WWE Raw TV Results
May 27, 2013 - Episode #1,043
Live in Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Aired on USA Network
Report by James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

Third Hour Results

Highlight Reel Segment

Fireworks shot off and the arena went dark to signal Chris Jericho's entrance back home in Canada. Jericho, dressed in street clothes, strutted to the ring before standing in front of the Jeritron video screen. The announcers noted Jericho believes he's still owed some money from Paul Heyman, then Jericho's music stopped, leading to a "Y2J" chant.

After soaking up the crowd response, Jericho shouted out to Calgary before introducing a jerk of a guest, Paul Heyman. Heyman emerged to no music as Jericho removed his rocker jacket to greet Heyman with muscles.

Once in the ring, Heyman surveyed a quiet arena before Jericho spoke. Jericho said Heyman has been called everything from a genius to a walrus during his career - pause for "walrus" chant - but Heyman has always had an uncanny knack for aligning himself with tremendous talent. Heyman butted in that he doesn't just align himself with talent, but discovers and develops great talent. Like, for example, Jericho. Heyman said he discovered him and gave Jericho his very first big break.

Jericho responded that Heyman did give him his first break...and he owes him money. Heyman hilariously responded that because of that, he has waived his personal appearance fee to appear on the Highlight Reel tonight. Heyman then talked up Curtis Axel, prompting Jericho to respond that he's been a big fan of Axel for a long time, but he wants to talk about Heyman's other client. "Brrrrock Lessssnar!" Heyman responded. Heyman began talking up Lesnar, then Jericho told him to shut the hell up.

[Q9 -- third hour] Jericho said he doesn't want to talk about Axel or what Lesnar is doing on his spring beak; rather, his other client. Loud "C-M-Punk" chant, then Jericho wanted to know what's up with Punk. Jericho asked for footage of what happened last month on Raw when Punk walked away from WWE after giving Heyman a big hug.

Back live, Heyman hung his head in sorrow, then Jericho said one thing he noticed in that clip from six weeks ago is Heyman wore the same suit. Also, Punk shocked and surprised Heyman, who seemed to not know that Punk was doing that. Jericho replied that he would like Jericho to know that ... this is his favorite suit and he wanted to wear it on the Highlight Reel tonight. The crowd responded with a "walrus" chant. "And?!" Jericho said. Heyman, agitated, said Punk had The Streak and didn't need to tell people that he's the best there is, was, and ever will be (boos). Jericho cut off Heyman and mocked Heyman with "blah blah blah" before getting right in Heyman's face to ask, "Where is C.M. Punk?"

Heyman collected himself and boldly declared that an announcement will come in the next few weeks on the return of C.M. Punk. "No, no, no," Jericho said. Jericho said Punk can't just sit at home and refer to himself as the Best in the World by sitting at home. Heyman said his client sitting at home in Chicago would vehemently disagree. Jericho then sarcastically waved hi to Punk sitting at home. He said the next PPV is in Chicago, so if Punk wants to be known as the Best in the World, then he needs to get off his couch and show up.

Jericho said he thinks this crowd would say he is actually the Best -- Heyman interrupted and told Jericho not to say that. "Don't say what? Don't say that Chris Jericho is the best...?" Jericho said. Heyman said it's not Jericho's right to say that. Jericho told Heyman to send Punk a message to face him at Payback to see who the Best in the World is. Heyman laughed and asked Jericho if he's really going to negotiate with him. Heyman said Jericho doesn't get to dictate terms to Heyman and Punk.

"Fair enough," Jericho said. Jericho said Punk can sit at home, while he will declare himself the Best in the World at what he does. Heyman, annoyed, forced a smile before frowning. Heyman sold deep thoughts, then said that must be Jericho pulling his punk card. So, Jericho wants a match with C.M. Punk in Chicago, Punk's hometown. "Well, Chris Jericho, on behalf of my client, C.M. Punk...I accept." Jericho accepted Heyman's handshake, then pulled Heyman in close to intimidate him. "And tell Punk after Payback, he will never, ever be the same again." Jericho's music played and Heyman dejectedly marched out of the ring upset with being played by Jericho.

[ JC: Good segment (a) setting up Punk's unofficial return vs. Jericho at Payback and (b) setting up potential tension between Punk-Heyman that will be interesting to see play out. ]

Meanwhile, in the middle of the segment, C.M. Punk tweeted a photo attending the Angels-Dodgers MLB game in Los Angeles.

[Commercial Break. Another spot for the Thursday night Smackdown taping in Houston on July 25.]

