6-3-13 Raw results and thoughts

Coverage and thoughts on the June 3, 2013 episode of Raw

The show starts with Stephanie McMahon coming to the ring. She says it feels great to be back on Raw. She wishes it was under better circumstances. 2 weeks ago HHH was in a cage match with Brock and then the next fought Curtis Axel. HHH wasn’t able to finish that match. Even though HHH is medically cleared, she’s made an executive decision to not allow him to compete. She made this decision as and executive, wife & mother. She will not let him wrestle someone who is beneath him (They give Joe Hennig a new gimmick & they have Stephanie says he’s beneath HHH? This is why no one gets over!). This decision isn’t about the fans & she tells them not be so selfish. Out comes Vince. Vince has a personal request & that’s for the fans not to boo his daughter. HHH has given everything…the fan chant HHH. Stephanie & Vince say they care about HHH more than the fans do. Vince says HHH will not compete tonight. The fans chant HHH & Vince says they want his Triple H’s heart, liver, soul, spleen. What to the fans want from him? WWE is family entertainment, not a blood sport. Kofi Kingston last week was put through table after table & the fans chanted 1 more time. It won’t be 1 more time for HHH tonight or any night. Vince says that Axel is beneath HHH & so are the fans. Cue The Shield’s theme music & out they come. Break time. This was really idiotic! I absolutely HATED that they had BOTH Vince & Stephanie say that Curtis Axel is beneath HHH!! Come on Vince you’re supposed to put the new talent over as the next generation of guys, not bury to them & say your f’n son in law is better than the new talent! Grow a brain!

Back from break & The Shield are in the ring & Vince & Stephanie aren’t there. The Shield will be in a 6 man tag next. I don’t get why they had The Shield come out while Vince & Stephanie were in the ring & not have The Shield do or say anything.

Randy Orton, Kane & Daniel Bryan vs. U.S. Champion Dean Ambrose and WWE Tag Team Champions Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns. The Shield wins when Ambrose pins Daniel. This was a good match. Orton was going for an RKO on Reigns but Reigns shoved Orton off & into Daniel Bryan. Then Ambrose hit his finisher on Daniel for the pin.

They announce that there will be a contract signing for the Chris Jericho-CM Punk match that will happen at Payback. Are they kidding!? Why does this match even need a contract signing!?

Backstage Daniel Bryan is pissed at Orton. Orton apologizes & says he wants to beat The Shield as much as Kane & Daniel do. Daniel says that wasn’t an apology. Then Daniel says that both Kane & Orton think that he is the weak link & his fault they lost. They can’t apologize to him because they don’t respect him. Kane says they do but Daniel has lost touch with reality. Daniel rants & says that since they don’t respect him he will have another & beat the respect out of someone. Maybe then Kane & Orton will finally respect him. This was a solid bit. I like having Daniel be a bit unsure of himself & because of that he is showing more intensity.

HHH shows up & asks some guy where Vince’s office is? He walks in & tells Stephanie is wrestling Axel. Stephanie says 2 weeks ago she saw him collapse at ringside. HHH says he is wrestling. Stephanie says Axel isn’t worth it. HHH says he is wrestling. Vince says the cerebral assassin is not being too cerebral. Vince tells HHH to get his ego out of the way. HHH says Vince is 1 to talk about having an ego. HHH says he will face Curtis & asks who will stop him. Vince tells him not to do something that he will regret. This was terrible!! Having the McMahons on TV makes of painful watching & this whole damn bit with HHH wanting to compete but Vince & Stephanie not letting him is stupid!! I’m not watching this to see the McMahon family soap opera!!

The Usos vs. The Primetime Players. The Usos win when Jay pins Darren. This was a decent match.

Alberto Del Rio vs. Big E Langston. Del Rio gets the pin. This was a solid match.

Damien Sandow is on commentary with a copy of a book written by Mrs. JBL.

Sheamus vs. Cody Rhodes. Sheamus gets the pin. This was a decent match. Then Sheamus goes over to Sandow. Sandow says no one wants to see Sheamus. Sheamus offers his hand but Sandow slaps it away. Then Sheamus slaps Sandow in the head, knocking the headset off. This Sheamus-Sandow program hasn’t really made any sense & is totally pointless.

Backstage we see HHH & Stephanie. HHH is says he’s leaving. He tells Stephanie to tell Vince that next week he will be wrestling Curtis Axel. He rides off & Stephanie calls him Paul. Why are they doing the whole “This is real because she used his real name” crap that Russo is infamous for?    

They reshow Ryback power bombing Kofi Kingston through 3 tables from Smackdown. Then Michael Cole mentions that Kofi got an elbow injury.

Backstage Daniel Bryan is pissed still & then he sees Ryback. Ryback tells him to watch what he’s doing. Ryback says he’s why Kofi had surgery. Ryback says that last year he had the flu & a stomach virus & that his throw up is bigger than Daniel. Daniel’s not afraid of Ryback. Ryback says that Daniel has lost his mind & tells Daniel to get in the ring with him tonight. Then he says that Daniel is the weak link & after tonight he will be the missing link. This was a decent backstage bit, but Ryback saying that his barf is bigger than Daniel was lame.

Then we see Paul Heyman & Curtis Axel in the GM office & Vince walks in. Vince says Curtis has a lot of potential. Then he says that Curtis Axel will face Cena tonight in a No DQ match. Vince asks if Heyman wants him to say it in Yiddish. This was weak. They set up Cena vs. Axel in a No DQ match. I have a scary feeling that they’re gonna make Curtis look like a jabrone against Super Cena.

