This Week In WWE TV – March 24-30, 2014

This week: As Wrestlemania draws closer, it’s special-guest-a-palooza on Raw as wrestling greats and big time celebrities galore make a special appearance, from The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar, to Hulk Hogan and Arnold Schwarzenegger, to Sin Cara and Scooby Doo. Plus, Triple H ushers in The Reality Era, Stephanie doesn’t hit like a girl, the battle for the Intercontinental Title, The Shield dish out some justice and Bo’s title rematch on NXT.

RAW

– Stephanie came out to open the show. She thanked everyone for coming to Raw and said Bryan wouldn’t be on the show. She said HHH did what they needed to last week to send the message that insubordination wouldn’t be tolerated. She said the fans needed to be lead by someone with intellect and character like her. Stephanie hyped HHH as the greatest WWE superstar in history and said he’d yet again become WWE World Heavyweight Champion at Wrestlemania, which brought out Orton. He agreed with Stephanie and sucked up to her, but claimed he’d beat Batista and HHH to a pulp and suggested she make HHH walk away from the WWE Title match and leave Wrestlemania a winner. Batista interrupted. He said he was the next WWE World Heavyweight Champion and even thought he respected HHH, he’d never beaten him and if HHH made it to the main event, he wouldn’t beat him then either. He accused Orton of being a suck up and made a comment about Stephanie being drooled on a lot, so she slapped him. So hard. It was fantastic. Stephanie stormed off as Orton cracked up laughing at this. Batista then hit Orton with a spear (tearing his jeans in the process) and posed with both titles.

– Intercontinental #1 Contendership, Fatal Fourway: Christian d. Dolph Ziggler, Alberto Del Rio and Sheamus in 8:24. Winner was scheduled to get a shot on Main Event. Big E watched the match from ringside. Christian took a fallaway slam into the barrier from Sheamus and then a clothesline which sent both over the barrier. Del Rio hit a huge flapjack on Ziggler and Christian sent Sheamus into the post. Ziggler got a near fall reversing a top rope crossbody from Christian. Sheamus ended up running wild on Christian and focusing on Del Rio. He then teased a dive onto both but Ziggler caught him with a top rope facebuster for a near fall. Ziggler got another two count with a DDT on Del Rio, before Christian countered a fameasser with a sit out powerbomb, then Del Rio hit the kneeling superkick to the back of Christian’s head. Sheamus broke the pin and got Del Rio in the cloverleaf. After a slam to Christian, he then went for the Brogue Kick. Del Rio caught Sheamus with a kick and got the cross armbreaker, which Sheamus powered out of. Ziggler hit a Zig Zag as Sheamus was powering out, but Christian then snuck in and hit the Killswitch to get the win. Fun match.

– A Wyatt Family promo on Cena aired. Sin Cara d. Damien Sandow in 1:10. Sin Cara entered with Scooby Doo, in the Mystery Machine. I think there was a brief Scooby Doo chant. There was a Punk chant, so maybe people thought Punk was in the costume. Sin Cara won in a complete squash with the swanton. Was hoping for more Scooby interactions on the show. Los Matadores d. RybAxel (Fernando pinned Axel) in 1:02. It was confirmed here that RybAxel would be in the Tag Title match instead of the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal at Wrestlemania. The Shield appeared in the crowd, distracting Axel and allowing Fernando to win with a roll up. The Shield then attacked RybAxel, Reigns taking out Axel outside and spearing Ryback, before The Shield laid Ryback out with the triple powerbomb.

– Cole held an in ring sitdown interview with HHH, much like their WWE.com interviews. Cole asked how HHH could justify the attack on Bryan. HHH said Bryan and the fans got what they were asking for, by forcing him to become a competitor at Wrestlemania through the Occupy Raw movement, instead of him being the COO. HHH said the crowd used to have the same desire he had, but now he saw apathy and soft, pathetic little people. He suggested everyone send him a tweet to voice their displeasure. HHH then suggested he should start the ‘Reality Era’ and said the reality was, he was going to end Bryan’s run at the top, he’d end the YES Movement, nobody living off of past glories or untapped potential would stop him winning in the main event and everybody knew he had the power to make it happen.

– Cody Rhodes d. Fandango in 2:46. Goldust mocked Summer and they got into a dance off, which caused Summer to twist her ankle. That distracted Fandango leading to Cody winning with the disaster kick. Hogan then came out. He mentioned Wrestlemania 1 and the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal, before bringing out Arnold Schwarzenegger and Joe Nanganiello from the movie Sabotage. Arnold mentioned inducting Bruno Sammartino in the Hall Of Fame last year and put over Hogan. Joe then put Arnold and Hogan over. Arnold talked about being friends with Andre and asked Hogan if he had room for two more athletes in the battle royal. Miz interrupted and said they just played tough guys, where as he was a tough guy who did acting on the side and that’s why he’d win the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal. Miz said they didn’t belong here. Joe told Miz to try and make them leave. He pushed Miz, who feigned going to leave. He then tried a cheap shot but Joe blocked and punched Miz in the gut, before Arnold backhanded Miz and Hogan threw him over the top rope.

