Coverage and thoughts on the July 25, 2011 episode of Raw

The show starts with the WWE Title Match and they show the belt on a display case.

Rey Mysterio vs. The Miz for the vacant WWE Title. They show the whole roster watching backstage. Rey get the pin to become the new Champion. This was the usual baby face plays the underdog and makes the big come back kind of match, but it was real fun to watch. Miz attacks Rey from behind after the match. Then Alberto Del Rio came out with the MITB Case and was about to cash it in when Rey dove onto Del Rio. Alberto then left with the case and Mysterio celebrated with the Title.

The rest of talent congratulates Rey and pour champagne on him. Cena then comes in and also congratulates him. Josh Mathews then interviews Mysterio and Rey tells his wife and kids that he’s coming home with the gold. More champagne gets shot at him.

Evan Bourne vs. U.S. Champion Dolph Ziggler. Dolph wins with the sleeper. This was a good match. Dolph then got the mic and said, “Follow that.”

They show The Bella Twins and Eve arguing and Keith Stone walks by and Eve complains that the Bellas always pull “twin magic”. Stone then draws on one of the Bella’s arms. This was dumb.

Divas Champion Kelly Kelly & Eve Torres vs. Melina & Maryse. Kelly & Eve win when Kelly pins Melina. This was the usual Divas match.

Triple H comes out to mention the state of the WWE. First he says that WWE is the global success that it is today because of Vince. He mentions Mysterio becoming Champion then says that tonight there will be a second WWE Title match tonight. The match will be Rey Mysterio vs. John Cena. Why is Cena in a Title match again!? He then mentions that there’s someone who should be back on Raw and he welcomes back…Jim Ross! Lawler applauds and is all thrilled and Cole looks disgusted. JR then walks to the announce table, Cole takes his head set off, stands on the table and gets the mic and says that JR’s “The walking Dead.” He then sucks up to Triple H and mentions that he will do just about anything for WWE but he won’t do commentary with JR. Cole then Rags on JR more and says that he couldn’t allow his ego to stay home. Cole says again that he won’t work with JR. Triple H then says that he was going to can Cole, but he looked into Cole’s contract and that it would coast WWE more if he wasn’t there. He then tells Cole that if he leaves he will be in breach of contract. Then he says that he’s giving Cole the night off and that he has till Smackdown to decide. Cole says he isn’t leaving and says he will do more commentary. Triple H says that he gave him the night off from commentary because he’s booked Cole in a match next. Cole then walks out and then R-Truth comes out and mentions that the man who was part of the conspiracy from the start is now “the man”. He mentions that he likes what he sees in the new regime and he wants to know what H will do for him and that “Little Jimmy” and heights and spiders coast him a shot at the WWE Title and asks what Triple H will do about it. Triple H then talks to invisible people for some reason. Truth says that Triple H maybe the game, but he’s not playing. Triple H then tells him that he resigned another guy and that other person wanted a piece of Truth. John Morrison comes out and goes after Truth. They go at it for a bit and Morrison gets the upper hand, hitting the Star Ship Pain. This was a mixed bag segment. I’m not sure what Triple H talking to the invisible people was about, but Morrison’s return was well done. I’m also glad that they brought Jim Ross back to be the head announcer. 

Triple H’s King of Kings song plays and Michael Cole comes out in Triple H’s ring gear, water bottle and all and does Triple H’s entrance. Zack Ryder then comes out.

Zack Ryder vs. Michael Cole. Ryder gets the quick pin. The fans chanted lets go Ryder. Really nice to see Zack on the show tonight. Hopefully they’ll have him on more.

Kofi Kingston vs. Alberto Del Rio. Alberto wins by submission. This was a good back and forth match.

Josh Mathews is about to interview Miz and Miz blames Cena for the Title situation being the way it is because he lost the Title to Punk AKA “He who is not to be mentioned”. Then he mentions that H overturned Vince’s decision to fire Cena. Then he mentions that Rey being Champion won’t be as good as Miz being on George Lopez and that HHH’s version of WWE is a huge mistake. This was another really great promo from Miz.

WWE Champion Rey Mysterio vs. John Cena for the Title. Cena gets the pin to win the Title AGAIN! Cena and Mysterio then hug. This was really good back and forth match, but Cena does not need the Title! Music then plays and after awhile CM Punk comes out with the WWE Title. Punk gets in the ring and he and Cena have a stare down with each guy holding up their Title.

I thought this was a really good show. I enjoyed the Mysterio-Miz match at the start. It was good to have JR back on Commentary too. I also liked the Kofi-Alberto match and the Cena-Mysterio match was really good too, but I think they should’ve kept the Title on Mysterio as I feel he could use the Title. Cena doesn’t need to be Champion. Punk coming out at the end was AWESOME!! He and Cena had a fun face to face with the Titles. Looks like CM Punk is back! YES! Who is the WWE Champion? Great ending to the show!