8-5-13 Raw results and thoughts

Coverage and thoughts on the August 5, 2013 episode of Raw The show starts with Stephanie McMahon in the ring. She welcomes everyone to Raw. It’s no secret that her dad doesn’t believe that Daniel Bryan is championship material. She knows a lot of the fans disagree & so does HHH. She came up with a compromise. She asked Daniel to take part in a so called make over. They show a video of Daniel working out & then eating a steak. Then they show him getting a new suit. The fans chant no. Then Stephanie brings out Daniel Bryan. He comes out with a ponytail & in his new suit. Stephanie says Daniel looks sharp & the floor is his. The fans chant yes & Daniel says the fans like his get up. The fans boo. He thanks Stephanie for everything that she put into all of this. But he doesn’t think this is what the company wants. What the company wants is a jacked up guy, who wears cargo shorts & a bright yellow t-shirt. Somebody who can sell the fans stuff they don’t need. Who can that be? It seems to Daniel like they want someone like Cena. Daniel respects Cena because Cena picked him to be his opponent for SummerSlam. He says that Cena picked Daniel because he thought he was the best contender. Than Daniel says that Cena doesn’t think Daniel can beat him. Cena’s a super star. He’s in movies & on cereal boxes, while Daniel is 5’8, has a scraggy beard & from the middle of nowhere. How can a guy like him beat Cena? He can because Cena is an entertainer & Daniel is a wrestler. While Cena’s been on top for the past 10 years he hasn’t seen the mud holes Daniel’s dragged himself out of. If Cena gets fired tomorrow he goes back to his mansion & will never wrestle again. If Daniel gets fired tomorrow & he just might, you will see him in every dirt box filled with 30 people & a ring because he loves wrestling. It sounds to him like the fans love wrestling too. Daniel will dress up in this suit & comb his hair back & do what they want for now because at SummerSlam Daniel will do what everyone wants him to do & he will make Cena tap out. YES! YES! Cue Vince’s music & out come the chairman. Vince appreciated Stephanie’s efforts & Daniel has given it the old college try. Then Vince rags on the way Daniel looks. Vince has said before that he doesn’t want Cena to be WWE Champion but he wants Daniel to be champion even less, but now Daniel’s kinda warming up to him. WWE has never had a dwarf for a champion. They’ve never had anyone who has the muscularity of the tooth pick. He says that Daniel looks like a mini Mick Foley. Vince says that if Daniel listens to him he will have considerable influence on him becoming WWE Champion. Daniel’s make over need 1 other thing. He looks at Daniel’s beard & asks if there’s a birds nest in there. If Daniel wants to be champion there’s only 1 thing they should do & that’s shave that beard off. Then he has some guys bring out a barber chair. Daniel & the fans chant NO! Vince says the fans have no idea what they want but Vince knows. The fans want Daniel to go all the way. If they want him to be champion than Daniel will do as Vince says. Vince mentions that Daniel talked about being fired; he should be careful what he wishes for. He tells Daniel to take the next step if he wants to be WWE Champion. The fans boo & Vince says they don’t want him to be champion. If he wants to be champion he should get in the chair. Daniel looks at the chair as the fans chant no. Then Daniel leaves the ring. Vince says now the only thing missing is a barber. That barber being Wade Barrett (What is this)? Out comes Wade. Daniel sits in the chair. Vince says Daniel wants to be champion more than anything. Wade’s grandfather was a barber. Then Daniel tells Barrett to leave a bit of it and then head butts him. Then he gets Wade in the chair & shaves some of his beard. Then Wade goes after him & he throws Wade over the barrier. Daniel says Vince wants him to change. He will be who he’s always been & he will be WWE Champion. Then he rips off his shirt & has on a t-shirt that says the beard is here. Daniel says that Cena says the champ is here & now the beard is here. This was a solid opening segment. Daniel was great here like usual & I knew that they weren’t gonna have him go along with the “makeover”. Vince’s promo was hit & miss for me. Having him being against the idea of Daniel being champion doesn’t do it for me. Plus he gave the old, “I know what you fans want better than you do” crap! I’m not sure why they had Wade Barrett in this segment but Daniel shaving his beard off & throwing him over the barrier was good. I’m really hoping the put they put the WWE Title on Daniel! Miz is on commentary. RVD comes to the ring. Then Ricardo makes his return to introduce