This Week In WWE TV – April 7-13, 2014

This week: It’s the Raw after Wrestlemania and a new era potentially beginning, with Daniel Bryan as the new face of the company, Cesaro as the new ‘Paul Heyman Guy’, The Shield turning their backs on The Authority and The Wyatt Family with the whole world in their hands. Plus, Paige wins the Divas Title, The BO Movement doesn’t Occupy NXT, The Exotic Express is coming to Raw, Bad News Barrett’s Barmy Army, RVD returns and Hulk Hogan poses with Daniel Bryan on Smackdown.

Also, on Raw, The Ultimate Warrior’s final Monday Night Raw appearance. R.I.P Warrior.

RAW

– Bryan came out to open the show. Big YES chants as you’d expect and a long Daniel Bryan chant. Bryan played to the crowd for a while and there was a big “you deserve it” chant as well. Bryan said the crowd deserved it and it was because of their power to change things that he was WWE World Heavyweight Champion. HHH interrupted and got an asshole chant. HHH said he wasn’t going to get in the ring, so Bryan got in his face with both belts and started a YES chant. HHH told him to enjoy his moment because tonight he’d be defending the title against him and he’d shut the fans up, because it was his show. Backstage, Batista went into HHH and Stephanie’s office and blamed HHH for losing to Bryan. Orton appeared and said he wanted his rematch. HHH said they’d get rematches but not tonight and Stephanie gave them a shot at The Usos tonight. Neither Orton or Batista seemed happy with that but HHH said that historically, when the three of them were on the same page, nobody could stop them.

– The Wyatt Family d. John Cena, Sheamus and Big E (Bray pinned Big E) in 10:25. Things started with a brawl before the bell. Crowd were fully behind the Wyatts which meant Sheamus and Big E got booed as well as Cena. They did applaud Big E giving Rowan a triple backbreaker though at least. Cena went for the AA on Harper, but Harper escaped and cut Cena off. The crowd sung he’s got the whole world in his hands and swayed, then later sang John Cena sucks to the tune of his theme song, which they also did during his entrance. Sheamus ran wild and went for the Brogue Kick but was distracted allowing Rowan to hit a clothesline. Big E then made a comeback on Bray and went for the Big Ending but Harper got involved. Harper hit a dive on Sheamus and Bray pinned Big E with the Sister Abigail.

– A promo video for Bo Dallas aired. It was intentionally cheesy, encouraging us to Bolieve and saying people were reading impossible wrong, it actually says “I’m possible”. Santino Marella and Emma d. Fandango and Summer Rae (Emma submitted Summer) in 1:29. There was Fandangoing. Santino went for the Cobra early but Fandango tagged out. Emma then quickly got the Emma Lock and Santino chased Fandango away to ensure he didn’t break it up.

– Heyman and Lesnar, with a black eye, came out. Heyman bragged about Lesnar breaking the streak and said we told you so. He said Lesnar wasn’t there to put smiles on people’s faces, he was there to put tears in the eyes of children. Heyman talked about Undertaker collapsing with a concussion when he got backstage and Vince McMahon going to the hospital with Undertaker. He said if Undertaker had kicked out of the F5 Lesnar would have broken his neck. Heyman mentioned the announcers, taking a shot at Cole and Lawler in the process by only naming JBL and calling them “those two other things that call themselves announcers”, and everybody in the Superdome, taking a shot at Hogan for getting the name wrong and calling it the Silverdome at Wrestlemania, gave Undertaker a standing ovation and pointed out Undertaker was the loser and Lesnar was the winner. He said the crowd like the locker room were a bunch of wannabes. He said Lesnar didn’t respect anybody, including the crowd for trying to get noticed on TV. Heyman said Bryan, Cena and Undertaker never fought in the Octagon because they were wannabes and Lesnar was the one. He said The Rock, Hogan and Austin had all never been NCAA, UFC and WWE champion because they were wannabes and Lesnar was the one. And he said Orton, Shawn and HHH were wannabes because Lesnar broke then streak and he was the one in 21-1. Heyman mocked the crowd for chanting What at him by repeating himself very slowly and said there were WWE Hall Of Famers, Legends and WWE Superstars, plural, but there was only one who stood above them all, Brock Lesnar. Heyman was magnificent here.

