WWE 2014: Smackdown 25/07 (Reigns vs. Cesaro!)

Following the signature WWE RAW intro, stills shots of last night’s Battleground pay-per-view are shown. Less than twenty four hours ago, Dean Ambrose had viciously attacked The Authority’s Seth Rollins, with a ringside camera, during their bout getting himself disqualified. Bray Wyatt and The Wyatt Family found themselves victorious as they beat Chris Jericho and The Usos, respectively, the latter for the WWE Tag Team Championships. Cesaro, with help from his manager Paul Heyman, gained his second piece of WWE gold as he outlasted nineteen other men to become Intercontinental Champion. And finally, John Cena overcame the odds once again to retain his WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Kane, Randy Orton and Roman Reigns in a greuling Fatal Four Way! Later on tonight, we will hear from John Cena in regards to his victory last night!

As RAW goes returns to it’s live broadcast, we are greeted by the commentary team of Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler and John “Bradshaw” Layfield. Still hyped from last night’s show, they quickly go over what had happened with Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins. Where Rollins was transported to a local medical center to receive around two dozen stitches to his head. The theme of “The Game” Triple H blares through the speakers as he walks out with his wife, and principal owner of the WWE, Stephanie McMahon. Both of them enter the ring in a fowl mood, “Cut the music! I said cut the music!” screamed Stephanie. She then pointed to a still on the titantron of Seth Rollins’ stitches in place on his head, as she started expressing The Authority’s concern over his condition. “What Dean Ambrose did last night was immoral, illegal and will not be tolerated in our business. As a result of his actions, Dean Ambrose is barred from all WWE events until he pays a very large fine to WWE offices.” Triple H affirmed that this was best for business, “Dean Ambrose will not be featured on our broadcasts going forward, and if you would say Stephanie, this is…” The familiar beat of music emerges throughout the arena as Roman Reigns walks out at the top of the arena, his riot gear secured firmly on him, as the roof blows off of the building! Reigns walks down the arena steps to the ringside area where he grabs a microphone and heads into the ring to go face to face with The Authority. “Well, well, well… Here we have the “Cerebral Assassin” fining and banning one of his employees for doing what you did years ago?”, Reigns continued in his badass voice, “Hunter, when did you become such a little bitch? Is it when you first put on this suit to try and emulate Mr. McMahon? Or was it when you and your slu-”. Stephanie interrupted, “Cut it right there Roman! Don’t you forget that we are your employers, and we can easily find a replacement for you. Now I suggest you stop talking, because you’ve got a match, and it’s next!” As Stephanie and Triple H started exiting the ring, Roman brought the microphone back to his mouth to continue his verbal beatdown. “That’s right, the boss won’t deal with his issues himself”, prompting Triple H to turn back around in the ring and come face to face with the leader of the Roman Empire, causing a huge ‘This is awesome’ chant to break out. Hunter simply smirked before backing away, leaving Reigns inside of the ring, as his opponent made his way down to the ring in a fiery blaze.

Commercial Break

Returning to RAW, a promo is shown for the WWE Network, only $9.99 a month!

Roman Reigns def. Kane » Both competitors faced off in the brutal WWE World Heavyweight Championship just less than twenty four hours earlier. This huge match-up consisted of The Authority’s Big Red Monster continuing to target the left arm of his opponent, in which he did the night prior, until Roman fed himself off the energy of the fans in attendance as he snuck out of a devastating Chokeslam to hit “The Devil’s Favorite Demon” with a huge spear to gain the victory.

The WWE Universe exploded with cheers as Reigns got up to his feet, with a smile on his face as he had just put down one of The Authority’s challenges for him. That was until Kane groggily started to get up to his feet, and Reigns then set up in the corner with his signature howl before running towards “The Demon” and planting him with a huge Superman punch! Roman hyping up the crowd as we cut to commercial.

A graphic is shown for tonight’s monumental clash of the ages: Bo Dallas versus The Great Khali! And it’s next!

Commercial Break

A promo is shown for WWE SummerSlam, held on August 17th!

