In Your House

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

WWE Elimination Chamber 2014.

Big E Vs Jack Swagger: IC title on the line, and this is a fun hoss match. Crowd is very pro-Swag. Big Ending for the win.

The New Age Outlaws Vs The Usos: After the great run of tag team title matches, it's fucking embarrassing that these two old bastards are now carrying the belts. Cody and Goldust deserved better than that. And now they go over the Usos too. 

Titus O'Neill Vs Darren Young: Another tag team broken up for no good reason. They have a hard-fought, but not particularly good match with Titus going over.

The Shield Vs The Wyatt Family: Okay, here we go. Never seen this before, super pumped for it, not disappointed at all. This is awesome. The electricity even before the match begins is awesome. I'm noticing that they're positioning Roman as the leader of the group now. He's always standing in the middle, whereas before it was always Ambrose. Although it's Wyatt and Ambrose who are really the focus of this match. Ambrose is so good as that unhinged soldier willing to die on his sword. This is everything you'd want it to be- hard-hitting, chaotic, lots of good character work. Everyone looks great in this match, but Harper and Rollins stand out as the MVPs of their respective teams. The Wyatts do 'a Shield' and eliminate Ambrose (who never comes back after brawling with Wyatt through the crowd) and Rollins (slammed through a table by Harper and Rowan), and isolate Reigns. Reigns gets a good flurry in but ends up falling to Sister Abigail. Tremendous match.

AJ Lee Vs Cameron: Oh boy, this is rough. Now this is a match AJ should have won clean in about 90 seconds. Instead, Tamina accidentally kicks AJ, and then attacks Cameron to make up for it, resulting in a DQ win for Cameron.

Batista Vs Alberto Del Rio: Poor Batista. The guy gets absolutely crucified. Del Rio comes out on crutches, but does a Jerry Lawler and attacks Batista. This is a standard rumble winner warm-up match, with Batista taking a beating but coming out on top. I wonder at which point they realised that an Orton/Batista main event was going to be a disaster.

Randy Orton Vs Daniel Bryan Vs John Cena Vs Cesaro Vs Christian Vs Sheamus: Elimination chamber match. This is an epic war. Nearly half an hour before the first guy is even eliminated. Sheamus and Cesaro start and just beat the shit out of each other as you'd expect. Then Bryan joins in. My favourite spot was Sheamus Brogue kicking Orton's pod. I knew it was coming, but it was still awesome. Sheamus is first to go when Christian splashes him off the top of a pod. Then Christian eats a running knee to go out. Cesaro gets a really strong showing before he's eliminated by Cena, then the Wyatts show up. They take out Cena to 'Thank you Wyatt' chants and leave us with Bryan and Orton. Kane is in the chamber too after trying to get the Wyatts out, and he stops the refs count after Bryan hits the knee. Bryan kicks out of an RKO and the pop is amazing. The crowd must have really thought Bryan was going to win at the point, but Kane gets involved again and a second RKO keeps Bryan down. Cole has a JR-esque meltdown about how Bryan keeps getting screwed and how ridiculous it is. Knowing how this pays off at WrestleMania, I can enjoy this for the great piece of fan manipulation it is. At the time I'm sure I was cursing the company's name.

Match of the night: The 6-man tag, 4 1/2 stars. Main event, 4 stars. Big E/Swagger, 3 stars.

Show rating: Any card with 2 4 star matches on is definitely recommended. This show also features numerous Bad News Barrett sightings as he delivers bad news after several of the matches. So it has that gong for it too. 3 3/4 stars.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

WWE Extreme Rules 2014.

El Torito Vs Hornswoggle (kickoff match): WeeLC. A mix of bad comedy and ridiculous bumps. Fun.

Cesaro Vs Rob van Dam Vs Jack Swagger: Elimination rules. Cesaro is a Heyman guy now. I don't think any of us expected that to stall his career quite the way it did. Swag is the first to be eliminated. Cesaro does that deadlift superplex on him, and RVD follows up with a frog splash. Cesaro and RVD then have a spirited little match, made really to showcase Cesaro I think, and he gets the win with the Neutralizer onto a trash can.

Alexander Rusev Vs R-Truth and Xavier Woods: Rusev! Wasn't expecting him for a bit. He looks good in this handicap squash match. Lana chants already.

Big E Vs Bad News Barrett: BNB won a tournament to earn a shot at the IC title, and he's very much the fan favourite here. Another guy who was super over but never moved to the next level. Interesting how much he's playing to the fans here, encouraging them to clap along with him. Decent hard-hitting match, with Barrett going over thanks to the Bullhammer, and much to the crowd's delight.

The Shield Vs Evolution: Evolution is one of my least favourite acts ever, but I always trust the Shield to have a good match, and that trust is paid off yet again. This is solid when it's in the ring, but gets really good when it descends into chaos. Another big performance from Rollins, flying around with reckless abandon, including that big dive off the balcony. Ambrose brings the selling, and he was great as soon as the Shield turned babyface. Once again it's left to Roman to be the hero in the ring. I'm a big Roman fan, but watching these back two things are clear; 1, they are really forcing the idea that Roman is the star of the group, and 2, at this point, he's the least interesting of the 3, at least to me. Batista does the job via spear.

Bray Wyatt Vs John Cena: Steel cage match. This is a joke. A cage match to keep the Wyatts out when Cena has already handled the Wyatts all at once. Harper and Rowan interfere here more than they do in a normal match, including Harper being in the cage. And Cena still dominating. And then the little boy with the vocoder to finally cost Cena the match. I don't know if Wyatt ever recovered from this feud with Cena honestly. Just terrible from start to finish.

Paige Vs Tamina Snuka: Another bad match. Tamina is awful. She walks out looking like she's just woken up from a too-long nap and isn't quite sure where she is. Paige looks shitty too.

