This Week In WWE TV – October 22-28, 2012

This week: The final build to Hell In A Cell sees the WWE roster feed Ryback more Punk and Sheamus struggle to chop down the giant. Plus, Damien Sandow’s geometrical beard, AJ’s affair, Dolph Ziggler human pinball and I think Kaitlyn’s attacker was revealed, maybe?

RAW

– Tag Team #1 Contendership Tournament Final: Team Rhodes Scholars d. Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara (Cody pinned Rey) in 8:12. Rey and Sin Cara made a strong start. Cody rescued Sandow from an early 619, but both were taken out with dives. Sin Cara busted out a double springboard moonsault, before a missed crossbody gave Rhodes Scholars the advantage. Eventually Rey got the tag and set both Rhodes Scholars for a double 619. He splashed Cody, but Sandow dove under the referee’s arm to prevent a three count. Sin Cara dealt with Sandow, but Cody caught a distracted Rey with Cross Rhodes to win a really fun match. Afterwards, Kane and Bryan said Hell No would they win the titles.

– Kofi Kingston d. Michael McGillicutty in 2:29. Miz did commentary. McGillicutty actually dominated the match, before running into Trouble In Paradise.

– Cena came out. He said Punk wanted to bring change and on Sunday, after 337 days, there would be change when Ryback beat him. He said Ryback only cared about destruction and the face of the WWE would change. Punk interrupted. Punk said Cena not being champion for over 300 days was change you could count on. He promised to walk out of Hell In A Cell as champion. He called Cena Ryback’s cheerleader and said Cena finally realised he couldn’t beat him. Cena announced he was medically cleared. He dared Punk to come to the ring. Punk, to Heyman’s great concern, teased it. But he decided not to.

– Justin Gabriel d. Antonio Cesaro in 4:40. Before the match, Cesaro cut a promo in one of his many languages. Gabriel responded with a crossbody to the floor. Gabriel was crotched on the top, but countered a superplex and picked up a shock victory with the 450.

– Vince and AJ came out, after their “emergency meeting”. AJ said because of allegations of her “fraternising” with a WWE superstar, she was resigning as General Manager. She said the allegations were false. She did a big goodbye speech. Heyman came out at the end of it and complimented AJ on rising above her lack of intelligence, lack of class and being a Jersey girl. He volunteered himself as GM. Vince told him no. He then announced the new “managing supervisor” for Raw, Vickie Guerrero. Heyman tried to ask her to cancel the Ryback match, but Vickie wasn’t having it. Hmm. She then made Punk versus Sheamus in a lumberjack match. Heyman got mad at Vickie. Hmm. Anyway, AJ ended up attacking Vickie.

– Ryback d. The Miz in 2:33. Ryback, of course, won easily with Shell Shocked.

– Kaitlyn went up to Eve backstage and showed Eve the picture she took from Eve’s iPad. She told Eve to drop the nice girl act. Eve slapped her and they brawled. Layla broke it up, but Eve shoved her, so she attacked Eve as well before referees pulled everyone apart.

– Josh interviewed Sheamus. They joked around with a brawling buddy a bit. Sheamus said he wasn’t worried about tonight, before Big Show walked in. He punched the toy out of Sheamus’s hand and told him he’d better get serious before Hell In A Cell.

– Dolph Ziggler d. Daniel Bryan in 10:49. These two were evenly matched, until Ziggler suplexed Bryan to the floor. Kane came out, apparently to check on Bryan. Bryan fought back and they exchanged the advantage near the end. There was a brutal corner dropkick and Ziggler almost destroying himself missing a corner splash and going right over the top to the floor. Ziggler hit a top rope x factor. Bryan then hit a buzzsaw kick and Kane got a YES chant started, which inadvertantly distracted Bryan. That lead to Ziggler winning with a middle rope Zig Zag.

– After the match Striker came out, on orders from Vickie, telling them she was putting them in something called the “Newly Tag Game” with Cody and Sandow. With Striker hosting. Kane and Bryan introduced themselves, predictably arguing about who the tag team champions were. They also argued over whether Kane loved rainbows or not. Sandow didn’t want to compete in facetious tomfoolery and Cody said they’d concentrate on winning the titles Sunday. They left, so Bryan and Kane won via forfeit and Bryan celebrated like he’d won the World Title. Kane scared off Striker. Striker seemed happy at escaping, but bumped into Big Show, who threw him aside on the stage.

– Big Show d. Kane in 5:38. Cody and Sandow came out and distracted Kane, allowing Big Show to hit the KO punch. With Kane down, Cody and Sandow attacked Bryan and Cody gave him Cross Rhodes.

