For Your Consideration…The RAW Judicial Review for 12/6/10

For Your Consideration…The RAW Judicial Review for 12/6/10

Welcome back to the longest running, action adventure, passive-aggressive overblown but still inebriated column on the worldest of world wide webs, “For Your Consideration”. I’m you’re too wasted to compete host Andrew Wheeler, and this week promises to be an interesting column. I’ve got your full RAW Judicial Review, but before I get to that, there’s no way I can ignore the Distinguished Competition. So…

TNAnother Disaster

So TNA ran another PPV last night and used their unique talent to turn what should have been a bad PPV into a colossal trainwreck. That folks, takes talent.

Before last night’s show, I was contemplating my End of the Year nonsense because Glazer jumped the gun and posted some Wrap Up stuff on Friday and I didn’t want to be the last to the party. In thinking about the past twelve months, there have been some spectacular blunders in wrestling…mostly from TNA. I will present my complete list in a few weeks, but it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that the Theme Park Promotion is featured heavily in a negative light.

Now I can forgive a lot in terms of a company’s stupid decisions. I can look past questionable booking and poor matches as small tactical errors instead of massive cataclysmic mistakes. But last night, TNA – to borrow their own tag – crossed the line.

Jeff Hardy, the TNA World Heavyweight Champion, showed up to the aptly named Final Resolution in what was called “no condition to work.” This was later glossed over by the PR people as an overblown misunderstanding, which is the best way they could have handled the situation. You know, aside from the obvious.

Look, anyone that has ever read me knows that I have a great deal of vitriol when it comes to Hardy. I promise you, my opinion here would be the same if it were any other wrestler. Jeff Hardy has no business being in this profession. TNA has no business being a wrestling promotion. The main event of Jeff Hardy versus Matt Morgan immediately leaps to the top of the list in terms of “Worst Match of the Year”, regardless of the quality of the match itself.

Folks, it is undeniable that management at TNA had reason to question the fitness of their main event talent. Whether they want to say how altered he was is their decision, but at the end of the day, Jeff Hardy’s actions led them to debate whether or not he should be allowed to work. The answer, pretty clearly, was that he should have been kept out of the ring. This goes beyond the world of storylines and wrestling and into the realm of general safety. TNA put a man who was under the influence of something in the ring with another wrestler, plain and simple. Matt Morgan’s career and life could have been severely shortened by going out there, and the decision to let Jeff Hardy wrestle was downright reckless.

I’m going to avoid all of the legal reasons why this was an insanely stupid idea, and just focus on the politics of TNA. They put their title on a man who has been facing charges of narcotics possession and trafficking. Screw the theory of “innocent until proven guilty” because every contract contains some form of moral turpitude clause and TNA would have been well within their power to fire him. Oh wait, they hired him AFTER he was charged. TNA knew they were getting damaged goods and chose to roll the dice. I said it was a stupid idea, but I get why they did it. It’s why the WWE hired Mike Tyson all those years back, because controversy draws eyeballs.

People liked Jeff Hardy, Jeff Hardy was a merchandising machine, and TNA had yet another chance to take a broken WWE product-like Kurt Angle before him-and see if he could draw in the fans. When they turned Hardy heel, we all smacked our collective foreheads at the amount of money TNA was leaving on the table. Sure, Hardy has been fine as a heel, but it doesn’t make up for the loss in t-shirt and gimmick revenue. This wasn’t like turning Hogan in WCW because by that point a lot of the fans had turned on Hulk’s yellow and red shtick. The fans in TNA were all about Hardy, even if it didn’t draw monster ratings. He was still someone that they could build a promotion around for a short time, even if he did wind up in jail.

Jeff Hardy has had nothing but contempt for TNA since day one. It was clear the minute he signed with them that he was going to use them just like they were going to use him. And that’s totally fine. Few wrestlers get the chance to screw over the promotion as much as the promotion screws them over, and TNA has made a habit out of being a whore for “name” talent (like Bobby Lashley and even Hulk Hogan did). If Jeff didn’t give a shit, TNA should have still been able to crank out a few dozen crappy things to sell on their web page.

When Jeff Hardy showed up at Final Resolution and there was cause to question whether or not he was physically able to compete, the decision should have been clear to pull him. To hell with the argument that this was overblown, because that means there was something to overblow in the first place. A debate was had and alternate plans were pitched, but in the end the company allowed Hardy to compete. Despite what Hulk Hogan may have said on TNA’s bullshit 11pm work-shoot show, title belts do still matter. The champion is the face of the company, no matter how much you wanna claim that this is all fake. When a movie bombs, the guy who gets top billing bares the brunt of the blame. Same rules apply here.