Daniel Bryan Vs Kane: I think we all wish that Bryan had been paired with someone else for his first (and sadly, only) title programme, but it is what it is. Bryan brings the passion like only he can, and Kane walks through offence about as well as anyone, so they craft a decent brawl. When it goes to the back is when it loses me, as Bryan beats Kane with a tire iron and then brings him back into the arena on a forklift. Neat idea, but it's a lot of dead time which hurt the match. Diving headbutt off the raised forks is a good visual. Kane makes a comeback and we get a flaming table spot, which took me by surprise. Bryan managed to send Kane through the table and then hit the knee for the win. That would have been fine for a one and done, but then Kane sits up and Bryan acts all shocked, so you know the plan was for another match. Did they announce what that match was going to be? Well, time to get ready for life after Bryan I guess. At least for now.

Match of the night: The Shield-Evolution match is the one that stands out here. 3 3/4 stars. Bryan/Kane and Cesaro/Swagger/RVD are both 3 star matches.

Show rating: Not a great show all around - the cage match is a major knock against it - but some good matches and other fun stuff to make it worth a watch. 3 stars.

 

[John from Cincinnati]

I've never seen the tag title match from TLC and had forgotten it existed (if I'd ever known in the first place). Fun to see Rey and Show teaming and Goldy was next-level. What a great run. Another quality pick, Roomie. 

[DreamBroken]

7 hours ago, Yo-Yo's Roomie said:

That would have been fine for a one and done, but then Kane sits up and Bryan acts all shocked, so you know the plan was for another match. Did they announce what that match was going to be? Well, time to get ready for life after Bryan I guess. At least for now.

They had announced a stretcher match for MITB before Bryan was ruled unfit to compete.

[Godfrey]

I re-watched that Elimination Chamber and holy balls is it good. Is it the best one? Maybe the interference brings it down but not for me. And as Yo-Yo said, knowing how it turns out, it's not so disheartening that Bryan lost. Also, I miss Hawaiian shirt Bray Wyatt. Somehow those shirts grounded the character.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

WWE Payback 2014.

El Torito Vs Hornswoggle (kickoff match): This is mask vs hair. The usual comedy shenanigans. Torito wins and Hornswoggle gets buzzed. 

Sheamus Vs Cesaro: Sheamus is defending the US title. Typically hard-hitting match between these two. I could watch them go at it all day. The crowd is very solidly with Cesaro who is one of the most over guys in the company at this point. I like the finish of Cesaro doing the swing, but Sheamus small packaging him to win.

Cody Rhodes and Goldust Vs Rybaxel: Cody Rhodes has the losing streak gimmick going on. This is another good Rhodes brothers match, following the tried and true formula of Goldie as fip. Rybaxel aren't interesting enough to take it to the next level though. Cody gets the hot tag and gets a couple of near falls before getting caught by Shellshocked and pinned. After the match Cody said Goldust deserved a better partner than him.

Rusev Vs Big E: Furious flag-waving competition before the match. This is a super intense hoss sprint. Big E with the spear to the floor looks killer, then Rusev comes right back with a jumping thrust kick to the face. The Accolade takes the win for Rusev. A great 4 minutes.

Bo Dallas Vs Kofi Kingston: I hate Bo Dallas. Guy gives me the creeps way more than his brother does. Kane comes out right off the bat and destroys Kofi.

Bad News Barrett Vs Rob van Dam: Again, a very hot crowd, with dueling Bad News Barrett/RVD chants. This is a pretty good match also. RVD has looked better during this run than I ever would have expected him to. Barrett picks up another win with the Bullhammer. This is probably the best push he got in his career, going over all these guys cleanly.

Next is a segment where Daniel Bryan must relinquish the title or Brie Bella will be fired. Stephanie is terrible here, no-selling all of Bryan and Brie's lines. She does sell Brie's slap though, running away in shame. The crowd was hot for this.

John Cena Vs Bray Wyatt: Last man standing match. I was dreading this after the cage match. I owe these guys an apology though. This was pretty awesome. No nuance or subtlety, just a big, dumb spectacle, but a very fun one. The Usos come out to counter Harper and Rowan, so this is almost like a 6-man at times. Crazy spot of the night is Harper suplexing one of the Usos from the top rope through a table on the outside. Just an insane bump. I loved the Usos in this, being good old-fashioned babyfaces. Cena busted out his throwing the steel stairs at his opponent spot, which always looks awesome. Wyatt put Cena through the wall with his running tackle, and crushed him with a senton off the steel steps. I knew they had some high concept finish planned, but thankfully it wasn't anything involving explosions or anything like that. Just a simple AA through a wooden box, and then Cena pushes a big box of electrical equipment on top so Bray was trapped. It worked. Really fun match.

Paige Vs Alicia Fox: Fox looked pretty good when she was in control, but Paige's comeback was kinda weak. I remember these two having a good match on Raw during this timeframe, but this was forgettable.

The Shield Vs Evolution: No holds barred elimination match. On paper, this looked a banker to be a great match, and I entirely blame Triple H for the fact that it isn't. The long, slow beatdown of the Shield has his fingerprints all over it. Actually, that may not be totally fair, because a lot of big Cena matches have had sequences like that too. This is actually a bit like that 5-on-3 Shield match from not long ago, where the heels were just beating down the babyfaces for so long. It's not compelling. Reigns was the one singled out here for the most punishment, powerbombed through the announce table, and beaten with kendo sticks. Evolution did, at least, put the Shield thoroughly over once the eliminations did come. First Batista went the way of a spear (did Batista just not give a fuck by this point? he seems in pin me pay me mode), then Orton got pinned by Dirty Deeds. Triple H got a bit of resistance in, hitting Ambrose with a sledgehammer, before he too fell to a spear. Very disappointing match for the Shield to sign out on.

Match of the night: I never would have expected it, but Bray and Cena actually topped the opening match for me. Cesaro and Sheamus were probably 3 1/2 stars, whereas Bray and Cena were 4 stars. Big assist to the cornermen in that one too. Barrett/RVD and Big E/Rusev both 3 stars.

Show rating: Man, if that main event had delivered this would have been a great, great show. Everything else on the card pretty much delivered, and the crowd was hot throughout. 3 1/2 stars.

 

[cwoy2j]

Quote

Funny how you practically had to murder Shawn to keep him down in a match, but when he's a ref a strong wind puts him out of commission.