Great Khali vs. Fandango. Khali wins by count out when Fandango had enough. Fandango was gonna walk out but The Miz showed up on the stage. Then Wade Barrett came out from the back & hit Miz in the back of the head with the bull hammer. This was weak too.

The Miz vs. Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett. Miz wins by submission. Fandango’s music hits and he & Summer Rae come back out. They pose on the stage, Barrett was distracted by this & then Miz got Barrett in the figure 4 for the submission win. This match was ok but I’m sick of the Fandango gimmick. Also why does someone who is in a match have to get completely distracted every time someone’s theme music plays? I have a feeling that they’ll have Miz vs. Fandango vs. Barrett for the IC Title at Payback.

Jerry Lawler is in the ring. He mentions that last week Jericho issued a challenge to Punk for a match at Payback. Heyman accepted the challenge & now we will have the contract signing to make it official. Out comes Chris Jericho. Then out comes Paul Heyman. King says they’ve both looked over the contract. Now we need their signatures. Heyman says before he signs this, which they could’ve signed in the back, but since he’s out here to feed Jericho’s ego, he will have to say this to his face. When Jericho shows up to face Punk…Jericho cuts him off & talks about Punk’s long title reign, Punk losing to Taker & Punk’s tattoos. Jericho doesn’t care about any of those. All he cares about is Heyman delivering Punk at Payback in Chicago June 16. Heyman signs and then tells Jericho before he signs Heyman asks if Jericho is truly prepared to face Punk in Chicago. Tonight we have an arena filled with Jerichoholics, but that won’t be the case in Chicago. In Chicago Jericho will be booed by the fans in Punk’s home town. Jericho might be the best in the world he does but Punk is the best in the world at what he does and that’s make lairs out of people who say they’re the best in the world. Jericho says Heyman might be right. Maybe this match should be at SummerSlam in LA. Heyman says no. Jericho says how about at MSG in NYC. Heyman says tempting but no. Then Jericho says how about right here in Hartford. Heyman says no to that too. Jericho says it doesn’t matter where you’re from, when you act like a jackass like Punk acts you get treated like a jackass. Then Jericho signs. Now that this contract is signed, where do they file it? Jericho has a good idea where this contract belongs. Jericho stands up & he tells Heyman to do the same. Jericho tells Heyman to unbutton his jacket before he rips it off. Jericho knows where this contract needs to be filed. He shoves it in Heyman’s pants and says, “See ya in Chicago.” This was a mixed bag segment. Heyman was good on the mic as usual but the rest of this segment was pointless. Having Jericho shove the contract in Heyman’s pants was lame. Also why promote that Punk was going to be returning and then not have him be there?

Divas Champion Kaitlyn, Naomi & Cameron vs. AJ Lee & The Bellas. Kaitlyn, Naomi & Cameron win when Kaitlyn pins Brie. This wasn’t much. Brie went to tag AJ but AJ jumped off the apron & Brie. Then Kaitlyn hit a spear on Brie for the pin.

Backstage Daniel Bryan is getting pumped. Kane comes in & Daniel says his match is next. Kane says Daniel is making a mistake. We saw what Ryback did to Kofi. Kane says he’s never seen anyone with as much heart as Daniel. He proves it night after night & he doesn’t have to prove anything to anybody. Daniel says Kane is wrong, he does have something to prove & he will by beating Ryback tonight. He also wants Kane to not be at ringside. Kane tells Daniel to call him when he finds his mind because he has obviously lost it. This was solid. I like that they have Daniel show intensity.

Time for a Wyatt family vignette.

Ryback comes out in the ambulance again.

Daniel Bryan vs. Ryback. Daniel wins by DQ. This was really good back & forth match. Ryback got a table from under the ring. He set it up & power bombed Daniel through it causing the DQ.

Then Ryback gets another table, but Cena comes out & hold Ryback at bay. Ryback gets on the apron as Cena shows off the belt. Then out come Curtis Axel & Paul Heyman. Cena vs. Curtis is next.

WWE Champion John Cena vs. Curtis Axel in a No DQ match. Curtis wins by count out. Ryback came out & put Cena through a table & did Cena’s you can’t see me gesture. That lead to the count out finish. Then Ryback tells Cena that at Payback Ryback rules to end the show. This was a good plunder match & I knew that Ryback would come out & cost Cena the match.  

This week’s show had solid to good matches but some of the story telling was questionable to say the least. Vince & Stephanie starting the show totally blew & I hated that they said Curtis Axel is beneath HHH. The other 2 backstage McMahon family soap opera backstage bits were awful too. Cena-Curtis was a good plunder match but I knew that Ryback would come out & cost Cena the match. I liked the backstage bits with Kane & Daniel Bryan. They both let Daniel show a lot of intensity. I like that have him second guessing himself & having that bring a more aggressive side out of him. The 6 man tag & The Daniel-Ryback match were both really good too. Khali-Fandango wasn’t much & Miz-Barrett was decent but I hated that they Barrett get distracted by Fandango’s music. The Wyatt family vignette was good & I’m hoping they book these guys well on the main roster. The contract signing was pointless. Heyman was good with his promo as usual but I don’t get why they needed a contract signing for Jericho-Punk. The Vince-Heyman-Curtis segment was also a waste I thought, the Daniel-Ryback bit was decent but I hated the “Ryback’s barf is bigger than Daniel” line. The 6 Divas tag was your typical Divas match. There wasn’t much to it. I’m curious if they even remember that AJ is the number 1 contender for the Divas Title. The Usos vs. The Primetime Players and Sheamus-Cody were both decent matches. I was surprised to see the Usos back on Raw. The Sheamus-Sandow rivalry has been really weak & I have no idea what they’re doing here. Del Rio-Langston was solid too. Overall I thought there solid to good matches this week but some of the booking was odd.