WWE RAW 20th May 2013 - LIVE Discussion

[Dale]

Show(off) time

Alberto Del Rio proved his mettle at Extreme Rules when he forced Jack Swagger to say “I Quit,†thereby earning the sole title of No. 1 contender for the World Heavyweight Championship. But now comes Del Rio’s greatest challenge: defeating the man who took the title from him in the first place, Dolph Ziggler. The Showoff’s been absent for a couple weeks now while he recuperates from a concussion, but look for the dynamic World Heavyweight Champion to make his return sooner rather than later as he prepares to face Del Rio.


Hail to the hounds

If The Shield’s dominance was ever in question, Extreme Rules erased all doubt that the former NXT standouts are here for the long haul in WWE: Following Dean Ambrose’s conquest of U.S. Champion Kofi Kingston and Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns’ dethroning of Team Hell No as WWE Tag Team Champions, all three Shield members now wear championship gold around their waists. Having secured their spot in the current pantheon of WWE’s elite, how will they begin their three-pronged reign of terror on Monday night?


The Champ is here ...

… But let’s not mince words: He’s lucky to be saying so. Last night’s brutal Last Man Standing Match between WWE Champion John Cena and Ryback ended in viciously indecisive fashion — neither man was able to answer the 10-count after crashing through the stage, causing Cena to retain his title by default. With Ryback having come closer than ever to seizing the WWE Title for himself, look for the “Human Wrecking Ball†to make another play for the title as WWE Payback approaches. As for Cena, he dodged the proverbial bullet Sunday, so look for Ryback to strike while The Champ is still in his weakened state.


Lesnar uncaged

Triple H may have won the battle against Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania, but it was Lesnar who ended their war at Extreme Rules. He defeated The King of Kings in a grueling Steel Cage Match with a punishing sledgehammer strike and F-5 that sealed The Game’s fate inside the confines of the steel. With Lesnar having reasserted his dominance via his hard-fought victory, what does the future hold for “The Beast Incarnate� Only time will tell, but given that Paul Heyman has never let a victory for his camp slide by un-celebrated, there’s a strong possibility tomorrow will provide some answers.


Dancing away with the victory

Chris Jericho certainly wasn’t about to let Fandango’s lofty rhetoric slide after losing to the dancing Superstar at WrestleMania. Stewing over continued humiliation at Fandango’s hands, the first Undisputed Champion in WWE history paid the newcomer back in full at Extreme Rules, unleashing a heart-stopping Codebreaker that left the dancing fiend in ruins on the mat. With Fandango’s score against Jericho now at an even 1-1, does the two-stepper have another twist in mind for The Ayatollah of Rock ‘n’ Rolla?

Hoping for a good show to make up for last nights somewhat lacklustre PPV.
​

 

[Luke Flywalker]

I'm not expecting anything but a glorified "no major injuries coming out of last night's show but nobody will be competing tonight anyways" show tonight.

If WWE doesn't sell the Punt and keep Show out until AT THE EARLIEST the Smackdown RIGHT BEFORE Payback, they've failed.

If WWE doesn't sell Lesnar's knee and keep him strictly to a promo, they've failed.

If WWE doesn't sell Cena/Ryback's injuries and keep them out for a couple weeks to recover, they've failed.

That doesn't leave us with much remaining on the plate if Punk isn't returning (shouldn't yet). However, I think the best thing WWE can do tonight, is do exactly what I'm explaining. Sell last night at all costs. Sell it hard. Because people are going to go into next year's Extreme Rules expecting a shitty program unless they believe WWE can commit to the brutality of the show.

 

[Kahuna]

I'm not expecting anything but a glorified "no major injuries coming out of last night's show but nobody will be competing tonight anyways" show tonight.

If WWE doesn't sell the Punt and keep Show out until AT THE EARLIEST the Smackdown RIGHT BEFORE Payback, they've failed.