– Big Show d. Titus O’Neill in 2:24. Titus got the better of Big Show for a while. He then tried to knock Big Show over the top rope but Big Show stayed in and speared Titus, before hitting the KO punch for the pin. Backstage, The Shield spoke with Stephanie and HHH and asked where they stood after Smackdown. HHH said what was going on between them, Kane and the Outlaws was between them. Stephanie made a match against the Real Americans and said they could sit down and discuss things afterwards.

– Cena was then shown in the bathroom and he (and we) saw a sheep mask in the mirror, but when he turned around, it was gone. John Cena and Luke Harper went to a no contest when Bray Wyatt and Erick Rowan interfered. Crowd chanted for Harper. Harper got the upper hand and kept stopping Cena’s attempts to make a comeback. Plenty of big moves from both guys including a german suplex from Cena and a superkick from Harper. Cena ducked the spinning clothesline, but was kicked as he went for the five knuckle shuffle and Harper got a two count with a michinoku driver. He then blocked the STF and hit a big dive. Cena got Harper in the STF but Harper raked the eyes to get out. Cena fought out of a double underhook suplex and hit the legdrop to the back of the head for a two count. After a five knuckle shuffle, Harper avoided an AA and hit a faceplant for two. Cena hit a big clothesline and went for the AA again but the lights went out. When they came back on, Cena was then tied in the ropes with a sheep mask over his face and the Wyatts taunting him, which got a this is awesome chant. Match was great until the non finish.

– WWE Divas Championship: Naomi d. AJ (c) by count out in 1:10. AJ mocked Naomi at the start which lead to a hot start by Naomi. After avoiding a Rear View, AJ walked out and took the count out loss. Vickie then came out and brought up AJ’s comments about her on Smackdown, before calling her a bitch. Not a witch, no hinting at it or skirting around the word. She called her a bitch. #RealityEra. Vickie then booked AJ in a Vickie Guerrero Divas Championship Invitational at Wrestlemania, against Naomi and Cameron, Brie, Nikki, Natalya, Eva Marie, Emma, Aksana, Alicia Fox, Summer Rae, Rosa Mendes and Layla who all came out onto the stage and Tamina. Tamina tried to hide a smile as Vickie laughed at AJ.

– Razor Ramon was announced for the Hall Of Fame. Specifically Razor Ramon, no mention of Scott Hall. Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose d. The Real Americans (Rollins pinned Swagger) in 10:38. Match started with a brawl in the aisle. Real Americans worked on Ambrose. Cesaro got the big swing on Ambrose, before the Real Americans swung Ambrose into the barrier. Ambrose hit a jawbreaker lariat and Rollins then ran wild. He hit dives on Cesaro and Swagger before the match broke down. Swagger got the ankle lock on Rollins who made the ropes. Rollins then hit an enziguri and the running curbstomp, which is now called either Piece or Peace Of Mind, for the win. Cesaro threw Rollins outside after the match and took a superman punch from Reigns, then a spear on the outside. The Shield then put Cesaro through the announce table with the triple powerbomb, before Kane and The New Age Outlaws came out in suits. Kane announced the six man tag between them for Wrestlemania and said they’d annihilate The Shield, telling them to believe that.

– Heyman and Lesnar came out to confront Undertaker to close the show. Lesnar was wearing a shirt which said Eat Sleep Break The Streak. Heyman put over the streak again until Lesnar snatched the microphone away from him, saying he wasn’t there to promote he was there to fight before calling out Undertaker. Druids brought out a casket, which Lesnar kicked a few times before opening. Undertaker wasn’t in there. Lesnar threatened the druids and shut the casket, saying he was leaving because he wasn’t there to play games. Heyman insulted Brooklyn before the casket opened and Undertaker got out of it. Undertaker attacked and clotheslined Lesnar out of the ring, with Lesnar landing head first on the casket on the way out. Ouch.

