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Raw
Results
Date and Location
Monday, May 6 | 8/7 PMC
Where to watch
Raw: May 6, 2013
Raw Results : Quick Hits
Raw results: Lesnar invades WWE HQ and Ryback targets Cena's Achilles heel 10 Superstars who put the 'W' in WWERaw Results : Full Details
Ryback named the stipulation for the WWE Title Match at Extreme Rules
Yes, John Cena is hurt, and last week did him no favors. But as The Champ himself said in the opening moments of Monday Night Raw, anyone who thinks a gimpy Achilles heel will keep him from defending the WWE Title against Ryback at Extreme Rules hasn’t been paying attention for the last 10 years.
Photos: Ryback calls Cena's bluff? | Champ and challenger face off
Unfortunately for Cena, Ryback seems to be operating on a higher level than the crazed Cro-Magnon Cena takes him for. Because, when Managing Supervisor Vickie Guerrero invited the “Human Wrecking Ball” out to powwow on a stipulation for the title match at Extreme Rules and Cena deferred, Ryback vowed to exploit both Cena’s literal and metaphoric Achilles heel, his refusal to ever back down. Looking less to defeat Cena than to humble him before his fans, Ryback placed The Champ in a stipulation he promised would make the wounded champion regret he didn’t back out of the bout when he had the chance: a Last Man Standing Match.
Randy Orton def. Damien Sandow
Being a learned man, it stands to reason that Damien Sandow is well-versed in the vicious nature of a viper. But why “The Duke of Decency” assumed he could get away unscathed after mocking Randy Orton’s theme song is a question even Sandow’s mighty cranium can’t sort out, because he did in fact perpetrate said parody and did, in fact, pay dearly as a result.
Sandow suffers The Viper's wrath | Snakebit savior of the masses
The inaugural Raw bout between the two hardscrabble Superstars did not disappoint, but you don’t need a scholar to deduce how this particular story came to its end. Sandow fought back from an onslaught by The Viper to reclaim the advantage, but Orton powered back and sealed the victory with a mighty RKO (he must not have liked the song). Alas, The Apex Predator didn’t make it out quite so clean, as he suffered another sneak attack courtesy of a KO Punch from Big Show atop the entrance ramp that left him seeing stars moments after his big win.
R-Truth def. Fandango via Count-Out
If anything, we’ve learned that Fandango doesn’t lose his cool too often, except when it comes to mispronunciations of his famous name. But the dancing king found himself more frazzled than usual when the self-proclaimed “judges” for his bout — Chris Jericho and Tons of Funk, Brodus Clay & Tensai — saddled him with less than favorable ratings for his performance against R-Truth, causing him to abdicate the contest altogether in a fit of frustration.
Failing marks for Fandango | The Truth hurts
Despite his initial, woeful marks from the panel, Fandango came out strong against the former U.S. Champion — though he suffered a scissor kick early on. The dancer looked ready to rally, but when he saw the “Suntan Superman” awarded two 10s and a 42 (courtesy of Brodus), he ditched the bout in a huff, giving Truth the count-out win in the process but living to dance another day.
Alberto Del Rio def. World Heavyweight Champion Dolph Ziggler via Disqualification
It turns out Alberto Del Rio is every bit as flashy as Dolph Ziggler, but as Raw showed, when it comes to old-school brutality, Jack Swagger has them both beat. The onetime aristocrat unleashed an arsenal every bit as thrilling as The Showoff’s in their one-on-one bout, even giving the champ a run for his money before Swagger and Zeb Colter arrived at commentary and threw The Pride of Mexico off his game.
Swagger strikes | Showoff suffers DQ loss
Ziggler took advantage of the distraction to even the odds, but still found himself in the Cross Armbreaker after a grueling, 20-minute battle. Big E Langston intervened to save The Showoff from the hold, but the would-be rescue inadvertently cost him the match. Swagger retaliated with prejudice, storming the ring and attacking both Superstars with a ladder in an ominous potential preview of their three-way bout at Extreme Rules. In other words, it may be a three-way dance for the World Title, but the “Real American” has no intention of being the forgotten man.
The Shield def. U.S. Champion Kofi Kingston & The Usos
It is a fact universally acknowledged that straight-up brawn has not been enough to stop The Shield’s reign of terror, but a freshly formed six-man squad decided to employ a different tactic altogether against the “Hounds of Justice”: freewheeling chaos. Indeed, the never-before-seen trio of Kofi Kingston & The Usos gave the men in black their most unique challenge yet, but ultimately met the same fate as countless teams before them when the “Hounds” rallied to seize the day.
