This Week In WWE TV – July 29-August 4, 2013

This week: A pre taped parade of shows. Del Rio gets a Summerslam opponent, as Rob Van Dam, Christian and Randy Orton fight for the number one contendership. Plus, The Wyatts bid goodbye to NXT, A-Ry gets a rare promotion and the debut of LayJ Lee as they’re probably not called.

RAW

– Vince and Brad came out to start the show. Brad, clearly under duress, apologised for letting Cena choose his opponent for Summerslam. Vince ran down Bryan, which lead to him coming out and Vince getting rid of Brad. Bryan and Vince talked about respect. Bryan said he respected Cena, but Vince suggested Cena was lying about all his compliments. He said Bryan couldn’t beat Cena because he didn’t have ruthless aggression. Vince said he didn’t want Cena or Bryan to win at Summerslam, instead he hoped he would ‘win’. Bryan claimed the crowd wanted him to win and told Vince listen to them, as they chanted Yes.

– The Shield d. Mark Henry and The Usos (Ambrose pinned Jimmy) in 8:46. Shield struggled against Henry early and The Usos took them out with a double dive, before they finally cut off Jey. Henry made a comeback, until Reigns snuck in with a spear. Jimmy then set Ambrose up for the superfly splash but Ambrose got the knees up and won with the side headlock driver. Henry cleared the ring after the match though.

– Ryback bullied some guy in catering, because he’s a bully now. He brought up his table match with Cena later and put the guy through the table.

– Brad told Kane the Wyatt Family weren’t in the building. He suggested if he wanted to send them a message, he should show his killer instinct in his match with Bryan later.

– Rob Van Dam d. Fandango by count out in 4:10. This was good while it lasted. Then Fandango rolled away as RVD teased the frog splash and walked out.

– AJ complained about having to face Kaitlyn again tonight. She said every time Kaitlyn speared her, a baby cried. AJ went from being mad at Big E to suddenly happy and skipped off.

– Kaitlyn d. AJ in 4:53. AJ went after Kaitlyn’s arm for much of the match. When Kaitlyn fought back, AJ blocked the spear with a knee. But she couldn’t block a second one later and Kaitlyn got the win. After the match AJ had a tantrum. Ziggler then came out and challenged Big E to a match.

– Dolph Ziggler d. Big E Langston by DQ in 5:22. Big E dominated for most of the match. When Ziggler began to get back into it, AJ then ran in and attacked him to cause the disqualification. Big E didn’t seem happy.

– Cena spoke with Bryan backstage. Cena told Bryan not to believe Vince.

– Christian d. Alberto Del Rio in 10:32. Del Rio sent Christian into the steps to gain control and he worked on Christian’s arm from that point. Christian came back and it turned into a competitive match towards the end. Alberto escaped a spear and caught Christian getting in the ring with a low superkick for a near fall. He then tried a kick in the corner but missed. Christian couldn’t hit the Killswitch because of his bad arm, but countered the cross armbreaker and cradled Del Rio to snatch the win.

– Cody Rhodes d. Wade Barrett in 4:24. Cody won with Cross Rhodes. Sandow stormed out afterwards and warned Cody he’d filed a complaint with management about him throwing his briefcase in the Gulf Of Mexico. Sandow said he came from a family of scholars while Cody came from a family of clowns and said ‘carny folk’ were beneath his constitution.

– Daniel Bryan d. Kane in 8:42. They announced if Kane won, he’d get a title shot after Summerslam to give him more motivation here. He didn’t win, as Bryan countered a chokeslam into the dreaded small package for the pin. Kane gave Bryan a chokeslam after the match, but with Bryan gone, The Wyatt Family came out. Kane went for Bray, but Harper and Rowan beat Kane down again. Bray then gave Kane the Sister Abigail and cut a creepy promo over him.

– Brie Bella d. Natalya in 4:15. They showed The Bellas calling Natalya an ugly duckling backstage before the match. After a more competitive match than you’d expect, Nikki appeared on the stage and taunted Natalya to distract her as she went for a sharpshooter, allowing Brie to roll her up for the pin.

– Curtis Axel and R-Truth went to a no contest when CM Punk interfered. After Punk took out Axel he went after Heyman, but Heyman was able to escape with Axel’s help.

– HHH and Vince argued over Bryan backstage. Vince said he wanted someone who could beat Cena. Stephanie suggested they give Bryan a ‘corporate makeover’. Vince told her good luck.

– Tables Match: John Cena d. Ryback in 12:40. Cena got Ryback in the STF at one point and then tried to drop a table on him, but Ryback escaped under the ring. Ryback used the steps on Cena. They ended up in a stand off, with both trying to throw steps at each other. Cena gave Ryback a back suplex onto the bottom set of steps. In the end, Cena avoided a clothesline and gave Ryback an AA through a table set up in the corner. This wasn’t bad at all, considering. After the match Bryan ran out and grabbed the WWE Title. He teased handing it to Cena, before snatching it away. Cena grabbed it from him and Bryan did the Yes chants in his face.

MAIN EVENT

– Wade Barrett d. R-Truth in 13:12. JBL was on commentary with Josh here. They played up that Barrett was going through a rough patch lately. Truth hit Little Jimmy but Barrett rolled outside. And as Truth tried a dive, Barrett intercepted him with a Bull Hammer to stop the slump.

– The Usos d. The Primetime Players (Jimmy pinned Titus) in 11:40. Usos made some illegal switches early on, which Titus tried to point out with the help of his whistle. PTP gained some control, but The Usos came back to win with a double superkick and a superfly splash from Jimmy

– Mark Henry d. Drew McIntyre in 2:48. Henry won fairly comfortably with the World’s Strongest Slam.

