This Week In WWE TV – August 12-18, 2013

This week: Pre Summerslam hype. Punk gets one over on the beast, Bryan battles Barrett, Cena shows some passion, Vince wears some unbelievable suits! Plus, the return of the world's most handsome referee (and I don't mean HHH), Big Show returns to help beat The Shield, Sandow takes better care of his new improved briefcase and Ryback gets ultraviolent.

RAW

– Wade Barrett d. Daniel Bryan in 5:25, with Brad Maddox as the referee. Maddox didn't get involved for most of the match, but inevitably cost Bryan by giving him a quick count when Wade rolled him up. Match was good until the finish at least. Maddox escaped as Bryan teased going after him.

– Randy Orton d. Damien Sandow in 10:14. Cody did commentary. Before the match, Sandow produced a pair of handcuffs and attached his Money In The Bank briefcase to the turnbuckle so that Cody couldn't steal it. Sandow eventually got control of the match sending Orton off the ropes and to the floor. Orton made his big comeback but Sandow avoided an RKO. Sandow sent Orton into the post, but was distracted by Cody messing with his briefcase, which allowed Orton to hit the RKO.

– The Shield did a promo backstage. They complained about the old guard. They said they were younger, hungrier and better. Reigns challenged anyone to face him and Rollins at Summerslam. Ambrose said nobody in the battle royal later could beat him and unless Andre The Giant's ghost was in the battle royal, then he wouldn't be losing at Summerslam.

– Josh interviewed Punk. Punk said he knew Heyman wasn't stupid and he had a good feeling he'd see Brock tonight. He promised when everything was on the line, the best would be the best.

– Great Khali and Natalya d. Big E Langston and AJ (Natalya submitted AJ) in 3:42. Big E did an inset promo, saying he never needed Ziggler, Ziggler needed him. Ziggler and Kaitlyn were shown watching backstage. Whatever the finish was supposed to be it got majorly screwed up. AJ tapped out to the sharpshooter but Natalya had already started to let go and the referee didn't call for the bell. So Natalya had to put it on again. After the match Big E threw Hornswoggle down but Khali gave him the big chop. A mess.

– Vince, in amazing suit #1 for the week, called out Maddox to explain himself. Brad claimed he was merely over excited about being back in the referee's shirt. Vince accepted his excuse a little too easily. Brad asked for a second chance, to be referee for Cena and Bryan at Summerslam. Vince was ready to accept but HHH interrupted. HHH made himself special referee and Pedigreed Brad, causing Vince to storm off.

– Kane d. Titus O'Neill in 1:51. Kane won easily with the chokeslam. The Wyatts came out but when the lights came back on, Kane had somehow made it to the stage and set off his pyro in the ring.

– Josh interviewed The Bellas about Natalya. They claimed they controlled the Divas division. Natalya challenged Brie to a match at Summerslam. She told them to bring Eva because she'd be bringing the Funkadactyls. Brie slapped Natalya in payback for last week.

– Alberto Del Rio d. Kofi Kingston by submission in 6:10. Kofi put in a decent showing but Del Rio avoided Trouble In Paradise twice and went on to win with the cross armbreaker.

– Renee interviewed Christian, who promised victory at Summerslam and all he needed was one more match. Del Rio interrupted laughing and told him in Spanish no more matches after Summerslam.

– The Usos d. The Real Americans (Jey pinned Swagger) in 4:53. Zeb did one of his usual promos before the match. Real Americans dominated early before Jimmy ran wild and The Usos both hit big dives. Cesaro stopped a superfly splash but got kicked off the apron, before Jey rolled up Swagger for the pin.

– Miz hosted MizTV with Bryan and Cena as guests. They both agreed HHH as referee was a good thing for them. Cena said he respected Bryan, but Miz wasn't buying it. Bryan threatened to punch Miz, which the crowd approved of. Bryan said Cena was more style than substance and only in it for the glory. He pointed out his shirt was a parody of Cena's, because he thought Cena was a parody of wrestling. Bryan said he wasn't interested in the fame or the glory, he wanted to be champion so everyone would know he was the best. Cena talked about being in it for the same reason as Bryan, the fans believing in him. Cena said Bryan wasn't the first to say what he said, but Cena didn't do it for people like him, he did it for the people who believed in him. He cut an empassioned speech and told Bryan to keep thinking he was a parody, because he'd wrestled and beaten everybody who thought that. He said if Bryan was good enough to beat him at Summerslam, then he'd earn his respect.

– Bryan said that proved Cena didn't respect him and he couldn't understand that this was the biggest match of his life. Bryan explained in Japan there was a custom where wrestlers would slap their opponent as hard as they could before a match to fire them up and make them bring their best, but said Cena wasn't a wrestler so he didn't deserve to be slapped. Cena slapped Bryan and dared him to do the same, but HHH came out to calm things down. Orton then came out and showed off his briefcase.

