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This week: Raw is Hijack, the totally spontaneous calculated organised campaign which you probably heard much about before the show. Come for the CM Punk chants, stay for the fun as Paul Heyman, Daniel Bryan and The Authority hijack the hijacking and The Shield and The Wyatts have another memorable match. Plus, The Usos win the titles, dissension in The Shield, the Real Americans hug it out, The Adam Rose Experience comes to NXT and Main Event goes live.

RAW

– This was, of course, the Chicago show. So the show started with Punk’s music hitting. Crowd went nuts, but it wasn’t Punk who came out, it was Heyman. Heyman encouraged the Punk chants and sat cross legged in the ring. He said he was there to tell the story of a Paul Heyman guy who was never truly wanted in WWE and alluded to Punk repeatedly, before saying this was his pipebomb about CM Punk, who was not there this evening. Heyman said nobody was more upset they couldn’t see Punk compete tonight than him. He then blamed the entire crowd for Punk not being there. Heyman claimed the fans took Punk away from him and now away from themselves. He also blamed Undertaker, because the downward spiral began when they couldn’t beat the streak at Wrestlemania and Heyman said he wanted revenge. He said only one person on the planet could conquer the streak and that was his best friend in the world, Brock Lesnar. Lesnar came out and said he didn’t make claims he couldn’t back up. He claimed Undertaker was scared to death of him and the streak would be conquered by him. As Lesnar was leaving, Mark Henry came out. Henry and Lesnar brawled until Lesnar sent Henry into the steps. Lesnar used the steps on Henry, then put Henry through the announce table with an F5. Apparently a fan was hit by a monitor that Brock threw into the ring, or tried to I guess.

WWE Tag Team Championships: The Usos d. The New Age Outlaws (c) in 5:52 to win the titles. Before the match, Road Dogg said Chicago wasn’t worthy of hearing his catchphrases. Crowd started the match with another Punk chant as if to prove his point. But, the crowd did get behind the Usos by the end, thankfully. Outlaws worked over Jey. Jimmy made a big comeback. Road Dogg distracted him as he went for the superfly splash allowing Billy to get a couple of near falls. Jimmy avoided the fameasser though and hit a dive on Road Dogg, tagging Jey in mid air. Jey then hit a superkick and the superfly splash to Billy to win the titles. Great moment and a big reaction for this. I’d have probably preferred they saved this for Wrestlemania, but I guess they figured they needed to give Chicago something and it did feel like a big moment.

– They showed the Bellas, Natalya, Alicia and Aksana talking about Aaron Paul. I guess celebrities are the one thing that can unite divas who are supposed to be enemies. Big E d. Cesaro by DQ in 1:25. Swagger tried to attack Big E but took a punch, so ran in and hit a Swagger Bomb for the DQ, after Cesaro gave Big E the big swing. More disagreement between Swagger and Cesaro. Big E then gave Cesaro the Big Ending.

The Wyatt Family d. The Shield (Bray pinned Ambrose) in 11:02 in an Elimination Chamber rematch. Rollins and Ambrose hit dives on Harper and Rowan before the bell. Rollins hit a couple more dives early on, before Ambrose and Bray’s brawling caused Rollins to be knocked off the top rope to the floor. After being worked over, when Rollins went to tag, Ambrose was goaded by Bray and Reigns went to stop him leaving nobody in the corner to tag. Rollins finally tagged Ambrose and the match broke down, with Reigns sending Harper over the barrier while Bray got the advantage on Ambrose. Crowd chose this point to briefly pause themselves being into the match and chant for CM Punk and the Blackhawks. Way to fight the power, guys. After Bray knocked Reigns off the apron, Ambrose hit a DDT and went to tag Rollins, but Rollins jumped off the apron and told Reigns that he and Ambrose needed to figure it out, before watching the rest of the match from the ramp. Reigns came back and ran wild. He and Ambrose worked together to fend off the Wyatts. Reigns hit a spear over the table on Rowan but Harper hit a big boot on Ambrose. Harper then hit a dive sending Reigns over the table, before Bray sent Ambrose into the post. Bray then pinned Ambrose with the Sister Abigail as Rollins looked on. Another great match between these six.

