Jonathan Dehn
WWE Smackdown
02/14/2014
Ontario, California
-We already had a glowing review of this show from our writer Sage Cortez, so I’m highly anticipating this thing.
Daniel Bryan, Christian and Sheamus vs. The Shield
Christian and Seth Rollins begin this thing and Seth is quickly to beat Captain Charisma down. Reigns enters the match and catches Christian in the crossbody. Christian fights out and tags in Sheamus. They slug it out. Reigns gets an elbow up in the corner, but takes the rolling Samoan drop and a kneedrop for two. A knee lift breaks up Sheamus’ offense, and Ambrose enters to pound away in the corner. Sheamus charges off the ropes with a hammering blow and brings in Bryan to a thunderous pop. Bryan flips out of the corner and hits the clothesline. A ‘rana follows a charging dropkick in the corner. That gets two. Yes! Lock, but The Shield interrupts. We have a stare down as we hit the break.
We return with Bryan fighting out of a chinlock from Seth. Rollins misses a corner splash, and Sheamus comes in hits his hot tag flurry. Seth shoves him to the apron, but is then caught with those clubbing blows. An Ambrose distraction helps Rollins come in for an enzuigiri that brings Sheamus down from the top. Reigns tags in, and hops outside to hit his volcanic eruption of a running dropkick. Sheamus goes into the barricade afterwards. Dean comes in and stomps away into the corner. Seth reenters and batters away with stomps in the corner, followed by a charging forearm splash. Reigns returns and slugs away, knocking Sheamus into the corner. Sheamus tries to fight back, but it taken down and has his face driven into the canvas. Reigns holds a front facelock.
Roman takes the opportunity to knock Bryan from the apron, but then jaws with Christian and walks into the Irish Curse. Seth comes in, but misses a senton splash. Dean and Christian receive their tags and enter. They grab a hold of each other and slug it out. Christian gets the best of it, and punches away in the corner. Christian hops outside, slugs out Seth, and then returns to hit a tornado DDT on Dean. This is broken up at two by Reign and Rollins, who then fall victim to a double dropkick from the top by Bryan. He chops away at both kneeling men. Reigns catches the exclamation point and goes for the powerbomb, but takes a ‘rana to the outside. Bryan ducks past Seth and dives out onto Reigns. Seth follows Bryan.
Back inside, Christian gets two from a reverse DDT on Ambrose. Christian dodges a diving Rollins, who is then knocked out by The Brogue Kick. Shortly thereafter, Christian holds up Ambrose for another boot, but Christian is mistakenly struck by it. Sheamus laments but takes a spear. Ambrose covers Christian for the win.
Final Thoughts: ***1/2. This was another hot, well done tag team match where the action never seemed to really let up. This had a great finishing sequence, and should stir the pot between Christian and Sheamus heading into the PPV.
-Zeb Colter says hello to Vickie in her office. Zeb has a box of chocolates for Vickie, looking for her to be his valentine. Vickie sees through his scheme, since he’s a racist and all. Zeb requests for Swagger to also have a title match at Elimination Chamber. Jack Swagger is in a four way for the opportunity to battle for the IC Title at Elimination Chamber.
-Cesaro is backstage with Byron. Cesaro is now Antonio Cesaro’s official name, if that makes sense. Cesaro is highly confident of his chances against Randy Orton, and looks to gain some respect.
-The Hall of Fame Ceremony will be shown IN ITS ENTIRETY on WWE Network. Sign me up for that two hour long Ultimate Warrior speech.
Mark Henry vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Jack Swagger vs. Kofi Kingston
Big E is with us on commentary. Henry begins by overpowering the others, tossing Swagger from the ring. Rey and Kofi double team Henry, taking him down with a double dropkick and hitting a couple more after Mark is grounded. Rey takes down Kofi, and they run. Kofi hits a flying back elbow for two. Rey rolls through on a sunset flip and kicks Kofi in the head of two. Jack trips up Rey and enters, but winds up out of the ring once more. Kofi takes down Rey and flips out onto Swagger. Kofi celebrates, and is hit with a press by Rey. Henry teases a splash to the outside, but Swagger cuts him off by diving at his knee. That was close. Jack hits two Swaggerbombs on Henry. Kofi interrupts Jack and puts him into the ropes. Swagger breaks up Rey’s 619 attempt and hits a clothesline for two.