NXT

– Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady came out. They did a promo which ended with them calling NXT their dancefloor, which brought out Tons Of Funk. Enzo and Cassady tried to leave, until Mason Ryan came out and forced them back into the ring. Tons Of Funk beat them up and Mason gave Enzo a cobra clutch slam. Tons Of Funk then convinced Mason to dance with them.

– Speaking of bad dancers, Emma was backstage with Paige and Dusty. He put over their match last week. Summer Rae came in and claimed she should be champion, but Emma stole a victory from her. Emma said her dancing sucked, so Summer challenged her to a dance contest.

– Charlotte d. Sasha Banks in 3:18. Charlotte had a tougher time with Sasha than in her first match, but managed to win with her flipping ace crusher.

– Renee interviewed Tyler Breeze. He tried to find the right word for his debut last week and settled on gorgeous. CJ Parker walked past and decided to mess around in the background.

– The Wyatt Family d. Mickey Keegan and Aiden English (Rowan pinned English) in 0:26. The Wyatts had their new WWE entrance here with the lamp. Big reaction for them. They made short work of English with a spinning clothesline by Harper and splash by Rowan. Afterwards Bray gave English the Sister Abigail. He then gave a speech saying today was the day he decided to bring down the sheep. He said they were leaving NXT, but if anyone needed him he wouldn’t be hard to find, just follow the buzzards.

– Neville spoke with Graves backstage and offered to be in his corner incase the Wyatts got involved. Graves and Neville agreed that they both ran from no one.

– Corey Graves d. Scott Dawson by submission in 2:01. Dawson dominated, but Graves clipped his knee and applied Lucky 13 for the submission. After the match The Shield’s music hit and they came out on the stage. Rollins taunted Graves and Ambrose claimed Neville didn’t deserve to be a champion, because he took someone else’s spot. Ambrose challenged Neville and Neville accepted if it was for the US Title. Ambrose agreed, but next week.

– Leo Kruger and Antonio Cesaro d. Bo Dallas and Sami Zayn (Kruger pinned Bo) in 10:48. Story here was the crowd loved Sami but hated Bo. So every time Bo tagged in the crowd booed and they cheered every time Sami tagged back in. Kruger and Cesaro cut off Sami for a while, before Bo made a comeback. Cesaro and Sami ended up fighting to the back, leaving Bo with Kruger. Bo hit the belly to belly and stopped Kruger from escaping. But Kruger recovered to win with a big clothesline called the Slice for a popular win.

SMACKDOWN

– Alex Riley, who’s done commentary on Superstars recently, was calling the show with Cole. Del Rio came out to start. Del Rio thanked Vickie for giving him the chance to choose his Summerslam opponent. He threw out some ideas before announcing his opponent would be Ricardo. Vickie interrupted unhappy. Alberto offered to change to the Brooklyn Brawler, but Vickie instead took his choice away and announced a triple threat between RVD, Christian and Orton to decide the number one contender.

– Cody Rhodes d. Jack Swagger in 1:57. Cody interrupted Zeb’s attempts to cut a promo on the crowd. Cody countered a Swagger Bomb with a sunset flip to get the win. Josh then interviewed Cody backstage about what he did to Sandow’s briefcase. Cody said he didn’t blame Sandow for what he did, but he was fed up with Sandow’s attitude and being talked down to. Sandow attacked Cody from behind and had to be dragged off of him.

– Big E Langston d. Sin Cara in 2:52. Ziggler was shown watching backstage. Big E won with the Big Ending.

– Renee interviewed Kaitlyn, who had Layla with her. Kaitlyn talked about them being in Houston and her winning the Divas Title in the same building, saying history would repeat itself. Layla complimented Kaitlyn and hugged her.

– Del Rio complained to Vickie about going back on her word. She asked if Alberto was afraid of competition. Brad showed up and told Vickie she made the right decision, further annoying Del Rio.

– CM Punk d. Fandango by submission in 9:17. After an even start, Fandango took control after a distraction by Summer Rae gave him chance to hit a cheap shot. Punk fought back before Fandango almost won with a falcon arrow. Fandango went for the legdrop but Punk crotched him hit a superplex, before floating over into the anaconda vice for the win.

– Renee interviewed RVD. Christian and Orton both ended up walking in and everybody interrupted each other’s catchphrases.

– WWE Divas Championship: AJ (c) d. Kaitlyn by submission in 3:06 to retain the title. They announced Big E wasn’t allowed to be at ringside with AJ anymore. Layla ran in the way to prevent Kaitlyn giving AJ a spear outside. Which allowed AJ to attack Kaitlyn and win with the Black Widow. Layla then left with AJ.

– #1 Contendership, Triple Threat: Christian d. Rob Van Dam and Randy Orton in 9:10. Before the match started Del Rio claimed Ricardo could beat any of the three in the ring and told them all to be careful what they wished for, because he’d tap one of them out at Summerslam. A fun back and forth triple threat. Van Dam hit a somersault dive on both opponents. He hit the Five Star on Christian but Orton broke the pin. Orton made his big comeback and countered Rolling Thunder into a powerslam in a great moment. Van Dam got dropkicked outside and Orton set Christian up for the RKO. RVD came back in and Orton hit a brutal looking RKO on him, but Christian then countered an RKO into a backslide to get the pin. Orton and Van Dam both shook Christian’s hand after the match. Josh then tried to interview Christian in the ring, but Del Rio hit him from behind and laid him out with a low superkick.