If TNA had any potential reason to think that Hardy showed up in a condition less than 100%, you pull his ass. It’s not like the 300 people who ordered the show on PPV would have been pissed. Pay-Per-View means little to TNA, so what was the harm in busting out the old “Card subject to change” adage. This wasn’t a WWE PPV where an arena of 30,000 people paid to see a headliner. This was in their theme park studio where most people either got in for free or paid as part of an entire week’s worth of shows.

There was zero risk in pulling Hardy and stripping him of his title. In fact, pulling Hardy from the show and taking the belt off of him would have done a lot of good for the company. Nothing builds up goodwill quite like the notion that you’re actually taking the health of your wrestlers seriously. We all rallied behind TNA for banning headshots after Mr. Anderson…Anderson suffered a concussion. What we failed to point out is that the WWE did it months ago. By yanking Hardy, TNA would have sent a message to their talent that they aren’t about to be held hostage by any one individual (provided his name isn’t Hogan) and that no man is above the company. Hell, you already had Vince Russo in the back, just have him come out and redo his “Bash at the Beach” promo. There were more than enough guys in the locker room who could have filled that spot, and more than enough replacement matches. They could have rescheduled the card and done Matt Morgan versus any other member of Immortals, including AJ Styles or Abyss. They could have turned the Dinero/Abyss match into a triple threat for the title. They could have pulled RVD from the meaningless match with Rhino and let him main event. They could have done a battle royal. They could have done anything other than have Jeff Hardy go out there and make a mockery of the company.

Jeff Hardy’s going before a judge on Wednesday. The next round of “Will Jeff Go to Jail” will play out, and just on the off chance he might wind up in serious trouble, TNA should have taken the title away from him. Morgan wasn’t the best option, but he was AN option. He proved that he was competent on the microphone and not a train wreck in the ring, and at the very least he won’t be as bad as The Great Khali was for Vince. Instead, TNA has Jeff Hardy go out there and RETAIN. Are you kidding me? His reward for showing up in that condition was to leave the building the champion?

Vince McMahon and the WWE would never allow their champion to compete if there was any chance he was in a “questionable condition”. Say what you want about guys like Triple H and John Cena, but there is absolutely no chance they would show up unable to work. If TNA wants to be treated like one of the big boys, they need to act like it.

People are going to want to throw out comparisons between Hardy and Shawn Michaels. Just like his in-ring work, Jeff’s comparisons to Shawn are premature and way off base. When we said he was the next HBK, I don’t think we meant like this. Sure, Shawn worked under questionable circumstances and those were inexcusable, but that wasn’t in the 21st Century where we should know better. The fact that a coked up Shawn didn’t drop someone on his head or kill them with a Superkick is a miracle, and another thing we can add to the list of sins Vince McMahon committed against wrestling. But the reason Shawn was allowed to go out there and work like that was because he did in fact have the WWE by the throat. He made himself bigger than the promotion and he was allowed to behave like that. TNA doesn’t need to add this to the increasingly long list of avoidable mistakes from wrestling’s past.

The question of what promotion was the worst in 2010 starts and ends with TNA. Forget about the fact that they let Samoa Joe’s contract expire and then use what may have been his last night in the company putting over Jeff Jarrett instead of D’Angelo Dinero, or the fact that they had several noticeable production errors on a Pay-Per-View or the fact that they marginalized the strongest women’s division in modern history to a joke. Forget about the time they ended a PPV by throwing their champion down a hole or the time they went against the WWE on Mondays without a strong show or the fact that they chose Vince Russo over Jim Cornette. TNA let a man represent their company while intoxicated and put Matt Morgan’s life in jeopardy all because they couldn’t come up with a viable Plan B. For that reason and that reason only, TNA has earned the title of TNAwful.

Alright, enough with the fun stuff. Before I start the review, let me get some whoring out of the way. You can follow me on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/awheeler316), friend me on Facebook, or just post your comment in the section down below. Without further ado…

The RAW Judicial Review for 12/6/10

“The Champ Is Here”

We open with a video recap of last week’s awesomeness. I don’t know what is responsible for the more entertaining episodes of RAW, but I’d like to think Obama’s behind it. What? He could use a win.