I remember Flair being special guest ref for Austin/Taker and getting bumped off of a shoulder block. 16 time world champion Ric Flair who has bled buckets and gone toe to toe with Dusty Rhodes, Nikita Koloff, Vader, Undertaker and Hulk Hogan was knocked out by a shoulder block.

[DJ Hero Morganti]

Ref shirt ads negative toughness.

 

 

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

WWE Money in the Bank 2014.

The Usos Vs Harper and Rowan: The Usos are so good at this go-go-go style of tag match. It's pretty much a formula they perfected, and has become the prominent tag style in the company. Too many superkicks though. Harper and Rowan more than hold up their end of the bargain. Harper is so good. I dug these music they used to come out to as well (sans "he's got the whole world in his hands"). I wish the Bludgeon Brothers used it. Really good match.

Paige Vs Naomi: The story here is dissension between the Funkadactyls, as Cameron is pretty much actively cheering against Naomi. The bigger story for me at least is that Paige is terrible. Totally not living up to the hype at all.

Damien Sandow Vs Adam Rose: Sandow is in his dress up phase. Here he's dressed as Paul Revere. Rose really should have been a heel from the get-go. There's really nothing likeable about the gimmick.

Seth Rollins Vs Dean Ambrose Vs Jack Swagger Vs RVD Vs Dolph Ziggler Vs Kofi Kingston: Money in the bank match. Some totally insane bumps in this. Swagger powerbombs RVD from near the top of one of those really tall ladders, and then Ambrose superplexes Rollins basically from the top of it. Made me cringe. Ambrose gets taken out of the match with an injury, and gets a huge pop when he returns to stop Rollins grabbing the briefcase. That brings Kane out who tombstones Ambrose, and allows Rollins to win. Not a bad ladder match, but it's those bumps I'll mostly remember.

Goldust and Stardust Vs Rybaxel: I appreciate Cody's commitment to the Stardust character, but I liked this team better when he was just Cody Rhodes. That said, this is still a decent match, maybe a bit better than the match they had last month. Rybaxel are improving as a team as well. Stardust pinned Ryback for the win.

Rusev Vs Big E: These guys get twice as long as they did last time out, and build off that match nicely. The two major offensive moves from the previous match (E's spear to the floor, Rusev's thrust kick) are both countered. When E does land the spear, he just about spikes himself on the top of his head. Just a real fun hard-hitting contest. Big E tries to fight out of the Accolade, but it can't be done.

Layla Vs Summer Rae: Fandango is the special ref here between his former girlfriend/dance partner, and her replacement, Layla. Layla gets to go back to her stooging Lay-Cool character, which was probably her best work. Layla wins and leaves with Fandango.

John Cena Vs Roman Reigns Vs Randy Orton Vs Kane Vs Alberto Del Rio Vs Bray Wyatt Vs Sheamus Vs Cesaro: I found this pretty boring. This is another ladder match, this time for the vacant championship after Bryan was finally stripped of the title. Kane is in there to help Randy win. Let's go Cena/Cena sucks chants. Biggest pop of the night is probably when it looks like Bray is going to win. The fans totally would have bought him as the top guy at this point. I guess he DID recover from the Cena feud. Reigns is definitely feeling a bit of a backlash, and doesn't feel ready to be the guy at all. This is very basic in it's lay out; one guy tries to climb, someone stops him, they try to climb, the next person comes in to stop him etc etc. Sheamus goes on a tear which mixes things up a bit, and there's a fun spot where a second ladder is inserted into the rungs of the first, and then acts as a sort of pivot when the first ladder is tipped. Generally, I didn't think this was a god match, and Cena was a very uninspired choice to win, though probably the right one given what happened at Summerslam.

Match of the night: The opening tag match was super heated and exciting, and I'd go as high as 3 3/4 stars for it. Rusev/Big E get up to 3 1/4, and the MITB match just about gets 3 stars. 

Show rating: A reasonably solid show, but once again let down by the main event. 3 stars.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

WWE Battleground 2014.

Adam Rose Vs Fandango (kickoff match): Summer and Layla are with the Rosebuds now. Really quick match won by Rose.

Cameron Vs Naomi (kickoff match): Another quick match. Not sure the point of having Cameron go over.

The Usos Vs Harper and Rowan: 2/3 falls. They don't make good use of the stip at all, as the first two falls are over pretty quickly, but this turns into a hell of a match in the deciding fall. The crowd are really hot for it too. Probably 50/50 on fan support. I think they should have put the belts on Harper and Rowan here. Big powerbomb by Harper was a great nearfall. Again too many superkicks. One Uso delivering a big splash wasn't enough to keep Rowan down, so they both come off the top together for the winning fall. 

AJ Lee Vs Paige: AJ has returned and taken the belt off Paige. Now they're running this 'frenemies' storyline between the two. This match is absolutely rotten. Man, what a letdown Paige has been. AJ wins with a shining wizard.

Rusev Vs Jack Swagger: Another fun hoss fight for Rusev. These two take some heavy shots at one another before Rusev picks up a countout victory. 

Seth Rollins Vs Dean Ambrose: This match never happened. Ambrose attacked Rollins in the back and was thrown out of the building by Triple H. Rollins came out to be declared the winner by forfeit, but Ambrose attacked again. Crowd was super into Ambrose, who looked great here as a man possessed. Ambrose would go after Rollins again in the parking lot. What was the story on the match not happening? Was it just to prolong the feud, or was there something else going on?

Bray Wyatt Vs Chris Jericho: This was okay, but a bit lifeless. Jericho going over was a surprising result for what felt like it should have been just a one-and-done type deal. I remember the fans being really into it when the Family interrupted Jericho though. 

Intercontinental Title Battle Royal: So poor Bad News Barrett, on the run of his career, picked up another injury and was stripped of the IC title. He did get to come out and deliver some bad news before the match though. Ziggler is by far the most over guy in this match, and it's amazing how over he still is really. He went from world champion to jobbing on the pre-show, hasn't had a meaningful programme in months, but is still one of the most over guys on the roster. Actually, you would hear 'we want Ziggler' chants during other matches from time to time. It comes down to Sheamus and Ziggler, who have a nice little sequence before Ziggler eliminates him. However, the Miz has been hiding out at ringside and comes in and throws Ziggler out to win the match. Sigh. This finish is so played out. They should have one where they do that finish, but then it turns out that someone else had also been hiding at ringside, and then they sneak in to win. 