Del Rio. Rob Van Dam vs. World Champion Alberto Del Rio. RVD gets the pin. This was a decent but short match. Ricardo set up the bucket in the corner. It fell & Ricardo set it up again. Then Del Rio was gonna through RVD into it but RVD threw him into the bucket. Then he got the pin. Afterwards Del Rio super kicks Ricardo & then hits him a few times with the bucket. Then he tosses Ricardo out of the ring, sets Ricardo’s head between the steel steps & the apron & then Del Rio dropkicks the steps onto Ricardo’s head. Del Rio poses on the stage holding the belt as medics check on Ricardo. This was decent. Ricardo’s character seems more like a baby face & I’m glad they decided to turn him. Cody Rhodes is in the ring. He says that Oscar Wilde once said that a true friend stabs you in the front so that means that Damien was never a true friend. That’s water under the bridge. He has a gift for Damien but first we get a look back at Cody taking Sandow’s case & throwing it in the water. Then we get a look at Sandow beating down Cody in the interview area from Smackdown. Cody knows how much seeing the case sink has affected Damien so he spared no expense. He takes the damp case out of the box & tells Damien that if he wants it to come & get it. Out comes Sandow. Sandow tells Cody to put the case down & leave. He isn’t falling for this. Cody puts the case down & leaves the ring. Then Sandow gets in the ring & then Cody comes back in & goes after Sandow. Sandow slides out of the ring & Cody dumps the damp contract out of the case. Then he throws the case up the ramp. This was a solid segment. Cody was good with his promo here & Sandow was good too. It looks like we’ll be getting Cody vs. Sandow at SummerSlam. That should be good. Mark Henry vs. Ryback. Henry wins by count out when Ryback decides he’s had enough & walks out. This wasn’t much & the finish was lame. This is all they have for Mark Henry tonight? No follow up with The Shield? I thought The Shield would’ve come out again & then The Usos too but nope. Nothing this time. LAME! Backstage we see the Bella twins. The talk about Total Divas. Who cares? Then Eva Marie comes in. She talks about how Brie beat Natalya last week. Then Natalya comes in & slaps Brie in the face. This was terrible! Who watches that stupid show if they don’t have to!? John Cena comes to the ring. He says it’s that time again. All this is a very familiar position. He’s used to being a target. A lot of times whoever chases after the WWE Title is a bad person, but his next challenger, Daniel Bryan is a fan favorite. Cena mentions that the fans have been cheering Daniel. Even though the “brass” doesn’t like it, he picked him anyway. He heard what Daniel had to say before. Daniel judging Cena makes him no different than Rock or Punk. Cena won’t change for him or for anyone. Cena has & always will be himself. Daniel wants to talk about hard times? Cena came back 24 hours after breaking his neck. Daniel wants to talk about wrestling in a gym because that’s where Daniel would rather be (That was a heel line). Cena says he loves WWE & would never tarnish wearing the title. Cena says WWE is the NFL of wrestling & NFL stands for Not For Long. Then he says that Daniel saying Cena can’t wrestle isn’t original because the fans are always chanting it. Cena has been champion 11 times & in some of the biggest matches in WWE history. You don’t get lucky 11 times. He tells Daniel to underestimate him just like everyone. All the guys who have…Then the fans chant boring. Cena says it sound like the fans are ready to see him & Daniel fight right now. The fans chant yes. Cena says they’re as excited for SummerSlam as he is. If Daniel wins the title he’s the new champion. If he loses he will have to accept that he wasn’t good enough. Daniel might be on a hot streak but he has been mowing people down since January. Then Cena says to remember what he’s been saying. Our time is now & the champ is here. Then out comes Randy Orton. Orton says that Cena is always aware of the target on his back but on not of the target in his face. It doesn’t matter who the champion will be because Orton has the MITB case, which almost guarantees he will become WWE Champion. Orton says it could happen at anytime & says the champ is here. Then out comes The Shield. Cena & Orton are ready for them. The Shield surrounds the ring & but then Daniel Bryan hits the ring to even the odds. Then out comes Brad. He has an idea. Since they can’t get along how’s about a 6 man tag main event for tonight? Cena, Daniel & Orton vs. The Shield. This was a solid segment too. Cena’s promo was decent but him saying that Daniel is more comfortable wrestling in a gym was a definite heel line. Orton was good here too mentioning