11-11-13 Raw results and thoughts

Coverage and thoughts on the November 11, 2013 episode of Raw

They start the show with a video package recapping the end of last week’s show.

Then Michael Cole announces that HHH & Stephanie aren’t there because they’re “on vacation”.  As long as we don’t see them this week that’s ok with me.

The actual show starts with Randy Orton coming to the ring. He says it looks like Big Show got his job back & blackmailed his way into a title match with him at Survivor Series. Then he talks about the beating he & he Shield gave Show last week. He says he will retain the WWE Title & remain the face of WWE. While HHH & Stephanie are away, Orton’s in charge tonight. Then out comes Brad Maddox. He appreciates Orton trying to help out but he’s the GM. Brad has the authority to be in charge of Raw. Then out comes Kane. He says last week HHH & Stephanie made him director of operations, or whatever title he has. He says that he’s in charge tonight. Brad’s had this gig for a while & tells Kane to follow his lead. Brad then says that Orton will face Cody Rhodes. Then Kane says it will be Orton facing Goldust. Brad & Kane bicker for a bit. Then Orton tells them to make up their mind. He can’t fight them both. Then out comes Vickie. She wishes HHH & Stephanie a wonderful vacation. Then she says that she has complete confidence in Orton’s in ring skills. So as the former Raw GM & the current Smackdown GM she’s the voice of reason. If the authority were to say what’s “best for business” they’d agree with Orton. Vickie then says that Orton will face Goldust & Cody tonight in a handicap match. Then out come The Rhodes Brothers. This was stupid! HHH & Stephanie aren’t there & we have 4 heels wanting to be in charge! I don't get why 1 of them didn't say that before HHH & Stephanie went away they left that person in charge! This whole bit with these 4 heels arguing over who’s in charge was painful! I guess it’s Vickie since she announced the handicap match & that’s next.

WWE Tag Team Champions Goldust & Cody Rhodes vs. WWE Champion Randy Orton. Goldust & Cody win by count out after Orton was sent out of the ring & he didn’t bother getting back in. Then Big Show comes out. He pounds on Orton & puts Orton, sends him shoulder first into the steel steps & clotheslines him. Then Show takes apart the announce table & drags the steel steps next to it. Then he picks up Orton by the throat, walks up the steel steps & choke slams Orton through the table. The match was good but I wasn’t into Orton taking the count out loss. I was ok with Big Show choke slamming Orton through the table but why did they have to play his music when he came out? Can’t they have anybody just come out without their entrance theme?

They show that during the break Big Show got into a cab & took off.

Santino Marella & Los Matadores vs. 3MB (They’re calling themselves The Union Jacks tonight since they’re in England). Santino & Los Matadores win when Santino pins Jinder. This was a comedy match.

Backstage Orton has an ice pack on his shoulder. Brad comes in & is sorry for what happened. Vickie comes in & does the same. He tells them to save their apologies for next week. Then Kane comes in. Orton doesn’t wanna listen. Kane says he’d better listen. He’s the director of operations & if Orton messes with him Big show won’t be his only problem. The trainer tells Kane, Brad & Vickie that he needs to look at Orton’s shoulder & they walk out. This was awful. Kane tells Orton to listen up & then doesn’t really say anything except that if Orton yells at him Show won’t be the only guy worry about.  Brad & Vickie were also they’re usual suck up selves. They should get rid of the GMs. They mean nothing with HHH & Stephanie being the on air couple in charge.

Kofi Kingston vs. Damien Sandow. Sandow gets the pin. This was a decent match.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Intercontinental Champion Curtis Axel for the Title. Axel gets the pin. This was a really, really good back & forth match.

Backstage Kane & Brad are bickering over who is in charge. Brad then says they have to get on the same page about something. Maybe Vickie was onto something with the handicap match. Then he says that The Real Americans will face Cena. Kane then says Punk & Daniel will face The Shield in a handicap tag match. This was more of the same. I’m tired of having the heels argue over who is “running the show”.

Zack Ryder plugs the WWE merchandise.

Nikki Bella vs. Tamina Snuka. Tamina gets the pin. This was ok. AJ got involved when the referee wasn’t looking. Brie & AJ then went at it a bit on the outside. Then after the match Brie spears AJ. Tamina then picks up Brie for a power slam but Brie escapes & kicks Tamina to the floor.

The commentators plug 2K14.

They reshow Big Show choke slamming Orton through the table.

Backstage the trainer’s still looking at Orton’s arm. Then in comes The Shield. Orton asks where they were when Big Show flattened him. They beat his ass last week & now this week Orton got choke slammed through a table. Ambrose says that where they were isn’t Orton’s business. Then Rollins says that they don’t work for Vickie, Brad or Kane. Then Reigns says that they damn sure don’t work for Orton. This was ok. I kind of liked that The Shield stood up to Orton.

Tyson Kidd vs. Fandango. Fandango gets the pin. This was a decent back & forth match but the wrong guy won.

Before the next match. Zeb says as Real Americans, today is Veterans Day. The 3 of them know they’re standing in a foreign land tonight that’s full of soccer thugs, monarchs & people who found Mr. Bean funny. Then he rags on the British fans. We the people. This gimmick is old.

World Champion John Cena vs. The Real Americans. Cena wins he makes Swagger tap. During the match Del Rio’s music plays & he comes out. Why do they always have to have a guy’s music play & have someone in the match get distracted by that?  

