WWE Monday Night Raw Recap – 10.07.13

WWE Monday Night Raw had a lot to make up for after Sunday night’s WWE Battleground pay-per-view ended with a non-ending, thanks to Big Show. Here is a look at the WWE Monday Night Raw recap for this week’s big show.

The Breakdown

WWE Monday Night Raw opened with Stephanie McMahon coming out to the ring. She apologized to the fans for the non-finish from the night before and then called out Big Show. She asked what was wrong with him and why he did what he did. Big Show said he knocked out Randy Orton because he was tired of it. He said he knocked out Daniel Bryan because Stephanie McMahon told him to. She denied it and ordered him to get on his knees and apologize. He refused so she slapped him three or four times and then fired him.

The first match on WWE Monday Night Raw saw Dolph Ziggler battle Damien Sandow in a rematch from last night’s Battleground event. Just like last night, Sandow looked great but Ziggler ended up getting the win with the Fameasser. Sandow was a sad panda after the match.

In the back, Stephanie McMahon ripped into General Manager Brad Maddox for the Rhodes family winning their match at Battleground and for the Big Show’s actions. She said he better apologize and go out to make things right while still refusing to admit to any wrongdoing on her part.

A Diva’s six-person match was next with Natalya and the two new Divas from the Total Diva’s TV show beating Rosa Mendes (now with blonde hair), Aksana and Alicia Fox. Nattie made Alicia Fox tap out to the sharpshooter.

Brad Maddox came out onto the stage as the Divas celebrated and made an announcement. After apologizing for the Battleground end, he said that Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton would get a rematch in a Hell in a Cell. The fans get to vote on which Hall of Fame wrestler will be the guest referee. The first choice is Booker T who comes out and cuts a promo saying he will do what is “best for business.”

Los Matadores came out next with their mascot El Torito and beat 3MB (Jinder Mahol and Drew McIntyre).

The second hour of WWE Monday Night Raw started with Paul Heyman coming to the ring with Ryback and Curtis Axel. Heyman reminded everyone that he beat CM Punk with both hands tied behind his back. He also said that Punk beat Ryback at Battleground by cheating (he kicked Ryback in the balls). That brought out CM Punk. He said that obviously they wanted a rematch so he accepted. Ryback told Punk to come to the ring and do something about it. That brought out R-Truth, which led to a tag team match. Punk and Truth won when Truth pinned Axel.

The second WWE Hall of Fame star that is up for the position as referee for the Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton match came out next and it is – Bob Backlund. He started yelling about how he hates the word “hell,” how he has been good and bad, and would put anyone who gets out of line in the Crossface Chicken Wing. That was crazy.

Kofi Kingston came out next for his match with Randy Orton, out for vengeance after last night’s Battleground mess. The match was a great one, reminding me of when they fought a couple of years ago in Kofi’s breakout match. Orton ended up winning, but he had to hit the DDT on the floor to wear Kingston down enough to roll him back in and hit the RKO. After the match, Daniel Bryan ran in and beat the living hell out of Orton. Refs and officials (Fit Finley and Jamie Noble sighting!!!) came down to separate them and Bryan chased Orton to the back.

In the back Alberto Del Rio hit on Vickie Guerrero, but she saw him make a gesture as he was walking off and looked disappointed in him.

After that, the third Hall of Fame choice for the Hell in a Cell referee came out – Shawn Michaels. This vote should be a landslide for HBK. Of course, take note that his best friend is Triple H but he also trained Daniel Bryan.

Alberto Del Rio came to the ring next and the announcers mentioned that Rob Van Dam was leaving the WWE for a break. Then Vickie Guerrero came out and said that ADR’s opponent would be Ricardo Rodriguez. As the match started, Vickie said that ADR would defend his world title against John Cena at Hell in a Cell. That distracted ADR, and Ricardo pinned him for the win. In revenge, ADR attacked Ricardo, wrapped a chair around his arm and locked in the cross arm breaker.

The next match saw Zack Ryder (with no entrance as usual) losing to Fandango after a flying leg drop.

Next up on WWE Monday Night Raw, the results of the voting was in and Shawn Michaels won with over 60% of the votes to be the referee for the Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton Hell in a Cell WWE title match. Booker T got the least amount of votes and left mad.

Last night at Battleground, Antonio Cesaro hit the Giant Swing on Great Khali and swung the giant 10 times. The next match saw the rematch with The Real Americans taking on Santino Marella and Great Khali again. Once again, Cesaro hit the Giant Swing on Khali and picked up the win. After the match, he did the Giant Swing to Hornswoggle, until Santino finally saved him.

The Miz came out next for Miz TV and his guests are The Wyatt Family. However, when the lights came on, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan were in the ring and The Miz made a run for it. He raced to the top and got in some blows on Bray Wyatt before escaping.

Triple H finally showed up in the back and said he would head to the ring to make sure what happened in the main event was “best for business.”

The Shield came out to get ready for their main event match of WWE Monday Night Raw against Daniel Bryan, Cody Rhodes and Goldust. Before the match starts, Triple H comes down and sits at ringside. The end saw Daniel Bryan lock in the Yes Lock only for Dean Ambrose to come in with a chair and cause the DQ. Triple H restarted the match and called it No DQ. Almost immediately, Randy Orton jumped the barrier and hit the RKO on Bryan. The Shield rolled Bryan into the ring and pinned him.

After the match, Triple H ordered a beat down and The Shield attacked. As they beat down the Rhodes brothers, The Big Show’s music started, and sure enough he was back. Triple H hid behind The Shield and Big Show attacked. He fought them off and then knocked out Triple H with the WMD. As he left, Daniel Bryan went into the ring to celebrate over a fallen Triple H as the fans went nuts and chanted “Yes” to end the show.

The Analysis

This was the final payoff to months of Triple H pushing everyone around. Most of the show saw Stephanie McMahon continue bullying everyone and then when Triple H finally showed up, he said he would make sure things went right. That led to the Big Show finally snapping and knocking out Triple H, which was a huge payoff for the weeks of bullying by Triple H and Stephanie. Sure, he can’t touch Stephanie because of the PG rating, but laying out Triple H was a perfect final moment on this show.

As for the rest, this was a good episode of WWE Monday Night Raw. The matches were decent and nothing was just bad, but the entire purpose of this show was the Big Show payoff moment. Fantastic moment that elevated the entire show.