Your World Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho starts the show with an in-ring promo so that he can brag about his win at WrestleMania. During his slow walk to the ring we get a few stills from his match with Edge Sunday as well as the challenger’s poor sportsmanship by attacking him after the match. Eventually Edge interrupts to say you know what and to try to get a rematch on tonight’s show. Jericho calls him a loser and tells him to get lost so Edge attacks him and exposes his injured and heavily taped ribs. After a spear, MITB match winner Jack Swagger comes out, nails Edge with his briefcase and cashes in his title shot.
World Heavyweight Championship Match: Jack Swagger def Chris Jericho: A referee finally comes down to the ring (Swagger really should have brought one with him) and after taking the briefcase and clearing the ring of debris, he signals for the match to begin. One gutwrench powerbomb later and Jack Swagger is the new World Heavyweight Champion!
John Morrison & R-Truth def Cryme Tyme: Shad starts off against Truth and is quickly caught in a side headlock. However big Shad is able to fight out of it and gains the upper hand with a shoulder block and lifts Truth up for a press slam. But R slides out of it and levels Shad with a scissors kick before tagging in Morrison who hits him with Starship Pain and pins him for the win. This was so brief that even as much as they job, JTG seems stunned they lost so quickly.
After the match Cryme Tyme begins a heated discussion but it ends with Shad laying out JTG with a kick to the face. Then to really drive the point home, Shad beats on his former a partner a bit more before hitting him with the Thugnificent and taking his leave.
Meanwhile the new champion is taking a stroll backstage and calls himself the new “gold standard†when he runs into Shelton Benjamin. After some commercials and a replay, Josh Matthews gets a few words from Shad which is basically “no more Cryme Tyme, this is my timeâ€.
Drew McIntyre vs. Matt Hardy: McIntyre attacks Hardy before the bell rings and tosses him into the ringpost. Drew pulls him into the ring, hits him with the Future Shock then poses with his Intercontinental Championship and leaves. So I guess it either wasn’t an official match or that Matt eventually wins by count-out.
After a commercial break we get a recap of Jack Swagger’s big moment to open the show and then head straight to a video package for Shawn Michaels. In my opinion HBK/Taker was the best part of WrestleMania for the second year in a row and Shawn might have been my favorite guy to ever watch perform. I think his goodbye on Raw this Monday was great and as sad as it is to see him go I think and hope he means it this time.
After that great piece of television, we get punished by having to watch a segment with Michelle McCool, Layla and Vickie Guerrero. Swagger interrupts their chat looking for the GM, but Vickie lets him know she is really in charge. The new champ asks for some promo time later in the show and once she grants his request he gives Vickie a kiss on the cheek.
Dolph Ziggler def The Great Khali: Dolph starts things off by sliding out of the ring for a break. Once back in the ring he gets hit with a “flurry†of offense including a couple of chops and eventually a big boot that sends him out of the ring. As Khali tries to lift him back into the ring, Dolph sort of hits a hot shot like maneuver to momentarily stun the giant. Ziggler jumps on his back and locks in a sleeper hold but Khali is able to force him off his back. But TGK cannot fully recover and Ziggler jumps right back on top of him with another sleeper attempt. Dolph gets Khali down on the mat and keeps the hold locked on and eventually Khali passes out. Ranjin Singh complained during and after the match to the ref that Khali’s legs reached the ropes and probably had a case.
After the match, Khali and Ranjin Singh cut a brief promo saying that he is going back home to take some time off and train. But that when he returns he will once again become champion.
Following a still photograph recap of his match with Rey Mysterio at WrestleMania, CM Punk and the Straight Edge Society joins the program for an in-ring promo. I would just like to say that even though he did not win at Mania, Punk’s GI JOE tights were awesome. Luke actually gets to start this week’s sermon and offers himself up as an example for what Punk can do for anyone who will listen. Serena also gets to speak and reminds us that Punk is perfect in everyway, is a healer and has beautiful eyes. CM Punk himself tells the people viewing at home that tonight he is envious of them because they are not forced to be in Las Vegas like he is tonight. After trashing Vegas for a bit, he refocuses his attention towards Rey Mysterio. He has not given up on his quest to save Mysterio and requests a rematch from him. In order to get Rey to commit to the rematch and the previous conditions of their last encounter, Punk says that if he loses, he will cut his hair.
Beth Phoenix & Tiffany def Michelle McCool & Layla: Vickie accompanies her two BFF’s to the ring and Tiff and McCool start the match. Michelle starts things off by mocking the former GM of ECW but this only results in her being on the receiving end of a drop toe hold and an atomic drop (kind of). McCool gets sent into the corner and Tiffany jumps on top of her, but then after some distraction and confusion (on everyone’s part) she is dumped off and Michelle takes control with some choking. Layla is tagged in and the bad girls combine for a tandem facebuster. Layla hits the chinlock but Tiffany fights out of it and makes the tag to Beth Phoenix. She flies into the ring and lays waste to Layla with a series of strikes and an airplane spin. Beth knocks McCool off the apron then dodges a kick from Layla before delivering the GlamSlam for the pinfall victory.
Meanwhile in the Hall of Justice, Chris Jericho interrupts Teddy Long’s viewing of the show to demand Long reverse Swagger’s victory. Teddy offers him a rematch tonight, but Jericho reminds him that he is injured and refuses. Long has no other offers for him and Jericho voices his displeasure before leaving.
After a commercial break we get a brief recap of the Bret/Vince match from Mania then head to an interview with Josh and the Hart Dynasty. This interview is very brief however as it is interrupted by Jack Swagger so that he can stand in front of them and pose with his new title.
Kane def the NXT Roster: Kane cuts a pre-match promo to let us know that he is bored and frustrated. This match is apparently his idea to help fix both of those problems. After a commercial break we are told this will be an 8 on 1 elimination handicapped tag-team match. One of the few NXT guys I know, Bryan Danielson starts the match and he takes a brief advantage with a series of low kicks before getting slammed and kicked himself. He tags in CM Punk’s protégé and he does ok for a bit until Kane hip tosses him across the ring and he tags out. After a brief disagreement over who was tagged, Jericho’s pupil enters and being a big hoss himself, he is able to go toe to toe with Kane for a period before eating a big boot and getting pinned as we take a commercial break.
When we return from break, Regal’s rookie is in the ring and getting slammed by Kane. But during the attempt, one of the other guys made a blind tag and breaks up the subsequent pinfall attempt. This guy then gets chokeslammed and pinned and can you tell I don’t watch or care about NXT yet? Another guy enters and gets immediately tossed out over the ring which leads to the remaining 5 guys huddling up to plot their next move. What they settle on is to all rush the ring and attack Kane. This is a solid plan in that it allows them to overpower and rough up the Big Red Machine but a dumb one in that it causes the ref to end the match and award it to Kane via DQ.
Your new World Heavyweight Champion comes out to the ring for tonight’s main event interview which he calls a “state of the world championship addressâ€. Swagger reads from a prepared statement/acceptance speech and says that he is the replacement for Shawn Michaels as the greatest living wrestler on the planet. Jericho interrupts to demand that Swagger return his championship belt and then Edge interrupts and says that he also wants a title shot. The two challengers bicker for a bit before Teddy Long comes out to holla at some playas. He makes a match for next week between Edge and Jericho with the winner getting a title shot against Swagger. Jericho then hits a Codebreaker on Edge before falling victim to another gutwrench powerbomb from Swagger. Swagger then delivers one to Edge as well before posing with his title to end the show.
