Monday Night Raw July 8th, 2013 - Review

This is the #1050th episode of Monday Night Raw live from Baltimore, Maryland. Feels like It was just yesterday we were all getting hyped up for the  1000th Episode of Raw. This is the final Raw before the Money In The Bank pay-per-view. 


Raw kicked off with Vickie Guerrero. She was sucking up to the fans to save her job. Pretty boring way to kick off the show but at least she booked some matches. Since It's the last Raw before the MITB PPV, The Raw MITB competitors will be in action against each other. It will be Sheamus vs Daniel Bryan, Kane vs Christian and Main event will be Randy Orton vs CM Punk.



Daniel Bryan vs Sheamus

This match was the best match of the night. The crowd was really into It, and Both wrestled a fantastic match. Bryan and Sheamus match at Extreme Rules 2012 was absolutely amazing, so I had high expectations of this match and It was great. I loved how It was a competitive match and was given enough time. Bryan beating Sheamus clean gave him momentum heading Into the pay-per-view this Sunday, which isn't a good thing. 

Winner: Daniel Bryan 



WWE Tag Team Champions Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns vs Tons Of Funks 


The match wasn't as bad as you'd think, There were some fun spots. The crowd barely cared for It. The ending to the match was really great, the best part of the whole match. That awesome spear by Reigns was really good. Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns will defend their Tag-Team Champions against The Usos This Sunday at MITB. 

Winner: Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns



John Cena/Mark Henry - Face-To-Face

Effective Segment between Henry and Cena. I remember they did this same face-to-face confrontation between Ryback and John Cena before WWE Payback. Both Henry and Cena were good on the mic, Not much comedy either. The segment made the match feel Important Sunday, well at least to me. Cena showed signs of fear from Henry, so that was nice to see. Henry got the upper hand on John Cena, so I don't think Henry is winning Sunday. 

Curtis Axel vs Chris Jericho

Good match between the two. However, I was surprised that Curtis Axel lost his first match under Paul Heyman on Raw. I'm not saying He lost to a wrong guy, because Come on It's Chris Jericho, but They should've done It on a PPV or something. Nonetheless, Axel losing makes some fans wonder If He will lose Sunday to Miz (He wont). I was shocked that Ryback didn't appear, Does WWE know they have booked Chris Jericho vs Ryback at MITB? Doesn't look like It. 

Winner: Chris Jericho


Alberto Del Rio vs Sin Cara

The Sin Cara lights has made Its return again, Yuck. I didn't really cared for this match and I doubt WWE cared either hence the finish. Dolph Ziggler Interfered and cut a promo about Del Rio. It was okay, nothing that good but at least It build the match between the two This Sunday. 


Result: No Contest


Vickie Guerrero Job Evaluation

This was an entertaining segment. This may not be a popular opinion but I've enjoyed this McMahon angle, Some segments are just weak but this one was good. They wasted a lot of time for It, though. But at least in the end they got to their point. HHH and Vince continued to argue, so they let Stephanie decide. Stephanie let the WWE App (WWE Universe) decide and 75% voted Fail for Vickie and 25% voted Pass. To those 25% you all are awesome, To those 75% "Y'all are bunch of puppets". I wasn't surprised that they named Brad Maddox the New GM, It was way too obvious. I think Vickie will be Ryback's manager now. 

Kane vs Christian

Decent match but the crowd didn't care that much for It though It was well-wrestled. The match was about 5-6 minutes, and most of the action took place during the commercial. Kane countered a spear to a Chokeslam to win the match. 

Winner: Kane


After the match, Lights went off and The Wyatt Family's music played. I was surprised that they went after Kane. I don't know If Kane is still part of the MITB Ladder match Sunday, but even if He is, I think The Wyatt Family will cost him and this could possibly set up Brothers of Destruction vs The Wyatt Family at SummerSlam. I liked their debut, Some may have wanted more but You shouldn't have expected a lot anyways. The "Husky Harris" chants were funny but killed the segment. I look forward to what they do next. 

The Wyatt Family makes their debut

Kaitlyn and Layla vs AJ Lee and Alicia Fox

The Bellas were on commentary for this match, They didn't do anything but I guess they were put to plug the Total Divas show. It was a stupid way to promote It, but guess what's what they wanted. The spear Kaitlyn gave AJ was really Impressive, gave Kaitlyn momentum heading into her title bout with AJ Lee for the Divas Champion at MITB. 

