February 26, 2014
Taped 2/25/2014
BMO Bradley Harris Center
Milwaukee, WI
Ring
“Shattered Dreams” greets us as the Rhodes Brothers make their way to the ring for the first match!
Match 1
10 Man Tag Team Match
Goldust & Cody Rhodes & Los Matadores & El Torito vs. 3MB & Curtis Axel & Ryback
Axel and Goldust tie up. Axel can’t get going as Goldust controls the early part of the match before quickly tagging in his brother Cody. Cody continues to dominate Axel with a leg trip and arm drag until Axel manages to reverse the momentum with a kick to Cody’s gut. After a few chops he pulls Cody over to the corner and tags in Ryback.
Ryback continues the chops but Cody reverses and slams Ryback’s head into the top turnbuckle before landing a springboard dropkick off of the top rope. Cody goes for the Disaster Kick but ends up taking a big powerbomb from Ryback! Cody looks like he’s in trouble and Ryback tags out to McIntyre as we head to a…
-Commercial-
McIntyre is in control and lands a top rope axe handle to Cody for a 1 count. McIntyre tags Mahal and Mahal tags Slater which leads to a nice triple team punch, kick, and splash that gets Slater a 2 count on Cody. Slater takes the time to thrust in the general direction of his opponent’s corner before tagging in Axel.
Axel drops an elbow onto the top of Cody’s head and pulls at his face before applying a read chinlock. Cody fights out but a knee drops him again as Axel tags Ryback.
Ryback gets a 2 count off of a leg drop. Cody tries to escape the grasp of Ryback but gets pressed and dropped into a powerslam! Ryback goes for a cover that is broken up by Goldust. Ryback doesn’t like that and pushes Goldust to the floor before attacking both Matadores and sending them to the floor as well. Cody takes advantage of the distraction and hits the Disaster Kick on Ryback!
Cody needs a tag but the only man in his corner is El Torito. He tags in the bull masked little man who jumps to the top rope and hits a springboard flying head scissors and Slater who has been tagged in by Ryback! El Torito gores Jinder Mahal off of the apron and springboards into Slater, sending him to the mat again!
Los Matadores enter the ring and send Mahal and McIntyre to the floor with a pair of backdrops. Synchronized planchas to the outside finish the job on two thirds of 3MB. Slater approaches El Torito, but El Torito flips up and drops Slater again with a facebuster!
Axel swings at El Torito who is now on the top rope but misses. Cody lands a dropkick that sends Axel to the floor and Goldust follows with a running front flip senton from the apron that takes out Axel! Ryback looks like he’s going after Goldust but Cody stops him with a double jump springboard plancha to the outside!
El Torito is now alone in the ring with Slater. The two have a hip thrusting showdown until Slater has had enough and grabs El Torito by the horns. He tries to lift El Torito but kicks kicked and drops to his knees. El Torito bounces off the ropes and hits a flying head scissors that drives Slater’s head into the mat! El Torito cover Slater for the win!
Result
Goldust, Cody Rhodes, Los Matadores and El Torito win via pinfall (El Torito on Heath Slater after a flying head scissors)
Match Thoughts
This was a fun match. Fast paced and lots of crazy stuff going on. The show down between El Torito and Slater at the end brought a smile to my face.
Ring
Saxton asks Slater how he feels after being pinned by El Torito. Slater is understandably upset and says it’s bull. Slater has spoken.
Video
We see a short video replay of The Wyatt Family attacking John Cena from Raw.
Ring
Eva Marie and Natalya head to the ring as we head to a…
-Commercial-
Match 2
Divas Tag Team Match
Natalya & Eva Marie vs. Alicia Fox & Aksana
Natalya and Fox tie up, ending up on the ropes. Fox backs away buck kicks Natalya in the stomach. Fox puts a wristlock on Natalya, but Natalya flips out of it and throws Fox with a Northern Lights suplex for a 1 count. Off of the ropes, Fox rolls backwards and catches Natalya’s head with her feet, pulling her down to the mat. Natalya gets back up and pulls Fox backwards from a waistlock and brides in a rollup for a 2 count. Natalya backs Fox into the corner allowing Eva Marie to tag in.
Eva Marie has a wristlock on Fox and flips her forward. And again. And again. She goes for it a fourth time but Fox knees her in the gut and sends her off the ropes into a tilt a whirl backbreaker. 2 count for Fox. Fox muscles Marie into the corner and then performs a beautiful bridging Northern Lights suplex for a two count!
Fox stands on Marie’s hair as she tags in Aksana. Aksana awkwardly goes for a knee drop that is not even close. Marie tags in Natalya who lands a pair of vertical suplexes, a dropkick to the back, and a discus clothesline before setting up for the Sharpshooter.
Fox tries to break it up but Marie grabs her and pulls Fox out of the ring. Aksana manages to kick Natalya towards the ropes her she collides with Eva Marie. Aksana plants Natalya with a spinebuster and covers her for the win.