Kudos to the WWE Production Team for putting together a nice opening video. They made the Lawler/Miz match even more exciting than it was. They even made Punk’s commentary (which I loved despite people bitching about him slipping up) seem stronger. It’s nice to give them some love every now and again.

We open with Jerry “Ed Hardy” Lawler and CM “T-Shirt and Trail-Blazer” Punk as the crowd chants for Jerry. Punk puts him over and says that he would have won the title, but this gets interrupted by Michael “Casual Male” Cole. Cole says he wants to explain. Jerry, please let him explain. Why won’t you let him explain?

Cole says that the fans don’t understand, and not just because they’re in Kentucky. He says he got a lot of hate mail, which makes me wonder who the hell still uses mail. Cole says he won’t apologize for how he feels about The Miz, despite the fact they cannot legally get married in most states.

Cole said that when The Miz won the title, it was like his son had won the belt. Cole says it was the heat of the moment, telling Jerry what his heart meant, the heat of the moment, shone in his eyes. Lawler demands an apology, so Cole spreads out on a bearskin rug and says, “I’m sorry.” The King says he’s going to go in the ring and finish what he started, but Cole demands that they talk like adults. Because fighting over your problems is childish…or exactly what the Superstars do.

Cole says Lawler was as much to blame as he was. So he’s using the excuse abusive husbands use when they blame their wives? Classy. Cole then uses Jericho’s old argument about washed up wrestlers stealing the spotlight, which gives Michael Cole his justification. Cole then demands an apology. Jerry then says he’s going to give him what he owes him.

The GMail goes off and will be read by CM Punk, instantly making this gimmick better. Punk says he always wanted to do this before “and I paraphrase” orders no physicality between Cole and Lawler. Oh please don’t make this into a match. The GMail demands a handshake or he’s fired. Cole says that it’s not worth his job, but if they didn’t fire him for the statutory rape charges, it would seem silly for them to fire him for not shaking a man’s hand.

Cole extends his hand for the shake as I do play-by-play on this. Jerry embraces his hand for a firm yet fair handshake. Cole tries to walk away but Lawler won’t let go. Jerry says that there will be no physicality, but there’s someone in the back who wants to say something to him.

This brings out Randy Orton, who was so anxious to get his hands on Cole that he again forgot to put pants on. Randy walks a straight line to the ring, rather than swaying side to side. He’s about to blow a 0.08 of animosity. Orton wants Cole to send a message to Miz. He doesn’t blame The Miz for cashing in the contract and going to the Heat. Randy says that he and The Miz are a lot alike, only Orton has backed up what he says…in…stilted…tones. Orton says that with or without his injured knee, he’s going to take back the spinning title tonight.

Awesome, here comes The Miz. He’s rocking one hell of a sweater vest along with the Mizfit, who at least had the decency to get hammered AFTER the show. By the way, why the hell does Mizfit still have the MITB briefcase? Must be a giant alcohol-monitoring bracelet.

Miz says that Orton used to be original but now he sounds like everyone else. He points out that he won MITB while Randy lost. Randy has nothing but tough talk, an injured knee and a snazzy haircut. Miz says that Orton’s not gonna win the title tonight because the GMail said he won’t have to defend his title until TLC against Randy. Miz says at the PPV Orton is going to lose again, so save your money, folks.

Randy asks where the seven guys are who are going to jump him. They’re surrounding Shawn Michaels in Syracuse as we speak. The Mizfit says that he wants Randy Orton in a match to prove that even Orton can…sigh…go Arye. Orton says he has no clue what Mizfit says but he accepts.

Miz gets to pick the PPV stipulation and he’s going to think long and hard…that’s what she said…and he’s going to announce it to us tonight. Orton says that with an injured knee he can still do one thing (Clue quote: “One thing”) and then RKO’s Michael Cole. That was reminiscent of previous beloved actions (that’s a fancy way of saying vintage for you kids taking the ACTs on Saturday).

Uh oh, if Cole’s out of action, does this mean we’re going to have to endure Josh Matthews? I’ll leave you to ponder this over a…

Commercial.

We’re back and here’s a replay of Michael Cole getting RKO’d. I give this five minutes before it become someone’s avatar.

We pull back the camera and sitting with Punk and Lawler is Mini-Orton. Sigh.