Result: No Contest





Main Event: Randy Orton vs CM Punk

It was a good match, but you'd expect better judging by their past bouts. CM Punk beat Orton clean which was surprising since I didn't even expect this match to have a finish, thought It would end in a No DQ or something. Post-match, Bryan came out and attacked Orton with a ladder. Bryan climbed up the ladder and grabbed the Money In The Bank briefcase. As I said, This too much momentum for Bryan going into the MITB PPV might mean He isn't winning. Daniel Bryan has been my favorite to win this match since It was announced but I have doubts after Raw. Nonetheless, I like that It's unpredictable.  

Winner: CM Punk


Overall, It wasn't a bad show but just not that good either. Best match of the night was Bryan vs Sheamus and The Main event was also good. Some segments/matches bored me. New General Manager named, The debut of The Wyatt Family. Great build-up for the MITB pay-per-view This Sunday, I'm really excited for It. My MITB predictions will be on my blog sometime this week. 


Follow me on Twitter: @OfficialCenafan


       PICTURE OF THE WEEK: 

Top 3 Superstars to win The Smackdown Money In The Bank

The Money In The Bank pay-per-view is one of the most entertaining ppvs of the year, And part of the reason why is because of the MITB ladder matches which are entertaining and unpredictable. In 2010, Kane won the SD MITB and later on cashed it on Rey Mysterio. In 2011, Daniel Bryan won and cashed it on Big Show. In 2012, Dolph Ziggler won It. Each year the MITB matches has babyfaces, Heels but this year The Raw MITB has all the babyfaces and Smackdown MITB has all the heels. I will give you my top 3 picks to win this years Smackdown Money In The Bank.

#1: Wade Barrett

Now When It comes to Who is prepared to be a World Champion, It's Wade Barrett. At the end of 2011, Wade Barrett was getting a push when He was getting victories over many superstars like Randy Orton and His Barrett Barrage was hard to stop. But a Injury in a Battle Royal in early 2012 caused Barrett to miss most of the action and He missed WrestleMania 28. If Barrett wouldn't have been Injured, I think He would be a World Champion right now. 

Barrett lost the Intercontinental Champion to The Miz at WrestleMania 29 and then won It back the next night. Ever since then The Intercontinental Champion has been a curse to him. He has been losing every single week. He has lost the IC Champion now and All he needs is Money In The Bank briefcase now. Wade Barrett is my 1st pick to win the Smackdown MITB Ladder match.

#2: Cody Rhodes

Cody Rhodes was one of the longest reigning Intercontinental Champion in the last decade. In his reign, He defeated the likes of Sheamus, Booker T, etc. His reign was absolutely amazing, He held It for around 230 days. He then dropped the title to Big Show at WrestleMania 28. He has been with Damien Sandow for the last 5-6 months now and They're really entertaining, but Let's face It, It has been pointless, They never won the tag titles. 


I thought Cody Rhodes would challenge for the World Heavyweight Champion because He has all the tools to be a main event superstar. These past weeks, WWE has been hinting of a Cody Rhodes face turn. A Face turn can be what Rhodes needs and I hope It happens.
 Cody Rhodes was part of the Smackdown Money In The Bank in 2011, and 2012 as well. He has always been close to winning It but never won It. Could this be the year that He finally wins the MITB briefcase? He is one of my picks to win It. 

#3: Fandango

Fandango beat Chris Jericho at WrestleMania 29 and then the next night on Raw, He was so over with the New Jersey crowd. He became one of the hottest superstars at that time, His entrance music was everywhere. He was set to become the New Intercontinental Champion at last months WWE Payback PPV But an unfortunate Injury caused him out of the match. If that Injury wouldn't have happend, I'm 100% sure that Fandango would be the Intercontinental Champion right now. 


Fandango made his return to Raw one week ago losing by count-out to Sheamus. Now Let's be honest, Fandango isn't ready to be a World Champion. But It was reported few weeks back that Fandango is Vince McMahon's new Pet project. Could Fandango win the Smackdown MITB briefcase? I think so, Don't rule him out. Vince loves him. I do think He should win a mid-card title first, Instead of just being jumped right Into World Title picture but I wouldn't be surprised If He actually wins It. 


These are my top 3 picks to win the Smackdown MITB ladder match. My personal favorite to win It is Wade Barrett because He really needs It. I wouldn't mind if Cody Rhodes wins It either. I don't think Jack Swagger will win, He should rather be punished for his actions. Damien Sandow could also win, He is really entertaining on the mic. Antonio Cesaro seems unlikely to me but I do think being with Zeb Colter could help him. Dean Ambrose doesn't need to win It, It's just that simple. This match is really unpredictable and I'm really excited for It. 

Also do check out My top 3 picks to win the Raw Money In The Bank.

