Monday Night RawA vignette shows all the carnage from Payback last night. Some highlights that were shown were Curtis Axel stealing the win to become the new Intercontinental Champion, Shield members Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns retaining their Tag Team Championships, and the crowning of a new World Heavyweight Champion, Alberto Del Rio. Also, another clip followed showing Triple H's announcement of the WWE Draft. The Draft would feature Champions switching shows, and some teams being forced to break up. See the fallout after Payback, tonight on Monday Night Raw!________________________________
The show kicks off with fireworks exploding on the stage and a raucous crowd going wild. At ringside, Michael Cole, JBL, and Jerry "The King" Lawler welcome everyone to Raw. Tonight is sure to be an action-packed show. Huge news to start things off, last night following the PPV, John Cena was traded to Smackdown, taking the WWE Championship with him. Following that, newly crowned World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio was traded to Raw! Cole brought up Del Rio's actions in his match last night, and how he focused on Ziggler's injured head all match long. The doctors evaluated Ziggler after the match, and decided that he's not cleared to compete any time soon. Also, another Championship changed hands last night as well. The Miz almost won back the Intercontinental Championship when he trapped Wade Barrett in the Figure Four. But when he was seconds away from tapping out, Curtis Axel came in and covered Barrett to get the 3 count. Barrett was livid and demanded his rematch tonight on Raw. Vickie Guerrero has added it to tonight's card.
Alberto Del Rio's music hit and Ricardo Rodriguez came out to announce the NEW World Heavyweight Champion, Albertooo Del Riooo! Del Rio came out with a grin on his face, and his new Championship over his shoulder. Once in the ring, he talked about how he destroyed Dolph Ziggler last night to take back what was rightfully his. As the crowd booed him, he called them hypocrites because Ziggler took advantage of Del Rio's injury when he cashed in his Money in the Bank. Last night, Del Rio was just getting his "Payback". Soon after, AJ Lee's music played, and she came skipping down the ring with Big E Langston by her side, receiving a huge pop. After making it to the ring, she stared Alberto down with a crazed look on her face. She finally spoke and called him a coward, and an undeserving Champion. She said her Ziggy should be standing here tonight, still the World Heavyweight Champion. They should have gotten to celebrate both of their victories last night, but instead she spent her night watching Dolph getting examined by the doctors, worried sick about him. AJ went on to tell him that even though Dolph isn't here tonight to get his revenge, Big E is and he wants a match. Del Rio laughed and said he's already beat Langston before, and has more important things to take care of. He started to exit the ring, but Big E pulled him back, and tossed him up on his shoulder for the Big Ending! Ricardo quickly tried to attack him, but that did nothing. Langston dropped Del Rio and turned his attention to Ricardo. He charged at him and took him out with a Running Body Block. Meanwhile, Alberto grabbed his title and rolled out of the ring. Langston lifted Rodriguez up and pointed at Del Rio, then hit him with the Big Ending! Alberto and Big E stared each other down, as we head back to the announce booth.
Cole says he hopes to see that match later on tonight so he Del Rio can get what he deserves. JBL argued that Del Rio made a good point; Ziggler did it to him, so what's the big deal? You gotta do what you gotta do when it comes to winning the gold. Still to come, Wade Barrett also looks to get some revenge against the man that took his title last night, Curtis Axel, in a rematch for the Intercontinental Championship. But coming up next, the World's Strongest Man, Mark Henry makes his return to the ring. A Mark Henry return promo is shown as we go to break.
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As we come back, the cameras are backstage where Triple H is seen talking to some workers. He's soon interrupted by Vince McMahon. He asks Triple H why he decided to make these sudden changes lately without running them by Vince first. He's still the Chairman of the WWE, and he has the final say on things, not Triple H. Triple H argued that he's the COO and made changes that he thought would be good for business. He's making changes that Vince won't, because unlike Vince, he's actually in touch with the company. The Chairman quickly gets defensive and tells him he's wrong, and that he better watch what he says, because even though Vince is his father-in-law, he's still his boss.
Back in the ring Heath Slater is playing air guitar, while Lawler explains 3MB being one of the teams broken up due to the Draft, and he's now back to being the One Man Band. Slater's dancing comes to a halt as Mark Henry's music hits. The crowd sings along "Some body gon' get they ass kicked, some body gon' get they wig split" as Henry headed to the ring.
