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From The Network- WWE Royal Rumble 2014

March 24, 2014 | Posted by Dylan Diot
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From The Network- WWE Royal Rumble 2014  

WWE Royal Rumble 2014
1-26-14
Pittsburgh, PA

Your hosts are Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, and JBL.

Daniel Bryan vs. Bray Wyatt w/Wyatt Family
Bryan is scary over with the Pittsburgh crowd. Rights by Bryan but Wyatt comes back with a head butt. Back elbow by Wyatt and Bryan comes back with a knee to the gut. Bryan throws some knees and Harper attempts to trip him up, allowing Wyatt to attack from behind. Bryan with a suicide dive to Harper on the floor and Rowan looks to go after him but the ref catches them, so the ref throws the Wyatt Family out!!! Wyatt tells them they don’t need to fight the war for him and he sends them both to the back. Bryan goes up and hits a cross body off the top to Wyatt on the floor!!! Back in, Bryan goes up and hits a cross body off the top for 1. Uppercuts by Bryan and he throws some kicks in the corner. Wyatt charges in the corner but eats boot and Bryan goes up. Wyatt chops him, knocking Bryan all the way to the floor. Wyatt follows and he charges but Bryan moves, sending Wyatt knee first into the steps. Back in, Bryan catches Wyatt with a chop block as he was entering the ring and Bryan throws some kicks. Dragon screw leg sweep by Bryan and he gives Wyatt a Curb Stomp. Wyatt works over Bryan in the corner but Bryan throws some kicks to the bad leg to come back. Dropkick to the leg in the ropes by Bryan and he goes to suplex Wyatt back in but he blocks. Forearms by Bryan on the apron but Wyatt drives Bryan’s shoulder into the apron to come back. Back in, Wyatt hits a release suplex and he grabs a chinlock. Bryan fights out so Wyatt dumps him to the floor to stop his momentum. Wyatt hammers Bryan with forearms against the post and he hits a lariat against the post on Bryan. Back senton on the floor by Wyatt and back in, Wyatt gets 2. Wyatt slingshots Bryan in the ropes for 2 and Wyatt hammers away on Bryan. Chinlock by Wyatt but Bryan fights out so Wyatt hits a Urinage. Wyatt starts doing an inverted crab walk before charging in the corner with an Avalanche for 2. Wyatt goes back to the chinlock but Bryan tries to fight out again, so Wyatt hits a slam. He misses an elbow drop and Bryan hits a flying elbow strike. Bryan throws some kicks and Wyatt charges but Bryan drop toe holds him into the corner. More kicks in the corner and he puts Wyatt on top. Bryan follows and he hits a Frankensteiner off the top for 2. Back elbow by Wyatt and both men are down. Wyatt covers for 2 and he goes for a suplex but Bryan escapes. Wyatt charges but Bryan low bridges him, sending him to the floor. Bryan hits a TORNADO DDT FROM THE APRON!!! Dropkick against the barricade by Bryan and back in, he goes up. Missile dropkick by Bryan and he throws some kicks to the chest. High kick by Bryan gets 2. Corner dropkicks by Bryan and Wyatt comes back with a clothesline that turns Bryan inside out for 2!!! Wyatt goes for Sister Abigail but Bryan counters into a roll-up for 2. YES! Lock by Bryan but Wyatt blocks by BITING the hand of Bryan!!! Wyatt hammers Bryan with forearms on the mat and he puts Bryan on top. Wyatt follows up and they exchange head butts. Bryan finally knocks Wyatt off and he hits a flying splash off the top. Wyatt bails before Bryan could go for the flying knee strike but Bryan catches him with a slingshot dropkick. Bryan goes for the suicide dive but WYATT CATCHES HIM AND HITS SISTER ABAGAIL AGAINST THE BARRICADE!!!! Back in, Wyatt hits Sister Abigail for 3.
Winner- Bray Wyatt ****1/4 ( Holy crap this was an awesome opener. This was the first time Wyatt’s character shined within the confines of a match and Bryan little did everything possible to make Wyatt look like a killer. Unbelievable performance from both guys and it lived up to the follow up from the angle weeks before on Raw.)

Paul Heyman apologizes in advance for the uncomfortable scene that is about to occur. He says Lesnar is going to challenge the winner of the Cena/Orton match and standing in the way is Big Show. He declares the dawning of a new era as Brock is going to conquer the WWE.

The panel for the show is Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Shawn Michaels, and Ric Flair. Shawn puts over Daniel Bryan after the match and Flair and Duggan split their picks for the Lesnar/Show match.

