So who’s upset that they paid for the PPV last night and didn’t get a proper finish to the WWE Title match? Well, you can find out what happens when you follow along with me here tonight!
If Not HHH, Then Of Course Steph!
RAW started with Stephanie McMahon. She said last night’s main event was compromised, and everyone involved was livid. She demanded Big Show come out. Before Big Show could talk Steph told him to shut up. She said she knows he’s under pressure, but last night was inexcusable. She asked what he had to say, and he said “Sorry.” Steph said it was unsympathetic and that he was a waste of life. Steph said Triple H has bailed him out numerous times and even bought out their mortgage. Steph told Show it was time to man up and take responsibility for his actions. Show said okay and asked if he could go now. Steph said no and stuck her finger in his chest. Steph said that her husband owns him and he can do nothing without their permission. Steph told Big Show to get down on his knees and beg for forgiveness.
Big Show said he couldn’t take it anymore. Big Show said he knocked Daniel Bryan out because Steph told him too. Steph brought up Brad Maddox and Big Show said that he was the puppet of her and her son of a bitch husband. Steph started to slap Big Show and asked what he was going to do. She then fired Big Show as he walked off not caring.
Is This The RAW Pre-Show?
Dolph Ziggler vs Damien Sandow. Sandow started aggressively going right after Ziggler. Sandow hit a suplex then went right to a headlock. Ziggler fought out but caught a Sandow running knee. He landed a couple kicks and then some knee drops. He put Ziggler in the ropes and rand leg first into him. Ziggler reversed a head scissors but Sandow came right back with some headbutts. Both men exchanged punches but Sandow shoved Ziggler to the outside into commercial.
Sandow still had control back from break and hit the Elbow of Disdain for two. Sandow went right back to ta headlock. Ziggler fought out again but Sandow tossed him over the top to the outside. Sandow ran Ziggler into the ringpost. After a chinlock Sandow charged at Ziggler but Ziggler moved and Sandow went into the ringpost. Ziggler took Sandow down and started his comeback. Ziggler hit a baseball slide onto Sandow on the outside. Ziggler hit ten corner punches then a neckbreaker and finally a dropkick for two. Ziggler went to the top but Sandow crotched him in the corner. Sandow tossed Ziggler into the ropes but Ziggler rolled through and hit a fameasser for the win.
Backstage, Stephanie McMahon criticized Brad Maddox for everything that went wrong last night. She told Maddox to go out there and apologize for everything that happened and to make it right.
Natalya, Eva Marie and Jo Jo defeated Aksana, Rosa Mendes and Alicia Fox. AND THEY HAD TO PUT BRUNO SAMMARTINO ON THE WWE APP BECAUSE WE NEEDED TO SEE THIS INSTEAD.
Brad Maddox came out. He said Randy Orton will take on Daniel Bryan at Hell In A Cell, and there will be a special guest referee. He said there will be a vote on the WWE App to pick the referee. The first candidate was Booker T. Booker said he would do what is best for business if he is voted in as ref.
Los Matadores defeated Drew McIntyre and Jinder Mahal. After the match, El Torito hit a hurricarrana on Heath Slater.
Okay, These Promos Are Getting A Bit Repetitive
Paul Heyman came out with Ryback and Curtis Axel. Heyman said he is the Best in the World and said he can say that because he beat CM Punk with both hands tied behind his back. Heyman can say CM Punk can legitimately say that he pinned Ryback. But the record book should say that CM Punk is a cheater as well. Heyman showed a photo from last night of Punk low blowing Ryback.
Before Heyman could say anything CM Punk came out. Punk asked Heyman if he was calling him a cheater. Punk said all he did was win, and he kicked Ryback in the balls to see if he had any. Heyman said he can’t do it again. Punk said Heyman’s word doesn’t mean anything. Punk said he’s assuming they want some type of rematch and he accepts. Heyman told Ryback he was bullying him. Ryback said if Punk had any balls he would have kicked him there a long time ago. Ryback told Punk to get his ass down to the ring. R-Truth came out and a tag match was set.
Axel and Punk started. Punk ducked Axel and hit a drop toe hold and worked over Axel’s leg. R-Truth came in and landed some punches on Axel as Axel took a breather into commercial. Back from break Ryback had control over R-Truth. The heels continued to dominate Truth. Axel hit a nice dropkick for two. Ryback slammed Truth into the corner then applied an abdominal stretch. Truth was able to take out Ryback and then make the hot tag to Punk. Punk hit the high knee and Macho Man Elbow on Axel. Punk knocked Ryback off the apron then hit the GTS on Axel. Punk caught Ryback with a kick to the head then tagged in R-Truth, who hit the Lie Detector on Axel and picked up the win.
The second vote for ref was Bob Backlund. He said he doesn’t use the word hell. He uses heck because he doesn’t like squirrelly language. He said he will do the job best and if things get out of control, he will put someone in the crossface chicken wing. I love Bob Backlund.
From Main Event To The 9:30 Time Slot
Randy Orton vs Kofi Kingston. Orton started aggressively on Kofi. He tossed him outside and through him into the barricade. Back in the ring Kofi tried getting the upper hand by landing some kicks on Orton then sending him to the outside. Back in the ring Kofi backed Orton into the corner with kicks and punches, but Orton ducked a crossbody off the top and went to the outside into commercial.