Top 3 Superstars to win the Raw Money In The Bank

In this blog, I'm going to give you my top 3 picks to win the 2013 Raw Money In The Bank briefcase. The Money In The Bank is one of the most exciting pay-per-view of the year and the SD-RAW MITB matches are one of the reasons why because of It's unpredictability. The past Raw MITB winners has been The Miz, Alberto Del Rio, John Cena last year Who became the first superstar to cash-in and lose. There are seven superstars in the RAW MITB and they are Sheamus, Christian, Daniel Bryan, CM Punk, Randy Orton, Kane and The returning Rob Van Dam. The RAW MITB has all the babyfaces in It which is quite different but I think It's cool. Now I will give you my top 3 to win the MITB briefcase and Why they should win or needs to win.

#1: Daniel Bryan

Daniel Bryan shocked everybody when He won the Smackdown MITB in 2011. Well at least He shocked me because I was totally not expecting him to win the MITB. But that's where his journey began, He cashed his MITB on Big Show after Big Show beat Mark Henry at TLC 2011 and became the New World Heavyweight Champion. He had a good reign which lasted till WrestleMania where He lost the World Heavyweight Champion to Sheamus in 18 seconds. Now, That 18 second loss got him over huge. Those YES chants really begun at WrestleMania 28 in Miami. And now two years later, Daniel Bryan might once again win the MITB but this time the Raw MITB contract for the WWE Champion. 


Daniel Bryan is Incredibly over with the crowd, Every week on Raw and Smackdown the Yes! chants are Increasing. He is the hottest thing in wrestling at the moment. Few weeks back, It was reported that Daniel Bryan vs John Cena for the WWE Champion might happen at the MITB pay-per-view but It seems like WWE has changed their mind and Bryan might win the MITB and then feud with Cena for the WWE Champion. Bryan doesn't really need to win the MITB to become a #1 contender for the WWE Champion but this "weak link" thing going on these past weeks, The MITB win could really be that Big win Bryan needs. Imagine, How the philly crowd will react when Bryan wins the MITB. 


Winning the RAW MITB would be the beginning of Daniel Bryan's journey to the WWE Champion. Daniel Bryan could win the RAW MITB and then announce that he is cashing in against John Cena at the SummerSlam pay-per-view. I don't know If WWE will turn Bryan heel for the feud vs Cena. As dumb as It would be to turn the most over guy on the roster, I think It will happen. Daniel Bryan is my #1 pick to win the RAW MITB this year. 

#2: Rob Van Dam

Few weeks back at WWE Payback, WWE announced that RVD will be returning at the Money In The Bank PPV. Ever since then, WWE has been airing his returning video packages at every show and the fans love It. Two weeks ago, WWE announced what His role would be at the PPV. He will be one of the seven competitors in the Raw MITB. 


RVD was on TNA earlier this year, In his latest Interview, It seems like He didn't like How he was used in TNA. He said that WWE's one video package of 40 seconds has created more promotion than TNA did in the last 3 years. Rob basically didn't like that He was barely promoted in TNA. 


RVD winning the RAW MITB in Philly and then starting a feud with Cena would also be good. There would be a lot of buzz If the returning RVD wins the MITB and then have a match against John Cena at SummerSlam. RVD's video packages has gotten a lot of cheers by the crowd every week and It seems like He will be returning as a babyface. There may not be a lot of reasons as to Why RVD should win the MITB, Just like Bryan, he has already won It before but I could see WWE having him win the briefcase and challenge for the WWE Champion.

#3: Randy Orton 

Randy Orton has not had gold around his waist since nearly two years. He lost his World Heavyweight Champion to Mark Henry at Night of Champions 2011 and ever since then He has not been the champion. Randy Orton has been feuding with Daniel Bryan for the last couple of weeks and has also tapped out to Daniel Bryan on Raw 2 weeks back. Orton has been featured heavily in the past few weeks with being with Team Hell No to feuding with Bryan. 


Everyone has been hoping for Randy Orton to turn heel and this MITB cash-in could be How he can turn heel. Now, there are a lot of other ways to turn him heel but winning the Money In The Bank and cashing in could be one simple way to just turn him heel. Orton has won the Rumble before, Won World Titles many times but has never won a MITB briefcase so this win could be a good achievement in his career. Orton doesn't have a lot of chances to win the MITB but compared to others (Kane, Sheamus, Punk, Christian) He has more chances to win it which is why He is on my top 3. 




These are the top 3 superstars that I think has the most chances to win the RAW MITB this year. I may not have given enough reasons as to why each should win It but I'm sure one of these three will win It. The Raw MITB ladder matches last year were pretty predictable, Almost everyone knew that John Cena would win the RAW MITB and Dolph Ziggler for the Smackdown MITB. One thing we can all agree on is this years RAW MITB will be much better than last year because of It's star power with superstars like RVD, Punk, Orton, Bryan, etc. 



