Jonathan Dehn
WWE Smackdown
02/07/2014
Des Moines, Iowa
-Daniel Bryan is out to start the show to a hero’s welcome. Bryan brings up the carrot dangled in front of him on Monday of being the new face of the company. He says that he just wants to be himself. We get a recap from Monday after this, highlighting Kane’s interference. Bryan tells Kane to come out and explain to him why he turned on him last week. Bryan riles the fans into making more noise so that Kane will come into the ring. Kane refuses and apologizes for attacking him on Monday. Bryan gets tired of his words, brings up their past together, and tells Kane to return to who he used to be. Kane ignores their past and defends his decision to trade it all in for a corner office. Kane says that they were never friends. Bryan counters with saying that Kane should come to the ring and be unfriendly with him. Kane, instead, tells Bryan that he gets to face Antonio Cesaro instead.
The Shield (Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns) vs. Dolph Ziggler and Kofi Kingston
The slow split of The Shield continues here. Seth Rollins is on commentary. Kofi and Dean begin with a normal opening sequence. Kofi trips up Dean and gets a quick splash for a quick over. Dolph enters and they hit a double hiptoss. Ambrose misses a clothesline and takes a right hand from Dolph. Ziggler is finally able to get in his ten elbows for a two count. Roman tags in a slugs away before bringing Dean back in. Ziggler floats over on a suplex and hit a dropkick. Kofi gets the tag and flies in. Reigns is knocked from the apron, but gets the tag after Ambrose halts Kofi’s progress. He hits the flying dropkick from the outside to get a two count before the break.
We return with Dean and Kofi. Kofi takes a knee to the midsection and is lifted in the corner. Kofi fights out of the butterfly suplex and knocks Dean off. Kofi hits a crossbody, but Dean holds on before he can make the tag. Kofi counters with the outside of his foot to Dean’s head. Dolph gets the hot tag and unleashes on Reigns, punching away in the corner and coming up with a neckbreaker. Reigns counters the Fameasser into a slam. Dean tries to steal a tag, but Reigns gets out of the way. Kofi pulls Dean from the apron right before Dolph hits a DDT for two. Kofi is taken out on the outside right before Dolph eats a Superman punch. Dolph is torn in half by a spear. It’s humorous when Reigns tags Dean back in to take the win like a vulture.
After the match, The Wyatt Family interrupts on the tron. Bray has words for them and their bickering ways.
Final Thoughts: **. This was more of a storyline driven match that showed dissention in The Shield while protecting Reigns. They even made sure to pipe in a few chants for Roman. The Shield and Wyatt Family feud would be pick up a notch with just a little physical interaction in the coming week or two.
Sheamus vs. Ryback w/Curtis Axel
LOCK AND LOAD! They lock up to begin, and battle for supremacy. Sheamus gets a head of steam and runs through Ryback. Axel interrupts but Sheamus catches Ryback and hits the rolling Samoan drop. Sheamus bounces outside and casually delivers the Brogue Kick to Axel. Back to the apron, Sheamus ties up Ryback and goes for those clubbing blows, but THE BIG GUY halts this and slams Sheamus back into the ring and chokes away with his foot. Ryback gets a big splash following a scoop slam for two. Ryback works the shoulder and tells the crowd to shut up.
Sheamus fights out but gets picked up and taken down with a stunning slam of sorts. Ryback goes to the top rope?!?! The Big Guy misses a splash from the top and feels the pain. Sheamus makes the comeback with some rights. Ryback dodges the knee lift, but Sheamus squirms out of a slam and hits a powerslam in return. Ryback catches Sheamus and The Brogue and hits a powerbomb! That gets two. Jim Ross would love this. Ryback loads up the Meathook but eats a Brogue Kick out of nowhere for the win!
Final Thoughts: **1/2. I’m a sucker for a fun hoss battle. Sheamus is on a nice roll since returning, simply fighting people and not telling jokes.
-We see a snippet of HHH’s weekly talk with Michael Cole. HHH puts over the gauntlet that he is putting Orton through for whatever stupid reason.
-Renee is backstage with Alberto Del Rio. They recap the night club attire fight with Batista. Seriously, watch that segment with Emma’s theme music in the background. It looks like two bros fighting over who has the better Ed Hardy t-shirt. Anyhow, Del Rio says that he’ll turn Batista into a little puppy.
Antonio Cesaro w/Zeb Colter and Jack Swagger vs. Daniel Bryan
They lock up to begin and grapple back and forth. In the corner, Cesaro throws in a heavy chop. Bryan returns fire with kicks in that same corner. Bryan hits the knee off of the whip. Cesaro answers with a big European uppercut that gets two. Bryan bridges out of the cover and we get some lucha fun that ends with Bryan hitting a ‘rana. Cesaro comes back with a spinebuster and goes to a chinlock. Bryan gets a hiptoss and floats into a short arm scissors. Antonio lifts Bryan up onto his shoulder and throws him down with an electric chair!
Cesaro hits a series of uppercuts in the corner and follows with a suplex for two. Bryan flips out of the corner and gives Cesaro the clothesline. Bryan charges in and hits the corner dropkick. They go to the top, and Bryan hits a ‘rana for two. Cesaro ducks the buzzsaw and rolls Bryan up for two. Cesaro counters the Yes! Lock into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker right as we head towards the break.
