FREEDOM'S RING

John Cena def. WWE Champion Randy Orton by DisqualificationTurnabout, meet fair play. One night earlier, Wade Barrett had defeated WWE Champion Randy Orton by disqualification at WWE Bragging Rights thanks to John Cena. Tonight, the Englishman made certain Cena won his match against Orton by the very same means.

No, Barrett wasn’t really helping Cena, per se – he was helping himself. You see, earlier in the evening, Raw’s anonymous GM arranged a no disqualifications, no count-outs Match, featuring a special guest referee, in four weeks at Survivor Series between Barrett and Orton for the WWE Title. Were The Viper to win, he would choose the referee. If Cena were to win, however, the fester from Manchester would choose, which is precisely what happened.

After Barrett ambushed The Nexus’ reluctant warrior, the rest of the outlaws, including Nexus' newest members, Husky Harris and Michael McGillicutty, charged the ring to attack Orton. Cena fought them off before Barrett exercised his right to select the guest referee for his championship match against WWE’s Apex Predator. In a shrewd stroke, the Nexus leader chose Cena, but not without thickening the plot. Barrett added that if he wins the WWE Title at Survivor Series, Cena is free from The Nexus. However, if he does not win the championship, Cena will be fired!