Rey Mysterio speaks on his Retirement

It appears Jim Ross is staying busy while he’s away from WWE TV. Ross wrote the following on his Twitter yesterday: ” Working on some very exciting projects. Stay tuned.”

- WWE Diva Maria will be taken off SmackDown TV for a while because apparently there is a clause in her contract for Celebrity Apprentice that says she can’t appear on any other TV show while Apprentice is on the air. The season is set to begin on NBC on March 14th.

- Rey Mysterio said in a recent interview from Mexico that he was 2 to 3 years away from retiring and said it all depends on how his reconstructive knee surgery goes. Rey is scheduled to get the surgery in April after WrestleMania, if it can go that long.

Rey was asked in the interview who will be the replacement as top Mexican star in WWE when he leaves, noting that Dos Caras Jr., Super Nova and Incognito are all in WWE developmental. Rey said he doesn’t see any of them as replacements because WWE doesn’t work that way.

Update on Randy Orton and Straight Edge Society

WWE’s live event on Valentine’s Day in Guadalajara, Mexico is sold out.

- Former WCW star and FCW trainer Norman Smiley now has a TV role in WWE developmental as the Lieutenant General Manager.

- Randy Orton reportedly just signed a long-term contract with WWE for the next ten years. Orton also received $600,000 bonus pay for main eventing WrestleMania in 2009.

- The newest member of CM Punk’s Straight Edge Society, Serena Deeb, has changed her name in WWE developmental from Mia Mancini to Serena Mancini so that may be the name she uses on WWE TV. WWE has been continuing with shaving crowd members heads at live events with finding local independent wrestlers or actual fans who want to do the angle in the ring.

Update on WWE's Raw Guest Host, Undertaker and more

The Undertaker had his knee scoped after the January 19th SmackDown tapings in Greenville, which is why he wasn’t working the live events last week. Taker is going into the Royal Rumble less than 100%. The original plan had him having more of an involvement at the RAW in Knoxville last week but he was in so much pain when he arrived that all he ended up doing was the promo at the start of RAW. He did work the SmackDown tapings this past week but didn’t do much.

- WWE’s creative team has been told that there is no chance of The Rock vs. John Cena at WrestleMania and right now are back to working on Cena vs. Batista for the big event.

- While there has been talk of stopping the RAW guest host angle after WrestleMania, there is now talk of continuing it indefinitely if TNA goes to Monday nights permanently.

ECW Rating, WWE Developmental Feud, WWE Back in the UK, More

Tommy Dreamer will be wrestling former WWE and ECW star Tajiri at the SMASH 1 event on March 26th in Japan.

- WWE will be returning to the UK on September 9th and 10th in Aberdeen, Scotland, September 11th in Minehead, England and September 12th in Skegness, England. Tickets go on sale this coming Friday. The company will be returning to the UK again in November.

- This week’s episode of ECW on SyFy scored an 0.9 cable rating.

- WWE developmental has been building to a second generation tag team feud with FCW Tag Team Champions Brett DiBiase & Joe Hennig vs. Bo & Duke Rotundo.

Psych Star talks about WWE/Cena

Wednesday night’s episode of Psych on the USA Network starring John Cena drew 4.4 million viewers.

- Psych’s Dule Hill, who hosted RAW this past week, told The Futon Critic in a new interview that he’s more of a fan of WWE legends like Andre the Giant, Iron Sheik, Tony Atlas and Jimmy Snuka but is becoming a fan of the current WWE product after working with John Cena.

- Matt Hardy noted on his Twitter that he’s been working on an autobiography. He wrote: “I’ve been working on my future autobiography here & there-it’ll be an amazing look into my career & the business.. It’ll totally be REAL.. And for the record, the book would be something that would happen WAAAY down the road.. So don’t get overly excited, HaHa!”

– Torrie Wilson posted a story on her Twitter this week about how she was alone at home and felt scared, so she got out a loaded pistol, took the safety off and fired a shot into her bathroom that went right through the ceiling. Mike Aldren of the Wrestling Globe reports that some of Torrie’s friends have been worried about her as of late. Torrie was hospitalized last October after having a bad reaction to prescription medications she was taking.

News on Jericho and Hurricane Incident

TMZ.com has a new article up with comments from Ashley Storer, the woman who was involved in the incident with Chris Jericho, Hurricane Helms and Matt Hardy earlier this week that led to Helms and Jericho being arrested for public intoxication.