– Backstage Cena spoke with AJ. Cena said if there was anything he could do, he would. He suggested getting whoever was supposed to be “fraternising” with her and getting their side of the story. AJ said it was him. Cena said he’d take care of it.

– Cena went to Vince, who told him it is what it is.

– Alberto Del Rio d. Zack Ryder by submission in 2:47. Bad night for Zack, as he even missed his “token boot in the corner spot” before Alberto won with the cross armbreaker. Alberto yelled at Zack like he was Orton and put the hold back on after the match, before doing Orton’s pose.

– Cena confronted Vickie in her office. Vickie said perception was reality and reality was he cost AJ her job, not her.

– Josh interviewed Ziggler. Ziggler also said Cena was to blame for the AJ situation. He said he thought AJ would have had better taste.

– Punk complained to Heyman about his match with Sheamus. Heyman told him next Monday, Punk would still be the WWE Champion and still the best in the world.

– Champion versus Champion Lumberjack Match: CM Punk d. Sheamus in 15:10. They called this the biggest lumberjack match in Raw history. Not sure how they measured this, but okay. Punk tried throwing Sheamus to the lumberjacks early but they didn’t attack. Sheamus then threw Punk out and they tossed Punk back in. The lumberjacks eventually started attacked Sheamus whenever he was outside, allowing Punk to take control. Sheamus fought back and both had chances to win. Sheamus ended up having to fight off the lumberjacks and hit White Noise. Cesaro and Jinder ran in and took Brogue Kicks before Punk ducked and Big Show Chokeslammed Sheamus from the apron, giving Punk the win. After the match, Ryback came out. Punk kept trying to escape, but the lumberjacks kept throwing Punk back in for more punishment, until Ryback pressed him over the top rope into more lumberjacks.

MAIN EVENT

– After videos on both men, Striker interviewed Ryback who said it was feeding time and Josh tried to interview a concerned Ziggler, who didn’t want to talk.

– Ryback d. Dolph Ziggler in 5:38. No surprises here. Ziggler played pinball before trying to escape. Ryback chased him backstage and carried him back to the ring. Ryback posted his shoulder and Ziggler attacked, but couldn’t get Ryback down. And Ryback soon finished him with the clothesline followed by Shell Shocked.

– Cole and Miz interviewed Heyman from the ring. Heyman accussed Ziggler for trying to run away throughout the match with Ryback. Hmm. He said Ryback was impressive, but Punk would feed him his first defeat at Hell In The Cell because he’s the best in the world.

– Alberto Del Rio d. Sin Cara by submission in 5:06. Alberto posted Sin Cara’s shoulder and took control. Del Rio went into the post himself and Sin Cara made a comeback. But Alberto got his knees up to block a senton and made Sin Cara tap to the cross armbreaker.

– After the match Del Rio told Orton that would be him at Hell In A Cell. Del Rio inexplicably said he didn’t need to sing about millions of dollars because he already had it, bringing out the Primetime Players. They, quite rightly, pointed out they had no issue with him. Del Rio suggested they all beat up Sin Cara. So they did. Orton ran out to make the save and gave both the PTP RKOs, before challenging them to a six man tag next week, with Sin Cara and Rey as his partners.

NXT

– Slater met with Dusty backstage, wanting a match with Rollins for the title. Vickie showed up saying she was here to scout Slater. Odd. Dusty offered him a match with Rollins and if he won, then he’d get a title shot.

– Brodus Clay d. Camacho in 3:54. There was a new partner for Regal on commentary, Tony Luftman. He was pretty good. Crowd were into Brodus. Camacho was able to give Brodus a samoan drop at one point. He got distacted by Naomi and Cameron, before Brodus built momentum and won with the big splash.

– Trent Barreta d. Kassius Ohno in 6:49. After being evenly matched, Trent took out Ohno with a somersault dive. But Ohno recovered by sending Trent into the apron. Ohno wore Trent down until Richie Steamboat came out. Steamboat threw a towel in Ohno’s face and Trent took advantage with a KENTA knee for the upset. An actual finish and this would have been really good.

– Layla and Alicia Fox d. Paige and Audrey Marie (Layla pinned Audrey) in 5:04. The WWE team worked over Audrey, before Layla ran wild on Paige. Audrey ended up tagging herself in, but Layla surprised her with a pin. Paige wasn’t happy.

– Bronson d. Lincoln Broderick by submission in 1:06. All Bronson. He won with a modified heel hook. Decent showing.

– They showed Ohno seething backstage.

