This Week In WWE TV – June 17-23, 2013

This week: Title changes and turns aplenty coming out of Payback, as the landscape for the Summer in WWE heats up. Mark Henry teases retirement and makes fools out of us all, especially John Cena, the biggest fool of all for trying to hug Mark Henry. Plus, Lesnar lays out Punk as the Heyman Guys explode, more McMahon family drama, Bryan and Orton’s inconclusive battles, Christian returns and Antonio Cesaro: Real Adopted American.

RAW

– Del Rio came out and said he was the real Superman. He complained about the fans cheering for Ziggler when he cashed in Money In The Bank and for chanting USA when he was feuding with Swagger. Del Rio offered the fans a second chance to show him some respect, before Punk interrupted. Punk took issue with Del Rio saying he was the best and challenged him to a match. Heyman tried to interject since it wouldn’t be for the title, but Punk stopped him. Vickie came out and made the match official. Punk and Heyman then had a discussion backstage where Punk said he wasn’t Heyman’s client because he didn’t need help like Lesnar or Axel and told him he’d always be a Paul Heyman guy, but he didn’t want him at ringside anymore.

– Christian d. Wade Barrett in 3:11. This was supposed to be Wade’s rematch with Axel, but Christian was Vickie’s “big surprise” for the night. Christian took Barrett out with a big crossbody to the floor early on and after a good showing, won with the Killswitch.

– Two On One Handicap Match: Team Rhodes Scholars d. Sheamus in 3:30. Cody and Sandow double teamed Sheamus throughout. Sheamus managed to fight back and set up the Brogue Kick on Cody. But Sandow snuck back in and rolled Sheamus up for the pin. After the match Sheamus gave Cody the kick anyway as Sandow escaped.

– HHH met with Brad and Vickie backstage and questioned Vickie’s abilities as GM. He warned her to make an example out of The Shield if they got involved later.

– Bryan told Kane he’d prove he wasn’t the weak link by beating Orton tonight. Kane wanted to give their team another go, but Bryan said the only team he cared about was his, Team DB. Kane accused him of acting like a DB. Bryan insisted he needed to win the WWE Title by himself to prove he wasn’t the weak link, but Kane said he wanted to be champion as well and they went their separate ways.

– No Disqualification Match: Randy Orton d. Daniel Bryan by referee stoppage in 14:01. No DQ won the Raw Active vote over No Count Out and 2 out of 3 Falls with 54%. Crowd were more behind Bryan, but there were chants for Orton as well. Orton avoided a dive by Bryan, who landed badly, then used a kendo stick on Bryan. Bryan then fought out of a superplex and hit a missile dropkick, but seemed to hurt himself landing. They tried to keep going, but eventually the doctor got involved and the match was finally stopped. Orton helped Bryan up after the match. This was really good until the stoppage, which may or may not have been enforced, but apparently was.

– AJ came out with Big E and bragged about her Diva’s Title win and challenged anyone who thought they were a fraction of the woman she was to come out. Which brought out Stephanie. She told AJ to start acting like a champion, so AJ made some catty comments until Stephanie reminded AJ she could fire her. Kaitlyn, Layla, Natalya, Alicia and the Funkadactyls came out. Stephanie got mad at them for interrupted her as she left. Kaitlyn then brawled with AJ before Big E pulled AJ out and carried her off kicking and screaming.

– WWE United States Championship: Kane d. Dean Ambrose (c) by DQ in 1:34. Rematch from Payback. It didn’t go long, before Rollins and Reigns ran in and The Shield gave Kane the triple powerbomb.

– The Shield ran into Vickie backstage, who tried to reprimand them. They didn’t seem concerned, to say the least. Vince showed up and complimented The Shield before Vickie could do anything.

– Antonio Cesaro d. William Regal in 2:44. Before the match Zeb Colter announced that he and Swagger were now alligned with Cesaro, to prove they weren’t ‘prejudicial’ and said Cesaro embodied the same spirit as real Americans. Cesaro won with the sleeper into the Neutraliser. He laid a Don’t Tread On Me flag over Regal afterwards.