Big Show vs. Brock Lesnar w/Paul Heyman
Lesnar attacks before the bell even rings and he hammers Show on the mat. Heyman tosses a chair into the ring and Lesnar beats the hell out of Show with the chair. Show bails to buy himself some times and back in, Lesnar stomps away on Show. Lesnar nails Show with the chair again and he wants the ref to ring the bell. The ref finally gets the chair away from Brock, so Heyman hands him another chair. The bell rings and Brock charges with the chair but Show catches him with the KO Punch!!! Brock bails to the floor and Show follows out. Show tosses Lesnar across the floor and back in, Show works the ribs of Lesnar. Lesnar catches him with the F-5 for 3!!!
Winner- Brock Lesnar * ( This was weird. The whole point of this was to set up Brock as a beast and a conqueror but he almost gets knocked out early for whatever reason. They tried to tell two different stories when they should have focused on one, whether it is Brock the dominant animal or to show Brock is vulnerable. )

After the match, Brock regains his bearings and he nails Show a few more times with a chair. This lasts awhile and Brock finally walks out when he has enough.

The Shield says tonight they have 27 enemies and every single one of them is getting dumped over the top rope. They say when it comes down to the three of them; it becomes every man for themselves. Rollins claims that at the end of the night, the Shield will remain united. Reigns claims to have the winning number which leads to an argument between him and Ambrose. Rollins says the only number that matters is 3.

Randy Orton says he has already beaten John Cena and when he beats him again, he goes to the back of the line. Orton says Lesnar, Batista, and Bray Wyatt are good but not great and he says he is the face of the WWE.

Video package for Orton/Cena airs.

WWE World Heavyweight Champion- Randy Orton © vs. John Cena
Match must be won by pin fall or submission. The crowd chants for “Daniel Bryan” before the match begins. Orton stomps away to start and he grabs a side headlock. Cena escapes and he hammers away on Orton in the corner. Bulldog by Cena gets 1 and he charges in the corner but eats elbow. Suplex by Orton gets 2. Orton throws some head butts for 2 and he goes to the chinlock. Crowd now chants for “Randy Savage” and “Y2J”. Cena takes Orton over and goes for the Walls of Jericho but Orton blocks, sending Cena to the floor. Orton follows out and he suplexes Cena back into the ring for 2. Orton goes back to the chinlock but Cena powers out and hits some rights. He clotheslines Orton to the floor and Orton sends Cena into the steps when he follows out. Back in, Orton covers for 2. DDT by Orton gets 2. Orton stomps every body part of Cena’s and he takes time to pose to the crowd, allowing Cena to catch him with the Electric Chair for 2. Cena cleans house and he hits the Protobomb. Cena goes for the Five Knuckle Shuffle but Orton blocks and hits a powerslam for 2. Half nelson neckbreaker by Cena gets 2. Cena goes up but Orton stops him and follows up. Cena knocks him off with some head butts and Cena hits the Guillotine Leg Drop off the top for 2. Cena goes for the AA but Orton counters into the Orton Backbreaker for 2. Orton goes for the hanging DDT but Cena counters, back dropping Orton to the floor. Orton comes back with the hanging DDT off the apron and onto the floor!!! Back in, Orton covers Cena for 2. Orton goes for the RKO but Cena catches him in the STF. Orton makes the ropes to break. Orton snaps Cena’s neck off the ropes and back in, Cena catches Orton with the Protobomb. Five Knuckle Shuffle by Cena and he goes for the AA but Orton blocks. Cena sends Orton’s legs into the ref and Cena catches Orton in the STF. Orton taps but the ref is out cold. Cena checks on the ref, allowing Orton to nail Cena with the belt for 2!!! Cena catches Orton with the AA for 2!!! Orton catches Cena with the RKO for 2!!! Orton goes for the punt but Cena moves and he goes for the AA but Orton counters into the STF!!! Cena counters into the Crossface!!! Orton counters into a cover for 2 and Orton hits the AA for 2!!! Cena catches Orton with the RKO for 2!!! Cena puts Orton on top and follows up. Cena goes for the Super AA but Orton escapes. Tornado DDT by Cena and he grabs the STF. Orton iss about to make the ropes but Cena pulls him to the center of the ring. Suddenly, the lights go out and The Wyatt Family distracts Cena on the apron, allowing Orton to hit the RKO for 3!!!
Winner and Still WWE World Heavyweight Champion- Randy Orton ***1/2 ( This gets three and a half stars for two reasons. First, the match that was laid out was really good and different from most of Orton and Cena’s matches, and the final few minutes were excellent. The second is because as much as the crowd wanted to crap on this match and for the most part they did, the last few minutes they got the crowd into what they were doing. However, the crowd did send their message loud and clear; they were sick of seeing the same people having the same matches and want something fresh, specifically Daniel Bryan.)

