John Cena came out to the ring and attempted to call out Alberto Del Rio again. Del Rio’s music played and Ricardo Rodriguez came out to the ring and delivered a message from Del Rio that Cena would need to wait till Night of Champions to get to face Alberto Del Rio. Rodriguez went on to ramble on in Spanish about Del Rio’s name. Cena said he understands that Del Rio isn’t there and he has a gift for him that he needs Rodriguez to deliver this to Del Rio, and nailed Rodriguez in the face. Wade Barrett came out and accused Cena of trying to hijack the show, and said he requested the match against Cena tonight so he could teach Cena lessons that Cena didn’t learn when he was Barrett’s personal servant last year. Cena told Barrett not to mistake kindness for weakness, and that tonight he would get some of the payback that Cena owes Barrett from their past run ins.
Match 1: Wade Barrett v. John Cena
It only took Cena a few minutes to put away Barrett. After Barrett hit Cena with a spinning side slam, Cena fought back to take Barrett down, hitting him with the Five Knuckle Shuffle and finishing him off with the Attitude Adjustment.
Winner: John Cena
In a backstage interview Mark Henry said he didn’t care who won the steel cage match tonight, because either way there will be a candidate for the Hall of Pain. He said that the steel cage match is the most dangerous match there is, as bones get broken and skin gets shredded, but all of those things will happen anyway when the winner faces Mark Henry at Night of Champions.
Match 2: Sin Cara v. Daniel Bryan
This was a tremendous match, as would be expected from these two men. When Bryan missed a standing kick, Sin Cara took him down with a spinning back suplex and hit him with a combination Senton splash/jumping moonsault, to score the win. After the match Sin Cara shook Bryan’s hand while Bryan was still down on his knees, but then turned around, kicking Bryan in the chest.
Winner: Sin Cara
In an interview backstage Kofi and Evan Bourne said that they will ride the tag team championship reign wave as long as they could, aspiring to live up to the greatness of some of the tag teams of the past.
In a backstage interview Christian said that this was his night and that he was none of the things he has been accused of being but was in fact a resilient warrior and didn’t need the World Championship to validate his career, he knows he is great, but he wants to win the World Championship, and that is why he will.
Match 3: Natalya & Beth Phoenix v. Alicia Fox & Kelly Kelly
As Alicia was going for a scissor kick on Natalya, she was surprised to receive a hard clothesline. She was then quickly apprehended by Beth, who lifted her in the air, hitting her with the Glam Slam to score the winning pin fall.
Winners: Beth Phoenix & Natalya
Teddy Long introduced both Triple H and CM Punk for their official contract signing. Punk was confused as to why this was necessary when Triple H already just signed the match. Triple H told Punk to shut up and said that he has tried to work with Punk, agreeing to push through his shirt and paying Living Colour to allow Punk to use their song to come to the ring. But since Punk persisted on pushing his buttons, Triple H had to deal with him like a man. Punk said that he expects nothing less, and that he wants to face Triple H the “cerebral assassin”, not the COO. The banter went back and forth between the two men, with CM Punk claiming that he wants to be the catalyst for change to give people what they love about the WWE. He then went on to say that Triple H is no different than Vince McMahon because he is short sighted and doesn’t understand that the future of the business looks bleak if things keep going the way they are. Triple H said that comparing him to Vince was a high compliment, but Vince would have gotten in the ring with Punk and taken the punishment because its good for business, but Triple H is going into this match as a personal matter. Punk signed the contract in the middle of the verbal exchange, as did Triple H. Once both men signed, Kevin Nash came out and Triple H attempted to hold Punk back, but was shoved aside as Punk went after Nash. When Triple H got in between the two again, he shoved Punk down to the mat, and shoved Nash, who came back nailing Triple H with a big forearm. Nash then left the ring as both Triple H and Punk looked on.
