WWE Capitol Punishment
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WWE Capitol Punishment was a
professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...
pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...
(PPV)
event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of eve ...
produced by
WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...
. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's
Raw Raw is an adjective usually describing: * Raw materials, basic materials from which products are manufactured or made * Raw food, uncooked food Raw or RAW may also refer to: Computing and electronics * .RAW, a proprietary mass spectrometry dat ...
and SmackDown brand divisions. The event took place on June 19, 2011, at the
Verizon Center Verizon Center may refer to: * Verizon Center (Mankato, Minnesota), now Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center, a multi-purpose arena in Mankato, Minnesota * Verizon Center (Washington, D.C.), now Capital One Arena See also *Verizon Arena, now Sim ...
in
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
This was a one-off event, as in
2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
, Capitol Punishment replaced
Fatal 4-Way WWE Fatal 4-Way was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event took place on June 20, 2010, at the ...
as the June 2011 PPV, but it itself was replaced by the reinstated No Way Out in June 2012. Capitol Punishment had a PPV buy rate of 170,000, up from the 143,000 buys that Fatal 4-Way received in June the previous year. Nine matches were contested at the event, including one match on the pre-show. In the main event, John Cena defeated R-Truth to retain the WWE Championship. In other prominent matches,
Randy Orton Randal Keith Orton (born April 1, 1980) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and actor who is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw (WWE brand), Raw brand but is currently out of action due to a back injury. H ...
defeated
Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
to retain the World Heavyweight Championship, Ezekiel Jackson defeated Wade Barrett to win the WWE Intercontinental Championship, and Dolph Ziggler defeated Kofi Kingston to win the WWE United States Championship.


Production


Background

As
WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...
's June 2011
pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...
(PPV) event, which featured wrestlers from the
Raw Raw is an adjective usually describing: * Raw materials, basic materials from which products are manufactured or made * Raw food, uncooked food Raw or RAW may also refer to: Computing and electronics * .RAW, a proprietary mass spectrometry dat ...
and SmackDown brands, Capitol Punishment replaced the 2010
Fatal 4-Way WWE Fatal 4-Way was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event took place on June 20, 2010, at the ...
themed event. Promotion towards for Capitol Punishment was centered around the setting for the PPV, that being the United States capital,
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, held at the city's
Verizon Center Verizon Center may refer to: * Verizon Center (Mankato, Minnesota), now Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center, a multi-purpose arena in Mankato, Minnesota * Verizon Center (Washington, D.C.), now Capital One Arena See also *Verizon Arena, now Sim ...
on June 19, 2011. WWE produced a video to promote the event using actual press footage of President Barack Obama spliced and edited with footage that WWE recorded using actors. The video was intended to show Obama answering questions about Capitol Punishment in a press conference. First airing on May 22 at Over the Limit, WWE received criticism for the video. To avoid legal complications with the U.S. government, WWE added a disclaimer at the start of the video for future airings. This included spelling out their acronym as "World Wrestling Entertainment", a name they ceased using earlier in the year, in which "WWE" became an
orphaned initialism An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...
. The promotional poster for the event also featured the President, where Obama is acting as a referee in a confrontation between WWE Superstars John Cena and Rey Mysterio. WWE released a similar disclaimer for the artwork as they did for the video. The event featured an appearance by
U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...
Barack Obama
impersonator An impersonator is someone who imitates or copies the behavior or actions of another. There are many reasons for impersonating someone: *Entertainment: An entertainer impersonates a celebrity, generally for entertainment, and makes fun of ...
Reggie Brown Reggie Brown may refer to: *Reggie Brown (American football coach) (1876–1961), American college football coach at Boston University from 1926–1929 *Reginald J. Brown (1940–2005), U.S. Assistant Secretary of the Army (Manpower and Reserve Affa ...
.