Swagger hits some knees in the corner and places Rey at the top. Rey kicks him away and hits the press from the top. Rey hits a flourish, finishing with a bulldog for two that Kofi breaks up. Rey misses a corner charge and goes into the post. Kofi gets the best of Swagger with clotheslines, finishing with The Boom Drop. Kofi calls for TiP, but Rey distracts. Kofi goes to the top, but Swagger runs up and goes for the super-plex. Henry pops up and powerbombs Swagger. Rey feels his wrath, as does Kofi. Swagger goes to The Patriot Lock. Henry powers out of it and walks off. He takes a 619 to the gut and a TiP. Rey gets the boots up on both Kofi and Swagger. Kofi goes for a German on Rey, but Jack pops in and German suplexes BOTH OF THEM. Silly, somewhat, but pretty damned cool. Kofi landed so hard on his head and shoulders.
Swagger tosses Kofi outside, but Rey trips him into the ropes. Kofi breaks that up with a TiP that takes Rey out. Henry returns, pulling Rey out of the ring before the count of three. Kofi knocks Henry out of the ring and into the announce table. We actually don’t see the bump. Swagger drags Kofi back into the ring with The Patriot Lock. Kofi reverses out and goes for TiP, but Swagger catches the foot and goes right back to The Patriot Lock. Kofi eventually taps out and Swagger gets his title shot.
Final Thoughts: ***. This was a hell of a lot of fun, with everyone hitting their spots in interesting ways. What was nice about this one was how everyone stayed involved and had their spots. As well, the dash of humor in this match reminded me a little bit of a match you’d see from Dragon Gate. Good times.
-Bad News Barrett is back and his new podium is all sorts of badass. He has some bad news about Valentine’s Day. Wade talks about how women will gain weight from chocolate and have to look in the mirror afterwards. Well that’s just mean.
The Rhodes Bros and The Usos vs. The New Age Outlaws and Rybaxel
Goldust and Billy begin. Goldy hits a shoulderblock and follows with an inverted atomic drop. Goldy works the arm, but Billy gets away and brings in Road Dogg. He takes a hiptoss and Cody comes in to stomp away. Cody gets the corner sunset flip for two, but gets knocked down with a right hand. Cody gets a clothesline for two. Jimmy gets the tag, and Jey is tagged in for a double team elbow that gets two. Dogg gets a knee in there and brings in Axel, who slugs away. Curtis takes Jey’s head off with a dropkick and leaps out to drop an elbow across the apron. Curtis stomps away in the corner.
Ryback enters and The Big Guy clubs away. Ryback gives Jey a hard whip into the corner and stomps away. Ryback goes to chops, which Jey answers with. Ryback just slams him down and laughs a bit. We hit a break. We’re back with Ryback still in control. Gunn enters and clubs away, but misses a corner splash. Jimmy gets the hot tag and superkicks Ryback off the apron, an takes Axel off as well before hitting the Samoan drop on Dogg and a full nelson bomb on Gunn. A hip smash gets two. Axel breaks it up, but Cody tosses him out. Ryback tosses Cody into the barricade, but takes the senton from Goldust. Jey flies over the post onto the heel, and Jimmy hits the splash from the top for the win.
Final Thoughts: This was fine, but a bit dull in the middle. *1/2. I’m happy to see that they’re transitioning to The Usos right now.
-Randy Orton is backstage with Renee and she asks him if he’s been treated unfairly in the build to his title defense. Orton disagrees with this and tells Cesaro that he’s getting “the viper” tonight.
-We enjoy a quick Rusev vignette.
Damien Sandow vs. Darren Young
Titus is on commentary. Darren grabs a side headlock and runs Damien over. Sandow takes an inverted atomic drop and Darren clotheslines him over the top. Darren is distracted in taunting Titus and takes a Russian legsweep against the barricade. Back in, Sandow gets two. Damien hits a knee lift, and goes for You’re Welcome. Young rolls him up instead, for three. After the match, Titus rushes Darren and the two brawl around the ring. It ends with Titus trying to escape and Darren ripping his pants apart. We know that Titus is especially irate since Darren had attacked him last week and ruffled his highly expensive suit.
