Monday Night Raw opens with the franchise player, John Cena coming to the ring!
Cena gets the fans fired-up and talks about the importance of WrestleMania. He says we all know how big of a deal it is; it can make a Superstar’s career, it can bring a legend back from the dead, and it can change everything. So tonight he is out here to face the truth, the truth is in two weeks he has to win the Elimination Chamber match. The fans boo and he says he understands the feelings but if he can’t win the Elimination Chamber match, for the first time in 15 years he won’t have a road to WrestleMania. His current road there sees him winning the most unwinnable match in history, then beat the Beast for the Universal Championship in the main event of WrestleMania. It sounds impossible but he likes making the impossible possible.
Out comes The Miz and The Miztourage, who talk while walking to the ring. Miz is skeptical that Cena can do it, saying this isn’t 2013 it’s 2018, the year of the Miz. Maybe Cena’s spent too much time in Hollywood to where he can’t differentiate fantasy from reality, he thinks he’s gonna beat Brock when he’s the founding father of Suplex City? Miz says he’s gonna main event WrestleMania because that’s where the Intercontinental Championship belongs.
John points out a dude in the front row laughing at the idea and says literally Miz has no chance against Brock unless he misses his flight, gets food poisoning, what have you. If he actually wrestles Brock, it’ll be his last match. Miz disagrees and says the biggest mistake Cena made was trying to beat Brock at his own game. Miz says he’ll play to his strengths, use his brain, and he’ll win because he’ll do whatever it takes, do the things other people can’t or won’t do. That’s why he beat Roman Reigns for the Intercontinental Championship, and that’s why he’ll beat Brock Lesnar in the main event of WrestleMania.
Cena points out he’s mighty overconfident for a guy who hasn’t gone through the Chamber yet and Miz reminds him that he beat John in the main event of WrestleMania. Cena says Miz every once in a while finds a way to back up the way he runs his mouth, and so right here tonight, with a crowd that actually like him, he wants for The Miz vs. John Cena. But that’s not enough, he says the loser of their match will enter the Elimination Chamber match first! Miz asks if he thinks he’s stupid, he knows the first guy in the Chamber has the worst chance of winning. The Miztourage attack Cena out of nowhere. They double team him with a back suplex/neckbreaker combo, Miz takes his coat off and says he’ll take the chance because he’s smarter than Cena, challenge accepted!
He calls for a referee but gets Kurt Angle instead. Angle tells him to hold up, this isn’t how they’re gonna start Raw. They’ll have the match, alright, but the Miztourage are banned from ringside!
The Miztourage leave and Miz quickly forces the referee to ring the bell while he covers Cena.
The Miz Vs. John Cena
The bell rings and Miz is already covering Cena, who kicks out at 2! Miz is distraught, he argues with the referee that he scored the three count but he’s waved off. Miz then climbs atop Cena and unleashes some ground and pound, then goes for the cover again and Cena kicks out as we go the break.
*Commercial Break*
We return from the break to see The Miz still controlling the action. He sends Cena out of the ring, then leisurely follows after and rams him into the barricade. Back inside the ring, Miz hits Cena with a double axe handle from the top rope for a quick two count.
Cena turns things around and hits a fisherman’s suplex for a near fall. Miz knees him in the gut a few times and kicks him in the face to regain control. Cena spikes Miz with a tornado DDT for another two count. Miz wears Cena down with a headlock as we head to another commercial.
*Commercial Break*
We come back from the break to see Miz go for a Skull Crushing Finale, but Cena gets out. Cena goes for an Attitude Adjustment, but Miz gets out and takes him down for a Figure Four Leglock. Cena fights out of it and applies an STF. Miz claws his way to the bottom rope and gets a hand on it. Miz holds his back on the apron. Cena tries to bring him back into the ring, but Miz counters him by snapping him off the top rope.
Miz pulls his way up to the top rope and goes for a cross-body block, but Cena rolls through and picks him up. Cena goes for an AA, but Miz gets out and hits a kneeling DDT for a near fall. Miz charges and connects with his patented corner clothesline. Miz tries for a second one, but Cena counters with an AA! Cena covers, but Miz kicks out.
Cena goes to the top rope, but Miz shakes the ropes to knock him off. Miz then applies the Figure Four Leglock in the middle of the ring. Cena fights out of it and counters a punch into a crossface, which Michael Cole inexplicably calls an STF. Miz gets his way to the bottom rope to break the hold. Miz sidesteps Cena and hits a Skull Crushing Finale for a near fall.
Cena is laid out and Miz is on his knee’s wondering what it will take. Miz gets Cena up and puts him on the top rope. Miz goes for a top rope Skull Crushing Finale, but Cena counters into a super AA for the win.
Winner: John Cena
After the match Cena celebrates and heads to a disabled fan in the front row, giving him his armband. Jojo announces that The Miz is the loser and thus will be the first man to enter the Elimination Chamber match.
Later tonight, Sasha Banks will face Bayley in the hugger’s hometown. We’ll also get the Second Chance Fatal 4-Way tonight. The screen cracks and we get a promo from Matt Hardy, who says that tonight he has a second chance. Three other vessels stand in his way but he has talked with the seven other deities and they have blessed him. The other vessels don’t know that their journey is already OVAH. So he will turn the Elimination Chamber into the DELETION CHAMBER. Hardy then chants Delete as we head to the break.
*Commercial Break*
Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows cut a promo from earlier today, as they make their way to the ring. They talk about The Revival and show a graphic on screen to represent a Nerd-o-Meter. Wilder and Dawson ambush them on the ramp. The fight eventually spills into the ring and the match gets underway.
Gallows & Anderson Vs. The Revival
Gallows and Dawson start the match after the referee allows Anderson and Gallows recover. The big man immediately takes control and starts beating on Dawson in the corner. He punches Wilder off the apron before throwing Dawson halfway across the ring.
Gallows unloads with some jabs in the corner and sticks Dawson with a big boot. Anderson takes out Wilder at ringside, but the distraction allows Dawson to hit Gallows with a big running chop block as we go to a commercial.
*Commercial Break*
We return to see Wilder and Dawson keeping Gallows isolated by focusing on punishing his knee. The big man nails a superkick to give himself a chance to make a tag. Anderson comes in angry and takes out both Dash and Dawson with punches.
Gallows pulls Dawson out of the ring, but it backfires and he gets sent into the steel steps. Wilder takes a spinebuster to give Anderson a close two count. Dawson tags in and they hit The Shatter Machine on Anderson for the win!
Winners: The Revival
A quick match in a rivalry that services neither team.
We see Kurt Angle making his way to the ring from the backstage area as we head to the break.
