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Welcome to yet another episode of Monday Night RAW! Battleground is only six days away which means we will get to see new additions to the match card. WWE officially announced on WWE.com that Brie Bella will be challenging AJ Lee for the title.
https://twitter.com/MichaelCole/status/384824052936110080
WWE is live from Biloxi, MS. CM Punk’s music hits and there is a huge pop from the crowd, Punk walks down the ramp and WWE show us last week’s assault on Punk by Ryback and Axel.
https://twitter.com/brawlerreal/status/384831612917010432
Punk says he wants to show Ryback what really happens to bullies and how he will put Axel to sleep. He says there are two ways that his feud with Heyman might end. Either he sorts things out in Battleground after he takes care of Ryback or he could settle things right now on RAW.
Brad Maddox interferes and asks Punk to calm down. He says fighting Heyman now is not best for business and says he is ready to give Punk some aggression.
Maddox introduces Big E Langston who makes his way to the ring and wastes no time as he starts attacking Punk. Langston rams Punk in the corner with his shoulder and Punk fights back. Both wrestlers settle on opposite corner as Maddox calls for the referee to make an official match between the two.
CM Punk vs Big E Langston
We return from commercials to see Punk getting beat up outside the ring. Punk avoids Langston as he hits the post and they head into the ring.
Punk hits a top rope crossbody for a two count. Punk goes for the GTS but Big E manages to get out of it. Big E hits a jumping splash on Punk for a near fall and then a half boston crab on him. Punk counters but gets run over again.
Langston hits an impressive belly-to-belly for a close fall and Punk counters with a huge kick to the head. Punk turns things around and hits a running knee in the corner.
He follows it up with a top rope elbow drop and then hits the GTS for the win.
Winner: CM Punk
https://twitter.com/EmmaWWE/status/384835177593065473
Big E was really impressive in the ring and I am happy to see him back in action. Punk was solid on the mic as usual. Let’s hope we get to see Big E often from now on.
Michael Cole talks about Cody Rhodes getting fired as WWE shows us a recap of the same.
Fandango makes his way to the ring
Fandango vs Kofi Kingston
Kofi maintains control over Fandango initially but Fandango counters with a huge clothesline.
Fandango connects a few moves but Kingston counters with a DDT. Fandango counters back by dropping Kingston’s head on the turnbuckle.
Fandango goes for the elbow drop but Kingston manages to move away. Fandango gets back down runs into a Trouble in Paradise and Kingston picks up the victory.
Winner: Kofi Kingston
Post match Bray Wyatt appears on titantron and delivers a promo. Kofi wisely gets a chair to face any attack from the Wyatts.
The Bellas are backstage talking about Brie being the No.1 contender. Randy Orton interrupts the happy moment and asks Brie about her wedding day. He says that she books the day before Battleground as after it Bryan won’t be able to walk down the aisle
Next Renee Young interviews Paul Heyman. Heyman calls Punk a nobody and says despite his obsession he won’t be able to get his hands on Heyman.
Renee asks why he has Ryback and Axel hiding behind the equipment and asks if it is another trap for Punk.
Heyman says that he being in the arena is itself a trap for Punk. He talks about having huge plans for the night and challenges Punk to try and interrupt.
We have a Los Matadores promo and they are out next to make their debut on RAW
https://twitter.com/JCLayfield/status/384840989325946880
We have a Los Matadores promo and they are out next to make their debut on RAW
3MB Jinder Mahal and Heath Slater are in the ring as the Ole! Chants start.
Justin Roberts introduces them as Fernando and Diego as the Los Matadores make one of the most spectacular entrances. They come in with a 3 foot human-mantaur and there is bullfight on the ramp. The bull then runs into the ring and has some athletic moves to show off on the corner.
Los Matadores vs 3MB
The debutants start things off in control as Diego manages to keep Jinder Mahal down. Slater comes in and faces him.
The duo then hit a dual drop kick. Jinder counters some moves and gets in control. Slater gets tagged in and hits a running knee drop for a close fall. The Matadores then hit a unique double team move for the victory.
Winner: Los Matadores Ole! Ole! Ole!
That was a hilarious entrance and an impressive debut in my opinion. I love entertaining gimmicks and I think Epico and Primo have a strong gimmick to work on. Hopefully WWE keeps the comic aspect under limit and books them wisely.
https://twitter.com/VanDiablo/status/384846802597318656
Justin Roberts introduced Triple H and Stephanie McMahon to the King of Kings theme.