Teddy DiBiase w/ Maryse & Stubble v. …

So I guess Teddy yelling at Maryse didn’t shake her. In the back we get one of the Bellas going to go see Daniel Bryan. The other Bella is in there with him and I guess the one going to knock on the door has a thing for him while the one in the locker-room is promiscuous. Or something.

Teddy DiBiase & Maryse v. Daniel Bryan & Cheesy Bella

Bryan and DiBiase start it out as Nikki walks down the aisle. Teddy and Daniel run the ropes as we now have three announcers putting over Daniel Bryan. Punk takes umbrage with the fact that Bryan has a locker-room before taking Matthews to task for calling him The Miz. Maryse and Bella are in the ring pulling hair for a bit. Maryse goes for a clothesline but gets rolled up until DiBiase breaks the cover. Bryan dropkicks him out of the ring and we do the Bella switch-a-roo and the fresh Bella pins Maryse.

After the match, Teddy yells at Maryse but gets told to talk to the hand. Apparently Teddy got schooled by the late-90’s. Daniel Bryan leaves with both Bellas. Sure.

Later tonight, we’ll get Nexus versus Greek Booze versus Borsht Marina versus Mark Henry and Yoshi Tatsu (who obviously need a food nickname).

Commercial.

We’re back and if you go to WWE.com you can see the most memorable moments of 2010. But what will you do for the next 23 hours and 59 minutes?

Tonight’s RAW is from the KFC Yum! Center as I realize we’re all living an episode of “Community”. Speaking of deep fried ideas, we get a recap of Resurrection-Truth’s promo from last week that led to John Cena taking out members of Nexus for a seafood dinner and never calling them.

The announce team have Wade Barrett live in a hotel room. We cut to the hotel room but instead get David Otunga. Wait, Otunga’s in a hotel and won’t be wrestling? It may seem premature, but this might be the best RAW ever. Otunga says that Barrett is on the way to the arena and that Nexus needs to be united. There’s a knock on the door and Otunga says it must be his food. Sure enough, it’s…his food. He throws the guy out of the room. There’s another knock on the door and it’s John Cena. He takes out Husky Harris, who is really upset about missing that cold food. Otunga escapes so he just rams Husky’s head into a picture. Jesus, if I wanted to watch a Monday show featuring a guy who destroys hotel rooms, I’d watch “Two and a Half Men”.

Commercial.

Did you know that a lot of countries pissed off at us about WikiLeaks still watch RAW?

We’re back with David Hart Smith standing in the ring without an entrance. Poor Smith.

DH Smith versus Tyson Kidd

What’s a rerun?

Kidd is out and he’s flanked by some giant, goofy looking Matt Morgan wannabe. Hope that guy doesn’t stutter. Smith and Kidd start out going full speed as Smith misses a leg drop and eats a giant kick to the chest. Kidd stomps him a few times in the corner and locks in a resthold. Why the hell did they bury their first match on Superstars?

Smith breaks free and tosses Tyson over his shoulder. He charges Kidd in the corner and gets nailed with an elbow to that giant chin. Smith shakes it off and hits a second rope standing suplex for two. Smith goes for the running powerslam but Kidd rolls through and grabs the trunks for the pin. Smith goes after Kidd after the match, which is child abuse. Nat Norgan jumps Smith and clotheslines him down, allowing Kidd to pose over him.

Wade Barrett, Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel’s beard are in the back and they seem scared. Gabriel says his neck is messed up. It would have been worse, but that was an American car he was thrown through, so the windshield gave away pretty quickly. Also, Justin, when people said you needed to get a beard, they didn’t mean it literally. Otunga shows up out of breath, as he clearly came running from the hotel like a good cartoon character would. The most disturbing part of this segment is that Nexus has ANOTHER new shirt. Otunga says that Barrett better clear this up or there’s gonna be a mutiny.

Commercial.

Here’s a scary thought that I forgot to mention earlier in the TNA rant: TNA thought it was a good idea to have Matt Morgan carry a wasted Jeff Hardy. Now THAT’S stupid.

WWE Tag Team Giant Penny Championship: Nexus v. Borscht Marinara v. Greek Booze w/ Snukette v. Chocolate Sake

Over-under on how much time they allow this nonsense to happen before John Cena runs in?

Gabriel and Slater get announced last, which is the way it should be done. Slater and Tatsu start it off as it’s the green leading the greener. Gabriel and Tatsu chop one another as Josh Matthews mistakes Yoshi for Justin. I’m not saying calling RAW is easy, but how do you not tell the difference between those two?