– An Adam Rose promo video aired, with him partying on the Exotic Express. WWE Tag Team Championship: The Usos (c) versus Randy Orton and Batista ended in a double count out in 2:12. Orton and Batista beat The Usos up outside, with Orton giving Jey the DDT off the barrier and Jimmy getting powerbombed on the steps by Batista. They posed together in the ring after the match. Rob Van Dam d. Damien Sandow in 2:50 with the frog splash. Poor Damien.

– Bad News Barrett d. Rey Mysterio in 3:50. Crowd were into Barrett since there were so many Brits in the arena. Barrett asked for the microphone at the start of the match and said he had some Bad News, but Rey attacked him. Crowd sung soccer chants in support of Barrett. So much more melodious than your average wrestling chants. Barrett hit the 619 but Barrett got his hands up to block. He then crotched Rey on the top rope and hit the Bull Hammer elbow to get the win. Another Adam Rose video aired, before Alexander Rusev d. Zack Ryder by submission in 1:21 with the Accolade camel clutch.

– Ultimate Warrior came out. He put on a Warrior trenchcoat and a Warrior mask and cut an Ultimate Warrior style promo, talking about the fans being the ones who made the legend of The Ultimate Warrior. Warrior said he saw potential legends backstage and the fans would make them legends as well. This was a nice short speech which obviously became a lot more poignant and significant a day later.

– AJ came out and bragged about being champion for 295 days. She said she’d given the other divas a chance for 294 days, but at Wrestlemania they proved she was the hero of this story. AJ called herself the best Diva in the world, which got the predictable chants in response. Paige interrupted, to congratulate AJ, for some reason. AJ said all the other divas should be lining up to thank her too, but she didn’t need her congratulations and told her to run back to NXT. AJ then challenged Paige to a match. Paige said she wasn’t ready but AJ slapped her and even volunteered to put the title on the line, before calling a referee out. WWE Divas Championship: Paige d. AJ (c) in 1:20 to win the title. AJ jumped Paige on the bell and dominated for the short time the match went. But Paige countered the Black Widow into a Paige Turner, which was slightly off but not drastically so, to win the title. This was an odd way of doing things, as opposed to Paige challenging AJ, but I guess the idea was AJ’s ego getting the better of her. The fact that Paige came out to congratulate AJ and the commentators played up that she wasn’t ready for this was a little strange though. Crowd loved it though.

– Another promo video for Bo aired. Hogan came out for the Andre The Giant Memorial trophy presentation to Cesaro. He mentioned that the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal would keep going down every single Wrestlemania because of the fans, before bringing out Cesaro. Hogan shook Cesaro’s hand, congratulated him and left. Zeb took the microphone from Cesaro before he could speak though. Colter talked about bringing Cesaro into the Real American fold despite him not being an American and said he made him a Zeb Colter guy. Cesaro took back the microphone and said he wasn’t a Zeb Colter guy, he was a Paul Heyman guy, which brought out Heyman. Heyman said he was the advocate for the King Of Swing, Cesaro. Heyman went to speak to the announcers as Cesaro and Zeb argued, but Swagger hit Cesaro from behind and broke the trophy. Cesaro cleared the ring of Swagger and during the break a match was made. Cesaro d. Jack Swagger by count out in 4:57. Heyman held the Andre The Giant part of the statue. Cesaro hit the superplex from the apron. As he went for the big swing though, Swagger rolled outside and took the count out.

