Fresh off getting punked out on RAW the new World Heavyweight Champion Jack Swagger starts the show with a promo with his new super serious demeanor. He uses his new odds-on-favorite line and again shares his feelings that with HBK gone, he should be called the best wrestler in the world. His opponent for the evening John Morrison comes out and makes fun of him losing on Raw to Randy Orton and of his speech impediment. Swagger gets offended and misses a charge that sends him out of the ring and the show to a commercial break.
Jack Swagger def John Morrison: The match began while we were watching the advertisements and Morrison seems to be in control getting a dropkick and a two count on the champ. Swagger rebounds a bit by hitting an around the world slam and he takes the action down to the mat as Matt Striker compares him to Gary Busey. Swagger hits Morrison with a knee to the gut and the ref stops the match for a minute so that the trainer can clean-up a cut on Jack’s face. The break in the action does not help John turn the tide however and Swagger soon gets s another two count off another impressive slam. Jack levels Morrison with a charge into the corner turnbuckle and the ref grabs the towel to wipe some blood off his face again. Morrison gets placed on the top rope but he fights Swagger off and shoves him away, but the champ is not to be denied and hits a run-up throw on John who was still perched on the top rope. The move only gets him a two count and when he tries to follow-up with his rebound splash in the corner, Morrison gets his feet up to counter the move. The SOS fires up and responds with his usual comeback getting two counts on two separate occasions with high flying kicks. Morrison goes for the Moonlight Drive, but it is reversed by Swagger who drops him onto the ropes with a forward vertical suplex. Swagger goes for his finisher but John slips out but since he lands awkwardly Jack still covers him for two. Morrison gets a two count from a sunset flip and hits a running knee to set-up Starship Pain. Swagger is able to dodge the move by sliding out of the ring and then trips up John on the apron when he looks to follow up. Swagger gets them both back in the ring quickly and hits his gutwrench powerbomb for the victory.
Backstage Chris Jericho is chatting with his NXT protégé until Jack Swagger interrupts. Jericho is still unhappy with losing the title and while Swagger still doesn’t care he does tell Chris he is pulling for him tonight against Edge. Shad Gaspard comes down to the ring (still to the Cryme Tyme theme and video) and he shows us a replay of his actions last week. Shad says his former partner was standing in his way and reminds us that this is now his time. I wonder if Triple H will lend him his old theme music? JTG runs down to offer a retort and gets laid out with a big boot.
Drew McIntyre def Matt Hardy: As McIntyre makes his way down to the ring, we get a replay of his non-match with Hardy from last week. Drew grabs a mic to chat with the fans but after a long pause just says “I’m not going to waste my breath on you people†before tossing the microphone aside. Matt is fired up to start the match and gains the advantage a couple of times until the ref forces breaks as the “action†reaches the ropes. During one such break Drew goes low for a cheap shot and the momentum briefly swings back his way. Hardy halts a charge in the corner with a boot to the face and follows with a second rope clothesline and the first pin attempt of the contest. Matt gets neckbreaker and another two count before clotheslining both men over the top rope and we take a commercial break.
When action resumes, McIntyre is now in control and we see via replay that the ringside barricade had something to do with Hardy’s current predicament. After a back suplex onto the top turnbuckle, Drew covers Matt for a two count and the other Matt seems to think the ref should end the match now. The ref seems to be listening to the commentary because after a the IC champ delivers a few more strikes he forces a long break so that he can check on Hardy’s condition. McIntyre continues to lay the shots in on Hardy but gets overconfident and Matt hits the Side Effect out of nowhere for a nearfall. Hardy then hits another Side Effect and a second rope leg drop and gets another nearfall as a result. Matt looks for the Twist of Fate but it is reversed by Drew into the Future Shock but Hardy is able to escape from it. Matt gets nothing but elbow from a charge into the turnbuckles but levels McIntyre with a clothesline as he charges out of the corner. Hardy kicks Drew in the head and out of the ring then follows with an elbow off the apron. But as Matt tries to get Drew back into the ring he gets tossed right into the metal portion of the apron instead. McIntyre then delivers the Future Shock to Hardy on the outside before dragging him back inside the ring and pinning him.