Gabriel tags in Slater, who gets caught in an arm bar. Mark Henry gets tagged in, so Ginger tags in one of the Greek Boozers. He wails on the guy for a second before tagging in Yoshi. Tatsu comes off the top rope with a chop but Greek Booze #1 tags in Greek Booze #2 as Punk debates a match between them and the Bellas.

Greek Booze double-team Tatsu before taking out Henry. Heath Slater tags himself in and hits what I think was his finisher in fairly sloppy fashion for the pin. Greek Booze pick apart AC Ginger with some fancy double-teaming before hitting the flying Samoan Drop, which gets broken up by Gabriel.

Kozlov makes a blind tag on Gabriel and he takes out both members of Greek Booze with headbutts before hitting the Sloppy Slam for the pin. Vlad celebrates for a minute as Snukette decides to stay ringside to watch Santino.

Gabriel blindsides Vlad by kicking out his leg. He gets a two count after bouncing Kozlov’s head off of the mat before tagging in Gabriel. Punk compares Santino to Jar-Jar Binks, which is pretty accurate. Kozlov hits the flying headbutt on Slater and then tags in Marella.

Santino fires off some Token Offense before Nexus double-teams him for two. They stomp on his back as six or seven fans chant vigorously for Santino. The rest of the fans in Louisville are mesmerized by the electricity and indoor plumbing.

Gabriel chokes Santino and Slater distracts the ref in this dull match that due to sheer boredom slowly fades into a…

Commercial.

We’re back and Slater has Kozlov in a resthold. Riveting. Kozlov breaks free and tags in Santino who does a split and an arm drag and then a headbutt. He hits a split-legged Stunner and John Cena pops up from out of nowhere and Santino hits the Cobra to win the tag team titles.

Are. You. Fucking. Kidding. Me.

I didn’t think I could hate that move any more and then I see it win the tag team gold. My brain is trying to eat itself. Santino and Snukette kiss before he plays the fake trombone. Kozlov tries to do it but it’s so close to Goose-Stepping that I get really nervous.

Commercial.

ROH just announced at Final Battle that it will be headlined by Daniels v. Homicide. What is this, XPlosion?

We’re back from break (I need to think of something better to say than that) and no, you weren’t on what Jeff Hardy was on, Borscht Marinara did in fact just win the tag team titles.

Justin Roberts introduces the King of the Ring Winner, Sheamus. He comes out dressed like Loki. Someone tell him I think they already filmed the Thor movie.

“Iz goot ta bee kihn. Ya no, wen ah wun kingadarihn lass week, ah didn juss win ah tournnment, ah restored credibility tah da crowna da dubya dubya eeye.” He says he’s a greater fighter than anyone watching television before reminding us that he ended Chiple Ache’s career. Sheamus gives a history lesson about Irish Kings, and had I not lost so many brain cells in that last segment, I would have remembered it.

John Slo-Mo-Rrison comes out and says that Sheamus needs goblins and elves to match his costume. He says that Sheamus should get a half-man, half-goat.

Sheamus points out that Mo-rrison is jealous of the fact that he’s won a world title, won King of the Ring, done more in his two years than John ever did AND doesn’t have the painful memory of seeing Melina naked without makeup. Sheamus says that he should be called Yur Hi-nuss and then demands that he gets on his hands and knees and bows down to the…bows down to the king. That would make a great lyric for a song.

John guarantees that John Slo-Mo-rrison will never bow down to King Sheamus. Sheamus slaps him, which unleashes some midcard rage. John hits him with the scepter and then throws him into the throne. Sheamus sells it like his back is broken as John’s played out holding the magical enchanted stick of Irish power.

Commercial.

Did you know WWE Classics on Demand is the best way to legally watch old footage?

We’re back and the announce team now has LayCool. That is a lot of people.

Natalya v. Melina

Natalya hip-tosses Melina down and gets a standing suplex for one. Wait, one? How is it she hit such an impressive move and it only got a one-count? LayCool keep clucking over one another as Melina locks in a leg scissor. Melina screams for a clothesline but gets hit with a discus punch for two. Layla points out that Natalya is really The Anvil in a wig. Natalya into a split before locking in the Sharpshooter. Melina screams and then taps.

LayCool leave the announce position to jump Natalya. Melina decides to leave Natalya, so I guess the WWE realized she makes a much better heel. Now how long until they realize her boy John needs to be a heel?

