WWE Raw TV Results
June 17, 2013 - Episode #1,046
Live in Grand Rapids, Mich.
Aired on USA Network
Report by James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

Third Hour Raw Results

Raw returned from break three minutes before the top of the hour with an arena shot, which could only mean one thing. John Cena's music played to bring out the WWE champion. Cena bounced out on-stage in a jovial mood after defeating Ryback last night at Payback. Cena then hit the ring and hoisted his WWE Title belt into the air before Cole narrated still-shots from the PPV main event last night. Cole then noted that Ryback refused medical attention last night, but he has not been cleared to compete tonight.

Once Cena's music stopped, a loud mix of boos and cheers were heard. Cena acknowledged the varying noises as WWE cut to camera shots capturing both reactions. Cena continued to wait out the crowd before Raw hit the top of the hour.

[Q9 -- third hour] Cena said he loves this. He said folks have their favorite Superstars and he has his. Cena then pointed the mic to the crowd to pander to the audience. Cena said he admires the fans being honest with him through the years. But, there's a group of people that he goes to war for every time he steps in the ring. Cena said he's going to speak to that group. (Boos) He had a horrible 2012, he constantly had to ask for them to hang in there with him, and they did. Then, moments like the Royal Rumble and challengers like Punk, Rock, and Ryback make him proudly stand in the ring and say, "The Champ Is Here!"

Cena continued that skeptics and critics will always be there, but to those who hung in there with him, he says, "Thank you." Cena said tonight is the night that he declares himself good to go and ready to take on any challenge put before him. Cena, fired up, said he is focused on Money in the Bank because that's where his next challenge will come from. He said the winner of that MITB match will have no opportune time to cash in on him because he will always...be...ready.

Cena said he knows he will not have the WWE Title forever, but he promises that the next man who holds it will earn it. "Because our time is now! Because The Champ is here!" Cena declared. Cole said he hasn't heard Cena that confident in a long time.

Suddenly, Mark Henry's music played. Henry, carrying his wrestling boots with him, placed the boots on-stage before marching down to the ring. Cena sold not being sure what to make of this as JBL dejectedly talked about what this means if the rumors are true that Henry is retiring.

Once in the ring, Henry told Cena to put his guard down. Henry shook Cena's hand and teared up. Cena started to leave, but Henry told him to stay put. Henry got choked up before the crowd chanted, "Henry, Henry." Henry said he respects everyone that loves this business, and he respects the people who work for this company because of how difficult it is (pause for tears).

Henry said he was a seasoned veteran in 2002 when Cena came in to WWE. He said Cena is doing an awesome job as the crowd chanted, "Thank you, Henry." Henry sold more tears. Henry said he figures that if the crowd forgets him, they'll at least remember this coat. Pause for a "Sexual Chocolate" chant as Cole laughed on commentary.

Henry continued that at the rate Cena is going, he's going to be the greatest WWE champion of all-time. Cena looked down toward the mat to sell humbleness. Henry continued that if he has any regrets about his career, it's that he was never WWE champion. Henry said he thinks he's done pretty well for himself, even if it's not like the success John has had. Which leads him to the reason he's out here, which is to "formally retire from the active roster of WWE." Pause for a "one more match" chant.

Henry thanked them, then said it's one of the better crowds he's been in front of in the last five years. Cena then handed Henry the WWE Title belt to pose with it in the ring. Cena returned to the ring apron to applaud Henry, who said a small-town boy from Silsbee, Texas has done proud. Henry gave the title belt back to Cena, noting this is something you have to earn.

Henry said he's traveled the world two, three, four times. And, he stands before the crowd a proud, proud man. The crowd applauded. Henry said he's been on the road close to 200 nights a year and now his wife will be seeing more of him. Henry said his son is a fanatical wrestling fan and his daughter cries when he leaves home. Pause for tears and applause. Henry declared, "Baby, I'm coming home." Henry raised his hands in the air, then Cena posed with Henry in the ring.

Cena and Henry embraced, then Henry suddenly lifted Cena in the air to deliver World's Strongest Slam, popping the vocal males. Henry knelt down over Cena as the crowd buzzed as if an unexpected title change just happened. Henry then ripped off his salmon jacket, tie, and posed over Cena. Henry shouted down at Cena: "I still got a lot in the tank!" The announcers sold shock as Henry left the ring after throwing down the title belt onto Cena. "That'll be mine soon," he shouted down at Cena. After a replay of Henry taking out Cena, they cut to Henry making his way on-stage. Henry shouted, "That's what I do!" Cole said he can't believe Henry used his family to make his point.

[ JC's Reax: Amazing, brilliant, fantastic heel tactics from Henry to set up a Cena vs. Henry title match. ]

Still to come: Del Rio vs. Punk.

