4-15-13 Raw results and thoughts

Coverage and thoughts on the April 15, 2013 episode of Raw  

The show starts with Randy Orton coming to the ring for a handicapped match. He will once again be teaming with Sheamus and they will face Big Show again. We just had this match on Smackdown! Why have it again tonight? I like that they’re starting Raw off with a match but why a rematch from 3 nights ago?

Randy Orton & Sheamus vs. Big Show. Orton & Sheamus win when Orton pins Show. This was a decent match. Show had Orton by the throat and then Sheamus came in & gave Show a Brogue Kick. Then Orton gave Show an RKO & got the pin.

Josh Mathews is with 3MB. Slater says they’re going to call out The Shield right now. This was mercifully short.

3MB are in the ring. Slater says last week on Smackdown the greatest rock band in WWE history was gonna make an example out of HHH but that cover band The Shield had to come out and try to steel their spot light. Jinder says they’re the only 3 man band. Drew suggest The Shield comes out and give them a hand written apology right now. Cue Brock Lesnar’s music and out comes the beast. Brock throws Slater over the top rope. Drew & Jinder go after him but they too get flattened. Brock gives Drew an F5. Then he clotheslines Slater outside the ring. Then he gives Slater an F5 on the barricade. Then he picks Slater up and gives him a second F5 on the barricade. Then Paul Heyman comes out and tries to get Brock to back off. The fans chant one more time but Heyman talks him out of it. Then Brock & Heyman get in the ring. Then Heyman says that he told us last week Brock is ready for a fight and the fight that he wants is against HHH. On Sunday HHH did something no other man in WWE history or on the face of the planet could do. Triple H knocked out Brock. Heyman says that makes HHH a fighter and a warrior worthy of admiration. If HHH were here tonight Heyman would look him in the eye, shake his hand and say that he respects him for what he did at WrestleMania. Heyman knows the fans feel the same way that he does but Brock doesn’t. So now there’s a problem. Triple H’s win only evens up the score because they’re now 1-1. There can only be one alpha male in WWE. How do they solve this problem? Heyman says it’s time to get barbaric. Time for a match where a career can end in a nano second. It’s time to get uncensored, ruthless & raw. It is time to get Extreme. Heyman then says that HHH vs. Brock Lesnar in a steel cage match for Extreme Rules. Since he knows HHH will be down with that they have 2 words for him. Challenge issued. This was good. I liked that they had Lesnar lay out 3MB to continue getting him over as a beast and Heyman’s promo was awesome as usual.

Before the next match Antonio Cesaro comes out and yodels. What is with this?

Kofi Kingston vs. U.S. Champion Antonio Cesaro for the Title. Kofi gets the pin to win the title. This was a really good back and forth match.

Afterwards Josh Mathews gets in the ring & congratulates Kofi. Then he asks him what he has to say. Kofi says he just brought the U.S. Title back home.

Time for a look back at Dolph Ziggler cashing in money in the bank and beating Del Rio for the World Title. 

Dolph Ziggler, Big E Langston & AJ Lee come to the ring. Dolph says last week he successfully cashed in MITB and became the new world champion. It was the single greatest moment in Raw history and it was all because of him. How can he top himself? There has never been a world champion as charismatic or athletic as he is. He is just too good. Some of the might boo but he doesn’t care. He says showing off is what you do when you’re better than everyone and he backs it up every single night. When you’re as good as he is perks come with the job, fans want an autograph and this. Then he kisses AJ. Dolph says no one will take the title off him. Then out come Del Rio & Ricardo. Del Rio says last week he congratulated Dolph and told Dolph when the time was right he would invoke his rematch clause and that’s what he’s doing. Del Rio wants his rematch right now. Dolph blows it off and talks a bit and then out comes Vickie Guerrero. She says hurt or not Del Rio wants a rematch and he gets one. And it starts right now. Before that can happen out come Jack Swagger & Zeb Coulter. Zeb wants to get something straight. There wouldn’t be an MITB cash in and Dolph wouldn’t be champion if it weren’t for Swagger. Dolph doesn’t deserve to be champion and Del Rio doesn’t deserve another shot. Then Swagger gets in the ring. Del Rio pounds on Swagger for a bit & clotheslines him out of the ring. Then Del Rio stares down Big E. Then Swagger rams Del Rio’s leg into the turnbuckle and then gives him the ankle lock outside the ring. This was a solid segment. I thought Dolph cut a decent promo and I liked Del Rio coming out and wanting his title rematch. Jack & Zeb however, I’m tired of. Will they have Dolph face both Del Rio & Swagger at Extreme Rules?

Backstage we see Del Rio’s leg being checked out by a medic.

They announce that Kane, Daniel Bryan & Undertaker will face The Shield next week.

WWE Tag Team Champions Kane & Daniel Bryan vs. The Primetime Players. Kane & Daniel win when Daniel pins Darren. This was a decent match but how often are they going to have Kane & Daniel Bryan face & beat these 2?