that he could cash in at anytime. I wasn’t expecting The Shield to come out during this however. Daniel coming to the ring was good too. Then when Brad came out I knew that he was gonna announce the 6 man. Tons of Funk vs. Luke Harper & Eric Rowan. Harper & Rowan win when Rowan pins Tensai. This was mostly a squash. Then Bray Wyatt gets in the ring. Harper & Rowan hold Brodus. Then Bray gives him Sister Abigail. Then Bray says Kane is no monster. He is an illusion, a fairy tail. The demon is a lie. Bray’s much different. He’s the guy of 1000 truths. He’s Bray Wyatt the eater of words. Follow the buzzards. Then out go the lights & Kane’s pyro goes off. Then Kane shows up on the Tron & he says when you pull the wings off of buzzards for some they’re impossible to follow. Kane sees through Bray’s cryptic words. Kane says they’re here to mutilate everyone who crosses their path. Kane does that too but not to send a message. He does it for his own amusement. At SummerSlam they will find out why their family won’t be able to save them. No 1 can save the Wyatt family from inside a ring of fire. Then Kane’s pyro goes off again. This was a solid bit too. It looks like we’ll be getting Kane vs. Bray Wyatt for SummerSlam. Backstage Josh Mathews interviews CM Punk. He wants Punk’s thoughts on Curtis Axel. Punk says he admired Axel’s dad, Mr. Perfect. Then he says that when Mr. Perfect & Bobby the Brain were on camera Perfect had a mind of his own. Axel on the other hand is so blindly loyal to Heyman & that is going to get him a beating at Punk’s hands. Punk will take care of Axel tonight & then he will do what he said he would. When Punk says he’s coming for you, he will be coming for you. Then Josh mentions Punk’s match with Brock. Punk says SummerSlam will the night that the beast got neutered & Heyman loses everything. This was the usual good promo that we get from Punk. In the Goldman box Layla says her turning heel on Kaitlyn wasn’t personal. She tells all the other Divas to look out for her. From now on all eyes are on Layla & she’s flawless. Kaitlyn vs. Layla. Layla gets the pin. During the match AJ’s music hits & she skips around the ring. Then AJ gets on the apron, Kaitlyn with a swing & a miss & then Layla gives Kaitlyn a round house kick to the head for the 3 count. Then Layla & AJ skip around the ring & up the ramp to AJ’s music. This was awful. The match wasn’t much & this Kaitlyn-AJ rivalry is getting old & now having Layla being part of this doesn’t do it for me. They announce Cody Rhodes vs. Damien Sandow for SummerSlam. Christian vs. Heath Slater. Christian gets the pin. This was a decent match but I knew Christian was winning. CM Punk comes to the ring for his match. Then out come Curtis Axel & Paul Heyman. Punk goes up the ramp after Axel & they go at it on the stage. The brawl goes to ringside before Punk throws Axel into the ring. CM Punk vs. Intercontinental Champion Curtis Axel. Curtis Axel wins by DQ when Punk goes after Heyman & the referee calls for the bell. Then out comes Brock Lesnar. As Brock was getting in the ring Axel yanked Punk out, but Punk gives him the GTS. Then Punk gets a chair but & Brock pulls it out of Punk’s hands. Then Punk sends Brock into the steel steps. Then he stands on the announce table & dives onto Brock. Then Brock gives Punk an overhead belly to belly suplex. Brock throws Punk in the ring & then sets him up for the F5 but Punk gets out of it & hits Brock in the back with a chair. Then Punk looked at Heyman & was gonna use the chair on him but then Brock gives Punk an F5. Then he hits Punk in the back with the chair. The match was really good but the DQ finish was odd. The brawl with Punk & Brock was also great & their match should be entertaining. Backstage Renee Young interviews Brock, Axel & Heyman. Brock says that’s the best of the best this world has to offer? He is the beast & the best in the world. Then he tells Heyman to say something stupid. Heyman tells Renee to take that microphone & deliver a message to Punk. Tell Punk that he might not make it to SummerSlam. Next week on Raw Heyman will stand in the ring & look for a man vs. man fight. If Punk’s man enough to accept it, next week will be CM Punk vs. Paul Heyman. This was a good backstage bit. Brock cut a decent promo & Heyman was good as always. Fandango & Summer Rae come to the ring & do their bit. Then Kofi Kingston makes his return. Kofi Kingston vs. Fandango. Kofi gets the pin. This was a decent match. Backstage we see HHH in the GM office on his cell phone (Can they quit having the authority figures on their cell phones at the start of these). Stephanie comes in crying because Vince “bit her head off”. She says the makeover was a disaster. She’s trying to focus on