Release the "Hounds" | Ambrose pins Kofi
After a strong start by the tag-team stalwart Usos, Kingston seemed to save the contest for his team when he had Ambrose on the ropes. But Rollins stuck to the group’s M.O. and cut the U.S. Champion down before he could complete a potentially match-ending top-rope strike, leaving him easy prey for the waiting Ambrose. The Cincinnati madman capitalized on his teammate by covering Kingston’s prone body to earn the three-count and keep The Shield unbeaten.
Antonio Cesaro def. Zack Ryder
You want yodelers? Go check YouTube. Antonio Cesaro has been less Johnny Weissmuller and more Tyler Durden since his grueling U.S. Title rematch against Kofi Kingston on WWE Main Event last week, trading in his folksy arias for a punishing beatdown of the U.S. Champion that culminated in him snatching a dreadlock out of Kingston’s head following a (narrow) loss in his bid to reclaim the title.
Photos: Ryder gets Neutralized | Cesaro proclaims superiority
The Swiss Superman fared better in the ring on Raw with a win over Zack Ryder, but it was Cesaro’s post-match display that truly put the WWE Universe (and locker room) on notice. Following a Neutralizer to the gutsy Long Island Iced-Z, Cesaro demanded the microphone and delivered his manifesto: "I put the 'W' in WWE ... there is no one who can do what I do in this ring." Whether that's true or not remains to be seen, but the last two weeks have certainly gone a long way to support Cesaro's claim.
Paul Heyman explained Brock Lesnar’s “Workplace Invasion” of WWE HQ
Brock Lesnar is better versed than most in the ways of wanton destruction, but “The Beast Incarnate” may have one-upped himself earlier today when he paid an unannounced visit to WWE HQ alongside Paul Heyman for some vague, nefarious purposes that kept the desk-dwelling denizens of Titan Tower on their toes for the majority of the day.
Photos of The Anomaly's rampage | Triple H responds
Turns out, as Paul Heyman revealed via satellite, Lesnar had come to confront Triple H in his office. But with the COO absent and unable to fight, The Anomaly settled for some impromptu remodeling and laid waste to The Game’s workspace with a sledgehammer, threatening WWE employees in the process. Still, Lesnar’s volcanic case of the Mondays wasn’t the end of the matter, as Triple H himself arrived to respond to the invasion before Heyman could even finish his story. With Heyman untold miles away, another incident between The Game and the mad scientist was unlikely. But The King of Kings did issue an open invite for Heyman and Lesnar to meet him face to face in his “other” office: the ring.
Divas Champion Kaitlyn & The Funkadactyls def. AJ Lee & The Bella Twins
Friends don’t let friends spear each other. Thankfully, Kaitlyn and AJ Lee are no longer friends, so the Divas Champion was free to knock heads and bust chicks when she felled Dolph Ziggler’s gal pal (and the No. 1 contender to her title) in a dynamic, Six-Diva Tag Match on Raw.
AJ had full control of the bout in the early going, (wo)manhandling Cameron with impunity until the Funkadactyl tagged in Kaitlyn. Sensing imminent defeat, AJ moved to summon the Bellas from her corner, but the shrewd sisters wanted no part of the “Hybrid Diva” and promptly amscrayed, leaving AJ to eat the aforementioned spear and suffer the ignominious three-count that followed.
Mark Henry challenged Sheamus to a match at Extreme Rules
One of the great moments in Sheamus’ young-yet-storied career came almost two when he put his hooligan tendencies to good use and volunteered to battle the rampaging Mark Henry ( “I’LL FIGHT ‘IM!”). And now, it looks like he’s gonna fight ‘im again.
Photos: Sheamus and Henry meet in the ring
The World’s Strongest Man has been suffering the business end of Sheamus’ shenanigans for a few weeks now, and Henry took to the ring on Raw to issue a formal challenge to The Celtic Warrior for Extreme Rules. Needless to say, the former World Heavyweight Champion didn’t exactly need to cajole the Irishman into accepting. A little bit of jaw-jacking later and the match was made, but some pre-emptive physicality between the two would have to wait a few moments as Wade Barrett picked that exact minute to make his entrance. Talk about timing.
