WWE Raw 4-16-13: New United States Champion, Ryback Turns On His Fans

The show began with a rematch from this past Friday on Smackdown when Randy Orton & Sheamus faced The Big Show in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match. Despite Big Show dominating most of the match-up, Orton & Sheamus ended up coming out on top. This was the good news for Sheamus; however, the bad news was that later on in the show during an interview, Mark Henry ambushed Sheamus just like he did this past Friday on Smackdown. What exactly are Henry’s motives for these unprovoked attacks on Sheamus? Also, 3MB (Heath Slater, Drew McIntyre, & Jinder Mahal) called out The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, & Roman Reigns), but instead, they got Brock Lesnar, who came out and disposed of 3MB. After Lesnar’s manager Paul Heyman came out to calm him down, Heyman then informed WWE Chief Operating Officer Triple H that Lesnar has issued a challenge to Triple H for the upcoming WWE Pay-Per-View Event, Extreme Rules. Lesnar has challenged Triple H to a Steel Cage Match. Triple H was late arriving at Raw this past Monday due to the fact that he was getting an MRI done on his injured arm. The good news is that nothing is broken, but the bad news is that he suffered a carpal sprain and contusion to his left wrist. WWE physician Dr. Michael Sampson says that Triple H will have an uphill climb ahead of him if he decides to accept Lesnar’s challenge. Will Triple H accept Lesnar’s challenge? Also, after beating United States Champion Antonio Cesaro in a non-title match this past Friday on Smackdown, Kofi Kingston got an opportunity at Cesaro’s championship. Kofi made the best of this opportunity by knocking off Cesaro and becoming the United States Champion for the third time. Therefore, next week on NXT, I can only assume that it will be Kofi instead of Cesaro defending the United States Championship against NXT Tag Team Champion Adrian Neville. Also, while World Heavyweight Champion Dolph Ziggler (accompanied by AJ Lee & NXT Champion Big E Langston) was addressing the WWE Universe, he was interrupted by Alberto Del Rio (accompanied by his personal ring announcer, Ricardo Rodriguez), who then informed Ziggler that he was invoking his rematch clause right there and now. Ziggler insisted that Del Rio’s taped-up knee was too hurt; however, Raw Managing Supervisor Vickie Guerrero came out and said that whether Del Rio is hurt or not, he wants the rematch, so he’ll get it. Before the match could officially begin, Jack Swagger & Zeb Colter come out and Colter tells Ziggler that the only reason that he’s champion is because of Swagger and that Ziggler doesn’t deserve to be champion. Colter also says that Del Rio doesn’t deserve another opportunity at the championship. Then, Swagger grabs Del Rio’s legs from behind and then takes Del Rio’s bad leg and rams it into the ring post. Swagger then puts Del Rio’s leg in Swagger’s signature submission hold, the Patriot Act. The good news is that WWE referees and officials were able to pull Swagger off of Del Rio before Swagger broke Del Rio’s ankle, the bad news is that after getting looked at in the trainer’s room, it was determined that Del Rio was in no condition to compete this night. A little later on, the Senior Advisor to the Smackdown General Manager (WWE Hall of Famer Booker T) came into Vickie Guerrero’s office and informed Vickie and her assistant, Brad Maddox, that due to the fact the Del Rio couldn’t compete, he has put together a non-title match between Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger and that if Swagger defeats Ziggler, then it will put Swagger in the hunt for Ziggler’s championship. While Vickie & Brad thought the match was a good idea, Vickie was wondering if Booker T knew about it. Teddy basically told them not to worry about it; the match was on. While I am not a fan of either Swagger nor Ziggler, I was rooting against Swagger. In the end, Swagger was victorious against Ziggler. Later on, Booker T told his senior advisor, Teddy Long, that Teddy’s kind of been overstepping his boundaries as of late, including this night when he made that match without Booker T’s approval. Booker T then told Teddy that in the interest fairness to both men, Ziggler will defend his championship against both Del Rio and Swagger in a Triple Threat Match at Extreme Rules. Booker T then told Teddy to start handling his business a little better. Also, CM Punk (accompanied by Paul Heyman) came out to address his loss to The Undertaker from WrestleMania 29. During his address, Punk shockingly cuts his speech short, embraces Heyman, hands him the microphone, and then walks off. Heyman nor anybody else knew what to make of it. Perhaps Punk may not know where to go from here? Also, in the main event of the evening, WWE Divas Champion Kaitlyn went one-on-one with Nikki Bella (accompanied by her sister Brie) in a non-title match. In the end, while Kaitlyn had the ref preoccupied, The Bellas saw the opportunity to take full advantage of the fact that they’re identical twins and wearing the exact same outfits by switching places, which they are well-known for doing. Brie then picks up right where Nikki left off, catching Kaitlyn off-guard, and pinning Kaitlyn to get the victory for Nikki. Man, when the hell are any of The Bellas’ opponents gonna catch the twins switching places and cause their shenanigans to backfire? Finally, Ryback explained his attack on WWE Champion John Cena from last week on Raw by basically saying that he blames Cena for all the things that have gone wrong for him the past few months. Later on, Cena calls out Ryback. Cena then dares Ryback to strike him, but Ryback turns around and walks. While Ryback is walking, The Shield then arrives and attack Cena. Ryback just looks on and lets it happen, before heading to the back to end the program. Unfortunately, our worst fears have come true, Ryback has turned heel. Next week, Raw will take place in London, England. One match to take place will be a Six-Man Tag Team Match when the team of The Undertaker and WWE Tag Team Champions Team Hell No (Kane & Daniel Bryan) face The Shield.