7-15-13 Raw results and thoughts

Coverage and thoughts on the July 15, 2013 episode of Raw The show starts with the lights in the arena going out. There’s a drum roll & when the lights come back on Brad Maddox shows up. He says this is the first time Raw is live in Brooklyn & the start of the Maddox Era. His first decision is to have Dolph vs. Del Rio tonight. Vickie was great buy he is determined to be the greatest Raw GM of all time. Which is why…Cue Cena’s music & out comes the champ. Cena’s all smiles as usual. Then he says this is the Maddox era. This is the only time during the Maddox era that the person Brad is in the ring with is more hated than Brad. Cena says the fans have energy & are excited. Cena says to give Brad a chance, maybe he will be a good GM. Brad has always admired Cena. He admired Cena’s strength, courage, his will to win & the way he treats others less privileged than himself. Then Brad says that he will let Cena pick his own opponent for SummerSlam. Cena says that Brad is stupider than he looks. Cena says that he can face Doc Hendrix or Dutch Mantel. He can even wrestle Michael Cole if he wants to, but he won’t. He can wrestle 1 of the Bella twins. Then out comes Randy Orton. Orton tells Brad not to get too far ahead of himself. There’s a very good chance that come SummerSlam Cena might not be champion. Orton’s not cashing in MITB tonight. He isn’t making the same mistake Cena made last year. You have to take advantage of opportunities & not squander them. Orton believes in being straight up. Then Orton tells Cena that when he does cash in Cena won’t see it coming. Cue Fandango’s music hits & he & Summer Rae come out (I wasn’t expecting this). Orton says Fandango interrupted him. Fandango says Orton won’t be cashing the case in against Cena, he will be cashing it is against him. Fandango tells Cena there’s only 1 guy that the fans want to see face Cena & his name is Fan…Dan...Go. Then Orton punches Fandango to the mat & they go at it. Then Fandango kicks Orton to the floor. Orton gets back in the ring & takes down Fandango with a Thez Press & then throws him over the top rope to the floor. Then Brad says that right now Orton will face Fandango. This was a weird segment to start the show. Cena was all smiles as usual & totally no soled his match with Henry last night. I wasn’t into Brad’s promo & I really hope to God that he isn’t the GM very long. I wasn’t expecting Fandango to come out during this & I have no idea why he did. But we got a match out of this. I also don’t get why they announced Ziggler vs. Del Rio since that was on PPV last night. I have a feeling that match won’t happen. Randy Orton vs. Fandango. Orton gets the pin. This was a good match. Backstage we see Dolph. AJ comes up to him. She asks if Dolph will start talking to him. Dolph says it’s time to move on. AJ hugs him. Dolph says it’s time for him to move on from her. They’re done. Dolph walks off. Good & short backstage bit. Mark Henry is in the ring. He says that last night Cena came as advertised. Cena is 1 of the greatest WWE Champions of all time. Cena did something Henry thought would be impossible & that’s beat him. But Henry took Cena to his limits & Henry came close to winning the title. Then the fans chant you tapped out. Henry says he did tap out & says that Cena will make the fans tap out too. He’s not out here to make excuses or apologies. He knows that Cena has the choice to pick whoever he wants to face at SummerSlam & Henry wants to be that guy. He took Cena to his limits once & he will again. Then out comes The Shield. They stand on the floor & then get on the ring apron. Henry takes his jacket of & goes after them but they get the numbers game. Henry makes a comeback but Ambrose jumps on Henry’s back & locks in a sleeper. Henry still fights back & kicks Rollins away but then Reigns spears him. Then they pick up Henry & give him the triple power bomb. This was a good segment. Henry was good with his promo & I was a bit surprised to see The Shield come out. Could they be turning Henry face since The Shield attacked him? I have this feeling we might see Henry team with Cena (which would be illogical) & a third guy to face The Shield (and I hope if that’s where they’re going that the third man isn’t Randy Orton). Backstage we see Brad in the GM office on his cell phone with his mom. Then in comes Jericho. Jericho says this is a lot of pressure for a guy Brad’s age being GM but so far so good. Then Brad says the best way for Jericho to become champion is by impressing Cena tonight. What better way to do that than to face a former champion like RVD. The fans cheer loudly. Jericho says that sounds like a popular decision. Then he asks if Brad is saying it will be RVD vs. Y2J tonight on Raw. He tells Brad that if he keeps making decisions like this he has a good future ahead of him. This was a decent segment. Dolph Ziggler vs. World Champion Alberto Del Rio for the Title. Dolph gives Del Rio a Fameasser from the second rope. Then he covers Del Rio & out of nowhere the bell rings. Not surprisingly it was AJ who rang the bell. Dolph gets distracted & then Del Rio kicks Dolph in the back of the head & covers him for the pin. WINNER & STILL WORLD CHAMPION- ALBERTO DEL RIO. Then AJ gets in the ring, slaps Dolph & goes after him. Then Big E comes in & clotheslines Dolph. Then he gives Dolph the big ending. Then AJ kisses the unconscious Dolph. This was a good match but they had this on last night’s PPV. The only reason they had this rematch was so AJ can officially turn on Dolph, which I was waiting for throughout the whole match. R-Truth comes to the ring. Then The Wyatt Family Tron comes on. They’re here. Then after the lights come back on Harper & Rowan double team Truth while Bray sits in his rocking chair & watches. Harper & Rowan roll Truth outside the ring. Then Bray gets in the ring. He says there’s no such thing as a hero. Not anymore. People have become addicted to the illusion of what a hero is & does. People think they need someone to pat them on the buck, tuck them in night, kiss them on the cheek & tell them everything’s alright. But everything is not alright. What if the man who made you is a liar? What if your own flesh & blood turned your back on you? Maybe Bray has been the answer all along. Truth gets on the apron & is holding a chair. He wants a piece of Bray. Bray says he’s right there. Truth gets in the ring & Bray tells him to hit him. Then Bray goes after Truth & then Harper & Rowan come back in & go after Truth too. Then Bray kisses Truth on top of the head & then gives him what he calls Sister Abigail. They’re not the truth they seek. He says to follow the buzzard. This was a good creepy Wyatt family segment. I wasn’t really sure what Bray was talking about but that might be the whole idea. Time for a video package on the new WWE Performance Center. Jack Swagger, Antonio Cesaro & Zeb Coulter come to the ring. Zeb says this is Brooklyn, the melting pot of America. Everywhere he goes on the Brooklyn streets all he hears is Spanish, Chinese, Italian & Yiddish, but where is the English? Last night 2 Real Americans were robbed. Americans have been robbed of their jobs because foreigners have been illegally sneaking across the boarder. Then he tells Cena to pick Swagger or Cesaro to face at SummerSlam. T hen King gets the mic & says we’ll find out who the fans picked to face Swagger & Cesaro. Tons of Funk, The Usos or The Primetime Players. No surprise here, the fans picked The Usos. The Usos vs. The “Real Americans.” The Usos win when Jay pins Cesaro. This was a decent but short match. Looks like Cesaro is still in Jobber Ville unfortunately. Damien Sandow comes to the ring holding up the MITB case. Then out comes Christian. Christian vs. Damien Sandow. Christian gets the pin. This was a solid match but a bit short & I was surprised Christian won. Then Sandow gets the mic & says he is still the intellectual savior of MITB. Then out comes Cody & he goes after Sandow. Then referees come in to hold Cody back as Sandow escapes through the crowed. They show a bit from earlier in the day. Vickie Guerrero has a mega phone & a sandwich board saying Vote for Vickie. She also has a petition that she tries to get fans to sign. Naomi vs. Brie Bella. Naomi gets the pin. This was mostly a squash. They show a wwe.com exclusive of Paul Heyman leaving the arena from last night. Camera guy asks Heyman why he cost Punk the MITB match. Heyman tells him to stay out of his personal life. CM Punk comes to the ring. The fans chant his name. Then Punk says he knows Heyman is in the building & he knows Brock is too. He also knows that he’s not waiting anymore. He tells Brock & Heyman to come on out. Out comes Heyman. Heyman says right now he is looking at an empty ring because in his world Punk doesn’t exist. Is Heyman lying? In 2005 WWE had no vision for Punk. Punk was a figment of Heyman’s imagination. He took Punk in, taught him & trained him. Then they reached the Holy grail together. They were both WWE Champion for 434 days. They came within an inch of breaking Taker’s streak at Mania. They were the best…in the world. Without Heyman Punk is not the best in the world. The fans can boo that all they want. Everyone’s been asking Heyman why he turned on Punk. Heyman says the truth is a tough pill to swallow. Heyman says that Punk failed him when he couldn’t beat Taker & went home for 5 months. Then he returned & thought he was better than Heyman. So Heyman lied & manipulated & played Punk. Punk never dumped Heyman, Heyman dumped Punk. Punk wanted to keep their relationship personal. Heyman says Punk has no family. He never speaks to his parents. He has no wife & no kids. All he has is the fans & their admiration & respect. The fans cheer loudly for Punk. Then Heyman says that all Punk wants, craves & needs in his life is the WWE Title. Punk took his best friend & Heyman took Punk’s chance at the WWE Title from Punk. Heyman says that he’s a lot worse personally than business wise. Heyman then says that Punk made him swear on his children but it was his children that made him see things clearly. Why doesn’t Punk listen to Heyman like Brock? Heyman says that he cost Punk because Punk can’t beat Brock. Punk asks Heyman if he’s done. Punk saw first hand last night that the truth does hurts. Maybe he should’ve seen it coming but he trusted Heyman & all he has to show for it is the staples in his head. Punk then says that Heyman knows that when Punk wants something he will not stop till he gets it. The truth is Punk will swear on