– Cena came out. He did his usual routine and warned whoever won MITB he’d be ready for them. Mark Henry, who had teased retirement and was shown backstage with an upset Prime Time Players and Tamina earlier to further tease it, came out. In an amazing pink jacket. Henry left his boots on the stage and shook Cena’s hand. He made Cena stay and complimented him, before giving an emotional speech. He said he’d had a lot of success, but not as much as Cena and his only regret was never being WWE Champion. Cena gave Henry the WWE Title to hold up, but Henry gave it back saying it was something you had to earn. He talked about going back home to spend more time with his wife and kids and soaked up the cheers, before Cena raised his hand. And then Henry hit the World’s Strongest Slam out of nowhere. Awesome. Henry screamed he had a lot left in the tank and threw the belt at Cena, saying it’d be his soon. After a break, Renee tried to interview Henry and he officially challenged Cena.

– Chris Jericho d. Heath Slater in 2:20. Drew got involved with a distraction from Jinder. But it didn’t help Slater for long and Jericho got the win with a Codebreaker. Jinder and Drew got Codebreakers as well afterwards.

– Striker tried to interview Heyman about him and Punk. He switched the subject to Axel and said he was born to be better than perfect.

– Curtis Axel d. Sin Cara in 2:41. Miz did commentary. Axel won with a new DDT with a body scissors.

– Backstage Vince, Stephanie and HHH all told Vickie and Brad to listen to them. Heyman then told Punk he understood where he was coming from and even said he loved him. They hugged before Punk went to the ring alone.

– CM Punk d. Alberto Del Rio by count out in 10:47. Punk attacked straight away and forced Del Rio to bail outside. Del Rio went after Punk’s arm. He escaped a GTS but Punk took him out with a dive, before Alberto attacked the arm again. He couldn’t finish Punk off and Punk finally managed to hit a GTS. Alberto rolled outside though and Ricardo helped Del Rio away to take the count out. As they backed away, Ziggler dove off the stage and attacked them both. Ziggler chased Del Rio backstage before Brock’s music hit. Brock came down and got a microphone, but before saying anything gave Punk an F5 instead.

MAIN EVENT

– The Shield d. The Usos and Justin Gabriel (Ambrose pinned Gabriel) in 7:44. Josh, Miz and Cody were the commentators this week. That brand new Josh, Miz and Ricardo team didn’t last long. Can’t complain, because Cody’s very good and a major upgrade. Shield isolated Jey for a while before Jimmy ran wild. Gabriel then tried for a 450 and waited for the Usos to take out Rollins and Reigns. But Ambrose recovered, knocked him off the ropes and won with the side headlock driver.

– Antonio Cesaro d. Sin Cara in 7:57. Zeb insulted Sin Cara before the match. Cesaro hurled Sin Cara into the barrier to take control. He tried to unmask Sin Cara, but Sin Cara fought back. Sin Cara hit a big crossbody to the floor and almost won with a hurricanrana off the top. But Cesaro caught him with a pop up uppercut, before he locked in the choke and set him up for the Neutraliser. I guess it’s no coincidence how much better Sin Cara looks when he’s against Cesaro.

– Kaitlyn d. Aksana in 3:27. After what happened last week Aksana held her own this time, before Kaitlyn fought back and won with a spear.

NXT

– Adrian Neville d. Bray Wyatt by DQ in 2:07. As soon as Neville had a chance to go for the corkscrew shooting star, Harper pushed him off the ropes for the DQ. Ohno and Graves made the save for Neville, attacking Harper and Rowan and chasing off Wyatt, so Dusty made a six man for later.

– Sami Zayn d. Angelo Dawkins in 2:58. Sami won a simple match with a rope walk DDT.

– A Leo Kruger video aired.

– NXT Womens Championship Tournament First Round: Summer Rae d. Sasha Banks in 3:33. Summer dominated for most of the match. Sasha fired back briefly towards the end, before Summer finished her off with a reverse legdrop DDT.

– Xavier Woods d. Jake Carter in 3:11. Xavier had a promo before the match. Xavier’s entrance is pretty fantastic and they’re pushing that he’s a 90s geek. Crowd were into Xavier and he won with Lost In The Woods, which is Eat Defeat or Sole Food depending on your preference.

