Smackdown – February 14, 2014

Date:
February 14, 2014

Location:
Citizens Bank Business Arena, Ontario, California

Commentators:
Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield

Reviewed by Tommy Hall

It’s
Valentines Day and we’re getting a nice gift in the form of Cesaro
(now minus the Antonio) vs. Randy Orton in the fourth part of Orton’s
Elimination Chamber gauntlet. Cesaro is rapidly gaining popularity
and it would seem a face turn is imminent. Other than that we might
get more on the Daniel Bryan vs. Kane feud. Let’s get to it.

Opening
sequence.

Christian
and Rollins get things going but Seth quickly takes him into the
corner for the tag off to Reigns. Roman catches a cross body attempt
but gets popped in the face with a right hand. Sheamus comes in for
the big power showdown and they slug it out for a bit before Sheamus
hits the rolling fireman’s carry for two. Reigns comes back with a
knee to the ribs and brings in Ambrose who gets taken down by a
running ax handle.

The
fans demand Bryan and get their wish, followed by some rapid fire
kicks in the corner. A top rope hurricanrana gets two and there’s
the YES Lock but Shield comes in for the save and we have a standoff.
Back from a break with Bryan fighting out of a chinlock and sending
Rollins into the top turnbuckle, allowing him to tag off to Sheamus.

The
pale one slides to the apron and comes back with the ten forearms to
the chest but the other Shield members get involved to take over.
Reigns does that awesome dropkick from the floor to the apron before
LAUNCHING Sheamus into the barricade. That’s not something you see
too often. Ambrose comes back in to stomp away in the corner before
it’s off to Reigns again for hard shots to the head and ribs.

We
hit the front facelock for a bit but Reigns lets it go to knock Bryan
off the apron but walks into the Irish Curse. Rollins comes in and
takes a swing at Christian but only hits air before missing a
backsplash to Sheamus. Hot tag brings in Christian to face Ambrose
and a tornado DDT gets two on the US Champion.

Everything
breaks down and Bryan takes out Reigns with the FLYING GOAT. Rollins
takes him down with a suicide dive of his own though and it’s
Christian hooking the reverse DDT for two on Dean but the Brogue Kick
misses Ambrose and takes out Christian. Reigns spears Sheamus down
and Ambrose pins Christian at 12:45.

Rating:
C+. This was more about the
good guys building drama amongst themselves before they head into the
Chamber in a little over a week. There weren’t any problems for
Shield this time which is a good thing before their big six man tag.
This was the usual Shield six man so it was fine all around.

Zeb
Colter asks Vickie Guerrero to be his valentine but she’s not falling
for it. Colter wants an Intercontinental Title shot for Jack Swagger
but Vickie says he has to beat Rey Mysterio. That’s fine with Zeb
but Vickie makes it a fourway with Kofi Kingston and Mark Henry
filling the other spots. Vickie shoves the chocolates into Zeb’s
chest, meaning she’s a face now?

Cesaro
(officially without the Antonio) says he’ll win tonight and then take
the title at Elimination Chamber.

Lita
Hall of Fame video.

One
fall to a finish and the winner
gets Big E. (on commentary) for the Intercontinental Title at
Elimination Chamber. Henry quickly throws Swagger
to the floor but gets taken down by Kofi and Rey. The two speed guys
get to have a showdown with Rey dropkicking Kofi for two but they
have to eliminate Swagger again. Kofi dives over the top to put Jack
down again and Rey hits a running seated senton from the apron.
Henry is back in and loads up a dive of his own, only to have Swagger
take out his leg.

Two
straight Vader Bombs have Henry in trouble but Jack has to
clothesline Rey down for two. Mysterio
comes back with a top rope seated senton for two followed by the
sitout bulldog for two more with Kofi making the save. Rey is sent
into the post before Kofi bounce up the ropes and dropkicks Swagger
down before hitting the Boom Drop. Rey gets knocked off the apron
again and Swagger loads up Kingston in a superplex. Henry tries to
make it a Tower of Doom but Kofi holds on, meaning it’s only a
powerbomb to Swagger.

Henry
cleans house but Swagger takes out the leg again and puts on the
Patriot Lock, only to have Mark kick him off. Rey hits a 619 to
Mark’s ribs and Kofi adds Trouble in Paradise but Jack is on his feet
again. Kofi grabs a German
suplex on Rey but Jack suplexes both of them at once in a nice power
display. Kingston is sent to the floor but slides back in to break
up a 619 attempt. Henry makes the save but gets kicked to the floor
by Kofi. The distraction lets Swagger catch Kofi in the Patriot Lock
for the submission at 8:35.

Rating:
C+. Nice match here with everyone doing their job perfectly. I
didn’t see the Mysterio knee injury but I’d guess it was on the
seated senton from the apron as he went off camera for a few minutes
as a result. Swagger getting the shot is a good enough choice as he
was the only heel here and Henry vs. Big E. does nothing for me.

Raw
ReBound covers Betty White and the Outlaws.

Bad
News Barrett says American women are going to gain several pounds by
tomorrow morning and be ashamed of what they see in the morning. Is
there a point to this character coming anytime soon?

Billy
and Goldust get things going with Gunn taking an atomic drop and the
uppercut for a quick two. Off to Road Dogg vs. Cody with the sunset
flip out of the corner getting two on Roadie. A clothesline gets the
same and it’s off to an armbar from Rhodes. Jimmy comes in off the
tag to stay on the arm and a double elbow gets two for the twins.
Road Dogg takes Jey into the corner and it’s off to Axel for a
dropkick. Ryback comes in for some driving shoulders in the corner
and a hard slam as we take a
break.

