Live at the Barclays Centre in Brooklyn, NY
Commentators: Michael Cole, JBL & Jerry Lawler
Championship’s roll call: WWE Champion: John Cena… World Champion: Alberto Del Rio… Intercontinental Champion: Curtis Axel… United States Champion: Dean Ambrose… Tag Team Champions: The Shield… NXT Champion: Bo Dallas… NXT Tag Team Champions: The Wyatt Family… Diva’s Champion: AJ Lee
Brad Maddox, the new Raw GM, opens the show to a drumroll and welcomes us to the Maddox Era; we have a MitB rematch between Dolph Ziggler and Alberto Del Rio. He promises to be the best GM of all time but is promptly interrupted by the champ, John Cena. So this is the Maddox Era? He notes that the person in the ring is more hated than him and it will probably be the only time that happens. Brad admires John and is also allowing him to pick his opponent for Summerslam. Cena says how stupid that is because he could choose Brie Bella. Here’s Randy Orton marching to the ring with his MitB briefcase. Orton tells Maddox not to get ahead of himself because Cena may not be the champ come Summerslam. Randy is going to take his advantage, unlike Cena last year when he failed, but is also being straight up with him: he will never see the cash in coming. Fandango comes out? He shushes everyone and tells Orton that he will cash in against himself, not Cena. He says the Universe wants to see him and Cena. He tells Cena his name but Orton attacks him at the “gooooo” part. He actually manages to get Orton out of the ring but he recovers and they get into a brawl. Maddox makes the match right now… 5/10 I figured Maddox would open this show since he became the new GM last week; the addition of Fandango into the main event storyline is rather odd, though. The just forgot about him after he debuted red hot, then he got hurt and now they are trying to reestablish him.
Randy Orton vs. Fandango (w/Summer Rae): The match is JIP after the break with Orton stomping away; he misses the floating knee drop and Fandango gets his own stomp. They fight on the floor and Randy gets his advantage back; Fandango plays cat-and-mouse to try to escape on the opposite side but gets clotheslined. Orton tosses him back in and gets a nearfall. Randy gets some head-butts in. Fandango gets a boot up in the corner to block a charge and strangles him in the ropes. He applies a front cravat as the fans chant for “Randy Savage.” Orton makes a comeback with a backdrop as the fans are trying to mimic the famous post-WrestleMania XXIX Jersey crowd. He gets a ten punch in the corner and a nice standing dropkick for two; he stomps the fingers but Fandango gets a kick in the corner sending Orton to the floor. Out there, he powers Randy into the steps as we head to break. We roll on with Fandango applying another front cravat. Fandango almost gets caught in the stretch backbreaker but he counters into a side suplex! I rarely see anyone counter that move; nonplus, Orton fights right back with a capture suplex. Way to no-sell that nice counter from Fandango. He props Fandango onto the turnbuckles and grabs a superplex. The comeback trail is forged with clotheslines and the powerslam. He puts Fandango on the apron for the Viper DDT but Fandango counters that with a pendulum kick. He heads up top but Randy catches him and gets the Viper DDT from the corner posts. The fans who were just chanting “boring” are now all fired up as Orton plants Fandango with the RKO for three. 4.5/10 Good showing for Fandango as he looked at home in a main event match, which is freaky considering that I thought this gimmick was DOA when I first saw it. Give credit to Curtis for getting so deep into character and playing it so over the top Repo Man-style and getting over.
Here is your winner… Randy Orton via RKO pinfall
In the back, AJ Lee tries to talk to Dolph Ziggler who feels it is time to move on from last night; AJ cost him the title. AJ thinks that all is well but everyone in the building gets his drift. He tells her it is time to move on from her. They’re done.
Mark Henry comes out next with a nice suit on. He gives credit where it is due and calls John Cena one of the greatest champions in history. He came close to winning as the fans chant “you tap out.” Henry responds telling them that he did tap out, just like all of they would have too. He wants to be the man that Cena picks for Summerslam. The Shield comes out. Interesting. Henry stands his ground as they encircle the ring. Henry attacks first but immediately gets overwhelmed. Henry fires back to a huge babyface eruption. He holds his own until Reigns manages a spear; the three of them takes over and stomps the crap out of him. They leave him, just like everyone else, laying as a result of a Shield Bomb. 5.5/10 Could we have a babyface turn for Henry? As long as his character remains a serious ass kicker and not becoming the Kool-Aid Man again; Shield gets over again over another main eventer as they continue to dominate.