business. HHH says Vince has lost it. No 1 wants to admit it but the once creative genius has finally lost it. Vince is having a hissy fit because Daniel embarrassed him. Will Vince throw away SummerSlam? HHH is tired of it & isn’t gonna watch this ship go down because of Vince. He doesn’t know what Vince will do at SummerSlam but HHH will stop him. This was awful. I’m way beyond tired of this McMahon family saga. Jack Swagger, Antonio Cesaro & Zeb Coulter are in the ring. Zeb says that they walked around the town today & couldn’t find the beat of the heart in America. All the cheese people from Green Bay eat clogs their brains. The fans should do like that over rated football team & pack their bags. This place belongs to real Americans. Whatever. This gimmick is way beyond old too. Then out come The Usos. The Usos vs. The Real Americans. The Real Americans win when Cesaro pins Jay. This was a solid match. Dolph Ziggler vs. Big E Langston. Big E gets the pin. AJ was at ringside. Kaitlyn came out & she & AJ went at it for a bit. They fought in the ring. Dolph broke it up & then Big E clotheslined him. Then Big E gives Dolph the big ending for the win. This was a decent match. It looks we’ll be getting Dolph & Kaitlyn vs. Big E & AJ at SummerSlam. We see Josh Mathews in the front row interviewing 2 chicks that are on Summer Camp. They talk about that show. This was meaningless. WWE Champion John Cena, Randy Orton & Daniel Bryan vs. The Shield. Cena, Orton & Daniel win by DQ when The Shield attacks Daniel. Good match, flat finish. Then Orton gives Daniel an RKO. Then Cena & Orton take out The Shield. Then Orton gives Cena an RKO. Then Orton gets his MITB case & thinks about cashing in but The Shields comes back out. Reigns spears Cena & Ambrose kicks away on Daniel. Then The Shield stare down Orton but Orton walks up the ramp. Then The Shield gives Daniel the triple power bomb. The Shield stands over the fallen Daniel as Orton watches from the stage to end the show. The match was good but the DQ ending was flat. I knew there wouldn’t be a clean finish to this but I thought the DQ ending was kind of a weak way to end it. The post match stuff was good too for the most part. I wasn’t really into Cena & Orton teaming up to take out The Shield but having Orton RKO both Cena & Daniel was good. I thought this was a solid show for the most part. The opening segment was solid. Daniel was great with his promo. I wasn’t into Vince giving us they, “I know what you want better than you do” crap & I have no idea why Wade Barrett was part of this segment. But Daniel saying that he is a wrestler & not going along with the make over was decent. The 6 man tag main event was good too but I wasn’t into the DQ because of a triple team finish. The post match stuff there was good too. I wasn’t a fan of Orton & Cena taking out The Shield but I liked that they had Orton RKO both Daniel & Cena. The Shield triple power bombing Daniel was alright too. Punk vs. Axel was good but the DQ finish there was lame. Punk gets DQ’d because he went after Heyman? I did like the Punk-Brock brawl though & they did a good job continuing the build for their match at SummerSlam. Brock cut a decent promo backstage too & Heyman was great with his promo like usual. I’m sure Brock & Axel will get involved in the Punk-Heyman match next week. Kaitlyn-Layla was ok but not really much too it. I’m not sure why they have Layla involved in the Kaitlyn-AJ feud. Dolph-Big E was decent & I knew Kaitlyn was gonna come out & go after AJ. It looks like we’ll be getting a mixed tag for SummerSlam. The Cody-Sandow segment was solid too & their match for SummerSlam should be good. Christian-Heath Slater was decent but I & everybody knew that Christian would win. Cena’s promo decent & him saying that Daniel feels more comfortable wrestling in a gym was a heel like line. Orton was good here too mentioning that he could cash in at anytime no matter who has the title. The Shield coming out was good too & I liked Daniel hitting the ring to even the odds. When Brad came out I knew that he was gonna announce the 6 man though. The HHH-Stephanie bit was awful. I’m really tired of this McMahon family dreck. The backstage bit with the Bellas, Eva Marie & Natalya was entirely pointless. The Usos-Real Americans match was solid also but I’m tired of Zeb’s bit too. Mark Henry-Ryback wasn’t much & having Ryback walk out & getting counted out was lame. Kofi-Fandango was also decent. Tons of Funk vs. Harper & Rowan was a squash but I liked Kane’s promo on the Tron after that. It looks like they’ll be doing Kane vs. Bray in an inferno match for SummerSlam. Punk’s promo before his match with Axel was good too. Overall I thought this was a solid episode of Raw.