Backstage we see Ryback. He says April 7, 2013 WrestleMania was the greatest night of Cena’s career and the worst night of his. Cena beat Rock and won the WWE Title. Cena was on top while Ryback was on the bottom. There’s Only 1 place for them to go. Ryback up, Cena down. There must so many questions going through Cena’s head. Like why? After everything Ryback’s been through to find himself after Mania staring at the bottom of the ladder wasn’t gonna happen. Cena reached out to him when he came to WWE. Ryback remembers Cena giving him his own title shot. Cena made him feel like he belonged but a friendship with Cena is nothing but being in Cena’s shadow. If your Superman say hello to kryptonite. How often did Cena leave Ryback to fend for himself? Where was Cena when he was so close to the WWE Title that he can taste it? Ryback was attacked by The Shield 6 times but where was Cena? The 3 times Cena was attacked Ryback was there every time. Ryback says Cena was focused on regaining the WWE Title. Cena got lucky when he won the rumble. Then at the Elimination Chamber Cena left him to face The Shield by himself again. Cena saw the golden prize and did what he set out to do. Last week when Cena made his jokes Ryback watched and felt like he didn’t exist and that the belt didn’t belong to him. Cena tried to keep Ryback in his shadow but Ryback’s stepping out of it. Ryback is the biggest threat ever to Cena’s title. Ryback rules. This was good. I liked the intensity from Ryback and everything he said made sense. I also liked that they showed the clips of everything that had happened over the past few months that lead to Ryback’s turn.

R-Truth vs. Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett. Truth gets the pin. This was a solid match but I was surprised Truth won.

Backstage we see Brad & Vickie. Brad says Del Rio can’t compete. Then Teddy Long comes in. He has a solution. Tonight Swagger will face Dolph. Long spoke to Swagger and gave him some extra incentive. Vickie likes it but does Booker know? Long doesn’t say. Brad likes the idea too. Vickie tells Brad to tell someone. This was weak. I’m not a fan of the GMs and it looks like Long is turning heel.

Out come Great Khali, Natalya & Hornswoggle. Khali will be teaming with Santino Marella.

Then Rhodes Scholars come out. Sandow says a famed philosopher once said we are but dwarves on the shoulders of giants. Cody says that they will be like those proverbial dwarves on the shoulders of giants as they advance the cause of decency for all. Sandow says even in South Carolina. “You’re welcome.”

Great Khali & Santino Marella vs. Rhodes Scholars. Rhodes Scholars win when Sandow pins Santino. This was a pointless comedy match. Santino gave Sandow the cobra. Then he hinted at going for Cody but Hornswoggle pulled out a cobra. Cody grabbed Hornswoggle and that distracted Santino and then Sandow rolled Santino up for the win.

Jerry Lawler is in the ring. He says there’s only been 1 time when a WWE superstar debuted at WrestleMania and won. He mentions that Fandango beat the first Undisputed Champion, Chris Jericho. Since last week there’s been a lot of fandangoing. Then they show the fans singing Fandango’s theme from last week. They also show that it’s gotten some media pub. Lawler hopes he says his name right. Out come Fandango & his chick. Lawler asks Fandango if he ever thought….Fandango asks Jerry how his hips feel. King says they’re still there. Fandango asks Jerry if he can move his hips. King says it’s time to move his hips back to the announce table. Then Fandango asks if the fans wanna go fandangoing. They of course cheer. Before that happens he needs the fans to do 1 thing. Pronounce his name correctly. “It goes like this.” Then he starts to say his name but the fans aren’t saying it right. He tells the fans to breath in the A’s. Then he says his name. Then the fans sing his theme music. He says it’s obvious the fans can’t say his name right, so they can go faaandannngo themselves. This was average. I like his theme music but this segment just didn’t click. I gotta say though, I never thought this gimmick would get over. It just seemed to have wrestle crap written all over it but it’s somehow caught on to the point where it got media attention. 

Backstage Matt Striker is with John Cena. Cena says Ryback has a problem with him. Cena’s not hard to find if Ryback wants to fight him. He will go to the ring and even wear his yellow shirt & face Ryback man to man.

World Champion Dolph Ziggler vs. Jack Swagger. Swagger gets the pin. This was good but Dolph cleanly lost a non title match. Then as Swagger poses on the stage Del Rio comes out and attacks him. Del Rio kicks him off the stage and then locks Swagger in the cross arm breaker. Then referees come in to pull Del Rio off. This was solid. It looks they’re building to a 3 way at Extreme Rules.

Backstage Matt Striker is with Sheamus. Before they can say anything Mark Henry storms in and lays out Sheamus just like on Smackdown. Henry screams that’s what he does. Referees check on Sheamus. This was good. It looks like we’ll be getting Sheamus-Mark Henry at Extreme Rules.