– Renee interviewed Batista. Batista calmly said he thought the YES Movement was possibly the dumbest thing he’d seen in his life and said the fans were reading too many comics and watching too many movies, thinking an average guy like Bryan could turn into a superhero. He said guys like Bryan would never be guys like him and everyone would have to deal with it. Santino Marella and Emma d. Fandango and Summer Rae (Emma submitted Summer) in 3:19. Emma beat Summer with the Emma Lock after Santino chased off Fandango with the cobra.

Sheamus d. Christian in 10:29. Crowd weren’t into this. It wasn’t these two’s fault. At all. Sheamus started hot after a couple of punches from Christian fired him up. Christian hid behind the announcers at one point. Christian finally took over after pushing Sheamus off the top rope to the floor. Sheamus fought back after a missed frog splash. Some of the crowd tried to chant “this is awful” because this really good match they didn’t give a chance didn’t end when they wanted it to. Then we got a Punk chant. Sheamus got a near fall with White Noise, which of course upset the crowd. Sheamus ended up hitting a Brogue Kick from the apron for the win. These guys took a lot of punishment for a lot of ungrateful people. After the break Renee tried to interview Sheamus, who was attacked by Christian, who used a light from the set on him. The Bellas d. Aksana and Alicia Fox (Nikki pinned Aksana) in 4:12 when Nikki hit the torture rack backbreaker to Alicia.

– Bryan came out to a big reaction. Bryan talked about the crowd having a voice and said tonight, they were going to hijack Raw! So essentially, WWE took this whole hijack Raw thing, said “thank you very much” and worked it into their storyline for their own gain to get their babyface cheered more and their heel authority figures booed more. Brilliant. Bryan said he wasn’t leaving until Batista came down to fight him, or until HHH came out to answer his challenge. He got HHH and Stephanie. Stephanie spoke, which was barely audible over the boos. Both she and Bryan seemed amused by this. Bryan said HHH had stopped him from winning the title but he had the people behind him and he was unbroken and stronger than ever. HHH said a match between them wasn’t going to happen and asked why Bryan’s generation couldn’t accept their inadequacies. He accused Bryan of making excuses and anybody who failed here failed because they weren’t good enough. He called Bryan a B+ player again and it’d take more than a B+ player to get him to lace up his boots at Wrestlemania. Tons of heat for this and huge YES chants. Bryan said the only way to get HHH to see what the crowd wanted was for Bryan to beat the crap out of him at Wrestlemania. Stephanie said the crowd would turn on Bryan like a dime, but HHH and Stephanie wouldn’t. She said she understood Bryan getting wrapped up in the reaction, but without her family he’d have nothing and they made him. Bryan suggested Stephanie fight him at Wrestlemania instead since she had delusions of self importance. HHH said he was 90% sure she’d whip his ass too. He condescendingly told Bryan it wasn’t going to happen and told him to leave. Bryan dared HHH to make him, but Stephanie called out Kane. Bryan took out Kane with a dive so Stephanie called out security to drag Bryan away. Some great reactions for all of this.

– They showed Josh, Booker, Duggan and Riley at the panel table. Dolph Ziggler d. Alberto Del Rio in 2:45. Aaron Paul drove Ziggler to the ring and did commentary. Del Rio got distracted by him standing on the table and it lead to Ziggler avoided the cross armbreaker and winning with the Zig Zag. Paul Bearer was announced for the Hall Of Fame. Big E d. Jack Swagger by DQ in 0:06 when Cesaro immediately ran in for the DQ and gave Big E a Neutraliser. Swagger shoved Cesaro so Cesaro went for the big swing, but Zeb convinced Cesaro not to do it and got Swagger and Cesaro to hug each other.

– Cena came out, with his knee taped up. Cena said he wouldn’t be competing on doctor’s orders and played up to the crowd for a while. He reiterated his change will go through him point, before the Wyatts appeared on the screen. Bray cut a promo comparing Cena to a championship horse who was slowing down.

