9-23-13 Raw results and thoughts

Coverage and thoughts on the September 23, 2013 episode of Raw The show starts with the guys who helped out Daniel Bryan on the stage. There’s also a microphone on the stage. Then out come HHH & Stephanie. Of course The Shield is also at ringside. HHH says there’s been speculation as to what will happen to the 10 guys on the stage. He asked them all to be there for 1 reason. Stephanie thanks them all for taking matters into their own hands & stepping up like men. HHH thanks them too & says he’s sure it had nothing to do with Daniel Bryan. Then RVD says that they were fighting for Daniel. Then he says that HHH would’ve done the same to any of them. HHH finds it hard to believe that they fought for Daniel. He thought that guys fight to be champions & not fight with champions. Then HHH asks Dolph if he was fighting for a guy who squandered a number of title shots or for himself. Then Stephanie asks R-Truth when the last time he had title match was (Never as far as I can remember). Or Zack Ryder. Stephanie says he should be the face of WWE (Like that’s gonna happen). She says that they should all be the face of WWE. Then she says that they never got title opportunities. HHH says that’s because of The Shield. He says that The Shield have been running rough shot ever since they came to WWE. They’ve beaten all 10 guys that are the stage. HHH can sense the frustration they’re feeling. The show of unity had nothing to with Daniel. It was because of their frustration with The Shield. So tonight HHH & Stephanie will let the 10 of them take their frustrations out on The Shield. They’ll face The Shield in a handicap elimination match. HHH then says that they will have a partner who hopefully will be a guy who cares as much about them as they do about him. There partner will be Daniel Bryan. Then Stephanie thanks the fans & says that they will get to pick who faces Randy Orton tonight. R-Truth, Dolph Ziggler or RVD. HHH then says that is what’s best for business. This was a typical HHH-Stephanie in ring segment. It felt predictable. Kofi Kingston vs. World Champion Alberto Del Rio. Del Rio wins by submission. This was a really good back & forth match. Backstage Renee Young interviews Miz. But first they reshow Randy Orton laying out Miz from last week. Then Renee Young asks for his reaction. Then HHH comes in & says he won’t let Miz face Orton, but he will let him host Miz TV. And his guest will be the guy who knocked out Dusty Rhodes, Big Show. The Primetime Players vs. Luke Harper & Eric Rowan. Harper & Rowan win when Harper pins Titus. This was a decent match. Then Bray gets in the ring, kicks Darren a couple times & then gives him Sister Abigail. Miz TV time. Miz says he’s banged up & pissed off. Last week Orton humiliated him in front of his friends, family & mom. It’s a lot easier to knock Miz down then to keep him down. This isn’t over, payback will come & it will be awesome. Then Miz mentions that he wasn’t the only guy to get medical attention. He mentions that Dusty was knocked out by his guest Big Show. Miz says he’s known show for almost 10 years. He respects Show as a man & as a man Miz asks Show how he could’ve knocked out Dusty. Show doesn’t speak. Miz gets that if Show hadn’t have knocked Dusty out HHH & Stephanie would’ve had The Shield attack him. Miz says they’re trying to break Show because he’s the biggest guy in the locker room. If they can break him they can break anyone. The other super stars have stepped up & it’s time for Show to do the same. Out comes Stephanie. She says there’s no need to berate Show & what he’s saying about HHH & herself is borderline slander. Miz tells her what to do with the legal crap. Stephanie then says Miz is living on his own cul-de-sac of disappointment. He took a beating from Orton in his home town last week. Then she says that he’s not a major player. He’s a utility player. When they need someone to do local plugging Miz is the guy. Last week in Miz’s hometown Stephanie saw the look in Miz’s mom’s eye go from hope to disappointment. Miz failed his friends, family & himself. Orton dismembered Miz & he couldn’t measure up, but Miz never learns. Then Stephanie tells Big Show to knock him out. The crowed cheers & Show knocks Miz out right away. This was pretty much the same “Stephanie tells Big Show to knock out someone” segment. Miz cut a good promo when he talked about Orton but the stuff with Big Show was average at best. Randy Orton comes to the ring. Time to find out who the fans voted for to be his opponent. King gets the mic to tell us. It will be RVD (Not surprising). Rob Van Dam vs. Randy Orton. The match goes to a double