[Q10] [Commercial Break at 10:15]

Moments Ago: Cole narrated footage of Mark Henry delivering what they believed was Henry's retirement speech. Only, he dropped Cena with World's Strongest Slam.

Backstage: Mark Henry was shown strutting down the hallway with his jacket over his shoulder. Henry was approached by Renee Young, who asked what that was about. Henry said he had everyone fooled because they're all a bunch of puppets. Henry said the WWE Title is the only title he's never held and he's challenging Cena for it right now. And, finally, Henry said the reason why he's carrying two boots is because he's going to leave one of them in Cena's rear-end.

Announcers: Cole, Lawler, and JBL reacted to Henry's elaborate hoax on Cena.

In-ring: 3MB was in the ring and Cole noted Heath Slater is in action. Chris Jericho's music then played and the arena went dark. Jericho lit up the stage to a big roar, then marched to the ring as the announcers noted that 3MB wants to open for Jericho's next "Fozzy" tour.

6 -- CHRIS JERICHO vs. HEATH SLATER (w/Jinder Mahal and Drew McIntyre)

Jericho dominated early on as the announcers discussed Jericho getting a strong reaction tonight, as opposed to last night in Chicago, where it was C.M. Punk's town. The heels cheated to give Slater the advantage and Slater scored a close nearfall. Slater couldn't follow up, though, and Jericho nailed signature offense. Jericho finished things off with a Codebreaker for the win.

Post-match, 3MB tried to jump Jericho, but Jericho cleared the heels with Codebreakers all around. Cole noted Jericho was disappointed with his loss to Punk last night, but he didn't let that affect him tonight against Slater.

WINNER: Jericho at 2:20.

Backstage: Paul Heyman was shown talking up Curtis Axel, then Matt Striker walked in to ask about his fractured relationship with C.M. Punk. Heyman blew off the topic, saying friends sometimes need to give each other space. He then talked up Curtis Axel, saying he was born to be better than "perfect." Heyman and Axel walked off.

[Commercial Break at 10:26]

[Q11] Coming back from break, WWE ran an odd vignette for 1-800-Fella featuring a restaurant scene where Sheamus provided a Brogue Kick to replace the Heimlich Maneuver.

Back live, the announcers didn't know how to react to the vignette. And The Miz was ringside for commentary. And a masked man was flying through the ring. He was identified as Sin Cara, then Curtis Axel's music played to bring out the new IC champion.

7 -- IC champion CURTIS AXEL (w/Paul Heyman) vs. SIN CARA -- non-title match

The mood lighting came over the arena for Cara's match. On commentary, an overly-excited Miz tried to explain Axel's victory last night: "He was deceitful. And...and...it was bad." As Axel dominated early on, Miz noted Heyman's strategy for his clients is to "highlight" the strengths and hide the weaknesses. After dominating the match, Axel finished off Sin Cara with a high-impact DDT. It was good for the win to shut off Cara's mood lighting.

After the match, Miz vowed revenge on Axel, then offered a sarcastic golf-clap while leaning to the side of his announcer's chair. Axel shouted down at Miz in response, prompting Heyman to calm down Axel.

WINNER: Axel at 2:41. This was presented like a filler match, despite featuring rising star Axel.

Still to come: Punk vs. Del Rio in the main event.

[Commercial Break at 10:35]

Smackdown plug: Daniel Bryan vs. Dean Ambrose. Cole noted the key word is "scheduled" because Bryan was injured vs. Randy Orton earlier tonight. On-camera, Cole said Bryan is still being evaluated, and if he's ready to go, the match will happen Friday night.

GM's Office: Mr. McMahon congratulated Brickie on their booking tonight. McMahon told them they'll be fine if they listen to him. Now, as for Mark Henry, he sucked him in and had him crying, so what are they going to do? Brickie said they think it should be Henry vs. Cena for the WWE Title at Money in the Bank, which McMahon approved.

Suddenly, Stephanie walked in telling Brickie to get the show under control. Triple H then walked in asking why they didn't make an example out of The Shield like he told them to. McMahon claimed to not know that Hunter made that request. All three McMahons argued as Vickie didn't know what to do. Hunter sternly told Brickie to listen to him, only. Hunter left, then McMahon eased up to a confused Vickie and told her to listen to him, only. Vicne left, then Stephanie put on a big smile, wrapped her arm around Vickie, and said she knows who to listen to, only. Vickie sold with uncomfortable laughter.

Backstage: C.M. Punk was shown walking down the hallway ahead of the main event, then Heyman interrupted. Heyman said he loves Punk, then hugged him. Heyman stressed that he's the best in the world, then Punk walked off without saying a word. "You're the best in the world!" Heyman shouted as Punk kept walking.

In-ring: Alberto Del Rio's music played to bring out the World Hvt. champion for the TV main event. As Del Rio made his way out, Cole noted Night of Champions tickets in Detroit go on-sale this Saturday. Cole said it's the one night of the year where every title is on the line. Wasn't that Payback last night? Raw cut to break with Del Rio and Ricardo Rodriguez entering the ring.