John Cena Vs Kane Vs Randy Orton Vs Roman Reigns: Kane and Orton work together early on, but eventually they end up fighting. They try to hype up a Cena/Reigns showdown but it's lukewarm. Everything about this match is lukewarm really. The main event scene has pretty consistently had the weakest/most negative crowd reactions for a while now, outside of obviously Daniel Bryan, and when they throw someone like Cesaro or Wyatt in there. There's definitely a Cena/Orton fatigue, and Roman isn't providing the antidote right now. Cena wins to advance to getting his head kicked in by Brock at Summerslam.

Match of the night: Once again, the tag title match takes top honours. If they could have made better use of the 2/3 falls stip, or even just got rid of it, this would have been even better. 3 3/4 stars. 3 stars for Rusev/Swagger. 

Show rating: This felt like the weakest show for a while. Denying us probably the most anticipated match on the card seemed kind of shitty. It doesn't matter to me watching these 3 years later, but I'm sure it pissed a lot of people off at the time. Another weak main event doesn't help. 2 1/2 stars.

[MonteCarl]

11 hours ago, Yo-Yo's Roomie said:

 It comes down to Sheamus and Ziggler, who have a nice little sequence before Ziggler eliminates him. However, the Miz has been hiding out at ringside and comes in and throws Ziggler out to win the match. Sigh. This finish is so played out. They should have one where they do that finish, but then it turns out that someone else had also been hiding at ringside, and then they sneak in to win. 

 

They kind of did do that once in NXT during a #1 contender's battle royal for the Women's Championship. It appeared that Asuka had won, but then Eva Marie snuck back in and threw out Asuka. As she celebrated her "win", Carmella - who had been out of the ring for a long time - came back in to eliminate Eva.

[The Natural]

On ‎30‎/‎12‎/‎2017 at 4:06 PM, Yo-Yo's Roomie said:

WWE Elimination Chamber 2014.

The Shield Vs The Wyatt Family: Okay, here we go. Never seen this before, super pumped for it, not disappointed at all. This is awesome. The electricity even before the match begins is awesome. I'm noticing that they're positioning Roman as the leader of the group now. He's always standing in the middle, whereas before it was always Ambrose. Although it's Wyatt and Ambrose who are really the focus of this match. Ambrose is so good as that unhinged soldier willing to die on his sword. This is everything you'd want it to be- hard-hitting, chaotic, lots of good character work. Everyone looks great in this match, but Harper and Rollins stand out as the MVPs of their respective teams. The Wyatts do 'a Shield' and eliminate Ambrose (who never comes back after brawling with Wyatt through the crowd) and Rollins (slammed through a table by Harper and Rowan), and isolate Reigns. Reigns gets a good flurry in but ends up falling to Sister Abigail. Tremendous match.

Match of the night: The 6-man tag, 4 1/2 stars. Main event, 4 stars.

I love the Wyatt Family vs. the Shield at Elimination Chamber 2014. Luke Harper's the Man of the Match.  I had a stab at a Best WWF/E Matches of All Time and it made my top 10. ***** match.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

WWE Night of Champions 2014.

The Usos Vs Goldust and Stardust: I refuse to call them 'Gold and Stardust'. The Rhodes brothers are so sweet together, even as heels. They just really seem to love teaming together. I love their celebration after winning the belts. Dustin is so happy for his little brother. Good match - wouldn't expect anything else from these two teams. Good to see the Rhodes' can still do it as heels. This is kind of a mash-up between a Rhodes match, with traditional tag structure, and an Usos match, with big bombs and nearfalls. Crowd is split about 50-50. Usos never did feel completely beloved.

Sheamus Vs Cesaro: This is fantastic. It's basically the modern-day incarnation of Finlay/Regal, total stiff-fest. Sheamus defending the US title. Some great sequences. Cesaro looks like a total beast, bringing not just stiffness but great power spots, great agility, and great wrestling. Sheamus pretty much just brings the stiffness, but he does it so well. Crowd was clamouring for a Cesaro title win, but Sheamus pulled it out. No Heyman. I guess that relationship is done. Would have been so easy to book a Lesnar/Cesaro feud, and that match would have been incredible during this period.

Dolph Ziggler Vs The Miz: IC title match. Dolph won the title off Miz at Summerslam, so he's defending here. Mizdow! Crowd is already into this act. It's so fun. Ziggler has his own stunt double- R-Truth. The action in the ring is pretty good, and the crowd is hot for the match. Mizdow helps Miz regain the belt.

Seth Rollins Vs Roman Reigns: This scheduled match was cancelled because Reigns needed emergency hernia surgery, so here comes Rollins for another forfeit victory. They really give Reigns the star treatment despite his absence, with breaking news updates about the injury. Rollins issues an open challenge, which is answered by the returning Dean Ambrose, who pulls up in a taxi with impeccable timing. Huge pop for Ambrose, and once again he looks great taking it to Rollins. Security, led by Triple H, come out and end up cuffing Ambrose and dragging him out. Good angle.

Rusev Vs Mark Henry: Incredible stuff here. Lillian Garcia delivers an awful rendition of the national anthem, and Henry is crying his eyes out. Proper blubbing. The Nashville crowd is eating this shit up. What year is this? The match itself unfortunately can't live up to this pre-match bullshit. It's fine, but I think the problem is that they actually put Rusev over too strong. He pretty much dominates the whole match and then makes Mark tap out to the Accolade. I wish Henry had got more shine. I think it ultimately would have made Rusev's win more impressive.

Randy Orton Vs Chris Jericho: The commentary team are trying to sell this as a great match, but this is the weakest stuff on the show so far to me. A bit too contrived. Terrible Jericho jumping into an RKO for no reason finish to boot.