In the back, Brad Maddox is approached by Chris Jericho who makes fun of his age and youthfulness. He books Y2J in a match with Rob Van Dam tonight. Chris seems to like that idea.
Dolph Ziggler vs. Alberto Del Rio: It’s weird because Del Rio still acts like a babyface and Dolph a heel but they are oppositely cheered. Del Rio goes right for the back of the head and knocks the Showoff down; Dolph comes back with a dropkick. Ziggler continue to fight with the ten Showoff Elbows. He misses a charge and over-Hennigs the sell. ADR stomps away and gets a crazy inverted superplex, for two. Del Rio goes in with the choking in the ropes and maintains his advantage as the fans chant for Ziggler. Dolph responds with a splash in the corner and a running clothesline. Del Rio cuts it off with a backdrop to the floor and he takes a WICKED face first bump to the floor. That was a bit excessive. Wow. We come back from break and, surprisingly, Dolph isn’t dead while Del Rio has a chinlock hooked. Del Rio smiles at him as his O continues with a lowered kneepad kick attempt but Dolph avoids it. He tries to comeback but runs afoul of a flapjack. He charges in the corner for the enziguri but Dolph leaps off and catches him with a nice tornado DDT. They exchange blows as the fans amuse themselves; Del Rio manages to get the advantage back but misses a rope straddle. He tries to reenter but Ziggler dropkicks him back inside; this nets two. Alberto comes right back again with a German suplex, for two more; Del Rio with some aggressive head-butts. He looks for the cross-armbreaker but Dolph counters into a swinging neckbreaker for yet another nearfall. ADR with the enziguri to swing the pendulum again; he attacks in the corner but Dolph acrobatically avoids a charge and Del Rio posts his shoulder. He gets Fameasser from the second rope and only gets two but the bell randomly rings. The referee waives it off but AJ Lee is there staring at Ziggler; guess who rang the bell? Del Rio takes advantage with a NASTY superkick to the side of the head for the pinfall. Post-match, AJ goes nuts on Dolph slapping the crap out of him; Dolph recovers but gets blindsided by Big E Langston. He plants him with the Big Ending to remain a heel in all of this. 7/10 Excellent match; decent ending as we now know where the heel/babyface alignments lay in this whole double switch thing with Dolph. Langston will continue to be AJ’s lackey and Dolph will go alone into babyfaceland. Lost in the ending is a really good television match between these two.
Here is your winner… Alberto Del Rio via superkick pinfall
R-Truth comes out for a match but his spiel is interrupted by the Wyatt Family. Rowan and Harper destroy him as Bray rocks on his chair. Wyatt himself finally cuts an in-ring promo. He says there is no such thing as a hero; we have all become addicted to illusions of heroes. He tells us that everything is not alright; the man who made us is a liar. He calls himself the eater of worlds and the answer all along. Truth reappears with a chair but Bray tells Rowan and Harper to leave and calls Truth on. This gets him more over with the Brooklynites. Rowan and Harper slowly surround Truth from the floor allowing Wyatt to attack and plant Truth with Sister Abigail. He tells Truth that he is not the truth that they seek. He tells Kane to follow the buzzards. 6.5/10 I love cryptic Wyatt promos; the fans reacted to him when he started to talk, which I knew would happen. Good segment.
The Usos vs. The Real Americans (w/Zeb Colter): Pre-match, Colter rips the fans and says we are all ripped off as Americans in this country. Colter asks John Cena to choose a Real American for his opponents. The Usos were picked via WWE App poll. Good choice as they are foreigners and talented so it makes sense in-ring and from a storyline perspective. The Usos are in EYE BLINDING neon green ring gear, which I like since too much wrestling is in black lately. Jey opens with Cesaro and they immediately team up on him with a Jimmy splash in the corner. Jimmy tries an O’Connor roll for two; Swagger provides a distraction from the apron allowing the deadlift gutwrench from Cesaro. Jack gets a tag and puts the boots to Jimmy. The Swagger Bomb follows. The Americans quick tag on him as Cesaro gets a double stomp. Jimmy fires back and manages a tag to Jey who nails a top rope crossbody block but Swagger breaks up the pinfall. Jimmy kills Swagger with a superkick but gets promptly ejected from the ring via Cesaro European uppercut. He tries the deadlift gutwrench to Jey but he counters into a sunset flip to get the surprise three count! 5.5/10 Short but it was nice to see the Usos keep winning; the Americans are more like a pair of singles wrestlers who occasionally team up so this loss does not hurt them as much as it helps the Usos.