Commercial.

Next week is the Slammy Awards. Again, their logo looks so familiar.

We doth returned with the three-man announce booth who recap the Cole shenanigans. In the back, The Miz and Mizfit are recapping about how Miz’s title win was covered by legitimate news sources. Miz says that Mizfit has to beat Randy Orton so Mizfit promises to have him leave on his hands and knees. That sounds a little…different.

Randy Orton v. The Mizfit

Randy Orton walks out to the ring, poses, waves his hands, poses, shows off the baby oil he’s slathered in, poses, does the TV-PG smile, poses and we fade to…

Commercial.

We’re back and Randy Orton is still standing in the ring. Here comes Mifit, who is still rocking that briefcase. Mizfit takes out Orton’s knee to start, but Randy responds with rights and rights and rights. Diverse offense.

Mizfit kicks out his knee again and for some reason thinks that’s gonna get two. He drops some elbows on the knee and it’s like watching a high school production of a Ric Flair match. Mizfit whips Orton into the ropes but gets caught with a suplex. Randy and Mizfit trade punches but Orton hits an inverted Atomic Drop and a clothesline. He then busts out the same scoop slam used by Ulysses S. Grant on Robert E. Lee at Appomattox (because it’s vintage). Randy drops to go hump the mat, which means it’s time for an RKO. As he goes for it, The Miz comes in and hits the SFC.

Miz demands a microphone and says that he’s going to show Orton what stipulation they’re going to have. He looks under the ring and pulls out a table. So it’s a beer pong competition?

Miz sets up the table and goes to put him through a table but Randy breaks free. Miz sneaks out of the ring with his title and sweater-vest. Orton looks over to the napping Mizfit and powerbombs him through the table. What a shame, that table was one day away from retirement.

Wade Barrett is in the back and he’s walking towards a…

Commercial.

On Smackdown, it’s Edge & Mysterio versus Kane & JBLatino.

It’s main event interview time and here comes Wade Barrett. Wade says that he’s going to admit something he’s never admitted before, that he got it wrong. He thought Cena was a man of his word and that he would stay fired as opposed to just popping up all night. If he had one ounce of honor or integrity he would never show his face again. If he had one ounce of cocaine, he’d be a champion in TNA.

Wade reminds us that Cena can only be rehired by Barrett. He invites John to come out from hiding like pro wrestling’s Anne Frank, and sure enough Cena appears. As soon as he enters the ring, Nexus shows up (minus McGillicutty). Wade says that if John threatens him, Nexus is going to come down to the ring and beat him to within an inch of his life. Wouldn’t it be a centimeter of his life since Wade’s British?

Barrett says that this won’t work and he will never rehire John Cena. Cena says that Wade is stupid because being fired isn’t that bad. It’s better than being future endeavored. All he does all day is think about how to make their lives a living hell. He teases Nexus for jobbing to Santino’s Cobra, which is an appropriate burn. John promises to buy tickets to every RAW and jump Nexus. That, folks, is called premeditation. All Wade needs to do is move for an injunction. Where’s Clarence Mason when you need him?

Wade asks what John would do differently if he got rehired. He quotes “Step Brothers” before saying that he could compete for the WWE Championship. Cena points out that Barrett isn’t the champion before restating his ticket-buying scheme. He says he will stop attacking Nexus but he won’t stop attacking Barrett. Gotta say, not the most compelling argument.

John points out that he doesn’t know when or where he’s gonna get Barrett. He won’t stop and he will make Wade’s life a nightmare. Barrett said that this was a threat and demands that Nexus come down and extinguish him. They don’t move and instead walk off one by one. John takes this opportunity to jump Barrett. He whips Wade into the steel steps as Punk points out that John Cena is fired. Cena whips Wade into another steel step before dismantling the announce table (but not before rescuing Punk’s Diet Pepsi). Cena throws Barrett over his shoulder and brings him to the announce table but Wade slips free and runs to the back. John’s music plays, which is odd since they shouldn’t have someone’s theme cued up if he doesn’t work there. Then again, WWE Production is a crack staff. I guess if Aldo Montoya showed up they’d have that cued up as well.

Wade runs into the back to confront the Mid-Card All-Stars, but David Otunga informs him that if he doesn’t rehire Cena that he’s out of Nexus. Ooh, a cliffhanger…

This has been for your consideration.