Paige Vs AJ Lee Vs Nikki Bella: Paige is defending the title she won at Summerslam. She's an outright heel now, and that suits her better. This is the best she's looked so far. Very aggressive. Nikki looks good too. AJ wins the belt back with the Black Widow on Paige. Not sure the point of passing the belt back and forth between the two.

Brock Lesnar Vs John Cena: This is the rematch from the Summerslam mauling, and has that big match feel. Much more even match, with Cena trying to take it to Lesnar before he gets destroyed. I don't like the trope in big Lesnar matches of finishers being used as hope spots. Cena's entire offence is pretty much AAs and STFs. But both guys sell well, and put over the magnitude of the match. Another AA from Cena, and Rollins comes out to break the count. Just to clear up any controversy, Lesnar was already kicking out when Rollins came in. Rollins curbstomps Lesnar and is going to cash in, but Cena fights him off. Lesnar than F5s Cena to finish the show standing tall.

Match of the night: On a show where no match was truly bad, it was Cesaro and Sheamus who stole the show. 3 3/4 stars. 3 1/4 for the tag team title match, and 3 stars for the Lesnar/Cena rematch.

Show rating: A very good show up and down the card. Even the lesser stuff is still enjoyable. 3 1/2 stars.

 

[Cleavy]

10 hours ago, Yo-Yo's Roomie said:

WWE Night of Champions 2014.

The Usos Vs Goldust and Stardust: I refuse to call them 'Gold and Stardust'.

 

commentary nearly drove me insane.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

WWE Hell in a Cell 2014.

Mark Henry Vs Bo Dallas (kickoff match): Total squash win for Henry. As it should be.

Dolph Ziggler Vs Cesaro: So, Dolph is IC champ again. They really flip-flopped the title between he and Miz. This is a 2/3 falls match, and is predictably rather good. Not on the level of Cesaro/Sheamus of course. Dolph goes over 2 falls to 0. I don't mind 2 straight falls. It's predictable if you always do the deciding fall. It is frustrating though to see Cesaro constantly failing to win the big matches.

Nikki Bella Vs Brie Bella: Loser is sentenced to be the winner's butler. I actually enjoyed this quite a bit. Both women have improved a lot just in the last 6 months or so, it seems. And both have distinct styles that compliment each other. Brie is pretty over. Nikki wins clean with a Rack Attack.

Goldust and Stardust Vs The Usos: Rematch for the tag belts. Stardust is getting increasingly out there, and I can't decide whether I like it or not. I don't really think these two teams could have a bad match against each other. The Cosmic Twins (I like that name, even though it doesn't really make sense) use sneaky heel tactics to counter the Usos, and pull out a win to retain the belts. A bit of a departure from previous Usos matches, as it lacked a lot of the big nearfalls that they usually work into their matches.

John Cena Vs Randy Orton: I fell asleep 3 times trying to get through this match. It isn't unusual for me to fall asleep watching wrestling (I'm old), and it necessarily an indictment of the match. On the other hand, this match was dull as piss. As usual, the commentators are selling this as one of the most epic battles in wrestling history, the culmination of the greatest rivalry ever, etc etc. It doesn't exactly endear me to the match. The winner becomes number one contender to Lesnar's title. They don't do a lot with the cage. Some nearfalls. Mostly just big move, lay about, repeat. Cena sells way too much in some of these matches. Cena wins with an AA off the top through a table.

Sheamus Vs The Miz: So I guess Ziggler and Sheamus just switched dance partners. Mizdow is the main attraction here, in full mimic mode, taking bumps on the outside. The action inside the ring is pretty good too. Sheamus wins with a Brogue Kick, then does some silly stuff after the match, making Mizdow his puppet by moving Miz's unconscious body around. Very Being John Malkovich.

Rusev Vs The Big Show: Okay, this is what the Henry match should have been like. Show gets to dominate Rusev a bit before being slain. It just makes everyone look better and makes for a more complete match. This is about as dominant as a heel has ever been booked. He takes out Henry who is out to try to fire Show up, and then destroys Show, making him tap to the Accolade. Then stands over the fallen giants as his flag falls from the ceiling. What a hero.

AJ Lee Vs Paige: Paige looks 100 times better as an aggressive heel. AJ Lee matches are like 90% skipping at this point. Finish was kinda weird. They were doing something on the barricade and AJ yanked Paige off. Then Alicia Fox, who was seconding Paige, rolled Paige back into the ring to beat the count, but AJ whipped her straight into the Black Widow and Paige instantly tapped. Paige slapped Foxy after the match.

Seth Rollins Vs Dean Ambrose: Nice to see these two get the main event spot over Cena/Orton. Ambrose wants to start the match on top of the cell, so Rollins sends Noble and Mercury up. They get beaten with a kendo stick, but Rollins climbs up for the sneak attack. Ambrose and Rollins both end up taking dual announce table bumps from half-way up the cell, which was a cool spot and a good way to show how Dean is willing to destroy himself to destroy Rollins. Back in the cell Ambrose mostly dominates, seeing off interference from Kane. They really, really should have had Ambrose win this match, but they did the Wyatt interference instead to give Rollins the win. I actually liked the hologram thing, with Wyatt coming through the smoke to attack. It's just Ambrose really needed this win.

Match of the night: I actually think Show/Rusev might just take this. I give that about 3 1/4. Same for Cesaro/Ziggler. 3 stars for the tag title match and the main event cell match.

Show rating: A pretty consistently solid show, especially if you treat Cena/Orton as an intermission. 3 stars.

[twiztor]

you started this thread one day after Hell in a Cell aired. is this the end or are you going to catch up to real time?

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

I'm gonna keep going until I'm at the point where I started watching the shows regularly again, which was some point in 2016. I might just go to the beginning of 2017 to keep it nice and neat. 

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

WWE Tables, Ladders, Chairs... and Stairs 2014.

Goldust and Stardust Vs The New Day (kickoff match): Big E and Kofi on duty for the New Day. They're in pre-cool babyface mode here, but aren't getting completely shit on. This is a fun opening tag with New Day picking up the W. The Cosmic Twins are on the outs.