MAIN EVENT

– It was announced that Christian suffered a concussion on Raw so wouldn’t be getting his title shot and instead there’d be another #1 Contenders Match. Intercontinental #1 Contendership, Triple Threat: Dolph Ziggler d. Alberto Del Rio and Sheamus in 13:37. Big E watched from ringside again. After Ziggler and Sheamus fought for a while, Del Rio managed to isolate Ziggler. Ziggler fought back, before being pulled outside by Sheamus who took the fight to both. He teased the Brogue Kick to Del Rio but Ziggler hit a dropkick. In a back and forth finish between all three, Sheamus sent Del Rio outside and Ziggler hit a jumping DDT for a close near fall. Ziggler countered White Noise but got caught in the cloverleaf. Del Rio then hit the kneeling superkick from behind to Sheamus for a near fall. Ziggler got a two count with a fameasser to Del Rio, before Del Rio blocked a Zig Zag and Sheamus hit a Brogue Kick, but Ziggler rolled outside before he could be pinned. Sheamus got a two count with White Noise. Del Rio then got the cross armbreaker. Sheamus powered out but missed a Brogue Kick, getting his foot caught over the rope. As Del Rio went for a backstabber, Ziggler ran in and gave Del Rio the Zig Zag at the same time to get the pin. Inventive finish.

– After the match Renee interviewed Ziggler and Big E in the ring. Ziggler said he’d win the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal as Intercontinental Champion. They put each other over and claimed they’d win. Big E offered him good luck and they shook hands. Aksana, Alicia Fox, Layla, Tamina Snuka and Summer Rae d. Natalya, The Funkadactyls, Eva Marie and Emma (Tamina pinned Naomi) in 5:18. AJ did commentary. Layla did the robot at one point to counter Emma’s dance. The match briefly broke down as everybody attacked Eva and the rest of her team fended them off. Naomi ran wild and the match did break down. Emma tried to teach Eva her dance and Tamina clotheslined them both. Tamina then won with a superkick on Naomi and AJ tried to celebrate with her after the match, hugging Tamina who didn’t seem sure what to make of it.

– Usos versus Real Americans versus RybAxel versus Los Matadores was announced for Wrestlemania. Bad News Barrett and his giant podium on a forklift appeared to give some more Bad News. He suggested everyone wear the same mask Cena did on Raw, so they wouldn’t have to see their hideous faces. WWE Intercontinental Championship: Big E (c) d. Dolph Ziggler in 6:22 to retain the title. Big E began the better until he posted his shoulder. Match was fairly even from that point. Ziggler escaped the Big Ending and hit the fameasser but Big E kicked out. Big E then caught Ziggler with a flapjack and quickly followed up with the Big Ending for the pin. Ziggler shook Big E’s hand after the match.

NXT

– Mojo Rawley d. CJ Parker in 3:20. CJ dictated the match for a while, Mojo made his comeback and won with the butt splash. Simple match. CJ got mad after the match. They showed a backstage clip from last week, with Sami being checked out after the Corey Graves sneak attack and saying he was fine. Tyler Breeze d. Xavier Woods in 3:49 in an even match with the Beauty Shot.

– Devin interviewed Bo. Bo said Neville didn’t pin him and this wasn’t a jungle gym competition. He said he’d be NXT Champion again and we could Bolieve that. Corey Graves d. Yoshi Tatsu by submission in 3:13. Yoshi put up a fight for a while until Graves took out the knee. Graves won with Lucky 13, before getting the microphone and telling Sami to stay down.

– Natalya d. Charlotte in 5:04. Renee joined commentary for this. Natalya had Bret in her corner. Charlotte had Sasha and Summer on a stick. Mat wrestling early. Charlotte escaped the sharpshooter and worked on Natalya’s leg, but Natalya avoided a figure four a couple of times. Natalya then got the sharpshooter out of nowhere but Sasha ran in for the DQ. I thought Charlotte looked impressive here. Natalya put Sasha in the sharpshooter after the match and celebrated with Bret.

– Backstage, Neville said there were no ladders but he didn’t think things would be much different tonight and he had the momentum fully behind him. NXT Championship: Adrian Neville (c) d. Bo Dallas in 11:34 to retain the title. Neville went for the corkscrew shooting star early and Bo rolled outside, so Neville hit a moonsault press to the floor instead. Bo took over after blocking a springboard causing Neville to land hard on the apron. Bo made the referee stop counting, not wanting to win by count out and clotheslined Neville on the outside. Bo got a near fall with another clothesline later which turned Neville inside out and got frustrated that he couldn’t keep Neville down. Bo tried to use the ropes on a pin but got caught. Neville made a comeback, before the referee almost got bumped, allowing Bo to roll up Neville for a near fall. Neville then caught Bo with a kick from the apron and went for the corkscrew shooting star, but Bo got his knees up and cradled Neville for another near fall. As Bo went for the double arm DDT, Neville ran him back into the corner. After a series of counters, Neville then hit a superkick on Bo and an inverted 450 for the pin. Really good match, probably better than the ladder match.

