How can you not love a world where wonders never cease? Nickelback wrote a really good rock populist anthem! What do we want? We want want change! How are we going to get there? REVOLUTION!!!
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| Now that's a Shining Star a wise man should follow |
WWE fans have been clamoring for change for the past couple years and reached a fever pitch at the last Royal Rumble 2013. The fans in attendance "hijacked" the show shitting all over the Cena/Orton match and actively booing the Rumble itself when Boo-tista won and Daniel Bryan was not even a participant. WWE channeled this into a angle known as #OccupyRAW where Daniel Bryan was granted the right to face HHH at Wrestlemania and if he won fight for WWE World Heavyweight Championship at the main event of Wrestlemania. We all know how that went. At the beginning of 2014, fans thought they were standing on the edge of revolution with likes of The Shield, Wyatt Family and Cesaro taking the mantle of WWE main eventers only to be bitterly disappointed and in my opinion there was no bigger disappointment than The Shield.
Beginning of the Year: Shield Reigns Supreme
It is no secret that I loved the Shield and thought they were redefining tag team wrestling in the WWE especially the six-man tag match. Their all-out, full court press, Havoc offense was so fresh and exciting. It was gritty, organic and heated. If a one member was in deep shit, you best believe the other two members were not just going to stand on the apron. They were going to fuck you up. Once they had the advantage, they were going to suffocate you. Believe the Hype and Believe In The Shield:
http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/04/believe-hype-shield-wwe-2012-2013.html
http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-shield-part-two.html
At start of 2015, rumors abounded that Shield break up was imminent with a triple threat scheduled for Wrestlemania (see the Shield/Wyatts RAW recap for the seeds they were sowing). I was disappointed that the best act would be ripped asunder when there was still so much potential left in the group. Before they were to be broken up, they passed the torch to the new three-man wrecking crew, the Wyatt Family. Elimination Chamber 2014 was the last PPV before the launch of the Network, which makes it the last PPV I did not see live. I heard all the hype about this great Shield/Wyatts match that tore down the house and was a match of the year contender. Come year's end, there are still people touting it as the best match of the year. That is not just the WWE they mean in the world including New Japan Pro Wrestling and CMLL. Thus there was no match I was more excited to watch than this masterpiece. It was an awesome, heated fight between the six hottest young wrestlers on WWE roster. The Wyatts defeated The Shield at their own game: divide & conquer and taking advantage of chaos. The torch was not passed. It was seized.
How do you follow up the front runner for WWE match of the year? You have the best RAW match of the year of course. Take that gritty PPV match and now add a ton of urgency. They were on pace to even top themselves, but I felt the match was a tad bit too short and the discord angle detracted from it a bit. It was incredible on how chippy and heated it felt. It was a badass match.
Much like Daniel Bryan, the plans changed and The Shield remained intact through Wrestlemania. CALLOOH! CALLAY! After all, there was a natural big match for The Shield. I mean Batista was back and Randy Orton & HHH had been paired for the past year. It was only natural that The Shield face the Evolution. Who was the baddest gang in town? Whose turf was this? The match was great, but a bit of letdown from the awesome violence of The Shield versus Wyatt Family. It felt like best possible standard WWE tag team match where they tacked on a big finish that was able to get it enough juice to be called great.
We all thought we were safe. The Shield would finish the feud with Evolution intact, on top, and hungry for more with possibilities being boundless. Then it happened. Seth Rollins took a chair to the back of his Shield brethren. He had sold out to The Authority for greater singles riches.
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| He did not sell out! He bought in! |
I remained optimistic as did many while others decried that the hottest act was just destroyed for no reason. I hate to admit it, but the demise of WWE has had a great adverse effect on the quality of the show. You could not count on a great Shield match a RAW.
Roman Reigns clearly has potential to be the next major WWE main event star maybe even at a level of John Cena, but has been exposed in his new singles role as the new two babyface in the company. This destructive force that ruled the hot tag like before him is having a hard time generating the same exciting all by his lonesome. The electricity is still generated when he is clearing the ring of the bad guys and delivering that sweet, sweet Superman Punch, but over the course of 15-20 minutes, it is not sustained. I never wish ill on anyone, but it may have been for the best that he was injured when he was to avoid his heat totally evaporating. On the other hand, he lost valuable time in the ring where he could develop his skills.
Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins have been in a weird booking limbo where they simultaneously look good and like shit. Seth Rollins has effectively been the number one heel in the WWE since September. That should be great. It just so happens to coincide with three most miserable months of the company. He is being forced to carry 20 minute RAW promos that are just monotonous and downright HHH-ish. I mean HHH from 2003 bad. Between him and Bray Wyatt, the WWE promo landscape is as boring as your Dentist's office with the same Supertramp soft rock on loop. In the ring, the Authority's poster boy has not been doing that much better for himself. The Cena feud has delivered some good matches, but nothing memorable and quite honestly nothing has even reached the level of their excellent 2013 Smackdown match. Much like Reigns, Rollins was best utilized keeping opponents off their feet with speed and be acceleration between The Shield's full court press. Unlike Reigns, I had liked some of Rollins' singles stuff as a member of the Shield, but he has not clicked as a singles heel yet. It has to due with the gimmick change. He is not suffocating opponents with speed and he is still trying to find his way as a chickenshit. I am sure he will find his way especially he seems generally well-liked by the Powers That Be Be. Dean Ambrose has received the worst booking of the three, but it is not as bad as some make it out to be.
Ambrose has main evented the last two out of three PPVs Meatloaf says that ain't bad. He was the number two babyface and is vying with Reigns for that title currently. With Bryan back, both should be taking a back seat. He got main event Hell in a Cell slot over John Cena against ex-partner, Seth Rollins. He has feuded with the resurgent Bray Wyatt the past two months in the second biggest program. It is amazing how hot that feud would have been in March, but fuck did I not give one single shit about it these past couple months. So his card positioning has been fine, but his character has been turned into a moody, sulky spaz that I just detest. His feud with Rollins, which should have been a slam dunk feud of the year was torture with all the start and stop bullshit. Even though they were able to overcome it and have the one great match any Shield member has had since the break up, their RAW Falls Count Anywhere match post-Summerslam. They ratcheted up the violence, but it never felt gratuitous or like a stunt show. Dean Ambrose hated Seth Rollins and was looking to exact revenge. Rollins was trying to survive and rid his life of his lunatic. It made for one helluva brawl. Once Kane got involved, it lost its luster as a heat brawl, but I thought the post-match angle was a great one to really build towards the proper blowoff. Then we got holograms and Bray Wyatt. Fuck WWE!
I don't want to end on a down note because Shield/Wyatts is one of the best damn matches of the year. It is violent, intense and weaves a great story. It is why I watch wrestling and definitely check out both matches!
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| A Pair of Positive Notes |
Match Listing:
The Shield vs Wyatt Family - WWE Elimination Chamber 2014 ****3/4
Front-runner for MOTY. Wyatts exploit chaos and numbers to fight with fire
The Shield vs Wyatt Family - WWE RAW 3/3/14 ****1/4
Urgency and hatred. Feels like a nasty All-Japan six-man from the 90s
The Shield vs Evolution - WWE Extreme Rules 2014 ****
Ambrose Swarms, Rollins Dives, and Superman Punches
Disappointing feud delivers one great, heated brawl between WWE's top young talent
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The Shield vs Wyatt Family - WWE Elimination Chamber 2014
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| Even, I'll admit "This Is Awesome!" |
It is crazy to think that if they pulled the trigger on a Dean Ambrose/Bray Wyatt feud at this point, I would have lapped it up. By November, I was actively rejecting it as one of the worst things on TV. It tells you how cold the product has gotten and cooled off these two molten characters are now. Ambrose was just rocking it as the firebrand that was the trigger for the chaos. I loved when everyone was turning to go to their respective corners, Ambrose just jumped the Wyatts. The tag wrestling in this was better than in the rematch. I loved how strongly they emphasized getting their opponent into their corner. That's the Shield to exploit the numbers game, but they may have met their match in the Wyatts that will throw that strategy right in their face. Rollins opening with speed to get Rowan into the Shield corner was perfect with Rowan bowling him over to escape. It put over how much strategy mattered in this match.