[Q12] [Commercial Break at 10:45]

Back live, Del Rio was still posing in the ring with Ricardo standing behind him. WWE then showed still-shots from Payback when Del Rio kicked Ziggler in the head over and over to eventually capture the World Title. Suddenly, Cult of Personality played to bring out C.M. Punk by himself for the first time in months. Punk knelt down on the stage, checked his own imaginary watch, and hit the ring for the main event, which started just as Punk's Blackhawks wrapped up Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

8 -- C.M. PUNK vs. World Hvt. champion ALBERTO DEL RIO -- non-title match

As the bell sounded, JBL questioned Punk ditching Heyman, claiming Heyman was with Punk for the entire 434-day title reign, but Heyman joined mid-reign. Cole and Lawler countered by noting Heyman nearly cost Punk his match against Jericho last night. The match opened with Punk trying to aggressively attack Del Rio, but Del Rio repeatedly ran away to the outside. So, Punk took some slaps and punches to Del Rio on the outside.

But, on the way back into the ring, Del Rio popped Punk in the head and followed up with multiple kick strikes to keep pounding away on Punk. Del Rio drew a reprimand from referee Charles Robinson as the crowd chanted for Punk. Del Rio then popped Punk in the shoulder to begin setting up for the cross arm-breaker. But, Punk fought back, so Del Rio bailed to the floor. Punk then nailed a suicide dive on the outside. Punk rolled Del Rio back into the ring, but Ricardo provided a distraction to allow Del Rio to yank Punk's arm across the top rope. Del Rio knocked Punk down to the floor as Raw cut to break.

[Commercial Break]

The main event returned three minutes before the top of the hour. Cole relayed a medical update on Daniel Bryan, saying he suffered a "stinger" earlier and will compete against Dean Ambrose this Friday on Smackdown. Cole also noted that Bryan was so upset by officials ending his match against Orton that he screamed in Triple H's face about the decision. Well, someone has figured out which McMahon is the boss.

[Q13 -- over-run] Del Rio continued to assault Punk's left shoulder before kicking him in the face for a close two count. Del Rio tried the Cross Arm-breaker, but Punk escaped and nailed the GTS. But, the move was executed too close to the ropes, allowing Del Rio to roll right out of the ring selling the effects. The ref started a ten count, then Ricardo picked up Del Rio and helped him away from ringside, ending the match via count-out.

Suddenly, Dolph Ziggler came out of nowhere smashing Del Rio from behind. Ziggler, wearing a pink shirt underneath a black jacket, attacked and assaulted Del Rio and Ricardo while refs tried to hold off Ziggler. They eventually disappeared to the back.

WINNER: Punk via count-out at 11:33.

Meanwhile, back in the ring, Punk accepted his victory via count-out. Punk smiled to the crowd, then Brock Lesnar's music suddenly played and the mood changed in the ring. The crowd popped as Brock made his way out on-stage and bounced up and down. Lesnar eyed Punk, who stood his ground in the ring as Lesnar slowly walked out. Lesnar entered the ring and received a mic as Punk stood by anticipating words from Lesnar, who smirked at Punk.

Lesnar raised the mic to speak, but suddenly grabbed Punk and put him on his shoulders, stunning the crowd. Lesnar then delivered an F5, laying out Punk. The announcers reacted with silence as Lesnar slowly left the ring while Punk sold face-down on the mat. "Man," Lawler quietly said as Raw faded out at 11:06 with Lesnar standing on the entranceramp with a smirk on his face. No sign of Paul Heyman, which means he'll claim he had no knowledge of Lesnar coming out to take out Punk.

And, WWE delivers another newsworthy post-PPV episode of Raw to keep the ball rolling following Payback. Money in the Bank and Summerslam are shaping up to big PPVs headlined by Henry-Cena, RVD returning, and Lesnar-Punk.

Alerts: Follow PWTorch staffer's live, real-time tweets during Raw at Twitter.com/PWTorch/torch-staff .

We welcome your 0-10 score and comments on this show for a "Raw Reax" feature in the Torch Feedback section of PWTorch.com. To contribute your thoughts on Raw, email to pwtorch@gmail.com .

We suggest these recent related articles...

CALDWELL'S WWE RAW RESULTS 10/5: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of live Raw - Lesnar returns, Cena's Open Challenge, more

CALDWELL'S WWE RAW RESULTS 9/28: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of live Raw - John Cena's Open Challenge, Paul Heyman, Reigns vs. Wyatt main event, MizTV, more

CALDWELL'S WWE RAW RESULTS 9/21: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of live Raw - Night of Champions fall-out, Cena vs. Rollins U.S. Title re-match, Bizzaro Kane, more