Raw 4/7/14

-The real biggest show of the year.

-From New Orleans, LA

-Hosts are Cole, King, & JBL

-Show kicks off with the pre-match video from Bryan/HHH, with still photos from the end of WrestleMania thrown in.

-This transitions into the crowd doing a "YES" chant and Bryan being introduced. It takes a minute for Bryan to be able to say anything because of the massive "Daniel Bryan" chant after his music ends. Bryan jokes about it being difficult to lead the "YES" chants while holding two title belts, but relents to doing it one more time before giving his shoulders a break. Crowd switches to "You Deserve It" while he tries to talk about the origin of YES. Bryan gives credit to the fans, then can't resist leading another chant before Triple H & Stephanie interrupt.

The crowd chants "Asshole" at Triple H, who tells Bryan he won't get in the ring, lest HHH do something he's going to regret. Bryan takes that opportunity to rub his titles in Triple H's face. HHH books himself against Bryan for the title tonight, and vows to end Bryan and put an end to the YES Movement tonight. Triple H goes to leave, and Bryan leads another YES chant as he does. Good way to start the show, with a celebration for the new champion and a tease of the nightmare scenario of another title reign that's less than 24 hours for Bryan.

-The crew talk about the streak ending, and the crowd boos the graphic. Brock is here tonight.

-After a commercial, Steph & HHH can't wait for Triple H to end things tonight. Batista interrupts, upset that Triple H is giving himself a title shot tonight. Orton joins in, and he wants to cash in his rematch clause tonight. HHH says no way, then Steph makes Orton & Batista VS The Usos for the tag titles tonight. Orton & Batista are not pleased, but HHH makes a plea for unity, claiming that the three of them are unstoppable together.

-Bray Wyatt enters, as the crowd claps along to his theme song. The Wyatts face Cena, Big E, and Sheamus in a six man tag next. That's quite the random pairing on the face side.

-Match 1: The Wyatt Family VS John Cena, Sheamus, & Intercontinental Champion Big E

-Cena gets boos, then a part of the crowd sing-songs "John Cena Sucks" in tune with his music. Surprised that hasn't cought on before. The faces rush the ring and clean house until it settles to Cena VS Bray, with the crowd solidly behind Wyatt. Wyatt slugs away until Cena blocks a punch and lands some of his own, before tagging Sheamus. Cena hits a face plant on his way out, and Sheamus flies in with a slingshot shoulder block. Sheamus stomps away in the corner, but Wyatt shrugs that off and tags Rowan. Sheamus wins a slugfest, encouraging the crowd to boo as he does so. Sheamus goes for corner punches, but gets shoved down. Sheamus comes back with a kick to the knee and a stomp to the head before tagging Big E.

Sheamus whips Big E into Rowan, but a second charge by E misses. Big E comes back with a triple back breaker that the crowd applauds before going right back to booing the faces. Harper gets in, and is immediately dropped by E, who then tags Cena. Cena hits Blue Thunder then a Five Knuckle Shuffle, but Harper comes back and dumps Cena on his face before tagging Bray, and we go to break.

Back from break, Harper has Cena in a headlock as the crowd chants "Let's Go Harper". Cena goes for the AA, but Harper slides out and hits a spike DDT for two before tagging Rowan. Rowan hits a slam as the crowd sings "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands". Rowan adds a legdrop, then tags Bray, who stomps away on Cena. Cena comes back with a big clothesline as the crowd goes back to sing-songing "John Cena Sucks". Wyatt scores with a huge punch for two, then adds some headbutts before tagging Harper. The few, more high-pitch-voiced Cena fans make their presence known, kicking off a dueling chant as Harper works Cena over. Cena backdrops Harper who tags in Rowan, then Cena tags Sheamus.

Sheamus cleans house, hitting a tilt-a-whirl slam on Rowan, then a Finlay Roll on Harper right onto Rowan. Sheamus hits both guys with a flying shoulderblock, then mocks Bray, who distracts Sheamus, allowing Rowan to score with a big clothesline. Bray and E get in, and E scores with a couple clotheslines, a slam, and a big splash. E looks to finish with the Big Ending, but Bray slides out and shoves him into a superkick from Harper. The Family clean house, then Wyatt spider walks leading to a "Wyatt's Gonna' Kill You" chant and Sister Abigail on Big E for the pin.

