WWE presented Monday Night Raw last night on tape delay from England as a part of the company’s UK tour. With several names such as Bray Wyatt and Dean Ambrose missing, WWE leaned heavily on developing the Authority-Cena Survivor Series storyline. Let’s take a look at what went down last night.
The Authority Gets Big
Our opening segment of the night has John Cena make his way out to the ring to discuss his team for Survivor Series. Cena mentions the injured Zack Ryder and Randy Orton and how he can’t recruit them, so Mr. Hustle Loyalty & Respect announces that Jack Swagger (remember him?) will now be a part of Team Cena.
Cena then calls out the Big Guy and Ryback makes his way out to the ring followed immediately by the Authority (who apparently added Mark Henry at some point) and the bidding war has begun. Triple H takes the mic and calls Swagger and Dolph Ziggler little guys and laughs at how they are on Team Cena. John reminds Trips that he said the same thing about Daniel Bryan, who also happened to beat the COO at Wrestlemania.
Stephanie McMahon grabs the mic and tells Cena his team is nothing but false hope and promises Ryback he’ll be a main event player if he joins Team Authority. Triple H follows that up by promising fame, titles and more. Apparently leaving for surgery and coming back is they key to getting a major push, so long as you’re a big guy that is.
After all of that back and forth, Ryback makes things simple and sweet. He says that he doesn’t fear the Authority, but John Cena isn’t the name signed on his checks and well…
Stephanie follows with a Yes! chant and the Authority has their man. For now.
The Authority Picks Team Cena Apart
First match of the night is a quick one between Team Cena’s Jack Swagger and the Authority’s Seth Rollins. Swagger dominates a good majority of the match, tossing Rollins around and really showing off his in-ring repertoire. Swagger eventually locks in the Patriot Lock on Rollins, but Mr. Money in the Bank is able to make his way to the ropes and break the hold.
The two eventually end up on the outside, and Authority goons Mercury and Noble distract Swagger long enough for him to get thrown into the ringpost. Rollins is now in control as he rolls Swagger back into the ring and hits the Curb Stomp for the 1-2-3.
Once the match is over, the Authority makes their presence felt by beating the All-American American down. Rollins hits another Curb Stomp and the Authority threatens Zeb Colter before finally leaving the ring. It’s later announced by Triple H that Swagger will not be cleared by doctors and is out of Survivor Series. So much for that comeback Jack.
Backstage we see Kane talking to Ryback and telling the Big Guy to be a part of the team and do what’s right for the company. Ryback tells Kane to stay out of his way, so yeah. We also find Triple H and Stephanie watching video of Vince’s comeback last week and Stephanie says she’s being tested just like she’s been her whole life. They banter a bit and then make out because they know how to annoy all of us.
Sheamus is announced as another member of Team Cena, and our next match is his rematch with Rusev for the United States title. Rusev and Lana hold a championship celebration but they are cut off by the Celtic Warrior and the battle is on. Rusev absolutely dominates Sheamus from the get-go, using a nice, slow pace to take control and keep the Celt from making any type of comeback.
We head to break with Rusev hitting a massive running kick, but come back to Sheamus finally making his push. Sheamus starts getting in some of his signature moves, and attempts to lock Rusev into his Cloverleaf submission, but the Bulgarian Brute is just too big for Sheamus to lock in. After some back and forth, Sheamus eventually hits White Noise and calls for his patented Brogue Kick but Rusev rolls out of the ring. That doesn’t deter the Celtic Warrior in the slightest as Sheamus hits a dive off the top rope and both men are down outside of the ring.
Sheamus takes control as the ref begins to count to ten. Rusev finally rolls into the ring at around 7, and the Authority Goons make their way out and hit Sheamus as the ref is distracted, causing a ten count and a win for the Champ. We then see Rusev and Lana backstage with Stephanie who congratulates them and asks if they will join Team Authority. Lana says yes and Stephanie says that she wants to crush Team Cena. Team Authority is looking gigantic at this point.