– Backstage, Stephanie spoke with Kane and The Shield. She said she didn’t care about what happened at Wrestlemania because what was important was HHH becoming WWE World Heavyweight Champion and they were all going to make sure it happened. The Shield mocked Kane about The New Age Outlaws not being there. Kane said HHH knew they were faceless, expendable pawns and accidentally outed HHH as the one who set up the attack on Smackdown a few weeks ago. Stephanie screamed at him and told The Shield it was an injustice that Bryan was champion and they’d all be on the same page tonight, because what HHH wanted he got.

– Before the main event, Orton and Batista came out and attacked Bryan in the ring. Orton hit an RKO and Batista hit a Batista Bomb. Kane then came out and gave Bryan a chokeslam. The crowd chanted Hounds Of Justice. Then they chanted 3MB, before HHH came out for the match and forced the referee to ring the bell with Bryan still down. WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Daniel Bryan (c) and HHH went to a no contest when The Shield interfered. HHH mocked the YES chants before The Shield’s music hit. The Shield squared off with Kane, Orton and Batista on opposite sides of the ring with HHH trying to calm them down and play peacemaker. HHH made Kane back away but Reigns gave HHH a spear. Rollins and Ambrose cleared the ring of Batista and Orton and hit a pair of dives, before Reigns broke out of a chokeslam attempt and gave Kane a superman punch. The Shield then surrounded HHH, who took the running knee from Bryan. Kane dragged HHH out of the ring and Bryan and The Shield stood tall to end the show.

MAIN EVENT

– The Shield d. The Wyatt Family (Ambrose pinned Rowan) in 17:28. The Wyatts cut off Rollins for a while before Reigns made a comeback at which point the match picked up. Ambrose got a tag but walked right into a massive boot from Harper to give the Wyatts the advantage again. The Wyatts worked over Ambrose for some time and cut off his attempts to fight back. Ambrose eventually hit a jawbreaker lariat to Harper and blocked a superplex from Bray. Bray caught Ambrose off the top and hit a uranage but Rollins broke the pin, leading to a brawl breaking out. Harper hit a dive sending Reigns over the announce table. Bray then set up for the Sister Abigail, but Ambrose rolled Bray up for a close near fall. After a DDT from Ambrose, Rowan and Rollins were tagged in. Rollins hit dives on Harper and then Rowan. Rollins hit a standing sliced bread on Rowan but Harper broke the count. Bray cut off a dive by Ambrose before Reigns gave him the superman punch. After Rollins hit an enziguri to both Rowan and Harper and Reigns gave Harper the apron dropkick, Ambrose was tagged in. And after a flying knee by Rollins, Ambrose hit Rowan with the Dirty Deeds for the victory. This didn’t have the feel of the first two matches for the mostpart but it was still worth watching.

– After the match Renee interviewed The Shield in the ring. Rollins said the win was a long time coming. Ambrose tried to talk but was too beat up. Renee brought up what happened on Raw. Ambrose managed to say something and said The Authority found out what happens when you test The Shield. Rollins said they weren’t anonymous like HHH said and Reigns asked if he looked faceless in a very smooth manner. He got the crowd to chant his name and told HHH he was the guy who speared him on Raw and he was standing right here. Rollins said there was no bigger injustice in WWE than The Authority and you could believe in The Shield.

– Jack Swagger d. Dolph Ziggler by submission in 4:09. Before the match, Zeb said Cesaro showed his true colours on Raw and called him a ‘sneaky immigrant’. He said Cesaro and Heyman deserved each other because Heyman was a thief and Heyman was a liar. Back and forth match, which Swagger won with the ankle lock. And Alexander Rusev d. Sin Cara by submission in 0:48 with the Accolade camel clutch.

NXT

– There was a graphic for Warrior before the show, as there was on Superstars and Smackdown as well.

