4-22-13 Raw results and thoughts

 Coverage and thoughts on the April 22, 2013 episode of Raw  

The show starts with Paul Heyman in the ring. He says who he is and the fans boo. He’s here as the advocate for Brock Lesnar. He’s sure it’s been the global community buzz about when Brock went extreme on 3MB. Then he says that it’s also been the global community buzz when they challenged HHH. To refresh the fans’ memories we take a look back at this segment from last week. Heyman says here is the moment we’ve all been waiting for. We will hear Triple H’s answer, except Triple H isn’t there. Like the fans Heyman has been let down by HHH. Heyman knows he has a reputation as a liar, but he got an e-mail from HHH that he wants to read. It says that Triple H will give his answer next week.  Heyman offered to stand in this ring, look HHH in the eye, shake his hand and tell him that he respects and admires him, but HHH didn’t have the manhood to show up. Cue time to play the game and out comes HHH. Heyman applauds HHH for getting the better of him. HHH says that in the e-mail he lied. HHH wants Heyman to tell Brock he accepts. Then he gives Heyman a pedigree. This was a solid way to start the show. Heyman was great on the mic as usual & HHH was good here too.

R-Truth comes to the ring and does his bit. Then out comes Cesaro and he tells Truth how it’s done. Then he yodels. What is with this stupid yodeling bit?

R-Truth vs. Antonio Cesaro. Truth gets the pin. This was a short match. I have no idea why they’re burying Cesaro.

They show a helicopter landing and out come The Shield. They get into a jeep and are on their way to the arena. I liked this.

Brodus Clay vs. Damien Sandow. Sandow gets the pin. This was a decent match.

Backstage we see Dolph Ziggler staring at his title saying how beautiful it is. AJ comes in and asks if he’s trying to make her jealous. He says the world title would hot around AJ’s waist & says that she should be a champion. Then they kiss. Then the camera pans to Big E. Dolph tells him this is Ziggy-AJ time. Big E walks off and Dolph & AJ kiss some more. Then Vickie & Brad come by and Vickie tells Dolph that if he loses to Jericho tonight then Jericho will be added to the Extreme Rules title match. This was kinda lame.

Time for a look back at CM Punk’s promo from last week followed by him walking out.

Backstage we see The Shield. Rollins says they went to great lengths to be there. Ambrose says for 20 years Taker would decide who is guilty and send his victims to rest in piece. He doesn’t know who gave him that right. Rollins says that no one has managed to stop Taker. Then Reigns says till now. Ambrose says these days The Shield is the law. Rollins says The Shield owns this night. Ambrose says for the first time in his life Taker will know what justice tastes like. Reigns says believe in the shield. This was a good Shield promo.

Chris Jericho vs. World Champion Dolph Ziggler. Dolph gets the pin. Jericho had Dolph locked in the walls and then Fandango’s music played. That distracted Jericho for some reason and then Dolph gave Jericho the Zig Zag for the pin. This was a great back and forth match but the finish was a bit weak.

Time for a look back at the Cena-Ryback face off followed by The Shield beat down on Cena.

Josh Mathews is with Mick Foley. Josh congratulates Mick on his new DVD. Mick is thankful for all the feedback he’s getting. Josh asks him how today’s WWE is different from the attitude Era. Foley says it’s not in man’s nature to blame himself for his own short comings. Ryback has the potential to become WWE Champion and he’s looking forward to seeing that match at his favorite PPV Extreme Rules. Have a nice day. This was decent.

Tensai vs. Cody Rhodes. Tensai gets the pin. This match was all Tensai. Cody took a pounding here.

Backstage we see Kane & Daniel Bryan. Daniel asks where Taker is. Kane says they will know when Taker is there. Daniel says that they have to go over strategy. Kane says Daniel doesn’t have to worry about the brothers of destruction. Daniel says he is worried and they need to be on the same page. Then he tells Kane to call Taker. Kane says Taker doesn’t have a cell phone. Daniel says he will start the match. Kane says Taker doesn’t take orders. Daniel has some diagrams and Kane tells Daniel when Taker gets there not to show him the diagrams or try to hug him. Then The Shield comes in & they lay out Kane & Daniel. This was a good backstage bit. Kane & Daniel were good here like usual & The Shield lying them out solid too.

Time for a look back at the Orton & Sheamus vs. Big Show & Henry match from Smackdown. This is the first Smackdown rebound in years.

Josh Mathews says at Extreme Rules Cena will defend the title against his guest Ryback. Josh ask Ryback to explain his actions. Ryback says he’s been attacked by The Shield many times and Cena was never there, but he was always there for Cena every time The Shield attacked him. He wanted Cena to know what it was like to be on his own. Ryback enjoyed seeing The Shield beat down Cena. Then he says that he looks at himself and sees the next WWE Champion. He tells Mick Foley to face him in the ring tonight (Not for a match). When they do Foley won’t be looking in a mirror, he will be looking at Ryback. Ryback rules. This was a decent promo.

Zack Ryder vs. Big E Langston. Langston gets the pin. Ryder got a bit of offense in but this was mostly a squash.

The Undertaker comes to the ring. Then The Shield. They surround Taker and then get in the ring and beat him down for a bit but then Kane & Daniel come out and we get a pre match brawl.