Bo Dallas def. The Great Khali » Bo Dallas requested this match last night on the Battleground Fallout show, exclusively shown on the WWE Network. Dallas showed a pretty ruthless side as he targeted the big man’s knees, before finishing him off with a huge boot to the face while the giant was kneeling!

Bo Dallas celebrated his victory to a loud chorus of jeers from the crowd, as he did his laps around the ringside area. As the boos got louder, the wide grin on Dallas’ face turned into a frown as he looks to his Bolievers while confused. “You gotta Bolieve guys. Just Bolieve..”

The duo of Goldust and Stardust were shown backstage in a very dark room, with stars surrounding them on the walls. Stardust started speaking off how they will find themselves onto the path of greatness, like the Milky Way, until Goldust chimed in. “We’re on the gold brick road.” announced Goldy before Stardust blew his stars to the camera as the duo laughed.

Commercial Break

A promo for WWE.com is shown, get twenty five percent off all John Cena gear, only tonight!

The signature Bray Wyatt clip takes over the WWE broadcast as the mood in the arena buzzes as “Live In Fear” plays over the PA system with the whole arena darkened, only illuminated by the various cellphones swaying in the crowd. The entire WWE Universe begins to sing “He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands” as Bray Wyatt comes out from the back flanked by his family. Erick Rowan and Luke Harper have their newly won WWE Tag Team Championships over their shoulders as Wyatt walks in front of them with a huge evil grin on his mug. The Wyatt Family enter the ring as the lights in the arena continue to stay out, as the singing from the WWE Universe continues to get louder. “Hush down, my little children,” Bray begun, “Once upon a time, there was this man, this man who came into the land of the giants and fought his way to try and get his message known worldwide. This man brought himself on as a prophet, signifying the end of the world had come and he was the savior of those who listened. With his long hair and his beard, this man stood out. But he fought, oh man, had he fought to get where he is today. He had his catchphrases, where the entire nation of whom followed him would sing along… That man had been terminated last night. That savior needed saving, and last night he was granted that saving from none other than me.. Bray Wyatt.” Wyatt chuckled before being frightened by the sudden explosion of pyrotechnics on the stage!

The entire Wyatt Family turned their heads to the entrance screen as a countdown clock emerged on screen, but with each countdown, the clock gets slower as eerie music played in the background. As the countdown stopped at the “2”, the letters Y and J formed next to it. The “Y2J” quickly fades into the scene where Jericho is seen rocking on a chair, his eyes beat red as he stares into the camera. “I said I would get crazy, I said I would get nuts.. But Wyatt, you think you might have won the battle, but now… Now… Now you’ve started a war!” Jericho’s answer was met with a huge cheer from the crowd, “Brother Bray, last week sticks out in my mind as you asked me if I was afraid of the dark? I’m not afraid. I am certainly not afraid of you, Wyatt. What you should be afraid of is me, is this side of Chris Jericho that you haven’t seen. Save us… Save me… It all sticks out as the same… But Bray, I’ve got one question for you: Are you afraid of the dark?”

The fans start buzzing as the lights in the arena completely shut off as they flash back on with Chris Jericho standing in the middle of the Wyatt Family with a lead pipe in his hand! He bashes both Erick Rowan and Luke Harper in the gut, forcing them out of the ring as Jericho and Wyatt stand face to face in the middle of the ring. They start trading blows, one by one, until Jericho sends Wyatt flying out of the ring! Jericho continues his focus onto the family, as with Wyatt’s instruction, they head to the back. But this is far from over between Bray Wyatt and Chris Jericho.

Commercial Break

As we return to RAW, our commentary team are still stunned by the actions and the words of Chris Jericho. “I’ve known Chris for years now, but I have never seen him like this.” quipped John “Bradshaw” Layfield.

Cesaro def. Dolph Ziggler » A fantastic match from both of these competitors as the new Intercontinental Champion had tough non-title competition from Dolph Ziggler. With Paul Heyman in his corner, Cesaro brought his all as he countered Ziggler’s Famousser into a huge Cesaro Swing. Following that, Cesaro picked him up for the Neutralizer for the victory.

