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Randy Orton and Chris Jericho stood mid-ring for a cold open in the arena. No pyro, no Raw intro, just Michael Cole saying they were live and this was Raw. Jericho said they were there to address the atrocity of last week. He pointed out that the rules of a Fatal Fourway state that it’s “every man for himself,” yet it’s obvious Michaels worked in collusion with JBL. He said they won’t stand for it, and they’ve filed a formal protest over last week’s events. Orton said they feel that JBL should be removed from his championship match and Michaels should not be allowed to compete for the title ever again. Orton said he and Jericho have agreed to fight one another later for that Rumble title shot. Jericho said he doesn’t care what the hypocrite fans think. JBL’s music interrupted.
Out of JBL’s limo walked Michaels. Lawler said that’s an odd sight. He also said that Jericho and Orton are undoubtedly right about the collusion between Michaels and JBL last week. Lawler said he appreciates the fact that Michaels has fallen on hard times and JBL came along almost as a savior to Michaels and his family, but Michaels must be conflicted. JBL said they should lose with dignity. He said they would have done the same thing if they had the resources. Jericho disagreed, saying they don’t associate with dishonest and indecent people.
Jericho leaned in to Michaels and said, “Speaking of which, how do you feel, Mr. WrestleMania.” He said he spent months being chastised because he said he was a phony and a sellout, “and it turns out I was right.” He said his actions lately have made him look like a prophet. Michaels said, “If there’s one thing that allows me to sleep at night without being completely sickened with myself, it’s knowing that I personally made sure that you [Jericho] and you [JBL] would not fight for the World Heavyweight Championship.”
Orton said Michaels should face the fact that he took a turn for the worst. He said now we know that Ric Flair’s career was ended by “a weak, pathetic sellout.” Orton said the decision from last week will be overturned tonight. (Former U.S. senator Norm Coleman should be at home taking feverish notes on this.) Stephanie McMahon walked out. QWe have news. She has legs. And a stomach. The camera showed her entire body as she walked out, then zoomed in on the usual upper-body shot.
Steph said the referee’s decision stands and JBL will go on to face Cena for the title at the Rumble. “Argue all you want, this is my show, and my decision stands,” she said. She said that Jericho and Orton can take solace in the fact that they’ve been entered in the Rumble. Jericho called it “axiomatic” that they should be in the Rumble. He said who doesn’t deserve to be in the match is Michaels because he would just poison the Rumble. Michaels stood with his head hung throughout the interview, but now his head raised up and he couldn’t hide a sneer as he seethed. JBL said that would be fine with him, since his sole role at the Rumble should be to ensure he retains his title at the Rumble by standing in his corner. Steph accepted that, then said she wanted to talk about tonight.
She said the easiest thing to do would be to book those four in a tag team match, but she feels like making things more interesting. She said tonight would be a test of Michaels’s integrity, as Orton & Jericho were booked to face Michaels & John Cena. Lawler called it a blockbuster.
Backstage, Orton told Cody Rhodes and Sim Snuka that tonight they have another chance to prove themselves to him, and if they win, they’re in. He said their fathers were Hall of Famers, so he won’t accept failure. Manu walked up to him and asked for another chance to prove himself. He said he’s not perfect, and even he (Orton) lost his match last week. Orton raised his voice and took offense at Manu being unappreciative. He said Manu has done nothing. “Your father was Afa of the Wild Samoans. So what? Your father was nothing compared to my father or me, and neither are you. Half of these people don’t even know your name and you have the audacity to call me out?” He said he will never, ever be a part of his group. He said he doesn’t want to see his face again. Cody and Sim looked contemptuously at Manu, then walked away.
They showed a happy Cody and Snuka approaching Orton backstage. Orton congratulated Cody and then turned to Snuka and said, “You’re out.” Snuka said, “That doesn’t even make any sense.” Orton said he doesn’t have time to argue it, but he couldn’t have been more clear. He said Cody won the match. Snuka said, “It was a tag match. Only one person can make the pin in a tag match.” Orton said he wanted to see who the weak link was, and apparently he found it. He asked Cody if Sim has a point. Cody said, “All I know is that I won the match.” Snuka couldn’t believe his ears. Orton and Cody walked away.