Sheamus def. Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett
There are few things better in WWE than a good old-fashioned scrap, and Sheamus and Wade Barrett can rumble with the best of them. With Mark Henry looming on commentary, the English boxer and Irish brawler resumed their on-and-off rivalry with the type of gusto usually reserved for the back-alley brawls where Barrett made his bones. Of course, Sheamus couldn’t do what he does without humiliating Henry one last time, and he did so with an emphatic Brogue Kick to the strongman’s skull.
Sheamus suffer's Henry's wrath | World's strongest belt
The decision would later come back to haunt Sheamus after Barrett suffered a similar fate for the 3-count when Henry decided to do what he does, bulldozing Sheamus into a red-headed pulp after the bout had ended. With The Celtic Warrior at his mercy, Henry rained pain upon Sheamus with a belt, punctuating his attack with a World’s Strongest Slam on the concrete.
Ryback def. WWE Tag Team Champion Kane
Ryback certainly awoke a sleeping demon in Kane when he insulted Daniel Bryan earlier in the evening, but the “Human Wrecking Ball” still stood tall over The Big Red Monster, defeating The Devil’s Favorite Demon in a grandiose clash straight out of an old monster movie. The onetime teammates swung, slammed and smashed each other into pieces for the better part of 20 minutes, but it was Ryback who came out on top, planting The Big Red Machine with Shell Shocked for the 1-2-3.
Ryback rules The Big Red Monster | Kane left Shell Shocked
Although the victory was his, Ryback looked like he’d have extra problems to contend with when The Shield made their presence known. But while Bryan was quick to join the fracas, Ryback vacated the ring and only re-emerged when John Cena appeared to even the odds. With the scales balanced, Bryan, Cena and Ryback were able to drive the NXT alumni away … but Ryback wasn’t above punctuating his point from earlier in the evening. Having exploited Cena’s heroic tendencies and lured him into the open, the big man clobbered The Champ with a chair and left him down, an ominous display that proved Ryback, with his unique combination of brains and brawn, may just rule yet.
Last Monday, Antonio Cesaro continued his roaring rampage of revenge by Neutralizing Zack Ryder into a splatter and proclaiming that he was the kind of competitor who puts the “W” in WWE. As in, “Wrestling.” Old-school, down-and-dirty, carny-rumblin’ wrestling (though, to be fair, since he does speak five languages, Cesaro probably qualifies for the “World” W as well). Easy as it is to nitpick at the egotistical ramblings of recently dethroned champions, it’s honestly tough in this case to disagree with The Swiss Superman’s sermon.
Ten titanic NWA/WCW TV Champions | Relive Cesaro's mighty reign
With his brutal strength and technical precision, Cesaro is nothing if not a throwback to a bygone era of technical grappling and he’s certainly not alone in this characterization. While WWE has become known these days for the superhuman statue of its competitors, there are a few like Cesaro who go about their business in a decidedly old-fashioned way. These are ten of the throwback Superstars (and one Diva) from the WWE locker room, a unique blend of seasoned competitors and newcomers, seeking to bring the roots of amateur wrestling and sports-entertainment into the future. Try lacing up their boots … if you dare.
Chris Jericho
The closest thing to a regional territory-system throwback WWE has today, Chris Jericho has long been the perfect combination of both style and substance, carving a niche for himself as a technical master in a land of bruisers and brutes. The Ayatollah of Rock ‘n’ Rolla honed his craft in the ring for decades in promotions all around the world before coming to WWE, passing through the hallowed Hart Dungeon before competing in Mexico, Germany, Japan (#SuperLiger) and everywhere in between before finally making his bones in ECW, WCW and WWE.
An agile, stocky rumbler who culls skills and maneuvers from every country he’s competed in, Jericho can throw a mean punch or kick and even take to the air if he so chooses, but he’s truly deadliest when he lets his old-school instincts take over on the mat (see his WWE Title Match against CM Punk at WrestleMania XXVIII, which morphed from a slugfest into an intricate mat contest that was ultimately decided via submission). A Superstar who can take opponents out with a knee to the face or an armbar ( he knows 1,004) in equal measure, Jericho’s the kind of world-bred, well-traveled Superstar who can truly give his foes something they’ve never seen before. Those who enough to face him had better have a Corazón de Leon to match his own if they hope to ever, eeeeeever be the same a-gain.
