This Week In WWE TV – August 19-25, 2013

This week: All the fallout from Summerslam, as the McMahons unveil their new corporate champion for a new era and Daniel Bryan tries to fight the power. Plus, Zayn and Cesaro 2 out of 3 falls, Cena says goodbye (for now), Ricardo finds a new friend and why you don't want to share a shower with Ryback.

RAW

– Cena came out. He said Bryan earned the WWE Title and thanked him for bringing out the best in him. Cena showed off his elbow and announced he had a torn tricep, but he refused to cancel the Summerslam match. Cena said he wasn't using it as an excuse for losing and said he was disgusted by what HHH did. Cena announced he was leaving for surgery which got a bunch of Yes chants because people suck sometimes. He brought out Bryan, saying he'd earned the right to be called champion.

– Before Bryan could speak, Stephanie interrupted. Stephanie started by apologising, but claimed HHH was doing what was best for business. Bryan said HHH used to be a rebel, but when you lie down with trash sooner or later you start to stink. Bryan claimed he didn't care about being fired but he'd get his money's worth first, and whether it was to HHH or Orton he'd give her a reason to fire him. Stephanie said she didn't want and patronised him for being a talented underdog who needed to manage his expectations. She said he might not be an A, but he was a solid B+. Bryan got mad, so Stephanie called out security. Bryan told her he'd be back and left.

– Cody Rhodes d. Damien Sandow in 6:59. After a decent match Cody beat Sandow for the second time in 24 hours, winning with a sunset flip out of the corner. He said he should be number one contender afterwards.

– Maddox showed a tweet by Ziggler from after Summerslam criticising HHH. He then, purely coincidentally, put Ziggler in a handicap match against The Shield.

– Heyman, with his arm in a sling, said it was time to end the family feud with CM Punk. He said he forgave Punk and if Punk apologised, he would take him back and together they would achieve heights even greater than before. Heyman promised to take him back to the WWE Title, the main event of Wrestlemania and together they would be the best in the world.

– The Bellas and The Funkadactyls had a confrontation backstage with the Bellas warning them to represent Total Divas well tonight.

– The Funkadactyls d. AJ and Layla (Naomi pinned Layla) in 2:18. AJ and Layla attacked before the bell. After AJ and Naomi fought the whole match, Naomi rolled up Layla for the pin.

– Three On One Handicap Match: The Shield d. Dolph Ziggler in 6:08. Shield had to tag in and out here. Ziggler managed to stay clear of trouble for a while, before getting worn down. Ziggler put up a fight late on but Reigns gave him a brutal mid air spear for the pin. The Shield then gave him the triple powerbomb afterwards.

– Alberto Del Rio d. Sin Cara by stoppage in 0:52. There were Mexican flags on each ring post under orders from Del Rio apparently. This went about 20 seconds before Sin Cara dislocated his fingers on a dive and had the referee stop the match. Fair to say Del Rio was pissed. After Sin Cara was taken away Del Rio said Latinos finally had someone to cheer for with him representing them. Ricardo interrupted and introduced RVD as the person he was now representing. Del Rio jumped RVD as he slid in the ring but RVD fought him off and Del Rio escaped as he went for a frog splash.

– The Primetime Players d. The Real Americans (Darren pinned Cesaro) in 4:49. Colter ranted before the match. Titus got cut off for a while before Darren ran wild and pinned Cesaro with the Gut Check.

– Renee tried to interview Big Show. He said he and Mark Henry were going to go after the tag team titles, before Maddox interrupted. He pointed out Big Show made some comments about HHH as well. He put him in a handicap match with The Shield, but this time The Shield would all be in the ring at the same time. Big Show asked if he really wanted to do that to The Shield.

– Fandango and Summer Rae interrupted a product placement segment for Foot Locker. Ryback then bullied some no name enhancement guy for being in his locker room and made him soak his clothes in the shower. What a meanie.

– Three On One Handicap Match: The Shield d. Big Show in 4:32. Big Show managed to fight the numbers and gave Reigns a spear forcing Rollins and Ambrose to regroup. Show was actually on top for most of the match with Reigns out of the way. But Reigns returned and speared Big Show, before a triple powerbomb finished Show off, with all three pinning him at the same time.

– Punk came out, limping. Some guy in the crowd started booing him so Punk went off on him, in highly entertaining fashion. Punk called out Heyman, teasing that he might apologise. Heyman came out with Axel and Punk said he was sorry he took his eyes off of Lesnar to get his hands on Heyman and he was sorry he didn't rip Heyman's arm off. He threatened Heyman and dared him to fight. Heyman apologised for what was about to happen and told Axel to go tape his hands for a fight. After commercial, Punk had refused Heyman's warning to leave, so Axel returned. They had an unsanctioned brawl with Axel eventually escaping a GTS and taking out Punk's knee. Axel tried to Pillmanize his knee, but Punk avoided it and fought back. And he laid Axel out with a 'GTS' on the steps before staring down Heyman.

