Monday Night Raw
June 10, 2013
Richmond, Virginia
We begin with a recap from last week and the Triple H/McMahon saga. Michael Cole welcomes us, and then right out of the gate we play THE GAME. Out comes Triple H to a big time ovation. He’s in his gear and ready to go.
MATCH: Triple H vs. Curtis Axel
The bell sounds like it came from some old Jim Crockett Promotions arena. Out comes Little Perfect, who has tights similar to his dad’s from the AWA in the mid-80’s. The Triple H chants are quite vocal. Triple H is dominating early, but suddenly Mr. McMahon comes out, complete with his new quaffed dyed hair. Hunter has Axel in a headlock. Vince takes the mike and has the keeper ring the bell. He says Axel wins by disqualification. With that Vince just strolls out. Wait, is that a hairpiece Vince has on? Heyman is taunting The Game.
Triple H goes to Justin Roberts and tells them to restart the match.
MATCH: Triple H vs. Curtis Axel
We begin and Hunter has Axel in the headlock. Out comes Vince again and he tells Justin Roberts to give the match to Curtis Axel by forfeit.
Triple H comes out and has the match start as an Iron Man match.
IRON MAN MATCH: Triple H vs. Curtis Axel
Before it even starts, Vince comes back down the ramp and throws Curtis Axel and Paul Heyman out. He takes the microphone and the bell and leaves. This is ludicrous. Funny, but quite ludicrous.
Backstage but Hunter is pissed beyond belief but Stephanie is crying, telling HHH to not hurt Vince. Hunter says “Fine, you talk to him. He won’t like what I have to say.”
MATCH: Kane vs. Dean Ambrose
It seemed the crowd had no pop for the Shield, until they actually came out. Ambrose comes out alone, as Rollins and Reigns stay up top the crowd. Kane dominated until the break, and then when we come back Ambrose has the upper hand. The App shows both Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan watching this match from outside. The crowd is kind of dead tonight. Kane gains late momentum and is about to go for a chokeslam when the rest of the Shield comes in to cause the DQ.
Orton and Bryan come out to save the day and the Shield bail.
Sheamus will face Damien Sandow on the Yahoo/You Tube/App Payback pre-show at 7:30. Wow Sheamus not on the PPV, but he’ll win anyway.
The WWE App got to vote on whether Reigns or Rollins would face Daniel Bryan tonight. Rollins won, and Reigns will face Orton.
Team Hell No and Orton continue to argue backstage when Vickie Guerrero comes in to announce that at Payback Orton and Bryan will face Rollins and Reigns for the tag straps. Then she gives Kane a US Title shot against Ambrose Sunday in Chicago.
MATCH: The Miz vs. Cody Rhodes
Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett is at the announce table. The news is out that Fandango received a concussion Friday on Smackdown and is out of the IC Title match at Payback. Miz and Barrett will wrestle one on one for the title Sunday. They go back and forth but Cody taps to the Figure Four.
Barrett gets up from the table and heads into the ring. But before anything starts Paul Heyman comes out and says there will indeed be a Triple Threat match as Vickie Guerrero added Curtis Axel to the IC Triple Threat match.
Mark Henry will be back next week.
We recap the Vince/Triple H stuff. Stephanie is now in Vince’s office and she says what he did to Triple H was embarrassing. Vince says “Business comes first”. Vince says “Keep him away from me.” Why Vince dyed his hair to look like it was 1998 again is beyond me. He looks ridiculous.
We are joined by Chris Jericho, who will go one on one with CM Punk Sunday in Chicago. Jericho runs down the great superstars he’s faced over the years but “No one has pushed me more than CM Punk”. Jericho puts Punk over because he actually believes he’s the best in the world. He says “The Trilogy that started at Wrestlemania will conclude Sunday.” He’s interrupted by the returning World Heavyweight Champion Dolph Ziggler. He says “I almost lost this title once, and it won’t happen again”. He announces at Payback he will defend the World Title against Alberto Del Rio. Jericho makes fun of him, and says he wants the champ tonight. Ziggler says “You have a match tonight…against Big E. Langston.”
MATCH: Chris Jericho vs. Big E. Langston
It’s nice to see Langston face someone other than Del Rio in a TV match. Langston has really grown as a big time brawler, really putting his power moves over. Jericho is selling like crazy and really putting this big man over. Suddenly Alberto Del Rio comes down the ramp and attacks Ziggler, which distracts Langston. He misses a corner charge, eats a Codebreaker, and takes the loss.
