ThunderStruck: WWE Raw Analysis 05/06/13

John Cena comes to the ring to talk about defending the WWE Title at Extreme Rules. Vickie Guerrero interrupts and brings out Ryback. Ryback announces that Extreme Rules will be a last man standing match against John Cena.

^I like this rivalry. I don’t expect Cena to lose the title at Extreme Rules, but I do expect this feud to last through the summer for the title. Solid opening to keep the rivalry going, and it’s good to protect Cena so that he can heal up for the pay per view. Ryback still bores me on the mic, but I think I’m going to enjoy his upcoming match with Cena.

Randy Orton defeats Damien Sandow using the RKO.

^More awesome wrestling! Orton is so good at making people look great, but in this case his competition was already stellar. I always enjoy a good straight up wrestling match, and anybody that knows Randy Orton’s history knows that he’s having some of the best matches in WWE right now on a regular basis.

Big Show attacks Randy Orton on the stage after the match.

^I hope Show and Orton give us a good performance at Extreme Rules, but I’m also hoping it’s the end of this feud for the time being. Orton needs to have a regular feud with some of the newer guys like Cesaro, Rhodes, and Sandow.

Chris Jericho brings out Tons of Funk to judge Fandango’s performance tonight with him. Fandango loses to R-Truth when he gets frustrated by the judges and walks away for the countout.

^I like this feud a lot. I’m hoping Jericho’s second match with Fandango has a better finish than the first, and that’s usually the case with post WrestleMania rematches(Angle/HBK 2005, Batista/HHH 2005, Jericho/Punk 2012 etc.).

Daniel Bryan wants to face Ryback again. Ryback says no. Kane comes into the scene and he will face Ryback tonight instead.

^Kane and Ryback will have an interesting matchup if nothing else. I’m curious to see what they can put together for a matchup. I honestly wouldn’t complain if Dbry had another match with Ryback either.

Dolph Ziggler goes one on one with Alberto Del Rio. Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter come out in the middle of the match and join the commentary team. Zeb does the talking. Big E. Langston gets involved when Del Rio has the cross armbreaker on Ziggler and causes the DQ ending. Swagger pulls a ladder from under the ring after the match and attacks both of his Extreme Rules opponents.

^More good wrestling here, but I’m struggling to understand why WWE continues to give us free matches of the men involved in the World Title match at the next pay per view over and over. Why not have them face other opponents and involve the others with interference or attacks? We’ve now seen Ziggler face Del Rio multiple times, and we’ve seen Del Rio face Swagger multiple times. We also saw Swagger face Ziggler recently. How about something new while we continue to push the rivalry without repeating ourselves? It isn’t hard to book.

Kaitlyn’s secret admirer tale continues and she seems happy about it. The Bellas are shown laughing about it.

^So obviously Kaitlyn is being set up. Too bad. I’m curious to see how it all unfolds. Yes, the WWE has actually done something slightly interesting involving a diva storyline.

The Shield defeats Kofi Kingston and the Usos. Dean Ambrose gets the pin on Kofi.

^Fantastic performance here from everyone involved! I love it when guys that aren’t normally on Raw(the Usos) get to appear in a match with other great wrestlers! Kofi looked great as usual, but Dean Ambrose continues to be the shining star of the group. Awesome stuff! How about some more one on one wrestling now for these guys?

Antonio Cesaro goes one on one with Zack Ryder. Cesaro wins the match with the nuetralizer. Cesaro asks if Zack Ryder is the best they can do. He says nobody in the whole company can hold a candle to what he can do in the ring.

^And Zack Ryder continues to be a jobber, but Antonio Cesaro FINALLY gets to speak his mind! It seems like the silly gimmick is finally gone and we’re going to see Cesaro start his climb to the top of the mountain! I can’t express just how excited I am about the potential here for his future in WWE!

Paul Heyman shows us footage of Brock Lesnar destroying Triple H’s office at WWE Headquarters. Triple H interrupts Heyman talking on the tron and comes to the ring. He says Heyman and Lesnar knew he was at Raw and that the office would be empty. Hunter says he’s standing in his second office right now, the ring. He says the ring is more like his home. Hunter says if Brock has something to say to his face, he isn’t hard to find.

^Not the first time we’ve seen someone destroy property to enhance a feud, but it’s certainly been awhile since it last happened. I wonder who has to pay for all the stuff that Lesnar broke? I can’t wait to see these two destroy each other inside a steel cage! Good segment to enhance the feud(not that it needs much more enhancing) and very funny to see Heyman wearing the busted up world title on his shoulder from Hunter’s office.

AJ and the Bellas take on Cameron, Naomi, and Kaitlyn. Kailtyn pins AJ for the win.

^I genuinely like the divas that WWE has here, but the match was just too short to really be anything noteworthy. I fully expect AJ to win the divas title from Kaitlyn before the year is over.

Mark Henry comes to the ring and shows videos of his recent history attacking Sheamus. Henry says if Sheamus has any pride then he will face him at Extreme Rules. Henry says people will remember this match for the rest of their lives. Sheamus interrupts and comes to the ring to show the videos of himself taking out Henry. Sheamus accepts the match with Henry but they want to brawl right now. Wade Barrett interrupts as he is Sheamus’ opponent for tonight already.

^I hope they deliver us one brutal brawl at Extreme Rules! Henry is very underrated when it comes to his mic skills, and I think he does a fantastic job every time he touches a microphone. Why isn’t this guy challenging Cena for the WWE Title right now?

Sheamus goes one on one with Wade Barrett. Sheamus brogue kicks Mark Henry during the match. Mark Henry attacks Sheamus after he scores the win on Barrett with the brogue kick. Henry uses a belt on Sheamus and then delivers the world’s strongest slam on the outside.

^I love the intensity between these two. Both guys are brawlers and both guys make it believable that they will do whatever they can to really hurt each other. It’s fantastic! Good action between Sheamus and Barrett, but nothing really memorable when they were cut short.

Kane goes one on one with Ryback in the main event. Ryback wins the match using shell shocked. The Shield comes out after the match. Daniel Bryan comes to the ring to help and Ryback leaves the ring. Cena comes to the ring next. Ryback comes into the ring with a chair and goes after the Shield, but then he hits Cena with the chair. Ryback stands over Cena as the show goes off the air.

^Kane and Ryback gave us a very solid performance tonight, and I’m becoming more and more impressed with Ryback in the ring these days. I can’t wait to see what happens at Extreme Rules! Something tells me WWE might make Ryback a part of the Shield in the future, but I’m not sure how soon that will happen. Great match and end segment to close out the show!

Tons of wrestling all night and good storyline enhancers! Raw was solid across the board, and that makes for a big thumbs up from this writer! I can’t wait to see what kind of action we get from Smackdown! I won’t be covering Raw next week because of some schedule conflict, but I’ll definitely discuss my thoughts on my facebook page. Until next time, you’ve been ThunderStruck!

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