Storer, who allegedly took an elbow to the face from Helms, says she has no ill feelings towards him and that it was a “play fight” she was involved in. She claims that they were all crammed into the back of the taxi and she got stuck between Helms and Jericho, who began play fighting. Storer says the “play fight” escalated because everyone was drunk.

Storer now says she took an elbow tot he cheek, causing the cab driver to pull over at a gas station where Helms and Jericho were arrested. Storer also claims that Matt Hardy was completely sober.

She also says that the cops blew the whole thing out of proportion but admits she may have made the situation worse because, “I was crying and drunk and tired from being out all night and I just wanted to leave."

TMZ cameras caught up with Randy Orton at an airport yesterday and asked him about the arrests of Chris Jericho and Hurricane Helms. Orton seemed legitimately surprised at the news and claimed he didn’t know anything about either of them being arrested. The TMZ reporter talked about how WWE stars are always getting in trouble and Orton said, “We represent the WWE in a very positive manner. Getting in trouble isn’t positive now, is it?”

Cincinnati.com had an article up yesterday evening about the arrests of Hurricane Helms and Chris Jericho. They noted that around 4AM on Wednesday, an Erlanger police officer patrolling Crescent Springs saw a group of five people being rowdy in a shopping center parking lot. The officer told the group they needed to leave and some of them got a taxi. This was shortly before the taxi driver pulled over and called 911 after the incident in the backseat.

While other reports have came out since then, Cincinnati.com noted that Helms ran and was later found by police but Matt Hardy couldn’t be found by them. It’s been mentioned now that Hardy was not sober and as you read before, the woman involved is now claiming that the whole thing was blown out of proportion.

Cincinnati.com noted that a conviction on the misdemeanor charge of public intoxication carries a fine of $25 and court costs of $134. Helms and Jericho can appear in court on February 16th to challenge the charges or they can have the charges dismissed by paying $159 total before court date.

WWE released a statement to the paper saying that they assume the authorities will take proper action if necessary but declined further comment.

- Jeff Hardy commented on the situation with these messages on his Twitter: “Sure tmz picked up their mug shot..big deal..their awesome &why should that be second guessed over an extremely simple situation?Love Je …” and “They got arrested…it’s a shame they care or think it makes them look bad..their amazing employees…..&”

Jeff’s girlfriend Beth, who is good friends with Helms and Matt, wrote this on her Twitter: “WOW! MMH made the TMZ headlines! He’s on the scoreboard now! So hilarious that the story is about nothing…TMZ is in the entertainment business also, keep that in mind. Funny thing is, Matt wasn’t even drinking & didn’t have any involvement. Classic TMZ sensationalism. Actually, I was asked to post that. And, to clarify, he wasn’t DRUNK. Better?”

 

Mugshot of Hurricane/Jericho, News on Honky Tonky Man

Dave Meltzer reports that Matt Hardy was running after Hurricane Helms, telling him to go back to the scene of the incident or he would get in even more trouble. Word is that Helms and Jericho were bailed out by fellow WWE Superstars CM Punk and Christian.

Sources within WWE are saying that Helms never hit the woman in the taxi as TMZ reported.

Several sources within WWE also said that this incident came as no surprise to them. Some feel that Helms, more than anyone else involved, is in jeopardy of losing his job over the incident.

It was interesting that Helms was featured this morning on WWE’s website as the Superstar of the Day. Helms was later pulled from the website and replaced with Cody Rhodes.

Jim Ross wrote about it on his website with the following comments: “TMZ making a semi big deal about a situation that Chris Jericho and Gregory Helms found themselves in this week. Both these guys are great people and are credits to the biz and I suggest that this well could be much to do about not much. No one should rush to judgment about this issue especially since neither individual has addressed there side of this overblown story. This matter definitely deserves a “Lighten Up Francis.” Wrestling needs more hard working, students of the game who are still fans of the biz like Jericho and Helms.”

Randy Orton vs. John Cena vs. Sheamus for the WWE Title is being advertised as the RAW dark main events for shows leading up to WrestleMania in March.

WWE Legend The Honky Tonk Man has apparently declined WWE’s offer to join the 2010 Hall of Fame. Below is the story from Honky’s website:

“HTM declined the WWE offer to be inducted into the HOF class of 2010. There were multiple reasons why HTM decided against this induction. Negotiations started Friday Jan. 22 and carried over till Wed. Jan. 27 at which time HTM informed WWE that he would not be interested in this years induction into their HOF.