The Straight Edge Society comes down to the ring to officially induct the NXT rookie CM Punk has been mentoring Darren Young into their group. Just like last week Punk’s sidekicks get some mic time first with Serena and then Luke before the man himself speaks. Punk reminds Young that he is ranked last in the NXT voting and he needs the SES to rebound from his poor showing. Young sits down in the chair but when Punk asks him to take the pledge he has second thoughts and shoves Punk. A beatdown by the SES follows but before they can forcibly cut his hair, Rey Mysterio runs down to break up their fun. After a scuffle, Mysterio gets his hands on the clippers and Punk at the same time but Serena pulls him to safety before any cutting can be done. Mysterio then grabs the mic and accepts Punk’s challenge from last week for a match at Extreme Rules.
The Hart Dynasty def The Dude Busters: Barreta and Croft get a little pre-match promo time to remind us who they are and try to sell us on how “great†they are. The HD doesn’t get any promo time but they are accompanied by Natalya and video of the new Hart Family DVD. Kidd starts off against Croft and Tyson quickly has the upper hand after a vertical suplex. Kidd tries to lock on the Sharpshooter but gets kicked off and thru the ropes which allows fro some heel shenanigans. Barreta is tagged in and enters with a slingshot elbow drop that gets him a two count. Barreta hits a back suplex and gets another two count but misses a charge to the corner and Kidd is able to make the tag to Smith. David runs over Barreta a few times and signals for the Hart Attack but Kidd dropkicks the charging Croft instead. This allows Barreta to slip out and attempt a tornado ddt, but Smith slams his way out of it and locks on the Sharpshooter for the submission victory.
In the back, Josh Matthews asks Dolph Ziggler how it felt to beat the Great Khali with the sleeper last week. Ziggler answers him by locking him in that same sleeper hold. After a commercial break we get some video from Raw featuring John Cena, Batista and Jennifer Hudson’s boyfriend. After a rundown of the three matches set for the next pay-per-view, we take a peek in Edge’s locker room. Jack Swagger lets himself in to tell Edge he is rooting for him in his match tonight and Edge makes fun of him.
Edge vs. Chris Jericho: The winner of this match earns the right to face Swagger for the title at Extreme Rules. Jericho is channeling DDP by continuing to have his ribs heavily taped for his match tonight. Chris immediately locks on a side headlock and scores with a shoulder tackle. But the result from the ensuing rope running exchange is Jericho getting tossed out over the top rope and the show taking a commercial break.
As we return to live taped action, Jericho gets set-up for the 619 but instead of copying Rey’s move, Edge nails him with a splash to the lower back instead. Edge soon finds himself on the apron and Jericho is able to hit his springboard dropkick in the corner to give himself some time to celebrate and recover. Chris hits a back suplex and covers but it only gets a two count. After some choking, Jericho uses the ropes for leverage with another pinning situation but the ref sees and does not allow the attempt. A clothesline gets Jericho another two count and he latches onto Edge with a chinlock. Both men trade pinfall attempts with neither able to hold the other man down and Edge falls out of the ring and into a Slim Jim ad after a baseball slide from Jericho.
After the break, action has returned to the ring but Edge is soon kicked back out to the apron by Jericho. Edge finally punches his way back into the match and hits a flapjack and the Edgecution for a nearfall. Jericho responds with a bulldog and looks for the Lionsault. Edge looks to get his knees up to block the move, but Jericho sees this and misses it on purpose, instead locking on the Walls of Jericho. Edge is able to fight thru the move and makes his way to the ropes to force a break by the ref. As Jericho argues with the ref, Edge is able to recover and hits him with a big boot and gets another nearfall from it. Edge goes for another ddt, but Jericho reverses into another walls attempt which Edge turns into a roll-up for a long two count. Jericho hits the Codebreaker but Edge falls out of the ring. Jericho drags him back in the ring but by the time he covers him, Edge is able to kick out at 2.7. Edge hits the Edgecution for the second time and sets up in the corner for the spear but Jericho leapfrogs the attempt and leaves the ring. Both men brawl outside the ring and into the crowd and the referee continues to count and the match ends in a count-out draw.
