Believe In The Shield: Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose (WWE, 2013)

Hey yo Studmuffins and Foxey Ladies,

Mad Max was totally different than I expected. I was expecting a leather-clad badass action flick instead it was this absurd, entertaining, British Sci-Fi movie. Toe-cutter, with the one shaved eyebrow and top know, vaulted himself immediately to one of my all-time favorite bad guy. Even though, it was totally different than expected, it was a riot to watch and a really fun movie.

Looks like I got a new look for the club!

Mad Max had a huge influence on pro wrestling spawning gimmicks like Lord Humongous and the Road Warriors. The Shield have already surpassed the Road Warriors (yes, this is going to be my segue way) as workers and in a modern context are the biggest tag team draw since the TLC days of Edge & Christian, Hardyz and Dudleyz.  Where we left off in the summer of 2013, there may have been some doubt that would reach the heights at their gimmick seem to promise them when they first debuted in late 2012. However, they were such a perfect fit for the Authority storyline that their stock skyrocketed and has led to being one of the top headlining acts going into next week's Extreme Rules PPV against Evolution. So lets break down each member of the Shield because what makes the Shield so special is that all seem to be equals while all being very different from each other.

Roman Reigns is the easiest member of the group to define. He is the powerhouse, the muscle of the unit. However, it is easy to overlook the minor details that make him so special. He moves incredibly well for a man his size. He brings a lot of high impact, athletic spots to the table. His superman punch is a thing of beauty and if it is timed right in the course of the match it can pop a crowd huge. The first time he did the dropkick on the apron, I went bezerk. It has lessen a bit, but it is still a great spot. In addition, as a heel, he bumped really well for a man his size and he was never afraid to make a babyface look good. Being selfless in the ring is critical to getting a match over and in turn getting everyone over. Finally, it has been a recent development, but he has started to show that cool charisma that is really going to get him over the hump. It all goes back to what Kevin Nash said you need in a top star "Women want to be with him and men want to be him". From chatting with some fans at a recent Boston Smackdown! taping I think Roman Reigns will unify the audience and crossover in a way Cena or Bryan really cant. I am not saying it is set in stone, but of all the guys on the roster and if I was Vince McMahon that would be my pick for the next star. 

If Roman Reigns is going to be the next big star for the WWE, Seth Rollins is going to be the next great worker in the WWE. I really hope he does not get typecast into a high-flyer, speed guy role when he is such a well-rounded performer. He throws an excellent worked punch, bumps like a mania, has excellent timing and knows how to engage a crowd. When I watched the Shield wrestle twice at the Smackdown! taping in Boston what struck me the most was how hard Rollins was working to keep the crowd into it. The first match was against the fun jabroni team, 3MB, but it was a foregone conclusion and the crowd just was not into it. But Rollins was flying all around, clapping his hands, talking trash and stomping his feet. Even though, the crowd never got that hot, it was not silent either and that is because Rollins never forgot what the purpose of wrestling is. The way he wrestles I just can tell he grasps wrestling at a higher level than most. It is the little things like counting how many wrestlers he had to face in the handicap match to put over his dire situation. It is not hitting highspots to get yourself over when you are the heel, but timing them as transitions to back to heat. It is about always talking trash and engaging your audience. When I started this project, I was a huge Roman Reigns fan and now at the end I am a huge Seth Rollins fan.    

Dont be shocked, that praise is well-deserved, brutha!

Dean Ambrose is the oddball of the group both in a kayfabe and real-life sense. There will be always be a place for a Reigns or Rollins, but Ambrose seems more likely to be a boom or bust guy. He is supposed to the off-kilter lunatic of the Shield. However, they do not always play this hilt. You would like to see more storyline where he goes off for no reason and his mouth gets him in trouble and Rollins and Reigns keep getting dragged into his mess. It feels like they just are not booking him as full bore as they did with other firecrackers like Pillman and Piper. He was initially positioned as the singles breakout star by being given the US Championship, but it is now a running joke that he never defends it. That's not his fault, just odd booking. Reigns and Rollins benefited from being in the best feud of 2013 against the Brothers Rhodes. Ambrose just was not given that many chances to stand out. He does do some little thing really well. When I watched the Shield live at Survivor Series, I liked how he was eliminated early because he lost his temper. It fit his character really well. Or in the Wyatts RAW match where in the midst of chaos he just shove Bray down it was just so non-wrestling, but something you would do if you were in an actual bar fight. Clearly once I re-watched the CM Punk match from this past December it is clear he has a ton of talent. I think his problem has been twofold. One, he just has not had the same opportunities. Two, he has the complex gimmick of three to get over. He needs to find a way to maximize his airtime to get his character over.