Result
Aksana & Alicia Fox win via pinfall (Aksana on Natalya after a spinebuster)
Match Thoughts
It’s nice to see Alicia Fox taking control and helping someone as clueless as Eva Marie is in the ring look better than she is. I’ve always liked A Fox and I think she is underrated in the Divas division. Eva did absolutely nothing and actually hurt the overall quality of the match. Everyone else looked good, even Aksana in comparison.
-Commercial-
Video
RAW Rebound of The Undertaker returning to challenge Brock Lesnar.
Ring
Barrett’s music hits, he rises, and there is bad news on its way. He warns us of the coming horrors of America’s upcoming spring break culminating in a renaming of the entire country. Not his best effort, but I still smirked. Barrett’s awesome.
Video
Next up is a short recap of the end of the Batista vs. Del Rio match from RAW.
-Commercial-
Video
The State of WWE interview with Cole and JBL talking about NXT Arrival. I can’t wait for that show!
Match 3
Singles Match
Darren Young vs. Titus O’Neil
O’Neil muscles Young into the corner in a tie up, but Young fights back with a few chops. O’Neil stops him with a body slam but misses an elbow drop. Young hits a running clothesline on the sitting O’Neil and covers him for a 1 count.
Young goes for a sunset flip but O’Neil lifts him to his feet and throws him into the corner. He charges Young but is repelled by an elbow and a knee. Young goes to the top rope but a big boot from O’Neil send him crumbling to the mat. A big running leg drop gets O’Neil a 2 count on his former tag team partner.
O’Neil manhandles Young, tossing him into the corner and across the ring to the mat. Young looks like he is in pain. O’Neil gets a couple of 1 counts after a short arm clothesline.
Young tries to fight out of a chinlock but takes a knee to the gut. A big overhand chop and avalanche in the corner sends Young down once again. O’Neil is feeling pretty good about himself and barks. O’Neil is extremely confident as he puts Young into a fireman’s carry, but young reverses it into a sunset flip pin for the victory!
Result
Darren Young wins via pinfall with a sunset flip
Match Thoughts
Not a bad match. The PPV match was probably better but this was a good way to even up the score. I hope both of these guys do well but breaking them up during Wrestlemania season was a bad idea. They are going to get lost in the shuffle.
-Commercial-
Match 4
Singles Match
Sin Cara vs. Damien Sandow
As the lights go dark Sandow backs Sin Cara into the corner in a tie up. He does not break cleanly and has Sin Cara reeling with a flurry of attacks. He goes back in a few times and seems dangerously close to being disqualified. A vertical suplex in the center of the ring gets a 1 count for Sandow.
Sin Cara fights out of a chinlock but misses a springboard cross body. Sandow sets Sin Cara up on the apron and drops an elbow from the outside. He slides back in and gets another 1 count on Sin Cara.
Sandow lands a side Russian leg sweep and looks like he’s setting up the Cubito Aequet, but instead opts to just punch Sin Cara in the head repeatedly. He then hits an abbreviated version of his patented elbow drop for another 1 count.
Sin Cara tries to fight out of a half nelson chinlock but Sandow slams him to the mat and drops a knee for yet another 1 count. He hooks both legs for another 1 count and yells at the ref in frustration.
Sandow sits Sin Cara on the top rope but takes a tornado DDT as Sin Cara fights back. Sin Cara covers Sandow for a 2 count. Sin Cara then hits a flying head scissors and a moonsault that catches the standing Sandow with a glancing blow. 2 count by Sin Cara.
Sin Cara then gets a handspring back elbow for another 2 count. Sin Cara goes after Sandow, but Sandow hits an Edge-o-matic for a 2 count. Sin Cara gets a school boy rollup on Sandow, but after only a 1 count Sin Cara shows unexpected strength by lifting Sandow and dropping him in a powerbomb! 2 count!
Sin Cara goes to the top rope but Sandow shakes the ropes causing Sin Cara to lose his balance and tumble to the mat. 2 count for Sandow.
Sandow applies the Royal Arch but Sin Cara refuses to give up and uses his leg strength to power out. Sandow stomps Sin Cara which sends him to the apron. After getting a little distance, Sin Cara kicks Sandow in the head and climbs to the top rope again. He hits a senton bomb on Sandow and covers him for the win.
Result
Sin Cara wins via pinfall after a diving senton bomb
Match Thoughts
This was a really good match. I feel bad that Sandow is in the position that he is in given his potential and the run that he had last year, but he put on a good match tonight. I still don’t like the Sin Cara lighting, but I like Hunico as Sin Cara and I think it’s a good thing for him.
Impressions
This was a good Main Event. The matches were good, Eva Marie notwithstanding.
Match of the Night
Sin Cara vs. Damien Sandow
The ten man tag was fun, but Sandow and Sin Cara put on a better match. I like the attitude of Sandow and the vicious nature that he showed. Sin Cara was impressive and showed some unexpected power to compliment his aerial attack. The match never lagged and the pacing was great. An overall very good match.