WWE Raw 5-13-13: Triple H Is Ready for Extreme Rules

The show began with a dance-off between Chris Jericho and his dance partner, professional ballroom dancer and ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” ballroom dancer Edyta Sliwinska and Fandango and his his dance partner, Summer Rae. There was ballroom dancing hard-wood floor inside the wrestling ring for the dance-off. Fandango and Summer were up first and during their dance, it appeared that Summer had twisted her ankle. Both Edyta and Jericho showed concern; while doing so, Fandango took advantage and jumped Jericho from behind and brutally attacked him, even using a piece of the hard-wood floor to hit Jericho in the face with. Afterwards, it was revealed that Summer was not hurt at all and leaped to her feet; therefore, it was a trap all along and the dance-off ended in a no contest. Personally, I think it was ridiculous that Edyta was invited to WWE Raw for a dance-off to not dance at all. It was also revealed that Jericho and Fandango will be going one-on-one at this Sunday’s Extreme Rules Pay-Per-View event. Every match at Extreme Rules is supposed to be contested under extreme rules; I think the extreme rules stipulation for this match should be having the ballroom dancing hard-wood floor inside the ring, just like they did this this past Monday on Raw. Also, it was revealed that at Extreme Rules, United States Champion Kofi Kingston will defend against the leader of The Shield Dean Ambrose. Also, The Miz made his return and beat 3MB leader Heath Slater (accompanied by fellow 3MB cohorts Drew McIntyre & Jinder Mahal). It was also revealed that The Miz will go one-on-one with one-half of Team Rhodes Scholars Cody Rhodes this Sunday at Extreme Rules during the pre-show. Also, WWE Champion John Cena teamed up with WWE Tag Team Champions Team Hell No (Kane & Daniel Bryan) to take on The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, & Roman Reigns) in a Six-Man Tag Team Elimination Match. Kane was the first one eliminated from his team when he got disqualified, then it was Daniel Bryan who got eliminated, thus leaving Cena all alone against all three members of The Shield. Eventually, after Cena had eliminated Rollins and Reigns, Cena was about to force Ambrose into submission, until Rollins and Reigns attacked Cena, thus getting Ambrose eliminated by disqualification and Cena and Team Hell No get the win. The Shield then hit Cena with their patented team maneuver “The Triple Powerbomb”. This was the first official loss for The Shield as a trio; however, it was pretty clear that while Cena and Team Hell No won the battle, The Shield had won the war on this night. Afterwards, Ryback comes out and hits Cena’s recently injured Achilles heel with a chair. What condition will Cena be in come Extreme Rules when he defends his championship against Ryback in a Last Man Standing Match. It was also revealed that at Extreme Rules, Team Hell No will defend their championships against Shield members Rollins & Reignsi n a Tornado Tag Team Match. Also, it was announced by the Senior Advisor to the Smackdown General Manager (WWE Hall of Famer Booker T) Teddy Long that after suffering a concussion this past Friday on Smackdown, World Heavyweight Champion Dolph Ziggler will not be medically cleared to compete this Sunday at Extreme Rules. In what was originally scheduled to be a Triple Threat Ladder Match between Ziggler, Alberto Del Rio, and Jack Swagger for Ziggler’s championship, Teddy Long was granted permission to decide what to do about the championship. Teddy had decided to make an “I Quit” Match between Del Rio and Swagger at Extreme Rules and the winner would earn a championship opportunity against Ziggler in the near future. It was also revealed that the reason Booker T has been absent for the past few weeks is because his elbow has swelled up and is scheduled to have surgery on it. Finally, WWE Chief Operating Officer Triple H had come out to the ring to call out his Extreme Rules opponent Brock Lesnar, with a steel cage surrounding the ring, which will be the stipulation for their match at Extreme Rules. Brock Lesnar came out and the WWE Universe then got to witness a preview of the Steel Cage Match when the two combatants went at it. In the end, it was Triple H who stood tall after knocking Lesnar out of the cage to end the program. I would like to point out that Triple H has to be careful not to knock Lesnar out of the cage during their match at Extreme Rules because of he does, then Lesnar will have officially won the match by leaving the cage. For more on the aftermath of this week’s Raw, check out this week’s edition of Backstage Fallout from Raw on WWE on YouTube.