Luke Harper Vs Dolph Ziggler: Intercontinental title ladder match, with Harper defending. AKA Ziggler dies for our sins. Holy shit, this is brutal. Dolph is busted open, and is just taking some crazy bumps. These two guys clearly went out and decided they were going to steal the show, which you'd have to credit as good character work for Ziggler. I love when a ladder match goes the route of just being brutal, rather than having a bunch of contrived cutesy spots. Harper has to be an MVP contender for 2014 too. Ziggler recaptures the gold.

Damien Mizdow and The Miz Vs The Usos: So, the tag belts are on Miz and Mizdow now. I loved the act, but the flaw with putting the tag belts on them was that we ended up getting a lot of Miz wrestling handicap matches and being way too competitive in them. Crowd support for MIzdow growing by the week. This ends in a dq win for the Usos. Probably more angle advancement than match.

The Big Show Vs Erick Rowan: Here we are then, a fucking stairs match for your pleasure. What a terrible idea. Who thought a match built around stair usage would be entertaining, and that these two would be the guys to pull it off. If you are gonna run with a stairs match, it should have featured John Cena. He's the undisputed stairmaster of the WWE. So, this was mostly boring, and pretty silly. Oh shit, I forgot about Big Red too. Haha. One of the worst attempts to force a nickname on someone ever. Show goes over but they try to keep Rowan strong in defeat.

John Cena Vs Seth Rollins: Table match for a shot at Lesnar at the Rumble. Man, 20-plus minutes for a tables match. This was dull with a capital D. J&J ran interference throughout the early part of the match, before Cena took them out. Then there was a shmozz with a ref bump, and Big Show came out to aid Rollins. Finally, the Big Dog, Roman Reigns made his triumphant return from injury to even the odds and aid Cena with the win. Of course, Rollins would get added to that Rumble match anyway. Reigns's return was pretty well-received. No real sign of the storm cloud to come yet.

Nikki Bella Vs AJ Lee: Nikki is defending the divas title, and her and Brie are on the same page again. Very weird how they wrapped up that angle. Nikki is starting to look like a credible force now, and this is a decent match.

Ryback Vs Kane: Chair match. Oh boy. After the ladder match, these gimmick matches have been rough. Again, a totally uninteresting match, both on paper and in execution. Ryback finally wins, and the crowd is checked out.

Rusev Vs Jack Swagger: US title on the line. Rusev continues to roll. I've been surprised (very pleasantly so) at just how good Rusev has looked in his first year on the main roster. Sure, his matches have all been short, but there's nothing wrong with having consistently good short matches. This is another sprint, but has a good mix of strong selling (mostly from Rusev), big offence, and hope spots for Swagger to get the crowd into it. And Rusev wins again.

Bray Wyatt Vs Dean Ambrose: Ambrose again getting the big main event slot on ppv. It's like they knew what they had with him enough to keep him in the main events, but not enough to actually have him win any of them. Which isn't inconsistent with how WWE operated during this time. Anyway, these two go at each other with enough reckless abandon to keep this interesting for the most part, but the exploding TV finish is really lame, and ended the show on a sour note. Which isn't inconsistent with how WWE operated during this time.

Match of the night: By far and away it's the ladder match. 3 3/4 stars. I'd give 3 stars to the tag team kickoff match and the main event too.

Show rating: A very disappointing show overall, with long stretches of crap, and then a main event which ended on a complete downer. Watch the opener and then turn the Show Off. 2 stars.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

WWE Fastlane 2015.

Seth Rollins, The Big Show and Kane Vs Dolph Ziggler, Erick Rowan and Ryback: The Authority really were an all-time worst stable. Not exactly a thriller to open the show. Rowan as face in peril. Ziggler ends up taking the fall from a chokeslam from Kane, then the Authority continue the beatdown until Randy Orton makes his return from something or other and cleans house. Count the reasons I wouldn't enjoy this.

Goldust Vs Stardust: I enjoyed this. Kinda old school in that there was a lot of character work and stalling from Cody. You don't see a tonne of that anymore. This angle altogether was quite interesting to me, with Cody getting lost in the Stardust character and Goldust and Dusty trying to bring him back. It's a shame it was treated as something so low on the card, or it might have had more heat to it. Goldust picks up a win, but Cody attacks him in the back in front of Dusty.

The Usos Vs Cesaro and Tyson Kidd: Yes, I forgot about the Cesaro/Kidd team. I was a big fan of them. The Usos are defending the tag titles here. Good match as you'd expect, with Kidd and Cesaro taking the titles. Man, they really moved those tag belts around a lot during this period. 

Next was Triple H calling out Sting. Hunter's promo was kinda long and obnoxious in that Hunter kind of way, and I didn't buy at all this as some sort of dream match that we've all been clamouring for for years (and the match itself was pathetic, as it turned out). But otherwise this was a well-done segment. Sting didn't talk, which is a plus, and when the time came Trips stooged for and begged off from Sting. 

Nikki Bella Vs Paige: Oh dear, Paige is a babyface again, and thus reverts to being terrible. Nikki can't really carry this to something passable.

Bad News Barrett Vs Dean Ambrose: The IC title is back on Barrett. This was a fun match. The finish was one of those lame 'ref DQs the babyface because he won't stop kicking heel in the corner' deals, but otherwise these two seemed to have good chemistry. Ambrose stole the IC belt after the match, which I thought was funny.

Bray Wyatt came out in a casket to challenge the Undertaker. This was what it was.

Rusev Vs John Cena: Here we go. Big time feel to this. This could not not be good, right? Right. By far Rusev's biggest match, and probably his longest match, certainly on ppv, and he pretty much knocked it out of the park in that Rusev way. Cena sells way too much early on in matches sometimes, and this was one of those times. Rusev's selling was great, both of fatigue and of frustration that he couldn't dominate Cena like he's dominated so many others. He got to survive the STF and kick out of an AA too. Finally it took Lana distracting the ref and a low blow, followed by a thrust kick and Accolade to keep Cena down. Cue the celebrations. Annoyed that the announcers were going on about how this is in the records as a submission loss for Cena, even though he passed out in the hold. Graves even backed that up on the pre-show panel. Blatantly wrong.