count out. Then Orton backdrops RVD into the barricade. Then Orton throws him into the steel steps. Then he punches RVD for a bit. That’s followed up with another throw into the steel steps. Then Orton throws him over the announce table. Then Orton rolls RVD in the ring, picks him up, sets him on the top rope & then gives RVD the elevated DDT from there. Orton has the insane sadistic look on his face as a medic checks on RVD. The match was decent & I thought they did a solid job getting Orton over as the sadistic heel that he used to be. Too bad RVD was the guy he beat down though. Los Matadores will be coming next Monday. They show RVD getting helped up by referees & the Dr. during the break & then Del Rio comes in & knocks RVD back down. Then he locks him in the arm breaker. Time to plug WWE’s new video game 2K14. Backstage we see The Bellas & Orton comes by. Orton asks if they saw what he just did. Brie says Orton tells Brie that what he did out there is only a fraction of what he will do her boyfriend to Daniel & she can always upgrade to a real man. Brie says that she is dating a real man. Orton says he’s a real man & the face of WWE. That’s something that Daniel will never be. This was ok. They show a clip of Triple H & Stephanie’s video that’s on the HHH DVD. MAN THEY’RE REALLY OVERDOING IT WITH THE HHH STUFF HERE! Then we see Stephanie in the GM office & then AJ comes in. Stephanie thought AJ might like to see what a real wedding looks like since her love life hasn’t been the greatest. Then AJ says that she’s not thrilled about tonight’s 10 Divas tag match. The Total Divas should disappear & her own partners might turn on her. Stephanie says AJ will be in the match or she might not be Divas champion. This was a bit weak but thankfully it was short. Santino Marella vs. Fandango. Fandango gets the pin. This was ok too. Summer Rae got on the apron & distracted Santino. Fandango took advantage & went up top but Santino came after him. Fandango knocked him back down to the mat. Then he hit the top rope leg drop for the pin WINNER – FANDANGO They announce that CM Punk will face Ryback at Battleground. CM Punk comes to the ring to a massive home town pop. The fans chant his name & he soaks in all the cheers. Then he says the fans ruined a perfectly good bad mood. He hasn’t smiled in 8 days but now he can’t help himself. He hasn’t smiled because he feels like he let everybody down at NOC. The fans chant his name & he says that’s a chant for another time. The record books will show that he lost to Heyman. Punk’s lost a lot of matches but this 1 bummed him out. He doesn’t know if he can do this anymore. Maybe he doesn’t deserve to perform in front of the greatest wrestling crowed in the world. But then he comes out to 1 hell of an ovation. Then he talks about the Chicago Blackhawks being behind against the Detroit Redwings. The Blackhawks didn’t feel like they let everyone down, the tied the series & took it to a game 7 overtime. That is the Chicago way. Maybe they lose sometimes but they pick themselves up. Punk’s proud of Chicago. If he let the fans down he’s sorry, but he will tie it up, go into overtime & win. Punk wants to fight. He doesn’t care if it’s Axel or Ryback. Then Heyman comes out singing his version of New York, New York. Heyman says who he is. Then Punk says this is the wrong time for that. Tonight they’re in Chicago & there’re 18,000 fans that will bail Punk out of jail when he gets his hands on Heyman. Heyman doesn’t need Punk to remind him about the beating he took in Detroit. Heyman’s been in physical therapy since NOC. Now he suffered a relapse. But he takes solace in the fact that he can say that he beat CM Punk. He doesn’t want Punk to feel sorry for himself about it. It’s not Punk’s fault that he’s from the second rate town of Chicago. Then he calls Punk the second best in the world. To prove his point Heyman presents exhibit A. They show a pic of Heyman pinning Punk from NOC. Heyman might be a walrus but he pinned Chicago’s biggest shark. Punk says Heyman needs to ask himself a question. When Punk jumps out of the ring & makes a move to get Heyman can Heyman’s 2 goons get to him faster than he can get to Heyman? Punk says when he gets Heyman he will rip his face off. Heyman says not only can he beat Punk, but he beat Punk with both hands behind his back. He bids the fans adieu. Then he tries to back up the ramp but the wheelchair’s busted. Punk goes after Heyman but Ryback & Axel come out & double team Punk. Punk fights back but Axel gets the upper hand. Axel then goes to Irish whip Punk into the Tron but Punk reverses it. Then Punk dives onto Ryback & punches him. Then Axel