Natalya
She may seem like a girl in an all-boys club, but don’t let the long blond hair and dazzling smile fool you: When it comes to the art of wrestling, Natalya can’t throw down with the best of them. Not only is she the first woman to survive the gloom and doom of the Hart Dungeon, but the blood of The Excellence of Execution literally flows through the veins of this Canadian beauty. As the daughter of Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart and niece of Bret "Hit Man" Hart, Natalya carries on her family’s legacy with her brutal precision on the mat, stretching Divas at will and even adopting the famous Sharpshooter as her signature maneuver. She’s the kind of Diva who makes you question the gender partition altogether; even the He-Man Woman Hater’s Club would offer her first-ballot admission.
Tyson Kidd
It’s not too often you see a Superstar who’s so good at wrestling that he seems to literally make moves up as he goes along, but that’s Tyson Kidd for you. Another Hart Dungeon grad (the final one) who adopted the “Hit Man’s” surgical approach to the mat, the Calgary daredevil eventually decided that path was too traditional for him and incorporated the kind of high-flying that would make any luchador sit up and take notice.
Photos: Tyson takes it to the 'Bank' | Kidd at Survivor Series
Kidd largely toiled in the trenches while he honed his hybrid craft, competing in five-star bouts on NXT and Superstars before a breakout year in 2012 that saw him compete in the Money in the Bank Ladder Match for a World Heavyweight Championship Contract, and emerge as the hero of Survivor Series in a supplemental Traditional 5-on-5 Survivor Series Elimination Tag Team Match. A knee injury cut his year short, but as anyone who follows Kidd on Twitter can attest, the CM Punk-endorsed “ workhorse” isn’t about to ride quietly off into the sunset just yet.
Cody Rhodes
It’s a hard-and-fast rule that you can’t create a list of Superstars who put the “W” in WWE and not include the progeny of Dusty Rhodes. A former Intercontinental Champion with a no-frills style of combat, Cody Rhodes is a walking throwback to the kind of old-school competitors his father used to rumble with back in the day. But where Dusty was a big brawling type, Cody’s more of the stick-and-move variety; a competitor who incorporates skill and athleticism into his ever-changing arsenal — not to mention a few cues from his father, his brother Goldust, and even a Figure-Four or two when the moment suits him. Not bad for the son of a son of a plumber.
Dolph Ziggler
He’s that damn good at being that damn good, and you’ll find few Superstars who embody the perfectionist aspect of competition quite like Dolph Ziggler. The current World Heavyweight Champion subscribes to a quality-over-quantity style of offense; you won’t see him execute moves quite as intricate as Kidd or Cody Rhodes might try, but the maneuvers he does use are executed to absolute perfection. And if Dolph does deign to add a new move to his arsenal, he executes it perfectly the first time out, as though he’s been practicing it in secret or (as he would probably say), because he’s good enough to get it right the first time.
Dolph shows the world | Ziggler vs. Punk at Royal Rumble
A record-setting amateur wrestler as well as a multi-time champion in the WWE ring, Dolph’s old-school tough in a new-school coat of paint — and that’s not even mentioning his Flair-esque technique for absorbing punishment and winning at all costs. He may be a jerk — OK, he IS a jerk, but, good gravy, the man can wrestle.
Antonio Cesaro
And now we come to the Superstar who put all this in motion. Antonio Cesaro is a man of few words, but frankly, he’s not the kind of Superstar who needs them, because his work in the ring speaks for itself. A lean, mean wrestling machine who made his bones on the rough-and-tumble independent circuit, Cesaro brings a down-and-dirty brutality to the mat combined with Herculean strength and the innovation of a mad scientist.
He’s the rare Superstar whose arsenal seems to grow exponentially, but it’s never spontaneous, as it is with Kidd, or meticulous like Ziggler. He rolls out new maneuvers gradually and methodically, almost as if they’re phases in a larger plan. The moves in question, by the way, are almost always something members of the WWE Universe has never seen before, from the ruthless Giant Swing that turned The Miz into a Raggedy Andy doll, to the fluid punishment of the slam he dubbed the “ Swiss Blade.” Oh, and he yodels, too.