– Bray Wyatt d. R-Truth in 1:37. Bray won quickly with the Sister Abigail.

– A video aired for Los Matadores who are debuting soon.

– The Usos d. Jinder Mahal and Heath Slater of 3MB (Jimmy pinned Jinder) in 5:25. Drew interfered to give 3MB the advantage. But The Usos still won, when Jey hit a dive onto Heath and Drew, tagging out in mid dive to Jimmy who won with a superfly splash.

– The Miz d. Wade Barrett by DQ in 4:51. Fandango gave Miz a legdrop off the top when Miz had Barrett in the figure four. Then he danced and the fans Fandangoed.

– Brad told Stephanie than Bryan was back in the building. She seemed okay with this.

– Vince, Stephanie and HHH were out for Orton's coronation ceremony, with the rest of the roster on the stage. Except The Shield, who were standing guard at ringside. Vince told HHH did the right thing and they hugged. Crowd chanted you sold out at him. HHH claimed he did what he did to ensure the future of WWE and for the fans. He said he considered Bryan a friend and called him a “very good little technician”. But although he deserved to win, he didn't deserve to be the face of WWE. HHH said the fans deserved A+ and that's what he gave them. He claimed he didn't want to do what he did and that it hurt him to do it. He brought up his bad blood with Orton, but he buried his personal feelings to do what was right. HHH called Bryan selfish for having a problem with it.

– As the crowd chanted for Bryan, HHH brought out Orton. Orton shook hands with Vince and HHH, then after an awkward moment, hugged Stephanie. Orton bragged about his win and thanked HHH, admitting he owed it all to him. HHH called Bryan out to voice his problems and told The Shield to step aside. They goaded Bryan out but before he could get in the ring, The Shield jumped him. Bryan fought them off, only to get speared by Reigns out of nowhere. HHH stopped them from doing the triple powerbomb and condescendingly told Bryan to get in the ring. When Bryan struggled his way in, Orton hit an RKO and the McMahons posed with Orton over him. This was all done about as well as it could have been and HHH's promo in particularly was very good.

MAIN EVENT

– The Shield d. Kofi Kingston and The Usos (Ambrose pinned Kofi) in 11:37. Rollins took a triple press slam over the top onto Ambrose and Reigns, before a triple dive took all three out. Shield isolated Jimmy. Kofi ran wild and set up Trouble In Paradise, but Ambrose avoided it. He almost won with the SOS but Reigns broke the pin. In the end Rollins tripped Kingston as he leapt to the top rope and Ambrose won with the side headlock driver.

– AJ d. Naomi by submission in 4:07. As Naomi built momentum Layla got on the apron to complain, so Cameron tripped her. But the distraction allowed AJ to apply the Black Widow.

– Great Khali d. Jack Swagger in 3:37. Before the match, Zeb complained about Indian call centre workers. Khali gave Cesaro the big chop and dominated Swagger early. Swagger went after Khali's knee. Swagger and Cesaro ended up surrounding Hornswaggle and Natalya slapped Cesaro before Swagger sent Hornswoggle into the barrier. Khali then recovered to win with the big chop.

– Fandango interrupted Miz's analysis to dance on the stage.

– Bray Wyatt d. Justin Gabriel in 2:06. Squash for Bray, again winning with the Sister Abigail.

NXT

– WWE Divas Championship: AJ (c) d. Bayley in 4:25 to retain the title. Bayley wanted to start with a hug, which AJ wasn't into and she threw Bayley down. AJ took control before missing a splash in the corner, allowing Bayley to get the hug in. Bayley had AJ in trouble but couldn't finish her off. She then started to show concern when AJ seemed hurt and AJ took advantage to win with the shining wizard.

– Backstage Tyler Breeze had a random girl take pictures of him. CJ Parker photobombed him and Tyler got mad when he finally noticed.

– The Ascension d. Michael Zaki and Ron Hicks (Victor pinned Zaki) in 1:36. Ascension squash, beating Zaki with their total elimination style finisher. Hicks wasn't even tagged in

– CJ Parker d. Baron Corbin in 1:40. Parker is playing a hippie character now. He won with a falling DDT. Renee tried to interview him after the match but Breeze interrupted, mad at his gorgeous picture being ruined. Breeze started poking him in the chest and ran when Parker went to hit him.

