Detailed Results
With Michael Cole still convalescing from the injuries sustained at the hands of Brock Lesnar last week, JBL and Booker T were back on commentary after their own run in with “The Beast”, joining Byron Saxton as RAW kicks off with WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins, who is flanked by The Authority’s Director of Operations Kane, the winner of the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal Big Show, and J&J Security. With the fans nearly drowning Seth Rollins out with “boos”, the champion would reveal that Triple H & Stephanie McMahon are on “vacation” and will not be a part of RAW. Rollins then says that, if anybody deserves a vacation, it’s Triple H & Stephanie before saying that the “biggest takeaway” from WrestleMania was that The Authority “always wins”. The champion continues, saying Triple H is his “role model” before touting the COO’s victory over Sting at WrestleMania, as well as Big Show solidifying himself as the “greatest giant of all-time” by winning the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal. Rollins then comes to Kane, but is only able to commend Kane on being present at WrestleMania. Big Show then says that he is no longer in the “shadow” of Andre The Giant and, now, everyone is in his shadow before saying that WrestleMania yielded a “fighting champion” with “dignity” and “respect” in Seth Rollins. Rollins then proclaims that the “future is now” before making the bold proclamation that he is the “greatest champion of all-time”! Big Show then thanks Seth Rollins for making his cash-in at WrestleMania one of the “biggest things ever”. Still struggling to say something nice about Kane’s involvement at WrestleMania, Seth Rollins was unable to come with anything, opting to let the Director of Operations speak for himself.
However, Kane is quickly interrupted by Randy Orton, who comes out to the stage, congratulating Rollins on getting his “WrestleMania moment”. Orton is then quick to remind Rollins that his cash-in does not change the fact that he beat the man who would be champion at WrestleMania. The champion responds by saying that there is nothing he hates more than someone who is a “whiny little complainer”, mocking Randy Orton. Orton says that he’s not complaining, he’s telling it like it is, saying that he beat Rollins at WrestleMania and he deserves the chance to beat him again for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, commenting that it is “best for business”. With Triple H & Stephanie McMahon on vacation, Orton looks to Kane to make the match official, but asks if Kane will have to call “mommy and daddy” first for approval. Taking offense to what Orton has to say, Kane says that he is still the Director of Operations and he is still in a position of power, telling Orton to show him some “respect”. Kane then says that Randy Orton has made it clear that he wants a shot at the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, but there are other Superstars who are “worthy of consideration”. Kane then announces that, tonight, there will be a Triple Threat Match to determine the new #1 Contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship with the winner facing Seth Rollins for the title at Extreme Rules! Much to the dismay of the champion, Kane announces that the three men who will compete for the #1 Contender’s spot will be Roman Reigns, Ryback, and Randy Orton! Following this big announcement, Kane also announces that the three Superstars in the Triple Threat main event will also be competing in singles matches on RAW and Orton’s match is next as “The Viper” will go one-on-one with the Director of Operations himself!
Before he joins Ryback and Roman Reigns in a Triple Threat Match to determine a new #1 Contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Extreme Rules, the opening match of the night would see “The Viper” Randy Orton square off with The Authority’s Director of Operations Kane. During the match, Kane would narrowly avoid the RKO, sliding out of the ring before Orton would take Kane down with a clothesline. “The Viper” then drops Kane back-first into the ringside barricade, but that is when the Director of Operations would grab a steel chair, jabbing it into Orton’s mid-section, ending the match by disqualification. Kane then slides the chair into the ring before rolling Orton into the ring. Kane would then look for a chokeslam on the chair, but Orton would counter, nearly striking with the RKO before Kane quickly exits the ring, avoiding the wrath of “The Viper” for the time being.
