Cuts Heal In Time (CM Punk)

Chapter 53: We People

Punk opened Raw by addressing the WWE Universe. He claimed that the end to Raw's 1,000th episode left a bad taste in his mouth, and then confronted commentator Jerry "The King" Lawler face to face from atop the announce table.

He told Lawler that he was wrong to say that Punk turned his back on the WWE Universe. He said that The Rock showed an incredible lack of respect to him last week, so he dropped him with the Go To Sleep to show him exactly what he has to look forward to when they square off at the 2013 Royal Rumble.

Big Show then came out to the ring and told Punk that the 1,000th episode of Raw was all about him costing Cena the WWE Title, not Punk's attack on The Rock. Show then vowed that he would be the next WWE Champion, to which Punk shot back that Big Show wasn't able to beat Cena at No Way Out or win a Money in the Bank contract.

John's music suddenly hit and he promptly unloaded on Big Show with a series of rights and lefts, clearing him from the ring as the crowd erupted. 

In her first official act as the new Raw General Manager, AJ Lee emerged from the back to announce that Cena will face Big Show in tonight's main event, with the winner advancing to face Punk for the WWE Title at SummerSlam!

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Tonight, Bella was finally scheduled to defend her title against Tamina.

She waited in the ring for the Samoan Diva, with her protective face mask on. She was not getting superkicked tonight.

Tamina's music played, and she walked down the ramp with narrowed eyes.

She felt confident that this was her time to win the illustrious divas' championship. She got in the ring and continued glaring at Bella, who looked smug and unbothered.

The bell rang signaling the start of the match. 

The divas locked up, and Tamina overpowered her. But she slipped out of her grip and grabbed Tamina's arm, wrenching it behind her back. Tamina backed her up to the ropes, causing her to let go. Tamina quickly kicked her in the stomach, then suplexed her.

She covered her, but Bella kicked out at one, then wrapped her legs around Tamina's neck. After a bit of time passed, Tamina used her strength to lift her up. She was about to powerbomb her, but she countered with a hurricanrana before hitting a springboard moonsault.

She covered her for a two count. Bella stayed in control for a little while, before she used the ropes for momentum, going for a clothesline, but Tamina grabbed her arm and lifted Bella up for a Samoan drop, but she countered with a DDT.

"What a move by Bella!"

Then she climbed up to the top rope, hitting her 630º senton, for the win.

The ref held her hand up, then he gave her back her belt.

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With WWE Champion CM Punk joining in on commentary, John Cena and Big Show held nothing back in a fierce clash to determine the No. 1 contender for the WWE Title.

As the action spilled to the outside, Big Show catapulted Cena over the announce table and into Punk, leaving the WWE Champion strewn across the arena floor. 

After narrowly beating the 10-count back into the ring, Cena then ducked Big Show's WMD and lifted him above his head, setting him up for the Attitude Adjustment. However, Cena never got a chance to finish the maneuver as Punk stopped him with an axe handle to the back, followed by a vicious kick to the head of Big Show. 

Grabbing the microphone after his attack, Punk declared: "And your winner of this contest is ... nobody. They're both losers."

Punk walked with his WWE Title straight to the back, but the new Raw General Manager wasn't about to let The Voice of the Voiceless have the final say. 

AJ Lee told the WWE Universe, "Actually, CM Punk is wrong ... they're both winners," and announced that Punk will defend his WWE Title against both Cena and Big Show in a Triple Threat Match at SummerSlam. 

The revelation did not make Punk a happy camper as he defiantly marched back out and demanded that AJ show him some respect. AJ just smiled and Punk continued to let loose on the new GM as Raw went off the air.

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"You need to control your friend," Punk shook his head furiously.

"Aj is hardly my friend."

"Not according to her."

"She wouldn't listen to me anyway," Bella chuckled.

"She's taking her job as general manager way too seriously."

"I know baby," Bella said, pressing her forehead against his, as she sat on his lap on the couch of his bus.

"Baby?" Punk asked poking fun at the pet name.

"Oh my gosh, it just slipped out."

"Sure," Punk said sarcastically.

"We are so not pet name people. 'We people' maybe but not pet name people."

"No Bells. I feel like it's inevitable. First babe, now baby. What's next?" he joked.

"I don't know. I just hope we don't reach honey or sweetie," she played along, causing him to chuckle.

"I missed you. I feel like we haven't had a lot of alone time," he said, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"We're on the road together alone like 90% of the time," she reminded him.

"Right," he laughed, "I forgot. Well, are you excited for your birthday?"

"Yeah, I'm excited. It's on a Wednesday, so I can go home. And also, they're releasing the ESPN feature that day."

"That's awesome," Punk smiled.

"It'll be fun," she smiled.

"When will you get to watch it?"

"Monday."

"Wow, that's only two days before it comes out."

"Is that bad?" Bella bit her lip nervously.

"Not necessarily. It's just that if they plan on giving you an opportunity to have creative input, they usually give you more time to watch and respond."

"Oh gosh, I should've thought about that." 

"It's probably fine," he assured her.

"No you're definitely right," she ran a hand through her hair, "Look how much freedom you got with your film." 

"That's different Bella. For my film, it's like a WWE dvd. So it's really my life story. We've been working on it for almost a year now. The ESPN feature has more to do with ESPN capitalizing on your fame than it does with your brand or your story. I'm sure it'll be fine."

"I hope so."