Overall, The Shield has been a huge factor in the resurgence of the WWE's in-ring product and going forward they may even be a huge factor in its resurgence in the mainstream and pop culture.

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The Shield vs Team GOAT - RAW 09/23/13

Given how common the acronym GOAT is, I cant believe WWE does not use it as Daniel Bryan's nickname. The Authority in an effort to prove they are fair and balanced and in reaction to the previous week's locker room clearing brawl between the midcard babyfaces and the Shield, booked an inverse handicap match where the heels were at a disadvantage 11 on 3. When I first saw this live, I was in awe of how well booked and entertaining this was. It seems so opposite of what makes wrestling work, but this was really good. Upon rewatch, I think holds up as one of the best matches of 2013 and one of the most unique of all time.

WWE has gotten a lot better in the past year of using the beginning of matches to establish the context and story of the match and build from there. The babyfaces have the numbers game, but if the Shield can keep everything in their corner they have effectively created a 3-on-1 handicap match. That is why this match works so well it is actually a normal wrestling match disguised as a something contrary to wrestling logic. The Shield works this beautifully conscientiously working to always keep their body in between their opponent and the corner. From there, The Shield just picks off the babyfaces one by one. Earlier in the night, RVD was injured by Del Rio and Kingston by a temper tantrum throwing Randy Orton (could be the other way around) and were easy pickins for the Shield. The US Champion Ambrose gets the pin on both with his finish. "Big Deal" Titus O'Neil and his badass bark are in to staredown Reigns. You heard it here first, future Wrestlemania Main Event. This is the match that got Reigns and the Spear over. He was having kickass performances before this, but this is when people took notice. He went on a tear and eliminated Titus, Gabriel and Ryder with the spear. Until young Daniel enters the ring and is a house a fire. With a little help from the Usos, Reigns is eliminated by an Uso splash. The Shield, which was riding high, has been taken down a couple notches. This was perfect timing get rid of some deadweight, get Reigns over and then BOOM you are reminded of the disadvantage the Shield faces. Darren Young gets a nice little sequence before a flying Rollins knee to the head takes him out. The Shield start to get cocky again as Rollins drops Ziggler headfirst into the middle turnbuckle only for Ziggler to hit the Zig Zag on Ambrose (they really should have ran that as a program). Rollins is fucking fantastic here taking time to isolate Ziggler and then count that he is 5 on 1 and give that "O fuck" face. Even Rollins gets some love here, as he curb stomps Truth to eliminate him. At this point, D-Bry directs traffic to have Ziggler and the Usos surround the ring and pounce ala the Shield. Reigns and Ambrose come in to save, but the Usos superkick Reigns off the apron. The Usos take out the rest of the Shield. Daniel Bryan hits the diving headbutt and running knee for the emphatic victory.

I dare say the best laid out match of the last year. The Shield got theirs by running through the fodder and looked smart and tough in the match. The babyfaces all got a bit of shine before being eliminated. Each Shield elimination was well done to bring the audience up and down. The final home stretch was such a feel good moment with the Usos flying all over the place and Daniel Bryan standing tall. It was a unique format that was successful because of old school principles. ****

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The Brothers Rhodes & Shield had the Feud of the Year in 2013

WWE World Tag Champs The Shield vs The Brothers Rhodes w/Dusty Rhodes 

WWE Battleground Non-Title

Unless he gives an even better performance on the following night, this has to be Cody's career performance. I have nothing against Cody. He is a solid worker. He is a bit bland. He is a bit mechanical. He thinks too much. On this night with teaming with his big brother for the first time, with his father in his corner and fighting for his career and the Rhodes family legacy, he let it all hang out and left it all in the ring in an awesome emotional performance. A lot of the focus of this match, I feel was given to Goldust and his incredible comeback story. I don't want to take away for that. For Goldust to comeback and be the best hot tag in wrestling and one of best workers in the world at the end of year is nothing short of miraculous. This match belonged to Cody and his urgency.

