Wrestling

Ricardo Rodriguez introduces Alberto Del Rio, and he gets booed by the audience. ADR tries to justify his actions with how he defeated Dolph Ziggler and acts very heelish with his attitude. He says America is all about pigs and cowards. He says he will give the audience a second opportunity to show him the respect he deserves. They barely respond and they boo. CM Punk interrupts and Paul Heyman comes out with him. Punk says he came out because he heard ADR say he was the best. Punk says he came out here to challenge him and Heyman interrupts Punk. Punk interrupts Heyman. Punk knows the title won’t be on the line but he wants to steal the show against ADR tonight. ADR tries to decline so Punk challenges Ricardo. Vickie Guerrero interrupts and books the match for the main event tonight. ^I’m not sure how I feel about Del Rio being a heel again, but it is what it is. Dolph Ziggler coming back as a face with major popularity makes me happy. Punk and Del Rio tonight will make for an awesome match, and Punk owned on mic once again here with his line about stealing the show WITH Chris Jericho at Payback. Class act. Heyman is apologizing to Punk backstage. Punk tells Heyman he doesn’t need his help to win matches and he’s not his client. Punk tells Heyman he doesn’t want him ringside anymore and that’s just the way it’s going to be. He says he will always be a Paul Heyman guy. ^And this sets up Punk and Lesnar for their feud heading towards Summerslam. Great stuff, and honestly good for Punk to go back as a face as long as he continues to have his edge when he cuts a promo. There’s a large market audience that’s going to cheer for Punk no matter what, and it seems like WWE has realized that. Wade Barrett is set to go one on one with Curtis Axel. Vickie Guerrero comes out before Axel and announces that Barrett won’t face Axel tonight, but instead he will face her big surprise! It’s Christian! Christian picks up the victory in his return. ^I’m thrilled to see Captain Charisma back in a WWE ring. These two had some pretty solid chemistry for such a short match. Christian can definitely help build the mid card scene with some decent action in the ring each week. A Bray Wyatt promo is aired again. Can’t wait for the family’s arrival. Sheamus is defeated in a handicap match against Team Rhodes Scholars when Damien Sandow pins him on a rollup. Sheamus brogue kicks Rhodes after Sandow leaves the ring. ^I don’t understand the booking of these three. Can WWE not come up with anything better? Just an average TV match here with the face looking strong by the time the segment is over. Triple H approaches Brad Maddox and Vickie Guerrero to “compliment” and ridicule them on their job running Raw. He tells Vickie she needs to make an example out of the Shield tonight. ^I wonder what Vickie could possibly do to make an example out of the dominating group? Funny stuff seeing Triple H throw his weight around in the executive role. He’s almost like a Vince McMahon clone in a lot of ways. Daniel Bryan talks with Kane backstage. Dbry gets confrontational with Kane. Kane wants to give Team Hell No another shot. Dbry says he will never be able to prove himself as long as he is part of a team. Dbry says he needs to win the WWE Championship. Kane says he was thinking the same thing about himself. Kane wishes Dbry goodluck tonight and Dbry gets confrontational yet again. Kane shakes his head and walks off. ^Fun segment with Kane and Dbry. I’ll miss Team Hell No. I assume based on their comments that they’ll both be competing in the WWE Title Money In The Bank Ladder Match on July 14th in Philadelphia. Can’t wait to see Dbry win his second briefcase. Randy Orton goes one on one with Daniel Bryan. The WWE app voting results are revealed by Jerry Lawler and the match will be no dq. The ref stops the match when Daniel Bryan has a hurt knee on the outside and Randy Orton is declared the winner. ^I was very disappointed with the outcome of this match, but it’s an oka

- Jim Ross says Mark Henry got him with his retirement tease on RAW tonight, just before he attacked John Cena. Ross tweeted: “Yes…I truly thought @TheMarkHenry was calling it a career. Helluva job…legit got me.” - Speaking of Henry, he tweeted after RAW: “When I stop laughing at ALL of you I will send a proper tweet.” - Zeb Colter wrote the following about bringing Antonio Cesaro into his stable on tonight’s RAW: “Tried to tell you all that del Rio was “using our country” for his own benefit. SEEN IT BEFORE. WELCOME @AntonioCesaro to #wethepeople. If tonight intrigued you, believe this. #wethepeople w/ @RealJackSwagger & @AntonioCesaro, WE DON’T FORGET AND WE DON’T FORGIVE. #wwe” Photos of Kaitlyn’s Wardrobe Malfunction on RAW, Plans for Zeb Colter’s Stable and More…