After the match Cesaro goes after Cena. Cena fights back & clotheslines Cesaro over the top. Then Del Rio comes in & hits Cena in the back with a chair. Then he sets the chair in Cena’s arm, stomps on it & then locks Cena in the arm breaker. Then out comes Big E Langston & he pulls Del Rio off Cena & chucks him out of the ring. The match was good & the post-match stuff was a mix. Of course Cena had to win & then make quick work of Cesaro afterwards but I was alright with Del Rio putting Cena’s arm in the chair & then locking Cena in the arm breaker. I liked that they had Big E Langston come in & help out Cena too.

They show a Divas tag match from 2 weeks ago on Smackdown where Natalya made AJ tap. Natalya will face AJ for the Divas Title on Main Event Wednesday.

Backstage we see Kane, Brad & Vickie. Kane says that Cena had it coming. Then Del Rio comes in & asks if they saw what he just did to Cena. Brad says that’s what’s best for business & there will be a new champion at Survivor Series. Del Rio then says that he will beat Cena in his home town of Boston in front of his friends & family. Then Del Rio tells Vickie to tell Big E to keep out of his business. Then Kane tells Del Rio to let Big E know how he feels.

R-Truth vs. Ryback. Truth gets the pin. This was a decent match & I was kind of surprised that Truth won.

In case you forgot this, they once again show Big Show choke slamming Orton. Why do they feel like they have to reshow what happened at the starts of Raw twice!? The fans aren’t that stupid!?

Big E Langston vs. Alberto Del Rio. Del Rio wins by submission. This was a solid match. For some reason the fans did the wave during this. Then they chanted “We are awesome.” I’m not sure why some crowds chant that.

Michael Cole thanks the veterans for their service.

Then they show a video package that was narrated by Cena thanking the troops. This was classy.

John Cena will face Del Rio in an arm wrestling contest on Smackdown.

Paul Heyman & Curtis Axel are in the ring. Heyman’s in a wheel chair, has on a neck brace & has a crutch. He says this was done to him by the fans’ hero CM Punk. The fans chant CM Punk. Heyman says that Punk couldn’t have done this to him by himself. Punk was never a match for Heyman. Punk had a lot of help. Like that big ugly dummy Ryback. Heyman took Ryback under his wing & offered him to be a Heyman guy & Ryback never accepted the offer. He rags on Ryback & says that Ryback bit off more than he could chew. Heyman also blames the fans for what happened. They’re the ones that encouraged Punk to climb to the top of the cell & cheered Punk to give him that beating. Heyman says that he came tonight because he needs a room full of witnesses who can testify that he went public with his intentions. That being that he will return with a vengeance & drive the blade of his sword through the heart…Then Punk comes out. Axel goes outside the ring & goes after Punk. Then Punk sends Axel into the barrier & then gives him the GTS. Then Heyman says that Punk has done enough damage. Punk gets in the ring with a Singapore cane. Then he spins Heyman around in the wheel chair. Heyman falls out of the chair. Then Punk hits him back with the cane. This was a good in ring segment. Heyman was good on the mic as usual. I was a bit surprised that he ragged on Ryback though. Will they turn Ryback face again? It looks like the Punk-Heyman angle will continue.

Then out comes Daniel Bryan. Break time.

Back from break & it is time for the main event

CM Punk & Daniel Bryan vs. The Shield. Punk has Ambrose in the Anaconda vice. Then out go the lights. When they come back on The Wyatt family is there. Harper & Rowan are in the ring. Punk & Daniel retreat. Then The Shield gets in Harper & Rowan’s faces. Then Ambrose & Rollins brawl with Harper & Rowan while Bray & Reigns go at it on the outside. Then all 6 guys are in the ring & both trios regroup. Bray dares The Shield to attack. Punk & Daniel are still at ringside. The heels go outside the ring & then Punk & Daniel go back in the ring. The heels surround Punk & Daniel & the brawl resumes. Then out come The Usos & The Rhodes Brothers to help out Punk & Daniel. The faces clean house on the heels. The heels stand at ringside as the faces stand in the ring to end the show. This was really well done. I liked the match & the 12 man brawl at the end was great! It looks like we might get Punk, Daniel, The Usos & The Rhodes Brothers vs. The Wyatts & the Shield at Survivor Series. That would be really awesome.

I thought this was a decent show overall. I wasn’t a fan of the opening in ring segment with Orton, Kane, Brad & Vickie & the other backstage segments with Kane & the 2 GMs were lame but I was ok with Big Show choke slamming Orton. The backstage bit with Kane, Brad & Vickie was lame too but the bit with him & The Shield was a little bit better. The handicap tag match main event was well done & I loved the 12 man brawl that closed the show. Paul Heyman also cut a great promo like usual. Punk coming out & spinning Heyman around in the wheelchair before hitting him with the cane was good too. Tyson Kidd vs. Fandango was decent but I didn’t like that they had Tyson lose. Santino & Los Matadores vs. 3MB was your typical not funny comedy we always get from these guys. Big E vs. Del Rio was solid & Kofi vs. Sandow was decent. I really enjoyed the Dolph vs. Axel IC Title match. Cena vs. The Real Americans was good too but of course Cena had to win. I did like that they had Del Rio get the upper hand on Cena here & that Big E came to the ring to help out Cena. I also liked the video package on the troops. That’s always a classy touch. So overall I thought this was a decent show.