Back live, Cole plugged the box-office success of The Rock's Fast 6" movie, setting records for Universal.

In-ring: Kaitlyn was standing by in the ring with Natalya. Birthday Business over and time for a Divas tag match.

[Q10]

7 -- BELLA TWINS vs. Divas champion KAITLYN & NATALYA

The Bellas isolated Kaitlyn early on, then Natalya tagged in. Natalya had a few pin opportunities, but the Bellas used their craftiness to pin Natalya after Kaitlyn was disallowed from entering the ring. After the match, the Bellas tried to make Natalya cry by mocking her birthday on the mic.

WINNERS: Bellas at 3:41. You knew the fun wouldn't last for Natalya in her hometown and on her birthday. Birthday + Hometown is a double combination for a character to have a ruinous night in McMahon's book.

Locker Room: Curtis Axel was getting ready for the main event, then Bret Hart walked in to say he looks like his dad. Hart reminisced about facing Mr. Perfect (without mentioning Perfect by name), then Hart told Axel to get rid of Paul Heyman. Axel replied that just because Hart knew his dad doesn't mean he knows him. Axel said no one would give him the time of day before Heyman came along and believed in him. He told Hart to enjoy his Appreciation Night while he beats the WWE champion.

In-ring: Randy Orton's music played back in the arena. Orton came to the ring as the announcers plugged Orton and Sheamus against Rhodes Scholars up next.

[Commercial Break]

Vignette: Bray Wyatt is coming to WWE. And he's bringing the Wyatt Family - Brodie Lee and Erick Rowan. They are the new faces of fear. Overall, the video looked like a great Criminal Minds video introducing the crime or criminal.

In-ring: Rhodes Scholars were ringside back from break. After a look at Damien Sandow and Sheamus having a run-in on Smackdown, Sheamus was introduced as Orton's partner for tag action. JBL talked up Sheamus being happy about a rugby victory over the weekend, then Cole flippantly said some German team won a soccer tournament in Europe. JBL filled in the details on Bayern Munich's victory, then the bell sounded.

8 -- RANDY ORTON & SHEAMUS vs. RHODES SCHOLARS (CODY RHODES & DAMIEN SANDOW)

Orton and Sheamus worked on Rhodes early on. During the opening exchange, Cole had the tone of a baseball announcer trying to navigate the 6th Inning of an uneventful baseball game when he's run out of news and anecdotes.

[Q11] As the action continued to slowly play out, Cole brought up Mark Henry "going home" after Extreme Rules last Sunday. Meanwhile, the audience had the feel of a crowd watching the 6th inning of an uneventful baseball game. JBL cracked a joke about Lawler suffering a heart attack the last time he was in Canada, to which Lawler responded that he's okay so far. Lawler then drew attention to Rhodes looking overly-tanned as Rhodes Scholars took control leading to break.

[Commercial Break]

Back from break, Sandow was in control of the match working on Sheamus. Meanwhile, one fan on the front row had a sign that contained about 20 words about Bret Hart in Size 10 font, violating one of the first Sign Rules that for anyone to read a sign's message, it needs to be short and in a large font.

Orton woke up the crowd tagging in at 10:00, then he dropped Sandow with a snap DDT. Orton wanted the RKO, but Rhodes pulled Sandow out of the ring. So, Orton slid to the floor and smashed his former Legacy tag partner with a clothesline. But, Orton walked into a hard smash from Sandow.

Back in the ring, Sandow covered Orton, but Orton kicked out in-time. Cole then fed to an App Insert Video of Paul Heyman giving Curtis Axel a pre-main event pep talk about having the opportunity to take out John Cena tonight. Back in the ring, Sandow slowed down the pace working on Orton as Sheamus bounced up and down on the ring apron. Sandow's knees and punches showed a lot of light, then Cody demanded a tag to deliver offense to Orton.

Orton broke free and tagged in Sheamus, who pounded Rhodes with signature offense. Sheamus then tagged Sandow with Ten Forearms to the Chest. He wanted more on Sandow, but Rhodes popped him with the Disaster Kick. Sandow, apparently now legal, tried to pin Sheamus, but Sheamus kicked out.

On the floor, Orton chucked Rhodes over the guardrail into the front row. Back in the ring, Sheamus dropped Sandow with White Noise. Sheamus wanted the Brogue Kick, then popped Sandow with the Brogue. Sheamus covered him for the win, leading to Sheamus and Orton celebrating in the ring. There were no signs of issues between Sheamus and Orton on this night.