Mark Henry def. Heath Slater The bell sounded and Slater ran at Henry, but was quickly knocked down with a Shoulder Block. He tried it a second time, but failed once again. Henry went on to throw Slater around like a rag doll and dominate the entire match. Henry hit the ropes and squashed Heath with a Body Splash into a pin. The ref got to two, but Henry stopped the count. He picked Slater up, then raised him above his head for a Military Press, then dropped him into the World's Strongest Slam! This time, he gets the 3 count.
When the match was over, the crowd chanted "One more time!" again and again, until Mark picked him up and nailed another World's Strongest Slam. The ref tried to get him to stop the attack, but that only made Henry go after him. Mark stood up and grabbed the referee by his shirt, as he pleaded to let him go. Mark smiled and ignored him, and went on to do the World's Strongest Slam to him too! Henry started shouting "That's what I do!" as we go back to the commentary table.
JBL laughs at their demise, and says "That's what he does." Cole and Lawler don't think it's a laughing matter...there was no need for that. A recap of what happened at the start of the show is played. Cole says he's received word that Vickie Guerrero has made it official - Big E Langston will take on Alberto Del Rio in the main event. Lawler attempts to respond, but is cut off when the camera gets staticy and Rollins and Reigns are seen. Rollins talks about last night's injustice, when Dean Ambrose had to leave The Shield because of the brand split. He says the higher ups are trying to break them down, but no matter how hard they try, it's not going to work. Tonight, justice will be served.
-COMMERCIAL-Renee Young is backstage ready to interview Randy Orton. She asks since his rival Daniel Bryan is now on the other show, what's next for him. He said it's a shame he and Bryan can't fight again because he really wanted to give him another good ass whipping. But now that that's not possible, he's setting his sights back on the gold. He says it's been too long since he's been a World Champion. Which is why tonight, he's officially entering himself into the World Heavyweight Championship Money in the Bank match next month. "But before I can do that, I still have some unfinished business with The Shield." Orton says he wants them in a tag match later on tonight, so he can settle this once and for all.
Back at ringside, the commentary team get excited about Orton's announcement. They go on to mention that Orton's not the only big name already announced to be at the PPV. It was announced last night at Payback that a former WWE Champion would make his return at Money in the Bank. A superstar who is certainly "One of a Kind."
Curtis Axel (c) def. Wade Barrett Barrett nearly had the match won, but couldn't quite pick up the win. Both men brawled throughout, with momentum shifting back and forth. Near the end, Barrett hit the Winds of Change, and thought he had it won, but only got a near fall. He got pulled his sleeve down and set up for the Bull Hammer, when Paul Heyman got up on the apron to distract him. This gave Axel enough time to recover and he quickly went for a School Boy, but Barrett escapes at 2 and a half. They both make it back to their feet, and Barrett goes for a Big Boot, but Axel dodges it and hits a Perfectplex and pins into a bridge as the ref counts to 3.
After Curtis and Heyman celebrate the win, the cameras go to the back where Triple H is walking around, looking for Mark Henry. He eventually finds him and asks why the hell he did what he did earlier. He was quick to remind Henry that putting your hands on a referee is a $10,000 fine, and he should suspend him. Vince McMahon soon shows up and congratulates Henry on his victory. He says he was impressed with the ruthlessness Mark showed out there, and he should be rewarded. How does another chance to become the World Heavyweight Champion sound? Triple H tried to interrupt but Vince spoke over him and told Henry that he's going to be the second entrant in the Money in the Bank Ladder Match. Henry thanked him and shook his hand, then McMahon smirked at Triple H and walked off.
-COMMERCIAL-Antonio Cesaro def. R-Truth Cesaro was very aggressive in this one. R-Truth got a little offense in, but it didn't last long. He rebounded off the ropes and went for the Lie Detector, but Cesaro smashed him in the chin with a vicious Uppercut. He quickly picked Truth up and finished him off with the Neutralizer.
Back in the locker room, Barrett is sitting in a chair removing his tape when William Regal walks up to him. Barrett angrily asks him what he wants, and Regal responds by telling him to calm down. He says he's been watching Barrett for a while now and he reminds him of a younger version of himself. He understands why Barrett is upset, but he says he needs to forget about it and focus on the bigger picture. He invites Barrett to walk with him and talk about things somewhere a bit more private. At first Barrett hesitates but finally gets up and walks off with Regal.
