10-28-13 Raw results and thoughts

Coverage and thoughts on the October 28, 2013 episode of Raw

They start the show with still clips of the 2 cell matches from last night. Then Michael Cole mentions that the fans can vote for what kinda match they want Punk vs. Ryback to be (Street fight, falls count anywhere, or tales match. Great so we’re getting a match that was on PPV for free the next night.

The actual show starts with John Cena coming to the ring. He gets a mixed reaction. He’s used to that sound. He’s back. Did everybody miss him? We got some people happy & some upset. There maybe skeptics thinking he came back to early. The skeptic Cena does thank is JBL. He had to listen to JBL every week doubting if Cena could get the job done. He does a JBL impersonation as he says this. Cena says the new World Champion is HERRRRRRRRREEE!! Not for 1 match, 1 week or 1 month, he is back. Cena knows what the World Title means. He’s the Friday Night Delight on Smackdown too. Cena then talks about going to Europe to fight as World Champion. He has to wear a knee brace, etc. but he’s back & ready to go. Cena mentions that the WWE Champion has a celebration. Tonight we all get to celebrate Randy Orton. We’ll hear a lot of talking then so Cena will stop talking now. Before he does he says Del Rio gave him a great match. He knows Del Rio is entitled to a rematch. If he wants some come get some. The Cenation runs the show. The champ is HERRRRRRRRREEE!!

Then out comes Damien Sandow. He says the uncrowned champ is here. Cena’s not fooling the unwashed masses. Maybe he is. Cena might fool the medical staff but he’s not fooling Sandow. He saw what Del Rio did to him last night & knows Cena’s more hurt than he is letting on. Sandow says that Cena’s afraid that he will cash in on him. Sandow can cash in any time, any place. Like right now. Then again, any night but tonight. As Sandow goes to leave Cena shoves him & then Sandow clobbers Cena’s injured elbow with the briefcase. Then he rams it into the post & then he sends Cena into the barrier. Then he throws Cena into the steel steps. Then Sandow gets a chair, places Cena’s arm on the steel steps & hits his arm with the chair. Sandow then says that his time is now. He calls for a referee. Sandow is cashing in. Break time. This was a good way to start the show. I thought Cena cut a good promo & I liked Sandow’s promo too. They went to break before the bell rang to start the match, so will the cash in actually happen? We’ll find out after the break.

Back from break & Cena’s in the ring. The match is happening.

World Champion John Cena vs. Damien Sandow for the Title. Cena gets the pin. This was a good back & forth match, but Sandow got beat by a guy with a weakened arm. Sandow has been booked terrible for months & now that he cashed in MITB & lost, I think Sandow is going back to being a Main Event regular.

Backstage we see The Shield. Dean Ambrose says that tonight could be the most important night in the history of The Shield. Tonight he’s defending his U.S. Title against Big E. He knows Big E is a human bull dozer after facing him last night. It was a privilege to give Big E a few minutes. Rollins says they made a mistake when they underestimated Big E. Tonight they have a chance to correct that. Ambrose says the U.S. Title is the only title the Shield has left. He will retain because he is the baddest man. Believe that. Then Reigns says believe in The Shield. This was a good promo but why are we getting these PPV rematches?

Big E Langston vs. U.S. Champion Dean Ambrose for the Title. Big E wins by DQ. Big E bounces off the ropes & Reigns yanks the tope rope down, sending Big E to the floor & the referee calls for the bell.

Then Reigns & Rollins throw Big E back in the ring. The Shield attacks Big E but then the Usos come out. They along with Big E clean house on The Shield. Then out comes Brad Maddox & he announces a 6 man tag. The match wasn’t much, the DQ was lame, I liked The Usos coming out to help Big E but Brad making the 6 man tag was predictable.

Big E Langston & The Usos vs. The Shield. The Shield wins when Reigns pins Jimmy. This was a solid match.

Shawn Michaels comes to the ring. He knows he owes everybody an explanation for his actions. More importantly he owes Daniel one. He tells Daniel to come to the ring so he can tell him face to face why super kicked him. Out comes Daniel Bryan. Shawn knows Daniel isn’t happy about last night. Daniel has to realize Shawn didn’t intend for that to happen. Shawn called the match right down the middle (The fans chant you sold out to Shawn) & then all hell broke loose. Shawn knows Daniel & the fans won’t get this but HHH is his best friend. That won’t change. Their friendship will supersede everything. In Shawn’s darkest hours when everyone turned their back on him HHH was there for him. Last night HHH needed Shawn to be there for him & he was. He’s not asking Daniel to understand it. He just wants him to accept his apology. Then Shawn says over 10 years ago Shawn trained him but Daniel took farther than Shawn thought. Last night Shawn taught Daniel his most valuable lesson. In WWE you can’t trust anybody. Not Shawn & not that soon to be wife of Daniel’s. Shawn’s humbling himself & apologizing. The least Daniel can do is show him the respect he deserves & shake his hand. Then Shawn calls Daniel a self-righteous little puke. For 7 months he’s been defending Daniel when everyone called him a B + player. Shawn is an A + player & always will be. Shawn again offers his hand. This time Daniel takes it but locks Shawn in the yes lock & Shawn taps. Then referees come in to pull Daniel off. This was idiotic. Having Michaels say that the reason he kicked Daniel is because HHH is his closest friend was a really idiotic explanation!! How many guys are they gonna have be against Daniel?