MATCH: Sin Cara vs. Antonio Cesaro
Zeb Colter is at the announce table. Why is this storyline continuing. Colter is ripping Sin Cara for wearing a mask. Apparently Jack Swagger is hurt and so Zeb has nothing to do. So why put him on TV? This gimmick is starting to wear thin. Cesaro wins with his finisher and Colter keeps putting Cesaro over. Hell might as well join him. Neither has anything to do.
Another great vignette of the Wyatt Family.
Back from break with Vickie and Brad Maddox eating Hardees, who’s hosting Raw. Vince comes over and humiliates Vickie, then rips her for having Cena and Ryback together, sacrificing the main event of the show. Vince is annoying tonight. It’s that damn dyed hair.
MATCH: Randy Orton vs. Roman Reigns
Daniel Bryan comes out to start bickering with Orton. The match is pretty standard, with Reigns dominating the action and Orton making comebacks. Bryan apparently stayed at ringside to help his “partner”. The match goes back and forth until Bryan dives across the ring and takes both Rollins and Reigns out. Suddenly the match just ends.
MATCH: Daniel Bryan vs. Seth Rollins
This was the match of the night easy. Both guys go back and forth and really bring the goods. This was Rollins’ chance to shine in a singles match against someone of his caliber and boy did it deliver. Rollins had control throughout but Bryan made great comebacks. The rain played havoc with my dish but I caught most of the match. Bryan climbs up and nails a super back drop but Rollins counters in mid-air and falls on top of Bryan. Reigns gets on the apron but Orton takes him out. Bryan rolls up Rollins for the win. Great match.
Kaitlyn is in the ring, looking crazy hot. This is the time for her to have her secret admirer revealed. It’s Big E Langston. This was rumored. Frankly this could be very interesting. She’s confused and Big E says “I know everyone’s skeptical, but ever since I laid eyes on you I can’t stop thinking about you.” He goes to kiss her but he drops her to the ground. Out comes AJ Lee and it was a complete sham. AJ says “I’ve spent the last year letting men use me and shatter me like glass. Where was my best friend? Chasing the Divas Title.” Kaitlyn starts calling her crazy. AJ says “No I’m smart.” She is crazy and this is the best her character has been in months. She calls Kaitlyn trash and the Divas Champ starts to cry. AJ says “All you have in your pitiful life is your Divas Title. After Sunday, you won’t have that either.” Kaitlyn jumps her but AJ escapes. Kaitlyn needs a hug. I’m offering.
Yet ANOTHER Wyatt Family vignette. Awesome.
MATCH: Damien Sandow vs. R-Truth
This is a warm-up for Sunday’s pre-show match. SILENCE! Should Jerry Lawler be eating a burger with six strips of bacon on it? Seriously? How stupid are the producers? Sandow wins in a squash.
He can barely enjoy the win when that asshole Sheamus comes out. I don’t get why I hate him so much. Oh I know why. Because he is the most annoying babyface on the roster. Maybe more than Cena. He spins some silly riddles and junk, and that’s it.
Stephanie is walking backstage when she finds some hump. He tells him to find Vince and send him to her office. He finds another guy and tells him to find Triple H and do the same thing.
We see the “Ryback Rampage” vignette.
The lumberjacks make it down to the ring before we go to break. However before that we have Triple H and Vince arguing and Stephanie yells at both at them to work it out. No apologies, but Vince says “Hunter needs to be the man, with a pencil and an eraser. You need to tell people to go to HELL!” What in god’s name is he talking about? Vince then capitulates and gives Triple H the match with Curtis Axel. Trips doesn’t want it, but Vince does. They start arguing again but Stephanie wants a group hug. I wanted Hunter to deck Vince. This whole saga tonight was a colossal waste.
The lumberjacks are around the ring as John Cena enters, followed by Ryback and the ambulance. Cena tells Ryback to get in the ring. Ryback stays on the stage. Cena lays out how Three Stages of Hell is going to work. Ryback says “I’ll tear through you, the lumberjacks and everyone in this arena.” Cena says “Everyone has been getting your message, just like I did going through that stage.” Ryback says “Three times he should be WWE Champion since Hell In a Cell. He will take the title this time.” Ryback is again, TALKING TOO MUCH. STOP TALKING!!!! This promo is doing nothing for this match. Ryback says “John Cena’s legacy ends on Sunday.” Cena’s trying to get at Ryback but the lumberjacks hold him back. Ryback runs in and they brawl in the ring but the lumberjacks break them up. With that we’re out.
SCOTT’S TAKE: Plenty of matches, but the two main stories (HHH/Vince and Cena/Ryback) fall flat. So is Triple H wrestling or not? Why did Vince dye his hair?
Scott’s Raw Top 5:
1) John Cena
2) Ryback
3) Wade Barrett
4) Reigns/Rollins
5) Daniel Bryan