Storylines

The
professional wrestling matches Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...
at Capitol Punishment featured professional wrestlers performing as characters in scripted events pre-determined by the hosting promotion, WWE. Storylines between the characters were produced on WWE's weekly television shows ''Raw'' and ''SmackDown'' with the Raw and SmackDown brands—storyline divisions in which WWE assigned its employees to different programs. Raw's main feud was between John Cena and R-Truth for the WWE Championship. The crazed R-Truth started to set his sights on the WWE Championship and John Cena. R-Truth had been scheduled to compete against The Miz and John Cena in a steel cage match at Extreme Rules for the WWE Championship.
John Morrison John Morrison or Morison may refer to: In politics * John Morrison (Manitoba politician) (1868–1930), politician in Manitoba, Canada * John Morrison (Saskatchewan politician) (1872–1950), Canadian Member of Parliament * John Morrison (intelli ...
questioned Truth's ability to compete in the match and challenged him to a match for his spot. Morrison won the match, causing R-Truth to turn heel by attacking Morrison. R-Truth would cost Morrison the match at Extreme Rules. R-Truth claimed that there was a conspiracy against him in WWE and announced that he was done entertaining the fans as it did not earn him titles. He repeatedly ranted about Cena's popularity and even harassed a young Cena fan and his father by throwing water in the father's face after defeating Cena in a non-title match by countout. The
anonymous Raw general manager The Anonymous Raw General Manager was a professional wrestling authority figure in WWE, who anonymously controlled the Raw brand from June 21, 2010 to July 18, 2011. The Anonymous General Manager controlled the show by sending emails to a laptop, ...
announced a championship match between him and Cena at Capitol Punishment on the condition that R-Truth apologize for his actions. On the June 6 episode of ''Raw'', R-Truth apologized for his actions and retained his title shot against John Cena. SmackDown's main feud on the card was between
Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
and
Randy Orton Randal Keith Orton (born April 1, 1980) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and actor who is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw (WWE brand), Raw brand but is currently out of action due to a back injury. H ...
over the World Heavyweight Championship. After losing his rematch against Orton at Over the Limit, Christian challenged Orton to another match for the World Heavyweight Championship on the following episode of ''SmackDown'', but was interrupted by Mark Henry and Sheamus. SmackDown General Manager
Teddy Long Theodore Robert Rufus Long (born September 15, 1947) is an American former professional referee and manager known for his work for WWE and WCW serving as an on-screen authority figure. Long began his career in the National Wrestling Alliance and ...
then announced a triple threat number one contender's match between Christian, Henry, and Sheamus, with the winner facing Orton for the title the next week. Sheamus won the match after the referee missed Christian's pinfall on Sheamus due to Orton's interference. The following week, Christian asked to be added to the title match that night, but Long instead made him the special guest referee. Christian would help Orton retain the championship, but struck him with the title belt afterwards, turning
heel The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower Human leg, leg. Structure To distribute the compressive for ...
for the second time since 2005. The next week, Christian again challenged Orton to a World Heavyweight Championship match at Capitol Punishment, which Orton accepted. Later that night, Sheamus defeated Orton in a non-title No Disqualification match after Christian interfered and hit Orton with the title belt again. On the June 17 episode of ''SmackDown'', Sheamus faced Christian with the stipulation that he would be added to the championship match at Capitol Punishment if he won, but Christian ended up winning. After the match, Orton, who was at ringside, attempted to attack Christian, but he escaped; instead, Orton punted Sheamus in the head, sending a message to Christian. Evan Bourne and Jack Swagger had a mini-feud leading up to Capitol Punishment. Bourne and Swagger exchanged a series of wins and losses. But a more important feud on the card was between
CM Punk Phillip Jack Brooks (born October 26, 1978), better known by the ring name CM Punk, is an American professional wrestler, sports commentator, actor, and retired mixed martial artist currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Best known for ...