One of the main reasons was a conflict in the schedule. HTM is booked for the Wizard World Comic Con in Toronto for the same date WWE wanted. HTM felt he should stand by his Wizard booking since they had put out publicity on his appearance to be there. Also the Wizard booking has been on his books since early December. WWE had more than enough time to get their date locked in with HTM.

Wizard has HTM booked for 7 events this year and WWE had only 1 event for HTM. HTM would have suffered a serious negative cash flow by taking the WWE booking since they want a “no compete” clause over several months after the HOF. HTM would have been handcuffed with no way to provide income for his family during the “no compete’ months. The dollar figure from WWE for the one event was less than HTM could make in one weekend at Wizard World. Therefore HTM decided 7 dates with Wizard would mean 10 times the money WWE was offering and Wizard does not have a “no compete” clause.

This is just one of several reasons HTM decided to waive the WWE offer and commit to Wizard. There will be more reasons revealed why HTM made this decision in the coming weeks. There are several, but the TNA deal was not one of them.”

WWE Superstars Arrested

WWE Superstars Chris Jericho and Gregory Helms were arrested on Wednesday morning at 5am in Kenton County, Kentucky. The two were charged with public alcohol intoxication and spent over an hour at the Erlanger Police Department.

Jericho and Helms had been in nearby Cincinnati, Ohio the previous night for this week’s SmackDown taping. Jericho has been posting messages on Twitter all day with no mention of the incident.

Both were bonded out of jail.

Update on JR's Blog

The following are highlights from Jim Ross’s latest blog:
– Speaking of Cena, his interaction with Mr. McMahon on Raw was spot on and some of the best verbal interaction that I’ve heard in a good while. The dialog between Cena and the Chairman of WWE was organic, emotional, and really has me anxious to see Raw next week when Bret “Hitman” Hart returns to confront McMahon. Fine TV in my humble opinion.
– The serious nature of winning the Royal Rumble match and what it means individually to every competitor was underscored with Monday Night’s DX in ring promo. This was another verbal exchange that captured my interest. DX in a serious tone really captivated my attention.
– I had a great conversation Sunday with JBL who, as my Grandpa used to say is as busy as a fruit merchant, and doing great while living in New York City. John is on Fox News every Saturday morning of which I enjoy plus he is still developing his distribution business for ‘Layfield Energy Plus’.

Smackdown Spoiler of 1/29

* Degeneration X come out to open the show. Triple H starts to talk when Rey Mysterio comes out and says Shawn Michaels doesn’t think he can beat The Undertaker for the belt at Royal Rumble. The Straight Edge Society come out. Triple H says he’s surprised CM Punk is straight and makes fun of him. Teddy Long comes out and says there will not be a Unified WWE Tag Team Championship match tonight. Instead, Mysterio will fight Michaels right now and Triple H will fight CM Punk.

* Triple H b. CM Punk via disqualification when both members of the Straight Edge Society interfere. They jump Hunter and try to shave his head but Michaels comes out for the save. DX tries to attack Punk but he puts Serena Deeb in front of him, kisses her and sneaks out of the ring. HBK fakes Sweet Chin Music on Serena and exits.

* Chris Jericho is shown backstage on his way to the ring.

* R-Truth b. Chris Jericho after a failed Codebreaker on the ropes as Truth rolled over top of Jericho for the pin.

* Backstage Batista interview. He talks about the Royal Rumble match. John Morrison is shown on his way to the ring.

* John Morrison vs. WWE Intercontinental Champion Drew McIntyre. Drew McIntyre gets the pin to retain after Morrison went for Starship Pain and McIntyre got his knees up. McIntyre hit a double arm DDT onto the IC belt and gets the pin.

* Michelle McCool interview. She says she is going to send Piggy James back to the barnyard for good, etc. Then ends by say Mickie went wee, wee, wee all the way home. Michelle issues an ope challenge to the locker room. Mickie James’ music hits and Layla comes out in a fat suit with a pig nose dressed like Mickie James.

* Michelle McCool vs. Layla (dressed as Piggy James). Layla slowly chases McCool around the outside of the ring, back in and goes for a splash. McCool pins her for the win. The crowd lets them hear it with “boring” chants.

