WWE RAW Coverage: A Night of Surprises

John Cena has decided to do things the hard way.

Did you expect anything different?

As a result, things will only get tougher for the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion moving towards the company’s next pay per view, Battleground. Cena will not only defend his title in a Fatal four-way against Roman Reigns, Randy or ton and Kane, but WWE COO promised a Plan B if Cena escaped the match with the title.

Seth Rollins.

If that wasn’t enough, it appears Alexander Rusev will face his first big test in the now face tandem of Zeb Colter and Jack Swagger. Add in the returns of AJ Lee, Chris Jericho and The Miz and the upcoming Intercontinental Battle Royal and away from blatant product placement from Santino Marella and Adam Rose, this was a damn good episode of RAW.

Matches:

Seth Rollins vs. Rob Van Dam: Poor RVD, after getting creamed last week by Rollins, Mr. Monday Night lost to Adrian Neville on NXT and once again lost to The Authority’s new poster boy on RAW. After Rollins worked on RVD’s legs with a Rolling Crab a-la Lance Storm, the two traded some offense and near-falls. Although RVD hit the Rolling Thunder and the Split-Legged Moonsault, he couldn’t put him away. RVD continued to dominate when he countered Rollins’ Turnbuckle Powerbomb, but Rollins was smart enough to roll out of the ring before RVD could go for the Five-Star. After the match went to the outside for a few, Rollins hit a nice Dragonscrew variation on the apron before he hit the Curb Stomp for the win.

Sheamus and WWE Tag Team Champions Jimmy and Jey Uso vs. Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper and Erik Rowan: A solid match that was fueled by Sheamus’ athletic ability. Away from his usual assortment of offense, Sheamus hit a Splash from the top rope to the outside that was unusual for him, but damn cool. However, the chemistry of The Family was intense as always, as Harper’s Big Boots and the content fire of Wyatt and Rowan made for a nice back and forth. After the Usos jumped around the ring and got things crazy, Sheamus nailed Rowan with a Brogue Kick. However, Wyatt followed things up with a Urinage Suplex on Sheamus, while Harper finished off Jey with the Discus Lariat.

Nikki Bella vs. Naomi Knight and Cameron: After Cameron couldn’t get it done, Knight made quick work of Bella with the Reverse DDT. After the bell, Knight and Cameron tussled before the referee broke it up.

Antonio Cesaro w/Paul Heyman vs. Kofi Kingston: Cesaro was in trouble early until he used a nasty Tilt-a-Whirl Backbreaker to give himself some momentum. Kingston apparently won the match during the commercial break and after the bell, Cesaro absolutely destroyed the fan favorite on the outside.

The Great Khali vs. Damien Sandow: After Sandow came out dressed like Mr. McMahon, Stephanie had him fight Khali. A Giant Chop later and Khali got the easy win.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Fandango w/Layla: After Summer Rae hit the ring and made out with Ziggler, The Show-Off hit the Zig-Zag for the victory.

Stardust and Goldust vs. Curtis Axel and Ryback: Stardust made quick work of both Axel and Ryback and debuted a new Complete Shot/Reverse Sto Variation in the win.

Divas Champion Paige vs. AJ Lee: After Paige dominated for about a minute with strikes and Head-butts, Lee won with a Rollup to reclaim her title.

WWE World Heavyweight Champion John Can and Roman Reigns vs. Randy Orton and Kane: Reigns was in most of the match and for the most part, held his own against both Orton and Kane until he bit off more than he could chew on the outside. Once Cena got the hot tag he went through his signature offense, but Orton hit the RKO on him to take him out. Reigns followed up the anarchy by nailing Kane with the Superman Punch. Soon enough, Reigns and Orton took their fight to the back, leaving Cena and Kane alone in the ring. After the match went to the outside, Kane got DQed after he hit Cena in the head with the ring steps.After the bell, Kane, at the request of Triple H, who was ringside, nailed Cena with the Tombstone Piledriver. With Cena down, Seth Rollins came to cash in his Money in the Bank title shot, but Dean Ambrose attacked him and took the fight to the outside. With Ambrose and Rollins gone, Kane went to finish off Cena with a chair, but Reigns returned and hit the Spear on Kane.