and Rey Mysterio. Punk and Mysterio similarly exchanged a series of wins and losses like Evan Bourne and Jack Swagger did, but Punk and Mysterio were reigniting a feud dating back to WrestleMania XXVI. Punk enlisted the aid of The New Nexus to help him win against Rey Mysterio, but The Anonymous Raw General Manager announced they will be banned from ringside at the pay-per-view. Ezekiel Jackson started to grow apart from The Corre, and wanted to pursue a singles career away from the group. Wade Barrett, Heath Slater, and Justin Gabriel didn't take kindly to Jackson's new aspirations, and promptly beat him down backstage, thus ousting him from the group. Jackson was given multiple opportunities at Barrett's Intercontinental Championship, but each time he got Barrett in the Torture Rack, his signature submission maneuver, Slater and Gabriel would interfere and attack Jackson. This would make Jackson win the match by disqualification, but Barrett retained as titles can't change hands by disqualification. During a six-man tag team match against The Usos and Jackson on ''SmackDown'', Barrett abandoned Slater and Gabriel. He claimed that he was preserving his own interests since he had a title match at Capitol Punishment against Jackson, but Gabriel and Slater were angered by his actions. Gabriel and Slater then announced to Barrett that The Corre was no more and he could defend his title on Sunday without their help, effectively dissolving the group. On the May 23 episode of ''Raw'', Big Show sat on Alberto Del Rio's luxury car, which angered Del Rio. When Big Show and his partner Kane lost their
WWE Tag Team Championships World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and var ...
to The New Nexus ( David Otunga and
Michael McGillicutty Joseph Curtis Hennig (born October 1, 1979) is an American professional wrestler better known by the ring name Curtis Axel. Hennig signed with WWE in 2007 and wrestled at their developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) and was ...
), Del Rio mocked them backstage during an interview segment. Del Rio even slapped Big Show across the face, resulting in Big Show chasing Del Rio into the parking lot, but Del Rio's personal ring announcer Ricardo Rodriguez "accidentally" ran Big Show over with Del Rio's car. This injured Big Show's leg and left Kane without a partner. Del Rio and Rodriguez then made fun of Big Show by having Rodriguez dress like him, mocking Big Show's weight. On the June 13 episode of ''Raw'', Big Show returned during Del Rio's match with Kane and assaulted him, but Del Rio managed to escape after Rodriguez attempted to save him, resulting in Big Show beating Rodriguez so badly that Kane had to pull him off Rodriguez. After that, guest host Stone Cold Steve Austin announced a match between Big Show and Del Rio at Capitol Punishment. On the June 17 episode of ''SmackDown'', Del Rio made an appearance, but Big Show ran down to the ring and chased Del Rio into the crowd. The segment ended with Big Show destroying the ringside area. Another feud on the card was between The Miz and his former protégé Alex Riley. At Extreme Rules, Riley was not present when The Miz lost the WWE Championship to John Cena. The next night on ''Raw'', Miz regained the championship from Cena after hitting him with the title belt; however, Riley accidentally revealed the title belt in Miz's hands to the referee. The referee then reversed his decision to Miz being disqualified and Cena retaining the championship. At Over the Limit, during The Miz's "I Quit" match with Cena, Riley left his cell phone behind which they had used to trick the referee into believing that Cena had said "I quit". The decision was reversed again and Miz went on to lose the encounter. On the May 23 episode of ''Raw'', after the
anonymous Raw general manager The Anonymous Raw General Manager was a professional wrestling authority figure in WWE, who anonymously controlled the Raw brand from June 21, 2010 to July 18, 2011. The Anonymous General Manager controlled the show by sending emails to a laptop, ...
denied Miz's request for another WWE Championship match, he blamed Riley for him not regaining the title and fired him. Riley then assaulted Miz, turning face for the first time. The next week, Riley's interview with Michael Cole ended with Cole insulting Riley and Riley attacking Cole. Miz then came out and attacked Riley, but he got the upper hand and chased Miz out of the arena. A match between the two was then made official for Capitol Punishment. The United States Championship was also defended at the event, with Dolph Ziggler challenging champion Kofi Kingston. On the May 30 episode of ''Raw'', Ziggler defeated Kingston in a non-title match, thus earning a championship match at the pay-per view.