WINNERS: Orton & Sheamus at 15:42. The match needed some time to warm up, concluding with a basic feel-good tag victory for the face duo.

[Q12] Up Next: Cena vs. Axel in the TV main event.

But, first a trailer for "12 Rounds 2" starring Randy Orton.

[Commercial Break]

Video Package: WWE's National Guard partnership. Kofi Kingston narrated the first portion of the video, which spotlighted John Cena's military work.

Smackdown plug: Randy Orton vs. Dean Ambrose in a non-title match this Friday on Smackdown.

Announcers: Cole, Lawler, and JBL plugged the Bret Hart Appreciation Night following Raw on WWE's App. Cole then plugged the Cena-Ryback PPV main event at Payback before offering a factoid that Triple H was in all three previous Three Stages of Hell match in WWE history.

In-ring: John Cena's music played to bring out Cena for the main event. Cena tried to get a worn-out crowd fired up before doing his routine in the ring. Dramatic music lacking the Mr. Perfect remix feel then brought out Curtis Axel. Axel, flanked by Paul Heyman, confidently strolled to the ring as the signature Mr. Perfect tune kicked in about 30 seconds in. Once Axel entered the ring, the bell sounded eight minutes before the top of the hour.

9 -- WWE champion JOHN CENA vs. CURTIS AXEL (w/Paul Heyman) -- non-title match

As the match started, the announcers listed some of Heyman's previous big-name clients, including Big Show, Rob Van Dam (interesting name-drop), Bam Bam Bigelow, and Steve Austin. Cena got the upper-hand, so Axel dipped to the outside to regroup with Heyman.

[Commercial Break]

Back from break, Axel threw Cena hard into the ring steps on the outside. Axel then re-entered the ring, prompting Heyman to tell Axel to back up and take the count-out win. But, Cena made it back into the ring at eight. Axel followed up with hard kicks to the gut as Cole told Axel's story of feeling like he was "held down" for a while until Heyman believed in him.

[Q13 -- over-run] Meanwhile, something was happening in the stands, drawing the crowd's attention. The fans on the front-row looked behind them, with the majority of the audience ignoring the match in the ring. So, Axel grabbed a mathold to try to wear down Cena. The crowd continued to focus on whatever was happening in the crowd as Axel worked on the nervehold. Axel then released the hold and screamed at the crowd to pay attention to him.

The crowd tried to re-focus with a pro and against Cena Chant, then Cena made his trademark comeback. Cena wanted the Five Knuckle Shuffle, and he connected. He wanted the AA, but Axel blocked and delivered a dropkick for a two count. Axel followed with a double sledgehammer from the second rope before missing with a second attempt. Cena then bodyslammed Axel for a nearfall.

At 10:00, Cena ate a boot to the injured shoulder for a two count. Axel wanted to follow with a sidesweep, but Cena blocked. Axel blocked an AA, then executed a Perfectplex, popping the crowd. But, Cena kicked out of the pin attempt. "You got a two count on The Champ!" Heyman shouted at Axel, who then missed with a corner attack.

Suddenly, an ambulance siren was heard in the arena. The ambulance sped to ringside, drawing John Cena's attention to the stage area. Cena, unconcerned about getting a victory tonight, walked up to the ambulance and opened the door, but no one was inside. Meanwhile, the bell sounded in the background to signal a count-out.

Cena went to the back-door of the ambulance and carefully opened the doors, but no one was there. Suddenly, Ryback ambushed Cena from behind. Ryback smashed Cena with right hands before chucking him onto the stage. As the crowd chanted, "Goldberg," Ryback wanted to finish Cena with a spear through the LED lights, but Cena avoided. Ryback then shoved Cena off the stage to the floor below. As Ryback walked off, Justin Roberts announced Curtis Axel as the winner of the match via count-out.

In the ring, Axel was shown celebrating with Heyman. On the floor, Cena was shown standing up with hands on hips, selling annoyance. Cena continued to sell annoyance, then he sarcastically applauded Axel in the ring. Raw anti-climatically went off the air seven minutes past the top of the hour with Axel standing in the ring with his arm raised.

WINNER: Axel via count-out at 11:56. Axel has worked with Triple H and John Cena in TV main events in his first two weeks since being re-packaged, but it's just not clicking and working yet.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Flat show. It wasn't like the crowd was just sitting there waiting three hours for Bret Hart Night; it just seemed like they were only into a few things. Not even John Cena felt over tonight. Very different from last week's show, which had the vibe of a hot product.

POST-SHOW COVERAGE TO FOLLOW ON PWTORCH.COM. ...

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