– Backstage, Batista ran into Orton, who wished him luck. Lana introduced Rusev, who stood on a Bulgarian podium and cut a short promo. Daniel Bryan d. Batista by DQ in 7:07. Orton came out to watch from ringside. Bryan went after the leg early before Batista took over. Bryan fought back and hit a dive, before getting a near fall with a buzzsaw kick. HHH, Stephanie and Kane then came out which distracted Bryan. Batista threw Bryan into Orton. After Bryan hit a roundhouse kick on Batista, Orton then clotheslined Bryan for the disqualification. Orton teased an RKO on Batista, who pushed him into the running knee from Bryan. Bryan took out Batista and sent Kane off the apron into HHH. Batista speared Bryan to block a dive. HHH then stopped Kane from attacking Bryan, but Bryan kicked HHH as he started saying he was tired of his fantasy crap. Batista then hit a Batista Bomb to Bryan and HHH gave Bryan the Pedigree. Show ended with HHH, Stephanie and Kane standing over Bryan with Stephanie doing the YES chant.

MAIN EVENT

– This was shown live on the Network, which explains the strong lineup. At least what was advertised to be the lineup. Daniel Bryan d. Kane in 16:19. Bryan tried to work on Kane’s leg throughout the match, with Kane getting the advantage a couple of times. Bryan fought back and hit a dive. After an even finish with near falls for both guys, Bryan managed to counter the chokeslam with a sunset flip for the pin. They announced Main Event would be live next week and going forward, presumably on a permanent basis, before Josh tried to interview Kane. Josh asked if Kane was angry at himself for losing. Kane said no and he was angry at Bryan challenging HHH, because he wasn’t fit for a match with him, let alone HHH.

Nikki Bella d. Alicia Fox in 4:30. Alicia got the advantage after a distraction from Aksana. Brie took out Aksana when she tried another distraction and Nikki got the win with the torture rack backbreaker. Before what was supposed to be a Tag Team Title rematch with the Outlaws, Renee interviewed The Usos in the ring. Usos said they were still on cloud and played to the crowd before The Outlaws came out in street clothes. Road Dogg called them lucky and said they had to postpone the rematch, with Road Dogg claiming an injury. So Brad came out and announced Usos would have new opponents. WWE Tag Team Championships: The Usos (c) d. Los Matadores in 8:27 (Jimmy pinned Fernando) to retain the titles. Outlaws did commentary. Dives from Jey, Fernando and Jimmy before Los Matadores cut off Jey. Jimmy made a comeback before a DDT from Fernando. Jey hit a superkick to Diego as he did a headstand in the corner, then a double superkick set up Fernando for the superfly splash from Jimmy for the win. After the match, as the Outlaws were leaving, Billy reaching into the ring and shoved Torito over. So Torito leapt off the apron onto Billy and gave him a hurricanrana, then Los Matadores and Torito hit their triple team on Billy.

NXT

Adrian Neville d. Camacho in 2:51 with the corkscrew shooting star. Renee interviewed Neville in the ring. He said he’d been travelling the world for 10 years, but last week was a pivotal moment in his career and the most amazing night of his life. He said it was a message that anything is possible. He called himself a “crazy elf man” and joked about his accent, but you couldn’t question what he did in the ring and the NXT Title proved he was the best in the ring. Neville got a No More Bo chant going which brought out Bo. Bo congratulated him, but pointed out Neville didn’t pin him and he’d be cashing in his rematch soon. He said he’d bring the title back for all his Bo-lievers and told Neville it was Bo Time.

– An interview with Renee and Emma from after NXT ArRIVAL aired. Emma said Paige deserved to be champion but she earnt Paige’s respect and one day she’d be a champion in WWE. Ric Flair interrupted and said both her and Paige had to understand the next champion would be Charlotte. Charlotte told Emma to call her if she needed a shoulder to cry on. In another interview from after ArRIVAL, Paige said she respected Emma and called her a friend now. She said she welcomed all challengers and the Flairs interrupted her too. Charlotte said she was the diva who’d take the title off of her. Charlotte d. Emma in 3:18. Renee did commentary. Charlotte had Sasha and a picture of Summer on a stick with her. Charlotte faked an ankle injury and as Emma was distracted by Sasha, won with a front flip cutter, which was more of a face plant.