Here are your winners… The Usos via sunset flip pinfall
Christian vs. Damien Sandow: Sandow is the SmackDown MitB winner as he shows off the case on his way to the ring. Sandow gets a knee in and pounds away. Christian reverses a whip and Sandow retreats to the floor. Back in the ring Christian tries a tornado DDT but Sandow pushes him off the buckles to the floor in another WICKED bump in a night full of them. Surprised he did not brain himself there. Back in the ring, Sandow gets two; he gets aggressive in the ring but Christian comes right back and gets that tornado DDT. He begins the comeback with forearms and ten-punches in the corner. He nails the pescado uppercut and heads up top; a top-rope crossbody gets two for Christian. He hits the reverse elbow off the opposite corner. Sandow counters the Killswitch and goes for the Cubito Aequet but Christian surprises him with a jackknife cover for the pinfall. Post-match, Cody Rhodes blindsides Sandow and attacks him. I guess the friendship is over. Sandow pulled Rhodes off the ladder to win the briefcase last night. 3/10 I never advocate the MitB winner jobbing all of the time, especially after he just won the thing but at least it was set up as a fluke. I also guess we have a babyface turn for Cody Rhodes?
Here is your winner… Christian via jackknife cradle pinfall
Vickie Guerrero is picketing around the Barclays Centre to get herself reinstated.
Brie Bella (w/Nikki Bella) vs. Naomi (w/Cameron): Brie works the arm but Naomi comes back with a nip up and flipping clothesline. She gets a roundhouse kick on the apron and tosses Brie to the floor right by Nikki who does her job and Brie takes over. She stomps away in the ring and biels her around by the hair. Naomi, who is built more like an athlete, makes Brie look even more like she needs a cheeseburger. The Bella continues to beat Naomi down and applies a chinlock move, which goes on for quite a while. All the commentators talk about is the E! “reality” show Total Divas. The chinlock continues. Naomi finally makes a comeback and nails a lassoing head scissors. A pair of dropkicks sets up the Rear View. She heads up top and nails a nice crossbody for the pinfall. 3.5/10 Naomi is fun to watch in the ring; Brie, on the other hand, is really boring and all rest holds. Let’s hope Naomi is the future of the division as opposed to the Bellas.
Here is your winner… Naomi via top-rope crossbody pinfall
Last night Paul Heyman turned on CM Punk, costing him his third MitB contract. He hobbles to the ring as the first wrestler to sell the pain of the match last night. He knows Heyman and Brock Lesnar are in the building so he calls them out. Heyman comes out and sees an “empty ring” because in his world Heyman does not exist. He says that the WWE called Punk a figment of Heyman’s imagination but Paul martyred his career for him. Then they were the longest reigning champion and they almost defeated the Undertaker at WrestleMania. Without Paul Heyman, Punk is not the best in the world. He speaks the truth and says he failed “us” by losing to the Undertaker; he continues saying that, after his sabbatical, Punk feels he is better than Heyman. Paul lied to him so he could turn on him. All Punk has is the fans, he has no family, wife or children; what Punk needs in his life is the WWE title. Punk took Heyman’s best friend away from him so Heyman took Punk’s title shot from him and he betrayed him because Punk cannot beat Brock Lesnar. Punk now speaks. He should have seen it coming but dammit he trusted Heyman; the truth is: he’s gonna get Heyman. He adds that he will swear on Heyman’s children that he will get at, rip apart and hurt everyone who gets in his way en route to Heyman. Paul looks a bit concerned when Punk asks him if he is lying. Heyman mimics Punk’s “it’s clobberin’ time” gesture and brings out the Beast. Punk is ready. Heyman cheapshots Punk from behind but Lesnar cannot capitalize and Punk fires back. Lesnar eventually gets the advantage and stomps the crap out of him. Punk keeps fighting back until Brock posts his back. He gives Punk an F-5 over the table. 7/10 That was quite the promo battle which ended with the crowd pleasing brawl; excellent way to set up the eventual match at Summerslam as Punk is headed into a Big Bossman versus the Heenan Family circa 1991 like battle to get to Heyman.
We preview Total Divas on E! Elsewhere, John Cena is approached by the Great Khali who (I assume) pitches his case to him. John answers in Punjabi which nets a positive response from Khali. In his office Triple H and Stephanie McMahon both rip Brad Maddox for his “decisions” tonight continually wondering what Mr. McMahon would think. They are not happy with Cena being able to pick his opponent for Summerslam. They continue to plant concerning seeds in his head, even using the term “future endeavors.”