**** This was tremendous, with great ring work, and molten crowd, and them playing into it by having the Wyatts do a traditional babyface-style run to finish.

-Cena looks freaked at the crowd response to the Family.

-Slam City promo. Not a bad idea, but they should have gotten everyone to do their own voices.

-Awesomely over-the-top motivational speaker-style promo for Bo Dallas.

-Match 2: Fandango & Summer Rae VS Santino Marella & Emma

-Fandango's peacock outfit is tremendous. Fandango and Santino have a little dance-off, with the crowd behind Fandango, until Santino hits a backdrop and goes for the Cobra, but Fandango begs offs, and tags Summer. Emma immediately gets the Dil-Emma (Tarantula), Emma-Mite Sandwich, and the Emma Lock for the win. Santino gives Emma a big hug in celebration.

SQUASH Not sure why this had to be thrown in.

-Brock is next.

-Ultimate Warrior DVD promo. This is apparently a response to the old one that buried him, with Warrior telling the "real" story. I bet that's something else.

-GODZILLA trailer actually looks pretty good.

-More stills from 'Mania, again concluding with Bryan's celebration.

-Now it's time for some gloating from Brock & Heyman. Cole refers to Brock as "The Most Dispised Man in Sports Entertainment". Brock has a dark welt under his left eye. His pyro is delayed in going off, which is mildly amusing. Heyman bows as Brock walks around the ring popping his "EAT SLEEP BREAK THE STREAK" shirt. The crowd chants "Bullshit" as Heyman gloats. Well that's not PG guys. The crowd does stop hating them for a moment when Heyman talks about bringing tears to the eyes of children. Heyman talks about UT collapsing backstage, then Vince going to the hospital with him, and says that the best thing UT did was stay down after the third F5, because Brock would have kept beating on him until the streak was dead. Heyman gets more pops for verbally pissing on King & Cole and then Hogan for his "Silverdome" flub.

Heyman calls the crowd "wannabes" and says Brock respects no one, and barely tolerates him. Heyman calls all the other wrestlers "wannabes" as well for never going into MMA, then goes over all of Brock's accomplishments. Heyman responds to "WHAT" chants by saying his line again, but slower. Awesome. Heyman finishes up, and the crowd boos again. Great promo from Paul, and the crowd having to acknowledge his awesomeness while still being pissy about the streak being over was amazing.

-Tag title match is next.

-ADAM ROSE is coming soon. Wow, poor guy spends forever in developmental as Leo Krueger, but gets repackaged as Rose, makes two appearances on NXT, and they're finally ready to bring him up. I will say I am curious to see how well the gimmick (especially the entrance) translates to the big stage.

-Match 3 for the WWE Tag Team Championship: The Usos [c] VS Batista & Randy Orton

-Batista starts, and shrugs off a punch to the face before tagging in Orton as the crowd chants "You Tapped Out". Orton and the other Uso go back-and-forth as the crowd chants (I think) "Y2J". The heels take over as the crowd starts chanting for Punk. Orton & Batista destroy the champs on the outside as the crowd chants something I can't make out, before switching to "JBL" as Orton hits a draping DDT off the barricade onto the floor. Both teams get counted out, then Batista hits the other Uso with a powerbomb on the steps.

NO RATING I didn't expect the champs to win, and I didn't expect the heels to win the titles, so I got what I expected. Don't know why they didn't just put another team in this spot, and have HHH give them a match to blow off some steam.

-Hulk Hogan will present Cesaro with the ARMBaR trophy later tonight.

-More stills from 'Mania.

-RVD is back. Why?

-Match 4: RVD VS Damien Sandow

-Hey, remember back in October when Sandow had that awesome MitB cash-in match against Cena, and looked like a potential future star? Sandow ducks a kick, then interrupts a thumb-pointing party for RVD with knees to the gut, and an elbowdrop. RVD comes back with a kick, then launches himself at Sandow to send themself both outside. RVD sets Sandow on the barricade, then hits a spin kick off the apron. That somehow draws a "You Still Got It" chant. Sandow tries to fire back, but RVD cuts him off, and hits Rolling Thunder before finishing with the Five Star Frog Splash.