If WWE doesn't sell Lesnar's knee and keep him strictly to a promo, they've failed.

If WWE doesn't sell Cena/Ryback's injuries and keep them out for a couple weeks to recover, they've failed.

That doesn't leave us with much remaining on the plate if Punk isn't returning (shouldn't yet). However, I think the best thing WWE can do tonight, is do exactly what I'm explaining. Sell last night at all costs. Sell it hard. Because people are going to go into next year's Extreme Rules expecting a shitty program unless they believe WWE can commit to the brutality of the show.

Cena will walk out tonight and gloat about being beaten up and battered and still showing up. He apparently "walked it off", tore the neck brace off and walked away from the stretcher last night according to reports.

Here is the problem with the finish of Ryback vs Cena. They beat the hell out of eachother, and when Cena gets overpowered and bombarded through the stage, they stop the match because it was "too much".

This was NOTHING. Cena has been thrown through stagelights, he has tossed other guys throw the stages and off cars, dumptrucks, whatever. He has used the ropes to STRANGLE a guy to keep him down (Umaga in 07), he has literally been through and done much, much worse in terms of "extreme rules" and last man standing matches.

WWE had a golden opportunity to get Ryback over last night - the end of the match, one of two things should have happened. Ryback should have gotten up, crawled up through the debris of the stage, stand up and won the match, or when they were doing that ridiculous "oh my god... this.. this is too much.." he should have gotten up, decimated EVERYONE and told the referee to count the fucking fall. It wouldn't have hurt John Cena, he gave everything and got everything in return, and I thought it was an awesome match until that crappy ass finish.

My dad, hes a casual fan, sick of Cena too, and he says to me "You know, I bet if Cena had dropped Ryback off the stage, they wouldnt have stopped the match. I think WWE wants Cena to win."

Then tonight, I can all but guarantee Cena will come out with out a scratch on him not selling the injury to justice, he will come out do his same old, same old, Ryback will be given a rematch, yada yada yada, Cena triumphs again. I hate to sound like a whiner or anything, I thought ER was a great pay per view. Many people don't share my view, but thats ok because difference in opinion is good.

RAW tonight will have some decent fall out - where will Triple H and Lesnar go from here? Whats next for Ryback - Cena? Will Orton capitalize on momentum from last night? Will Ziggler be there? Now that the shield has championship power, whats next?

All in all, if Cena shows up tonight like he always does, thats just ridiculous and stupid. Im not the biggest fan of Ryback but he got screwed last night with that type of booking, just another Cena fodder is what he will ultimately be if they keep going in this direction.

 

[Luke Flywalker]

^That's been my point on Cena for years. Nevermind that Cena no-sells pretty sloppily on his own... it's the way booking handles Cena that I hate. And it only happens with Cena. I don't at all think that's Cena's fault. I know he's a company man. He took the loss to Rock with grace. He didn't stiff him in either match. He did what they told him was best for business. I've seen Cena go above and beyond what he normally does at PPV's to have a MEMORABLE match on Raw with CM Punk. But when they put that belt on Cena, they do everything they can to make him seem like he's unstoppable, and nobody else in the company is afforded anywhere close to such treatment. They had to HARP about Punk's title reign to make it seem relevant, and they gave him a bunch of dirty wins. They don't do that with Cena.

Like I said elsewhere, look at last week's Raw. They took 3 guys who have beaten everyone in even fights. They've beat down almost the entire main event scene on their own. But John Cena is down 3-1 vs. them, gets the upper hand, and they have to DQ The Shield and give Cena the victory. Again, I'm not blaming Cena, I'm blaming the writers for how they book John Cena. This has BEEN my gripe, and why I have not wanted a Cena title-reign. They could have even finished the match with a double 10-count and had Cena retain by rule of a draw and just avoided the whole pointless stretcher scene (pointless in hindsight now that they've pulled Cena off of it saying "I'm fine"). And they have avoided making so many people stars because officials think they're "boring" when the WWE "Universe" is entertained by these guys... and usually, it's Cena that they use to put an end to these things when they could be using other wrestlers to build. They're so lucky Cena hasn't been seriously injured in a while and hasn't chosen to take any time off, that he deserves. If it happens, they'd have to build a new star, but there is nobody else to build, because they've killed the perception of so many guys in the same, repetitive burial.