- After Monday’s RAW went off the air, John Cena defeated Ryback in a tables match to retain his WWE Title. A table was lying against the turnbuckle and eventually Cena reversed a hold, then used an Attitude Adjustment to drive Ryback through it. DIRECT LINK: Several Photos of Kaitlyn’s WARDROBE MALFUNCTION from RAW…

- Daniel Bryan vs. Dean Ambrose has been announced for this week’s SmackDown. - It was also confirmed on last night’s RAW that Mark Henry will face John Cena for the WWE Title at next month’s Money in the Bank pay-per-view. Henry attacked Cena after fooling fans with a retirement speech. More Big Backstage News on WWE Money in the Bank, Huge Debut in the Works for RAW…

- WWE taped the following matches last night in Grand Rapids to air on WWE Superstars: * Titus O’Neil vs. R-Truth * Cameron and Naomi vs. Layla and Natalya - Christian returned to action on last night’s WWE RAW as the “big surprise” from Vickie Guerrero and Brad Maddox. He faced Wade Barrett and got the win. Here’s a photo: WWE Planning Two Huge Angles for the Summer, Big Punk vs. Lesnar News, More

Source: Twitter The President of TNA Wrestling Dixie Carter took to Twitter a few days ago to confirm that the annual Destination X event was returning this summer as an exclusive episode of iMPACT Wrestling on Spike TV! You can scroll down to see the exact tweet that Carter sent out to confirm this news. It is expected that the current TNA X-Division Champion Chris Sabin will cash in his title for a chance to face Bully Ray for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. More on this as it develops! Destination X is back! Exclusively on @SpikeTV on July 18th from Louisville, KY! Tickets on sale tomorrow – http://t.co/bLQsDZvThc — Dixie Carter (@TNADixie) June 14, 2013

Source: Twitter TNA General Manager “The Immortal” Hulk Hogan took to Twitter today to comment on last night’s announcement that former TNA World Heavyweight Champion Rob Van Dam is returning to WWE next month. On Twitter, Hogan denied that he was able to make any changes regarding RVD’s status with iMPACT Wrestling and that those decisions were up to Bruce Prichard and Dixie Carter. The full text of his tweet is below: @Dirrty_Fighterr I have no idea what's going on with RVD,that's a Dixie and Bruce Prichard deal brother HH — Hulk Hogan (@HulkHogan) June 17, 2013 To date, RVD has been nothing but magnanimous regarding the team at TNA and his time on iMPACT Wrestling. This would tend to back up the generally accepted idea that he’s a good guy outside of the ring and as such, we wish him well as he returns to WWE.

Tonight was one of those RAWs where everything happened. It opened with Alberto del Rio confirming that what happened at Payback was indeed a double turn, and it closed with Brock Lesnar officially stripping CM Punk of his "Paul Heyman Guy" status. It included Christian's return, more McMahon family quibbles, Daniel Bryan being victim of an injury angle, Stephanie McMahon waxing hypocritical about AJ Lee acting degrading towards women, and a growing spectre of the Wyatt Family, a group that inches closer and closer to their debut. The show was loaded, and it was in motion, non-stop. I would say this was the episode of RAW Vince Russo had in mind when he first ideated Crash TV, but I don't know what goes on in his head, nor do I ever want to. It seems like a scary place up there.But it takes a special segment to stand out on a show like tonight's, an all-timer. I didn't know if Mark Henry was really going to retire going into his interruption of John Cena's "rah rah never give up" speech set towards the eventual Money in the Bank winner. All I knew before he got into the ring was that he had on one of the raddest, even if just ironically, suit jackets. Then the tears started coming, and the old anecdotes of his kids rushed from his mouth to our ears. I got this sense of dread, that Henry was really about to hang 'em up. It felt like Edge's retirement segment, where I know I thought it was going to be one big ruse, but instead, it turned out to be him blindsiding everyone with his medical announcement.Henry's was a punch of a different breed. Instead of walking away, he let Cena get close. John Cena, the man who had just not five minutes before told everyone that he wasn't going to be an easy cash-in victim because he was always on guard, let his guard down and got World's Strongest Slammed. It's so easy to be jaded and cynical about things being too predictable, and yeah, I guess from the perch of hindsight, it was easy to see that Cena was going to eat it. The fact that Henry even invited him to stay out, that he lingered too long. The tells were there.But I was drawn in. Henry, for as gruff an exterior as he has, has sneaky range. It's not easy to cry on demand, but he did, oh Lordy, he did. To go from waterworks to splitter of wigs on a dime takes talent, real talent, like "How has this dude not been given his own WWE film" talent. It's easy to talk about how shitty the average WWE superstar is at acting. But with Henry, and especially with Lee, there are some gems on the roster when it comes to setting mood or making things happen with their entire demeanor cutting a promo. It's one thing to talk real good, but can you emote? Can you get into a character with nuance rather than just one who has good oratory skills? Henry made his segment. Lee saved hers, and that segment needed a good saving. Stephanie took lessons on condescension and no-selling from her husband really well. Or was it the other way around? Who knows.I mentioned in the lead paragraph that this was the episode of Crash TV that Russo saw in his mind, or at least that I imagined he saw in his mind. What set it apart from RAWs in the Attitude Era was that there were great actors like Lee and Henry in addition to the great promos and swerve moments. There was also some decent wrestling, but you KNEW that one was a difference. But still, tonight's show had all the positive traits of the chaos and unpredictability that an Attitude RAW had. I hope they don't try to replicate it next week, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate it for what it's worth tonight.