King asks what that was all about. Still to come, Big E Langston looks to get revenge on Alberto Del Rio for injuring Ziggler in the main event. Up next, The Shield have accepted Orton's challenge and will face him in a Tag Team Match, but who will his partner be? Find out after the commercial break!
-COMMERCIAL-As we come back, The Shield make their way through the crowd and into the ring. Next, Orton comes down to the bottom of the ramp and waits for his partner. The crowd eagerly awaits, and finally...Christian's music hits and the crowd erupts.
Randy Orton & Christian def. The Shield Orton and Rollins started things off - neither man really getting the upper hand for quite some time. Orton hit two Big Clotheslines and went for the Powerslam, but Rollins flipped out of it and tagged in Reigns. Reigns came in and quickly took control. As the attack went on, Orton couldn't take much more and needed to make a tag. The crowd cheered him on and Orton finally fought back to tag Christian in. He ran at Rollins and knocked him off the apron into the announce table, hit multiple Forearms on Reigns, then threw him to the ropes to do a Flapjack. Christian and Orton kept the momentum going for some time, but The Shield put a stop to that. Rollins was the legal man and headed to the apron. He jumped up on the ropes and went for a Diving High Knee, but Orton suddenly ran in and got him with the RKO! Reigns ran in and went after Orton, but was tossed over the ropes to the outside. Christian gets up and looks around at the crowd as they cheer him on. He hit the Killswitch and pinned Rollins to win the match.
The two climb the turnbuckles to celebrate their win. When they get down, Orton raises Christian's hand as the crowd chants "Welcome back!" Suddenly Orton jumps up and hits an RKO on Christian! The crowd boos Orton as he stands over Christian, staring at him for a few moments, then he finally headed to the back.
Back at the commentary booth, no one can't believe what just happened. Hopefully we can get more information on Orton's actions soon. Be sure to check out WWE.com for an update. Big E and AJ are seen walking backstage as Cole announces his match is next. But before going to commercial, Kaitlyn came out of nowhere and speared AJ to the ground. The two went at it, throwing punches, pulling hair, and the like. Big E and other officials tried to break it up, but Kaitlyn wouldn't let go. They were finally separated into the commercial break.
-COMMERCIAL-Big E Langston def. Alberto Del Rio Both men came to the ring alone in this one. The match began with a lock-up but Langston just pushed Del Rio down. He got back up and attempted a test of strength with Big E who laughed about it. They both raised their hands for it but Alberto kicked him in the leg again and again to take advantage. The match went on and Del Rio waited on Langston to raise up so he could drop him with a kick to the head. Langston got up, but dodged the kick and did a German Suplex to Del Rio. Once he made it back to his feet, he hit Del Rio with with some Knee Lifts to the face. After hitting a few more moves, Big E pulls his straps down and picks Alberto up for the Big Ending! But Alberto escaped and took him down with a Backstabber. Later in the match, Alberto set up for the Cross Armbreaker when Dolph Ziggler's music hit! He turned his attention to the stage and waited for Ziggler, but he never showed up. As soon as he turns around, Big E reaches for him but he drops do the mat and quickly rolls out of the ring and heads up the ramp. The referee counts to 10, and Langston wins by count out.
As soon as Main Event ended, Triple H's music hits and he comes down to the ring. He tells Del Rio and Langston to head to the back. He's got business to take care if. He brings up Vince being on his case all day about the things he's done within the company lately, and he's had enough, then calls Mr. McMahon out. Vince's music hits and he comes out to the stage with a microphone. Triple H asks him what his deal is and why he - Sierra, Hotel, India, Echo, Lima, Delta, Shield, cuts him off. Rollins and Reigns show up in the stands and head down to the ring. They get on the apron and stare Triple H down as he dares them to bring it on. After a few moments, they slide in and run after him! Meanwhile, Vince just stands at the top of the stage and watches. Triple H gets a few shots in but the two on one attack is too much for him. The beat down continues when Reigns lifts him up and puts him in a Torture Rack, while Rollins goes to the apron. He springboards and soars through the air to strike Triple H in the head with a Diving High Knee. The two stand above him telling him to "Believe in the Shield!". Vince stares down at the ring smiling and finally speaks... "Justice has been served."
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