Hits and Misses: WWE Tables, Ladders, and Chairs 2014

Tables, ladders, and chairs equals total, lawless carnage.

John Cena kept his #1 contender’s spot for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship by defeating Seth Rollins (as well as the meddling Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury) in a Tables Match on Sunday’s WWE Tables, Ladders, and Chairs pay-per-view.

Cena also got help from the returning Roman Reigns, who fended off an interfering Big Show.

Meanwhile, the TLC Match between Dean Ambrose and Bray Wyatt in the main event literally ended with a bang, as a TV monitor Ambrose used as a weapon suddenly “exploded”, costing him the match.

Rappler’s resident wrestling columnist Joe “The gRappler” Marsalis and combat sports writer Nissi Icasiano share their thoughts on Sunday’s action-packed PPV.

Tables Match: John Cena defeated Seth Rollins

Joe: Highly unusual in that this match was smack dab in the middle of the card. Perhaps it was deliberate, knowing that the result was Cena winning, and that the audience wouldn’t have wanted that, but most other things that had happened tonight were so unusual and off-key that it didn’t really matter that much.

I guess the train rolls on. We’re getting “Cena-Lesnar: The Final Battle” at the Royal Rumble, which Cena will lose (again) so that Roman Reigns, who helped Cena win tonight, can pick up the shot at Wrestlemania (ugh). No Randy Orton in sight. The tables match was solid in itself, but Rollins ended up really getting shortchanged here. You know he’s not going over Reigns.

Nissi: When John Cena goes into a match with championship implications, it is difficult for WWE to figure out a way to make it interesting, considering every wrestling hooligan expects him to have his hand raised in victory in advance. At this pay-per-view event, Cena went on Superman mode again by doing something that the WWE Universe has seen on numerous occasions. Not only did he win his match, but he did it despite being outnumbered by two extra men (Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury).

Even if Cena came out on top, it does not mean that he will walk out with the belt in his rubber match with Brock Lesnar. Lesnar will prevail, and The Beast Incarnate will serve as a footstool for Roman Reigns, who did more in his quick appearance at this event than most people did who were involved in long, painful matches. Reigns has positioned himself as the definite favorite to win the Royal Rumble in January.

Tables, Ladders, and Chairs Match: Bray Wyatt def. Dean Ambrose

Nissi: On a personal note, both men deserved to headline this year-end affair of WWE, but Dean Ambrose and Bray Wyatt had a bit of a problem in their TLC match. It is always best to leave the spotlight and the most brutal match for last, so that nothing else looks tame by comparison afterward. However, Dolph Ziggler and Luke Harper had already satiated the crowd’s desire for ladder spots. John Cena and Seth Rollins broke a number of tables, while Ryback pummeled Kane with chair-shots.

By the time the main event started, everybody had seen it all. A typical wrestling show uses undercard matches as a build up to the top bill. It is like there was nothing left for Ambrose and Wyatt to show off.

We cannot erase the fact that Ambrose is on a losing skid, but again, WWE found a way not to harm his momentum going to the top. Ambrose is one of the fastest-rising stars in the company right now, and his setback to Wyatt was done in a way that protected him so that he still looks like one of the top studs and above his opponent on the hierarchy.

Joe: Guys, you shouldn’t be okay with Ambrose losing to a TV. Yeah, it protects Ambrose, but it protects too much that Wyatt’s ability to win on his own capacity was highly compromised. He spent a lot of the match on his back, and all it took for him to win was an exploding TV monitor?

The only way you could save that angle is if you reveal that Wyatt magically caused it to go boom once Ambrose tugged the power cord way too hard. And that should be easy and plausible: Wyatt has been able to teleport, possess a choir of kids, and conjure a ghost from his lantern–why shouldn’t he be able to make household appliances deliberately malfunction?

Intercontinental Championship – Ladder Match
Dolph Ziggler def. Luke Harper to win the title

Joe: Let me be honest with you. I immediately had a bad feeling about this match. Not because I thought they were going to stink up the joint – far from it – but because it was entirely possible that Harper and Ziggler would steal the show way too early, and everything else would be downhill from there.

That prediction did hold true, as they put on the best match of the night. More than a few people are up in arms over Harper immediately dropping the Intercontinental Championship quickly back to Ziggler, but it’s not a decision I’m upset with. They’ve botched Harper’s first-ever title reign, and the white belt needs a bit of a reboot. No one better to maintain its current prestige (whatever that means nowadays) than Dolph Ziggler.