William Regal
He’s amaaaaaannn… and a pretty damn good wrestler, too. The WWE Universe doesn’t see too much of the Blackpool-bred villain these days, as he’s largely found a new niche in commentary on WWE NXT. But when Regal does wrestle, attention simply must be paid. The former Intercontinental Champion and King of the Ring holds a special place in the heart of the crowd as one of the most technically gifted grapplers ever to set foot on the mat. A self-professed (accurately) “old pro” who spent his days dreaming of in-ring glory, Regal carried that old catch-as-catch-can mentality well through The Attitude Era and proved that simple, effective mastery of the art of wrestling itself has a place in the modern realm of WWE. Budding technical purists are largely encouraged to seek out his bout against protégé Daniel Bryan in 2011, but only if they’re willing to take notes in the process.
Brock Lesnar
This particular Superstar doesn’t exactly put the “W” in WWE so much as he puts the “F” back into it. Of course, we mean an F as in, “fight,” because in case you haven’t heard, Brock Lesnar truly can fight. LOVES to fight, actually, and he’s quite good at it, too. The Anomaly is the kind of Superstar whose training is so extensive that he actually has no discernible weaknesses; beating him requires no less than driving steel to his face to put him down for a three-count, and even that doesn’t keep Lesnar down for much longer than that (see: Cena, John and H, Triple).
Lesnar's furious 2012 return | The Anomaly's mainfesto
A more traditional Superstar during his initial run in WWE, “The Beast Incarnate’s” amateur training and mixed-martial arts skills have come more to the forefront since he reinvented himself as a self-proclaimed “War Machine,” trading powerbombs and shooting star presses for demolition-grade strikes and bone-shattering Kimura Locks. Granted, he executes these moves with all the subtlety of cannon fire, but the technical expertise is still there, as his keg-toss belly-to-belly suplex of Jinder Mahal can illustrate. For all the lofty Paul Heyman rhetoric that is thrown his way, Lesnar actually lives up to the mad scientist’s hype; he’s a true triple threat (the only man to ever hold an NCAA Championship, the UFC Heavyweight Championship and the WWE Championship), born and bred in the toughest environment — and if he hasn’t pinned or submitted you in the first five minutes, rest assured, it’s coming. He’s just trying to savor the moment.
CM Punk
He did say he was the best wrestler in the world, and CM Punk has gone a long way over his one-of-a-kind career to engrain that as an indisputable fact. The vicious Straight Edge Savior decided at a young age he wanted to wrestle and never looked back, competing in some of the dingier corners of the planet to build himself up into the kind of competitor spoken of in hushed whispers. By the time he got to WWE, Punk’s abilities were already legend, and it made sense that he’d be taken under the wing of Paul Heyman, who prides himself on scouting out old-school talent such as Punk.
In the near-decade he’s spent under the WWE banner, Punk’s abilities have only grown along with the ( very vocal) chip on his shoulder, and he continues to incorporate exotic, rarely seen maneuvers such as the Koji Clutch into his already brutal arsenal, while he defies WWE conventions by taking larger, stronger Superstars such as John Cena and The Rock to the breaking point. It’s a testament to Punk’s skills that he held the WWE Championship for an old-school 434 consecutive days; so, while his actions may not always command respect, his abilities certainly do.
Daniel Bryan
Way before Chris Jericho and CM Punk referred to themselves as the best wrestlers in the world, Daniel Bryan was being given that moniker by anyone who was paying attention in whatever back-alley arena in which he was putting on his latest wrestling clinic. After a while, a lot of people were paying attention. Mentored by no less legends than William Regal and Shawn Michaels, the submission expert from Aberdeen, WA, turned heads for years with his methodical style of mat grappling; a unique blend of Japanese “puroresu” and grappling technique culled from bona-fide mixed martial arts (he boasts legitimate submission training under some of the best coaches in the world), Bryan forged a legendary career long before he ever broke into WWE as The Miz’s protégé in the original version of WWE NXT.
Bryan wins Money in the Bank ... | ... And cashes in
Though it took a while for Bryan’s personality to shine through, he immediately made an in-ring impact by becoming the United States Champion, winning over the WWE Universe little by little with his in-ring style and infectious, underdog mentality. Before long, he was winning World Championships as well; his egomaniacal World Heavyweight Title reign gave birth to the “ YES!”/“ NO!” phenomenon, and his WWE Title challenge of CM Punk at 2012’s WWE Over the Limit is as pure a wrestling match as a modern WWE audience is ever likely to see. Forget putting simply the “W” in WWE — with his worldwide pedigree and entertainment value ( Team Hell No, anybody?), at this point, Daniel Bryan’s pretty much the whole package. We haven’t even mentioned his beard yet, but frankly, that’s a story for another article.
