Daniel Bryan confronted Mr. McMahon
LAREDO, Texas – As the beard may
or may not have hinted, Daniel Bryan does not conform to the typical
corporate structure. The No. 1 contender defied all convention on
Monday’s Raw when, just as Mr. McMahon was running him down in an
opening address, Bryan crashed the party and confronted WWE’s Chairman.
Surprisingly,
Mr. McMahon obliged the submission master his audience and – perhaps
unsurprisingly –confirmed that he does, in fact, not like the idea of
Daniel Bryan as WWE Champion. Nor does he care much for John Cena, for
that matter. Far as Mr. McMahon is concerned, The Champ’s lost the
ruthless aggression that brought him the gold in the first place, and
nothing less than the
spontaneous combustion of both men will appease him at SummerSlam.
A
morbid prediction, to be sure, yet Bryan wasn’t interested in The
Chairman’s opinion, only that of the WWE Universe. Judging by the “YES!”
chants that showered the duo in the ring, it appeared that this, at
least was beyond question.
U.S. & WWE Tag Team Champions The Shield def. Mark Henry & The Usos
The Shield
found themselves shamed last
week when they picked a fight with Mark Henry and had to deal with The
Usos as well. But the NXT veterans did what they do best this week,
defeating the latest all-star trio to face them in a six-man setting.
The
match was a one-sided mauling early on when Henry ran roughshod over
the “Hounds of Justice,” though The Shield finally found their opening
when Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose laid siege to Jey Uso and isolated
him from his teammates. However, Jey took advantage of a distracted Seth
Rollins to tag in Henry, but Reigns cut The World’s Strongest Man down
with a spear and Ambrose sealed the deal for his squad, blocking a
Superfly Splash and executing his bulldog driver on Jimmy Uso for the
win … though a fuming Henry wasn’t so beat down he couldn’t punish the
“Hounds” with a post-match hurting.
Rob Van Dam def. Fandango via Count-out
The balletic majesty of Fan-DAN-Go was no match
for the one-of-a-kind power of Rob! Van! Dam! when the former WWE
Champion prevailed in a battle of two of WWE’s most physically gifted
Superstars. Fandango started strong (not to mention cocky), but RVD made
his feelings quite clear on the dancing king’s showboating, unleashing
a ballroom blitz of kicks and
a moonsault on the rhythmic prodigy. Although Fandango hung tough,
things turned dour when RVD started to roll and set up for the Five Star
Frog Splash. Sensing defeat, the dancer denied the high-flyer his glory
and elected to dance another day, rolling out of the ring and
retreating up the ramp.
Kaitlyn def. Divas Champion AJ Lee
AJ Lee’s
prevailed twice over Kaitlyn despite eating some of the most
vicious spears in
WWE history, but the black widow found herself Chickbusted when the
“Hybrid Diva” picked up a long-awaited (yet non-title) win in her home
state. Even though the increasingly conflicted Big E Langston loomed
large at ringside, AJ had things well in hand, forcing Kaitlyn into a
corner and preventing the spear with a deceptively monstrous knee to the
former champion’s face.
It
was a nearly flawless performance by the champion, who only left
herself vulnerable for a moment when she ricocheted off the ropes. That,
though, was all Kaitlyn needed to blast AJ with another spear that had
three consequences of note: 1) she won the match, 2) she precipitated
a five-star temper tantrum from AJ and
3) brought out Dolph Ziggler for some good old fashioned gloating and a
challenge to Big E Langston. Which, of course, led to ...
Dolph Ziggler def. Big E Langston via Disqualification
He can steal the show, but can Dolph Ziggler slay a
giant? For all his physical gifts, The Showoff seemed to have finally
bitten off more than he could chew with a challenge of his former
protégé, Big E Langston, on Raw. Showing little in the way of
sentimentality, the student put a handy whomping on his teacher,
crushing Ziggler with power maneuvers and taunting the former World
Champion like a schoolyard goon.
Ziggler’s
quick thinking saved him from utter destruction when a split-second
dodge of a Langston corner charge gave him life and momentum enough to
toss Big E out of the ring, yet the bout ended with a whimper
(figuratively speaking) when AJ mauled her former beau and brought the
tilt to a DQ conclusion, much to Langston’s chagrin. Ever one to get the
last word, Dolph made his final move on the fuming titan by blasting
him with a farewell Zig Zag. Now
that's how you sever a partnership.
Christian def. World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio
Given that Alberto Del Rio will get to pick his
own SummerSlam opponent on SmackDown this week, he might want to cross
Christian from the list for the sake of strategy. Standing strong
against Del Rio’s aggression, Captain Charisma notched his biggest win
yet on Raw by
knocking off the World Champion in a non-title match, though the feat was hardly a cakewalk for the two-time World Title holder.