Backstage Renee Young is with Daniel. She says that after what happened last night & just now Daniel must be getting frustrated. Then out go the lights, The Wyatt family Tron comes on. The lights come back on & Harper & Rowan are clobbering Daniel. Then they send him into a ladder. Then Bray picks Daniel up & gives him Sister Abigail. Then he rams a storage crate into Daniel. This was strange. I’m not sure what they’re doing with the Wyatts randomly attacking other wrestlers.

Los Matadores vs. 3MB in a 3 on 2 handicap match. Los Matadores win when Drew gets pinned. Slater has a net. He goes after El Torito with it but Torito gets out of the way. Then Torito goes under the ring & sprays Slater with an extinguisher. Than he comes out from under the ring & gores Slater. Then McIntyre gets pinned. Then Slater winds up in the net & Torito gives him a top rope cross body. WINNERS – LOS MATADORES. This was the usual not funny comedy we get from these guys.  

The Bella Twins vs. Tamina Snuka & Divas Champion AJ Lee. Tamina & AJ win when AJ makes Nikki tap. This was alright.

The Miz vs. Kane. Kane gets the pin. This was a squash.

Then Kane tells Stephanie to come to the ring because he has something to say to her. Out comes Stephanie. She remains on the stage & says that it’s close enough. Kane can speak from inside the ring. Kane says Stephanie’s been on a power trip, she’s abused her authority. Been manipulative & has ruined lives. But in this day & age it is what’s best for business. Therefore the monster is hers to unleash. Then Kane walks up the ramp, takes his mask off, hands it to Stephanie & walks to the back. Stephanie holds up the mask with a heel grin on her face. I’m not sure what that was about. Now Kane is the newest guy in the McMahon-Helmsley stable out of nowhere & he handed over his mask. What?

The primetime Players do an ad for wweshop.com

They show a WWE video from David Otunga reading about Big Show’s law suit against HHH & Stephanie. Otunga says this law suit could potentially cost the McMahon family millions as well as the loss of the company. That was odd. David Otunga is a face now?

CM Punk comes to the ring. He says last night for the first time in over 3 months he slept like a baby. That’s because he got Paul Heyman just like he promised. He caned Heyman on top of the cage & then gave him the GTS & put him to sleep. “PAUL HEYMAN IS HISTORY!” The fans chant CM Punk. Now Punk’s focus shifts solely to Ryback. Ryback’s a tough guy but without Heyman he doesn’t stand a chance against the best in the world. Punk put Heyman to sleep last night & tonight he will either do the same to Ryback, put him through a table or make him tap out. Punk promised he would put an end to Heyman & he did. Tonight he will put an end to Ryback however the fans vote for him to. This was a good promo from Punk. I’m not sure why Punk is facing Ryback again since he pinned him cleanly last night. Break time.

Back from break & it is time to find out what stip the fans picked. This will be a street fight.

CM Punk vs. Ryback. Punk wins by submission. This was ok but it was really short. Punk gives Ryback a top rope elbow through a table. Then he locks in the Anaconda vice & Ryback taps.

Then out comes the Wyatt family. Punk waits in the ring, Bray sits in the rocking chair. Then the lights come back on, Punk fights them off with a Singapore cane but Harper & Rowan get the upper hand & pound on Punk. Then Bray gets in the ring as the other 2 hold onto Punk. Punk head butts Bray & fights off the other 2 but Harper gives Punk a discuss clothesline. Then Bray gives Punk Sister Abigail. This was solid. I’m not sure what they’re leading up to here with the Wyatt family randomly laying out guys, but hopefully whatever it is it will be good.

WWE Tag Team Champions Goldust & Cody Rhodes vs. The Real Americans. The Real Americans win when Swagger makes Goldust tap. This was a good back & forth match. It looks like The Real Americans will be getting a tag title match.

Alberto Del Rio comes out on the stage. He doesn’t care what that stupid gringo did. His only concern is Cena. Last night Cena stole the World Title. Tonight Cena won & that means Del Rio gets a rematch. He will make Cena pay. Cena’s injured arm is a target. Del Rio will attack it over & over till he breaks it. The World Title belongs to Del Rio but we already know that. This was a good & short promo.