Roman Reigns versus Bray Wyatt felt huge during their showdown and I loved how Reigns fought through everything. Nothing was given, he had to go through the Wyatts. The beatdwon of Harper in the corner was just classic Shield. That's tag team wrestling baby! They do a great transition where Ambrose's temper gets the best of him as he takes a swipe at Bray on the apron and eats a Harper dropkick. What follows is just badass. Ambrose bites Rowan, Harper steps on Ambrose head and claws at his face. I love it, Michael! The swinging neckbreaker transition is super weak though. Rollins was a great house of fire with great speed moves and climaxing on an excellent suicide dive that got the crowd rocking. He gets the drive by knee, but whiffs on the Curb Stomp and eats a swinging powerslam. The Bray Wyatt senton on the outside looked nasty. My favorite spot of the match was Harper had Rollins by the hair just playing with his food and Rollins slaps him in defiance and Harper slaps the taste out of his mouth. That was powerful shit.
People talk up Ambrose's fighting from underneath prowess, but Rollins should not be underestimated as he fights in the corner with great urgency only for nasty Bray headbutts to keep him at bay. This match utilized Bray better as the game changer for his team. I like the idea of him letting his heavies do the dirty work, but if ever gets out of hand, he is there to keep in check. Ambrose makes the save for Rollins and eats a hellacious big boot from Harper. Rollins hits an enziguiri to get Reigns in the match (I am not digging these transitions). Reigns is so great in these hot tag situations and not just the typical Reigns offense, there is a nasty back elbow to Rowan that keeps you on your feet. In an electric moment, Reigns is thrown outside and just runs around the ring to kick Rowan's head in. AMBROSE SWARM!!! KATIE BAR THE DOOR! There is a pier-six brawl a brewin'! Harper suicide dive and Rollins says two can play at that game. Ambrose and Wyatt tumble into the crowd and Rollins gets double chokeslammed through the table. Hey, come the monitors did not explode when they were ripper out of the announce table. After more than a year of The Shield picking their opponents off one by one, The Wyatts gave them a taste of their own medicine. Now Reigns was left alone surrounded by the Wyatts just as he surrounded so many others. Luke Harper serves a beaten Reigns to his master. I loved how Reigns blocked Sister Abigail and turned it into a test of strength. SUPERMAN PUNCH! Reigns goes for the spear on Bray, but Harper takes the bullet for his leader. In the chaos, Bray hits his wicked cross body and Sister Abigail to win.
I loved the finish. The Shield's strategy was predicated on two tenets: create chaos and divide and conquer. The Wyatts took out two members of the Shield leaving Reigns alone and then in the chaos that ensued Bray Wyatt took advantage to win the match. The match weaknesses: the transitions were lame & uncreative and I would have liked more chippiness. They were too willing to just let one guy have his segment and that be that. The rematch thrives on that chaos and full court press by both teams. I think if you could combine the best parts of this match and the rematch, you would have all-time classic that really could rewrite how North American tag team wrestling is executed and presented. Still if anything can top this I will shocked. Cena/Lesnar had the big match atmosphere and the Bryan Wrestlemania matches will have emotion, but I don't think they can top the chaotic and violent feel of this. As is, it is still an incredible match from both an action and storytelling standpoint as the Shield essentially get beaten at their own game and the torch was seized by new three-man wrecking crew. ****3/4
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The Shield vs Wyatt Family - WWE RAW 3/3/14
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| CHAOS |
Let's talk Rowan, dude was a beast dismantling Ambrose and keeping him contained. Harper is the firebrand like an Ambrose he is going to get shit started and be a jerk. Rowan is there as a heavy hitter that is going to pummel you. Crowd chants for CM Punk, fuck them! If you want pro wrestling, watch what is going on in front of you, numbskulls. Ambrose hits a JBL-Orgasm-Inducing clothesline, but Harper hangs on to tag in Bray Wyatt. Ambrose with a DDT. Wyatt comes in and wipes Reigns out. Ambrose hits a DDT on Wyatt. Rollins is all pissy and leaves Ambrose hanging because of what happened earlier. Fine be a bitch, I am going to go destroy everything. Roman Reigns is an amazing ring clearing presence. The Superman Punch is just fucking cool. He just goes to town on the Wyatts. Ambrose holding Harper down for the Reigns dropkick was awesome. The Spear onto Rowan was badass and Harper wipes Reigns out with a suicide dive then sends Reigns flying. Somewhere in there, Ambrose was just swarming muthafuckas with punches. Wyatt picks his spot and hits his wicked cross body block on Ambrose and hits Sister Abigail as Rollins watches.