After the match, the Wyatt Family assaults Cena and Wyatt lays out Cena with Sister Abigail.

Tribute Video for Mae Young airs.

The New Age Outlaws perform their catchphrase, celebrating winning the WWE Tag Team Championships from the Rhodes Brothers on the preshow.

We get some comments from different superstars explaining why they will win the Royal Rumble.

The panel selects who they think will win the Royal Rumble. Duggan picks Dolph Ziggler (Huh?), Shawn Michaels makes four picks, choosing CM Punk or The Shield, Flair picks Batista.

Royal Rumble Match
CM Punk is #1 and Seth Rollins is #2. Rollins hammers away on Punk in the corner but Punk fights back with some kicks. Dropkick by Rollins and he hits a corner forearm. Punk comes back with a corner knee strike and he hits a short arm clothesline. Enzuigiri by Rollins but Punk comes back with a high kick. #3 is Damien Sandow and he tries to dump Punk but he holds on. Punk hits a neckbreaker on Rollins while catching sandow with a DDT. Punk looks to dump Rollins but Rollins blocks. Cody Rhodes is #4 and he slugs it out with Sandow. Cross Rhodes by Rhodes and Rollins attacks from behind. Sandow charges at Punk but Punk backdrops him to the floor. Damien Sandow is eliminated. Punk and Rhodes both attempt to dump Rollins as Corporate Kane Is #5. Big boot to Rhodes and he knocks Punk down with an uppercut. Kane stomps away in the corner and he hits a corner clothesline to Punk. Sidewalk slam by Kane and he goes for a Chokeslam but Punk breaks with a high kick. Punk dumps Kane to the floor!!! Corporate Kane is eliminated. Alexander Rusev is #6 and he is straight out of NXT. Spinning heel kick to Rollins and he looks to dump Rollins but he holds on. Superkick to Rhodes and he tries to dump him but Rhodes holds on. Knees to the midsection of Punk and Rusev hits a fall-a-way slam. Jack Swagger is #7 and he hits the Swagger Bomb to both Rollins and Rhodes. He slugs it out with Rusev and Rusev catches him with an avalanche. Rollins clips Rusev and Rusev is triple teamed in the corner. Kofi Kingston is #8 and he hits a rolling clothesline to Punk. He looks to dump Punk but he holds on. Disaster Kick by Rhodes to Swagger as everyone looks to eliminate each other. Jimmy Uso is #9 and he hits a Bubba Bomb to Rollins. Uso looks to backdrop Rhodes out but Rhodes hangs on. Goldust is #10. Goldust cleans house and hits a powerslam to Rollins. Rusev is triple teamed again Kofi joins in and they finally dump Rusev!!! Alexander Rusev is eliminated. Kofi is knocked off the apron and Rusev catches him. He puts Kofi on the barricade and throws some knees to the ribs. Kofi’s feet never hit the floor so Kofi RUNS THE BARRICADE AND REENTERS THE RING!!!! Kofi tops himself again. Dean Ambrose is #11 and he hammers away on Punk. The Rhodes Brothers look to dump Swagger but Rollins saves. Dolph Ziggler is #12 to a huge pop. He goes up and hits a missile dropkick to Ambrose. Punches in the corner by Ziggler but Ambrose fights back and dumps Ziggler to the apron. R-Truth is #13 and he hammers away on Ambrose until Rollins saves. They stomp away on Truth and dump him to the apron. Big boot by Ambrtose and R-Truth is knocked to the floor. R-Truth is eliminated. Uso goes up but Rollins catches him with an enzuigiri and Ambrose shoves him to the floor!!! Jimmy Uso is eliminated. Swagger goes for a big boot but Kofi blocks and he tries to pull Swagger to the floor. Swagger saves himself and Kofi is in the tree of woe. He nails Swagger with his own boot and pulls himself back into the ring. KEVIN NASH IS #14!!!! Nash clotheslines Swagger to the floor. Jack Swagger is eliminated. Nash goes after the Shield and hits a big boot to Rhodes. Punk dumps Ziggler to the apron and tires to push him off but Ziggler holds on. Roman Reigns is #15 and he hits a dropkick from the apron on Punk!!! Reigns cleans house and he hits a Spear on Rhodes. He blocks Trouble in Paradise and TOSSES Kofi to the floor!!! Kofi Kingston is eliminated. Ziggler hits a sloppy DDT but Reigns comes back with a Spear. He dumps Ziggler to the floor and crowd doesn’t like that. Dolph Ziggler is eliminated. Nash charges but