If you’d like to know what happened on tonight’s WWE Raw but don’t want to read star ratings and wordy paragraphs to decipher it, With Leather is here for you. Here’s what happened on the May 27, 2013, episode of WWE Raw:
– John Cena opened the show by responding to Ryback’s challenge for an ambulance match, upping the ante and making the match a Three Stages of Hell match. The first fall will be a lumberjack match, the second will be a tables match, and the third, if necessary, will be an ambulance match. Ryback accepted.
1. Alberto Del Rio defeated Big E Langston. Del Rio rammed Langston chest-first into an exposed turnbuckle and rolled him up for the win. After the match, AJ and Big E argued.
– Bret Hart made an appearance, giving Daniel Bryan a pep talk.
2. Dean Ambrose defeated Kofi Kingston to retain the United States Championship. Ambrose tripped up Kingston on the apron, causing him to hit his face on the ringside steps. Ambrose was able to capitalize with a headlock driver to pin Kofi and retain the US title. After the the match The Shield joined Ambrose to celebrate but were attacked by Team Hell No, leading directly to the next match.
3. The Shield (Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns) defeated Team Hell No to retain the WWE Tag Team Championships. This one went about twenty minutes. The story was that Daniel Bryan was overly-concerned about proving he isn’t Team Hell No’s weak link to the point of distraction. Bryan was caught with a spear on the outside, distracting Kane long enough for Rollins to hit his springboard knee strike and pick up the win.
4. Fandango defeated Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett. The Miz was made special guest referee per a WWE FanActive poll. Barrett shoved Miz during the match, causing Miz to come back with a Skull-crushing Finale, allowing Fandango to pin the champion. After the match, Miz attacked Fandango as well.
5. Tons of Funk (Brodus Clay and Tensai) and The Great Khali defeated 3MB (Heath Slater, Jinder Mahal and Drew McIntyre). Clay pinned Slater after a splash and a brain chop from Khali. Post-match, Brodus announced that it was Natalya’s birthday, and The Great Khali sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to her. Hornswoggle was there.
– Paul Heyman was a guest on Chris Jericho’s Highlight Reel. Jericho asked where CM Punk was, then challenged Punk to a match at WWE Payback. Heyman accepted on Punk’s behalf.
6. The Bella Twins defeated Natalya and Kaitlyn. Brie Bella won the match for her team after Kaitlyn accidentally speared Natalya. After the match, the Bellas sang happy birthday to Natalya. Natalya cried.
– A preview vignette for Bray Wyatt and the Wyatt Family aired.
7. Sheamus and Randy Orton defeated Team Rhodes Scholars (Damien Sandow and Cody Rhodes). Sheamus pinned Sandow with a Brogue Kick.
8. Curtis Axel defeated John Cena by count-out. The match featured a 3-minute armbar while the crowd was distracted. Cena had the match won, but was distracted by an ambulance driving to the ring. He left the ring to investigate and was counted out. Ryback was not in the ambulance, but appeared anyway and attacked.
