WWE Raw 6-17-13: Changes In the Air

I was in attendance for this edition of Raw that took place at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The show began with the new World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio (accompanied by his personal ring announcer Ricardo Rodriguez). Del Rio addressed his actions from the previous night at the Payback Pay-Per-View event and was met with a chorus of boos from the WWE Universe. After all of this, Del Rio then stated that for the last few months, he has fought for the WWE Universe and all they did was disrespect him. After making this statement, it was clear that both Del Rio and Rodriguez had turned heel. They are then interrupted by CM Punk (accompanied by Paul Heyman); Punk then made it clear that he did not appreciate Del Rio’s posturing. Then, despite protests from Heyman, Punk went on to challenge Del Rio to a non-title match for later on in the show. Raw Managing Supervisor Vickie Guerrero (accompanied by her assistant Brad Maddox) came out and announced that the match would happen in the night’s main event. Also, after losing the Intercontinental Championship to Curtis Axel the night before at Payback, Barrett was scheduled to have his championship rematch against Axel; however, Vickie Guerrero came out and announced that Barrett would instead be getting his rematch in the near future, but on this night, he would go one-on-one with the returning Christian, who came out victorious. Also, after teaming up the night before at Payback, Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan went one-on-one in a No Disqualification Match, which was voted by the WWE Universe on the WWE App. I am a fan of both these guys and I was not sure who to root for in this one. At one point during the match, Bryan suffered an injury and was deemed unable to continue and the match was stopped, which was the final decision made by WWE Chief Operating Officer Triple H; therefore, the winner of the match was Randy Orton. After the match, Orton helped Bryan up to his feet and embraced him, showing his admiration for Bryan’s guts and determination. After Bryan returned backstage, he got into a confrontation with Triple H for stopping the match, but once cooler heads prevailed, both men apologized to one another. Also, after defeating Kaitlyn to become the WWE Divas Champion for the first time the night before at Payback, AJ Lee (accompanied by Big E Langston) came out to address the WWE Universe on her victory. AJ admitted that she used mind games with Kaitlyn to gain the upper hand leading into their championship match at Payback. AJ also stated that she’s a woman who always has ways of getting exactly what she wants. She is then interrupted by WWE Executive Vice President of Creative Stephanie McMahon. Stephanie then went on to tell AJ that the ruse she pulled on Kaitlyn is very degrading to all women. She then told AJ that instead of women bringing each other down, they should all be coming together to basically show the world that they have what it takes to dominate as much as the men can. She then tells AJ that she needs to start acting like a champion. AJ did not take too kindly to any of this and she responded by telling Stephanie that she’s just like her, but only younger. Stephanie then reminded AJ that she has the power to put an end to everything she has, including her championship reign and, more importantly, her job. The former champion Kaitlyn then comes out (accompanied by Layla El, Natalya Neidhart, Alicia Fox, and The Funkadactyls (Naomi & Cameron Lynn); right before Stephanie heads backstage, she tells Kaitlyn that while she is going to let her handle her business, she warns Kaitlyn to never interrupt her again. It is pretty clear that Stephanie is asserting herself. Kaitlyn then let’s AJ know about the damage that she has caused her and that it was now her turn to return the favor. Kaitlyn then jumps into the ring and gets into a scuffle with AJ; it took Big E pulling AJ out of the ring to keep her from getting manhandled by her former BFF, as AJ is left livid while being carried to the back by Big E. It is pretty clear that Kaitlyn is declaring war on AJ, whether AJ likes it or not. Also, Triple H put Vickie Guerrero on notice by telling her that she needs to assert herself over The Shield (United States Champion Dean Ambrose & WWE Tag Team Champions Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns) and not allow them to interfere in any matches. Speaking of The Shield, Dean Ambrose defended his championship against Kane. In the end, it was the other two Shield members who came out and attacked Kane, leading to the disqualification win for Kane. After the match, all three members of The Shield laid out Kane with their patented signature team maneuver “The Triple Powerbomb”. Later on, when Vickie