Heyman’s children that he will get Heyman & everyone who conspired against him. Anytime someone gets between him & Heyman he will rip them apart. Then Punk says that the truth is that Heyman doesn’t have a future because Punk will burn everything around him till Heyman is the only 1 standing (or something like that). Punk then asks Heyman if he is lying. Heyman says Punk’s not lying. Then Heyman says that he will spell Punk’s future out for him. Cue Brock’s music & out he comes. As Punk stares at Brock, Heyman comes in & hits Punk from behind. Then Punk & Brock go at it outside the ring. Brock throws Punk over the announce table but Punk dives onto Brock. Brock catches him & rams him spine first into the ring post. Then Brock gives Punk an F5 on the announce table. Brock stands on the table as Heyman screams at Punk. After Heyman & Brock leave Punk struggles up as the fans chant his name. Medics check on Punk after he falls down again. This was really awesome! Punk & Heyman were both tremendous on the mic as usual. They are 2 of the best promo guys in the world! The Punk-Brock brawl was good too & Brock getting the upper hand made sense since this is the start of their feud. I’m really looking forward to their match at SummerSlam! Time for a Total Divas video package. I’m not watching this dreck! Backstage we see Cena. Khali shows up & I think he asks for Cena to pick him at SummerSlam. Cena says something to him in Punjabi. Khali is thrilled. Brad’s in the GM office & Stephanie is there. She was worried about Brad last night. Brad says he thinks everything’s going well. Stephanie wasn’t asking him. In comes HHH. He says that Brad is doing a good job so far. Then they ask Brad if he spoke to Vince. Brad says he couldn’t get a hold of him. HHH & Stephanie mention what a gamble it is letting Cena pick his own opponent for SummerSlam. They have an idea of who Cena will pick but if he doesn’t Vince might not be happy. HHH says Brad became GM because he was the only guy in the ring. They tell him it will work out great & HHH wishes him good luck in his future endeavors tonight. This was idiotic! I’m way past tired of this McMahon family saga! Rob Van Dam vs. Chris Jericho. RVD gets the pin. This was REALLY AWESOME!! Lots of great back & forth action here. They announce that Paul Heyman will be on Miz TV this week on Smackdown. All the WWE super stars are on the stage. Except for Punk & Henry because of what happened to them earlier in the night. Out comes Cena. He gets in the ring & says it’s time to tell everyone who he has picked to defend his title against at SummerSlam. He can’t do that because he hasn’t made his decision yet. He has listened to everyone tell him why he should pick them. He wants to let the fans decide. A lot of time the fans are tough on Cena but that toughness is honesty that he respects. Cena wants to make a decision based on what the fans would like to see. Cena mention the other guys who are on the stage. Cena will say their names & the fans will decide what they think. First is Heath Slater. The fans don’t go for that. Cena asks how about any of 3MB? No way. How about Orton? That gets a mixed reaction. How about Khali? Nope. How do the fans feel about Del Rio? They boo him too. What about Jericho? That got some applause. Then Cena mentions RVD. The fans applaud that too. How about Fandango? Not a chance. How about Sheamus? It didn’t sound like the fans were interested in that. How about Ryback? Nope. Cena then asks if there is anybody that he is forgetting. He says we’re good & he’s made his decision. This guy deserves the chance. The fans chant Daniel Bryan. Cena respects the beard. This is a guy who deserves this match. Cena picks Daniel Bryan to face him at SummerSlam. Daniel Bryan heads to the ring doing the yes chant along with the fans. Daniel & the fans chant yes to end the show. This was a really good closing segment. I had a feeling Cena would pick Daniel since there had been talk of having them face each other at SummerSlam. I thought this was a really good show for the most part. The opening segment was a bit weird but it was solid & I liked the closing segment when Cena picked Daniel to face him at SummerSlam. Daniel is super over & their match should be good. I loved the RVD-Jericho match too! There was a lot of great back & forth action there! The Punk-Heyman promo followed by the Punk-Brock brawl was also really well done. I’m looking forward to Punk-Brock at SummerSlam too. Ziggler-Del Rio was good too but I was waiting the entire time for AJ to screw over Dolph & for Big E to lay him out. Christian-Sandow was solid but a bit short & I was surprised they had Christian win. I liked Cody coming in afterwards & going after Sandow too. I wasn’t into the HHH-Stephanie-Brad segment, but that was the only part of the show I didn’t go for. Naomi-Nikki Bella was decent & I liked that they didn’t do the twin magic bit. The Usos vs. The Real Americans was decent but short. I liked the Wyatt family coming out & lying out R-Truth also. Orton-Fandango was good too. I also liked Mark Henry’s promo & The Shield coming out & taking out Henry was good too. My only hope is that they don’t they don’t have Henry, Cena & Orton team up & face The Shield. Overall though I thought this was a good show.