| WWE Raw 1000 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Promotional poster for the 1000th episode ofRaw | |||
| Promotion | WWE | ||
| Date | July 23, 2012 | ||
| City | St. Louis,Missouri | ||
| Venue | Scottrade Center | ||
| Attendance | 18,318 | ||
| Tagline | The 1000th Episode of Raw | ||
| Raw special episodes chronology | |||
| |||
Raw 1000 was atelevision special that was broadcast live on July 23, 2012, airing onUSA Network (in theU.S.) as the 1000th episode ofWWE's flagship showRaw. It was held at theScottrade Center inSt. Louis,Missouri.
The show featured fiveprofessional wrestling matches, a wedding ceremony and appearances from past WWE performers. The wedding betweenAJ Lee andDaniel Bryan ended with AJ leaving Bryan after being announced as the newGeneral Manager ofRaw by WWE chairmanVince McMahon.The Miz defeatedChristian to become theWWE Intercontinental Champion. In the main event,John Cena won bydisqualification in aWWE Championship match against defending championCM Punk after cashing in his Money in the Bank contract, who proceeded to turnheel (villainous) by attackingThe Rock.
The episode averaged 6 million viewers,Raw's highest viewership since June 2009. The episode also started the program's permanent three-hour format, which had been previously reserved for special episodes. The three-hour format would last for more than twelve years before ending after the show's September 30, 2024 episode.
Raw first aired on January 11, 1993, and since became the longest-running weekly episodic program in television history with no reruns.[1] On May 17, 2012,WWE announced thatRaw would expand from its two-hour format to three hours beginning with the 1000th episode on July 23, 2012.[2][3] This three-hour format will last until the September 30, 2024 episode ofRaw, with all future episodes until at least December 30 going back to two hours in preparation for the show's move from theUSA Network toNetflix the following year.[4]
The event took place at theScottrade Center inSt. Louis,Missouri, and was broadcast on the USA Network in the United States.[3] ActorCharlie Sheen served as thesocial media ambassador for the event[5] and appeared throughout the show viaSkype.[6]
Raw 1000 featuredprofessional wrestlers performing ascharacters inscripted events pre-determined by the hostingpromotion, WWE.[7][8]
AtMoney in the Bank,John Cena won theMoney in the Bank ladder match to earn a contract for aWWE Championship match.[9] The following night onRaw after a match between WWE ChampionCM Punk andBig Show ended in a disqualification, Cena came down to the ring and announced his intention to cash-in his contract for a championship match against Punk onRaw 1000, opting for the match to be fair between them. Cena followed up by hitting Big Show in the head with the briefcase.[10]
In November 2011,AJ Lee andDaniel Bryan were placed in an on-screen romance.[11] The next month, Bryan won theWorld Heavyweight Championship and developedheel (villainous) traits.[12] By March 2012, Bryan started acting verbally abusive towards AJ but she stood by him.[13][14] AtWrestleMania XXVIII on April 1, after AJ and Bryan shared a "good luck kiss", he was surprised bySheamus and defeated in 18 seconds.[15] Bryan blamed AJ for his loss of the World Heavyweight Championship and ended their relationship.[16] AJ made multiple attempts to mend their relationship but Bryan spurned her and left her distraught.[17][18] As a result, AJ's character transitioned to "mentally unstable".[19][20] AJ turned her affections to Bryan's rival, WWE Champion CM Punk, and WWE title contenderKane.[17][21][22] As Bryan and Punk's feud progressed, AJ was announced as thespecial guest referee for their title match at Money in the Bank.[23] Bryan made advances on AJ in an attempt to influence her, however, she focused her attention on Punk.[24] On July 9, sheproposed to Punk but Bryan countered with a proposal of his own; Punk rejected her offer and she slapped both men.[25] At Money in the Bank on July 15, as referee, AJ counted Punk's pinfall on Bryan, resulting in a successful title defense for Punk; as Punk celebrated over a fallen Bryan, AJ was left alone.[26] The next night, Bryan proposed to her again and she accepted.[10]
Beginning on June 11, 2012,Heath Slater was involved in weekly segments where he would insult the celebration of past WWE wrestlers.[27] Each week he was interrupted by a returning WWE veteran, who would either attack him or quickly defeat him in a match. This includedVader,[27]Roddy Piper,[28]Psycho Sid,[29]Bob Backlund,[25]Rikishi,[10] andRoad Warrior Animal.[30] On July 2, Slater won his only match during this period, againstDoink the Clown, but was attacked byDiamond Dallas Page afterward.[24]
The show opened with a video package showcasing the history of the show. WWEchairman andchief executive officerVince McMahon thanked the audience both live in the arena and watching at home for making the 1000th episode ofRaw possible before introducingTriple H andShawn Michaels. The two revealed the other members ofD-Generation X,X-Pac,Road Dogg andBilly Gunn, aboard an army jeep (which commentator Michael Cole remarked as similar to the famous DX invasion in Norfolk back in 1998). The reunited group was interrupted byDamien Sandow, who objected to the group's crass antics. DX then attacked him with aSweet Chin Music from Michaels, followed by aPedigree from Triple H, and the group stripping him down to his trunks. The group then performed some of their signature taunts.