* In a backstage segment Shawn Michaels is shown on his way to the ring. Batista gets in his face and tells him to stay out of his way on Sunday. Triple H gets in Batista’s face and Batista back downs.

* Shawn Michaels vs. Rey Mysterio. Rey goes for 619 early, Shawn moves. The match goes back and forth when Rey hits head scissors on Michaels, taking him to the outside. Mysterio hits 619, goes for the springboard, but Michaels counters and hits Sweet Chin Music out of nowhere. Both men are down. Batista comes out and spears HBK then hits a spinebuster on Mysterio. Triple H hits the ring and clotheslines Batista over the top and goes out after him. The lights go out and The Undertaker’s music hits. The lights come up and Undertaker is in the ring. He double chokeslams Mysterio and Michaels to end the show.

Dark Match Main Event:

* DeGeneration X & The Undertaker vs. CM Punk, Luke Gallows & Chris Jericho. Undertaker hits Jericho with a chokeslam for the win. Undertaker was not heavily involved in the match.

Backstage news on Royal Rumble

WWE creative team members had been tossing around an idea that would see Triple H and Shawn Michaels “tie” in the Royal Rumble match which would see Shawn choose to face The Undertaker at WrestleMania and see Triple H face Sheamus at WrestleMania. The idea was dropped however.

- The latest idea over this past weekend was that Triple H is the favorite to win the Rumble match this year and earn the shot against Sheamus. Rumor has it that Shawn Michaels will face Batista at Elimination Chamber to determine The Undertaker’s opponent for WrestleMania.

John Cena vs. Batista is expected to take place at the big show in Arizona this year.

Location for Wrestlemania, News on Mickie James

There was no dark match before last night’s RAW.

- WWE Diva Mickie James is featured in the new issue of Country Weekly magazine.

- Gary Stokan, President of the Atlanta Sports Council, said this week on The Sports Buffet show that Atlanta and Miami are the two choices for WWE’s WrestleMania in 2011. The announcement will be officially made on February 1st, the day after the Royal Rumble pay-per-view in Atlanta.

If Miami is chosen, Sun Life Stadium, which holds approximately 76,500 fans, would host the event. If Atlanta is chosen, the Georgia Dome which holds 71,000 would host the event. It’s worth noting that the 2010 Survivor Series is already set for MiamI

WWE superstars 1/28

Thanks to Rick and KAVAN for these WWE Superstars spoilers that were taped before last night’s RAW in Columbus, Ohio:

* The Bella Twins b. Katie Lea and Jillian Hall

* Chris Masters b. Primo and Chavo in a three-way match to earn a spot in the Royal Rumble match

* Chris Jericho came out to talk about the Royal Rumble match but was interrupted by R-Truth. They ended up brawling after Truth attacked Jericho.

Bret Hart on Raw, News on ECW

WWE has confirmed that Bret Hart will be on next week’s RAW live from Nashville, Tennessee.
- The main event of tomorrow night’s ECW on SyFy will see Kane and Christian take on Ezekiel Jackson and William Regal.

Raw as on Jan 25

The pyro explodes and music plays as Michael Cole welcomes us to Columbus, Ohio for tonight’s RAW from the Nationwide Arena. They say that both of the stars from Psych will be here tonight on the graphic but even their website said it would only be Dule Hill tonight. We’ll see.

DX vs. Legacy

The DX music plays as WWE’s Unified Tag Team Champions make their way out to the ring for tonight’s first match. We go to replays of last week’s show where Triple H threw Shawn out of the ring. All appears to be fine between them tonight. DX gets a big pop here from the crowd as they take the mic. Triple H asks where Hornswoggle is and Shawn says he sent him home. Shawn asks Triple H why he can’t understand that if he wins the Royal Rumble, he has a guaranteed shot at Undertaker. Shawn asks Triple H to look at it from his position. Shawn says he needs and wants the shot at ending the streak. Triple H says yes, that is too much to ask from him. Triple H says for the past six months they’ve been running around telling jokes and now it’s Rumble time, time to get serious. Triple H says he wants the title shot and wants to main event WrestleMania. Triple H says they can work together at the Royal Rumble and eliminate everyone else but it’s going to come down to them two. HBK says he understands and puts the mic down. Out come their opponents, Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase.