The match starts how it should start with the Rhodes ripshit about their treatment at the hands of The Authority and opening a can of whoop-ass on The Shield. For those not up to speed, The Authority threw their weight around and got Cody fired because he could not beat WWE Champion Randy Orton and then Dustin failed to win Cody's job back. So now they have one last shot to win their jobs back against the Tag Champs and the most dominant faction in wrestling, The Shield. Rollins actually pulls Reigns out of the ring to regroup and reset the match by challenging Dusty to a fight. This gives us that great visual of the Three Rhodeses squaring off against The Shield. The battlelines are drawn the best damn three man team in the WWE against one of the most proud wrestling families. Give Cole credit, when he pointed out the Rhodes cant let the emotions get carried away and thus get DQ'd, which really establishes the gravity of this match. However, it was that emotion that cost Cody the advantage because Rollins was able to suddenly drop him on his head into the middle turnbuckle (that move really needs a name). I love The Shield take after Mark Henry and love to lay the badmouth on their opponents during a match. Dean Ambrose was excellent with "Make his dad feel it! Make his sister feel it! Make his mother feel it!" and here come the "We Want Goldust". It is hot in Buffalo tonight! Cody moonsault! Hot tag to Goldust and he moves around better than 90% than the roster, which he is 15-20 years older than. In another shocking twist to this match, Reigns actually out-bumped Rollins in this match. He was making Goldust look like a million bucks. However, in a  classic Dustin bump, he whiffs on the cross body and crashes to the outside.Wait are we in St. Paul in 1982 tonight? Because get ready for a double face in peril muthafuckas! They tease a countout loss and the Shield and the commentary team were so great at milking this. One of the best countout teases by the WWE in a long time. Rollins busts out the old Eddie splash over the ropes for two. Buffalo loves them some Goldust and I cant blame them he is kicking some ass selling for the Shield. Powerslam from Goldie and here comes Cody. Cody is a house of fire. Springboard dropkick. Spinning Alabama Slamma. MuscleBuster. He is pissed and kicking ass who is this Cody Rhodes!?!?!?!??!?! Then in the segment we were all waiting for: Dusty takes off his belt whips Ambrose and the delivers the Bionic Elbow. The crowd pops huge! Reigns looks to crush the American Dream, but Goldust tackles him outta nowhere. Cody grabs Rollins and hit CROSSRHODES! 1! 2! 3! The Rhodes family celebrates as the crowd goes wild.

How bitchin' was that whole affair. Proof positive that fundamental, badass pro wrestling transcends time. You noticed how there were "This is Awesome" chants that is because people were not popping for moves or the matches. They were chanting for the babyfaces who had been wronged and were getting their retribution. That is how wrestling should be. When you deliver a story people can actually sink their teeth into they wont worry about Flying Space Tiger Drops and Miracle Ecstasy Bombs they will invest themselves in the characters, their motivations, and their actions. Cody and Goldust wrestled like they were fighting for their livelihoods and the crowd returned in kind. Too often in wrestling, there is a disconnect between the story and the match, but here everyone understood their role and kicked ass. Goldust delivered a performance that is the reason he is still on the roster to this day. They highlighted Cody by giving that last hot tag spot taking us home to the finish and he delivered in spades. But wait they might have won back their jobs, but the Shield still has the Tag Titles...****1/2

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WWE World Tag Champs The Shield vs The Brothers Rhodes - RAW 10/14/13 No DQ

Tremendous finish, but a pedestrian beginning make this too uneven of an affair to be considered a MOTYC for me. Even though this was a NO DQ match, it was wrestled as a normal mid-show RAW match (it was the main event of RAW). Where was all that energy and urgency that they showed at the PPV? Yes, the finish made for a very memorable moment, but I felt there was too much of a disconnect from the beginning until the finish.