The company owners get into the ring and invite the Rhodes family out to the ring. He asks them not to fear and asks them to step out.
https://twitter.com/scanthony14/status/384845572122746880
Triple H talks about how the entire Rhodes family has been a failure over the past few weeks. He talks about how Cody and Goldust lost to Orton and then talks about how Dustin failed by getting knocked by Big Show.
Triple H says he is ready to give them a fourth chance by allowing Goldust and Cody to face the tag team champions at Battleground. If the two fail then they will never get to work again. If they manage to beat the Shield then both the brothers get a job in WWE.
Dusty accepts the bout only if he gets to stay in the corner. Stephanie accepts and warns Dusty to be aware of what he is wishing for.
As the Rhodes plan to leave, the Shield come out of nowhere and Ambush the Rhodes. They hit the triple powerbomb on Cody and Goldust and stand tall as the segment ends.
https://twitter.com/brawlerreal/status/384846991403937792
R-Truth makes his entrance screaming what’s up and for some reason Jerry is excited about it and repeats the same after him.
Curtis Axel makes his way to the ring along with Paul Heyman.
R-Truth vs Curtis Axel
R-Truth gets the upperhand initially as Axel struggles to find a way to counter him. Truth dances and frustrates Axel and then slaps him hard on the face. Truth then goes for the ten punches in the corner but Axel counters and drops him on the rope.
Truth counters with a hard kick to the gut and hits an impressive turning suplex for a near fall.
Axel gains control again and Punk’s music hits. The crowd erupts and Axel gets ready for Punk and faces the entrance. Truth uses this as an opening and hits his finisher for the victory and Punk never comes out.
Winner: R-Truth
Heyman looks upset as he and Axel were tricked by Punk.
The Bella twins are heading to the ring backstage as we head to a break.
Brie Bella vs Alicia Fox
Brie enters as Fox is waiting in the ring. Brie makes some impressive counters but gets kicked in the gut. She falls down to the floor.
Back in the ring Alicia connects a northern lights suplex.
Brie hits a huge running knee to the face of Alicia lying on the bottom rope. Alicia holds on to the bottom rope and gets a breather. Brie goes for her but Alicia kicks her in the head. Brie counters with a kick to the face and the face buster for the win.
https://twitter.com/nicoleandbri/status/384854580388839424
WWE promotes John Cena’s latest game
Heyman and Axel are backstage as Curtis looks frustrated by the loss. Heyman asks Axel to calm down and asks Ryback to go find something to eat.
Heyman says that he is going to propose to Ryback later on in the show. Huh?
Big Show is interviewed by Renee Young backstage. There is a recap about what happened on RAW and SmackDown last week.
Big Show says it is easy to talk about doing the right thing, he says he knocked out Dusty Rhodes who is his inspiration. Show says he has done everything Triple H and Stephanie have asked him to do and he has had enough.
Show looks like he has lost it and has an expression on his face that cannot be explained. He says he is going to knock Triple H down.
https://twitter.com/WWEUniverse/status/384856315333705730
Back from the break we see Big Show searching backstage for Triple H. He finds R-Truth and Maddox talking about Truth getting a IC title and asks Maddox to find Triple H.
Alberto Del Rio vs Zack Ryder
Cole and Jerry speak about Del Rio’s match against RVD in a hardcore match at Battleground. They feel RVD has the edge in the match.
Del Rio remains in control throughout the match. Zack Ryder manages to get some offense and hits a huge broski boot to Del Rio’s face in the corner. Del Rio counters the Rough Ryder and connects the Cross Armbreaker for the win
https://twitter.com/brawlerreal/status/384858045882200064
Winner: Alberto Del Rio
We see a replay of the Shield’s assault on the Rhodes Family.
Ryback’s music hits and he is out with Heyman.
Heyman speaks about pinning Punk at Night of Champions. He says he is the best in the world and also an expert in political science. He shows a replay of how he lured Punk into a trap last week on RAW as Jerry and Cole recount it.
Ryback gets the mic as he says Punk betrayed Heyman by hurling at his face things that Punk learned from Heyman himself. Ryback says he couldn’t stand it.