– Adam Rose d. Danny Burch in 2:57. New commentator this week, Rich Brennan. Fun squash, which Rose won with an elbow off the second rope Bret Hart style. In interviews taped last week, Devin interviewed the referee from last week’s Sami versus Graves match who explained why he stopped the match. Devin then interviewed Graves who said a win was a win and told Sami to rest his head because they were just getting started. Bayley d. Sasha Banks in 3:14. Sasha had Charlotte and Summer on a stick with her. Sasha went for some quick pins at the start. Bayley fought back at the end and won with the Belly to Bayley suplex.

– Mojo Rawley d. Sylvester Lefort in 0:46 with the Hyperdrive. After the match, Brodus came out and powerbombed Lefort then gave him a splash off the middle rope. Brodus said he heard HHH and Cena endorse Neville at NXT ArRIVAL but they never even looked his way and said he was the main event player. He called out Neville, who accused him of complaining and whinging. Neville said the difference between them was he wasn’t going to waste his opportunity. Brodus said he had a big bark for such a small dog and Neville said he thought Brodus would be taller. They teased fighting but Brodus left.

– Devin tried to interview Oliver Grey but Camacho interrupted, sans accent. He called Adam Rose a poser. Grey challenged him to a match left week and Camacho walked off without an answer. They showed clips of NXT’s involvement at Wrestlemania Axxess. Devin interviewed Great Khali. He was happy to be there. Bayley came in and hugged him. CJ Parker appeared and asked if Khal recycled and suggested he produced a lot of waste. Bayley translated for Khali, claiming she’d been taking Punjabi lessons, that Khali would see CJ in the ring next week.

– Bo Dallas came out, for a ‘special announcement’. Bo claimed it was still Bo time. He said he wasn’t afraid to step to the back of the line but the voices of the Bolievers couldn’t be silenced. Bo mentioned the YES Movement and Bryan’s Occupy Raw, saying that was exactly what they were going to do because the BO Movement was here. He said he’d reached out on Twitter for his Bolievers to gather tonight and asked the members of the BO Movement to Occupy NXT. Absolutely nobody got in the ring and instead, people started to turn their backs on Bo. Bo got mad, claiming he gave them cookies and he was their champion. They went to break and when they came back, Bo was still there. JBL came out and mocked Bo, saying he didn’t have enough people to occupy a see saw. He said no to a title shot, then brought out Justin Gabriel to face him. Bo Dallas d. Justin Gabriel in 9:57. Gabriel made a fast start. Crowd chanted we want cookies. Bo eventually took control. Some awkward moments here at various points which dragged the match down. Gabriel made a comeback but missed a springboard moonsault. Gabriel countered the double arm DDT into a small package for a near fall but Bo recovered to hit the double arm DDT second time for the win.

SUPERSTARS

– Ryback d. Dolph Ziggler in 8:31. Good reaction for Ziggler since this was the Superstars taping before the Raw after Wrestlemania. Speed versus power early. Axel got a cheap shot in during the match and people actually chanted for him which is nice. Ryback controlled things for a while until he posted his shoulder and fell out of the ring. Ziggler fought back and got a near fall with a facebuster off the top. Ryback countered a sleeper before Ziggler countered the meathook with a dropkick and got another near fall with a big DDT. Ziggler then knocked Axel off the apron but ran into a powerbomb. And Ryback then hit Shell Shocked for the win. And Titus O’Neil d. Kofi Kingston in 4:17 with the Clash Of The Titus after Kofi had seemingly injured his knee on a crossbody.

SMACKDOWN

– Smackdown started with a voice over by Michael Cole offering WWE’s sincere condolences to The Ultimate Warrior’s family, friend and fans and saying Raw would be dedicated to The Ultimate Warrior where they’d pay tribute and honour to his memory.