As Cesaro rose to his feet, Paul Heyman made his way into the ring with a microphone in hand as he handed the champion his title. “Ladies and gentleman, I present to you your NEW WWE Intercontinental Champion: Cesaro!” Heyman continued hyping his client Cesaro before the music of Sheamus interrupted the duo in the ring. “Listen here fellas, I have to give credit where credit is due. Cesaro deserved to win that Intercontinental Championship. But I had a plan last night that if I won the battle royal, I was aiming to unify both my United States Championship and the Intercontinental Championship.” Sheamus continued, “I can see it now, SummerSlam: Cesaro versus Sheamus, the winner unifies both of our championships. Do you have enough guts to do this Cesaro?” Paul Heyman consulted his client for a short moment before accepting Sheamus’ challenge!

A WWE 2K15 promo is shown, where Sting is available as a pre-order bonus!

Commercial Break

We return to a backstage shot of Triple H and Stephanie McMahon in their backstage office. As they start talking about the Reigns situation, an irate Kane storms into the office as he grabs Triple H by the suit and pushes him against the wall! “Where were you guys? I thought we had a plan! You leave me out to dry and get attacked by Reigns! Where were you! Where was Seth! Where was Randy!” Kane is pulled off of “The COO” by Stephanie as she slaps the monster right across the face! “The Big Red Monster” clenches his fist as he punches and smashes the television screen inside the office!

The Usos def. RyBaxel » Coming off their huge loss last night, The Usos were looking to build some momentum before invoking their rematch clause against the duo of The Wyatt Family. Ryback and Curtis Axel made sure they’d have a hard time though, before Axel became victim of a diving splash to gain The Usos the victory!

The cameras head backstage where Lana stood by the side of “The Super Athlete” Rusev, who was waiving the Russian flag. Lana started berating the WWE Universe in her thick Russian accent before announcing that Rusev will compete next week, but they demand better competition. And “To leave the American Fools at home!”.

Commercial Break

We return to a chaotic scene as “The Viper” Randy Orton is being thrown around backstage like a ragdoll. His body launched into the windshield of a car in the parking lot! Orton falls down to the ground in pain as the camera pans up to reveal the attacker to be none other than… KANE! “The Big Red Machine” picks up the coiled Viper and lifts him up before slamming him onto the hood of the car with a loud crash of a Chokeslam!

Paige def. Cameron » With both Divas wanting to gain some momentum and hoping to be able to challenge AJ Lee for her Divas Championship, these two had nothing to lose. Cameron tried to gain control in the early goings of the match but ultimately fell to the Paige Turner!

A graphic is shown announcing that John Cena’s in ring Championship victory is next!

Commercial Break

Returning from break, we head to the ring as John Cena’s music hits to a mixed reaction carrying his WWE World Heavyweight Championship Belts over his shoulders. He limps down to the ring, showing the signs from the brutal Fatal Four Way last night, but with a huge smile on his face he enters the ring and grabs a microphone. “I might have fought a venomous Viper, went through hell, fire and brimstone or fought off the entire Roman Empire, but I did it!” Cena started, followed by recapping what had happened last night, including his finish of giving an Attitude Adjustment to Randy Orton to retain the championship. “I have to give credit to Roman though, he gave me one hell of a battle. And sir, when you’re finished with your Authority problems, I will gladly give you another shot at my Championship belt.” Cena continued, “Three words is all that we need to retain this WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Hustle, Loyalty and Respect. Bray Wyatt tried to destroy that, Triple H tried to destroy that. But with those three words, us as the Cenation stands stronger than ever! Because the Champ Is He-”

Cena is cut off quickly by a familiar riff as the roof completely blows off of the arena as Brock Lesnar walks out to the top of the ramp! His face starts grinning as Paul Heyman walks out behind him, both of them walking down to the ring where Cena has now thrown down his championship belts and has positioned himself ready to fight. Lesnar circles the ring, stalking Cena, before entering quickly as both Cena and Brock exchange haymakers! Multiple shots are thrown until Lesnar hoist Cena up onto his shoulders and plants him with a huge F5! Cena lays motionless on the mat as Heyman is all smiles as Brock stands in the middle of the ring, making the belt motion on his stomach as RAW comes to a close.