Hope you enjoyed this blog, The Money In The Bank pay-per-view is on July 14th. 8 matches for the ppv has been announced so far.


Follow me on Twitter: @OfficialCenafan

Monday Night Raw July 1st, 2013 - Review

Monday Night Raw this week was a average show. It wasn't necessarily a bad show but It wasn't better than The post-Payback show and Last weeks show. However, I liked the build-up for MITB though we still have one more Raw left before the pay-per-view. 


Vickie Guerrero announced that The Main Event tonight is Alberto Del Rio vs John Cena in a Champion vs Champion match. 

Daniel Bryan kicked off the show with as usual massive cheers. He has a new shirt "Respect The Beard", Lots of YES! chants. There was a ladder in the ring and a Red MITB briefcase. He talked about How he proved last week that He is not the weak link when He made Randy Orton tap out. He spoke about winning the WWE Champion and also mentioned some of the other former Champions. Sheamus Interrupted and said How he made Bryan lose in 18 seconds at WrestleMania, and Then Randy Orton also came out saying He hasn't been champion since nearly two years. 


All the MITB participants (except RVD) were in the ring together and All of them told about Why they deserve to win the MITB and How long It has been since they have been champion. The whole segment was predictable but Logical at the same times, All the superstars played their roles well on the mic explaining why they should win the MITB. As you'd expect, things got out of hand as Randy Orton RKO'd Kane. They made Randy Orton look strong as every other participant moved out of the ring. Overall, It was a solid segment to kick off a average Raw. 


Since tonight is Champion vs Champion match between Cena and Del Rio, they will air clips of some of the other greatest champions in History. 



The Shield defeated Christian and The Usos in a great match. Just incase You don't know, Usos and Christian shockingly gave Shield their 2nd loss on Smackdown this past week so This was a rematch. This match was good but wasn't better than their Smackdown bout. The whole match was set to let Shield get their revenge from Friday Night. Also Interesting that They had Christian get pinned  Instead of one of the Usos, That way you have Usos look like a threat to The Shield. I also think this rivalry will also set up Dean Ambrose vs Christian at SummerSlam. 



Dolph Ziggler beat Jinder Mahal in a basically, a squash match. So Ziggler has a match at Money In The Bank for The World Heavyweight Champion and by beating Jinder Mahal, He is getting ready for the match. The crowd began to chant Announcers name Instead of paying one bit of attention to the match. Post-match, 3MB tried to attack Dolph Ziggler, He avoided the attack from them and gave McIntyre a Zig Zag outside the ring. That was fantastic. 

Good match between Randy Orton and Kane with Daniel Bryan as the special guest referee. On Smackdown, Orton beat Kane so this was yet another rematch from Smackdown. The crowd chanted for Bryan rather than caring about the match. Bryan pushed Orton, which made Bryan angry and He called the match off. Kane didn't liked It, so It was restarted. Kane beat Orton after a fast count by Bryan. Post-match, Kane tried to chokeslam Bryan but He didn't do It and left the ring. But then Bryan turned around and got a RKO from Randy Orton. 



Sheamus beat Fandango by count-out in Fandango's return match. I think It would have been better had Fandango got a surprising win over Sheamus since He made his return. I thought the finish was very weak, to Have Fandango return from the Injury and then lose by count-out. Pointless match and waste of time. 

Fandango makes his return

The Miz beat Ryback in a decent match after Ryback decided to quit. It was great to have Chris Jericho in the commentary table. I don't understand why they had that finish because It made Ryback who hasn't won a PPV since 12 months weaker than He already is. Chris Jericho gave him a code breaker after the match. 


Decent promo from Mark Henry hyping his match with John Cena at The Money In The Bank pay-per-view. He talked about earning the respect from last 17 years. The crowd were chanting WHAT throughout the whole promo which was annoying since It doesn't let wrestlers cut a good promo, IMO. It wasn't better than the fake retirement speech promo but It was alright. 

CM Punk and Curtis Axel teamed up to take on The Prime Time Players. Axel wasn't tagging Punk throughout the whole match, which lead to a little arguement between them. The crowd were silent throughout the whole match Until Axel made the hot-tag to Punk and the crowd finally woke up. CM Punk hit a GTS on Darren Young but Axel tagged himself in and pinned Young to win the match. CM Punk was not Impressed. Heyman wanted them to celebrate, but Punk just left. They are doing really great with the Heyman/Punk angle so far, Sooner or later, Heyman will turn on Punk. 