– Cesaro d. Big Show by DQ in 8:33. Heyman gave Cesaro an intro and bragged about being the greatest manager in sports entertainment history on their way to the ring. He said when you were Brock Lesnar’s advocate you picked your clients carefully and said Cesaro was the next big thing. Heyman then did commentary. The match started with a handshake. Big Show overpowered Cesaro early but Cesaro escaped as he teased the KO punch, going over to Heyman who gave him advice. Cesaro eventually got Big Show in a sleeper to gain some control. Big Show fought back and went for a chokeslam but Cesaro got the sleeper again. Big Show missed a second rope elbow and went for the big swing, but Swagger ran in and got Cesaro in the ankle lock. Big Show threw Swagger out of the ring, but Cesaro dropped Big Show across the top rope and knocked Big Show down with a second rope uppercut. Cesaro then gave Big Show the Neutraliser.

– Cena came out. He recapped some of the things that happened at Wrestlemania and on Raw and thanked the fans for rewriting his theme music. Cena agreed the future was now, referencing Bo, Adam Rose, Rusev and Paige by name. He said it was an exciting time in WWE as there were so many promising superstars, but he had a promise of his own, that he was the measuring stick and the standard bearer and if they want to get to the top of the WWE mountain they’d better go through him to do it. The Wyatts interrupted with Harper and Bray cutting a promo on the big screen essentially saying he wasn’t done with Cena yet.

– RybAxel d. Los Matadores (Axel pinned Diego) in 5:00. RybAxel worked over Fernando. Diego made a comeback. El Torito attempted a dive on Ryback but got caught and Ryback threatened to throw him. Diego made a save and Fernando took out Ryback, but that allowed Axel to catch Diego and hit the face first neckbreaker to pick up the win. RybAxel have a new theme which is a mix of their singles themes. Renee interviewed RVD backstage, who said the fact of the company had changed while he’d been gone and said everything was cool when you’re RVD. Rob Van Dam d. Damien Sandow in 4:24, again, with the frog splash. Again, poor Damien. He at least put up a fight here for a while.

– Hogan came out. He said Bryan winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship was one of the greatest Wrestlemania moments of all time and said he officially turned it into YEStlemania. Hogan brought out Bryan and shook his hand. Bryan said this was the best week of his life between Wrestlemania, getting married and winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and now he was in the ring with Hulk Hogan. Bryan said Hogan was the biggest superstar in the world to him when he was a fan. Bryan asked for Hogan’s music to be played and for Hogan to pose. Hogan had Bryan join in with all the poses and Hogan joined in with a YES chant.

– Bad News Barrett d. Kofi Kingston in 2:09. Barrett tried to give some Bad News and Kofi went to attack him, but Barrett hit an elbow. Kofi ducked a Bull Hammer and hit the Boom Drop. But Barrett avoided Trouble In Paradise and caught Kofi with a Bull Hammer in mid move when he tried a second one to get the win. Fandango d. Santino Marella in 1:33. No Summer Rae with Fandango. That’s because she’s been replaced, with Layla. He ditched her via text and then tweeted about it. Layla stole the Cobra and Fandango took advantage by rolling Santino up for the pin.

– A cool video for Paige aired putting over her character, showing her win over AJ and showing the post match reaction backstage with the other Divas congratulating her. Backstage, Kane told Batista and Orton to put aside their problems and not be selfish. He asked them to leave Bryan to him but they both disagreed. Kane said like it or not they needed each other and they all answered to a higher authority. Kane left and Batista and Orton both agreed they answered to nobody.

– Daniel Bryan and The Usos versus Randy Orton, Batista and Kane went to a no contest in 8:18. Orton, Batista and Kane focused on Jimmy who had his arm and ribs taped from the powerbomb on the steps Monday. Bryan eventually got the tag and ran wild on Kane. Bryan hit a dive, then The Usos hit a double dive to Orton and Batista. As everybody brawled outside the referee then called for the bell and threw the match out. Batista, Orton and Kane got the better of things with Orton hitting an RKO to Jey and Batista giving Jimmy the Batista Bomb. Kane then teased a chokeslam through the table on Bryan but The Shield appeared to make the save. They beat down Kane and went after Batista and Orton, but they escaped. Bryan then hit the running knee to Kane as he snuck up on The Shield with a chair, before The Shield gave him the triple powerbomb.