Following the usual WWE Smackdown intro, we are greeted by, our commentators for the night, Michael Cole and John “Bradshaw” Layfield. We are then fed to a video package in regards to what had happened at the end of RAW, where “The Beast Incarnate” returned to the WWE ring and violently attacked the current WWE World Heavyweight Champion, John Cena.

The theme song of Brock Lesnar blared through the in house speakers as the fans all tensed up in anticipation hoping for the “Beast Incarnate” himself. However, out through the curtain, was Paul Heyman. Heyman strutted down the ramp with pride, and with a microphone in hand, he entered the ring with a sadistic grin. “Did you not listen to me again?” Heyman started, “Did all of you fans not listen to the prophet Paul Heyman? You should of all listened when I told you that my client, Cesaro, won the Intercontinental Championship this past Sunday at Battleground! You should of listened when I told you that my client, Brock Lesnar, conquered the Undertaker’s undefeated streak at WrestleMania! And now he is back! “The Beast Incarnate” is back! And John Cena, you sir have put a huge target on your back. What you hold is the next thing on the list that my client will conquer here in the WWE. He is a former NCAA Division One Champion, a former UFC Heavyweight Champion, and he will be your next WWE World Heavyweight Champion! At SummerSlam, John Cena will defend his WWE World Heavyweight Championship against my client, Brock Lesnar!” The WWE Universe explodes at the announcement as Paul Heyman grins like a cheshire cat, before leaving the ring and heading to the back.

A promo for the WWE Network is shown, get to watch your favorite WWE pay-per-view and shows for only $9.99 a month!

Commercial Break

As we return to the broadcast of Smackdown, Michael Cole and John “Bradshaw” Layfield rewelcomed us to the show and start to recap what had just transpired before the commercial break. Michael Cole and JBL continue to hype the match, before announcing that tonight “Paul Heyman Guy” Cesaro will take on Roman Reigns in our main event of the evening!

The Usos def. Rybaxel » In a rematch from this week’s WWE Monday Night RAW, The Usos and Rybaxel went at it again. Ryback went on a dominant rampage in the middle of the match as he beheaded both Usos with huge Meathook Clotheslines! As Jimmy and Jey came back to their senses, they finished Axel with a huge Splash off the top rope.

As The Usos regrouped in the ring, The Wyatt Family signature hit as the lights go out, and as they come back on Erick Rowan and Luke Harper found their way into ring behind the brothers. Harper and Rowan violently attack Jimmy and Jey from behind, grounding them until Goldust and Stardust run down the ramp and slide into the ring delivering punches and kicks to the WWE Tag Team Champions. The Dust Brothers continue to attack the champions as Ryback and Curtis Axel both rise to their feet and take down both Stardust and Goldust! Ryback hoist Goldy up onto his shoulders and drops him with a Shellshocked as Rybaxel stands tall over everybody else as Smackdown cuts to commercial.

Commercial Break

A promo advertisement for WWE SummerSlam, airing live on August 17th!

We head backstage to the interview set where Renee Young stands side by side next to Roman Reigns. Reigns looked cool and calm as Renee Young asks Roman about his match against Cesaro later on tonight. “Cesaro thinks he can go around and call himself the Swiss Superman? Well, darling, tonight Cesaro walks into my ring. And when I take him out with the Superman punch, he’ll go down as Roman Reign’s bitch!” The crowd popped huge as Roman leaves the interview set.

We cut to another area backstage where Naomi stood backstage stretching for her upcoming match. Coming into the scene is Cameron, with a smug look on her face, walks over towards Naomi. “I saw Paige knock you around the ring on Monday.” Naomi quipped, “Something I’m going to do later tonight.” Cameron took exception to this, and slapped the taste out of Naomi’s mouth! Naomi stumbles backwards for a bit before wailing away at Cameron! Cameron and Naomi grab and pull each other by the hair until Cameron throws Naomi into a crate, leaving the former Funkadactyl laid out on the floor in a heap.