Decent match between Kaitlyn and Alicia Fox. Is Alicia Fox a heel or a babyface? we don't know. Layla was there ringside for Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn hit a spear to win the match. Post-match, The Divas Champion AJ Lee and Big E Langston showed up. AJ showed some funny pictures of Kaitlyn. Out of everything we've seen between AJ/Kaitlyn, This was a poor segment. Nevertheless, Still a good build-up for their rematch at Money In The Bank. 


Good match between Antonio Cesaro and Cody Rhodes. First of all, Why is Cody Rhodes (a heel) facing another heel and In front of a crowd like that? That's tough. Cesaro hit the Neutralizer to win the match. Post-match, They mentioned How Damien Sandow is angry that Cody Rhodes lost, Which could lead to a feud between them and Cody Rhodes to turn face. 


Backstage segment with Bellas and other divas to promote the new TV show: Total Divas. Poor segment. 


Great match between The World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio and The WWE Champion John Cena. This match was promoted the whole night, so at least It had a finish, I thought It would end in a No count-out or something. I think this was the best match of the night but then again there weren't a lot of matches that were given as much as time this match was given. Cena and Del Rio has wrestled twice against each other on pay-per-views and about three or four times on Raw. Mark Henry Interrupted but He didn't do much except just stand outside the ring. Dolph Ziggler distracted Alberto Del Rio, Cena gave a AA to Del Rio to win the match. Post-match, Mark Henry played mind games with Cena and left the ring. 

The show ended with One more Wyatt Family video promo. They will be debuting next week. I think they will get a big push upon their arrival. 



Again, It was a average episode of Raw. Nothing exciting happend, or anything notable. I liked that they announced couple of more matches for the MITB pay-per-view. The card is stacked. If I had to rate this Raw, I'd give It a 4/10 (Happy Canada Day). 

Follow me on Twitter: @OfficialCenafan


     PICTURE OF THE WEEK:

Monday Night Raw June 24th, 2013 - Review

This week's Raw was another great episode with some solid matches and some great segments. It wasn't better than last week's show but that shouldn't be surprising. It was still not as bad as you'd think, The 1st hour and second hour dragged at times but the third hour was great. 

- The opening video package showed what happend on Raw last week. Brock Lesnar giving CM Punk a F5 and Mark Henry attacked John Cena. It was a great video package. 

Daniel Bryan kicked off the show with massive cheers. He talked about How people never believed that He was a wrestler, and they thought He was an extra in the hobbit. He said He is not the weak link, which was the whole point of the promo. He said He beat Randy Orton on Smackdown by count-out, and If It was anybody else He'd have took a count-out win but He isn't like them, He won't be satisfied until He pins Randy Orton or makes him tap out. Randy Orton comes out and tells Daniel Bryan to "Shut up and fight".

Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan had a brawl for about a minute or so, and then the match ended in a double DQ. It wasn't the most exciting start to Raw but I think It was done to set up a re-match between the two later in the night so at least It was effective. 

- Vickie Guerrero, Brad Maddox and Daniel Bryan are backstage. Bryan wasn't happy about the match ending in a double DQ and wanted a rematch. Vickie set up a rematch between the two later in the night.

Decent match that ended in Sheamus and Christian beating The Rhodes Scholars. I think It would've been better to have Christian pin to win the match but I guess they wanted Sheamus to get his revenge from last week after losing to Sandow. I thought It was hilarious that Christian was Sheamus' tag-partner since they had a huge rivalry in 2011 and in 2012 Christian wanted Sheamus' brogue kick to be banned during the DelRio/Sheamus feud. Also, Sheamus vs Damien Sandow in a Dublin Street Fight is announced for Smackdown.

- Backstage Vickie was trying to talk to CM Punk but Punk was Ignoring her. He asked her If Paul Heyman is here, and then He asked If Brock Lesnar is here. Vickie then told Punk He will be competing in a match tonight since He was ignoring her. CM Punk seemed to not even give a crap about anything other than Lesnar/Heyman, Oh and Chicago BlackHawks. 

Kaitlyn defeated Aksana in under one minute. During the match, AJ's music hit and She was dressed up as Kaitlyn which I thought was very well done. AJ & Big E Langston continued to mock Kaitlyn while Layla isn't letting Kaitlyn go. This was excellent, They are really pushing the Divas Division which is pretty great. Very entertaining stuff!

Another creepy Wyatt family video was shown. I think they'll most likely debut before SummerSlam.

Chris Jericho defeated Alberto Del Rio in a great match by DQ. That was a excellent match between Del Rio and Jericho. Ricardo Rodriguez hit Jericho with the Stupid Bucket which caused the DQ. Del Rio may not be the best on the mic but He is really great in the ring. He proved that with Jericho was also looked strong here. Dolph Ziggler came out and attacked Alberto Del Rio just like He did last week. Ziggler gave both Del Rio and Jericho a Zig-Zag which lead me to believe We will see a triple threat between the three for the World Heavyweight Champion at Money In The Bank. They have booked Ziggler perfectly since His face turn. 