Natalya vs. Summer Rae. Natalya wins by submission. This was a solid match. I was impressed with Summer Rae. Fandango gets up on the apron, Hornswoggle yanks him off. Then he goes after Hornswoggle but Khali chops him. That distracts Rae & then Natalya gets in the sharpshooter for the win. WINNER – NATALYA

The whole roster is on the stage for Orton’s WWE Title celebration. The Shield are at ringside. Cue king of kings & out come HHH & Stephanie (They saved the worst for the end)! HHH, Stephanie & The Shield get in the ring. HHH says that a decade ago the chairman of WWE came to him & asked him who he thought would be the face of WWE. HHH looked long & hard & he picked 1 guy. He had him in Evolution & watched him become a star. Then he watched that star do horrible things to everyone on the roster including HHH & his family. Frankenstein’s monster matured & became an A + player. Last night HHH watched with great pride as the A + player became the face of WWE. Not some B + player who is in a hospital bed. The A + player fulfilled HHH’s prophecy when he became WWE Champion & the face of WWE. It is with great pride that he presents to us Randy Orton. HHH & Stephanie hug Orton. Stephanie says to all the super stars on the stage Orton isn’t just HHH & Stephanie’s champion, he is everyone’s champion. Meaning Orton represents the whole roster. She tells them to show Orton the respect he deserves. Orton says that being WWE Champion makes him better than everybody. It makes him better than everyone standing on the stage. The fantasize ion taking the title off him but that won’t happen. Orton is a success & the face of WWE. Then Big Show’s music plays & out he comes. The Shield goes after him & then Goldust, Cody & The Usos go after The Shield. Then the rest of the roster attacks The Shield on the stage. Big Show then gets in the ring as HHH & Orton bail out. Big Show knows about the restraining order but he can’t sit by & let this turn his stomach. He has friends that can bail him out if they arrest him. His law suit will cost WWE millions of dollars. He doesn’t care if he bankrupts WWE. Show has nothing to lose. Then Orton hits Show in the back of the head with the belt. Then Orton was gonna hit him with the belt again but Show gives Orton the knockout punch. HHH takes his jacket & tie off as Big Show waits for him to get in the ring, but HHH decides not to bother. Big Show tries to goat HHH to get in the ring but he doesn’t. Big Show slide out of the ring & then HHH gets in the ring. Big Show walks up the ramp & slaps a few fans hands. HHH is beside himself & Orton recovers & sells the punch to end the show. This was a solid ending to the show. I hated HHH’s promo & Orton’s too but I liked Big Show coming out & the rest of the roster attacking The Shield. I also thought that Big Show knocking Orton out was decent. I’m curious if Big Show will challenge Orton for the WWE Title.

This week’s show had it’s ups & downs for sure but I didn’t think it was that bad for the most part. Cena cut a good promo at the start of the show & Sandow’s promo was good too. The Cena-Sandow match was also good but they had Sandow lose cleanly, making him the first MITB guy to cash in & lose. I’m not sure why they even had him win MITB in the first place. The closing segment wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. HHH & Orton were both terrible on the mic but I liked that the roster attacked The Shield after Big Show came out. Big Show’s promo was good too. Will he challenge Orton for the title next? The Daniel Bryan-Shawn Michaels in ring promo was terrible. Michaels saying that he super kicked Daniel because HHH is his best friend was a terrible explanation as to why he gave Daniel a super kick. I thought the Wyatt family lying out Daniel backstage was solid. I’m not sure where they’re going with this yet but hopefully it will be good. The Rhodes Brothers vs. The Real Americans was good too. I liked that The Real Americans got the clean win & it looks like they’ll be getting a shot at the tag titles next. Los Matadores-3MB was your typical not funny comedy. I’m tired of that gimmick. Natalya-Summer Rae was solid too. Summer Rae was impressive here & Natalya is 1 of the best female talents in the company. The Bellas vs. Tamina & AJ was alright too. The Punk-Ryback street fight didn’t really make any sense since they had a match on PPV last night. It was also very short. I did like the Wyatt family coming out & lying out Punk. Maybe they’ll have Punk & Daniel team up & feud with the Wyatt family. That would be interesting. Del Rio’s promo was good & short. I’m guessing he will get his rematch at Survivor Series. The David Otunga video talking about Big Show’s law suit was weird. I’m not sure if the fans will buy into Otunga being a face. Miz-Kane was a squash & I have no idea why they Kane take his mask off & give it to Stephanie. We’ll see where this goes. Maybe they’ll resume the Daniel-Kane feud. The Big E-Dean Ambrose match wasn’t much & I knew Brad was gonna make it a 6 man once The Usos came out. I did like the 6 man tag though. So overall I thought this week’s show wasn’t great but it wasn’t all terrible either.