September 3 , 2012 Monday Night RAW results The September 3 , 2012 Edition of RAW is a Professional wrestling television show of the WWE ' s RAW brand , which took place on September 3 , 2012 at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont , Illinois . Summary . A storm was brewing in the Windy City before Raw even began , when WWE Champion CM Punk attacked Jerry " The King " Lawler in the bowels of the Allstate Arena , incapacitating the WWE Hall of Famer and rendering him unable to attend to his duties at the commentary table . Nonetheless , World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus took to the ring to address the WWE Universe , but his fighting words for Alberto Del Rio were quickly cut off by none other than Chi - town ' s favorite son , The Second City Saint himself . One week after Punk ' s controversial pummeling of Lawler inside a steel cage , Punk ( showered by adulation from his hometown fans ) was still singing the same tune , bemoaning the lack of respect shown to him by the WWE Superstars and Universe alike . In this case , the champion took exception to Sheamus ' attempts to " try and talk to my hometown . " Punk played the native son card against The Celtic Warrior and claimed Lawler had attacked him from behind , provoking the " Chicago - style " beating at the hands of Punk . " There is only one ‘ King ’ in Chicago , " Punk said , " and when you come at the king , you best not miss . " The Voice of the Voiceless quickly shifted his ire toward John Cena , the " little white knight " who interrupted Punk ' s " lesson in respect " to Lawler in the steel cage the previous week . Punk argued that if Cena helped Lawler , he agreed with Lawler ' s statement that he had turned his back on the WWE Universe ( an implication , by the way , the Chicago crowd thoroughly disagreed with ) . Sheamus , however , had had enough . The Great White , quite fed up with Punk ' s sermon , wasted no time in challenging the WWE Champion to put his money where his mouth was and prove himself as The Best in the World against the World Heavyweight Champion . Punk could barely get his response out before Raw General Manager AJ made her presence known , announcing the two main events for Raw : one - on - one matches between the respective No . 1 contenders for the World Titles , John Cena and Alberto Del Rio , and a Champion vs . Champion Match between Punk and Sheamus . Light it up , indeed . Dolph Ziggler ' s match against Randy Orton ( a rematch of a closely contested bout on last Friday ' s SmackDown ) began not with physicality , but with an ominous proclamation from Vickie Guerrero , who interrupted her typical introduction of The Showoff to tease an important announcement she ' d be making later in the evening . Orton and Ziggler wasted no time in picking up where they left off on SmackDown , trading shoulder blocks with each other to start the contest , while Orton attempted to incapacitate The Showoff with vicious kicks to the body . Orton continued the punishment by executing a flashy suplex that saw him bounce Ziggler off the ropes , a move The Showoff himself might have appreciated were he not the recipient . The Viper ' s assault on Ziggler was relentless , as the former World Heavyweight Champion hauled Ziggler outside the ropes and administered a stiff beating to Mr . Money in the Bank outside the apron . Ziggler rallied , though , making it back into the ring in an attempt to mount an offensive sequence against The Apex Predator . After suffering Orton ' s wrath for much of the contest , Ziggler finally found success in this regard , felling The Viper with a swinging neckbreaker and exploiting Orton ' s past shoulder issues by ramming him into the barrier outside the ring . After landing a pair of elbow drops , The Showoff attempted to seal his victory by ensnaring Orton in a headlock ( true to form , Ziggler displayed his peerless athleticism by executing a textbook neck bridge while he did it ) . The rally was enough to tilt the contest back into Ziggler ' s favor , as he put in enough work to set up for a rare top rope maneuver while Orton lied prone on the mat . And then , as has happened so many times before , The Viper struck , tripping up Ziggler on the turnbuckles and sending The Showoff airborne with a superplex . His momentum rising and the voices in his head reaching a fever pitch , Orton attempted to set up his signature sequence before Ziggler countered , using The Apex Predator ' s own fury against him and surprising Orton with a roll - up pin , grabbing a fistful of The Viper ' s tights to keep him down for a dubious , if hard - fought , victory . However , no sooner had the bell tolled than Ziggler ' s thunder was stolen by Intercontinental Champion The Miz , who strolled past The Showoff and took a seat at the commentary booth next to Michael Cole . Kane