This Week In WWE TV – July 8-14, 2013

This week: They’re here. Plus, the Raw General Manager we all truly deserve is appointed, some really good matches to build to Money In The Bank and Mark Henry does what he does again.

RAW

– Vickie and Brad opened the show. Vickie climbed to the top of a ladder (in high heels no less) to talk herself and her job as General Manager up. Lawler interrupted with a message from the McMahons about her job evaluation later. Vickie tried to suck up to the fans to gain their favour in a vote on whether she was doing a good job and announced a bunch of matches.

– Daniel Bryan d. Sheamus in 10:48. Even match throughout. Crowd really got into it by the end. Bryan avoided a Brogue Kick and took Sheamus out with a dive after Sheamus fell outside. After a long back and forth stretch, Sheamus escaped the NO Lock and got a cloverleaf. Bryan managed to turn it into a roll up though and snatch the win. Really good match. They shook hands afterwards.

– In the first of a number of segments, a reporter from WWE.com was sent to look for the Wyatt Family. He ran into two odd people who gave him directions.

– Big E tried to convince AJ to stop worrying about Kaitlyn. Ziggler showed up and sent Big E off, so he could question AJ about what she was doing. AJ claimed her one priority was them both leaving as champions after MITB and they kissed.

– Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins d. Tons Of Funk (Reigns pinned Tensai) in 6:34. The Shield won after Rollins kicked out of a choke bomb by Tensai and after a blind tag, Rollins dove onto Brodus while Reigns hit the spear on Tensai.

– The WWE.com reporter found the Wyatt Family ‘home’, where Rowan in his sheep mask was pitchforking the ground for some reason. Harper told the reporter to follow him.

– Cena came out for a face to face with Mark Henry. Henry claimed Cena had the look of fear on his face. Henry said he was a new man and the WWE Title would validate his career and make him a hall of famer. He said he sold out his own family to be champion and Cena told him he’d better win, or else he’d lost everyone’s respect for nothing. Henry said he didn’t care about the crowd, unlike Cena. He claimed there were lines Cena wouldn’t cross, so Cena drew a line and dared Henry to cross it and fight. Henry told him to wait until Sunday, but changed his mind, only to fake Cena out. When Cena looked away, Henry then attacked Cena. Cena tried an AA but Henry landed on top of him. Henry then gave Cena a World’s Strongest Slam and posed with the title.

– Josh interviewed Orton. Orton said he never believed Punk was best in the world and claimed he wouldn’t hesitate cashing in on Cena if he were in a vulnerable state at MITB.

– Chris Jericho d. Curtis Axel in 7:52. Miz did commentary. Heyman was wearing sunglasses because he had a black eye from Del Rio hitting him on Smackdown. Axel kicked out of a Lionsault and Jericho kicked out of a Perfect Plex, before Jericho got Axel in the Walls. Axel got to the ropes but was sent outside, where Miz got in his face. Heyman convinced Axel to get back inside to avoid being counted out, but he walked right into a Codebreaker for his first loss since joining with Heyman.

– Josh interviewed Cody and Sandow about MITB. Sandow claimed if he somehow didn’t win, he wanted Cody to. Zeb interrupted with Swagger and Cesaro. Barrett interrupted them and Zeb claimed he couldn’t understand what language Barrett was speaking. Fandango cut in and everybody stopped him from saying his name. Wade hit him with a Bull Hammer, then Zeb’s guys and Rhodes Scholars had a stare down.

– Harper showed the WWE.com guy through their creepy house, to where Wyatt was lurking holding a lamp.

– Alberto Del Rio and Sin Cara ended in a no contest I think? Ziggler came out during the match and did an ‘introduction’ for Del Rio, distracting him. Del Rio brawled with Ziggler, until Sin Cara wiped out Alberto with a big dive.

