Smackdown
Date: November 21, 2014
Location:
Thompson-Boling Arena, Knoxville, Tennessee
Commentators: Tom
Phillips, Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
It's the final show
before Survivor Series and we're all the way up to five matches for
Sunday. With the addition of the always treasured Divas elimination
match, the card....is pretty much exactly the same as it was on
Monday. There's a major change to Sunday's main event announced
though so things aren't all finalized. Let's get to it.
We open with a recap of
the Authority forming their team and decimating Team Cena. This
turns into a music video like you would see on a pay per view.
Cole brings out HHH to
open the show. We recap Sunday's main event in case the video you
saw two minutes ago didn't get the message across. HHH basically
tells Cole to shut up but Cole goes into a list of various sports
teams winning that would be similar to Team Cena winning on Sunday.
The boss sucks up to the fans before saying their opinions are
worthless.
Cole asks if this is
all about the Authority's egos but HHH goes into a rant about his
legacy and how he became a huge star in the Attitude Era and lists
his name alongside Hart, Austin and Rock. Now some people could
argue that some of them were bigger stars than him or that that they
were more popular, but he's the only one still around. He's still
here because he's always been smarter than all of them, just like
Vince.
HHH talks about how
brilliant Vince was and how he's been the constant in WWE all these
years. There are only two people that can follow Vince's footsteps:
the Authority. Without them, this place has two years max. Without
them, the WWE has no future. HHH brings up Cole's sitdown interview
from earlier in the week with John Cena but he'd like Team Cena to
come out and see it for themselves.
The clip is Cole asking
Cena if he's responsible for what happens to his teammates at
Survivor Series. Cena says he's asking his teammates to put their
livelihood on the line. If they lose, the Authority will be all over
them and that's something they have to risk. He doesn't actually
answer the question though. Back in the arena, HHH says that when
Team Cena loses on Sunday, they're all fired. Well other than Cena
of course because he's good for business. Team Cena is all stunned
as Rusev and Lana come out for the first match.
Rusev
vs. Dolph Ziggler
Non-title. Rusev
quickly knocks Ziggler out to the floor but Dolph comes back in and
hammers away. That's fine with Rusev who throws Dolph into the
corner and stomps Ziggler down, only to eat a dropkick. Another
dropkick puts Rusev on the floor but he whips Ziggler hard into the
steps as we take a break. Back with Dolph fighting out of a chinlock
and avoiding a charge in the corner.
Rusev's powerbomb is
countered into a sunset flip for two before a superkick gets the same
for Ziggler. JBL talks about how he'd turn on Cena to keep his job
as Rusev throws Dolph out of the corner to take over again. Ziggler
escapes the Accolade and nails a quick Zig Zag for a delayed two.
Back up and Rusev avoids the Fameasser before the jumping superkick
ends Dolph at 10:18.
Rating:
C+. This was about what I
expected. At least Ziggler has lost the title so the belt isn't hurt
by another loss and Rusev gets to rack up another big win. That
superkick as a finisher is going to work better for him as he rises
up the card as some guys just aren't going to lose to a submission
hold no matter what.
Rusev
Accolades him for good measure.
Kane
is on the phone when an unseen someone comes in for a talk.
Kofi
Kingston's New Day video.
After
a break, Cesaro is in the back with Kane. Cesaro may not be an
official member of Team Authority but his loyalty will be rewarded
after Sunday. Kane needs
one more thing from Cesaro though: slaughter Erick Rowan.
Miz/Damien
Mizdow vs. Los Matadores
The
Dusts and Usos are on commentary to give us a seven man booth. Miz
works on Diego's arm to start but gets chopped to the ropes. We get
a criss cross until Fernando
knocks Mizdow off the apron, only to eat a forearm from Miz. The
Reality Check is countered but Mizdow tags himself in and hits it
with ease. That's too much for Miz who tags himself in and has the
Finale countered. The masked men send them outside and Miz is thrown
onto the Usos. Of course Mizdow launches himself onto the Dusts,
leaving Diego to hit a high cross body on Miz for the pin at 2:40.
Here's
Dean Ambrose to talk about his survival kit for Bray Wyatt. Dean
talks about having a screw loose and how he isn't going to change for
anyone. When he was a kid, his mom gave him a $20 bill to go buy her
cigarettes and lottery tickets. He ran into some older guys who beat
him up and robbed him.
Dean
went home and told his mom what happened, so she gave him a pair of
brass knuckles. They were his survival kit back then but now his
survival kit is every single part of his body. On
Sunday, Dean is going to use every part of his body to send Bray
running back to the woods. Now he's the hunter and Wyatt is the
prey. On Sunday, he's going to be put down.
Wyatt
pops up on screen from inside a prison cell. He asks Dean if this is
how he remembers his father, locked inside a cage like an animal.
Maybe Bray reminds Dean of his father right now. The apple doesn't
fall far from the tree, so this is Dean's future: being trapped
inside a prison of his own design, begging for freedom that he'll
never receive. It doesn't have to be like this though. Dean is
trapped inside a cell full of filth and it's never going to end.
AJ
Lee vs. Brie Bella
Non-title and AJ is
dressed as Nikki, complete with strategic stuffing. Brie takes her
down to start but AJ uses her enlarged hips to take over. Back up
and Brie sends her face first into the buckle a few times before AJ
does the same to her. Some right hands have Brie in trouble and it
turns into catfight mode until Brie counters into a half crab.
AJ grabs the ropes and
slaps on a guillotine choke. That goes nowhere so Brie dropkicks her
down and hits a running knee against the ropes. A missile dropkick
gets two on AJ but Nikki gets on the apron. AJ rams them together
for the pin on Brie at 3:23. You could see that one coming a mile
away.