and Daniel Bryan continued on their quest to work out their anger issues this week ( VIDEO ) , airing their grievances before the sharing circle by first unveiling their " anger collages . " Bryan was first , presenting a frantically scribbled series of " YES ! " es and " NO ! " s , going at length to explain his issues with the WWE Universe ' s appropriation of his famous catchphrase . The Big Red Monster was next , simply displaying a blank piece of paper before the circle . When the psychiatrist asked Kane if the blank page truly illustrated how he felt inside , The Devil ' s Favorite Demon simply dropped the paper into the wastebasket and set it aflame , much to Bryan ' s chagrin ( " Teacher ' s pet , " snarled the " No ! " man ) . Next up was the dreaded " trust fall " exercise , and to the collective surprise of the WWE Universe , a breakthrough was actually achieved . First , Kane ( reluctantly , but still ) managed to catch Bryan while the " No ! " man took his fall , and then the two rivals were moved to Phase Two of the exercise : working together . Enlisted to catch their classmate , Harold , together , both The Devil ' s Favorite Demon and Bryan decided to just let the poor guy tumble , as they moved their hands away in sync and let Harold crash to the ground . " I think I finally understand you , Kane , " Bryan said as the two shared a rare moment on the same page . Harold , on the other hand , was left awaiting medical attention . Ultimately , however , the breakthrough was a fleeting one at best . In the next installment of their anger management adventures , Kane and Bryan were making their final statements to each other when civility broke down . The sessions ended with the two rivals threatening each other with various degrees of bodily harm while the class fled in terror . Even the doctor was unable to handle this turn of events , shrieking in frustration at the two before storming out of the wreckage of the sharing circle and leaving Kane and Bryan to their own devices . On the bright side , Bryan did agree to give Kane a rematch from SummerSlam . It ' s the little victories , we suppose . Cody Rhodes wasted no time in his tag team bout against Rey Mysterio & Sin Cara , taking it to The International Sensation with a flurry of offense after the opening bell . Sin Cara responded in kind , felling Rhodes with a dizzying attack that sent him back to his own corner and a conference with Tensai on how best to handle the situation . The solution , apparently , was to send in the muscle , as Tensai tagged in and proceeded to tenderize Sin Cara like a side of beef , opening the door for Rhodes to tag back in and continue his pummeling of the masked icon . Rhodes quickly used his technical prowess against Sin Cara , trapping him in a torturous submission hold before making his first move against the mask . Tensai then re - entered the fray , slamming Sin Cara to the mat with a pair of body slams and trapping his shoulder in a nerve hold before The International Icon sent Tensai staggering back to the corner with an eye - popping enzuigiri . Rhodes tagged back in , but wasn ' t fast enough to stop Sin Cara from summoning Mysterio from the sidelines . The Master of the 619 nearly had victory in hand , though , before Tensai interfered and saved his partner from defeat . The mighty expatriate was met with a 619 for his troubles , and Rhodes suffered the same fate when he attempted to capitalize off Mysterio ' s distraction . Sin Cara tagged in for a soaring senton bomb on the prone Rhodes to seal the contest with the greatest of ease . WWE Champion CM Punk made his point quite succinctly when he approached the ring for his Champion vs . Champion Match against Sheamus : It was Labor Day , and he was taking the night off . While Sheamus stood flabbergasted in the ring , Raw General Manager AJ Lee attempted to stop The Second City Saint ' s surprise exodus , to which he simply responded that he was taking a " personal day " and drove off in the passenger side of a car , which then drove out of the Allstate Arena . While Matt Striker attempted to get answers out of AJ , she promised a quick fix : She would find Sheamus a replacement opponent . AJ Lee ' s call for a new opponent for the World Heavyweight Champion was answered by none other than Jack Swagger , who ( with Alberto Del Rio watching from ringside ) attacked The Celtic Warrior with gusto and , perhaps , with more than a little desperation given his recent in - ring woes . The All - American American looked as sharp as ever against The Great White , driving him into the corner before Sheamus rallied with a pair of axe handle shots to Swagger ' s head . Swagger attempted to put The Great White away with a Swagger Bomb , but it wasn ' t enough to keep the champion down . It was ultimately a surprise maneuver that sealed the match , as Sheamus trapped Swagger in a Texas Cloverleaf and forced The All - American American to tap out . Del Rio was quick to capitalize , jumping The Celtic Warrior in the ring and unleashing a furious assault on the champion . Before Sheamus could execute the Brogue Kick , though , Ricardo Rodriguez streaked into the ring . Del Rio ducked out of the way , leaving his manservant to absorb the full force of Sheamus ' foot . It was revealed later that David Otunga would be representing Rodriguez in a lawsuit against Sheamus , the details of which he would divulge on SmackDown . The odd dynamic within the Divas division continued with a vicious contest between Kaitlyn , the No . 