– Vickie’s performance evaluation happened next. Long story short, Vince ended up standing up for Vickie and HHH took the opposite stance. Vince decided Vickie should be upgraded to permanent general manager. HHH claimed Vince just wanted a puppet and suggested Stephanie make the final choice. They both tried to play favourites with her. Stephanie decided to let the fan vote have the final say and of course Vickie got a fail by 75%. Vickie pulled an amazing freak out that drove HHH and Stephanie out of the ring. Vince criticised the crowd for enjoying it. He then named Brad as the new GM and Brad pulled this face.

– They showed highlights of RVD in ladder matches through the show, as well as RVD beating Cena at One Night Stand. Backstage, Vince then tried to comfort Vickie. Brad showed up to thank Vince and Vickie attacked him.

– Kane d. Christian in 4:09. After Kane won with a chokeslam, he was interrupted by Wyatt appearing on the screen. He did a promo from his rocking chair, before the Wyatt Family appeared in the arena. They made their entrance with the arena pitch black, except for Wyatt carrying a lamp, which was an awesome creepy visual. Bray then sat back in his rocking chair while Harper and Rowan beat up Kane. They threw Kane into the steps and smashed his head between them, then Wyatt posed over Kane. A few fans chanted “Husky Harris” because sometimes people are too smart for their own good. But apart from that this was a pretty great debut.

– Vickie bumped into Ryback while carrying out her stuff and Ryback hugged her, saying she deserved better and everything would be okay. What a nice guy!

– AJ and Alicia Fox versus Kaitlyn and Layla ended in another no contest I guess? The Bellas did commentary. Kaitlyn brawled with AJ and laid her out with a spear on the floor, apparently ending the match.

– Josh interviewed Punk. Punk said holding the WWE Title for longer than anyone in the modern era made him best in the world, winning tonight would make him the best and so would winning at MITB.

– CM Punk d. Randy Orton in 10:37. Another even match. Orton took control for a while after Punk hit a dive, but Orton recovered to give him a back suplex on the barrier. Punk got back into it and the match got even again towards the finish. After a few counters each way, Punk ended up countering an RKO and won with the GTS. After the match Bryan attacked Punk and used a ladder on Orton. He then climbed the ladder and grabbed the briefcase to close the show.

MAIN EVENT

– Dolph Ziggler d. Antonio Cesaro by DQ in 12:25. Zeb did ladder themed promo before the match. After a slow start, Cesaro took control with a hot shot. Cesaro almost won with a pop up uppercut, before breaking out the superplex from the ring apron for another near fall. Ziggler fought back after countering another pop up uppercut with a DDT. A distraction by Colter and Swagger almost cost him, but Ziggler recovered and hit Cesaro with the Zig Zag. But Swagger pulled Ziggler out of the ring for the disqualification. Ziggler managed to avoid further damage from Swagger and Cesaro after the match

– Tons Of Funk and Great Khali d. Team Rhodes Scholars and Heath Slater (Khali pinned Slater) in 6:13. Before the match Cody and Sandow made an official statement that they were a cohesive unit and would stand victorious at MITB. Tensai was worked over before Brodus made a comeback and Cody and Sandow decided to leave. They left 3MB to get taken out and Khali to pin Slater with the big chop.

NXT

– NXT Womens Championship Tournament Semi Final: Emma d. Summer Rae in 4:26. Crowd were of course solidly behind Emma. Summer dominated much of the match but Emma fought back and after a reversal to a reversal of a roll up, Emma won out and scored the surprise win to advance to the final. Summer attacked Emma as she danced after the match, but Paige ran her off and helped Emma up.

– Backstage Bailey spoke with Dusty Rhodes. Ric Flair walked in with his daughter, who I guess is debuting next week. Bailey volunteered to be her opponent and seemed awe struck by Ric. She got Ric to woo and tried to imitate him.

– Leo Kruger d. Sami Zayn in 10:44. Kruger gained control blocking a dive attempt by Zayn. Sami made a big comeback, but Kruger posted the shoulder. A blue thunder got Zayn a near fall, before Kruger hit a superplex and tapped Zayn out with the GC3. This has to be by far Kruger’s best match ever, unsurprisingly.