Undertaker and WWE Tag Team Champions Kane & Daniel Bryan vs. The Shield. The Shield win when Ambrose pins Daniel. Daniel went for a top rope head butt, but missed & Ambrose rolled him up for the pin. This was a great match.

Backstage Mick Foley tells Cena he knows what he’s doing. Cena says no one will question Foley’s toughness but there’s a difference between being smart and being brave. Cena will face Ryback at Extreme Rules. He says that Mick going out there to face Ryback is a mistake. Foley says it’s his mistake to make and asks Cena to respect his decision. Cena gives Foley a chair and tells him to bring that to the ring with him.

Fandango comes out and the fans start the Fandango sing along. Then out comes William Regal to a hometown pop.

William Regal vs. Fandango. Fandango gets the pin. This was a decent match. Afterwards Fandango says his name. Then as Fandango & his chick back up the stage Jericho comes out and throws Fandango off the stage. Then Jericho looks over at Fandango’s chick and he dances with her as Fandango’s music plays. This was kinda funny.

Kaitlyn is on commentary for the next match

AJ, Aksana, Naomi, Tamina & Layla in a Divas Battle Royal to see who will challenge for the Divas Title. AJ Wins. * Layla eliminates Aksana * Tamina eliminates Naomi * Layla eliminates Tamina * AJ eliminates Layla. This wasn’t much. AJ faked being out cold after being kicked by Tamina. Then Layla was dragged AJ to the ropes and then AJ “came to” and eliminated Layla. Afterwards Kaitlyn & AJ have a quick stare down.

Mick Foley comes to the ring. He says that he did not come out with the intent of having a confrontation yet here he is in London, England about to enter 1. Ryback said if Foley had something should say then he should say it face to face. He’s standing in the ring and the only thing missing from this equation is Ryback. Ryback comes out. Ryback asks how does Cena giving Foley a chair help Foley out. Foley says when Cena gave him the chair he felt offended. He’s the hardcore legend and a Hall of Famer. In his day he took on the toughest this business had to give. He didn’t always win but he found a way to get back up. If Ryback decides to unleash his best on Foley he will go down and probably won’t get up. Foley has something to say to Ryback but first he wants him to take a look at the end of last week’s Raw. Ryback knows what he did and he loved it. Mick asks what happened to the guy who entered WWE last year and took it by storm with 3 simple words? The guy who stacked the world on his shoulders and said feed me more. Ryback tells Foley to be careful what he wishes for because he just might get it. Foley asks if Ryback has any idea how often he was beat down. Foley says he doesn’t remember because it doesn’t matter. We haven’t seen the best Ryback has to offer. Ryback will be WWE Champion some day. He has all the physical tools to dominate, but does he want to become champion by watching Cena get destroyed by The Shield. Extreme Rules is coming and Ryback needs to wake up. Ryback says that Foley comes out and talks about his glory days, but for what? To sell more DVDs? Ryback knows what he is doing. He gets what he wants. He wanted to send a message to Super Cena and he sent it. He wanted a WWE Title match and he got that. He wants to be WWE Champion and at Extreme Rules he will be. If the fans have a problem with that he doesn’t care. Ryback asks Foley again how does Cena giving Foley a chair help him standing in the ring with Ryback? Foley says you tell me. Ryback says to look into his eyes and then he throws the chair out of the ring. Then out comes Cena. Foley leaves the ring. Then Cena & Ryback go face to face but then The Shield’s music hits and they come back out. Cena gets on the ring apron and then walks out. Ryback is in the ring & The Shield stalk him as Cena watches. The Shield gets in the ring and they go after Ryback. Then Cena comes in and hits The Shield guys with the chair and runs them off. Then Cena gets back in the ring and drops the chair. Then he gives Ryback the AA. Cena stands on the stage and does the you can’t see me gesture to Ryback to end the show. I wasn’t a fan of this closing segment. Foley’s promo was good but Cena running off The Shield made The Shield look a bit weak. I also detested that they had Cena give Ryback an AA right in the center of the ring! This is why a lot of fan dislike Cena, because he gets over on everybody all the time!! He laid out the guy that he will face at Extreme Rules so why should we want to see this match on PPV?     

I thought this was a solid show overall. The Triple H-Paul Heyman segment at the start was good. I wasn’t a fan of the closing segment though. Having Cena run off The Shield and then give Ryback an AA was idiotic. Jericho-Ziggler was great but I thought the finish was kinda weak. I enjoyed the 6 man tag. That was the highlight of this week’s Raw. The Divas Battle Royal wasn’t much. It was a typical Divas match. Regal-Fandango was decent too. I liked Jericho throwing Fandango off the stage and I thought that Jericho dancing with Fandango’s chick while Fandango’s music played was comical. Ryder-Big E was mostly a squash, Truth-Cesaro was kind of short and I have no idea why Cesaro is getting de pushed. Brodus-Sandow was decent & Tensai-Cody was mostly Tensai pounding the crap out of Cody. I liked The Shield showing up in a helicopter & I thought their promo was good also. The Kane-Daniel Bryan backstage segment was decent too. They were both funny here and I was ok with The Shield attacking them. The Foley-Cena backstage segment was ok but nothing great, but overall I thought this was a solid show.