encountered The Shield backstage, just when it appeared she was about to take some action towards them, WWE Chairman and CEO Vincent K. McMahon comes in and commends The Shield for having ruthless aggression. Later on, in Vickie’s office, while Mr. McMahon tells Vickie she did a good job, Stephanie McMahon felt that Vickie needed to take more control, and Triple H admonished Vickie for not asserting herself over The Shield like he told her to. Both Triple H and Mr. McMahon encouraged Vickie to listen to them (rather than one another); after they took off, Stephanie then told Vickie that if she was her, she wouldn’t listen to either one of them, but listen to her instead. It would appear that there is some sort of power struggle between the three McMahon Family members, with Vickie being caught in the middle of all of it. Also, prior to the match between William Regal and Antonio Cesaro, Zeb Colter told the world that his issues are not with immigration, but with illegal immigration. Zeb then went on to basically say that he feels while most immigrants are illegal ones, Antonio Cesaro came to America in the honorable way. He then goes on to let people know that this is the reason why he and Jack Swagger, who is currently out with an injury, have allowed Cesaro to fight with them to get their message across. Colter then accompanies Cesaro to the ring for his match. As for the match, Cesaro defeats Regal; afterwards, Cesaro drapes a “Don’t Tread On Me” flag over Regal’s body. As far Colter’s new-found friendship with Cesaro goes, despite the fact that Colter claims that both he and Swagger are on board with fighting alongside Cesaro, I truly believe that when Swagger returns, he will not be happy with all of this. The reason I believe this is because Cesaro has been putting down Americans for quite some time now; therefore, Swagger will not only realize this, but he will also realize that it was never about trying to keep illegal immigrants out of America to Colter, it was always about having a meal ticket to prominence. In addition to ending his alliance with Colter. he will also stand against both him and Cesaro, thus turning face in the process. Also, there were rumors that Mark Henry was making his return to announce his retirement. At first, it appeared that the rumors were true when Henry came out after WWE Champion John Cena addressed the WWE Universe about his victory over Ryback the night before at Payback. Henry asked Cena to remain at ringside with him during his retirement speech. After praising Cena, thanking the WWE Universe, and showing love for his family back home, Cena comes into the ring to raise the arm of Henry. Just when it appeared that Henry had turned face at the last minute, out of nowhere, Henry hits Cena with his signature maneuver “The World’s Strongest Slam” before heading to the back. A few minutes later, backstage announcer Renee Young asks Henry about his actions; Henry then admits that the whole retirement thing was a hoax and that he is officially challenging Cena for his WWE Championship. Vickie Guerrero later announced that the championship match between the two will happen at the upcoming WWE Pay-Per-View event, Money In the Bank. Also, prior to the first main event match of the evening between CM Punk and Alberto Del Rio, Punk told Paul Heyman that while he will always be a “Paul Heyman Guy”, he no longer wants Heyman accompanying him to ringside anymore, which Heyman eventually decided to respect (Maybe!). What I got out of this is that Punk was saying that he and Heyman were going their separate ways and Punk turned face in the process. As for the match, after Punk hit Del Rio with the his signature maneuver “The Go To Sleep (GTS), the momentum sent Del Rio out of the ring. While the referee was counting out Del Rio, instead of getting back in the ring to continue the match, he, along with Ricardo Rodriguez, chose to walk out on the match, thus giving Punk the win via count-out. Then, out of nowhere, Dolph Ziggler, who was at Raw against doctors’ orders, comes out and attacks Del Rio, chasing him to the back. Afterwards, while Punk is still standing inside the ring, some familiar theme music hits. It is none other than Brock Lesnar, who was recently no longer under contract with WWE. After Lesnar gets into the ring, he approaches Punk and then, out of nowhere, hits Punk with his signature maneuver “The F-5”. Brock Lesnar is back in the WWE and is still one of Paul Heyman’s clients. Was Heyman the mastermind behind Lesnar’s attack on Punk or did Lesnar act alone? Finally, after Raw went off the air, it was the second main event match of the evening when WWE Champion John Cena defended against Ryback in a Tables Match. In the end, it was Cena who put Ryback through a table to get the victory and retain his championship to end the show.