- Backstage segment with HHH, Vickie and Maddox. HHH said that He heard that The Bryan/Orton match is getting cancelled and He doesn't want It too. Vince is the villian in this McMahon story and HHH is the one that does what we fans want. And Well Stephanie, She is just stuck in the middle.

- Vickie Guerrero , Brad Maddox and Jerry Lawler are in the ring as they showed the WWE 2K14 cover. Vickie was getting A LOT of heat from the crowd was just amazing. Vickie is the best heel in the WWE at the moment. They wasted a lot of time to show the cover but In the end they finally showed and It was none other than The Rock. Yes everybody The Rock is a part timer but I believe It's good because after all It's business. I always buy the video games, so I don't care who is on the cover.

Squash match between Ryback and The Great Khali. Ryback was not on Raw last week (selling the Ambulance spot from Payback), so He made his return this week to face the biggest name left in WWE. It was pretty Impressive seeing Ryback Shell Shock The Great Khali, He has lost so many PPVs that It's hard to take him seriously. 

The WWE Champion John Cena came out with the usual mixed reaction from the crowd. Cena talked about How people have done some crazy things in the past to get to the WWE Champion. He said He saw last week How low can someone sink in to get the WWE Champion. People always talk about How WWE Champion isn't that prestige but this promo was just all about How Important the WWE Champion is. That was a strong promo from John Cena, I was kind of surprised that Henry didn't Interrupt but He had his own promo time later in the night which I will get to. 

The Usos beat Brodus & Tensai and Jinder Mahal and Drew McIntyre to become the #1 contenders for the WWE Tag Team Champions. The Shield doesn't have a lot of challengers at the moment and WWE had Usos wins few matches in the last weeks so It was pretty obvious that They'll win. The Shield's music hit as Ambrose, Reigns and Rollins stared at The Usos. I think we will see Usos get their title match at the Money In The Bank pay-per-view.

Paul Heyman comes out and they're showing the footage from last week where Lesnar attacked CM Punk. Heyman said He didn't answer Punk's texts, phone calls, etc because He wanted to respond on Raw. CM Punk comes out with a great ovation from the crowd. CM Punk talked about Why He is the Paul Heyman guy which was the great part of the promo. He told Heyman to let Lesnar know that He is coming for him. Punk said He doesn't care if Brock is bigger than him, stronger than him but the fact is He is better than him. Punk said He is the Best Wrestler In The World. Punk talked about How Heyman has always lied but never did any wrong to him. He asked Paul Heyman to tell the truth If He had a role in why Brock Lesnar attacked him last week. 
As the fans chanted "We want the truth", Heyman said He swears off his children that He did not know If Brock Lesnar was going to show up last week. As Heyman was saying How Punk wants the truth, I thought He was really going to say Yeah He sent Lesnar. Heyman said He will walk down with Punk someday again and When He is challenging for the WWE Champion. Fans chanted "GTS" as Punk looked at Paul Heyman and they Hugged It out. Punk said I'm sorry I doubted you and they hugged for more than 30 minutes. This was a Excellent promo between the two of the best on the mic. I do think Heyman will turn on Punk sooner or later but This promo was really brilliant. 

Good match between CM Punk and Darren Young.  I was surprised as this match lasted more than five minutes as I didn't expect It to be. Punk made Young tapped out and after the match Both Titus and Young attacked Punk as the other Paul Heyman Guy Curtis Axel made the save. Punk did not lookmAhappy about It. Also Curtis Axel & CM Punk vs Prime Time Players is announced for next week.

Stephanie McMahon came out and She said It's that time of the year again - Money In The Bank. Stephanie announced the WWE Championship MITB participants: CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Sheamus, Randy Orton, Christian, Kane, RVD. I have to say this will be an awesome MITB match. I know I'm not the only one that has noticed All are babyfaces and there are no heels. The star power in this match is huge, and I think It will be a excellent match at Money In The Bank.

- Backstage Vickie and Maddox were talking about How Incredible of a job Stephanie has done. Ryback walked in and said He wants a title shot since He has pinned John Cena and John Cena has never pinned him. Cena won a tables match and a Ambulance match at Payback. Chris Jericho also walked in and said He also wants a title shot. Vickie set up a match between the two at the MITB ppv. 