Jim Ross came out to call the opening match of the night which was asix-man tag team match pittingWorld Heavyweight ChampionSheamus,Rey Mysterio, andSin Cara againstAlberto Del Rio,Dolph Ziggler, andChris Jericho. Ziggler attacked his own partner, Jericho, leading to aBrogue Kick from Sheamus for the win.
Afterwards, a backstage segment showedAJ Lee andLayla prepare for AJ's wedding. They were interrupted byJim Duggan,Roddy Piper,R-Truth, andMae Young and her son, the Hand.
In the next matchBrodus Clay quickly defeatedJack Swagger. Afterwards,Dude Love performed his signatureMr. Socko on Swagger and danced with Clay andThe Funkadactyls (Cameron andNaomi). Backstage, DX interrupted a yoga session betweenTrish Stratus and Triple H.
NextJerry Lawler introducedReverend Slick as the minister for the wedding of AJ Lee andDaniel Bryan. Beforethe vows could be completed, AJ revealed that her "yes" was not directed at Bryan but at a business proposal by Vince McMahon, who made her theGeneral Manager ofRaw. Bryan stayed in the ring, venting his frustration out by destroying the wedding props and throwing them out of the ring.CM Punk came out to confront him and Bryan stated that he was the "greatest wrestler of all time" since Punk was "The Best in the World".The Rock returned toRaw, insulted Bryan and revealed that he would fight for theWWE Championship at theRoyal Rumble against whoever the WWE Champion would be at that time. He then hit Bryan with aRock Bottom.
Bret Hart came out next as guest ring announcer for anIntercontinental Championship match between championChristian andThe Miz. The Miz defeated Christian after hitting theSkull Crushing Finale. With the win, The Miz was recognized as a WWETriple Crown winner and a Grand Slam champion.
Triple H returned to call outBrock Lesnar (who had attacked Triple H and broke his arm with theKimura lock on the April 30, 2012 episode ofRaw). Instead, Lesnar's advocate, Paul Heyman, confronted Triple H and refused the challenge for a match atSummerSlam. However, after threats by Triple H and taunting by Triple H's wifeStephanie McMahon, Heyman accepted the match on behalf of Lesnar. After Heyman repeatedly made remarks about her kids, Stephanie physically attacked him. Lesnar came out and attacked Triple H and both men engaged in a brief fight before Triple Hclotheslined Lesnar out of the ring.
Santino Marella andHornswoggle made brief appearances to hand out collectibles to young fans beforeHoward Finkel made a special appearance to introduceHeath Slater, who challenged any WWE legend backstage to a no-disqualification, no countout match.Lita answered the challenge and hiredThe APA (Bradshaw andFaarooq) for protection. As Slater tried to escape, all the veterans he had previously faced (Bob Backlund,Diamond Dallas Page,Doink the Clown,Rikishi,Road Warrior Animal,Roddy Piper,Sgt. Slaughter,Sycho Sid, andVader) chased him back into the ring, where he was hit with aTwist of Fate from Lita, setting up aClothesline From Hell fromBradshaw and aLitasault from Lita for the pinfall.