Roman Reigns Vs Daniel Bryan: This is to decide the number one contender for the world title at Mania. It's noticeable early on that the crowd isn't really into this as much as you would think they would, or should, be. Whether that's just fatigue at WWE booking, the nagging feeling that kayfabe-wise, Bryan doesn't really deserve to be in this spot, or just a shit crowd, I don't know. But it was surprising. Fans be damned, this was a great match. Booked to make both guys seem pretty even, with Reigns getting the win with a desperation spear to counter the running knee. Reigns had already kicked out of one running knee. Between this and the Lesnar match, it was clear Reigns had arrived as a singles star. The two shook hands after the match, and Bryan told Reigns he better kick Lesnar's ass at Mania.

Match of the night: The top two matches definitely delivered, with the main event being the better of the two. 3 3/4 for that, 3 1/2 for Cena/Rusev. 3 stars for Ambrose/Barrett and the tag title match.

Show rating: While this may have seemed like a filler pay-per-view at the time, I thought this was a strong show in-ring wise. 4 3 star+ matches is a good showing, and it ensures 2015 begins better than 2014 ended. 3 1/4 stars.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

WWE Extreme Rules 2015.

Neville Vs Bad News Barrett (kickoff match): So I gather this was supposed to be Barrett challenging Bryan for the IC title, but obviously that never happened, so we get this instead. Neville has to be a contender for worst wrestling name ever. Neville is an old guy who wears socks and sandals, not someone to be taken seriously in a combat sport. This is a pretty good match, good contrast in styles, and a good strong win for Neville.

Dean Ambrose Vs Luke Harper: Chicago Street Fight. I love that wiki has this listed as going just under an hour. What happens is they leave the arena in a car, and then return later to finish the match. That's kinda silly (too often they did this goofy stuff with Ambrose), but the work itself here is pretty good. Harper hits a wicked powerbomb on Ambrose on a steel chair, which Ambrose really shouldn't be kicking out of, let alone going back on offence just moments later. I love how the ring is filled with chairs at the end, but Ambrose someone manages to miss them all when delivering the match-ending Dirty Deeds.

Sheamus Vs Dolph Ziggler: Kiss Me Arse match. It's funny- at the time of his comeback, I thought Sheamus looked ridiculous with the mohawk, but now I think that's a way better look for him than what he had previous. This was a fun match. They obviously match up well with Ziggler's strong suit being his bumping, and Sheamus having strong offence, but this goes beyond that and is actually a strong babyface performance from Ziggler in general, with his sympathetic selling and struggling to get Sheamus off his feet. Ziggler pulls out an upset win, but rather than adhere to the stips and kissing Ziggler's arse, Sheamus low blows him and rubs his face in Sheamus'. Good bit of heeling.

Cesaro and Tyson Kidd Vs The New Day: Kidd and Cesaro defending the belts, and embraced as babyfaces now. How could you not cheer this team? I get a bit sad watching Kidd now. Such a shame how he got hurt during the best run of his career. This is another strong match. Kingston and E on New Day duty again. Lots of near falls and big spots, before Kofi steals the win and the belts for his team. 

John Cena Vs Rusev: Russian Chain match. Okay, this match has obvious faults. The goofy lights indicating when a wrestler has touched a corner really makes this seem lame. You'd really want more hate and nastiness from a match like this. Where's Rusev dragging Cena around by his neck? The thing I probably hated the most is the use of Lana; the 'we want Lana' chants resulting in her climbing onto the apron and waving happily to the crowd, which leads to Rusev berating her and sending her to the back. First of all, it's so out of character for Lana to react like that when she's shown nothign but disdain for the American fans. Secondly, this runs totally counter to what we know about the Lana/Rusev relationship up to this point- Lana was always the one controlling Rusev, which is part of the appeal of the act. Those faults aside, I do think Cena and Rusev have really good chemistry. This isn't as good as the Fastlane match, nor from memory, is it as good as the Mania match, but I still enjoyed watching these two work together. I also liked the finish which was a twist on the old 'both guys touching the turnbuckles at the same time bit', as they were knocking off alternate buckles, and then both were left needing the same one, which led to a stand-off, and then finally an AA to secure the win for Cena. Yeah, I thought this was okay, all things considered.

Nikki Bella Vs Naomi: The Bellas are babyfaces again. These girls are like the Big Show of the women's division with their constant turns. Naomi has done her heel turn and usurped Paige as number one contender. Makes her a face in my book. Not a particularly good match.

Roman Reigns Vs The Big Show: Last Man Standing Match. I'm not typically a fan of last man standings, but this one hits all the right notes for me. Every now and then Show just nails a great big man performance, looking like an absolute beast, but being vulnerable at the right times. Reigns is great working from underneath, and I loved his 'gimmick' during this time of taking lots of abuse but not staying down. It seemed way more believable than your typical main event face getting beat up all match but overcoming the odds (not talking about anyone in particular there, honest guv). The big spots, like Reigns being chokeslammed through tables, and the old spear through the barricade, all looked good, and the counts didn't hinder the flow of the match, or seem like too much of a way to contrive a sense of drama. One gripe: the big spear through the announce table should have been the match-ender. Roman overturning the table onto Show, while it looked quite nasty, was unnecessary in my opinion, and the referee shouldn't count when Reigns was standing on top of the table anyway.

Next there was a bit with Bo Dallas coming out to cut a promo on the Chicago fans, only to get destroyed by Ryback. Ryback is dogshit.

Seth Rollins Vs Randy Orton: Steel cage match with Kane as the 'gatekeeper'. Yuck to this main event. Bring back Bo and Ryback. This worked best when Rollins was pinballing around for Orton, but that didn't last long and soon Rollins was on top with his boring heel offence. The big story here is whether or not Kane will do what's 'best for business' or who fucking cares. Jamie Noble sighting, which is always cool. I've been giving my dog drops in (yes, in) his penis this past week, and that's been a more pleasant experience than watching this match. It all breaks down and before you know it Kane is in the ring chokeslamming both men (all four if you count J&J), Orton is using the Pedigree, and finally Rollins is using the RKO before exiting the cage (in the most ridiculous manner ever, I might add- I don't know if he was trying to wrench a last droplet of drama out of the match by pretending he was having a stroke as he crawled out the door or what). I'm actually angry watching this as the fans are yes chanting for Randy Orton. Have some fucking self respect.