WWE Monday Night Raw June 17, 2013 Grand Rapids, MI Rob McCarron There are a lot of questions to answer tonight stemming from the Payback PPV last night. Is Dolph Ziggler's head okay? What will CM Punk focus on in his return? Who's next for John Cena? What will Rob Van Dam be doing at Money In The Bank. Yup. RVD was announced for MITB if you hadn't heard already. Raw Opens With Alberto Del Heel-o Jerry Lawler was appalled that Del Rio went after Ziggler's head so vigorously last night. Del Rio was a heel here, after turning last night by being a dick. Sheamus, however, still a babyface being the same thing every week. Del Rio called himself Superman and the best, and Ricardo did an over the top entrance again. Del Rio addressed the way he won the title. He said he just did to Ziggler what Dolph did to Alberto the night after WrestleMania. He heeled on the people for cheering Ziggler the night he cashed in his briefcase. He said America is all about pigs and cowards. CM Punk interrupted, along with Paul Heyman. He took issue with Del Rio calling himself the best, and he challenged Del Rio for tonight. Paul interrupted and said his clients don't fight for free. Punk took issue with Paul calling him his client, and getting involved with Punk's challenge. Punk brushed Heyman off and again challenged Del Rio. Del Rio basically said no. Vickie Guerrero came out and said she'd make the decision on a match for tonight. So she made Alberto Del Rio vs CM Punk. Punk's a good guy, Del Rio is a bad guy, and the split between Paul Heyman and CM Punk (which began last night at Payback) is continuing. Daniel Bryan vs Randy Orton was announced for later in the show. Backstage, CM Punk told Paul Heyman that he doesn't need Paul Heyman to win matches. He said Paul isn't welcome at ringside anymore. Brock vs Punk at Summerslam is so on. Christian Returns Wade Barrett was scheduled to take on Curt Axel, but before Axel appeared, Vickie Guerrero came out. Vickie instead made Wade vs the returning Christian. Christian got the win via pinfall with the Killswitch. JBL called Christian a former two time World Champion. For those thinking he made an NWA title reference, don't be silly. He was referring to his two ECW title wins. Sheamus vs Team Rhodes Scholars Damien Sandow and Cody Rhodes beat Sheamus when Sandow pinned Sheamus via schoolboy. Sheamus was posturing for his Brogue Kick on Rhodes when he was caught with the sneaky pin. Sheamus dominated the match up until the finish. #WWEApp Poll: Randy Orton vs Daniel Bryan would wrestle in either a No DQ match, No Count Out match, or 2 Out of 3 Falls. Again, Rob Van Dam returns to WWE in July at Money In The Bank. Backstage, the best duo in WWE, Team Brickie were asking what Triple H thought of Vickie's main event tonight. He loved the idea, but then asked a question that many wonder on shows like this when a main event is made after the show has started... If CM Punk hadn't walked out there to confront Del Rio, what was the original main event going to be? Vickie had no answer, and changed the subject to Christian's returned. Triple H asked why Vickie just now got around to bringing him back when Christian has been cleared for a month and a half. He quickly jumped to RVD, which Vickie and Brad both tried to take credit for. Triple H then took credit himself. Triple H told Vickie to be strong and cut off The Shield tonight, telling her to make an example out of them. YEAH! Make an example out of those wrestler who have won nearly every match and are fighting champions. CRUSH THEM! Triple H left Vickie's office by joking about how it was great of them to put 3MB on the show tonight. Brad smiled, as it was his idea, but he didn't get that HHH was being sarcastic. I wrote too much about that one segment. Backstage, again, Kane confronted Daniel Bryan. Bryan said as long as he is a part of a team, he can never prove himself. Bryan said he's on Team D

The following is a picture of Kaitlyn's wardrobe malfunction that occurred on WWE Raw. This photo is intended for mature audiences only and should be known that it does contain nudity. Thanks to Brandon Bullock for sending the photo in.