– Dolph Ziggler d. Alexander Rusev in 6:15. Rusev is billed from Bulgaria and went through a weird ritual before the match which involved breaking a piece of wood with Ziggler's name on it. Rusev looked really good, before Ziggler avoided a top rope splash and inevitably won with the Zig Zag.

– 2 Out Of 3 Falls: Antonio Cesaro d. Sami Zayn, by 2 Falls to 1 in 14:06. Zayn hit Cesaro with a somersault dive before the match even started, then after a yakuza kick in the corner rolled him up for the first fall within 6 seconds. Cesaro eventually recovered in the second fall and controlled it for the mostpart, before catching Sami in the rear choke and forcing Sami to tap. Things picked up in the third fall. Cesaro hit the superplex from the apron. Zayn almost won by bridging back in the rear choke and then with another yakuza kick in the corner. Sami got a close near fall with the code red powerbomb counter, before breaking out his DDT through the corner posts on the floor for the first time in NXT. They teased a count out but Cesaro narrowly made it in. Cesaro then countered a rope walk DDT into the pop up uppercut, which took some effort and was probably more impressive for it, then followed up with the Neutraliser for the win. Great match and the finish was fantastic.

SMACKDOWN

– Vickie announced she'd cleared the air with HHH and brought out Orton. Orton promised to give the fans what they deserved and to be a role model. He said he told the truth about cashing in Money In The Bank. Orton claimed he didn't know HHH would Pedigree Bryan, but he wasn't going to pass up an opportunity. He said he didn't need any help but appreciated the McMahons support and asked for the fans support as well. He said he was the face of WWE, before Bryan interrupted.

– Bryan thanked Cena for facing him at Summerslam, before telling Orton it was time for the face of WWE to change. He said Orton had been given opportunities his whole career for who he was and how he looked and kept mockingly calling Orton 'pretty', before threatening to kick him in the face. Bryan said he had to work for every opportunity he got and although he wasn't pretty, he could wrestle and he could beat Orton. Bryan challenged Orton and Orton told him to wait until Night Of Champion. Orton tried an RKO but Bryan countered and dropkicked Orton out of the ring.

– Backstage, Wade found Vickie complaining about Bryan and volunteered for a match with him to make sure he couldn't make his rematch with Orton. Vickie agreed and made it a cage match.

– Curtis Axel d. Cody Rhodes in 3:54. Heyman distracted Cody as he went for a moonsault, allowing Axel to crotch him and win with the face first neckbreaker. After the match Heyman claimed Punk couldn't accept defeat to Brock and put over Axel, saying nobody could beat him for the Intercontinental Title. Axel said Punk didn't deserve a shot but challenged him to a match on Raw to finish the job Lesnar started.

– Dolph Ziggler d. Big E Langston in 2:01. Big E attacked before the bell. Ziggler recovered to win with the Zig Zag though, despite AJ's interference.

– Alberto Del Rio d. Christian by submission in 8:19. Yes, again. At least all these matches between these two are good. Del Rio worked on the arm again. Christian built momentum towards the end but got sent into the post and caught in the cross armbreaker out of the corner for the submission. After the match Del Rio called everyone peasants but if they followed the great Alberto Del Rio they could be something better. Ricardo and RVD interrupted again and Christian hit a missile dropkick, allowing RVD to hit rolling thunder before Del Rio escaped.

– Three On Two Handicap Match: Big Show and Mark Henry d. 3MB (Show pinned Drew) in 3:09. 3MB very briefly got the advantage on Henry, but Big Show ran through them all and chokeslammed Drew. Slater broke the pin, so Show gave him to Henry who hit a World's Strongest Slam. Show then won with a KO punch to Drew. Rollins and Reigns appeared on the big screen afterwards and weren't impressed. Reigns said he'd never respect Henry and Rollins said a new era had dawned and they had to go.

– Darren Young d. Antonio Cesaro in 2:32. Cesaro started aggressive but Young fought back and after Titus took out Swagger, he won with the Gut Check.

– Ryback signed an autograph backstage for somebody's son. The guy didn't know who Ryback was because, quote, “it's been a while since I watched you guys”. Ryback tore up the autograph. To be honest the guy kinda had it coming.

– Steel Cage Match: Daniel Bryan d. Wade Barrett in 8:59. Both men were sent into the cage early. After a largely even match Barrett blocked a german suplex off the top and tried to escape, but Bryan narrowly stopped him. Bryan gave him a sunset powerbomb off the top and hit the running knee for the pin. As Bryan celebrated around the ring though, Orton appeared from nowhere and gave him an RKO on the floor.