Jonathan Dehn
WWE Monday Night Raw
11/11/2013
Manchester, England
-Randy Orton comes out at the start to give one of his dynamic interviews. Randy talks about beating Big Show at Survivor Series and keep up the status quo. Randy claims to be in charge of the show since HHH and Stephanie are on vacation. Brad Maddox interrupts to a sizable ovation. He’s in charge, but then Corporate Kane heads out to interject. Brad and Kane fight over who is in charge and who is to face Randy Orton. Vickie pops out at this point. After some interplay with the crowd, she actually does one better and has Randy face both Cody and Goldust.
Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes and Goldust
Goldy and Randy begin and begin with headlocks and reversals. Orton grabs a shoulderblock, but takes an armdrag, hiptoss and dropkick. Cody comes in off the top with a chop and gets a face first suplex for two. Randy pulls Cody into the corner. Goldust gets a blind tag and rolls up Orton for two. Randy drives some shoulder into the corner. Orton gets methodical and draws a “Randy’s Boring!” chant from the crowd. JBL gets a chant next, while Orton stomps away. This is the second time that Randy has lost an international crowd in the last year. Goldust gets a boot up in the corner, but gets taken down when climbing. We hit a break.
We return with Orton holding a headlock and Goldust fighting back. Goldust gets the Oklahoma Roll after dodging the powerslam. Goldust hits a DDT and looks for the tag. Cody springboards in with a dropkick and gets the corner sunset flip for two. Cody gets the moonsault for two. Cody gets the high knee after the Manchester crowd creates their own song for Cody. Goldust enters and the two clothesline Orton from the ring. Orton just gets tired of this and leaves for the count out. Big Show comes out and is mad, after the match, slugging Orton on the outside and pulling apart the announce table.
Big Show sets up the steel steps, and chokeslams Randy from them and through the table. Well, that was cool. Orton acts hurt after the chokeslam, probably dodging a match with Big Show at Survivor Series.
Final Thoughts: **. I’m grumbling over here about Bryan never getting a segment like that to look like a badass.
Los Matadores and Santino vs. The Union Jacks (3MB)
3MB get a nice face pop for their Union Jack attire. Heath and…Diego start. Heath is dumped, but Jinder gets in with a high knee. A triple team ends with Drew hitting a dropkick and stomping away. Unfortunately, Drew gets dumped with a suplex. Jinder and Santino face off, with Santino getting knees on his headbutt attempt. El Torito taunts Heath, and he gets Santino’s fake horns in the butt. Los Matadores dive out onto Drew when he gets to Torito. Inside, Santino pulls out the horned Cobra for the win.
Final Thoughts: Moving on…however, 3MB looks really good in the few moments they get to put offense into matches.
-In the back, Orton is being tended to by the doctor and tells everyone to get out, although Glen Jacobs doesn’t take kindly to Randy’s behavior.
Damien Sandow vs. Kofi Kingston
Sandow begins with knees and tosses Kofi outside. Sandow beats him on the apron a bit. Then, Damien puts on a chinlock. This crowd is super dead. Kofi fights back but takes a hard whip, and a second, into the corner. Sandow beats away for a while with some ferociousness. Damien gets two from a knee drop. Damien hits The Elbow of Disdain and a couple of drops for two. Kofi dodges a legdrop and mounts Sandow with some punches. Kofi hits a splash from the top for two. Kingston gets the foot up in the corner, but gets caught with the full nelson slam to end it.
Final Thoughts: Just a squash.
Intercontinental Championship Match – Dolph Ziggler vs. Curtis Axel ©
There’s an extended lockup to begin. Axel grabs a side headlock and moves to the hammerlock. Axel stomps away in the corner as Dolph gets some main event support. Axel gets the dropkick off of a running sequence that gets two. They lock up, and Dolph answers the dropkick with one of his own. Ziggler gets two from the hiptoss and follows with a suplex for another two. Ziggler gets the ten elbow drops for another two. I love that spot. Axel reverses the whip and sends Dolph outside with a heavy fall. Axel follows and slugs away before rolling Dolph in for a two count. Axel hammers away in the ropes on Dolph and taunts him, as he has throughout the match.
Dolph answers back with a DDT that leaves both men on the mat. Axel misses a charge and goes into the post. Dolph hits the big clothesline and a corner splash. Ziggler gets ten punches in the corner and a neckbreaker. A big elbow drop gets two. Ziggler gets catapulted into the corner and rolled up for two. Dolph follows with a Fameasser for two. Axel hits a snapping back suplex for two to answer. Curtis goes up, but Ziggler pops up to hit a top rope facebuster for a near fall. Ziggler gets pancaked off of a Zig Zag and Axel hits the inverted neckbreaker for the win.