Heyman says he wants to make a man out Ryback and wants to propose to him. He gets down on his knee and asks him if he will be a Paul Heyman Guy. Really?
https://twitter.com/JustinRoberts/status/384862622224760832
Punk interrupts this lovely moment and came running through the crowd. He apparently hurt his knee while jumping off the barricade. Punk looks in real pain as he barely manages to make it to the ring.
Punk gets close to the ring and clutches his knee in pain. A ringside doctor attends to him as Heyman curiously pops his head out of the ring.
Punk gets hold of a kendo stick and hits Heyman on the leg. He then gets in the ring and hits Ryback and Axel who came running. Ryback gets thrown out by a kendo stick hit and Axel is all alone with Punk in the ring.
Punk hits Axel with the GTS and stands tall in the ring.
Punk acted that segment out really well. For a moment I thought Punk was really injured.
Big Show is shown backstage inside Triple H’s room waiting to knock the COO out.
Dolph Ziggler & The Usos vs The Shield (Six Man Tag Match)
Ambrose and Ziggler square off as Ambrose takes Ziggler to the corner. Ziggler counters and both trade a few shots.
Rollins gets the tag and Ziggler hip tosses him. Jimmy gets tagged in and he hits a flying headbutt. There is chaos as everyone gets in the ring and the Shield get taken out. We head to a commercial as the Shield looked stunned outside.
Back from the break the Shield are in control as Jimmy is strategically taken out by the Shield. Jimmy fights back after a kick to the face of Reigns, Roman holds Jimmy back but gets kicked once again. Rollins smartly takes out Jey but Jimmy manages to hit a dropkick on Rollins and tag Ziggler to a huge pop from the crowd.
Ziggler came in and hit Ambrose with a flurry of moves. He followed it up with a impressive neckbreaker, Rollins tries a high flying move but Ziggler counters with a dropkick. He hits the fame asser on Ambrose bur Reigns interrupts. All hell breaks lose and Ambrose blind tags Reigns. Rollins takes out the other uso in the ring as Reigns hits the spear on Ziggler for the win.
Winner: The Shield
Big Show is still waiting in Triple H’s office as we head for a break.
Back from a lengthy commercial break we see officers in Triple H’s office wanting to escort Big Show out since he just violated norms.
Stephanie interrupts and apologizes to the officers and says Show isn’t in the best of emotional state. She sends them out and talks to Show telling his wife isn’t very happy about how Big Show’s behaving in the house and leaves.
A furious Big Show punches a Triple H portrait along with the wall to end the segment
Renee Young interviews Rob Van Dam backstage and asks him about how he feels about his hardcore match with Del Rio at Battleground
He says anything goes in a hardcore match and when it comes to hardcore there is no one better than Rob Van Dam.
Next up Santino Marella faces Antonio Cesaro. Hopefully we don’t get to see anymore Cobra charming.
Big Show will face the Shield in a 3 on 1 handicap match on SmackDown this week.
Santino Marella vs Antonio Cesaro
Zeb Colter comes out and does the regular We The People chant.
Santino and Cesaro traded a few shots and Cesaro took Santino to a breathtaking 26 spins. Santino managed to get out of his dizziness and roll Cesaro up for the win.
Winner: Santino Marella
Jerry Lawler says we will get to know about Bryan’s proposal to Brie Bella in Total Divas. For now we will get to see the man himself.
Jerry invited Bryan and Orton to the ring and says this segment is going to be a verbal confrontation only.
Orton on the mic (brace yourselves). He says Triple H keeping the title was a good decision as it helped motivate him. He calls Bryan a small, weak, pathetic, B+ troll.
Bryan responds by telling that Orton needs motivation to bring the best out of him. But Bryan is able to do that without any help. He says he will beat Orton for the title at Battleground and starts a YES chant.
Orton questions as to why Brie has settled to a weak looking man like Bryan. He doubts that one day Bryan might find Brie sleeping with someone a handsome champion like himself.
This triggers Bryan who attacks Orton and takes him out of the ring. Orton fights back and starts unleashing on Bryan. Orton sets him up for a DDT from the apron and Brie Bella comes running in. She pleads Orton not to do it but he drives Bryan head first onto the floor. Orton then connects an RKO on top of the announcers table to end the show.
Rating: That was a great show and had a really good ending. Bryan looks like he is going to win the title at Battleground.
Thanks for joining me for the live review. What do you think about tonight’s show?
How did Ric Flair spend $1500 at a pizza place? More details here