– Truth and Fandango were supposed to have a match, but they ended up having a dance off instead, before Fandango jumped Truth and Truth cleared Fandango out of the ring.

– Heyman was with Axel backstage and told him he was having second thoughts.

– Rob Van Dam won a 20 Man Battle Royal, last eliminating Mark Henry, to become the #1 Contender to the United States Title at Summerslam.

Participants: Rob Van Dam, Tensai, Brodus Clay, Heath Slater, Drew McIntyre, Jinder Mahal, Ryback, Justin Gabriel, Titus O'Neill, Darren Young, Jack Swagger, Antonio Cesaro, Wade Barrett, Fandango, Great Khali, Kofi Kingston, Jimmy Uso, Jey Uso, R-Truth, Mark Henry

Ryback eliminated Gabriel, Young and Tensai early and 3MB threw out Jimmy Uso. Kofi got rid of Fandango, but Fandango snuck back in and threw Truth out in retaliation. Brodus, 3MB and Khali were all eliminated during the break and Jey Uso went soon after thanks to the Real Americans. RVD clotheslined Titus out. The big moment of the match was Kofi surviving elimination by hanging onto Cesaro who was on the apron, with Swagger preventing Cesaro from being pulled to the floor. Kofi tried to fight them both off, but Swagger finally clotheslined him over. Final 6 were RVD, Cesaro, Swagger, Henry, Barrett and Ryback. Henry sent both Real Americans out and tossed Wade out too. Ryback and Henry squared off and after a spin kick from RVD, Henry was able to knock Ryback off the apron to eliminate him. It came down to RVD and Henry, with RVD knocked off the top but hanging on, before pulling the rope down as Henry attacked to win the battle royal. Henry and RVD showed each other respect afterwards, before The Shield's music hit. Henry stayed to help RVD and before The Shield could attack, Big Show returned to even the numbers, so The Shield left.

– Punk and Heyman was supposed to be the main event. Heyman said he blamed the fans for what happened between him and Punk. He owned up to it being a trap and brought out Brock. Heyman showed a video of Brock's previous attacks on Punk. He dared Punk to come out, play the hero and fight both him and Brock, or walk away and disappoint his fans. Punk came through the crowd and hit Lesnar with a TV camera. Punk hit a dive and used a chair on Brock, before going after Heyman. Heyman ran away and Axel tried to jump Punk, but Punk fought him off. Heyman escaped but Punk gave Axel a GTS as Brock looked on hurt.

MAIN EVENT

– Alberto Del Rio d. Cody Rhodes in 11:40. Del Rio went for the cross armbreaker early but Cody escaped. Cody used a springboard dropkick which I can't remember seeing him do before. Del Rio took control until Cody hit a moonsault and fought back. But Del Rio countered Cross Rhodes and went after the arm. After an even finish, Cody finally hit Cross Rhodes but couldn't cover. And Del Rio managed to recover, sending Cody into the turnbuckle before winning with the cross armbreaker.

– The Usos d. Drew McIntyre and Heath Slater of 3MB (Jimmy pinned Slater) in 8:43. Jinder got involved to help his team out, but The Usos still won with a superfly splash to Slater, after Jey had taken out Drew and Jinder with a dive.

– Big E Langston d. Justin Gabriel in 6:31. Big E dominated and although Gabriel made a comeback late on, Big E won with the Big Ending.

NXT

– The show started with Heyman coming out. He said he was scouting for a new Paul Heyman guy. He put over NXT and said somewhere in the locker room was the next Brock Lesnar and the next Curtis Axel, which brought out Axel. Heyman claimed nobody in Florida was man enough to take the Intercontinental Title so Axel wouldn't be competing tonight, but Big E interrupted and challenged him. Axel tried to put it off until Thanksgiving or Christmas, but ended up accepting.

– WWE Intercontinental Championship: Big E Langston d. Curtis Axel (c) by DQ in 4:36. Big E dominated early, but Axel eventually gained control. When Big E made a comeback, Heyman hit him from behind for the DQ. Axel saved Heyman from a beating and tried to hit Big E with the belt, but ended up suffering a Big Ending and a five count.

– Renee interviewed Sami Zayn. Sami said he wasn't ashamed of who he was and wondered why Cesaro still hadn't accepted his challenge. He offered to make it a two out of three fall match.

– Mason Ryan d. Scott Dawson in 1:30. Enzo and Cassady came out to distract Ryan. It worked for about 10 seconds, then Ryan won anyway with the cobra clutch slam. He then pressed Dawson onto Enzo and Cassady outside (barely).