Back
with Ryback elbowing Jey in
the face and handing it off to Billy again. The Stinger Splash hits
buckle and a double tag brings in Road Dogg and Jimmy. Everything
breaks down with Jimmy cleaning house and hitting the running Umaga
attack in the corner. Cody dives over the top to take out Axel but
Ryback throws him into the barricade, only to walk into a Golden
cannonball off the apron. A double superkick drops Road Dogg, Jey
dives on the other heels and
Jimmy hits the Superfly Splash for the pin at 11:00.

Rating:
C-. This did its job but wasn’t the most interesting match in the
world. Most importantly of all though it gets us closer to the Usos
getting their Tag Titles which they earned about two years ago.
Ryback and Axel have nowhere to go at this point and I have no idea
what’s next for Goldust and Cody. The tag division has a lot of
names in it right now but it’s not a very deep talent pool.

Randy
Orton says this gauntlet is just to make him better and all that
matters is him being champion. Tonight, Cesaro gets the Viper.

Lana
says Alexander Rusev isn’t coming to make friends.

Titus
O’Neil is on commentary. Young catches Sandow in a quick atomic drop
and clotheslines him out to the floor. Back in and Damien gets a
knee to Darren’s ribs but You’re Welcome is countered into a rollup
for the pin by Young at 1:07. So much for rebuilding Sandow.

Titus
goes after Darren post match but Young rips his pants off. I’ll let
you make your own jokes.

The
Bellas show us how to use the WWE Network.

Miz
dropkicks the knee out to start and rains down left hands in the
corner but Fandango comes back with an atomic drop. A nice dropkick
gets two and we hit the chinlock on Miz. It’s
quickly broken and Miz fights back with some basic stuff and the
Reality Check but gets kicked shoulder first into the post. This
brings out Santino and Emma for a distraction and a cat fight
between Emma and Summer. Distraction, Skull Crushing Finale, pin on
Fandango at 3:47.

Rating:
D. At least it was the better
finisher. I’m not sure how I’d react if we got through a week of
shows without the distraction finish. Santino and Emma are a decent
enough cute pair but Emma is going to have to get away from him if
she wants to get over. Santino is going to overshadow whoever he’s
with due to how over the top he is and there’s not much of a way
around that.

Bobo
Brazil video.

In
the sitdown interview of the week, HHH said he thinks Cesaro might be
the wildcard in the Chamber. Cesaro chases Orton to the floor to
start but doesn’t go after him. They do the same thing again before
Cesaro takes him to the mat and hits the gutwrench for two. A
running European uppercut in the corner gets two more and they both
head outside. Orton reverses a whip into the barricade and
clotheslines Cesar as we take a break.

Back
with Orton ramming Cesaro into the announce table and taking him
inside for a chinlock. The fans chant WE THE PEOPLE and Cesaro
fights out, only to lose a fist fight and get elbowed to the mat.
Cesaro rolls outside and catches Orton with a big clothesline of his
own and counters the Elevated DDT into the Swing. Randy can barely
get to his feet but is able to backdrop out of the Neutralizer.
Cesaro lands on his feet but runs into the powerslam for two.

Now
the Elevated DDT connects and Orton points to the sign to make this
serious. He spends too much time walking around though and it’s
Swiss Death for two. They head to the corner where Orton tries a
superplex but Cesaro counters into a sunset bomb. A discus uppercut
sets up the Neutralizer for the completely clean pin at 12:44.

Rating:
B-. Well you can’t give much
more of a rub than that. However I’d be much happier with this if
Kofi Kingston hadn’t gotten the same kind of a win just a month ago.
Cesaro is a guy that could be world championship material with a good
push (meaning getting away from Swagger) but I have a feeling this is
just for the Chamber and then it’s back to nothing for not-Antonio.

Cesaro
waves to Orton to end the show.

Overall
Rating: B. Another good
Smackdown tonight with some nice action and angle advancement which
is all you can ask for anymore. Unfortunately I don’t think tonight
is going to mean much. Cesaro isn’t winning the title and while
Sheamus and Christian had some problems, I can’t imagine it’s anyone
but Orton, Bryan or maybe Cena walking out of the Chamber with the
title. Randy has to be the
favorite even though he’s lost three out of his last five matches and
might even lose to Sheamus on Monday, making him look like a lame
duck champion heading into Wrestlemania.

The
rest of the show was good stuff with a nice six man, a good four way,
a watchable eight man and a short Miz match that involved good
looking women fighting. That’s
not bad at all when you consider what Smackdown means in the grand
scheme of things anymore. Cesaro winning made me smile, but I can’t
imagine it’s anymore more than false hope.

One
more note: the spoilers I read said there was an Eva Marie vs. Alicia
Fox match taped with Eva winning via rollup but there was no sign of
it at all here.

Shield
b. Christian/Sheamus/Daniel Bryan – Ambrose pinned Christian after
a Brogue Kick from Sheamus

The
Miz b. Fandango – Skull Crushing Finale

Jack
Swagger b. Kofi Kingston, Rey Mysterio and Mark Henry – Patriot
Lock to Kingston

Usos/Cody
Rhodes/Goldust b. New Age Outlaws/Ryback/Curtis Axel – Superfly
Splash to Road Dogg

Darren
Young b. Damien Sandow – Rollup

Cesaro
b. Randy Orton – Neutralizer