 

[John McHenry]

First off cracks me up that the Jericho Fandango thing is last.

Really hated the title finish so I hope we get something with that.

The restart needs an angle and if it doesn't it ruins that whole thing too.

HHH and Brock both need to move on and I hope it means different opponents because that would actually help the roster just not the two of them.

 

[Gimmick]

Anyone else hoping that Lesnar gets thrown in to another feud straight away? Not a major one exactly, but one that puts him on a dominant run leading up to SummerSlam. I'd much rather him keep on going than take another break.

 

[PHX]

I just want to see him feud with someone who could benefit from feuding with him even if they lose the feud. They've pretty much did all they need to do with him vs HHH.

Fully expecting Cena to pop up on Raw making jokes as if nothing happened to him which will totally kill the purpose of that finish.

 

[Dale]

Paul Heyman is teasing some "#BreakingNews" for tonight's WWE RAW. Heyman tweeted the following on Monday afternoon:

"#BreakingNews ... @WWE #RAW A New #PaulHeymanGuy? @BrockLesnar @CMPunk"

Heyman linked to an article on his HeymanHustle.com site, which states:

"It appears as though WWE needs to brace itself. Following Brock Lesnar's epic victory over Triple H at Extreme Rules, our very own Hustler De Tuti Hustlers Paul Heyman is set to make history ... AGAIN!"

"WWE is about to get a little more EXTREME! Our boss, the Hustler De Tuti Huslters Paul Heyman is keeping quiet on this for the moment, but it appears as though we're about to be introduced to Brock Lesnar and CM Punk's new stablemate!"

Hope it's someone who can actually benefit from this though and not a Ryback or Shield.

 

[Blizzard]

I'm hoping it's a swerve and we get someone like Kofi to join the stable. No one would ever think Kofi, or any other face would join so I think it'd be pretty interesting. Definitely gotta check out RAW.

 

[PHX]

Got something to be hyped about now. Could be a chance to debut a new guy who can get instant heat by association otherwise I'm thinking they go with Ryback. Just interesting how a WWE article actually turns into something for once.

 

[Crippler]

OhNo would be nice but i'm not expecting it same goes with Christian, tbf i really have no clue who it's gonna be and that makes me excited.

 

[Luis]

Like many people I hope the whole Heyman interference doesn't lead to a third rematch that no one wants to see,Maybe we can see who can benefit from a feud with Lesnar.Also expecting Ryback to make the point that he was the last man standing but im sure Cena is gonna brush it off and well see a rematch in Payback

 

[John McHenry]

Hope it's someone who can actually benefit from this though and not a Ryback or Shield.

Instantly made me think RVD he's talking Extreme. RVD has been teasing signing for awhile. Just clicks for me. Not sure how I feel about RVD now he used to be a fav of mine. But he just sucked so bad in the TNA stuff I saw.

 

[zigglerHEEL]

Instantly made me think RVD he's talking Extreme. RVD has been teasing signing for awhile. Just clicks for me. Not sure how I feel about RVD now he used to be a fav of mine. But he just sucked so bad in the TNA stuff I saw.

Was immediately who i thought of also... and I'm in the same boat as you... Was a big RVD guy and was actually stoked to start watching TNA when he went there and then, DUD..... If he's motivated and they use him right it could work, but I think I'd rather see someone from NXT at this point

 

[AZUCAR!]

I'm thinking it could be someone from NXT. They brought up Lesnar from OVW and paired him with Paul E. in 2002, so i'd say there's a pretty good chance that WWE could call someone up from developmental and pair them with Heyman.