Final Thoughts: It’s time to take Sandow off of TV before this does irreparable damage to him. On the other hand, I’m enjoying this feud between former tag team partners. It’s going just as it should.
Fandango w/Summer Rae vs. The Miz
Fandango grabs a side headlock to start. He gets the shoulderblock and flips forward on a bump after a dropkick from The Miz that strikes his knee. Fandango comes out of the corner after Miz works the knee, hitting a clothesline for two. Fandango stomps away, but Miz returns fire. Fandango reverses the neckbreaker and hits a dropkick for two. He goes to the headlock. The Miz flips out of a suplex and get the elbow up in the corner. Miz hits the babyface flourish, getting the neckbreaker. There’s a sloppy sequence where Fandango counters and puts Miz into the post. Santino and Emma come out to distract, with Emma brawling with Summer Rae. Fandango gets an inadvertent Cobra and stumbles back into a Skull Crushing Finale for the win.
Final Thoughts: Not much going on for the match, but this was better for Emma’s early days. I still need to hear that theme, however.
Cesaro w/Zeb Colter vs. Randy Orton
They begin with feeling it each other out. Cesaro gets a quick roll up, and Orton bails to the outside. Orton gets his own roll up, and then bails to some heat. Back in, Cesaro takes him down and drags him around the mat, turning it into the gutwrench for two. Cesaro gets the double stomp for two and delivers uppercuts in the corner. Orton charges out of it with a clothesline and gets a couple of uppercuts, himself. Cesaro turns table and gives him more himself. Cesaro then charges in with a big uppercut that gets two. Outside, Cesaro follows. Orton takes control on the ramp, tossing Cesaro into the barricade a couple of times. We hit the break.
We return with them fighting on the outside. Cesaro gets dropped across the barricade and slammed against the announce table. Back inside, Orton gets two. Randy goes to the chinlock. “We The People!” chants break out in support of Cesaro. In response, Cesaro gets himself into an uppercut battle. Randy cuts this off with a back elbow. Back outside, Randy slams Cesaro into the apron and the barricade. Cesaro just gets mad and bursts from the barricade and clotheslines Orton. On the way back in, Orton goes for the draping DDT, but Cesaro squirts out and after one failed attempt, applies THE GIANT SWING.
Cesaro gets eighteen revolutions or so. Cesaro goes for The Neutralizer, but Orton flips him out of it. They go running, and Orton hits a sick snap powerslam for two. Orton goes again for the draping DDT, and this time, hits it. Orton points to the sign. Drink. He pointed twice. Drink, again. Randy goes for the DDT, but is cut off with an uppercut. Cesaro presses him into the air and hits the MDK and that gets two. Orton sidesteps the corner charge and hits a dropkick for two. Randy puts Cesaro into the ring post and they go to the top. Cesaro fights free and gives Orton a sunset flip bomb. Cesaro then follows that up with, to quote Sage Cortez, a FUCKING DISCUS EUROPEAN UPPERCUT! This new, based move helps Cesaro hit the Neutralizer and arrive on the scene!
Final Thoughts: ***3/4. This was a good, fun match that had a result that had the table quickly mentioning on how Cesaro had arrived and didn’t treat this at all as a fluke victory. Cesaro’s discus uppercut is rad, as well. I was actually surprised that Orton took so much of Cesaro’s offense and kept the pace up.
–Top to bottom, this is probably going to wind up being the best Smackdown of the year. Certainly check out the main event, but the opening bout and the four way dance are both a lot of fun. I’m at a loss for everyone’s hatred of the name shortening for Cesaro. It’s a petty decision, but such a change is not going to affect him much at all. It does mean that the office is high on him, however. So, I look forward to a sizable push coming his way after WrestleMania. I’m disappointed that we weren’t able to see the awful Eva Marie/Alicia Foxx match. I was looking forward to being a wise-ass. Still, it’s for the best that WWE turned the tron off during the match and decided against airing it.