We return with Cesaro hitting a back elbow in the corner and getting two. Cesaro goes to a chinlock. Bryan fights out of the corner with rights, but Cesaro comes back off the ropes with a big boot. Bryan dodges a charge, and Cesaro goes out to the floor. Bryan comes off the apron with the knee, but hits Swagger on accident. Back into the ring, Bryan goes up and leaps into a European uppercut for two. Cesaro sets Bryan up for the GIANT SWING, but Bryan gets the ropes and gets a small package for two. Back to their feet, Cesaro rushes with a gigantic clothesline that turns Bryan inside out. Antonio goes for the Neutralizer, countered to a Yes! Lock as Bryan leaps atop of Cesaro and plants him down into position for the hold! Bryan picks up the victory. After the match, Kane walks out onto the stage. Cesaro sneaks up from behind and gives Bryan The Neutralizer. Kane walks into the ring and hits the chokeslam. Cole and JBL yell a lot and editorialize. It’s terribly distracting and stupid.
Final Thoughts: ***1/2. Unfortunately, as Bryan has fallen into Punk’s storyline as the backup, he’s getting the same amount of plodding development where he gets to continuously be bested by Kane and whatever henchman Kane happens to be in the ring with. I suppose it leads to Bryan getting screwed by Kane at Elimination Chamber, beating him in a Raw match, and then eventually jobbing to HHH at WrestleMania. The match was a lot of fun, but needed a few more minutes.
-Renee is backstage with Randy Orton before he finds a new way to give Christian an RKO. Orton says that Bryan’s victory was a fluke and that he’s still the best of all-time, but saying it in that less than resounding way that he says it, highlighting the failures in how they book him.
-We have another Rusev promo that makes me eagerly await him putting R-Truth on a stretcher while Xavier Woods stands still while clutching a towel. Then we can get an Xavier Woods training video of him running up mountains while “Hearts on Fire” blares on. ….RUUUUSSEEEVVV!
AJ Lee w/Tamina Snuka vs. Nikki Bella w/Brie Bella
We lockup to begin. Nikki avoids a sunset flip and goes some hoss offense. She hits a scoop slam, but misses a corner charge. AJ goes to a sleeper, which Nikki eventually fights out of, backing up into the corner. AJ kicks her down and gets two. Nikki gets a clothesline and a dropkick. Nikki flubs a back body drop, standing too close to the ropes on the rebound. Tamina and Brie battle and spill to the outside. Nikki gets caught looking to see if Brie is alright and AJ gets The Black Widow for the win.
Final Thoughts: This could have been alright if given another minute or two. Still, it’s nice to see the champion pick up a win.
-Titus O’Neil is backstage with Renee. He conducts the interview. Titus mentions how much time he wasted tagging with Darren for the last two years. Titus puts over how nice he smells and how nice his smile. Titus sends Renee away, patronizing her. After this interview, Darren Young actually pops up to grab some revenge, pummeling Titus before a few referees pull him away.
Goldust w/Cody Rhodes vs. Bray Wyatt
And…they edited out the entrance. This is terribly stupid. Also, it’s stupid to send Goldust and Cody down the card so damned fast. They had a good thing going and instead of building upon it, they just threw the tag team titles on a team that, while it was nice to see them for a couple of weeks, do not belong.
Goldust is quicker than Bray to start, and Bray misses a corner charge. Bray freaks out Goldust into backing off. Bray runs over Goldust and slugs him while he lies near the apron. Bray drops in a falling headbutt for a near fall. Goldust springs out of the corner with the back elbow. Goldust runs over Bray a couple of times. Goldy gets the boot up in the corner and hits the ‘rana and a spinebuster. Goldust hits a senton from the apron and puts Bray back into the ring. Harper and Rowan attack Cody. This distracts the big brother and Bray hits Sister Abigail for the win. The commentary here is so casual and it bothers me. JBL and Cole might as well be ordering a pizza.
After the match, Cody lies on top of Goldust and rolls him from the ring. Dean pops up on the big screen and lets them know that The Shield own them. Seth isn’t happy about their existence, either. Reigns also dislikes them. By default, The Shield are just fine as faces.
Final Thoughts: *. The suddenly awful way that the tag team division is being booked disturbs me greatly.
Christian vs. Randy Orton
They feel out each other to begin. They trade shoulderblocks, and Orton gets control and slugs at Christian. Captain Charisma tosses Orton out and hits a baseball slide. Orton moves out of the way on Christian’s press to the outside. Christian gets an elbow up in the corner and dumps Orton out of the ring. Christian leaps off of the top onto Orton outside and nearly kills himself against the barricade. We hit the break.
We’re back with Christian taking too long to pull Orton’s crotch into the post, and goes headfirst like a dumbass. Orton comes out and drops Christian on the barricade. He gets two from that. Orton stomps away. Randy whips Christian hard into the corners while JBL and Cole talk over the damned main event match. Randy hits a dropkick to halt Christian’s comeback. CHINLOCK. Christian suplexes out of it and they fight to their feet to trade right hands. Christian slugs in the corner, but gets run over with Orton’s sweet clothesline. Christian fights back and come off the top with a crossbody for two. Christian gets a back elbow from the second buckle but runs into a powerslam from Orton while looking for the finish.
Christian gets tossed into the post. Christian fights out of the draping DDT and goes to the top. He misses the frog splash and then takes the draping DDT. Orton is going to pose after hitting his Jake Roberts powered DDT. Christian gets two from the backslide, reversing the RKO. Killswitch is stopped, and Christian leaps back from the second buckle into the RKO.
Final Thoughts: **1/2. The beginning and middle was pretty boring, with Christian doing what felt like the majority of the grunt work. Orton showed up for the end. VINTAGE ORTON.
–Ryback/Sheamus and Bryan/Cesaro didn’t disappoint and were quite fun. The shambles that remain of the WWE tag team division piss me off so very, very much. It was cute and fun to have the NAO return for a couple of matches that limited their weaknesses. But now they’re heels who still do their face routine for a pop that quickly dies to quiet matches. Also, Ryback continues to entertain me week to week. This was still a solid wrestling show.