1 contender for the Divas Title , and Eve , the woman she defeated to claim the right to challenge Layla at Night of Champions . The match was alternately sportsmanlike and feral , as Eve would give Kaitlyn a handshake only to turn around and pounce on Kaitlyn with a barrage of unhinged offense . Eve ultimately achieved victory , albeit in a slightly underhanded way . After Kaitlyn sustained an injury to her wrist , Eve executed a neckbreaker on a compromised Kaitlyn to achieve the victory . And as the ultimate cherry on top , she offered Layla , who was sitting at commentary , a handshake as well . Things took a far more ominous turn backstage , however , when Jack Swagger revealed to AJ Lee that he ' d be taking " some extended time off . " " I ' m better than this , " The All - American American said and , despite AJ ' s impassioned pleas to keep another Superstar from leaving her , Swagger made his way to the exit . Feeding time resumed in the Windy City as Ryback faced off with Jinder Mahal in yet another installment of their ongoing rivalry . The opulent Mahal made some strides toward slowing Ryback ' s rampage on SmackDown , but had no such luck in Chicago . Despite Mahal ' s best efforts , Ryback overpowered his longtime enemy , eventually flattening Mahal with Shell Shocked to achieve the win . Ask the WWE Universe and you shall receive . When asked to tweet how they wanted the Kane / Daniel Bryan situation to be handled on Raw , they responded , overwhelmingly ( 55 percent of them to be exact ) that they wanted the two furious rivals to suck it up and , in the words of Ari Gold , " hug it out . " With the Chicago crowd bellowing for the two opponents to " HUG IT OUT ! " Kane and Bryan made several awkward passes at a brotherly embrace before Bryan fired the first friendly salvo : an awkward attempt at a bro chest bump . No dice . The WWE Universe ( as well as the official referee for the hug ) was not appeased . Kane ' s effort at a hug proved similarly fruitless , but it was Bryan who finally locked Kane in the Twitter - mandated embrace . The hug was not returned . After the official ruled it was not a true hug unless Kane reciprocated , The Devil ' s Favorite Demon reached within himself and gave Bryan some love of his own . The hug was not returned . With the WWE Universe riled up , the two competitors circled each other like true ring warriors , sizing each other up , waiting , waiting , until . . . success ! The two brought it in for the real deal and locked in the bro - est of bro hugs , soaking in the moment while the WWE Universe cheered them on . That is , until they started with friendly slaps on the shoulder that were a bit too hard for each other ' s liking . Soon , what began as chummy slaps turned into an all - out brawl , and even that took a turn for the worst when Kane attempted to trap Bryan ' s head in the folds of a steel chair . The swarm of referees that circled The Big Red Monster proved enough of a distraction for Bryan to clobber Kane with the chair and hightail it out of the ring while Kane stewed in fury . Well , therapy is a process . Perhaps next week will be better In a rematch of the SummerSlam Pre - Show , Antonio Cesaro proved his mettle as United States Champion , mangling Santino Marella to reclaim his championship in a contest that saw Santino relieved of his main weapon , The Cobra , only moments into the match . Santino hoped to seal the bout after a matter of seconds by producing The Cobra , but after Aksana clambered up the apron to distract The Italian Stallion , Santino returned The Cobra to his singlet and attempted to beat Cesaro mano - a - mano . The former rugby hooligan ' s power was too much for The Milan Miracle , however . Even after he reclaimed the fallen Cobra , Santino wasn ' t fast enough to avoid the punishing Neutralizer , and the defeat that came with it . Zack Ryder took to the ring for his second Raw match in as many weeks ( YouTube viewers rejoice ! ) and found success for the second time as well , defeating The One - Man Band , Heath Slater , in a hard - hitting contest that saw The Ultimate Broski come out on top . Slater would not be felled so easily , however . The Twitter war of words between the two seemed to have awoken a fire in the red - haired rockabilly . Slater put up quite the vicious fight against Ryder , countering the Rough Ryder and coming within a move or two of sealing The Long Island Iced - Z ' s fate on more than one occasion . The day was ultimately Ryder ' s , though , as he took advantage of a battle - worn Slater and executed the Rough Ryder to perfection , picking up a win on Raw in a city that seemed overjoyed to see it . Woo woo woo . Vickie Guerrero ' s announcement , alluded to earlier in the evening , turned out to be that she called out Raw GM AJ Lee before the assembled WWE Universe . And , in one of those instances where " I ' m sorry " simply didn ' t cut it , Raw General Manager AJ Lee made her way to the ring and gave a heartfelt apology to both Vickie Guerrero and the WWE Universe for her recent actions as GM . The WWE Board of Directors apparently deemed those actions inappropriate and unworthy of the office she held . Moreover , the Board decreed that AJ was prohibited from putting her hands on any WWE Superstar or Diva ever again . However , Vickie , who was clearly out for more than an apology , took advantage of AJ ' s vulnerability and forced her to personally apologize to Vickie for AJ ' s attack two weeks earlier , and to " make it mean something . " AJ , after what seemed like much deliberation , ponied up and said she was sorry . So , Vickie slapped her . While AJ literally shook with rage in the ring , Vickie taunted her ( " you can ' t touch meeee " ) before slapping AJ again and skipping away . At a loss for words and actions , AJ promptly had a meltdown in the middle of the ring , slamming a steel chair against the mat before tossing it over the ropes and onto the ramp . All in all , not a great day for the Raw General Manager . Alberto Del Rio came into his match against John Cena with revenge on his mind . Not necessarily against Cena , but The Essence of Excellence , incensed by the attack against Ricardo Rodriguez earlier in the night , was uncommonly aggressive in his opening salvo against the 10 - time WWE Champion . Del Rio had victory within his grasp early in the contest when he stunned Cena with a backbreaker . An attempt at a top rope strike , however , was cut short when Cena caught Del Rio mid - leap with a dropkick , leading seamlessly into a Five Knuckle Shuffle . Cena was unable to finish the job , though , as Del Rio maneuvered his way to the ropes after he was hoisted up for the Attitude Adjustment . The two longtime enemies took their fight to the outside next , exploiting the Falls Count Anywhere stipulation to maximum effect . Cena and Del Rio traded Irish Whips into the steel steps before Cena set to dismantling the announce table , presumably looking to set it up for an attack on Del Rio . His plans never came to fruition , though , as The Mexican Aristocrat streaked out of nowhere to take Cena down with a kick to the head . Cena rallied , though , sending Del Rio over the barrier and setting the steel steps up next to the ruined announce table . The Cenation leader made his play for victory then , carrying Del Rio up the steps and looking for the AA . . . but Del Rio countered , squirming off Cena ' s shoulders and sending him down to earth with a bone - shattering backdrop that left the announce table in ruins . Del Rio took advantage of the reprieve to grab the microphone . Seething and sensing victory , Del Rio snarled that Cena , WWE and Chicago were all " beneath " him before vowing , " Now I ' m going to break your arm , Cena . " Next came the Cross Armbreaker , but Cena acted quickly , reversing it into an STF that Del Rio broke up by smashing the mic against Cena ' s skull . The fight spilled up the ramp and near the TitanTron . Cena attempted his own play for victory , hoisting a speaker high above his head before Del Rio kicked Cena ' s leg out from under him . The two competitors brawled deep into the backstage area , using anything they could find as a weapon , but it looked like Cena would come out the victor when he AA ' d Del Rio onto a stack of crates . What he didn ' t count on , however , was CM Punk calling off his personal day . The Second City Saint struck fast , kicking Cena in the head and incapacitating him before hauling Del Rio on top of the prone Cenation leader , allowing the referee to record the three - count . Punk wasn ' t done by a long shot yet , though , hauling Cena toward his car and executing a Go to Sleep on the hood , leaving his No . 1 contender a battered mess on the Allstate Arena floor . " Respect , " Punk said simply as he knelt before Cena . His point sufficiently made , The Second City Saint climbed back into the passenger seat of his car and drove away , but not before the camera got a good look at the vehicle ' s driver . . . Paul Heyman .