– Cesaro and his man bag came out. He bragged about being champion, saying he was taking the US Title to a level no American could ever reach. He told everyone to stand up for the national anthem. Once he got a few people to bite, Cesaro asked that the Swiss national anthem be played. Instead Tyson Kidd came out. He insulted Cesaro’s “man purse” and Cesaro got hot. Kidd asked for a title shot. It broke down and Kidd cleared the ring.

– Seth Rollins d. Heath Slater in 6:47. Slater had Vickie in his corner. He was called a “silly ginger git” by Regal. Rollins was on top early, forcing Slater to regroup with a not too sympathetic Vickie. Seth hit a dive after the break. A distraction from Vickie helped Slater briefly, getting a near fall with his snapmare driver. But Rollins recovered and won with a standing sliced bread. This was fun, but they must have cut a lot from the middle because Rollins took at least 95% of the match.

SUPERSTARS

– The Primetime Players d. The Usos (Jey pinned Young) in 8:11. The PTP had their problems before finally cutting off Jey. Jimmy ran wild before things broke down. Titus was taken out, before a superkick set up Young for a superfly splash from Jey for the victory.

– Jinder Mahal d. Tyson Kidd by submission in 5:02. Jinder danced a little during the match. It was never anything less than awkward. Which is the point, at least. Slater’s distraction lead to Jinder gaining control. Kidd fought back strong, until Jinder hung him across the top rope. And Jinder got the win moments later with the 1980s camel clutch, which can surely be ditched now.

SMACKDOWN

– Orton opened the show. He said his problem with Del Rio wasn’t because he attacked him, it was why he attacked him. He said Del Rio picked the wrong guy to make an example of. Orton promised him the most brutal beating of his life. Alberto interrupted. He said Orton was just a garden snake and he’d crush him under his boot. Orton called Alberto to the ring. Del Rio teased it, but backed away and told him not yet. Barrett then blind sighted Orton.

– Alberto claimed to Teddy he had nothing to do with Wade. Wade showed up and Teddy put him in a match with Orton.

– Kane d. Cody Rhodes in 3:16. Sandow and Bryan did commentary. It was beautiful. Sandow claimed his beard was geometrically accurate unlike Bryan’s and claimed his IQ was “approaching infinity”. Kane won the actual match with the Chokeslam.

– Backstage Booker told Big Show to be professional tonight when he was in the ring with Sheamus. Big Show said he had nothing more to prove until Hell In A Cell and said Sheamus was scared of him.

– The Miz d. Yoshi Tatsu in 4:05. All Miz early. Yoshi put up a brief fight, but Miz won with the Skull Crushing Finale.

– In Booker’s office, he tried to sort out the issue with Eve, Aksana, Kaitlyn and Layla. Teddy explained that Eve told Aksana to take out Kaitlyn. Eve claimed someone must have stolen her iPad and somebody else must have sent the message. Booker made a triple threat for Hell In A Cell.

– Wade Barrett d. Randy Orton in 11:10. Orton had the better of things early, until Wade countered the DDT and sent Orton into the announce table. Orton delivered a superplex and made his big comeback. He ducked the Souvenir and had the RKO set up. But Alberto came out to distract him and Wade hit the Souvenir for the victory. Alberto attacked after the match, but Orton avoided the cross armbreaker. Alberto then avoided the RKO and escaped.

– Eve Torres and Aksana d. Layla and Kaitlyn (Eve pinned Kaitlyn) in 3:35. Layla accidentally kicked Kaitlyn and Eve scored the pin as a result.

– Booker asked Sheamus to keep a cool head with Big Show tonight. Sheamus said he couldn’t promise him anything.

– Kane told Bryan that he won his match, so if Bryan lost his, it’d be obvious who the tag team champions was. Were. He gave Bryan a ‘good game’ on his way out.

– Damien Sandow d. Daniel Bryan in 4:56. Kane and Cody did commentary. Although Kane didn’t say anything. Sandow begged everyone’s indulgence before the match, asking why everyone kept saying YES when there were far more sophisticated words like absolutely and indubitably. Bryan hit a dive and Cody teased attacking but got shoved down. As Kane stalked Sandow, Cody sent Bryan into the post. And Sandow capitalised with the cross arm neckbreaker.

– Big Show and Sheamus had a face to face segment in the main event. Security were in the ring to keep them apart. Big Show said the KO punch was stronger than the Rock Bottom, the Stunner or the AA and clearly stronger than the Brogue Kick. He claimed Sheamus couldn’t even hit the Brogue Kick on him. He called Sheamus stupid or delusional. Sheamus said he loved a challenge and there was no bigger challenge than Big Show. They ended up brawling and being pulled apart by security. They fought off the security and Sheamus tried a Brogue Kick, but Big Show rolled out of the ring, so Sheamus hit it on a security guy instead.