Match of the night: Hands down the LMS between Reigns and Show. 3 3/4 stars. I might go 3 1/4 for Sheamus/Ziggler and the tag title match, and 3 stars for the chain match, the Chicago street fight and the kickoff match.

Show rating: This is a sneaky good card, and you might be looking at one of the best top to bottom cards in company history if that cage match didn't happen. This seems to be a problem the company has been having for a long time- strong undercard, weak main event. We'll see if that continues throughout the year. 3 1/2 stars.   

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

Forgot to mention Kane taking the worst RKO bump ever in the main event. Kane not being able to take a front bump is nothing new, but you could have driven a bus through the space between his head and the mat on this one.

[(BP)]

It's crazy how many of these reviews I'll read where I'll get through like five matches before I realize I've seen the show before. 

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

WWE Payback 2015.

R-Truth Vs Stardust (kickoff match): Stardust has really fallen, jobbing to Truth on the pre-show. Pretty poor match.

The Ascension Vs The Meta Powers (kickoff match): Wait, were 'Macho Mandow' and 'Axelmania' really billed as the Meta Powers? That's what wiki has them as. This was such a terrible gimmick. Axel was entertaining doing his Axelmania stuff when it was just about him never being eliminated from the rumble, but WWE just turned it into a Hogan cosplay act. Sandow is one of the more poorly used guys, probably ever, and it's notable that he's still really over even doing this shit. Another poor match, with the Ascension going over. When did the kickoff show become an episode of Main Event?

Sheamus Vs Dolph Ziggler: This feud continues, and they turn in another solid match here. Much more dominant display from Sheamus here, and more decent selling from Ziggler. Ziggler gets his revenge from the kiss me arse finale by rubbing Sheamus' face into his, well, his hip. Sheamus should have leaned into the spot a bit more. Nice finish with Ziggler hitting a desperation headbutt, but busting himself open, allowing Sheamus to hit the Brogue kick and pick up the duke.

The New Day Vs Cesaro and Tyson Kidd: Kingston and E on duty for New Day again. This is 2/3 falls. WWE was really in love with this gimmick during this time frame, without ever knowing how to really utilise it. Good match, with Kidd as a strong face in peril, and Cesaro showing off some impressive spots. Anything with Cesaro and E going at it is gold. Cesaro and Kidd win the first fall, but New Day take the next two (with Xavier sneaking in and pinning Cesaro with a small package for the decider) to retain the belts. I hope that isn't the end of Cesaro and Kidd as a team.

Ryback Vs Bray Wyatt: Has the feel of a thrown together match to get both guys on the card. Ryback needs to stop having solid matches. It interferes with me talking about how worthless he is. Yeah, this is decent, two big guys throwing offence at each other stuff, with Wyatt picking up the win.

John Cena Vs Rusev: I Quit match. The last encounter between the two (for now), and the weakest of the 4 show stretch. Rusev is great with his character work and selling as always. Cena seems to have really regressed as a worker during this period. Ironic with how much praise he was getting at this time. PWG Cena and all that. In these matches with Rusev he just comes out of the gate and immediately starts selling like he's taken the beating of a lifetime. The way this match is worked just seems odd to me. Like, both guys have submission finishers, so maybe trying to get your opponent in one of those to say I quit? Instead it's just hit move, "ask him", "no", ad nauseum. Then they recreate the bit from the Orton/Cena iron man where Orton tries to blow Cena up with pyro. Which I hated then and hate now. Finally Rusev locks on the Accolade, but Cena passes out, revealing a flaw in the I Quit match. Rusev revives him, but Cena locks on an STF (assisted with the top rope that Rusev has detached- again borrowed from another match), and Rusev starts yelling in Bulgarian, leading to Lana declaring that he quits. I thought that worked as a finish at least, to somewhat protect Rusev's character, and build on the breakup of Rusev and Lana (which shouldn't have happened, but, y'know?).

The Bella Twins Vs Naomi and Tamina: Not a good match by any stretch of the imagination. I'm still not sure why anyone thinks Naomi is any good, and Tamina has never been good at anything other than kicking people in the face. Which she does here. And it's probably the highlight of the match. The divas division needs some fresh blood stat.

Neville Vs King Barrett: A rematch of the king of the ring final. A step down from their pre-show match from Extreme Rules. Barrett takes a deliberate countout loss.

Seth Rollins Vs Dean Ambrose Vs Roman Reigns Vs Randy Orton: Everything from the moment the (former) Shield powerbomb Orton through the announce table on is really good and heated. Nice genuine moment when Ambrose and Reigns powerbomb Kane onto Rollins, who is lying on the other announce table; the table doesn't break leading in a 'more more time' chant from the fans- cut to Reigns who looks at Ambrose and says "get him up again", and a big smile breaks out on Ambrose's face. Nice to see guys reacting to the crowd. And the table broke on the second attempt, so it has a happy ending. That leads to a fun sequence between Reigns and Ambrose, with the two (three if you count Kane) dullards laid out on the outside. The story going in is that if Rollins doesn't retain his title, Kane is fired as director of operations. They teased dissent all night, but pretty much straight away Kane, along with J&J, is running interference for the champ. Orton and Rollins return for a hot finishing stretch, ending with Kane taking another awful RKO bump, and then Rollins hitting a piss poor Pedigree on Orton. Still, the match ended up being way better than it was shaping up to be.

Match of the night: A couple of contenders, but I'd say the main hit higher highs, and thus gets the nod. I have that, Ziggler/Sheamus and the tag title match at 3 stars.

Show rating: An overall fun show with the only real misstep being the I Quit match. 2 3/4 stars. 

 

 

[John from Cincinnati]

I enjoyed that Ryback-Wyatt match more than most people would find acceptable. 

[Just Dave]

It's gotten to the point where I laugh in such a distinct way when Tamina superkicks some yak into the fifth row that my wife instantly knows whats happening when she hears it...