SQUASH Ugh, I really don't see why RVD had to come back. We've seen everything he's got, and it's not like he's going anywhere besides the midcard treadmill he spent the vast majority of his WWE career on.

-Legends House promo. Now they can finally use all that footage they shot what, three years ago?

-I might have to check out that Daniel Bryan: Road to WrestleMania special.

-Match 5: Rey Mysterio VS Bad News Barrett

-About damned time Barrett got back in the ring on TV. Big pop for Barrett, of course. Barrett's embarrassed reaction to getting cheered is awesome. Barrett goes to deliver some bad news, but Rey cuts him off. Rey hits a flying headscissors that sends Barrett outside, then a sliding splash out onto the floor. Nice move there. Barrett blocks another headscissors, tosses Rey in the air, and kicks him in the gut on his way down. Barrett pounds away, but runs into a boot. Barrett catches Rey with the Winds of Change for two, then drapes Rey in the corner before pounding away. Barrett stops to play to the crowd before hitting a running kick to the gut. Rey blocks a superplex, hits a seated senton, then turns a slam into a DDT for two.

Rey hits the 619, and he can't believe he's being booed. Rey takes too long going up top and gets crotched, and Barrett finishes with the Bull Hammer to win on Raw for possibly the first time since last year's post-Mania Raw.

** This did what it needed to, re-introducing Barrett as an in-ring competitor.

-Alexander Rusev finally debuts next.

-Another Adam Rose promo airs.

-Lana gets her own introduction before she introduces Rusev.

-Match 6: Alexander Rusev (w/Lana) VS Zack Ryder

-Rusev goes for the barefoot look. Rusev backs Ryder into a corner and kicks at his hamstrings. Ryder tries fighting back, but Rusev hits a big thrust kick. Rusev hits a fallaway slam followed by a modified urinage, then casually slaps on a camel clutch for the submission.

SQUASH Rusev looked good, and his casual expression while putting Ryder in the camel clutch was choice, but the last few attempts at creating a throwback foreign heel have all flopped pretty hard, and I don't see Rusev being much different.

-Hall of Fame highlights.

-Yet more stills from 'Mania. I remember when I was a kid, the PPV stills always made the shows I couldn't see look must-see, even the terrible ones.

-The Ultimate Warrior comes out, getting almost no reaction until he puts a ring jacket on and starts shaking the ropes. Warrior puts on a mask shaped like his paint, and gives a speech about being in the HoF, and gives credit to the fans for being the "legend makers". Warrior promos just aren't the same without the 80's hair and massive amounts of cocaine.

-AJ is up next.

-The crew talk about how important the fans are, then a video showing what goes into putting on a WWE show, then illustrating it means nothing without the fans by having Bryan do his entrance in an empty arena. Nice video.

-AJ comes out with a very unhappy Tamina to gloat about beating the whole Divas division at WrestleMania. AJ talks about her 295 day reign, and giving all the other divas chances to prove her own "pipe bomb" promo wrong, and they couldn't. She gets a pop for talking about going from being poor to being the "Best Diva in the World", which also brings about a chant for her fiance. AJ claims to be the whole division, which brings out the NXT Women's Champion Paige to a surprisingly big reaction.

AJ asks Paige what she's doing here, and Paige in turn congratulates AJ on her win at WrestleMania. AJ doesn't like being interrupted and pokes fun of Paige before challenging her to a match. Paige says she's not ready, so AJ slaps her. AJ really wants a match, and is willing to put her title on the line to get it.

-Match 7 for the Divas Championship: AJ Lee [c] (w/Tamina) VS Paige

-AJ bum rushes Paige at the bell and beats her down. AJ hits a back elbow as Paige becomes the first babyface to get the crowd behind them tonight. AJ quickly gets the Black Widow and it looks like Paige taps, but then Paige turns it into a sloppy Paige Turner to win the title. Not even Paige can believe she won.

NO RATING as it was more of an angle than a match. Replay shows the sloppiness on the finish is on AJ, not Paige. I like Paige based on what I've seen of her on NXT, so I hope she does well.