Triple H and Cody start the match out. They go to the corner and brawl. Triple H goes for a Pedigree early but Ted pulls Cody out of the ring and breaks the hold. Michael Cole says we have some breaking news on tonight’s RAW hosts as we go to commercial break.

Back from the break and Shawn Michaels comes in to go at it with Cody. HBK takes control as Lawler announces that James Rodey from Psych won’t be here to host tonight. Legacy ends up on the outside. Shawn leaps off the top onto them both and brings Cody back in. Ted distracts HBK on the apron which allows Cody to nail a big neckbreaker. Ted comes in and works over HBK in the corner.

Cody comes back in and they double team Shawn for a 2 count. Cody stomps and drops knees on Shawn for another 2 count. Ted comes in off the tag again and dropkicks Shawn off the ropes. Ted covers Shawn for a 2 count. Ted kicks Shawn in the face while he’s down and gets another 2 count. Cody is back in now and he keeps control of Shawn. Another 2 count. HBK finally counters a move and goes to tag but Triple H isn’t on the apron. DiBiase comes in and tries for Dream Street but gets superkicked to the mat. Triple H finally gets tagged in and goes at it with DiBiase. Triple H takes control. Cody comes in and catches a spinebuster. Ted gets laid out again also. Triple H goes for the Pedigree on Cody when Shawn tags himself in. This pisses Triple H off. Cody knocks them into each other and they have a staredown. Shawn superkicks DiBiase again. Triple H decks Cody and stops him from hitting Shawn. Shawn covers DiBiase for the pinfall and the win.

Winners: DX

- After the match, Shawn and Triple H tease some tension but end up shaking hands.

- We get a video previewing the Psych premiere this Wednesday night on USA with John Cena’s appearance. Lawler hypes Big Show vs. MVP for tonight’s show as we go to commercial.

MVP vs. Big Show

Back from the break and out comes MVP. MVP takes the mic and says he needs to say something to The Miz. MVP says he’s the #1 contender to Miz’s belt and Miz can’t keep running away from him. MVP says he is going to take the belt from Miz and become a 3-time US Champion. Out comes The Miz to the stage. Miz picks on MVP for being in prison. They go back and forth until Miz brings out his friend Big Show for the match.

The match starts and Show takes down MVP first. Show with a headbutt knocking MVP back into the corner. Show hits a big chop but misses a splash in the corner as Miz looks on from the ramp. MVP hits a knee to the face and then the running kick in the corner. He goes for another kick but Show grabs him by the throat and choke slams him for the pinfall and the win.

Winner: Big Show

- After the match, The Miz runs down to the ring and yells in MVP’s face. Miz raises his US Title over MVP. Lawler says tonight we will get Vince McMahon’s decision on Bret Hart as we go back to commercial.

- Back from the break and Cody Rhodes is backstage pacing. He tells Ted DiBiase he didn’t know where his head was last week and thank you for helping tonight. Orton walks in and says there’s been tension between them for the past few months. Orton says they lost to DX tonight and failed to help him with Sheamus last week. Orton says at the Rumble only one man wins that match and when it comes to him and Sheamus, he will win that one. He says he’s becoming WWE Champion again either with or without Legacy. Orton walks off.

- We go to John Cena and tonight’s host Dule Hill who are backstage. They talk about the season premiere of Psych this Wednesday night on USA. Cena asks where Rodey is and Dule tells about him having surgery this weekend. Cena tells Dule he needs to make tonight on RAW his night. Dule says this is his playground as Cena walks off. The Miz enters and says Psych should have had him on instead of Cena. Dule says he has a match for Miz tonight but doesn’t say what it is. They cut promos on each other before Dule walks off. Back to commercial.

WWE Divas Title Tournament Semi-Final: Maryse vs. Eve Torres

Back from the break and out comes Maryse in a semi-final match for the Divas Title tournament. Maryse takes the mic before the match and says the other Divas are wasting their time. She’s talking in French when a pyro explosion goes off. We cut to host Dule Hill who is in the pyro box. She starts going off on him, calling him a loser. He says he accidentally pressed a button. Out comes Maryse’s opponent Eve. The winner of this match will face the winner of Gail Kim vs. Alicia Fox for the Divas Title. They lock up and go to the corner with Eve in control.