Rusev is shown backstage waving the Russian flag with pride with Lana following him, “The Super Athlete” is in action, and he’s next!

Commercial Break

An ad for WWE 2K15 is shown, where Sting is a special pre-order bonus!

Rusev def. Tyson Kidd » Tyson Kidd didn’t stand a chance tonight against “The Super Athlete” Rusev. With Lana by his side, Rusev dominated “The Workhorse” before finishing him off with The Accolade.

Rusev rose to his feet with Lana behind him as he celebrated his victory by waving the Russian flag proudly. Lana showcased the picture of Vladimir Putin on the titantron, before announcing that Russia is the best country in the world! “And here in America, your best is people like Jack Swagger. You should all be ashamed of yourselves! And at SummerSlam, Rusev will crush mister Swagger! And after that, he will crush your American hero Zeb Colter!”

We cut backstage where Zeb Colter and Jack Swagger stand in front of the American flag with their hands over their hearts. Colter steps up, with a stern look on his face, accepts Lana’s challenge. “Mister Rusev, when you step into the ring with Jack Swagger, you sir will have your ankle broken. And seeing as we are all Real Americans, we will guarantee that no medical center here in my country! Now, will all Real Americans rise, place their hands over their hearts and say with us, WE THE PEOPLE!”.

Commercial Break

Sitting backstage in a dark corridor was Chris Jericho in a leather jacket and ripped jeans. “Ever since I joined the WWE, I have seen countless superstars try to come after me. Every single type of person on this walk of life have tried, but none have gotten to me… Until you Bray. What have you done Bray? You’ve taken me and thrown me off the deep end… Brother Bray! You wanted crazy! You have crazy Chris Jericho!” Jericho stands up and knocks over the camera, it capturing Jericho’s feet as he walks down the corridor.

The Miz def. Rob Van Dam » The Miz had a special request that Rob Van Dam not touch his moneymaker. RVD complied with Miz’s request until he kicked him square in the face, knocking the Miz into a very furious state! Miz didn’t let up at all as he finished Van Dam with a Skull Crushing Finale for the victory.

Following the match, The Miz grabbed a microphone and declared that he was and always has been “AWWEESOOMMEE!”

Commercial Break

A promo for the upcoming edition of Monday Night RAW will feature the return of Seth Rollins!

Bo Dallas def. Xavier Woods » Bo Dallas continued to inspire his Bolievers here tonight as he brought the action to Xavier Woods. Woods tried to gain some offense, but the former NXT Champion finished off the “Mighty Morphin’ Superstar” with the Bo-Dog!

Following his match, Bo Dallas made sure to mention to Xavier that all he has to do is Bolieve in himself and he will eventually find himself in the win column soon. Dallas made his laps around the ring, giving even more inspiration to his Bolievers around the world.

Backstage, the WWE physician gave us an update on Naomi, who was viciously attacked by her former partner Cameron earlier tonight. “According to our tests, Naomi has suffered a concussion from the blow against the crate earlier tonight. She will be tested again on Monday at RAW, but for now, Naomi is not going to be able to compete tonight.”

A graphic indicating the main event between Cesaro and Roman Reigns is next!

Commercial Break

A promo for the WWE Network is aired, available for only $9.99 a month!

Roman Reigns def. Cesaro via Disqualification » Roman Reigns and Cesaro battled it out like warriors in the ring, as the new Intercontinental Champion and the leader of the Roman Empire both gave it their all until Paul Heyman grabbed a steel chair and smashed it into the back of Reigns!

As the referee calls for the bell, Reigns falls down to the mat from the impact as Cesaro starts yelling at his manager. Heyman seems confused as to why Cesaro is upset, but continues to wail the chair down onto Reigns. “It’s a paid order by Hunter!” Heyman yells out. Cesaro grabs the chair away from Heyman and launches it out of the ring, grabbing his Intercontinental Championship and leaving the ring. Heyman trying to console him from the ring, until Reigns turned Heyman inside out with a devastating spear to close the show!