Final Thoughts: **1/2. Despite what the announcers say, this was not a great match. Also, this was the time and place to take the belt from Axel, as he’s dead in the water.
-Brad and Kane talk and give us a great main event of The Shield versus CM Punk and Daniel Bryan.
-Zack Ryder hawks some merchandise, but all I pay attention to is his new goatee.
Tamina w/AJ Lee vs. Nikki Bella w/Brie Bella
Tamina overpowers Nikki to start. Nikki gets a rollup for two and a dropkick to follow. Tamina bails out. Tamina shoves off Nikki during a monkey flip attempt. Tamina goes to a bow and arrow lock, which Nikki escapes from. Tamina hits a pumphandle slam for two. Tamina throws on that chinlock. Nikki gets out of an overhead backbreaker and gets a headscissors and a couple of clothesline. Nikki gets a facebuster as the crowd chants for ECW. AJ interferes, and Brie tries to take action, but gets taken down. Tamina hits the Superfly Splash (to Nikki’s knees) for the win. After the match, Brie dropkicks Tamina and AJ from the ring.
Final Thoughts: Ho-hum.
-Randy Orton is still being looked after, as The Shield shows up. Randy is all ticked off at them for not helping him. They remind him that they don’t work for him or anyone else, but they hope that he feels better.
Fandango w/Summer Rae vs. Tyson Kidd w/Natalya
Kidd in control to start, using a seated dropkick. Fandango comes back and tosses Kidd from the top and outside. Fandango makes sure to flirty with Nattie for a moment. Back inside, Fandango gets two. We get a side headlock, but Kidd squirms out of it and hits a springboard dropkick. Tyson gets a ‘rana to the outside, putting Fandango into the barricade. Back inside, Fandango catches Kidd in the sunset flip and sneaks away with a three count.
Final Thoughts: They really shouldn’t be pushing a breakup between Tyson and Nattie, since the crowd isn’t attached to Kidd, at all.
John Cena vs. The Real Americans w/Zeb Colter
Of course, The Real Americans get a bit of a face pop. Zeb kills it on the microphone before the match. We get a Mr. Bean reference and everything. Swagger starts off. Cena dances away after Swagger goes after the arm. Cesaro gets tagged in once Swagger gets frustrated. Del Rio pops up while Cena and Cesaro are locked up. Cesaro gets an elbow up and tosses Cena outside. Swagger gets a shot in on the outside. We hit a break.
We return with Cesaro hitting an uppercut. Antonio hits the gutwrench for two and brings in Swagger. Cesaro is quick to return, but Cena hits the new neckbreaker. Swagger comes back with a couple of Swaggerbombs. Swagger misses the third, and brings Cesaro back in. John gives the duo a pair of shoulderblocks but runs RIGHT into a big uppercut from Cesaro. Cena counters the giant swing, but Swagger comes in to attempt The Patriot Lock. Cena escapes and using some great strength to go for the AA, but Swagger chops the leg for two. Cesaro goes for The Neutalizer, but Cena backdrops out of it.
Cena meets Swagger in the middle and gets the fistdrop. Swagger rolls through on the AA and gets The Patriot Lock. Cena fights out and gets the AA. Cesaro breaks up the count. Cesaro gets tagged in, but gets a powerbomb from Cena for two. The two slug it out in the middle of the ring. Cena runs off, but gets lifted and hit with the based uppercut from Cesaro for two. Cesaro charges into the corner with the uppercut, and they go up. Cesaro falls off, and Swagger comes in unsuccessfully, getting the crossbody. Cesaro gets dumped, and Swagger taps to the STF. Del Rio attacks after the match and puts Cena’s arm through the business with a steel chair until Big E runs out to break it up. He gets a chant from the crowd in support.
Final Thoughts: **3/4. This was pretty fun for what it was, with Cesaro clearly being focused on as the superior member of the tag team.
-Back in the office, ADR is happy with himself next to Vickie, Brad and Kane. We get Big E versus Del Rio later on in the night.
Ryback vs. R-Truth
Ryback powers out of a top wristlock. Truth grabs a headlock, but Ryback powers out of that, too. Truth gets the foot up on the whip, but Ryback drives him into the corners. Truth is choked in the ropes before getting press slammed. Ryback hits a big splash for two. Then, Ryback goes to the bearhug. Truth fights out, but runs into a spinebuster. Truth dodges the Meathook, and rolls up Ryback for the surprise victory.
Final Thoughts: Uhh…moving on?