Match 4: Sheamus v. The Great Khali
Sheamus took the fight to Khali, for several minutes, finally nailing him with a flying shoulder tackle from the top rope, taking Khali down. At this point Ginder Mahal got into the ring and attacked Sheamus from behind causing the ref to throw the match out via disqualification. This didn’t stop the attack however as Khali nailed Sheamus in the head with a big chop, taking him down. After a few kicks to Sheamus, Mahal ordered Khali to throw Sheamus to the outside. While on the outside, Khali threw Sheamus into the steel post and then tried to chop him, but Sheamus moved, and Khali nailed the post with his hand. Sheamus turned around only to be blindsided by Mahal who would proceed to throw him back in the ring and follow him in. But Sheamus got up and clotheslined Mahal, then picked him up over his head and nailed Mahal with the High Cross.
Winner: Sheamus (by Disqualification)
Match 5: Christian v. Randy Orton (steel cage match for the World Championship)
As the match began, Christian faked a lock up attempt, but kicked Orton in the gut and headed for the cage door. Orton dragged him back in, nailing him with some punches, but Christian tried to climb over the top of the cage. When Orton forced him down to the ropes, Christian kicked him away and came off the ropes at Orton, but Orton hit Christian with a standing drop kick. As the match went on, Christian would turn the tide, but was caught by a clothesline from Orton coming out of the corner. Not to be denied, Christian was able to grab Orton and slam his face into the turnbuckles, then attempted to escape the cage again. Orton forced Christian down and nailed him with a few more shots, attempting an unsuccessful pin fall. Orton tried to go for the door, but was stopped by Christian who hung on to his ankle. Orton threw Christian out onto the apron and slammed his head into the cage. He tried to DDT Christian into the ring through the ropes, but Christian slipped into the ring, and elevated Orton over his head into the cage. Christian tried to escape the cage again but Orton dragged him down. The two continued to exchange momentum quickly. While Orton was down, Christian nailed him with a set of slow punches to the head, and hit him with a neck breaker then went for the door. Orton quickly got to his feet and pulled Christian back. Christian fought off again nailing Orton with some kicks in the corner, and climbed over him to the top of the cage. Orton followed him up and the two exchanged punches on the top ropes, with Orton eventually winning that battle, superplexing Christian into the ring. Christian managed to leave Orton on the other side of the ring as he crawled for the door, but Orton once again caught him, and tried to even out momentum by nailing Christian with a kick. Christian shoved Orton off the ropes and charged him, but Orton moved out of the way and helped guide Christian face first into the cage. Orton would throw Christian face first into the cage just moments later. Orton hit Christian with several more moves and went for a pin, but Christian kicked out and went for the corner to get out of the cage. Orton latched on to his ankle and hit him several times, climbing the ropes after him. However this time, Christian shoved Orton off and landed on him with a frog splash, going for a pin. When Orton kicked on, Christian went for the door and was halfway out but Orton forced him back in. Christian shoved Orton away and went for a spear, but Orton hopped over him and attempted an RKO as Christian turned. Christian shoved him off and as Orton turned, Christian hit him with a spear. When a pin fall attempt failed, Christian stood over Orton, trying to decide what to do next. He then backed up and tried to punt Orton in the head, but Orton moved and Christian jumped onto the middle ropes, and faked a cross body. As Orton turned to hit an RKO on the leaping Christian, Christian went for the top of the cage but Orton quickly got him down. Orton would turn momentum with a back breaker from the middle ropes, and hit Christian with a DDT through the ropes. Christian managed to somehow fight off an RKO attempt and went for the top of the cage. He reached the top where Orton met him, climbing alongside him. Both men fought on top of the cage and got back down to the ropes, where Christian tried the Kill Switch, but instead Orton bounced his face off the cage and hit him with an RKO from the top ropes. Orton would then pin Christian in the middle of the ring for the victory. As soon as the winning bell rang, Mark Henry came out to the ring and assaulted a tired Orton, lifting him on his shoulders, trying to run Orton into the cage. Orton slipped away, but was taken down by a clothesline from Henry. Henry would then body splash on top of Orton and then taunted a falling Orton. As Orton struggled to his feet, Henry picked him up again and ran Orton’s head into the cage. Henry wasn’t done as he lifted Orton up and hit him with the World’s Strongest Slam.
Winner: Randy Orton