Backstage, an angry Kane is in his office with a familiar, but long forgotten face in former RAW General Manager Brad Maddox. Maddox tries to tell Kane that he showed “leadership”, but Kane gets in Maddox’s face, asking Maddox who the hell he thinks he is. Seth Rollins then barges in, getting in Kane’s face and asking Kane who the hell Kane thinks he is! The champion then says that the “first priority” is to protect him, but Kane is the only member of The Authority who doesn’t seem to understand that. Kane does not back down, however, reminding Rollins that he is the one who helped Rollins win the Money-in-the-Bank contract in the first place, meaning that Rollins would not even be the champion if it wasn’t for him. Kane continues, saying that his job as Director of Operations is to do what is “best for business” and Rollins defending the WWE World Heavyweight Title against a worthy opponent at Extreme Rules is “good business”. Kane then says that, maybe Randy Orton is right, saying that Rollins might be “afraid”, but Rollins argues that he’s not afraid of defending his title against anyone. Rollins then says that what he thinks is “best for business” is for Kane to step down as the Director of Operations! Rollins adds that he thinks that Triple H & Stephanie McMahon would agree with him, but Kane reminds the champion that Triple H & Stephanie are on vacation on a private island in the South Pacific and, as far as he knows, there is no contact with the outside world on the island. Kane then says that he is running things tonight whether Rollins likes it or not and Rollins comes back, telling Kane that, when Triple H & Stephanie come back from their vacation, Kane is going to have a lot to answer for. Kane tells Rollins that his attitude is “borderline disrespectful” before reminding Rollins that his job is to do what is “best for business” and what is best for business is for Seth Rollins to compete here tonight!
Per the orders of The Authority’s Director of Operations Kane, the WWE World Heavyweight Champion was in action on RAW as Seth Rollins, with J&J Security in his corner, would go one-on-one with the newest arrival from NXT, “The Man That Gravity Forgot” Neville, in a non-title match! Before the match begins, Seth Rollins is all smiles as he introduces everyone to Neville, refusing to let the up-and-comer speak. The champion then says that he knows what it’s like to be a “rookie”, telling Neville that he should “sit this one out” and even calling Neville “pipsqueak”. Rollins then asks Neville for a response and Neville responds with a kick to the mid-section of the champion! The champion then collects himself before telling the referee to start the match as the non-title contest gets underway. During the match, Neville would give Seth Rollins a run for his money, nearly pinning the champion on several occasions and, after countering Rollins’ turnbuckle powerbomb, Neville would look for the Red Arrow on Rollins. However, J&J Security would get involved as Joey Mercury would distract the referee while Jamie Noble grabbed the foot of Neville. Neville would manage to kick Noble away, but Rollins was back on his feet and Neville would dive over the champion’s head and land on his feet, surprising Rollins with a roll-up and nearly getting the three-count. However, the champion would survive and, a few minutes later, Rollins would hit the Curb Stomp on Neville, pinning Neville for the win. After the match, Seth Rollins would instruct J&J Security to set Neville up before the WWE World Heavyweight Champion hits a second Curb Stomp on the high-flyer. Rollins then stands over Neville, holding the WWE World Heavyweight Title high.
Three weeks before he defends the United States Championship against Rusev at Extreme Rules, United States Champion John Cena would be on RAW to continue his U.S. Open Challenge, where he defends the United States Title each and every week against any Superstar who wants a title shot. Before his title defense, Cena proclaims that “the champ is here” before saying that he fought so hard for the United States Championship because the title is a symbol of “excellence” and “opportunity”. Cena continues, saying that, last week, he issued the first ever John Cena U.S. Open Challenge to any Superstar who wanted a shot at the United States Title. Cena then says that Rusev will get his shot at the United States Title at Extreme Rules, but just because Rusev wants to wait until Extreme Rules, that does not mean they cannot have a United States Title match here tonight. Cena then declares that he worked hard to win the United States Title and he is proud to represent America, so they will have to give it all they’ve got to try and take it from him, daring his challenger to “step up” or get “stepped on”.
John Cena’s U.S. Open Challenge then gets underway as John Cena would defend the United States Title against the bizarre and disconnected Stardust. Stardust would give John Cena everything he had, even hitting Cross Rhodes, but Cena would survive and overcome, delivering the Attitude Adjustment to Stardust and pinning the bizarre Superstar to successfully retain the United States Title.
The Divas were in action on RAW as Paige would team with Naomi to face The Bella Twins, Divas Champion Nikki Bella and her sister Brie. During the match, miscommunication would again arise between The Bella Twins as, after Naomi hits Nikki Bella with the Rear View, Brie Bella would break up the pin and would help her sister to her feet, inadvertently putting her in perfect position for a kick to the face from Paige! Paige then takes Brie Bella to the outside while Naomi hits the headscissors DDT on Nikki Bella, pinning the Divas Champion for the second week in a row to pick up the win for herself and Paige.