Our next match featuring Team Cena and Team Authority members is between Dolph Ziggler and Mark Henry. Backstage we see Ziggler telling Cena they are outnumbered and need to make some changes. Cena tells Dolph that he recognizes the situation and understands if Ziggler wants to jump ship to protect his title, but the Show Off says there’s no way and he wants the Authority out. Triple H shows up and says it’s weird they keep watching each others backsides, so Cena is banned for ringside during Ziggler’s match tonight.
Inside of the ring, Henry absolutely dominates to start. Ziggler makes a push and dropkicks Henry’s knees out from under him. The World’s Strongest Man rolls out of the ring for a breather and eventually decides he doesn’t really want to fight in this match anymore.
Ziggler sells the chair shot and Henry gets himself disqualified. Henry keeps the beat down going after the bell, eventually tossing the steel steps into the ring. Henry sets Ziggler up for the World’s Strongest Slam but out comes Big Show to make the save. The Giant announces that he is a member of Team Cena and finally the anti-Authority squad has some size.
Ryback Plays by His Own Rules
Our main event of the night is Ryback against John Cena. The Authority is ringside as Ryback starts things off by tossing Cena across the ring so John bails outside to regroup. Ryback is absolutely toying with Cena, tossing him around the ring like a rag doll. Cena eventually knocks Ryback off the ring apron and into Kane who is standing ringside. Foreshadowing folks, it’s awesome!
We get back for commercial with Cena getting stopped on the top rope and then a good five minutes of extremely slow pace between the two. Cena attempts a comeback but gets stopped by Ryback. Twice.
What feels like 10 minutes of plodding action passes before Cena finally locks in the STF out of the blue but Ryback gets to the bottom rope and breaks the hold. Ryback tries to splash Cena off the top rope, but Mr. HLR locks in another STF in the center of the ring and Ryback is starting to fade. Or not. The Big Guy dead-lifts Cena (seriously, dude is STRONG) and attempts a Shell Shock but Cena counters and drops Ryback.
Kane hops onto the apron to distract Cena, but John rushes and knocks him off the ring before turning around and walking straight into a Ryback spine buster. The Big Guy hits the corner and calls for his Meathook Clothesline, but Kane rushes Cena and causes the DQ, costing Ryback the win. At that point, all hell breaks loose.
Ryback steps up to Kane but Rollins tries to separate the two and keep the peace for Team Authority. No go. Ryback levels Rollins (much to the crowds delight) and immediately eats a boot from Kane for his trouble. The Authority is now beating down Cena before Sheamus runs out for the save, only the numbers are too much and Rusev beats Sheamus down. Next out is Big Show looking to make his presence felt and nope. Numbers game wears the giant down and Team Cena is depleted.
Ryback makes his return and takes Rusev and Rollins out before hitting a massive Shell Shock on Kane. Everyone is left in the Big Guy’s wake as Ryback makes his way out of the arena and Cena offers him an applause.
We cut to backstage where Stephanie and Triple H are watching the wreckage caused by Ryback. All of the sudden Dolph Ziggler goes flying across the room in front of them. No seriously, he’s limp body just flies across the room. Triple H and Stephanie look at who’s responsible for the carnage and surprise!
Luke Harper makes his return and in one of the weirdest accents I’ve ever heard tells the Authority that he’s a “team playa” and I don’t even know.
Looks like the Authority has their Ryback replacement. Great swerve by the WWE, did not see this coming.
Hey Team Cena.
We’re just a few weeks away from Survivor Series and Team Cena is a member short. Can the face of the company convince Ryback to join his ranks? We’ll have to wait until next week to find out.
Other Results:
Paige defeats Alicia Fox via pinfall – Nice win for the hometown girl who got some good chants in a squash.
Miz & Mizdow defeat Los Matadores via pinfall – Mizdow tha Gawd and Miz get the win over who we assumed was going to be the number one contender for the tag titles. But who cares, we got Mizdow and Mini-Miz!
Glorious.
AJ Lee defeats Brie Bella via submission – AJ beat Brie, Nikki attacked AJ after the bell and zzzzzz.
Tyson Kidd defeats Adam Rose via submission – Kidd picks up the win after the Bunny distracts Rose. So yeah, Bunny-Rose feud is coming up folks. WWE needs to fill time though since Big E, Kofi Kingston, and others aren’t around to take up some TV time. Oh wait.