WWE champion The Miz (w/Alex Riley) via DQ after C.M. Punk attacked Orton. A little bit of back and forth with Miz trying to go after Orton's injured leg. After a few minutes and a set up for the RKO, C.M. Punk came out to attack Orton resulting in the DQ.

Justin Roberts got a message from the anonymous GM setting up the main event of Miz/Punk vs. Cena/Orton with special guest ref Jerry "The King" Lawler.

(2) Santino Marella (w/Tamina) & Kozlov & Evan Bourne beat Tyson Kidd & the Usos in a six-man tag match. Kidd/Usos came out to little or no reaction. Big cheers for the second team, especially from the little ones. Typical six-man tag match where everyone got in their basic moves. Santino hit The Cobra on one of the Usos and then tagged in Bourne, who hit Air Bourne for the pin and win.

Zack Ryder Open Challenge: Ryder came out to a mixed reaction, but quickly turned the crowd against him. He called out any Superstar for a match, then almost peed his pants when Khali's music played.

(3) Great Khali beat Zack Ryder. Ryder begged to be spared before slapping Khali. Khali Chop gave him the quick win. Less than 30 seconds for the match.

(4) Sin Cara beat Primo via submission. Primo was out first to a somewhat tepid reaction, followed by Cara, who a lot of people didn't know. He put on a good show, but is still learning the WWE style. His finisher is a huracanrana into an armbar. Good 10-15-minute match.

(5) John Morrison beat Dolph Ziggler. Good 10-15-minute match that showcased what the new stars bring to the table. Both came out to great reactions respectively and put on a better-than-average match. Morrison won with Starship Pain.

R-Truth came out and got the crowd riled up with "What Up?!" He then announced that four people would get the chance to go back and meet their favorite Superstar. Because of the crowd's great reaction, Truth said the winner would meet all of the Superstars. Roberts then announced that the GM wanted a dance-off to determine the winner. A little girl ended up winning and headed backstage with R-Truth.

[Intermission]

(6) Divas champion Eve & Natalya beat Alicia Fox & Melina. Fox and Melina tried to get the crowd to cheer for them by going to the corner, but to no avail. A few good moves, but basically a typical Divas match.

(7) U.S. champion Sheamus beat Daniel Bryan (w/Gail Kim). Sheamus cut an anti-American promo stating we have nothing to look forward to...that is until he became the champion of the U.S.A. Big boos for Sheamus and huge pop for Bryan and Kim. Good match and they didn't hold anything back despite having a WrestleMania match. Sheamus won after the High Cross.

Time for the main event tag match. Lawler came out first to a "Jerry" chant, which was cut off by Punk's entrance music. He slowly made his way to the ring after staring at a kid in John Cena gear for a while. Miz then came out to huge boos and Miz was just eating it up.

Punk then cut a promo saying it's really as hard as it looks to be him, but he just has to live every day being better than everyone in every way. He proceeded to show off by doing a dance-off of his own. This was the funniest and most entertaining thing I have seen in a long time and even made Miz start laughing. Orton's music hit and he walked to the ring like a man on a mission. Cena's music then hit for the biggest pop of the night, easily.

(8) John Cena & Randy Orton beat WWE champion The Miz & C.M. Punk with Jerry Lawler as special referee in the main event. Punk and Miz tried to "attack" Cena in a "Three Stooges" moment as Cena slid into the ring. What followed was a very entertaining 20-minute match that also didn't give away too much heading to WrestleMania. After lots of hot tags, false finishes, and Cena beat downs, Cena and Orton hit their finishers simultaneously for the double pin and the win.

Lawler held Cena and Orton's hands in the air before Cena dedicated the win to Lawler. He said Lawler was finally going to do what everyone wanted to do...punch Michael Cole's teeth in. Cena and Orton left the ring with Lawler and they shook hands with the fans. Cena was actually the first one backstage, followed by Lawler. Orton stayed out an extra five minutes signing autographs and shaking hands.

Overall, a very entertaining show with a loud crowd. Roberts Stadium was almost filled with about 10,000-11,000 people. I'm also attending WrestleMania, so it will be interesting to see the difference.

Biggest Heat:

(1) Miz
(2) Punk

Biggest Pops:

(1) Cena, deafeningly loud
(2) Orton, huge when he first came out and even bigger before the main event.

[Torch art credit Grant Gould (c) PWTorch.com]

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