For instance, the shine sequence was perfectly adequate with Rollins bumping around until Ambrose trips up Cody and the Shield takes over. It just did not have me popping out of my seat. Rollins seemed subdued bumping and the Rhodes were just hitting their spots. Reigns was awesome asking Rollins if he wanted to get some payback and yanking Cody's nose while Rollins kicked him. They tease the Alabama Slamma, but Rollins rolls through and Cody jumps over him to tag big brother. Goldust lights up me and the crowd moving around like he was 20 years younger. Gotta love the Shattered Dreams/Bulldog combo, the best of Dustin Rhodes and Goldust in one combo. Dustin takes his favorite the missed cross body crashing to the outside to send us to commercial. Goldust is a great FIP really keeping the crowd into it with well-timed hope spots and awesome selling. Since WWE feels like it has turned the clock back, Goldust's use of backslides and atomic drops dont feel out of place at all. Goldust springboard back elbow, but Seth sends Cody flying off the apron. Rollins mocks the Bizarre One and eats a powerslam for his insolence. Tag to Cody and once again he rocks the hot tag pretty well. I love the moment where Reigns does his howl and Cody just fuckin punches in the face, perfect response. At this point, if Cody finished the Shield with the CrossRhodes I would have called this an above average match that was enjoyable, but of course here come the fireworks.

Ambrose is in and just attacks Cody. Finally, No DQ! They are preparing for the Triple Powerbomb, but Goldust wreaks havoc with a steel chair. However, as Roman Reigns eloquently points out, he is an idiot and drops the chair and you NEVER drop the chair. Amateur hour from Goldy. But Reigns does not turn it sideways and stick straight up his bizarre candy ass. In fact, he eats a cross-body with it on his chest, great sell by Reigns. Outside the ring, Cody goes for the Disaster Kick, but Rollins catches him and powerbombs him into barricade. Ok, that was awesome, go ahead and chant it. Thank you, St. Louis. It is atomic drop-palooza and Reigns sells it the best since the heyday of the Ravishing One. We end up outside and Goldust is near the timekeeper's table. Ruh roh. REIGNS WIPES OUT GOLDUST! The Shield looks to retain, but here comes THE BIG SHOW! Knocks out Ambrose and Rollins. Reigns duck the Disaster Kick, but eats the Big Show's knuckle sandwhich and the Brother Rhodes win the titles in St. Louis!

In October of 2013, WWE was at the top of their game in terms of intersecting storylines and delivering hot payoffs. They would return to the norm of linear storytelling with limited interactions, but for a couple months it was very interesting. Unfortunately, there were a couple miscasts. I think Big Show was a very sympathetic babyface and for him to help The Rhodes win and knock out HHH were great payoffs. However, his main event against Orton was a misfire because at the end of the day it is 2013 and people just dont want to see him in the main event any more. Unfortunately too, after this the Brothers Rhodes became an afterthought even though they would still have great matches at Hell In A Cell and TLC. They were not given any promo time or storyline direction. Regardless, the Authority/Shield storyline was badass and gave two great babyface moments and great matches. ****

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WWE World Tag Champs Brothers Rhodes vs The Shield vs. The Usos - Hell In A Cell 2013

Holy Shit! Holy Shit! Holy Shit! That's all I have to say after the Cody/Rollins superplex to the floor through the other participants. Outside one other instance (I feel like it involved Sasuke or Ohtani), I have never seen a superplex to the floor and that just a BATSHIT insane spot. I am surprised it was not talked about a lot more. I know this match was liked, but I actually think it was a bit underrated. I would not say a WWE MOTYC, but just below that level.

Every segment was really well done and highlighted everyone really well. I really dug the Rhodeses vs Usos opening segment. Face vs face is never easy, but these guys were just rocking it. They kept real up tempo with lots of pinfall attempts and high energy spots. Goldust looks 25 in there. The make-up works out so well for him besides the old man catcalls from Reigns and Rollins you would never know he is 45. Reigns blinds tags in and trips up Goldust from the outside and goes to work. The Shield slowed things down, but Goldust is so good at selling and timing his hope spots that it was never boring. Plus the Reigns/Rollins smack talk is always a welcomed occurrence. In terms of hope spots, I am a mark for the crawl through the legs spot, but Reigns was able to hold onto his foot. I also loved that Shield wiped out all three possible tag options just to keep Goldie in there. However, a snap Goldust powerslam, finally brings Cody in. I have been underrating Cody as a hot tag. He has really been bringing it in these matches. Goldies working the FIP to highlight Cody on offense may have been a way to elevate Cody like they did with Daniel Bryan's hot tag sequences. Working with his brother, Cody does not seem to think as much and is feeling the action. I will say I will never like the moonsault on a standing opponent (except for the Kid/Razor match). It looks too much like the opponent is catching him. Cody does have a pretty moonsault, just saying I would like it better on a horizontal opponent.  When Cody goes for the Disaster Kick, Usos blind tag and you know bodies are going to start flying. The huge top rope cross body was a great false finish that crowd bit on big.  Reigns and Goldust over the top and an Uso goes flying out after them. Huge Samoan Drop for another great nearfall. Cody tags back in and this when that badass superplex to floor spot happens. Could have milked it a little more, my only compliant. USO dives onto Cody pinning Rollins. SPEAR TO USO! Superkick to Reigns! They tease Rollins corner powerbomb, but instead walks into a Goldust right and ricochets into a CROSSRHODES~!