Mark Henry came out, He was very happy. He talked about How everybody was chanting "Henry, Henry Henry" last week when He said He was retiring. Henry said the fans are puppets and they do what He tells them to do. Great promo from Mark Henry again, It wasn't as good as last weeks but He got his point across. Bit of surprising that both Cena and Henry cut a separate promo. Nonetheless, Good promo from Mark Henry. 

Daniel Bryan celebrates after beating Randy Orton

Excellent Street Fight match between Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan. I was surprised that This match was the main event but It was good to see a change. Daniel Bryan made Randy Orton tap out to win the match which I was also shocked. I thought Bryan would win via a pinfall but making Randy Orton tap out established him as a star. I think the last time Randy Orton taped out was against Alberto Del Rio in 2012. I think Daniel Bryan might win the MITB with the crowd reaction He gets and this win over Orton proves He is going to be pushed. Post-match Bryan celebrated with the crowd, and they chanted "You taped out" to Randy Orton. Raw ended with Bryan celebrating as the crowd chanted YES!

As I said, The show wasn't as good as It was last week but Still It was a great episode. There were two great matches. The Heyman/Punk segment was awesome, Cena/Henry's strong promo. Only four matches are announced for the Money In The Bank pay-per-view but I expect more to be added soon as There are two more Episodes of Raw left before the MITB pay-per-view. 


Follow me on Twitter: @OfficialCenafan



               PICTURE OF THE WEEK: 

Matches Confirmed for Money In The Bank 2013

WWE Champion: John Cena vs Mark Henry 

World Heavyweight Champion: Alberto Del Rio vs Dolph Ziggler

WWE Championship Contract MITB Ladder Match

Chris Jericho vs Ryback

World Heavyweight Champion Contract MITB Ladder Match

WWE Tag Team Champions: Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins vs The Usos

(KickOff Match)

Divas Champion: AJ lee vs Kaitlyn

Intercontinental Championship: Curtis Axel vs The Miz

Monday Night Raw June, 17th 2013 - Review

This was the post Payback show and It was one of the best episodes of Raw in recent memory. It was just like the Day after WrestleMania 29, It was just fantastic. Crowd was just not that hot as post-WM show one but Damn, they were better than most of the crowds. The show featured swerve, New feuds, returns and more. We kicked off two major feuds as well. The Money In The Bank which is in 4 weeks, The card you predict already looks fantastic. Alberto Del Rio officially turned heel, Mark Henry trolled fans, Brock Lesnar made his return. As always, I will talk about each match and segment and give my thoughts about It, so Let's go...

The New World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio kicked off the show. He barely got a reaction from the crowd to be honest, but He did later in his promo. He talked about How people cheered Ziggler when He was cashing in his MITB contract on him after WM 29 and He said that's exactly what He did. He made a Interesting point there that received a lot of boos. He called Ziggler "a pig and a coward". Just to point out that Alberto Del Rio cashed in his MITB the exact same way on CM Punk at SummerSlam 2011. The crowd booed Del Rio more - Exactly what Del Rio needs. 


Out comes, CM Punk. He reminded Del Rio about Survivor Series 2011 and How his historic title reign started there by beating him. CM Punk also defended Dolph Ziggler by saying He deserves his rematch. Punk challenged Del Rio to a match on Raw, Paul Heyman said His clients don't fight for free, Punk was annoyed by that. Good to see they teased a Punk/Heyman break-up which willl happen soon. Vickie Guerrero and Brad Maddox comes out and makes Del Rio vs Punk the main event of Raw tonight. That was a great segment to kick off the show - Del Rio did his job well as a heel, A great promo from him. 



Backstage Heyman apologizes to CM Punk for what He said earlier. CM Punk told Heyman that He does not need his help, He told him that He does not need him to be ringside for any of his matches anymore. Again, Great tease which will happen soon. 

Wade Barrett was set to have his rematch vs Curtis Axel for the Intercontinental Champion, Vickie Guerrero comes out and announced that Barrett will face a Returning Superstar...... CHRISTIAN! It's good to see Christian back but from few weeks I've been hearing about How WWE doesn't have any storyline for him to return but that return was just random. They could've done this like a month ago. Christian gets a pinfall victory over the former IC Champion Wade Barrett. 

Another Bray Wyatt Vignette aired, It looks like It's the same to me every week but nevertheless, Let's hope they debut soon.


Sheamus took on both members of Team Rhodes Scholars. It was a fun match, with a great ending. Damien Sandow getting the upset victory over Sheamus was awesome, But they could've done this at Payback. Sheamus still gave Cody Rhodes a brogue kick after the match. I do wonder if this feud has ended or not. 

Backstage segment between HHH and Vickie. Triple H told her to make a example of The Shield and put on a good show tonight. I don't really mind these segments between The McMahons I think They are entertaining. 