Big E Langston vs. Alberto Del Rio
Del Rio gets a kick to begin and slugs away, but Langston fires back in the corner. Big E gets a shoulderthrust in the corner and then runs though Del Rio. ADR gets the boots up in the corner for two, and works with boots. Big E telegraphs a back body drop and gets hit with a DDT. ADR grabs a sleeper, but Big E counters with a sideslam. A couple of clotheslines lead to a suplex and a big splash from Langston. Del Rio gets an enzuigiri in the corner for two. Langston comes back and mows through Del Rio. Alberto gets out of The Big Ending and grabs the cross armbreaker for the win.
Final Thoughts: *1/2. If you want to push Big E Langston as a big deal, you might want to have him power out of a submission hold or two.
-Paul Heyman is out in the ring with Curtis Axel and sitting in a wheelchair with braces all over his body. Heyman blames Ryback for his failures, calling him a big dummy. They had such nice chemistry. Also, he blames the fans for leaving him in this state. Heyman is just out here to declare vengeance upon CM Punk. Of course, once Punk’s music hits, Paul nearly shits himself. Punk walks down and does battle with Axel, quickly dispatching him with a GTS on the outside. Paul yells at Punk to leave him alone, but Punk comes in with a kendo stick and wheels him around the ring before dumping him and caning him a few times. Bryan comes out to begin the main event. Punk and Bryan are over like Gods.
The Indy Mega Powers vs. The Shield
Punk and Ambrose start the match. Dean grabs a side headlock. Dean gets a shoulderblock but ears a leg lariat. Bryan enters for the double suplex. Ambrose fires back with a back elbow and brings in Rollins, who takes a knee to the midsection. Bryan locks in the surfboard and tags in Punk, who comes in and kicks Rollins while he’s still stuck in Bryan’s grasp. Rollins fires back with a chop. Punk catches Rollins and catapults him into the corner.
Rollins scurries away and brings in Reigns. They lock up after a stare down, with Reigns taking control. Punk counters, however, and brings in Bryan. They chop away at Reigns with kicks, but get floored with a double clothesline. Rollins enters, but Bryan flips out of the corner and drops Seth on his head with a German. Bryan charges up and hits the corner dropkick. A ‘rana from the top gets two. Bryan kicks away, but a distraction from Ambrose leads to an enzuigiri on Bryan. We hit a break.
We return with Seth holding a chinlock on Bryan. Bryan battles back, but takes the HBK bump into the corner and crumples to the mat. That gets two for Rollins. Dean reenters and lays in the boots and an elbow drop. He bends the fingers back of Bryan and drags him into the corner to bring in Reigns to stomp and club away. He taunts at Bryan, and gets forearms in return. Bryan runs into a thrust and that gets a two count. Rollins comes back in for a scoop slam that gets two. He’s back to the chinlock.
Bryan elbows out, but Reigns returns. Reigns and Rollins miss charges and wind up outside. Punk gets the tag and takes down Ambrose, hitting a neckbreaker, knee, clothesline, and the Savage Elbow. Rollins breaks it up, but takes a Bryan dropkick. Bryan dives on Rollins, but Reigns takes him down. Punk takes down Reigns. Back inside, Punk kicks Dean in the head. Reigns interrupts and gets a GTS. Punk reverses on Ambrose and puts the Anaconda Vice on Ambrose. The Wyatts show up. The Wyatts tell The Shield to get out of the ring and start to argue. The Shield and The Wyatts finally come to blows to the delight of the fans. This is so cool. They finally stop for a moment to focus on Punk and Bryan. Changing positions, Punk and Bryan stand back to back, outnumbered six on two. The fight is on, with The Usos and The Rhodes Brothers joining Bryan and Punk. The heels are quickly knocked from the ring, and it looks like we have ourselves a 6 on 6 Survivor Series match.
Final Thoughts: ***. This was a lot of fun, and I was worried about CM Punk and Daniel Bryan not having good chemistry, but that was put to bed rather early. As for the conclusion of the match, it was so much fun to watch The Shield and Wyatts fighting for a moment. I can’t wait for the Survivor Series match.
–Well, the crowd was alright, and I don’t blame them for getting bored during some of the throwaway matches on the show. They really seemed to be saving energy for their heroes of Bryan and Punk. There were lots and lots of t-shirts for those guys in the audience. I wasn’t a fan or Big Show putting Orton through that table like he did, since we waited months for Bryan to kick some ass in a big way and never got it. That bothered I, as opinions are abound defending WWE for pulling the plug on Bryan, it seems. Cena definitely has his eyes on Cesaro and treats his encounters in the ring with him as a big deal. I want to see that twenty minute, epic matchup. Overall, I’d stick to the very beginning of the show, Cena’s handicap match, and the main event to get the hour of entertainment needed.