– Renee interviewed Sami, who said his match was a message to Cesaro. He didn’t have a problem with Cesaro beating him, but did have a problem with being attacked after the match. Sami suggested round three between them.

– Lefort spoke with Dawson and Dylan, saying they should be the number one contenders. Dusty walked in and gave them an opportunity, against Ohno and Graves for the number one contendership next week.

– Bo Dallas, not at the show, thanked us for our support. Yeah, don’t mention it Bo. He also showed us a photo to prove he went to Disney World as promised last week, posing with the belt in a Mickey ears hat and said, or rather sung Don’t Stop Bo-lieving.

– The Wyatt Family d. Adrian Neville, Kassius Ohno and Corey Graves (Bray pinned Neville) in 9:27. After the makeshift team made a decent start, the Family cut off Graves for a while, then did the same to Ohno. Neville ran wild and dove onto Harper, Rowan and Ohno. Harper pulled Bray out of the way as Neville went for the corkscrew shooting star though and Bray got the pin.

SMACKDOWN

– Bryan came out and said he’d never had a match stopped due to injury in 13 years. He claimed it was stopped because WWE thought he was the weak link and not tough enough to continue. Bryan got mad at Orton for showing pity after the match. He said he’d beat Orton tonight and prove he wasn’t the weak link, bringing out Orton. Orton said he respected Bryan. Bryan accused him of patronising him and vowed to shove Orton’s respect down his throat. Orton said tonight when their match was stopped, Bryan would have to be carried out and stormed off.

– Sheamus d. Cody Rhodes by submission in 5:36. Cody had Sandow at ringside with him. He worked on Sheamus’s arm for much of the match. Sheamus fought back and Sandow took a kick as well, before Cody got sent into Sandow. Sheamus then put Cody in a cloverleaf for the submission. Sandow jumped Sheamus after the match.

– WWE Intercontinental Championship: Curtis Axel (c) d. Wade Barrett in 4:41 to retain the title. Miz did commentary. I’m pretty sure Barrett called Heyman “lardarse” at one point. Barrett fought out of the Perfect Plex, but Axel hit the swinging neckbreaker for the pin this time. After the match Miz got in the ring to confront Axel but Heyman pulled Axel away.

– AJ d. Natalya by submission in 2:32. AJ won with the Black Widow. Kaitlyn and Layla were shown watching backstage and after the match Aksana called Kaitlyn trash, so Kaitlyn attacked her.

– Alberto Del Rio d. Chris Jericho by DQ in 6:55. After a battle over the Walls and the cross armbreaker, Ricardo tried to get involved. Jericho put Ricardo in a Liontamer, while Ziggler ran in and attacked Del Rio. Mad at being disqualified, Jericho gave Ziggler a Codebreaker. And people say Sheamus is bad. Alberto and Ricardo ran back in and Alberto gave Ziggler a superkick with Ricardo holding him.

– Christian d. Drew McIntyre in 1:50. Christian got the win despite the efforts of Jinder and Slater, with the Killswitch. After the match, Christian was about to explain why he was back, when The Shield ran out. Not through the crowd for some reason. They beat Christian down and hit a triple powerbomb.

– Renee questioned Heyman about what happened on Raw. Heyman didn’t want to talk about his personal life and questioned Renee about her own personal life. He said he wouldn’t air his and Punk’s dirty laundry in public.

– Daniel Bryan d. Randy Orton by count out in 11:05. This was even pretty much the whole way. Orton gave Bryan a release suplex from the apron outside. Bryan hit the missile dropkick from Raw, but this time got back up and ran wild. The match swung back and forth towards the end and the crowd seemed pretty split. Orton gave Bryan a big superplex for a near fall. He teased an RKO but Bryan rolled outside. Orton gave him a back suplex on the barrier like on Raw and then tried a hanging DDT from the apron. Bryan escaped and gave Orton a flying knee, then hit a dive, before beating the count. Bryan wasn’t happy at winning by count out and wanted the match restarted, but the referee refused.