With less than two weeks to go before Extreme Rules, things are heating up on WWE Monday Night Raw.
WWE Champion John Cena kicked off the show, promising that despite his injuries, he would indeed be at Extreme Rules to battle Ryback for the WWE title. Vickie Guerrero intervened at this point and called out Ryback, which led to an in-ring confrontation between both powerhouses. Cena allowed Ryback to chose the stipulations for their May 19 title bout at Extreme Rules, and Ryback chose a match Cena has quite a bit of history in--Last Man Standing.
Cena has had several memorable Last Man Standing bouts over the last six years, against opponents the likes of Batista, Edge and Umaga, for starters. Could his experience be the key at Extreme Rules, or will his injury allow Ryback to climb the mountain and take his first-ever WWE title?
Randy Orton defeated Damien Sandow via the RKO, but was taken out by Big Show on the entrance, pushing these two further along on their collision course for Extreme Rules.
R-Truth defeated Fandango when the new WWE dancing sensation walked out of the match.
Backstage, Daniel Bryan challenged Ryback to a match, but Ryback rebuffed the offer and high-tailed it out of there when Bryan's WWE Tag Team Champion co-holder Kane arrived.
Alberto Del Rio defeated World Heavyweight Champion Dolph Ziggler via disqualification when Jack Swagger stormed the ring and laid out Del Rio, Ziggler and Ricardo with a ladder as the three head towards their highly-anticipated ladder match for the World Heavyweight Championship at Extreme Rules.
Kaitlyn was reading texts from her secret admirer backstage while Natalya instructed boyfriend The Great Khali to go undercover backstage and find out who the mystery admirer was.
The Shield defeated Kofi Kingston and the Usos when Dean Ambrose hit his inverted DDT on Kingston, continuing the Shield's roll towards Extreme Rules and a likely date with Team Hell No for the WWE Tag Team titles.
Antonio Cesaro defeated Zack Ryder.
Paul Heyman appeared via satellite in a segment showing Brock Lesnar trashing WWE COO Triple H's office at WWE headquarters. One notable scene was Lesnar staring at Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's "Pain and Gain" movie poster-perhaps hinting that their WrestleMania 30 match-up, nixed because of The Rock's questionable status with the company after his post-WrestleMania surgery, might not be dead just yet.
Triple H came out to respond, promising retribution for Lesnar when the two clash in a steel cage at Extreme Rules.
Kaitlyn, Naomi and Cameron defeated AJ Lee and the Bella Twins when the Bellas abandoned AJ in the ring, leaving her vulnerable to a spear from Kaitlyn that ended the match.
Mark Henry cut a scathing promo on Sheamus in the ring where he called the Irish-born three-time world champion "a joke," only to be interrupted by Sheamus himself as the Great White made his way to the ring. However, before things could escalate to a physical level between these two Extreme Rules opponents, Wade Barrett came out.
Sheamus defeated Wade Barrett with a Brogue Kick, but Henry assaulted the Irishman after the match with a World's Strongest Slam.
Ryback defeated Kane with the ShellShock, and the Shield came out afterwards to pick the bones. While Ryback split, Cena came out to the aid of Team Hell No, but just as Cena was getting the upperhand on "the Hounds of Justice," Ryback returned to the ring to lay waste to his Extreme Rules opponent with a steel chair to close out the show.
In other news, Jerry the King Lawler, 63, is ready to lace up his boots again. According to the Miami Herald, the WWE Hall of Famer, who suffered a heart attack live on Raw in September, is set to team up with fellow Hall of Famer Dory Funk Jr. during a televised match on Saturday, May 25 at the !Bang! TV studio in (Central Florida) Ocala.
And on CM Punk, the popular WWE superstar has been removed from all Raw tapings and live events through Summerslam. Punk was scheduled to appear at the May 27 taping of Raw in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. According to Wrestling News.com, Punk is only advertised to appear during the Wizard World Comic-Con events in New York City June 28, Chicago on August 10 and Nashville on October 20. Although, it is likely that Punk will probably return sometime in the late summer or early fall as he continues to heal from injuries.