Nissi: Dolph Ziggler is in the midst of resurgence to his career, and it is pleasant to see WWE sticking to it, instead of bailing out like in the past. Winning the Intercontinental Championship is an emphatic deal, but it is made even more important when someone like Ziggler regains it from someone who most people could have assumed would hold onto it.

Ziggler has an opportunity to make good on his promises to reinvigorate the Intercontinental Championship to the prestige it had many years ago. On the other hand, Harper has a future, but he is in need of boost to his persona before he is able to be held responsible for carrying such an important title in WWE.

WWE Tag Team Championship
Jimmy and Jey Uso def. The Miz and Damien Sandow (c) via DQ; the champs retain their titles

Joe: This match was what it was, and that being exactly what it needed to be. I still like the story being told, and while I agree that it wasn’t anything at all special, the Miz is looking like the best heel on the roster right now. He’s becoming an evil mastermind every week, something you actually haven’t seen a lot of from the top heels lately. Mike Mizanin, of all people, is making guys like Seth Rollins and Rusev look highly inept as bad guys with the way he’s gotten under the Usos’ skin. The DQ victory is just icing on the cake. 

Nissi: Aside from a couple funny spots from Damien Sandow (or Mizdow) and a beautifully-executed submission move from the Usos, there was nothing that could be considered special in this match. WWE had four talented men in the ring for this contest that could have done more than what something you can see on every episode of Monday Night Raw. It also added to the disappointment that the match resulted into a disqualification.

Steel Stairs Match: The Big Show def. Erick Rowan

Nissi: Given a fair chance, this match found a way to have fun with a ridiculous idea. It had nearly as many insane stunts as the Ladder match earlier in the night, but with the incorporation of hundreds of extra pounds bumping around the ring.

Although both men performed with a limited amount of options, as far as what they could safely do to be entertaining with the steel steps, Erick Rowan put up a good fight against his veteran counterpart, showing that he may not be someone to write off any time soon. Meanwhile, Big Show added a new flavor to the mix when he used the stairs to aid his pinfall triumph since his knockout punch would likely have not been enough to hold his humongous foe down. 

Joe: Only one problem with Big Show’s stairs pin: the stairs never pinned down Rowan’s shoulders. He got his arms up before the count of three.

Divas Championship
Nikki Bella def. AJ Lee to retain her title

Joe: Nikki winning via illegal use of Mace is a nice touch for a heel, but other than that this match was largely forgettable. It’s a shame; both women could actually go and give Charlotte/Sasha a run for their money if they just had enough time (and political will from everyone involved toward putting out a solid Divas match). 

Nissi: These ladies are capable of executing an exceptional performance in the squared circle, but it turned out that this match gave viewers a chance to grab a popcorn or take a moment for a bathroom break.

Charlotte and Sasha Banks flaunted at NXT Takeover: R Evolution last week that there are female wrestlers in WWE who are gifted and can cater a quality match. It is such a shame to see the women’s division of the main roster this way, especially a talented performer like AJ Lee is involved in this contest.

Chairs Match: Ryback def. Kane

Nissi: Due to concerns about head injuries and concussions, a match like this does not have much room to work with. It can get very frustrating watching two men conveniently position themselves in a way to allow his opponent to hit him with a chair on the back repeatedly.

Perhaps, the highlight moment of the entire match was Kane throwing a chair at Ryback’s face, considering how many limitations are put in place.

Joe: I can’t emphasize this enough: people need to watch John Cena vs. Wade Barrett at TLC 2010 for a clinic on how to make the most out of the lamest stipulation on the show.

To go off on Nissi’s point, however, it is entirely possible to target the head with a chair without risking concussions and other head injuries. One would think that Kane might know how to work around it, but I don’t blame him if he’s being too cautious with Ryback.

United States Championship
Rusev def. Jack Swagger via DQ to retain his title

Joe: I was actually afraid, for a moment, that Swagger would pull out the win and provide a hugely anti-climactic end to Rusev’s streak. I’m not sure, though, if I would’ve hated that if it happened. It would’ve been something new, it would’ve been something different, it just would’ve been something. But eh, either way.

Nissi: The outcome of this match was very obvious, but it did give the fans some glimmer of hope when Jack Swagger fastened the Patriot Lock on Rusev. However, it was an unremarkable short scuffle on an interminable show. There is no credible character in the locker room that can break Rusev’s streak, unless WWE would give the opportunity to Roman Reigns to heighten up his 2015 campaign. – Rappler.com