RAW 1196: April 25, 2016

The Billionaire Baroness reveals to Shane-O-Mac that, at WWE Payback. their father will decide which sibling will control Monday Night Raw. The Underdog from the Underground squares off against The Super Athlete. The Queen of Harts faces the bitter Emma as WWE Women's Champion Charlotte looks on. The Swiss Superman defends his most passionate fans and nearly takes The A-lister for a ride, six nights before their Intercontinental Championship Match at WWE Payback.

## Stephanie McMahon confronts Shane McMahon

She has arrived. She, of course, being Stephanie McMahon. And Shane McMahon’s stint as Raw’s showrunner might not even make it past the first pay-per-view of the “new era” now that The Billion Dollar Princess has returned to claim what she believes is hers.

Stephanie chose to make her presence felt right as Shane — as he has done over the past few weeks — was running through his plans for the evening’s show, leading to a confrontation between the two siblings that included a bombshell revelation. Stephanie revealed Sunday at WWE Payback, Mr. McMahon will decide which of his children assumes control of Monday Night Raw. In the exchange’s tense conclusion, Shane had Stephanie forcibly removed by security when she would not leave his (for now) ring of her own accord.

## Rusev vs. Sami Zayn

Having lost three of his last four, Sami Zayn’s bout against Rusev was something of a must-win before his marquee bout against Kevin Owens at WWE Payback. With Lana back at his side, Rusev carried a numbers advantage that could have swung the match, but The Bulgarian Brute never even got to use it. After chipping away at Rusev’s defenses for a good 10 minutes, Zayn slid out of the Accolade and rolled Rusev up for the victory. (Yes, that means The League of Nations is 0-2 so far.) The win earned him an ovation and a few shoes chucked his way from Lana, but Zayn was too happy to care. That is, until Owens ambushed him from behind on his way up the ramp, leaving him in a heap as he had so many times before and may well do again.

## Emma vs. Natalya

Remember when Emma used to dance and walk around in a flurry of bubbles? Yeah, that’s not happening anymore. This new Emma — “Evil Emma,” colloquially — wears aviators and driving gloves and suffers absolutely zero fools, and she gave an incredibly impressive performance against Natalya on Raw.

Unfortunately, The Queen of Harts is on a roll that can’t be stopped. Despite the potentially distracting presence of WWE Women’s Champion Charlotte at ringside, the No. 1 contender shook off Emma’s offense and locked in the Sharpshooter for the win, staring the champion down while she did it.

## Cesaro confronts The Miz

As The Miz’s Intercontinental Title defense against Cesaro has crept closer and closer, The King of Swing has continuously managed to one-up The Awesome One at every turn. So it’s hard to blame The Miz for making a last-ditch attempt to position himself as the “legendary” championship’s proper bearer by running down the Cesaro Section as nameless, faceless hangers-on who don’t know greatness when they see it.

Enter Cesaro himself, who ran down both Miz’s De Niro impression (“4/10”) and blasted a bum-rushing Miz himself with the Very European Uppercut before Maryse ran in and saved her man from further humiliation. And yes, Cesaro was wearing his suit the entire time. The stuff of legends indeed.

## Results

* Sami Zayn def. Rusev (w/ Lana)
* Natalya def. Emma

## RAW Fallout

While enjoying a salad (with chopsticks), The Irish Lass Kicker has little to say about her persistent adversary.