Badass finish stretch to a great, great match. This was one of the better popcorn matches WWE has produced in a while. Rollins was in his element bumping like a madman for the faces. Reigns came off as a star during the heat segment. Usos are so much fun. Goldust rocked the FIP and actually had even better FIP in December. Rewatching this, if they kept the Brothers Rhodes on pace they could have used the hot tag portion to really cement Cody as an upper midcard threat.  It is just a high-octane, fun opener. ****1/4 

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I bet those chestnuts would look even better with some whipped cream ;)

CM Punk vs Dean Ambrose - RAW 12/09/13

I cannot remember the last time I missed a RAW, but I honestly had no recollection of this match. Given how I watch RAW, this is the exact type of match I would totally miss. Pretty much, my brother and I just talk straight through action (hell thats why I don even really notice the commentary other than the odd silence in our own conversation). Usually, we are talking about wrestling, but I am not straining myself to watch a match with a discerning eye. Amid all of the high-energy Daniel Bryan matches, this was an excellent, lo-fi match that hearkened back to simpler times where high spots did not come cheap and men were of course men. Up until recently, I thought all the hype for Ambrose was overblown. Reigns is such a badass, athletic powerhouse and Rollins is a bumping machine that knows how to engage the crowd. Ambrose is just kinda weird, not weird in an interesting way just kinda weird. Some of his recent promos and performances against the Wyatts have begun to change my thinking on him, but I was shocked that he has so far had the best singles match of any of the Shield members in my book with this tremendous performance (as of this writing I have never seen Cena/Rollins, but that is on deck).

From the outset, CM Punk looks to take Ambrose's arm home with him (thanks Titans of Wrestling)  never wavering and to Ambrose's credit he is always struggling. However each attempt to get it started on offense is met with Punk goign right back to that right shoulder. Ok, so I know that in America they work left, but I have always thought that was bit overblown and could swear I had seen matches were they work right. Does it actually depend more on the opponent's dominant side more than the country you are working in? Punk goes for a reverse cross body, but Ambrose catches him in a gutbuster. Of course, Punk has bruised ribs from a Reigns spear making all the sweeter. I am a mark for transitions and this was such a friggin great transition into the heat segment. The Shield is great at working solid heat segments that wont pop the crowd in their favor. There are no cool moves. It is just trash talk and working that body part. Ambrose hits a series of shoulders into the midsection only to ram his right shoulder (PSYCHOLOGY~!) into the post. We get the first highspot of the match, a diving elbow by Punk onto the floor as we roll into commercial. When we come back, Ambrose is stretching Punk, but Punk is always keeping it moving, struggling, working hope spots. Ambrose for his part never relent from working the ribs. Punk hits a swinging neckbreaker and then because they understand wrestling. Punk still has to win a slugfest before he truly regains control. Punk runs through his usual (knee, short-arm clothesline, elbow) and goes for GTS, but Ambrose punches his ribs repeatedly. This is the point where I thought to myself I need to pay attention to Raw more often because this is fuckin awesome. Ambrose hits a butterfly suplex and floats over. I love the butterfly suplex. Are these two wrestling this match specifically for me? How sweet and I did not even get them anything! Punk gets a series of nearfalls off a top rope cross body and a roundhouse kick. The Seattle crowd knows what's up and chants "This is Awesome!". I am glad someone was paying attention to this match when it was happening because I sure was not. Ambrose pushes off on GTS attempt and big knee to midsection and throws him to floor. This is during time when they were teasing the Shield breakup before they smartened up and realized there is more value in them as a unit. So Ambrose says he can do this himself so Reigns and Rollins walk away. DISSENSION~! They tease each other's finishes before the GTS puts Ambrose away. In addition, Punk has to face all three members of the Shield at the PPV so this also adds a layer to that match because if Punk can divide and conquer maybe he can pull this one out.

