Raw started out with a bit of a disappointment Monday night when Stephanie and Vince McMahon 
announced that Triple H would not be wrestling that evening. The announcement came as kind of a shock as Triple H was scheduled to face Curtis Axel in the main event of the evening.
Triple H has remained out of action for two weeks now after suffering a concussion at the hand of Brock Lesnar in a steel cage match at Extreme Rules. “The king of king’s” condition only worsened as he took on Curtis Axel the next evening on Monday night Raw. Triple H battled valiantly but eventually fell to some punishing blows and was unable to get back up to continue the match.
The McMahons took their message to the WWE Universe a step further saying that Triple H would never wrestle again. If Triple H was never to wrestle again his career resume would be pot-marked with back-to-back losses to Brock Lesnar and Curtis Axel.
Triple H should at least wrestle until SummerSlam before hanging up the boots for good. It seems all signs point to this happening as Triple H scolded his wife before leaving Monday night saying when Raw came on the air next week him and Curtis Axel would have their rematch.
It was interesting to see Stephanie and Triple H arguing about Triple H stepping back into the ring. This could be a very exciting storyline if WWE Creative will keep going with this instead of using it this week and then ditching it the next. Having some family bad blood between the McMahons is just what WWE needs to garner more interest from fans.
Many fans are left to wonder why Triple H has to prove himself to Curtis Axel. Axel spent much of his career as a no-name mid-carder in WWE and NXT, only holding the tag team titles once with David Otunga. Triple H on the other hand is a 13-time world champion and an eight time WWE Champion; a record he currently shares with John Cena.
With Triple H sidelined for the night it was announced that the main event would be John Cena versus Curtis Axel in a No Disqualification match. Having a rematch of last week’s main event would have been a great ending to Raw if they would have actually let Axel have a clean win or if it wasn’t just a build up for Cena versus Ryback at Payback.
The matchup stayed in Axel’s favor for most of the bout as he clubbed the WWE champion with a steel chair to the ribs as Heyman looked on with a menacing smile on his face. Axel continued his assault on the Cenation leader hitting him with a swinging neck breaker on the steel chair.
The Cenation leader was somehow able to get his shoulder up after a two count as frustration began to show in Axel’s eyes. Curtis Axel became desperate to put Cena away setting him for Axel’s signature “pefectplex.” Cena mounted a comeback reversing the move into the “STF” trapping Axel in the center of the ring.
With Axel’s will quickly depleting, Heyman helped him break the hold handing Axel a handheld computer which he used to beat Cena over the head with. A tired John Cena then rolled out of the ring to catch his breath while Axel quickly stalked him to ringside. Cena turned around just in time to set Axel up for the “Attitude Adjustment” while Heyman begged the Cenation leader not to finish him.
Just when it seems that Axel will be handed his first loss as a Paul Heyman guy, Cena is jumped from behind by Ryback who mercilessly drives Cena through a table while Axel slips back in to the ring to answer the ten count and win the match.
With none of Axel’s wins coming in a clean fashion it will be very interesting to see how he fairs in his first Pay-Per-View match. For Axel to truly get over as a heel in the WWE he will need to win a match by his own deeds not those of others.
All three of Axel’s wins on Monday Night Raw have come from count out. Axel needs to add some clean wins to his resume if he every wants to get over as a legitimate superstar. As for his upcoming angles it should be obvious that Axel will face Triple H at Payback and most likely force “the king of kings” to retire.
What did you think of Monday night Raw? Does Curtis Axel need a clean victory to be considered legitimate? Do you think Triple H will retire at Payback? Let me know in the comments below.
Results by match.
“The Shield” defeats “Team Hell No” and Randy Orton.
“The Usos” defeated “The Prime Time Players.”
Alberto Del Rio defeated “Big E” Langston.
Sheamus defeated Cody Rhodes.
The Great Khali and “Fandango” ended in a no contest.
“The Miz” defeated Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett.
Kaitlin and “The Funkadactyls” defeated “The Bella twins” and AJ. Lee.
Daniel Bryan defeated Ryback by disqualification when Ryback threw Bryan through a table.
Curtis Axel defeated John Cena by count out after Ryback drove Cena through a table.
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