JOHN CENA & SHAWN MICHAELS vs. RANDY ORTON & CHRIS JERICHO
No debate between Michaels and Cena on who would start this one off, as Michaels went right to the apron and grabbed a tag rope for a dead stare out into space. Cena checked for life behind his dead eyes, then went to work against Jericho, who quickly grounded him. Crowd was quickly on fire as Cena made a comeback with a side headlock. Michaels then blind-tagged himself into the match and wanted a superkick on Jericho, but Jericho ducked. Cena then looked at Michaels and they clotheslined Jericho to the floor. JBL then came out on stage and looked into the ring. Michaels met him with a puppy-dog stare while Cena looked at Michaels to see if he was on the right page. Cut to break with tension high.
During the break, Michaels lost control of the match. Lawler said JBL left ringside after distracting HBK, which allowed Orton and Jericho to take control. Cena took a hot tag at 6:00 and cleaned house on Orton. He then brushed that dirt off and dropped him with the Five Knuckle Shuffle in center ring. Cena wanted the FU on Orton and Michaels tried to clear off Jericho, but Orton raked Cena in the eyes to escape. Cena then grappled Michaels, thinking he was Orton, but HBK slipped out of the FU. HBK screamed at Cena, who then was attacked from behind by Orton and Jericho to begin an attack on Cena. Great sequence.
By the way, crowd is ridiculously hot for this one. Jericho settled into some mat work on Cena, who tried to get the crowd to rally. Michaels snapped out of his daze with a loud “Cena, Cena” chant and showed a touch of emotion for his default tag partner. Cena suddenly powered into FU position, but Jericho countered with a DDT in center ring for a two count. Cena tried to fight back at 11:00, but Jericho locked in a sleeperhold. Cena tried to reach out for a tag, but Jericho hopped on his back for additional leverage to pull Cena back to center ring. Another nice sequence. They showed JBL watching on a monitor backstage.
Jericho took Cena to the corner and wanted a superplex, but Cena fought him and shoved Jericho down to the mat. Cena then came off the top with his guillotine leg drop. Cena then crawled to the wrong corner before regrouping and going over to his corner for HBK’s tag. Before Cena could reach up, Orton took his tag and tackled Cena to cut him off. Great sequence again. Orton then missed with a dropkick when Cena hooked the ropes off a whip, then Michaels demanded that tag in an encouraging way.
Cena pulled himself up at 15:00 and then jumped all the way across the ring to hot tag Cena. HBK stopped and thought about going after Cena, but then HBK sprang on Jericho with a flying right hand smash. Michaels unloaded on Jericho, but Jericho caught him with a smash across the face. He wanted a Lionsault, bur HBK got the knees up. HBK then went up top in vintage fashion and wanted a top rope elbow, but Jericho got his knees up to block. That took the crowd out of it momentarily. Jericho then wanted the Walls of Jericho, but HBK rolled him and Orton broke it up.
All heck broke loose when Cena became involved, then Orton wanted the RKO, but Cena shoved Orton off and HBK smashed him right in the face with Sweet Chin Music. Jericho then popped up and Michaels smashed him for good measure with the superkick. Cena backed up, thinking he was next, but Michaels went over to Jericho and covered him for the pin and the win.
Post-match: Cena went to the apron to back away from Michaels, who seemed a little froggy. The crowd went nuts as Cena continued to be leery of Michaels. They cut backstage where Grisham brought in JBL for a chat. JBL stared at the monitor and said his employee was great out there tonight. But, we’ll see how he handles next week when Michaels faces Cena one-on-one with him in HBK’s corner. JBL let that soak in, then they cut back to the ring where Cena re-entered the ring when HBK left. HBK then re-entered the ring and walked over to Cena, who threw up a forearm to half-way defend himself. They ended the show with HBK teasing a back-and-forth on how to handle Cena.
WINNERS: Cena & Michaels in 16:00.