-Hogan will present the ARMBaR trophy to Cesaro next.

-The WrestleMania XXXI announcement airs, after not airing at 'Mania itself.

-Another terrific Bo Dallas promo airs.

-Hogan comes out to present the trophy, and immediately flubs a line. Hogan says that ARMBaR is going to be an annual thing. Hogan notes that there were 31 men in the match instead of 30, then brings out Cesaro, who comes out with Zeb for some reason. Hogan congratulates Cesaro and  hands the mic over to him. Zeb steals it, and takes credit for Cesaro's success. Zeb calls Cesaro a "Zeb Coulter Guy", but Cesaro says he's not, and is in fact now a "Paul Heyman Guy", which draws a HUGE pop. Heyman comes out to confirm the announcement, and to tell the announce team how to talk about Cesaro. Heyman gets "King of Swing" over as a nickname in the process. Jack Swagger attacks Cesaro from behind, then *GASP* destroys the trophy. Cesaro sends Swagger running, then glares at what was his trophy. I'm not sure how, outside of this crowd, Cesaro being a babyface, which he clearly is, will jell with him being a Heyman Guy.

-Match 8: Cesaro (w/Paul Heyman) VS Jack Swagger (w/Zeb Coulter)

-Match is JIP after commercials, and Cesaro hits a powerslam for two. Swagger bails, but Cesaro brings him back in. Cesaro goes up, but Swagger runs the turnbuckles and throws him down for two. Swagger buries some knees in the corner as King rightly questions why Cesaro would align himself with Heyman. Swagger hits a slam, and goes to work on the back as the crowd chants "We the People", not getting that the phrase means nothing to Cesaro now. Cesaro hits a couple uppercuts, but Swagger comes back with a takedown for two. Heyman warns Cesaro that Swagger is coming, and Cesaro counters the Swagger Bomb with a pair of feet to the face.

Cesaro hits dead lift superplex for two, then follows up with running uppercuts in the corners. Cesaro calls for the Swing, but Swagger sees it coming, and bails. The crowd chants "Pussy" as Swagger takes the count-out loss.

*1/2 This was going good before the weak sauce finish.

-Cesaro celebrates with the Andre the Giant mockup that was the top of the trophy.

-ON MAIN EVENT: The Shield VS The Wyatts Part III. The first two were awesome. Not sure why round 3 is being wasted on that show.

-Shots of various entertainment sites' pieces on Brock ending The Streak are shown as the crew talk about it before transitioning back to Bryan's win and then the opening of tonight's show.

-Steph is backstage with Kane and The Shield, and she doesn't care about their match from last night or what happened to UT. Steph says the four of them better make sure Triple H wins tonight. Kane gets upset when The Shield needle him about WrestleMania, and spills the beans that Triple H ordered the attack on them that Kane orchestrated. Steph cuts him off and lays down the law.

-ON SMACKDOWN: Big Show VS Cesaro. Not surprised at that.

-UP NEXT: Bryan VS HHH.

-Even more stills from WrestleMania.

-Match 9 for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Daniel Bryan [c] VS Triple H

-Before the match starts, Batista & Orton enter and attack Bryan. Kane joins in the fun with a chokeslam, and the table is set for Triple H. The crowd sarcastically chant for 3MB to make the save, then Triple H makes his entrance, with Steph in tow. Bryan is down-and-out, and HHH orders the ref to ring the bell, lest he be fired. Just when things look at their worst for Bryan, The Shield's music hits. HHH assumes they're on his side, but the crowd knows better. The Shield look ready for a fight as HHH tries to talk everyone down so he can win the title. Reigns destroys that notion with a spear on HHH, and The Shield clean house, and look to powerbomb HHH, but he manages to avoid that, only to turn into a running knee from Bryan. A stare down between the two sides closes the show. This war will be awesome until Ambrose (and possibly Rollins) turn again.

-FINAL THOUGHTS: Well, this was what it was, setup for what's to come over the next couple months until the annual big summer angle, with a crowd that tried to make the show about themselves, but weren't as successful as last year's crowd. The only real losers in this are NXT fans, as the top of that roster is getting seriously depleted, and is only going to get worse when Sami Zayn is finally called up.