Rating:
D. This would be the second
match in a row where the story was about someone dressing up as
someone else in the match. Aside
from that though, what happened to the whole personal servant thing
between the Bellas? They seem to be fine here and Brie has a reason
to fight AJ after AJ beat her up on Monday, so Nikki really didn't
need to be there. I'm actually not clear on who I'm supposed to
cheer or boo in this feud and I have a bad feeling we're just getting
a Bellas reunion out of it, three months after they first split. It
would make for quite the Total Divas season finale though right?
Video
on Sheamus' injury.
Erick
Rowan vs. Cesaro
Cesaro slaps the mask
off his face but Rowan easily knocks him outside. Back in and Cesaro
scores with a running dropkick, only to get caught in a bearhug.
Cesaro snaps Rowan's throat over the top rope and grabs a sleeper.
That goes nowhere so he heads to the top, only to be slammed down. A
pumphandle backbreaker and torture rack make Cesaro tap at 2:40.
This was just a step above a squash.
Harper comes out to
stare down Rowan post match but leaves before any contact.
Big E.'s New Day promo.
Team Cena, minus the
captain and with Rowan playing with a Rubik's Cube, talks about how
everything is on the line on Sunday. HHH's tactics didn't have the
intended effect because it just fires them up more. Ryback says
actions have consequences and his job being on the line just makes
him hungrier. Tonight, he and Big Show are feeding on Kane and
Rollins. Ziggler talks about the Authority costing him the
Intercontinental Title, which he shared with the entire WWE Universe.
He has nothing left to lose so he has nothing to fear. They can put
the Authority out of power and he isn't backing down now. Rowan:
“Freedom.”
Seth
Rollins/Kane vs. Ryback/Big Show
Ziggler and Rowan are
banned from ringside. Ryback drives Rollins into the corner to start
and Seth bails to the floor. Back in and Rollins hammers away but
Ryback takes him down with a Thesz press. Off to Big Show for the
loud chop in the corner before Ryback no sells Seth's chops. He
shoves Rollins into the corner and calls him stupid before planing
Seth with a powerslam.
Kane gets knocked off
the apron and Seth gets backdropped.....next to him as Kane
completely missed catching him. That one might be worthy of an ice
pack. Cue HHH and the rest of Team Authority as we take a break.
Back with Show slamming Kane for two but ducking his head and taking
a running DDT. Off to Rollins for some running kicks to the face for
two. Kane gets the same off an elbow drop and we hit the chinlock.
Show powers out of it and makes the hot tag so Ryback can clean
house, only to have Team Authority come in for the DQ at 10:25.
Rating:
C. This
was your standard main event tag and it was fairly obvious that we
were getting a run-in finish. It's a good sign that the fans were
into Ryback but there wasn't much interest outside of him. Granted
the fact that two of the others were Big Show and Kane probably had
something to do with it.
The
Authority beats down Ryback and Show until Ziggler comes out for a
failed save. Rowan comes out as well to take down Rusev and Henry
before going inside for the showdown with Harper. That
goes nowhere though as Kane chokeslams Rowan, only to have Ryback and
Ziggler get back in it. Henry and Rusev are back up as well though
and the Authority's advantage takes over. Big
Show does his war cry to alert the Authority that he's coming. The
Stooges get chokeslammed but HHH comes in with a chair to take down
the giant. All of Team Cena takes chair shots and Ryback takes a
Pedigree to end the show.
Overall
Rating: C-. This
was a pretty standard go home show when the entire pay per view is
about one match. They aren't even trying to hide the fact that they
don't care about anything else on the card and it's been old for
weeks. I'm so sick of hearing about the match that even if it's
good, which it likely could be, I'm so burned out on that I'm not
going to care as much as I should. Thankfully
some of the other matches on Sunday (as in the four others) got some
hype save for the Divas elimination match, but that might not have
been announced when this show was taped.
Results
Rusev b. Dolph Ziggler
– Superkick
Los Matadores b.
Miz/Damien Mizdow – High cross body to Miz
AJ Lee b. Brie Bella –
Rollup
Erick Rowan b. Cesaro –
Torture rack
Big Show/Ryback b. Seth
Rollins/Kane via DQ when Team Authority interfered
Remember to check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com and head over to my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:
http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6
Big E is not on the show. But KANE is being used as corporate muscle. In 2014.
ReplyDeleteAnd protected corporate muscle at that.
ReplyDeleteY'know, I think this Cesaro guy is really gonna have a bright future.
ReplyDeleteYeah. I had no problem with him being a member of the Wyatt family in 2013. He would have been fine as the "dog on the leash" being manipulated by Bray.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad Rowan is getting a push, simply because I think they need to push EVERYONE new at this point. But jobbing Cesaro that easily is counterproductive
ReplyDeleteYou think Scott would consider this gif post worthy? http://i.imgur.com/NP7iBdm.gif
ReplyDeleteI agree 100%. Bret regaining the belt, blowing off the Owen feud on Raw(s), and Diesel winning the Rumble in dominant fashion. Bret putting Diesel over clean and moving on to making up with his brother is the way I would have gone. That saves Michaels for Diesel with an appropriate build. Build to Bret & Owen winning the tag belts from Yoko/Hakushi (in lieu of Owen/Yoko being a team).
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the Sandow spot, but if they didn't jump the shark with it at HiaC, I would have liked it more.
ReplyDeleteSo after Worst in the World raved about how stupid the survival kit segment was going to be he basically came out and said and did exactly what Vince Jordan said he would. This should be fun.
ReplyDeleteGreat work by Triple H at the end, he really should be wrestling in the match, it fits his character.
ReplyDeletehahaha, Poor dean ambrose, he's just a comedy jobber now AMIRITE?? lulz
ReplyDeleteYeah, at least he put up a good fight against Ryback. This one worries me a bit.
ReplyDelete