Finally, lets talk about Wyatt, who carefully waited in all the chaos with all the bodies piling up to attack Ambrose and swing the match in their favor. At Elimination Chamber, the Wyatts were able to out-Shield the Shield by taking out one at a time. Here, the Shield collapsed on itself and the Wyatts took advantage of the chaos to win the match. Rollins and Reigns were used perfectly to get the crowd hot as hell at the beginning and end. Ambrose anchored the middle and showed why he is an incredible face in peril. He can sell, but he is always fighting. It is always chippy. That's what made this match special was the constant struggle and urgency everyone displayed. This sounds shocking, but I thought this was a bit too short. I think they could have added more to the beginning and more to why Rollins was pissed to really drive home the point. As a fan of chaotic, urgent matches, there are none better this year. ****1/4
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The Shield vs Evolution - WWE Extreme Rules 2014
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| Beginning of the End |
I really do miss The Shield. Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns were just so much better as a package deal. All three members of the Shield came out looking like a million bucks in this. Rollins used to have such a great working punch, what the hell happened. I loved the use of a Rollins dive early to perk up the crowd. Ambrose has just been on fire in these matches. He wrestles with such a great urgency that it is irresistible. I know others have talked up his face in peril work, but really shined here. You can feel the anguish, but he was always fighting through it, always looking for that opening. Reigns is just perfect in those short hot tag bursts. Evolution were perfectly capable in their roles and each took turns showing a vicious side, but none of them could sustain high level of urgency like the Wyatts. The match overall resembled more closely a standard WWE tag match than a normal Shield match. It was a little too neat at time. Bless Dean Ambrose, he did his best to keep people on their toes, but overall it felt more normal. It was the best possible normal WWE tag match, but we did not get to see that typical havoc offense that Shield usually employs.
The high point before the big finish run was without a doubt the Dean Ambrose segment. From the get go, he burst into the ring and swarmed Orton. He was hitting anything that moves and was going to apply a figure-4. Reigns tried to take advantage of the chaos, but speared the ringsteps. A good example of how this was standard WWE was that Ambrose was forced to sell a weak submission breakup for a considerable length of time so not to upstage Reigns. Typically, Ambrose would keep it moving and wait for the big move to start selling, but because of a misstep in the layout he was forced into WWE box rather than doing the organic thing. Ambrose rocked the face in peril segment. I loved HHH's punch combinations in the corner and how Ambrose was throwing wild swings like Terry Funk. Ambrose staggering into a spinebuster was awesome. Back drop on the Pedigree and a DDT afford Ambrose to tag out. Again, transitions like that just lack creativity and I think Shield is better than that frankly.
The finish stretch is very exciting. Reigns rocks the hot tag as he usually does. Once the chaos kicks in, The Shield is really in the element. I am talking Rollins flying into TV screen from out of nowhere only to crash and burn or Ambrose jumping across two announce tables to swarm HHH and Orton. They actually cover pretty well for Batista and Reigns needing to sell for considerable amount of time while they arena brawled. Reigns took an RKO and Pedigree while Batista took the Triple Powerbomb. I am not thrilled about guys lying around and then popping up magically once Rollins hits his big dive. They at least tried to cover for it. Reigns and Batista work a short, fun sequence with a great Superman Punch and then Reigns channels the Ultimate Warrior's Gods to hit his spear. The Spear and Superman Punch should be his big transition moves. The powerbomb should be his finisher.
Straight up, I thought Evolution slowed Shield down a touch and limited them. I am not calling for a street fight or anything. Rather a return to that full court press and making everybody earn their offense. Also, I did not sense an overarching story. The transitions to the two face in peril segments did not really weave a story. One started by a HHH clothesline on Rollins and the other because someone broke up an Ambrose figure-4. The Shield really did not make any mistakes. Evolution did not really cheat. It is not like Evolution really leveraged their experience advantage. The Shield won because once the match broke down that where they are dangerous, but that was just the last quarter. Ambrose and Reigns gave stellar performances and Rollins was able to shine in his big spots. I would say Evolution's performance was too safe to take this to the next level. I would say this is the best possible version of WWE's sterile style, but they need to either add more hate or a story to take it to the next level. ****
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Dean Ambrose vs Seth Rollins - WWE RAW 8/18/14 Falls Count Anywhere
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| CINDER BLOCKS~! |
From my recollection, this was the best of the disappointing Ambrose vs Rollins feud. It should have been a slam dunk feud, but the WWE got in their own way and cooled this way down before the anticlimatic blowoff. I wanted to include something from the feud, but this is not a sympathy pick. Upon rewatch, I definitely think this holds up as one of the more better and more entertaining matches of 2014. It was not just a match filled with weapons and gimmicks. There was malice behind those shots from Rollins and hatred poured from Ambrose. Rollins turned his back on the Shield and screwed him out of the Money In The Bank contract and he was going to have to exact a modicum of revenge the only way it was afforded to him by beating the holy hell out of Rollins.