– From after ArRIVAL, Renee interviewed Sami, who said what Cesaro told him after their match was personal, but all he could tell her was he got what he wanted out of the match. Corey Graves d. Yoshi Tatsu by count out in 1:31. Before the match, Graves complained about not being on NXT ArRIVAL, having to face Yoshi and people talking about Sami Zayn. Graves said he’d only need one chance to beat Cesaro. He teased taking a count out as Yoshi wasn’t worth his time. When Yoshi tried to go after him, Graves sent Yoshi into the steps and just decided to win by count out instead. Graves attacked Yoshi afterwards and put him in the Lucky 13 before Sami made the save. Sami said all Graves had to do was ask and challenged him for tonight.

– Backstage, Devin was at the ‘Adam Rose launch party’. Amid a bunch of oddly dressed party goers, who included various NXT undercard guys and girls, she interviewed Rose, who is the former Leo Kruger doing a Russell Brand character. After post ArRIVAL interviews with Xavier and Rusev to set up a match next week, Adam Rose d. Wesley Blake in 2:26. If you haven’t seen Rose’s entrance yet or heard his theme, you should. It’s something. It got a that was awesome chant from the crowd. The song in particular is ridiculously catchy. Rose was very ‘theatrical’ during the actual match which also got over with the crowd. He then got serious at the end and won with a big clothesline. It should be noted they aired stuff from two sets of tapings, one pre-ArRIVAL, one post and this was pre-ArRIVAL. Which might not be as noticable if they hadn’t added extra background video screens in the building between the two tapings. Or had Tensai on commentary instead of Regal. Oh well.

– In the main event Sami Zayn d. Corey Graves in 9:47. After an even start, Graves grounded Sami for a while, before Sami made a comeback. Sami avoided the Lucky 13 and got a near fall with a blue thunder bomb. Graves then clipped the knee and after Sami almost caught him with an inside cradle, Graves countered a rope walk DDT, but Sami turned that into another small package for the win.

SUPERSTARS

Titus O’Neil d. Zack Ryder in 4:28 with the Clash Of The Titus sky high powerbomb and RybAxel d. Los Matadores (Fernando pinned Axel) in 7:18. RybAxel struggled early before cutting off Diego. Fernando fought back and Torito goaded Ryback to set up a second rope twisting senton to the floor from Diego. Fernando then rolled up Axel for the pin. Lawler then interviewed Los Matadores on the 1980s interview platform by the stage, which I think is part of the Network Raw pre show now. They made a joke about Torito and Lawler both being horny, Diego spoke and sounded like Santino so the accent needs a little work and Lawler made a puppies reference to top this odd interview off.

SMACKDOWN

Christian d. Dolph Ziggler in 9:05. Del Rio did commentary. They showed a photo of Sheamus after the attack on Raw and the cuts on his arm. Not pretty. Christian gave Ziggler a slingshot into the steps to take control. Ziggler made a comeback and got a near fall with a super x factor, before Del Rio got on the announce table to distract Ziggler, allowing Christian to win with the Killswitch. After the match Renee interviewed Christian in the ring. Sheamus interrupted and attacked Christian, who avoided a Brogue Kick and bailed out of the ring.

– Batista came out. He called Ziggler a pretty boy wannabe and said he destroyed him, then called Bryan a sawn off, goat faced troll, claiming he destroyed him and clicked his fingers saying it was that simple. Batista said he was the superhero, but he was a humble man and didn’t need anybody to cheer him. Bryan interrupted. Batista said what was wrong with the business was the day they let fans in the locker room and that’s all Bryan was. Bryan made fun of Batista’s skinny jeans and pointed out Batista only left him laying after he’d taken down Orton, Kane and HHH and before that he had Batista beat. Batista said he was bigger, faster, stronger, better looking and smarter than Bryan. He said the WWE Universe was his universe and if Bryan kept mouthing off, he’d end Bryan’s existance in his universe. Bryan mocked Batista until Batista tried to attack and Bryan fought him off. Kane came out allowing Batista to attack Bryan from behind. They beat Bryan down two on one, until Big Show made the save. Vickie then appeared to make a tag team match.