– Renee interviewed Regal, Graves and Neville. Regal put on a Geordie accent to fit in with Neville and warned the Wyatt Family to stay down tonight.

– Two On One Handicap Match: Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady d. Mason Ryan in 1:31. So since Ryan beat them so easily in singles matches last week, they tried two on one this week. It went about as badly for them at the start. But they eventually used their man advantage and a chop block by Enzo lead to Cassady falling on top for a pin.

– Dusty announced Kruger, Sami and Cesaro in a triple threat for the number one contendership next week.

– The Wyatt Family d. William Regal, Corey Graves and Adrian Neville (Wyatt pinned Regal) in 10:43. Regal inspired some shady tactics from his team before The Family cut off Neville. Regal ran wild and hit the knee trembler before everything broke down. Neville hit a corkscrew dive onto Rowan and Graves. That left Regal all alone and Wyatt hit Sister Abigail for the pin.

SMACKDOWN

– Daniel Bryan d. Christian by submission in 9:25. This was fun, as you’d expect. Like the two Raw matches between the MITB guys this was back and forth all the way through. Christian hit a spear for a near fall, before Bryan countered the Killswitch and ended up getting Christian in the NO Lock, which is apparently the YES Lock again, for the win

– Teddy spoke with Ziggler backstage and gave him the night off. Ziggler wasn’t happy, but Teddy wanted to make sure he didn’t interfere in Alberto’s match tonight.

– Seth Rollins d. Jey Uso in 4:07. Reigns and Jimmy inevitably got into it outside. Reigns took out Jimmy and Rollins crotched Jey on the top rope, before hitting the running curbstomp for the pin.

– Chris Jericho d. Curtis Axel by count out in 7:19. This time Axel lost again, but by a count out after Jericho gave him a Codebreaker through the ropes as Axel tried to get back in the ring. Axel tore up ringside in a rage afterwards.

– Ryback d. The Miz in 5:53. Ryback was still favouring his knee a little but seemed in control for most of the match. When Miz fought back and reinjured Ryback’s knee. Ryback told the referee not to stop the match this week though and caught Miz with a surprise clothesline, before hitting him with Shell Shocked to win despite the bad knee.

– Renee interviewed Sheamus. Sheamus said some things to make it over abundantly clear he was Irish and called Renee cute.

– Kaitlyn and AJ had a contract signing, with the diva division out there as well. Which apparently consists of six women and Big E. Although The Bellas weren’t there. After they both signed, AJ started to read some of the texts Kaitlyn sent to her secret admirer which involved her complaining about Natalya and the Funkadactyls. AJ gave Kaitlyn chance to tear up the contract. Kaitlyn called AJ crazy so AJ slapped her and a fight broke out. Big E got a slap for pulling Kaitlyn off of AJ, then Kaitlyn turned AJ inside out with a spear.

– Fandango d. Wade Barrett in 1:48. Zeb did commentary. Rhodes and Sandow ended up coming out, mad at Swagger and Cesaro, while Fandango rolled up Barrett and pulled the tights.

– Del Rio was supposed to wrestle Sin Cara. Except instead of Sin Cara, it was Ziggler dressed as him. He attacked Del Rio and laid him out with a Zig Zag. Vickie then appeared and snatched the microphone to rant that Teddy should be fired. Teddy had security throw her out.

– Backstage, Teddy confronted ‘Dolph’. Except it was the real Sin Cara. Ziggler showed up back in his street clothes and congratulated Sin Cara claiming he’d never seen him look better.

– Sheamus and Randy Orton went to a double DQ in 9:43. Both guys exchanged their big moves before avoiding each others finishers. As Orton tried a superplex, they both fell to the floor and the referee began counting them both out while Bryan ran out. Bryan hit Orton and Sheamus with a ladder to cause the disqualification. Crowd were into this by the end. He tried to grab the briefcase again but Sheamus stopped him. Christian stopped Sheamus and they fought over the briefcase, before Bryan knocked Christian off the ladder and Orton gave Bryan an RKO. Orton then grabbed the briefcase.