SUPERSTARS

– Emma d. Summer Rae in 3:33. Summer had some problems at the start before tripping Emma from the outside to take control. Emma then made a comeback and got Summer in the Emma Lock for the win. And R-Truth and Xavier Woods d. Jinder Mahal and Drew McIntyre of 3MB (Xavier pinned Jinder) in 8:24. Xavier and Truth started strong, before 3MB cut off Truth. Xavier ran wild and Truth took out Drew with a dive, leaving Xavier to beat Jinder with the Lost In The Woods.

SMACKDOWN

– Sin Cara d. Damien Sandow in 1:04, again, with Sandow at least getting all the offense this time. It didn’t help much, Sin Cara winning with a roll up out of the corner. Poor Sandow. Renee interviewed Big Show about his match with Bray. Big Show said that some of what Bray said made sense, but tonight they had a giant problem on their hands. Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins d. Jinder Mahal and Drew McIntyre of 3MB (Ambrose pinned Drew) in 3:06, after Rollins hit a dive on Jinder and Ambrose pinned Drew after a jawbreaker lariat and the side headlock driver, which is now called Dirty Deeds. Kane then came out with the Outlaws, again all in suits. Kane said that was what they’d do to The Shield at Wrestlemania, before putting them in another match, with RybAxel. Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins d. RybAxel (Rollins pinned Axel) in 4:09. RybAxel worked over Ambrose, before Rollins made a big comeback. Rollins hit a dive onto RybAxel and beat Axel, avoiding the fisherman’s suplex and hitting the running stomp to the back of the head. After the match Rollins hit a dive on Ryback, Reigns hit the superman punch and then The Shield gave him the triple powerbomb, as Kane and the Outlaws watched from the stage.

– Batista came out, in a flat cap and jacket. He said since the day he left people begged him to come back to WWE, but now they booed him. He bragged about winning the Rumble and headlining Wrestlemania before insulting Bryan and asking how it made sense that people cheered Bryan over him. Batista said he considered that a slap in the face, then showed the actual slap in the face Stephanie gave him on Raw. He said Orton wasn’t laughing after the spear and neither Bryan or HHH would be laughing at Wrestlemania. Batista said he’d walk out the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion and that Stephanie might hit harder than all of his potential opponents. That brought out HHH. Batista claimed Stephanie was the reason HHH was the COO. HHH said in the Reality Era, it didn’t matter how he got it, it mattered that he had that power. Batista said HHH had never beaten him. HHH called him out for going to Hollywood and letting his stunt man doing the hard work, saying he’d yet to see the Animal since he came back. HHH said he showed what he could do to Bryan and asked when Batista was going to show him what he could do. He offered to help Batista, by giving him a match with someone who reminded him of the Animal, Sheamus.

– Fandango d. Goldust in 3:17. Summer distracted Goldust, allowing Fandango hit a boot as Goldust was climbing back into the ring and get the pin. Sheamus d. Batista by DQ in 5:31. Batista got the advantage after playing cat and mouse. HHH was shown watching on a monitor backstage. Batista hit a spinebuster before Sheamus fought back. He set up for the Brogue Kick, but Batista rolled outside. And when Sheamus went after him, Batista then used a chair for the DQ. After the match, Batista sent Sheamus into the post and gave him the Batista Bomb, before again saying he was leaving Wrestlemania as champion and telling everyone to deal with it.

– A Wyatt Family promo on Cena aired. The Bellas d. AJ and Tamina Snuka (Brie pinned AJ) in 3:23. Vickie did commentary. She refused to explain the rules of the Wrestlemania match. Tamina and AJ ended up arguing and Tamina pushed AJ before tagging her in. Tamina then shoved AJ into the ring and Brie took advantage of the distraction with a facebuster for the win. A skit with Emma and Santino on a date aired. Emma said they’d always be the best of friends and Santino ended up spitting wine on her.

– Jack Swagger d. Jimmy Uso by submission in 1:57. Jimmy quickly hit a dive early on. Swagger ended up clipping Jimmy’s leg and winning with the ankle lock though. Mark Henry d. The Miz in 3:30. Miz managed to throw Henry over the top rope. But Henry then threw Miz into the steps and won with the World’s Strongest Slam. And in the main event, Bray Wyatt d. Big Show in 4:12. Bray struggled early. He got the advantage briefly after a missed elbow by Big Show and did the crab walk, but Big Show hit a clothesline. Bray then avoided a butt splash in the corner though and jarred Big Show’s knee before hitting a crossbody. Rowan then got on the apron and distracted the referee allowing Harper to deliver a boot from the outside. And that lead to Bray winning with the Sister Abigail. The interference lead to the finish, but it came with Bray in control of the match, which at least didn’t completely make it seem like Bray needed the help to win.