Rob Van Dam vs. Chris Jericho: This should be a barn burner. They lock up and jockey for position and Van Dam manages to flip free and points to himself. Jericho gets some forearms but RVD fights back. Y2J manages to catch him with a dropkick as the fans chant “ECW” at both of them. RVD counters a whip with a flip off the back and a roundhouse kick. He catches Jericho with the rolling monkey flip and standing moonsault, for two. Jericho leaps over a sweep kick and nails an enziguri as the fans now chant for Jericho. He hits a backdrop suplex and gets a low dropkick as we head off to break. We return with Jericho trapped in a body vise. During the break, RVD hit the slingshot guillotine legdrop on the apron; meanwhile, back to live action, Jericho grabs a schoolboy into a Walls attempt but RVD is too balanced, so Jericho tries a slingshot, but the spot it a bit messed up and RVD bounds, shoulder-first into the buckles, and splats on this face. Jericho kicks Van Dam to the floor; Rob looks a bit disoriented after that spot in the corner. They battle over a suplex in on the apron but Van Dam lands on his feet and WIPES Jericho with a shuffle side kick. Van Dam recovers a bit for from his daze with another body vise. Jericho tries to wriggle free and manages to turn it into a powerbomb, for two. He lays in come chops but Van Dam counters into a Rolling Thunder attempt but Jericho rolls to the floor. RVD improvises with a moonsault press off the apron and both men are down as we head off to commercial break number two. We return with Van Dam entrapped in an armbar. Van Dam comes back with a pinwheel kick in the corner and a shoulderblock; Jericho comes back with some of his own shoulder tackles. Y2J capitalizes with a sledge off the top. He plants RVD with the bulldog but misses the Lionsault and now Van Dam hits Rolling Thunder, for two. Van Dam misses a springboard side kick and Jericho PLANTS him with a DDT (complete with spiking sell from Van Dam). Another Walls attempt but Van Dam spins free and kicks Y2J in the face again. They go counter/counter as Van Dam pushes himself free of another bulldog, crotching him in the corner; Van Dam tries the spilt-legged moonsault but that misses as well. Here’s the Lionsault… for two! RVD comes back with a straight kick to the face; he looks for the frogsplash but Jericho catches him climbing. They battle on the ropes and Van Dam knocks Y2J off and hits a rolling senton from the top! Only gets two. RVD tries a Frankensteiner but Jericho blocks mid-move into the Walls of Jericho. Van Dam barely makes the ropes. Quite the match here. Van Dam scores with a feint wheel kick and finally hits the Five-Star Frogsplash to FINALLY get the three count over Jericho (in his first Raw match in six years). 9/10 Great match. Not sure what else I can say about this match… “This is awesome,” per the Brooklyn crowd.
Here is your winner… Rob Van Dam via Five-Star Frogsplash pinfall
The entire WWE roster is on the stage (minus CM Punk and Mark Henry, selling their earlier beatings) for John Cena’s big decision. Cena comes out and Ryback, Alberto Del Rio and Titus O’Neil separate like the Red Sea allowing him into the ring. Cena says he has not made his decision yet. He has heard all the pitches from the Superstars. John still hasn’t heard the Universe’s voice yet; he respects the crowd’s honesty and wants the crowd to help him make the decision. The crowd begins to cheer and chant but no name is decipherable yet. Cena gives some names: Heath Slater, Randy Orton, Great Khali, Alberto Del Rio, Chris Jericho, Rob Van Dam, to name a few as he gauges the crowd’s reactions. Next is Fandango, Sheamus, Ryback… but the fans start chanting “YES! YES! YES!” and “Daniel Bryan.” Cena completely blows them off and then picks Daniel Bryan! Wow! Way to give the fans what they want, which is surprising for the WWE. Bryan appears from behind those who are much taller than he. He gets in the ring and leads 18,000 Brooklynites in a “YES! YES! YES!” chant. Challenge accepted. 7.5/10 THAT was the best selection ever! Bryan is finally awarded for all of his hard work over 2013 and is having one of the best years of his career (in WWE). This should be a really good match.
OVERALL 7.5/10 Opened strong; had some OUTSTANDING matches and concluded with “the decision” and Bryan’s first true WWE main event match. Great show as the WWE is kicking it into a higher gear as we head into the summer of ’13. This usually happens in June and July as the WWE busts out the big guns towards Summerslam hoping to propel them into the fall and Survivor Series.
