Raw 4-8-13

Love the wacky over-dramatic narration over WM, and Cole saying THE BRIDGE OF TWO GENERATIONS, while Rock and Cena stood next to the bridge set. New belt looks tremendous on Cena. Rock sent out a tweet about a torn ab muscle. Love Cena having fun with the crowd in his promo. Adored his line about dancing, getting booed, and suggesting a heel turn. Cena said he'd defend the title tonight, and Henry came out. YES! Loved the crowd chanting sexual chocolate and Cena saying they want to have sex with chocolate. Booker, the face GM, came out and said he wouldn't allow Cena to defend the gold - but Henry could get a shot by beating Cena tonight. Big E makes his Raw debut next.

Nice WM recap vid in still shots. Big E's facing Bryan - perfect foe for him. Tremendous power stuff from E and an even better barrage of kicks from Bryan. Big Ending got a quick win here. Barrett-Miz for the belt is up next. Love JBL putting Miz over as legit after not only being WWE Champ, but making a very tough guy tap out - putting Barrett over a bit in the process. Wade's matches always seem more important with him calling them. Great punt from Barrett on the apron, leading to a neckbreaker and huge cheers for Wade. Winds of Change after a break got another big pop. Barrett messed up on the reverse DDT/Neckbreaker spot badly and got a huge YOU FUCKED UP chant. Massive pop when Barrett got to the ropes during the figure four. Barrett is damn near a face here tonight. Barrett won the gold after a posting and Bull Hammer. This was so damn great. Wade got to regain the gold in a match that felt special. Sheamus complained to Brickie about Show, and got his match. Oh yeah, Swagger's teaming with HIS FOUNDING FATHER against Alberto.

Orton met with Booker and said that HE needed a match with Show - hooray, HOLLA HOLLA 3-WAY with heel turn since he's now a shit-stirrer. Loved a fan holding up a DEPORT ME sign with a big grin while Zeb spoke. Alberto's neon yellow/green shirt looks ridiculous - his shirt now matches Kofi's gear. WE WANT ZIGGLER chant broke out, and Ricardo was able to get the crowd to cheer for Alberto...until another WE WANT ZIGGLER chant broke out. EXCLUSIVELY ON THE WWE APP - Swagger clipped his knee. Ankle lock got a WE WANT ZIGGLER chant. Loved King saying they were chanting we want Colter there...and Swagger tapped clean in a handicap match in his favor. Well, given that they're seemingly doing an injury angle to set up a cash-in, I'm fine with this. Crowd popped huge for Dolph. I'm pretty sure Alberto not being able to stand violates some wacky stip they added to the MITB deal, but whatever - this rules. The crowd is electric here. YES! HE WON THE WORLD TITLE. Great win too since he wrenched the bad knee during the armbar, hit the Zig Zag and won to a huge applause. After a sterile WM show, it was so good to see some genuine emotion here from everyone. Dolph, AJ, Big E, and the crowd went nuts. This ruled.

Taker came out to a huge UNDERTAKER chant. Taker paid tribute to Bearer and then THE SHIELD CAME OUT. Moxley and Tyler Black are in the ring with Taker. Crazy. The tag champs came out to save Taker from a beating - okay, so it'll be Bryan, Tyler Black, AND Jon Moxley in the ring with Taker at some point. Even more crazy. Another great WM recap snapshot series, and they replayed Dolph's title win. 3MB faces Truth, Ryder, and Santino...okey dokey. Santaino won via accidental Cobra off a neck snap on the ropes. Great Axxess vids with some highlights from Bryan and Sandow, then Sheamus and Orton bitched about stuff. They came back and showed Show's post-show promo. I think he re-turned heel in it. They all came out and said words. And instead of any attacks, they made Show vs. WHOEVER THE WWE UNIVERSE CHOOSES ON TWITTER. This seems odd, but with both guys staying out there, any result still allows Orton to turn heel. So instead of THAT, they do Orton-Sheamus with the winner facing Show.

A giant OLE OLE OLE chant broke out, making me think that Generico worked a dark match. God, Sheamus in neon green looks odd. The crowd is breaking into song again, which is great because this match is just a bunch of moves. Boring chant broke out. They should change Bo Dallas's name to Bo Ring so this can be spun into a good thing by the commentators. WiColepedia rattled off knowledge about soccer, OR FOOTBALL AS THEY CALL IT IN EUROPE. Big RVD chant broke out, then a JBL one, then King, THEN COLE. This match was worth watching just for the crowd. THEN THEY DID THE FUCKING WAVE! Show came out and destroyed Sheamus and Orton, getting a THANK YOU BIG SHOW chant. Wow. This is more buys than Mayweather. Show bowled over Orton with a spear, and Orton's left shoulder took a hell of a landing there. They brawled to the table and JBL made sure to grab his hat at the last second. The only way Show could get booed was to stop attacking the babyfaces. Amazing. Mr. Dongo is wrestling next.

HHH IS COMING TO SD! Show killing a chair was recapped as was the Shield-Taker/Hell No bit. Loved Fandango's big intro, and it was helped by JBL saying that Cole met his wife dancing because he had to pay a cover charge. Fandongo did a bunch of wacky stretches. The crowd then HUMMED FANDANGO'S THEME! The match ended there due to Jericho - perfect! Jericho knocked the hat off the table, but plopped it onto JBL's head where it then fell. This ruled. Chris whooped some ass here. Perfect Codebreaker finish here. Loved Fandango's dancer giving Jericho the evil eye and glaring at him as he left. Fandango won via DQ, but still had to correct Justin Roberts on how to say his name. Amazing. And then they sang his theme again. Great Cena media montage aired, then when they came back, they showed global headlines for WM.  They showed HHH getting some tests run due to nearly breaking his arm during a table spot last night. HHH looks old in just his trunks. Heyman cut a tremendous promo about HHH winning, but it took 20 minutes after Brock got KOed, and the only reason HHH isn't here is because his arm is destroyed.

8-person tag is up, with them even showing the WM graphics for it. ToF came out in tear-away pinstripe suits - outstanding, and it was made better by JBL asking if they shop with Michael Hayes. Loved Naomi doing a rana on Cody, then T barreling into him and then doing a smersault senton on him in the corner. Sandow's gear is amazing. Faces won after a slightly messed up double splash, but whatever, JBL was amazing saying the reason he was speechless was because he was calling his mama.

Henry came out and the fans sang his theme. YES! Cena danced, punched, got beat down, and was told to DANCE NOW by Henry. Dammit, when that man tells you to do something, you do it! TELL ME JOKES! Henry rules. Match ended quickly via count out due to Henry getting thrown into the steps. Henry came in and immediately killed him with the slam, then Ryback came out, so I guess ER's main event is now Cena-Ryback-Henry. Crowd was cheering for a heel turn from Ryback here, and they did it at the right time. So yeah, this show ruled.

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