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WWE Raw results: Rule of the Authority and rage of Evolution ensures The Shield’s luck runs out on Raw after Extreme Rules success

The Hounds of Justice suffer, Kane continues to haunt Daniel Bryan and a new champion emerges on explosive Monday Night Raw

Tom Brett
Wednesday 07 May 2014 09:27 BST
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Dean Ambrose got things going on Raw after an exciting night at Extreme Rules the night before, that saw The Shield overcome Evolution.

In the wake of this huge victory, the show exploded into life with a huge 20-man battle royal that would see Ambrose defend his US title, a match made by the Authority.

Due to his involvement with The Shield in the last few months, Ambrose hasn’t defended his belt too often, and would face a huge test in order to keep hold of his US title. The match began in typically chaotic fashion and superstars such as Big Show and Sheamus stood out as some of the more dominant wrestlers involved.

The Big Show racked up the eliminations as the match went on, but was eventually eliminated after a Brogue Kick from Sheamus left him dangling over the ropes, which invited everyone still in the match to work together to remove him from the ring.

The match was eventually left with five; Sheamus, Ryback, Curtis Axel, Jack Swagger and the champion Ambrose. Teaming up, RybAxel looked dangerous but were eliminated by Ambrose, who then took out Swagger.

Ambrose’s momentum looked like it’d allow him to retain his belt, but caught by a Brogue Kick from Sheamus, his reign was to be ended on Raw, and the Irish superstar threw him over the ropes to win the US Title. What a way to kick things off.

Triple H then appeared, to announce that Ambrose would compete again at the end of the night, with the Shield, in a huge main event against the Wyatt Family.

After reviewing Daniel Bryan’s tough and fiery (excuse the pun) victory at Extreme Rules over Kane, Stephanie McMahon spoke to him backstage to warn him that he had merely angered the Big Red Machine, indicating he was seeking vengeance.

From this, Mr Monday Night, Rob Van Dam took on Antonio Cesaro in a singles match. Cesaro was victorious in an elimination triple-threat match against RVD and Swagger the night before, and looked to continue his winning ways. Facing a resilient Rob Van Dam, he lost the match via DQ after ignoring the referee during a ruthless corner assault against his opponent.

Albany, we’re here

With the main event still to look forward to, The Wyatt Family made their first appearance of the night in Albany as Raw looked back at Bray Wyatt’s cage match victory over John Cena at Extreme Rules.

Wyatt appeared in ring in his rocking chair, to discuss how victory of Cena allowed him to become a ‘somebody’ and looked back at how the use of a child singing at his opponent gave him the edge in the match as it took advantage of Cena’s fear. The segment also enhanced Wyatt’s rapport with the WWE Universe, as he claimed everything he did was ‘for them’.

What we learnt from Extreme Rules

Wyatt would appear later in the main event, but for now Raw would see Cody Rhodes take on Ryback after both had already been involved in the earlier Battle Royal.

Ryback dominated throughout, but a resurgent Cody Rhodes didn’t look like he would be beat. Going for the victory, he went up to the turnbuckle, only to be knocked off as a result of Curtis Axel smashing Goldust into the ring post. Caught by Ryback, Rhodes was Shell Shocked and lost the match.

Los Matadores then emerged to celebrate Cinco de Mayo and El Torito’s PPV victory over Hornswoggle, but an altercation between the latter pair soon grabbed the attention, while 3MB were dealt with by Fernando and Diego. Raw continued (thankfully), with Alexander Rusev taking on Kofi Kingston. Rusev continued his winning streak, following up his Extreme Rules win by beating Kingston, via the Accolade submission.

Big Red Revenge

As Daniel Bryan and wife Brie Bella looked to leave the arena to evade the foreseeable wrath of Kane, Stephanie McMahon informed them that he had to compete to avoid breaching his contract. This meant a match with Alberto Del Rio, and while the challenge the Mexican superstar presented was one problem, Bryan was very aware that Kane could appear at any moment.

As a result, Del Rio controlled the match taking advantage of his opponent’s distracted state of mind. Bryan eventually overcame his problems, and the momentum began to swing his way, leading to victory via the Yes Lock in what proved to be a gruelling battle.

As expected, Kane’s music then hit, prompting Bryan and Bella to escape the arena in a car. Kane then appeared, and while he didn’t get his revenge, it was a further reminder that the Big Red Monster isn’t done with Bryan and it will take a lot more to keep him down.

Moving on from this action, a rematch for the Intercontinental Title took place with Bad News Barrett defending the belt he won at Extreme Rules against former champion Big E Langston. Langston fought hard, but was defeated for the second night in a row, with Bad News Barrett delivering another destructive Bull-Hammer Elbow to gain the win and retain his new belt.

After weeks of, frankly, irritating promo videos, Adam Rose made his Raw debut by interrupting Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter, who were discussing who should be deported. Accompanied by a gaggle of ‘party-goers’ and a large bunny, Rose soon took over the ring to spread his cheer and introduce himself in the most flamboyant way possible.

Luckily, Raw still had the main event to offer, and matches between The Shield and the Wyatt’s always have the ability to deliver.

The battle commenced with a brawl before the bell had even rang, and with tensions high, Dean Ambrose kicked off the encounter as he looked to redeem himself after losing his US title earlier in the evening.

The match was evenly contested, with both teams showing the level of intensity that has seen them rise so prominently in the WWE. Seth Rollins put on a stunning performance, as he left the WWE universe in awe of his brave, high-flying style. To counter this, the strength of Luke Harper was utilised as he attempted to swing the match in favour of the Wyatt’s.

The bout continued to liven up, especially at the introduction of Roman Reigns, who launched a devastating attack on the Wyatt’s, hitting a Superman punch on Bray Wyatt, which led to The Shield setting up a triple powerbomb. Before they could kill Wyatt off, however, Evolution appeared.

Despite the fact that The Shield had the upper hand in the encounter, which saw Reigns then hit Triple H with a Superman punch, they caused enough of a distraction to allow Wyatt to grab the victory via a Sister Abigail on Reigns.

The fight wasn’t over at this point, and Evolution made their point with a series of attacks on members of The Shield, with Reigns being the victim of an RKO, Pedigree and finally, a Triple Powerbomb.

Catch up: Last week's Raw results

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