CM Punk & Paul Heyman come to the ring. The fans chant CM Punk. Punk says for 434 days as WWE Champion he couldn’t enjoy the ride because he was always looking around the corner to see what was next. The WWE Title meant everything to him. He found his next challenge in The Rock. He still wanted to know what the next hurdle in his career was gonna be. After being champion for 434 days, and facing Rock where do you go? Punk looked to the 1 thing that would be bigger than being champion and facing Rock and that was facing Taker at Mania. He pushed Taker to the limit. Then the fans start a dueling Undertaker-CM Punk chant. Then Punk hugs Heyman, gives Heyman the mic and then walks out. Heyman looks on in shock. This was good too. Punk cut a great promo as usual and his reaction to losing to Taker and to the fans was well done also. I liked that they had Punk feeling unsure of what to do next.

Backstage Booker tells Long that he is overstepping his boundaries. Long says he knows what Booker’s thinking. Booker says Long doesn’t know what he’s thinking “dawg.”. Long says Swagger is the number 1 contender. Booker says Swagger & Del Rio will get their title match when Dolph defends his title against both guys. I knew that’s what they were leading to.

Divas Champion Kaitlyn vs. Nikki Bella. Nikki wins when Brie gets the pin after some twin magic. This wasn’t much.

They announce that Randy Orton & Sheamus will face Mark Henry & Big Show this week on Smackdown.

John Cena comes to the ring. He says the champ is here and the Ryback is there. The champ has a little business with the Ryback. He tells “The” Ryback to get to the ring right now. Cue Ryback’s music and out he comes. The fans chant feed me more. Cena says the fans see what he sees. 290 lbs he has destroyed everyone in his path and when they hear feed me more someone’s about to get hurt. Cena says Ryback showed him what kind of guy he is last week. Cena made an open challenge to anyone who could earn a title shot but Ryback waited till Cena’s back was turned to knock him down. The fans chant boring. Cena then says that tonight Ryback made the fans sit through a boring highlight reel. Then Cena mentions everything Ryback said before. Then Cena says Ryback knocked him down once but does Ryback no who he’s dealing with? Cena’s been to war with Orton, HHH & Michaels and they’re his friends. He says the WWE Title is everything. He gets what Ryback did last wee. He just doesn’t like how he did it. Ryback lacks the space between his ears and the piece between his legs to be WWE Champion (That was lame). After Ryback attacked him he held on to the title for a bit. Then Cena says tonight they do this differently. He takes his dog tag & shirt off and tells Ryback to make a move and see if he has what it takes to earn a WWE Title match. Cena & Ryback have a stare down and then Ryback walks out. Cue The Shield’s music and they show up in the crowed. Then they hop over the guard rail. Cena waits in the ring while Ryback waits by the entrance ramp. The Shield get in the ring. Cena goes after them but they get the upper hand. They beat down Cena as Ryback watches (Which I knew was going to happen). The Shield continues to pound Cena. Then Ryback walks up the ramp to the stage. Then The Shield gives Cena the triple power bomb. The Shield stand over Cena & look over at Ryback for a bit. Then the fans chant one more time. Ryback walks to the back as The Shield stand over Cena to end the show. This was good too. Cena was a bit corny like usual but I liked The Shield coming in & lying out Cena. I also knew that Ryback wasn’t going to do anything when The Shield beat on Cena.

I thought this was a solid show overall. The Orton & Sheamus vs. Big Show match was decent but I’m not sure why they had this match on Smackdown too. The Cena-Ryback-Shield segment was good too. Cena was a bit corny but for the most his promo was ok. I liked The Shield coming out and flattening Cena & I knew they would attack while Ryback just watched. Dolph-Swagger was good but Dolph cleanly lost a non title match. The backstage bits with Long, Brad & Vickie and Booker-Long were weak. I knew they were going to set up a 3 way for the World Title. I’m tired of the GMs & this whole bit with Long hinting at a heel turn doesn’t work for me. I was fine with the Dolph-Swagger-Coulter-Del Rio segment. Dolph’s promo was good but I’m tired of Jack & Zeb. I thought Del Rio attacking Swagger on the stage was good though. The Fandango bit also didn’t really work for me but I’m amazed at how over the Fandango character is. Ryback showed a lot of intensity in his promo and I thought he did a good job. The Kofi-Cesaro match was good too and I liked that the put the U.S. Title on Kofi. The R-Truth-Wade Barrett match was decent too but I was surprised that they had R-Truth win. Kane & Daniel Bryan vs. The Primetime Players was decent but we’ve seen this match a lot of times. I liked Mark Henry lying out Sheamus backstage too. It looks like they’re setting up a match with those 2 at Extreme Rules. The Punk-Heyman segment was good too. Punk was really good on the mic as usual and I liked that they had him pondering as to what he will do next. Brock Lesnar flattening 3MB continued to get Brock over as a beast & Heyman’s promo was great too. Kaitlyn-Nikki Bella wasn’t much & I knew they were gonna do the twin magic bit. Khali & Santino vs. Rhodes Scholars was pointless comedy. Sandow & Cody deserve better. On the whole though I thought this was a solid show.