Orton still had control back from break. Kofi fought out of a headlock and hit an axe handle off the ropes. Kofi slid through the legs of Orton but Orton caught him with a dropkick. Orton put Kofi on the ropes in the corner but Kofi fought back, then hit a DDT from the second rope. Kofi started his comeback with his usual offense, then hit a crossbody off the top for two. Kofi caught Orton with the SOS for two. Orton tossed Kofi over the top and he landed on the apron. Kofi went for a springboard but Orton caught him mid air and went right into the bodyslam for two. Kofi countered the middle rope DDT by tossing Orton to the outside. But Orton ducked a baseball slide and clotheslined Kofi. He dropped Kofi on the barricade then hit a DDT off the barricade. Back in the ring, Orton hit the RKO for the win.
After the match, Daniel Bryan came out and attacked Orton. He hit his dive to the outside, sending Orton over the announce table. Refs and agents came out to try and break up the fight as Bryan chased Orton to the back.
Backstage, Alberto del Rio told Vickie he trusted her to pick the right opponent for him then flirted with her and gave her his scarf. She smelled it and dropped it.
The third option for ref was Shawn Michaels. HBK said that his friendship with HHH or the fact that he trained Daniel Bryan or his animosity for Randy Orton sway his decision. He said to vote for HB-shizzle.
Please Be Lying. PLEASE
After more recaps, Alberto del Rio came out. Vickie said his opponent for tonight was Ricardo. Before the match started, Vickie told Del Rio that he will defend the World Title at Hell In A Cell against John Cena. Ricardo scored a quick roll up on Del Rio to pick up the win. While Ricardo was celebrating on the announce table, Del Rio took his legs out from under him. He then hit Ricardo with a chair and put his arm in it. Del Rio stomped the chair then put the cross armbreaker on.
Fandango made quick work of Zack Ryder.
Shawn Michaels was voted special guest referee for the WWE Title Match at Hell In A Cell.
The Real Americans defeated Santino and Great Khali after Cesaro hit the Giant Swing on Khali. After the match, Cesaro swung Hornswoggle before Santino made the save.
Before MizTV could get started, the Wyatts came out. Harper and Rowan were in the ring and chased Miz to where Bray was on the stage. Miz escaped.
Gets Fired, Still Has Entrance Music?
Main event time. Rollins and Goldust started. After exchanging punches Goldust landed his trademark upper cut then tagged in Cody, who hit a spirngboard dropkick for two. Ambrose came in and Cody caught him with a running knee. Cody and Goldust exchanged turns working over Ambrose. Cody caught a charging Ambrose with a boot and went to the top. Reigns distracted him, allowing Ambrose to push him off the ropes onto the floor into commercial.
Back from break Rollins had control of Cody still as The Shield took turns working Cody over. Cody fought out of a Dean Ambrose headlock but Ambrose immediately caught him with a knee to the gut. Ambrose went to hit a backdrop off the second rope, but Cody elbowed him off and hit a moonsault. Ambrose knocked Goldust off the apron, but Cody hit a backdrop then made the hot tag to Daniel Bryan. Bryan went to work on Rollins. He hit a hurricarrana off the top but Reigns broke up the count. Goldust came in and took out Reigns. Reigns eventually dumped Goldust. Cody caught Reigns with a Disaster Kick and they all went to the outside. Bryan applied the YES Lock but Ambrose came in with a chair causing a DQ. Triple H restarted the match and made it No DQ.
As everyone brawled on the outside, Orton came in from the crowd and hit an RKO. He rolled Bryan into the ring and Rollins pinned him to pick up the win. As The Shield beatdown everyone, Big Show came out. The Shield tried to take out Show but Show threw him away. Ambrose chop blocked Show as Triple H yelled to finish him, but Big Show threw all of them off again. Show then hit a KO Punch on Triple H. As Show walked off, Daniel Bryan stood over Triple H and chanted YES to close the show.
What I Liked
Main Event: A solid six man tag. Not The Shield’s best work but it was still good wrestling. And the story that played out at the end was good too. It seems like things are finally starting to move forward with this storyline. Once again, the crowd popped big for Big Show. But this time it was done right, not screwing up the finish to a PPV Main Event. Looks like we are building to a Big Show/HHH Match. And I’m sure someone gave Big Show his job back.
HBK As Special Ref: Sure it might lead to a screwy finish, but any time HBK is on my TV screen I approve.
Bob Backlund: Because who doesn’t love a good Backlund promo?
What I Didn’t Like
Battleground Part 2: There were two exact rematches from Battleground on here. The Real Americans/Santino and Khali match seemed like the exact same match move for move. The Ziggler/Sandow match wasn’t as good and didn’t feel as high energy as the pre-show match last night.
Too Much Short Filler: This is seriously why RAW shouldn’t be three hours. There were way too many crappy recaps and short matches that just killed all of the crowd momentum. This will one day be the death of this show.
John Cena Back Already: So you’ve been injured for almost two months. And you are just gifted a World Title match for your first match back? And people wonder why the audience doesn’t like John Cena when you have guys like Dolph Ziggler and Cody Rhodes ready to get a World Title shot.
Bruno Sammartino On The App: Seriously? The FIRST TIME BRUNO SAMMARTINO is on RAW and you have him on your APP. What a freaking joke.
CM Punk/Paul Heyman: It pains me to put this here, but these promos are starting to get repetitive and almost pointless. How much longer do they think they can stretch this out? I really don’t know what they can add to the program at this point. Brock Lesnar isn’t coming back any time soon.
This was a bad show. There wasn’t a lot to like on it. I’m giving it a 2.
Until Next Time,
Justin C
Follow Me On Twitter @JCWonka