Eve gets an early 2 count and slams Maryse by her hair. Eve flips onto Maryse for another 2 count. Eve with a splash in the corner and a body slam. Eve goes to the top for a moonsault but Maryse moves out of the way. Maryse goes for her DDT but Eve counters with a suplex and a 2 count. Maryse finally hits the French Kiss for the win and the spot in the finals.

Winner: Maryse

- We see Vince McMahon backstage heading to the ring as we go to commercial.

- Back from commercial and Vince McMahon makes his way out to the ring. We cut back to last week where The Undertaker told Vince McMahon that he screwed Bret and called him a coward. Vince takes the mic and says if Taker were here tonight, he would dare him in his face to call him a coward again. Vince talks about selling Bret to WCW and said he was never heard from or seen again. Vince says the people have forgotten about Bret Hart. Vince asks if there’s a reason to bring Bret back and the crowd pops. They start chanting “we want Bret.” Vince tells them to be careful what they ask for. Vince says that Bret Hart will never appear in WWE, and that’s his announcement. Vince says he’s a business man and he does what’s right for business. Vince goes to the ringside area and asks a fan to give him a good reason why Bret should be brought back. The fan says because he will take Vince down. Vince hops the barrier and goes into the stands asking fans about Bret. One kid says he’s awesome. Vince eventually comes back to the ring and says he didn’t hear one good reason why he should bring Bret back. Vince says Bret is a part of the past and they start chanting again.

Vince says he’s concerned with the present and the future and calls Bret a footnote in WWE’s past. He says Bret’s not returning and thanks the fans, getting ready to leave. Out comes John Cena to the ring. Cena says he’s never had a problem with Vince until recently when Vince compared Bret to a old piece of gum. Cena talks about how Vince treated Roddy Piper at MSG a few months back. Cena cuts on Vince’s purple jacket and Vince cuts on his orange crap he wears, as Vince calls it. Cena congratulates Vince on building an empire but says Vince had help from people like Hart and Piper. They go back and forth. Cena calls Vince pathetic and this pisses Vince off. Cena tells Vince to invite Bret Hart to next week’s RAW. Cena says Bret deserves a chance to confront Vince face to face. Cena tells Vince to picture his 90th birthday in 2035. Cena says he’s going to find Vince on that day, lift him out of his wheelchair and knock his false teeth down his throat. Cena says he’s not here to change Vince’s mind but this is one of those situations where he needs to do the right thing. Cena walks off up the ramp. Vince yells at him to stop. Vince tells everyone to listen to him. Vince says he will invite Bret back for next week and have him step right in the ring if he has the guts. Vince says he won’t even flinch. Vince announces Sheamus vs. John Cena for tonight’s RAW. We go to commercial.

The Miz vs. Kofi Kingston

WWE’s United States Champion The Miz comes out next for this non-title match. This match was made by Dule Hill. Out next is his opponent Kofi Kingston. The bell rings and they lock up. Kofi takes Miz down first but they go back and forth. Kofi with a crossbody from the floor for a 2 count. Kofi comes off the ropes but Miz kicks him out of the air and to the mat for a 2 count. Miz puts knees to the back and hits Kofi with forearm shots. Miz with a headlock now.

Miz with a kick to the face and another 2 count on Kofi. Miz with more kicks and a leg drop followed by another headlock. Kofi with a kick to the head in the corner. Kofi goes to the top and comes down on Miz for a 2 count. Miz counters a move and hits a backbreaker and a neckbreaker. 2 count by Miz. MVP’s music hits and distracts The Miz. Kofi takes advantage and hits Trouble in Paradise for the win.

Winner: Kofi Kingston

- After the match, MVP comes out to the stage to taunt Miz.

- We go backstage with Dule Hill and Carlito. They walk into the WWE production truck. They have the production guy add Carlito’s face on the screen. Dule says he’s going to type in a random code and which ever Superstar appears on the graphic, that’s Carlito’s opponent. It comes up as Kelly Kelly. Carlito vs. Kelly? Carlito says he’s ready for the match now and walks off joking with Dule. Dule tells the production guy to carry on… and we go back to commercial.

Carlito vs. Kelly Kelly

Carlito is in the ring waiting on Kelly Kelly to come out. She comes out but is interrupted by Santino Marella. He plugs the Best of RAW 2009 DVD which comes out tomorrow. Santino says it’s a new year for him and he’s going to replace Kelly tonight, defeat Carlito and go on to win the Royal Rumble and main event WrestleMania. Jack Swagger attacks Santino from behind and lays him out. Swagger brings Santino in the ring just to toss him back over the top rope. Swagger goes to the floor and slams Santino face first into the ringpost. Swagger taunts Santino before walking off and stepping on him. We go to commercial.

