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In-ring, Justin Roberts did the hard sell for Rob Zombie before bringing out tonight’s guest host. Zombie said he is here for one reason: for sick and twisted things that happen in this ring. Zombie plugged the MITB ladder match and said he here is tonight to announce the eight participants in the match. Zombie read the names off the Titantron: (1) Randy Orton. (2) The Miz. (3) R-Truth. (4) Chris Jericho. (5) Evan Bourne. (6) Ted DiBiase. (7) John Morrison. (8) Edge. Zombie was enthusiastic for everyone before stopping at Edge’s name.
Cue up Randy Orton’s theme music to a very strong pop as the final participant.They cut to a break as Orton slowly made his way to ringside to stand next to the babyfaces.
CHRIS JERICHO & EDGE & U.S. champion THE MIZ & TED DIBIASE vs. RANDY ORTON & JOHN MORRISON & R-TRUTH & EVAN BOURNE — eight-man tag match
The bell sounded back from break and the match was off with DiBiase and Morrison paired off against each other. Truth tagged in, landed a slap, and dumped DiBiase clean over the top rope to the floor. Bourne followed with a running kick strike off the ring apron that took DiBiase to the floor again. Back in the ring, Bourne went to work on DiBiase with more kick strikes. Miz made his way into the ring and battled with Bourne, who landed a double-foot smash to the jaw followed by a corner strike for a two count. Cole put over Bourne’s potential creativity in the MTIB match at the PPV. Meanwhile, the crowd chanted for Orton, who remained on the ring apron.
The heels cut off Bourne and Jericho tagged in. Jericho cockily walked around the ring to draw heat before going to work on Bourne. Jericho then mocked Orton’s ballerina pose with a smug look on his face before throwing Bourne back into the ring. Jericho paintbrushed Bourne, who teased a hot tag to Orton until Jericho pulled him back to the heel corner to tag in Miz. Cole noted Miz and Jericho were a tag team for “a cup of coffee.” Mathews covered for Cole’s commentary on the short-term booking by saying their egos were too large to co-exist.
Morrison eventually tagged in and battled his former tag partner, Miz. Morrison connected with a springboard Flying Chuck, then teased the Starship Pain, but DiBiase dragged Miz to the outside. Morrison changed course and took out DiBiase and Miz on the floor. Morrison tried to follow, but Edge attacked Morrison on the outside to cut off his momentum. The heels regained control and they cut to break.
Back from break, the camera was tight on Jericho taking apart Morrison in the heel corner. They shot a clipped from during the break of Jericho driving a ladder into Morrison’s mid-section while the ref was occupied. Back live, Jericho continued to work on Morrison and taunt the babyfaces before tagging out to Edge. DiBiase then entered and slowly worked on Morrison as the crowd chanted for Orton. Edge re-entered and teased the Spear, but Morrison moved and Edge missed in the corner. Morrison then teased a hot tag and dropped Edge with an enziguiri as Edge tried to cut him off. Both men were out cold on the mat as the crowd anticipated a hot tag for the babyfaces.
Right at the top of the hour, Jericho made a tag for the heels and Bourne made a tag for the babyfaces. Bourne landed signature high-flying offense on Jericho before going up top. Jericho cut him off and teased a superplex, but Bourne knocked him to the mat. Bourne then airballed Air Bourne and Jericho immediately followed with the Codebreaker. Brilliant exchange. Jericho couldn’t make a cover, so he went to his corner to tag in DiBiase. Meanwhile, Bourne made the St. Louis connection to Orton and the crowd exploded for Orton’s first entry in the match. Orton immediately dropped DiBiase with the RKO and made a cover for the win. That was quick.
Post-match: Edge jumped Orton from behind to clear him out of the ring. Edge then tried to use a ladder, but Truth and Morrison dropkicked the ladder into Edge’s face. Suddenly, heels and faces exchanged finishing moves on each other. Miz was left alone in the ring staring up at the briefcase hanging above the ring. Miz then set up a ladder and climbed the ladder. Orton had other ideas and re-entered the ring to knock Miz off the ladder.
The crowd chanted, “Randy, Randy” as he set up the ladder and climbed toward the briefcase. Cole posed the question of whether this will be the picture at the MITB PPV. They showed Orton retrieve the briefcase and hold up the MITB briefcase. Cue up Orton’s theme music. After a few moments on Orton’s “victory,” Cole and Mathews made final notes on the show, then Raw closed with a shot of Orton standing on the ladder holding the briefcase.
WINNERS: Team Orton at 15:10.