Rollins' working punch was on fire early and I loved that sense of struggle to begin the match. The Rollins throat thrust to take over was killer. Rollins gets a little too cocky and Ambrose blows him away with a dropkick. Ambrose tags him back with a throat thrust. I love the tit for tat. Ambrose bodyslams Rollins and the chair together and chairdrop from the top rope. Ambrose is kicking ass, but in desperation Rollins sends Ambrose into the chair. We come back from commercial to see Rollins crossfacing Ambrose with a kendo stick, I love it. Rollins playfully taps Ambrose face with the kendo stick and that pelts him with shots. There is a tenedency in these matches to focus on the spots and forget to be a heel. Rollins did not give an all-star heel performance, but there were glimmers. it helps Ambrose was giving a great babyface performance fighting through pain and whipping the crowd into a frenzy with his out of control antics.
The kendo stick catch and Ambrose hulk up only for Rollins to duck the lariat and hit a jumping high kick was perfect wrestling. They brought the crowd up and then cut them off. Really good shit. Maybe I have not been paying attention recently, but Rollins ought to bring back the roundhouse kick back. It is a great cutoff and he executes it so well. The double cross body block is killer and they really went all out on that collision. That's how you get a match over. I loved Rollins whacking Ambrose with a kendo stick to no avail to try to avoid being catapulted. They really kick it into high gear with Rollins powerbombing Ambrose through a pile of chairs and Ambrose superplexing Rollins through a table. Ambrose hits a wicked clothesline and Dirty Deeds (I am glad they changed that to a double arm DDT), but Kane interferes. Ambrose hits out of control suicide dive onto Kane and Rollins. He has Vegas rocking, BABY! Ambrose runs across the announce tables to SWARM Rollins and Kane. He is outgunned. Rollins hits a nasty curb stomp on the announce table and then one through the cinder blocks to send Ambrose to Hollywood.
I thought the Curb Stomp on the table actually looked better than the gimmicked the cinder blocks. They overthink these things. The big negative is no doubt the selling. Being powerbombed on a pile of chairs and then superplexing someone through a table is a bit much. Ambrose did a relatively good job to fighting through pain unlike Rollins, whose selling was lacking. Also, I would have liked to see Rollins be more heelish. There were times when it was apparent, but that it became more about trading spots. What carries this is that you want to see Ambrose kick Rollins ass, but if Rollins is not reminding us he is a backstabbing chump then it takes a bit of wind out of the sails. The good definitely outweighs the bad. It was never a mindless brawl with you hit a move then I hit a move. Each move had weight and there was a great sense of urgency from both men in their movements. You definitely felt like both men hated each other and there was a reason for why they were inflicting so much pain. Rollins was trying to put Ambrose out so he can cash in Money in the Bank and Ambrose wanted to hurt Rollins for all he did. Both succeeded in beating the hell out of each other, but with a little help from his friend, Rollins got the upperhand. Definitely one of the better brawls of 2014. ****1/4
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While The Shield may have ended the year sour, our next spotlighted star did not. It is "The Showoff" Dolph Ziggler who after years floundering in midcard limbo scored a huge upset victory at Survivor Series to vanquish The Authority for one month and then followed it up with one of the most violent and brutal matches to ever take place in a WWE ring with Luke Harper in a Ladder Match of the Intercontinental Championship.
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While The Shield may have ended the year sour, our next spotlighted star did not. It is "The Showoff" Dolph Ziggler who after years floundering in midcard limbo scored a huge upset victory at Survivor Series to vanquish The Authority for one month and then followed it up with one of the most violent and brutal matches to ever take place in a WWE ring with Luke Harper in a Ladder Match of the Intercontinental Championship.
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| I'm taller than him :) |
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