Kane was then scheduled to faceJinder Mahal in a match, butCurt Hawkins,Tyler Reks,Hunico,Camacho, andDrew McIntyre came out and tried to attack him to vent out their anger at being overlooked by WWE.The Undertaker then made his first appearance since WrestleMania XXVIII and, alongside Kane, fended off Mahal and his cohorts, punctuated with doubleChokeslams andTombstones.
The main event featured John Cena against CM Punk, with Cena cashing in hisMoney in the Bank contract for a shot at Punk'sWWE Championship. After what had been an even match up, Punk and the referee collided, knocking the referee unconscious to the ground. Big Show came down to the ring and hit Cena with theKnockout Punch. Punk helped the referee back into the ring and – after a moment's hesitation – pinned a seemingly knocked out Cena, but Cena kicked out. Cena then reversed Punk's attemptedGo to Sleep into theSTF submission. Big Show again interfered and attacked Cena, resulting in a disqualification victory for Cena (Punk retained the title as the championship could only change hands by pinfall or submission). The Rock ran down to save Cena and attacked Big Show; while setting up his signaturePeople's Elbow maneuver, Punk re-entered the ring and attacked The Rock. Punk then performed the Go to Sleep move on The Rock, turning himheel (villainous).[6]
The episode received a 3.9Nielsen rating[31] and averaged 6 million viewers, up 18% from the previous week's 4.9 million viewers.[32] It was the first timeRaw had surpassed the six million viewer mark since June 2009.[31] It also became the most watched three-hourRaw in history and was the most watched program oncable television that night.[31]
AJ Lee's role as the on-screen General Manager of Raw began the next week, on July 30. She alleged thatDaniel Bryan only wanted the legal leverage to have hercommitted and forced him to undergo his ownpsychological evaluation.[33] AJ continued to exact revenge on both Bryan andCM Punk throughout her tenure, denying their requests andbooking them in matches against their wishes.[33][34] AJ stepped down from her General Manager duties on October 22, when she became embroiled in ascandal storyline withJohn Cena.[35]
CM Punk's reign asWWE Champion continued for the remainder of the year. He allied withPaul Heyman[36] and defended his championship against John Cena andBig Show atSummerSlam,[37] Cena atNight of Champions,[38]Ryback atHell in a Cell,[39] and Cena and Ryback atSurvivor Series.[40] On December 5, Punk became the longest-reigning WWE Champion in the past 25 years, surpassing John Cena's 380-day reign.[41] In January 2013, Punk andThe Rock continued their rivalry after their confrontation atRaw 1000.[42] At theRoyal Rumble on January 27, 2013, The Rock defeated Punk for the WWE Championship, ending Punk's reign at 434 days.[43]
Bradshaw would return to the commentary team under theJohn "Bradshaw" Layfield gimmick.
| No. | Results[6] | Stipulations | Times[6] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rey Mysterio,Sheamus andSin Cara defeatedAlberto Del Rio,Chris Jericho andDolph Ziggler (withVickie Guerrero andRicardo Rodriguez) | Six-man tag team match | 4:18 | ||
| 2 | Brodus Clay (withDude Love,Cameron andNaomi) defeatedJack Swagger | Singles match | 0:16 | ||
| 3 | The Miz defeatedChristian (c) | Singles match for theWWE Intercontinental Championship | 7:38 | ||
| 4 | Lita (withBradshaw andFaarooq) defeatedHeath Slater | No Disqualification match | 1:55 | ||
| 5 | John Cena defeatedCM Punk (c) bydisqualification | Singles match for theWWE Championship This was Cena's Money in the Bank cash-in match | 11:14 | ||
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[Kane] said he finds [AJ] mentally unstable
[Kaitlyn] suggested that [Bryan] get on A.J.'s good side as she's a little mentally unstable.