- Back from the break and we go to a video running down various stats for the Royal Rumble match.

- We go backstage to John Cena and Dule Hill. Cena has the other host Rodey on speaker phone. He says he’s bummed he can’t be there tonight. Alicia Fox walks in. She’s looking for the one that’s a psychic. Dule hangs up the phone on Rodey, the psychic on the show. Cena walks off. Dule says he’s going to be ringside with Alicia Fox in her match as her good luck charm. We get ready to take another break.

Semi-Final for the Divas Title Tournament: Gail Kim vs. Alicia Fox

Back from the break and Dule Hill is with Cole and Lawler on commentary. Gail Kim is in the ring as Alicia Fox makes her way out. The winner will face Maryse for the title. They lock up and go back and forth. Alicia eventually hits a backbreaker for a 2 count. Gail gets thrown into the corner but counters a move. Gail with a powerslam and a 2 count. Small package by Gail and another 2 count. Gail gets the win after a boot to the face and the spot in the finals.

Winner: Gail Kim

- After the match, Alicia Fox goes on a rampage outside the ring. She goes over to Dule and asks what happened to her winning. He tells her he’s an actor and he was doing what he’s does. She drops him with a right h and. Lawler helps Dule up as we go to replays.

- Backstage we see WWE Champion Sheamus headed to the ring. Back to commercial we go.

Sheamus vs. John Cena

Back from commercial and out comes the WWE Champion Sheamus for this non-title match. Out next comes John Cena to a big pop. The match starts and they lock up and go to the corner after testing each other for a minute. Sheamus breaks the hold and shows off some. Cena takes Sheamus back to the corner and the ref breaks it up. Cena shows off now. Sheamus charges but Cena fights back with right hands and hits the bulldog for a 2 count.

Sheamus takes control and backs Cena in the corner. Sheamus beats Cena down with a bunch of kicks. Cena catches Sheamus with a suplex for 2. They come off the ropes and Sheamus drops Cena with a clothesline. Sheamus with another pin attempt. Sheamus controls the match now, dropping Cena with rights. Sheamus launches Cena into the opposite corner and covers for another 2 count.

Sheamus gets Cena on the apron and hits a running knee to the face, knocking Cena out to the floor. Sheamus goes for another but Cena counters and goes for the Attitude Adjustment. Sheamus counters that with a DDT for a 2 count. Sheamus hits a big powerslam for another 2 count. Cena goes for the STF but Sheamus counters and kicks Cena out of the ring. Sheamus comes to the floor and throws Cena into the steel steps. The referee begins his count and Cena comes back in at the 9 count. Cena counters a move and hits the shoulder blocks off the ropes and back drop. Cena hits the Five Knuckle Shuffle. Sheamus counters the Attitude Adjustment with a knee to the back and a 2 count. Sheamus goes for the big axe kick but Cena counters it with the STF. Sheamus reaches the rope and breaks the hold. Cena comes out to the floor after Sheamus but gets kicked in the face with Sheamus’ big kick. Cena is laid out again as the referee counts.

Out of nowhere, Randy Orton rushes the ring and lays Sheamus out with the RKO. Orton gets down and taunts Sheamus as the referee calls for the bell. Cena comes up to the ropes and Orton grabs him. Orton goes for the DDT off the ropes but Cena counters with the Attitude Adjustment, laying Orton out.

Winner: Sheamus by DQ

- Cena celebrates in the ring with Orton and Sheamus still laid out. RAW goes off the air.

HHH replaces the Undertaker, news on Rey Mysterio

World Heavyweight Champion The Undertaker missed last night’s WWE live event in Cleveland, Ohio due to a death in his family. Triple H appeared instead and wrestled Chris Jericho in the main event in place of Taker.

There were apparently problems at a Rey Mysterio autograph signing yesterday at a Chicago K-mart where if you purchased $35 worth of WWE merchandise, you got an autograph with Rey. Mysterio arrived late and then had to leave for a WWE live event while lots of people were still in line. Things got out of hand as he was leaving with fans rushing at him. A lot of people who didn’t get autographs asked for refunds on their merchandise they had purchased.