My one quibble with this match is that finish seems sort of tacked on to the match rather being an organic part of the match. It would have been nice to weave a thread of Shield dissension through the match and then culminate in the finish. However, right up until the finish/angle, I thought this was a bitchin' throwback match. It just oozed great psychology that built and built leading to some really great exchanges. The transitions were great from Ambrose catching Punk in the gutbuster to Punk having to work to get back on offense. There was a real sense of struggle and competition in this match. It proves that highspots are not the end all be all. Two compelling characters working hard and telling a great story is all you need. In the year, that has Punk/Cena on RAW, it would take a Herculean effort to win Free TV MOTY so this falls short, but it is definitely in the running for second place. ****

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John Cena w/Mark Henry & Big E. vs Seth Rollins w/The Shield - Smackdown! 12/27/13

Sorry Ambrose, but your position as top Shield singles match did not last long as Rollins delivers an even better measured and mature performance. What I love about the Shield is they understand that the crowd pops for moves so they are very limited in the highspots they dish out. Their heat segments are filled with well-worked punches, strikes and trash talk. Especially in this match, all of the highspots are sudden cutoffs of a Cena comeback. Thus Rollins is sucking out the hope out of an audience rather than performing an exhibition for the crowd's amusement thus not popping the crowd and turning himself babyface. Of course, it also helps that Rollins is the bumping machine of the Shield and I am a mark for big bumping heels. So huge ups to Rollins. He seems wise beyond his years. Cena absolutely rocks this match selling like a million bucks and totally making Rollins look like a credible threat. Cena reminded me of a more mobile '87 Hogan. He hits the heat quickly and just sells. I prefer a little more transition area from the shine to the heat, but hey Cena was working his ass off. It does annoy me that they have tried to typecast Rollins as a high-flyer when he so much more well-rounded. He has some of the best worked punches in the game right now, but Cena ain't far behind. The theme of this match is Rollins jumps out to an early advantage and never really lets the match get away from him. Cena will get a hope spot and Rollins immediately has an answer. I have been digging the Cena extended comeback since I noticed it in the Punk RAW match (it may have been going on longer than that). I thought Rollins was great and letting Cena get a little more and more on each, but always having either a DDT, the headdrop on turnbuckle or a Buff Blockbuster to reestablish command. I cant believe Cena decided to add a new move to his arsenal and he steals Kenta Kobashi's worst move (awful modified Ace Crusher, surprised I have not seen Kojima use it). I thought AA was his agent not Johnny Ace. The reactions from ringside during the finish stretch are awesome. Mark Henry cant believe Cena cant put the kid away.  The highspot of the match  is the Cena powerbomb where Rollins goes for the Misawa-rana, it looks like they are going to Ganso Bomb and then Cena lifts him up and nails the sitout powerbomb for 2. Mark Henry is in shock and so am I! For as great as the four at ringside have been, this crowd has kinda sucked because this match rocks. Rollins hits an enziguiri (transition hard to explain, but totally bitchin) and a flying knee to the head, but still cant negotiate the fall. Reigns has the awesome expression of concern for his buddy. Cena traps Rollins in the STFU. Langston bulldozes Ambrose, Reigns takes out Langston, Mark Henry chucks big Roman Reigns onto Ambrose. Cena hits the FU from rolling through a cross body and I love that finish. This was a badass match that weaved a great story of how to have a give and take match with really smart transitions. Cena gave the ball to Rollins in this and setup him up for success. Rollins punched it into the endzone with a mature, smart performance. Plus they delivered unique spots like the powerbomb and the enziguiri and the finish was pitch perfect. For my money, second best free TV match of the year. ****1/4

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'Tis the season to say, a Victory for the Heat is a Victory for Love. Lets Go Heat!