Backstage segment with Daniel Bryan and Kane. Bryan said Kane is glad that He and Orton didn't win the Tag titles at Payback. Bryan said He wants to go for the WWE Championship, He wants to focus on "Team Daniel Bryan or Team D.B". And Kane with the line of the night "That makes sense because you are acting like a D.B". That might be the end of Team Hell No but I don't think so.

Fans had to choose the match between Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan on Our favorite app on the Internet. It was set to be a NO DQ match. The match was going pretty great until Bryan suffered a Injury by Orton. The Doctors had to stop the match. The match could've been really good but The finish ruined It.


The Divas Champion AJ is out to cut a promo about her win at Payback. She talked about How she is a example of How a women should be "Strong, Brilliant, courageous". She challenged anyone to come down here and Stephanie McMahon Interrupted. Stephanie cut a amazing promo, While AJ looked unstable. Kaitlyn soon Interrupted Boss Lady and went onto the ring to brawl with AJ Lee. Big E Langston had to break the fight. Stephanie telling Kaitlyn and rest of the divas to never Interrupt her was pure gold. The segment furthered the feud between AJ and Kaitlyn. Overall, a great segment. Finally people are caring about The Divas. 

It's time for a United States Champion rematch from Payback pay-per-view between Dean Ambrose and Kane. The match between these two at Payback wasn't even that good, Least favorite match of the night. The Shield got Involved in this match, Roman Reigns speared Kane. They should seriously do something different with The Shield, It's almost like the samething every week. We saw Vickie Guerrero talking to The Shield backstage, Remember folks Triple H warned Vickie that Shield should not get Involved in this match. "What are you going to do, Spank us" - Ambrose. PG, oops. 



Zeb Colter is out and He aligns with Antonio Cesaro. Some might say this doesn't make sense, but This could be what Cesaro needs. He has been losing matches recently so It's good for Cesaro. It was up against William Regal, It was just like a squash match. Cesaro won the match with The Neutralizer. 

The WWE Champion John Cena is out to address his win from WWE Payback. Cena talked about His awful 2012 and How bad It was. He said that It's not gonna be easy for the Money In The Bank winner to target him, He will always be ready. Mark Henry Interrupts and is out to announce his retirement. First thing I thought: Why would Mark Henry announce his retirement during Cena's promo? Well I wasn't fully trolled. Mark Henry had tears in his eyes (Not sure If those were real), The fans chanted "Thank You Henry" as He talked about being home with his family. Cena comes to hug Henry as Henry gives him a Worlds Strongest Slam. "I got a lot left in the tank". First of all, That was a great promo from Henry. I was mixed with what to believe because I was thinking He is really retiring then I thought Nah. But He really trolled a lot of people with a show stealing performance. I thought He was going to retire but When He Interrupted Cena, I wasn't sure If he is really retiring. John Cena vs Mark Henry for the WWE Championship is made official for the Money In The Bank pay-per-view.


Decent match between Heath Slater and Chris Jericho. This was probably the only match that I wasn't really Interested in through out the whole show but Jericho made It Interesting. Jericho got the easy win over Heath Slater with a codebreaker. They should have a new feud for Jericho now, but I'm thinking He is leaving soon for Fozzy.


The New Intercontinental Champion Curtis Axel faced Sin Cara. Axel's moves looked way too awkward, especially the DDT. You can blame The Botchamania Sin Cara for It. Axel won the match by pinfall after a DDT. This was the 2nd squash match on the show along with the Cesaro/Regal match.

Time for the Main Event match between Alberto Del Rio and CM Punk. I was really surprised that this match is ending the show and not that Mark Henry segment but A return was the reason It was the main event. Del Rio kept getting out of the ring every chance He got proving more that He is a coward heel. Del Rio was leaving, Dolph Ziggler attacked from behind, Crowd popped for that. But then... Brock Lesnar returned and went face-to-face with CM Punk and gave him a devastating F5. It seems like Heyman sent Lesnar to do that based on what Punk said to Heyman earlier on the night or Brock just didn't appreciate that Punk said He [Lesnar] needs Paul Heymans help. We will most likely see CM Punk vs Brock Lesnar feud now but I wonder If we'll see It at MITB or at SummerSlam. Either way, It is going to be a great feud between Two Paul Heyman guys. 

Overall, This was a great Episode of Monday Night Raw. It seems like the Post PPV shows are exciting. This was the best Raw in recent years, up there with the Post WrestleMania 28 and WrestleMania 29 Raw. The Show is improving every week, Which is good to see. Summer is here and Wrestling is fun, I hope WWE continues giving us shows like this more often or every week. 


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