– NXT Womens Championship: Paige (c) d. Summer Rae in 3:43 to retain the title. Paige won with the Paige Turner.

– Renee interviewed AJ. She said she didn't have an opponent for next week and suggested Renee. Bayley appeared and hugged AJ. She asked to face AJ and AJ accepted. Bayley accidentally said the word crazy and AJ looked annoyed, which didn't stop Bayley hugging her again.

– They showed Emma attacking Summer Rae after her match.

– The Shield d. Corey Graves, Adrian Neville and Xavier Woods (Reigns pinned Woods) in 13:04. The NXT team made a strong start. Rollins was saved from Lucky 13 by Ambrose and Reigns, but Neville and Xavier hit stereo dives on them. The Shield worked on Xavier briefly, before Graves tagged in. Graves got Ambrose in Lucky 13 but Rollins and Reigns saved him, allowing The Shield to isolate Graves. Neville eventually ran wild but Ambrose blocked the corkscrew shooting star with his knees. He got the tag to Xavier who ran wild as well. Xavier hit eat defeat to Rollins but Ambrose broke the pin. In the end Rollins hit a buckle bomb and Reigns followed with a spear for the win.

– Renee interviewed Cesaro, who got mad at being called a coward by Sami and accepted his challenge. Sami attacked him and had to be pulled away, which made Cesaro even angrier.

SMACKDOWN

– The Wyatt Family came out and Bray cut a promo where he claimed Kane was hiding behind a mask. Kane appeared and took out Rowan and Harper. He got his hands on Bray but Rowan and Harper came to Bray's rescue and Bray ran through Kane, before giving him the Sister Abigail.

– Christian d. Damien Sandow in 5:14. Christian took some punishment early, including a nasty looking whip into the steps. Sandow used a cartwheel to escape the Killswitch. As he went for the elbow of disdain though, Christian caught him in a small package for the pin. Sandow tried to attack after the match and got speared, but Del Rio then attacked Christian from behind and told Christian he'd never be World Champion again. When he tried to put Christian in the cross armbreaker though Christian escaped and hit the Killswitch.

– Renee interviewed RVD. He said it had been a while since he had gold around his waist. When the other Shield members were mentioned, he said he wasn't worried, as Henry and Big Show appeared behind him. Show said he had unfinished business and Henry said RVD had nothing to worry about at Summerslam.

– AJ and Layla d. Kaitlyn and Natalya (AJ pinned Kaitlyn) in 4:17. Layla kicked Kaitlyn's knee behind the referee's back, to set up the shining wizard from AJ.

– Renee interviewed Ryback. Ryback said he lived for brutality. He spotted someone looking at him off screen. It was a crew member who looked an awful lot like Drake Younger. Ryback bullied him, punched him in the gut and slapped him. He then threw him over a table and the guy took a hard landing on the concrete, thus confirming he was Drake Younger.

– A video for Lesnar and Punk aired.

– Rob Van Dam, Big Show and Mark Henry d. The Shield (RVD pinned Ambrose) in 4:49. Shield worked on Van Dam briefly, before Big Show ran wild. Reigns pulled the rope down on Big Show and Henry hurled Reigns over the table, before Rollins hit a nutty dive on Henry. Ambrose wanted a count out but Show got back in and knocked out Ambrose, setting up the Five Star from Van Dam for the pin.

– The Miz d. Jack Swagger in 3:20. Before the match Colter ranted at Miz about being a Hollywood phony. Cesaro got thrown out for getting involved and Zeb was thrown out for complaining. Before they could even leave, Miz surprised Swagger with a roll up for the win.

– Curtis Axel d. Zack Ryder in 3:02. Axel won an even match with the face first neckbreaker. Heyman stuck around after the match and discussed what happened on Raw, admitting he got outsmarted by Punk. He said Punk had now become the target for revenge and Lesnar would get revenge at Summerslam.

– No Disqualification Match: Daniel Bryan d. Wade Barrett in 13:15. Barrett used a kendo stick and escaped when Bryan tried to use it on him, so Bryan hit him with a dive instead. Vince showed up in amazing suit #2 and watched from the aisle. He mocked the Yes chants when Barrett was in control. Barrett used a chair before Bryan made a comeback and used the kendo stick. Bryan got the YES Lock and Vince pulled the referee out as Wade tapped. Barrett hit the Bull Hammer and Vince waved out Brad, but Bryan kicked out. He refused to count a pin for Bryan, before Wade accidentally hit him with the kendo stick. Wade was sent through a table before Vince pulled the shirt off of the first referee and tried to take over, which brought out HHH. In referee gear. Bryan hit Barrett with a diving headbutt and HHH counted the pin. They then both did the Yes chants, causing Vince to storm off. Like on Raw, Orton came out after all this and showed off his briefcase to end the show.