Before he joins Randy Orton and Roman Reigns in a Triple Threat Match to determine the new #1 Contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Extreme Rules, Ryback was in action on RAW as “The Big Guy” would go one-on-one with Luke Harper. In the end, it was Ryback planting Luke Harper with Shell Shocked, pinning Harper to pick up the win.
The popular new tag team from NXT known as The Lucha Dragons were in action on RAW as Kalisto & Sin Cara would face The New Day’s Big E & Xavier Woods, with Kofi Kingston in their corner. In the end, it was Sin Cara coming off the top rope with the Swanton Bomb on Xavier Woods, pinning Woods to pick up the win for The Lucha Dragons.
With a Triple Threat Match to decide the new #1 Contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship awaiting him in the main event, Roman Reigns would go one-on-one with the winner of the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal, “The World’s Largest Athlete” Big Show. In a hard-fought match, it was Roman Reigns overcoming his much larger opponent, hitting Big Show with the Spear and pinning “The World’s Largest Athlete” for the win.
Backstage, Natalya, Cameron, Alicia Fox, & Summer Rae enter Kane’s office, flirting with the Director of Operations and when Kane asks about their motivations, the Divas convince Kane to make a Divas Battle Royal next week to determine the #1 Contender for the Divas Championship.
After making an impactful return at the expense of Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler last week, Sheamus was in action on RAW as “The Celtic Warrior” would collide with “The World’s Strongest Man” and Texas’ own Mark Henry. Despite being outsized by Mark Henry, Sheamus would use his vicious Brogue Kick to take “The World’s Strongest Man” down, pinning Mark Henry for the win.
For the first time since his loss to The Undertaker at WrestleMania, Bray Wyatt would make an appearance on RAW from his dark, remote location. Addressing an unknown individual, Bray Wyatt says that this person’s entire life has revolved around “dedication”, saying that you cannot compete with the “forces of nature”. Bray continues, saying that this person cannot compete against “the greatest power of them all”, saying that it is not their “drive for success” that molds them, it is their “fear of failure”. Bray then says that, below the “flesh and bone” is the “key” to this person’s “undoing”, asking if he has their attention now and telling them to “behold the new face of fear”.
After Damien Mizdow became fed up with his then boss The Miz, eliminating Miz from the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania, the former tag team partners would face off on RAW as Damien Mizdow went one-on-one with The Miz. At the end of what was close to a mirror match, it was The Miz rolling Damien Mizdow up, illegally hooking the tights to secure the three-count and pick up the win over his former personal assistant.
Then it was time for the main event as a Triple Threat Match would determine the new #1 Contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship as “The Viper” Randy Orton, Roman Reigns, and “The Big Guy” Ryback would face off with the winner earning a match against Seth Rollins for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in three weeks at Extreme Rules. Early on in the match, WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins would come out to the stage, joined by Kane, Big Show, and J&J Security as the match continues. During the match, Ryback would hit Roman Reigns with the Meat Hook Clothesline before hitting Randy Orton with a spinebuster. Ryback then goes for Shell Shocked, but Orton fights out before Roman Reigns takes Ryback down with the Spear, leaving all three men down. This would bring The Authority down to ringside as they seemingly had their sights set on Ryback before Roman Reigns would take flight, leaping over the top rope and taking out all five men! With revenge on his mind, Roman Reigns would then pick Seth Rollins up, but Big Show was quick to come to the aid of the WWE World Heavyweight Champion, leveling Roman Reigns with the Knockout Punch!
However, Rollins would make the mistake of turning his back to Randy Orton as “The Viper” would pull the champion into the ring, but before any harm could be done, J&J Security are on the scene, attacking Randy Orton. With the Triple Threat Match still going on, Ryback would enter the fray, disposing of both members of J&J Security, but Ryback’s preoccupation with J&J Security would give Randy Orton the opening he needed as “The Viper” strikes with the RKO, pinning Ryback to pick up the win and become the new #1 Contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship! Before Randy Orton could even get to his feet to celebrate the victory, Seth Rollins is quick to strike, hitting the Curb Stomp on the new #1 Contender. Seth Rollins then stands over Randy Orton, holding the WWE World Heavyweight Title high.
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