Event


Preliminary matches

The actual pay-per-view opened with Kofi Kingston defending the WWE United States Championship against Dolph Ziggler (accompanied by Vickie Guerrero). The match ended when Ziggler applied a sleeper hold on Kingston, who passed out. Ziggler won the match by technical submission and the title. Next, The Miz faced Alex Riley. Riley performed a
lifting DDT In professional wrestling a DDT is any move in which the wrestler has the opponent in a front facelock/inverted headlock and falls down or backwards to drive the opponent's head into the mat. The classic DDT is performed by putting the opponent ...
on Miz to win the match. After that, Big Show faced Alberto Del Rio. Before the match, Mark Henry attacked Big Show and delivered a World's Strongest Slam through a broadcast table. Del Rio won the match by technical knockout after Big Show could not continue. In the fourth match, Wade Barrett defended the WWE Intercontinental Championship against Ezekiel Jackson. Jackson forced Barrett to submit to the Torture Rack to win the title. In the fifth match,
CM Punk Phillip Jack Brooks (born October 26, 1978), better known by the ring name CM Punk, is an American professional wrestler, sports commentator, actor, and retired mixed martial artist currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Best known for ...
faced Rey Mysterio. The stipulation of the match was that The New Nexus was banned from ringside. In the end, as Punk attempted to perform a
GTS GTS may refer to: Education * General Theological Seminary, in New York City * Grace Theological Seminary, in Winona Lake, Indiana * Great Torrington School, in Devon, England Computing *Giga-Texel Shader, a line of GPUs marketed by Nvidia Or ...
on Mysterio, Mysterio countered and attempted to perform a 619 on Punk, however, Punk countered and performed a GTS on Mysterio to win the match. In the sixth match,
Randy Orton Randal Keith Orton (born April 1, 1980) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and actor who is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw (WWE brand), Raw brand but is currently out of action due to a back injury. H ...
defended the World Heavyweight Championship against
Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
. During the match, Orton attempted an RKO on Christian, but Christian countered the move and performed a falling inverted DDT on Orton for a near-fall. Christian performed a spear on Orton for a near-fall. The match ended when Orton performed an RKO on Christian to retain the title, despite Christian's foot being under the bottom rope (which the referee did not see). In the penultimate match and also an impromptu match, Jack Swagger faced Evan Bourne. In the end, Swagger applied an
ankle lock A leglock is a joint lock that is directed at joints of the leg such as the ankle, knee or hip joint. A leglock which is directed at joints in the foot, is sometimes referred to as a foot lock and a lock at the hip as a hip lock. Leglocks are fe ...
on Bourne only for Bourne to counter and pin Swagger with an
inside cradle In wrestling, a pin is achieved by holding an opponent's shoulders to the mat for a three count. Pinfall is the term used in professional wrestling which is a way to win the match for that person or team. Background A pinfall is a victory condi ...
to win the match.


Main event

The main event was for the WWE Championship between defending champion John Cena and R-Truth. During the match, Cena applied the STF on Truth only for Truth to touch the bottom rope to void the submission. Truth then performed a scissors kick on Cena for a near-fall. As Cena attempted to perform an
Attitude Adjustment Attitude Adjustment is an American crossover thrash band from the San Francisco Bay Area. Their debut album, ''American Paranoia'', is considered to be an early "crossover" between hardcore punk and thrash metal. Formation The band was formed ...
on Truth, Truth countered and performed a Shut Up on Cena for a near-fall. In the climax, Truth stole a hat and a drink from a young fan in the crowd. When Truth handed the drink back to the fan, the fan threw the drink on Truth's face. Cena then threw a distracted Truth back into the ring and performed an Attitude Adjustment on him to retain the title. After the match, Cena celebrated with the young fan in the ring.


Aftermath

Capitol Punishment would be a one-off event for WWE. In
2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
, it was replaced by the reinstated No Way Out.


Results


References


External links


Official Capitol Punishment website
{{WWEPPV 2011 in Washington, D.C. Events in Washington, D.C. Capitol Punishment Professional wrestling in Washington, D.C. 2011 WWE pay-per-view events June 2011 events in the United States