Edge came out to the ring and said he is not up for waiting on a match with the Miz for later in the show. The GM sent an email causing a grimace on Edge’s face. The GM declared that the match would happen later on, but Edge would be in an exhibition match right now with three men, and whoever throws him over the top rope, would get the number 40 slot in the Royal Rumble. Jack Swagger, Drew McIntyre and Tyson Kidd charged the ring to attack Edge. In under 2 minutes, Edge managed to throw all three over the top rope. Edge got on the microphone again, and said he thanks the GM for getting his juices flowing, but he wants to do something before he heads to the back. He then asked the crowd who would like to see a smashed computer. As Michael Cole pleaded with Edge to leave it alone, CM Punk and the new NEXUS came out to ringside.
Punk told the crowd that he would adapt to the newly changed Royal Rumble match. He then introduced the big man who joined the group last week, as Mason Brian. Punk claimed that he would win the Rumble and head to Wrestlemania to become the champion. At this point Wade Barrett and Corre headed out to the ring and stood face to face with the new NEXUS. Earlier Punk referred to Corre as a “poor man’s NEXUS”, so Barrett refuted that he was looking at the poor man’s NEXUS. As Ezekiel Jackson got in Punk’s face, Mason Brian stepped in to defend Punk. The GM sent another message stating that tonight CM Punk would face Wade Barrett, and the loser and his entire group would be out of the Royal Rumble match. He then threw in another twist, by declaring that John Cena would be the special guest referee for the match.
Match 1: Mark Henry & John Morrison v. Alberto Del Rio & Sheamus
After a competitive match, Mark Henry went for a pin on Del Rio after a big axe handle to the chest, but the pin was broken up by Sheamus. Henry then battled Sheamus, but when he turned his attention to Del Rio, Sheamus took him out with a big boot to the face. Even though Morrison came into the ring and took out Sheamus, throwing him to the outside, and landing on him with a spinning cross body, Del Rio snuck in to the ring and locked the arm bar submission on Henry, causing the big man to tap.
Winners: Alberto Del Rio & Sheamus
Match 2: Melina v. Natalya (WWE Divas Championship)
Melina unleashed an aggressive assault on Natalya, knocking her to the outside, and then later beating on her in the ring. She locked Natalya in a submission maneuver, but Natalya powered out, and temporarily reversed momentum, knocking Melina into a corner. Melina fought back, and attempted to drop a leg on Natalya sternum, but was caught as Natalya reversed the move to lock Melina into a vicious sharpshooter, where Natalya bent back so far, that her own shoulders touched the mat. No matter her freakish flexibility, Melina was forced to tap out. After the match, Lay Cool came out and informed Natalya that she will defend the title at the Royal Rumble, but were not specific as to who would actually face the champion, or if it would be both of them.
Winner: Natalya
In the back, CM Punk attempted to ease the concerns of the NEXUS about the Royal Rumble. Husky asked if Punk was number 1 and the rest of the NEXUS didn’t come out until after he was eliminated, what then? Punk told him to not waste his time on hypotheticals, and Mason Ryan added that Punk would not be eliminated.
John Cena was interviewed and claimed he would eliminate all the members of the new NEXUS from the Royal Rumble. He was confronted by the Miz who said that no matter who wins the Rumble, if they choose to face him, they will endure the worst beating of their life. Cena asked the Miz to give him that beating now, and the Miz said “not yet!” Cena called Miz out on being all talk, and said he thought that Miz would lose to Orton at the Royal Rumble, then lose the rematch, and wouldn’t even make it to Wrestlemania. As Cena left, Miz ordered footage from his assault on Edge aired.
Match 3: Edge v. The Miz
Before the match started, Dolph Ziggler and Vicki Guerrero came to ringside and joined the announce team. The match was lengthy and very competitive, as is expected from a champion vs. champion match. Alex Riley would get involved in the match, by tripping up Edge when he was getting ready for the spear. As soon as the ref called for the bell, Ziggler hit the ring as well. The Miz was disqualified. This prompted Randy Orton to storm to ringside and assault the Miz. He then got in the ring and hit Riley and Ziggler with the RKO. The Miz snuck in hitting Orton in the back of the knee with a steel case, and then slid out of the ring, grabbed his belt and ran to the entrance way.
Winner: Edge (by disqualification)
In an interview with Wade Barrett he said that he holds no issue with Cena being the special ref tonight, that he hopes Teddy Long makes a full recovery, and he knows Cena will never like him, but hopes that one day he will respect him.
Match 4: Marysse, Alicia Fox & Ted DiBiase v. Daniel Bryan & The Bella Twins
While one of the Bella twins was hitting on Daniel Bryan, the other one was distracted and rolled up by Marysse who got the pin, rubbing in DiBiase’s face that she won a match when he can’t seem to. The Bella twins were arguing with each other leaving ringside.
Winners: Marysse, Alicia Fox & Ted DiBiase
The Bella tins continued to argue in the back and went into Daniel Bryan’s locker room to ask him which one of them he is into more, and found him making out with Gail Kim. Bryan explained that Gail has been his girlfriend for about 6 months, they’ve just kept it quiet. The Bella twins couldn’t believe that Bryan passed them up for who they called “an after thought”. An angry Gail Kim threw punches and was jumped by the Bella’s who were pulled off by Bryan as he separated Gail from the attackers.
Match 5: Santino & Vladimir Kozlov v. Michael McGullicuty & Husky Harris
As Santino was getting ready to hit the cobra on Harris, McGullicuty distracted him, which caused Harris to hit Santino with a clothesline and hit him with a falling face breaker, and got the pin for the win. After the match David Otunga took the microphone and introduced CM Punk.
Winner: The New NEXUS
Match 6: CM Punk v. Wade Barrett (Loser’s faction is out of the Royal Rumble, Cena as special ref)
Before the match started, Cena threw the new NEXUS out from ringside, and then proceeded to throw the Corre out as well. As the bell rang, Cena shoved Punk down, and Punk could not hit him back. Then he slapped Barrett. An angry Punk took his frustration out on Barrett by attacking Barrett, and throwing him out of the ring. He then got in Cena’s face, only to be thrown to the outside of the ring. Punk threatened to hit Cena, which Cena dared him to do. Barrett came into the ring and blindsided Punk, and went for the cover. Cena slid to the outside and went to sign some autographs for some fans at ringside. Then he got back in the ring to confront an aggravated Barrett who got attacked by CM Punk, and Cena called for the bell, then explained to the ring announcer that both men were disqualified for excessive use of profanity on a PG show. Cena then declared that both men and their factions were out of the Rumble. As he was about to leave, the GM sent an email informing everyone that due to Cena’s abuse of power, both the new NEXUS and Corre would be in the Rumble, and if Cena did not apologize to Punk and Barrett right then and there, he would be out of the Royal Rumble himself. Cena came back to the ring and apologized to both men, then proceeded to attack both. The Corre came down to ringside, quickly followed by the new NEXUS. Cena slid out of the ring. Before anything more could happen, the Big Show’s music played and he, along with a bunch of other WWE stars ran down to the ring, as the show closed with a big brawl in the ring.
Winner: Double Disqualification