The
Essence of Excellence nearly left Christian hobbled in the brutal
contest, using the steel steps and ring post to help weaken his
opponent’s arm in preparation for the Cross Armbreaker. Del Rio never
got to lock in his feared finisher, however, after Christian dodged an
enziguiri from the champion following a lengthy back and forth,
following the evasion with a
roll-up reversal of the Cross Armbreaker to score a stunning upset pin of the World Heavyeweight Champion.
Cody Rhodes def. Wade Barrett
Things just keep getting better for Cody Rhodes,
don’t they? Coming off a resounding humiliation of his former best
friend Damien Sandow, the son of a son of a plumber continued his
in-ring winning ways with a victory over Wade Barrett in the Lone Star
State. A punishing opening salvo from the Brit left Cody in dire
straits, though Rhodes was more than capable of giving the brawler a
taste of his own medicine.
Rallying
from Barrett’s opening barrage, Rhodes let loose with some power moves
of his own, kneeing the Englishman in the face before reversing Wade’s
pump-handle slam into Cross Rhodes. As if on cue, a still-mad (and
still briefcase-less)
Sandow reappeared atop the ramp to slander Cody and his family, though
the scholar stopped short of an actual confrontation, snarling that
“carny folk are beneath [his] constitution.”
Daniel Bryan def. Kane
With friends like these, who needs enemies? Any
hesitance Daniel Bryan had at facing down Kane in a McMahon-mandated
battle between the
former anger management mates evaporated
early on, as the No. 1 contender unleashed a furious barrage of kicks
on his pal, eager to prove he had the ruthlessness necessary to dethrone
John Cena at SummerSlam.
Looking
to rediscover his long-dormant rage, Kane certainly returned the favor,
blocking the submission master’s kicks and locking in for a Chokeslam
that seemed to seal the bout. That is, until
“Mr. Small Package” struck The Devil’s Favorite Demon with his eponymous maneuver,
pinning his friend for the win and suffering a post-match Chokeslam as recompense.
Kane’s
night quickly deteriorated, however, when Bryan departed to lick his
wounds and The Wyatt Family returned to target The Big Red Monster
again. And even though Kane took the fight straight to Bray in his
rocking chair, it wasn’t enough to stop Erick Rowan and Luke Harper from
pulverizing him once more while Bray delivered yet another sermon that
promised further punishment.
Brie Bella def. Natalya
When Twin Magic won’t do the trick, a little
good-old fashioned taunting certainly works fine. Tempers were running
high in a bout between “Total Divas” stars Brie Bella and Natalya after a
disparaging “ugly duckling” comment was tossed Natalya’s way, and the
“Queen of Harts” certainly had no qualms repaying Brie in the ring.
Things were looking “total”-ly dire for the former Divas Champion until
Nikki came to her sister’s rescue, taunting Natalya atop the stage with
“ugly” duck noises and a kazoo, ultimately distracting her so Brie could capitalize with a roll-up pin. Now that’s drama.
Intercontinental champion Curtis Axel def. R-Truth
Curtis Axel may consider himself to be more
perfect than Perfect, but the Intercontinental Champion was left at the
mercy of “The Best in the World” when CM Punk jumped Axel after a match
on Raw. The Paul Heyman-cosigned Hennig prodigy
matched up well in combat with R-Truth, and no sooner had Axel dispatched the former U.S. Champion than The Straight Edge Superstar
ambushed him from
behind, making a beeline for Heyman himself moments later. Axel’s
timely interference allowed the mad scientist to escape through the
crowd with his latest acolyte, but one can only wonder if Heyman will be
so lucky come SummerSlam.
WWE Champion John Cena def. Ryback
It might be a stretch to call the WWE Champion “lucky” when he notches a Tables Match victory over a man he’s already
beaten twice,
yet the last-ditch effort that carried John Cena to victory over a
surging Ryback in the main event of Raw was certainly more the product
of a sudden burst rather than a slow burn.
Far
from the “Cryback” that his detractors have labeled him as, the “Human
Wrecking Ball” was ruthless from the beginning, manhandling Cena for the
majority of the contest. Ryback remained keenly aware of his
surroundings, setting up tables and destroying them himself when it
looked like The Champ was about to turn the tide. Despite the Cenation
commander’s resistance, Ryback looked to have him in hand after a
Meathook Clothesline left Cena vulnerable against a table, yet The Champ
avoided being plowed through the pine, striking with an Attitude
Adjustment that put Ryback through the wood and brought the bout to its
end.
The victorious Cena soon got another visitor in the form of
Daniel Bryan, who mugged with the WWE Title for a few moments before
returning it to its keeper. Friendly jockeying between rivals, or a
subtle promise of things to come? Only a few weeks left before the WWE
Universe gets its answer.
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