gets Punk from behind but Punk gets him. Then Ryback gets Punk, throws him into a piece of the stage, then he throws him on a box & press slams Punk through a table. Then Heyman gets up out of the wheel chair & jumps off the ramp. Then Heyman walks over to where Ryback is & gives him the mic. Ryback says this is what happens to bullies. This was great. The Punk-Heyman story is the best 1 WWE has going right now. Punk & Heyman were both great on the mic like they always & the Punk-Ryback & Axel brawl was really well done also. Back to the show & referees check on Punk & he eventually gets up & walks to the back. For some reason the Divas were coming out during this. Naomi, Cameron, The Bellas & Natalya vs. Divas Champion AJ Lee, Aksana, Alicia Fox, Layla & Tamina Snuka. The Total Divas win when Brie pins AJ. This was a typical Divas match. Not much to it. It looks like Brie will be challenging AJ. It should be Natalya who challenges AJ for the Divas title. This match was pointless. Backstage we see The Shield. Ambrose asks if they were thrown to the wolves in this 11 on 3 handicap elimination match or are they the hounds who hunt the wolves. This match is what is best for business. They have their backs against the wall. Rollins says whenever that happens they change the game & make locker room take notice. Ambrose says they win because they’re winners & studs & tonight they’ll do their jobs. Reigns tells us to believe. This was a solid promo. Daniel Bryan comes to the ring. The fans chant his name. Then he says the fans are awesome. He has something to talk about. He was stripped of the WWE Title last week because he was accused of conspiring with Scott Armstrong. He’s not the most intelligent human but you don’t need to fast count a man when he’s already knocked out. He says that it seems strange that HHH gave Armstrong a lot of money after he canned him. Daniel doesn’t know or care what happened at NOC. It doesn’t matter what version of Orton he faces, he will take back the WWE Title. No fast counts, no crooked referees & no excuses. He’s tired of Orton hiding behind his boss’s skirts but after Battleground there will be no more hiding. When all is said in done Orton will hear a word that will haunt him for the rest of his life. That word of course being YES! Then The Shield comes out. Then Goldust & Cody come out of the crowed & go after The Shield. Referees & security come in to pull Dustin & Cody off The Shield & take them to the back. That was great! Daniel cut a great promo & Dustin & Cody attacking The Shield was a great shocker. Daniel Bryan, RVD, The Usos, Kofi Kingston, The Primetime Players, R-Truth, Justin Gabriel, Zack Ryder & Dolph Ziggler vs. The Shield in an 11 on 3 handicap elimination match. * Ambrose pins RVD * Ambrose pins Kofi. * Reigns pins Titus * Reigns pins Gabriel * Reigns pins Ryder * Jay pins Reigns * Rollins pins Darren * Dolph pins Ambrose * Rollins pins Truth * Daniel pins Rollins WINNERS- DANIEL BRYAN, DOLPH ZIGGLER & THE USOS. This was a lot of fun to watch. Daniel, Dolph & The Usos surrounded Rollins & then get in the ring & beat him down. Ambrose comes out but Dolph clotheslines Ambrose & himself over the top rope. Rollins comes back out too but The Usos double super kick him. Then the Usos dive onto Ambrose & Reigns. Then Daniel gives Rollins a tope rope head butt followed by the running knee for the pin. Daniel celebrates & does the yes chant along with the fans to end the show. I thought this was a solid to good show for the most part. The opening segment with HHH & Stephanie and the other guys on the stage was the typical HHH-Stephanie-baby face talent opening bit, but thankfully HHH & Stephanie weren’t all over the show this week. I enjoyed Daniel Bryan’s promo and Dustin & Cody sneak attacking The Shield was really well done. I also liked the Punk-Heyman promo/the Punk-Ryback & Axel brawl too. Punk & Heyman were awesome on the mic like always & the 2 on 1 brawl was good too. The Stephanie, AJ bit backstage was ok & thankfully short. The10 Diva tag was pointless & I’d much rather see AJ & Natalya in a singles match than AJ & Brie. The Miz TV segment with Big Show & Stephanie was average. Miz cut a good promo when he talked about Orton attacking him but the whole “Big Show knocking out whoever Stephanie tells him to” bit is beyond stale. Kofi & Del Rio had a really good match. RVD-Orton was decent & Orton laying out RVD continued to get Orton over as the sadistic crazy guy. I just wish it wasn’t RVD that took the beating. The Primetime Players vs. Harper & Rowan was decent too. & The Shield promo was solid also. Overall I thought this was a solid to good show.