The Usos d. RybAxel (Jey pinned Ryback) in 4:21. Jey made a comeback and a double superkick to Ryback was followed by a dive onto Axel by Jimmy and the superfly splash to Ryback from Jey for the pin. Saxton interviewed Kane, who said Bryan got lucky on Main Event and his luck ran out tonight. He said he had a solution for Bryan’s anger issues, which was ripping his beard off and shoving it down his throat. Natalya and Eva Marie d. AJ and Tamina Snuka (Natalya submitted AJ) in 3:57. AJ and Tamina worked over Eva. Things picked up when Natalya tagged in and she got AJ in the sharpshooter for the win.

– Reigns and Ambrose came out, for the ‘Shield Summit’. Without Rollins. Ambrose said he wouldn’t tolerate being lied to by someone he trusted and called out Rollins to explain himself. Rollins came out, from backstage and not the crowd. He said maybe the Wyatts match wasn’t the most opportune time to prove a point, but he sacrificed himself for the greater good so they could get on the same page. Ambrose said there was a big difference between fighting off like he did at Elimination Chamber and Rollins walking off. Rollins said he’d proven his point by the fact Reigns and Ambrose were in the same ring, on the same page, seeing eye to eye. He said they could walk, go their separate ways and they’d be fine but if they stood together, nobody could touch them including the Wyatts, The Undertaker and Cena. Ambrose shoved Rollins down and Reigns threw Ambrose down. Rollins then slapped Ambrose and seemed like he was going to offer to take a shot back, but Ambrose punched him before he could finish speaking. Rollins asked if they were done here and offered his fist. Reigns joined him first and Ambrose eventually did the same.

Sheamus d. Alberto Del Rio in 7:36. Sheamus started strong outside, before Del Rio went after the injured arm of Sheamus. Sheamus fought back but took a kneeling superkick on the apron for a near fall. Sheamus got a near fall with the Irish Curse backbreaker, before Del Rio got the cross armbreaker. Sheamus powerbombed his way out of it, then got to the ropes when Del Rio put it back on. And moments later, Sheamus hit the Brogue Kick for the pin.

– A Wyatts promo on Cena aired. Saxton interviewed Batista backstage. Batista said Bryan had found a buddy to hide behind and he’d run through them both whether Kane was there or not. And when he beat Orton at Wrestlemania, there’d be a real man as name and face of WWE. Lana brought out Rusev to cut a promo on his little Bulgarian podium. Renee interviewed Bryan and Big Show. Bryan said HHH must not be a real man either, because he was hiding behind Orton, Kane, Batista, The Shield and even Stephanie’s skirt. Big Show joked around a bit and said they were respect the beard and fear the giant.

Daniel Bryan and Big Show d. Batista and Kane (Bryan pinned Kane) in 10:43. They showed a clip from Cole’s WWE.com interview with HHH before the match. Cole asked HHH if he was afraid of Bryan and HHH said the answer was the same answer to Bryan’s question, no. Big Show gave Batista and Kane a double suplex. If that sounds implausible, well, it almost was since they both landed on their head. Ouch. Bryan then hit a dive onto both of them. Batista took a beating from Bryan and Big Show, before Batista and Kane isolated Bryan after a Batista spinebuster. Bryan avoided the Batista Bomb and hit a roundhouse kick. After Big Show briefly ran wild, Bryan hit a flying headbutt on Kane but Batista broke up the pin. As Big Show and Batista fought outside, Bryan escaped the chokeslam. Kane tried to block the sunset flip by grabbing the ropes this time. But a KO punch from Big Show allowed Bryan to get the pin.

What You (Probably) Need To See:
– Heyman’s speech on Raw.
– The Shield versus The Wyatts from Raw.
– The Bryan, HHH, Stephanie segment and the Usos title win from Raw.
– Adam Rose’s debut on NXT.
– Christian versus Ziggler from Smackdown.
– The Shield Summit from Smackdown.
– And Bryan and Big Show against Kane and Batista on Smackdown.

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