Reigns low bridges him to the floor. Kevin Nash is eliminated. Great Khali is #16 and he cleans house on the Shield. Superman Punch by Reigns and the Shield work together to dump Khali to the floor. Great Khali is eliminated. Ambrose dumps Rhodes to the apron and Goldust charges but misses Ambrose and knocks Rhodes off. Cody Rhodes is eliminated. Reigns dumps Goldust. Goldust is eliminated. SHEAMUS RETURNS AT #17!!! The Shield triple team Sheamus but Sheamus fights back. He drives Reigns shoulder first into the ring post and he clubs Ambrose on the apron. Irish Cruse backbreaker to Rollins and he hits the Brogue Kick on Reigns. The Miz is #18. He looks to dump Ambrose but Ambrose holds on. Fandango is #19. He and Miz both attempt to eliminate the other but both hold on. El Torito is #20. He hits a springboard hurricanrana to Rollins. Springboard head butt to Miz and he charges at Punk but Punk blocks. Torito catches him with the tilt-a-whirl headscissors but Fandango attacks him to finally stop that. Fandango looks to press Torito but Torito counters into a hurricanrana sending Fandango to the apron. Torito goes up and hits a springboard dropkick to knock Fandango to the floor!!! Fandango is eliminated. Torito springboards in but Reigns catches him and dumps Torito onto Fandango to the floor!!! El Torito is eliminated. Antonio Cesaro is #21. He takes Miz down and gives him the Cesaro Swing. He goes for the Cesaro Swing on Punk but the Shield saves. Cesaro fights them off and he gives Rollins the Cesaro Swing. Luke Harper is #22 as Reigns catches Cesaro with a Spear. He and Punk slug it out and Harper lays him out with a clothesline. Jey Uso is #23. He looks to dump Cesaro but Rollins saves. Superkick by Jey to Cesaro and Cesaro recovers to exchange uppercuts with Harper. Discus uppercut by Cesaro but Harper comes back with a big boot. JBL is #24!!!! He leaves the announce table and enters the match in a suit. He orders Michael Cole to get his jacket and the distraction allows Reigns to dump JBL!!! JBL is eliminated. Erick Rowan is #25. He dumps Miz to the apron but he holds on. He walks into a clothesline from Harper knocking him to the floor. The Miz is eliminated. Rowan chokes Jey with his boot in the corner and he dumps Jey to the apron. He eventually knocks Jey to the floor. Jey Uso is eliminated. Ryback is #26 as The Wyatt Family and The Shield begin to brawl. He looks to dump Sheamus but Sheamus holds on. Uppercuts by Cesaro to Sheamus but Sheamus knocks him down to stop that. Alberto Del Rio is #27. Corner enzuigiri to Ryback by Del Rio and he tries to dump him. Cesaro slingshots Ambrose but he holds on despite an assist from Harper. Batista is #28 and he cleans house. The crowd is not happy to see him. He throws some knees to Rowan and dumps him to the floor. Erick Rowan is eliminated. Rights to Ryback but Ryback tosses him into the corner. He charges but Batista backdrops him to the floor. Ryback is eliminated. Del Rio clips Batista and hits a basement superkick. Del Rio goes for the Cross Armbreaker but Batista powers him up and dumps him to the floor. Alberto Del Rio is eliminated. Big E. Langston is #29 and he hits a belly to belly suplex to Batista. Repeat backbreakers to Sheamus and he dumps Sheamus to the apron. The crowd chants “Yes”, anticipating Daniel Bryan is the last man. Rey Mysterio is #30n and the crowd is PISSED. Tilt-a-whirl headscissors to Rollins and he head scissors Rollins to the apron. Rey goes up and hits a seated senton off the top to Punk. Punk goes for the GTS but Rey tries to counter into a hurricanrana, sending both to the apron. They both hold on. Big E looks to catapult Sheamus but he holds on. He dumps Langston to the apron and then clotheslines him off. Big E. Langston is eliminated. Harper and Cesaro exchange uppercuts again and Cesaro hits a big boot. Rollins charges at Rey but eats boot and Rey dropkicks the leg. 619 by Mysterio and he charges but Rey is backdropped to the apron. Rey tries to springboard in but Rollins catches him with an enzuigiri to knock him to the floor. Rey Mysterio is eliminated. The Shield dumps Harper to the apron but Reigns hits the Superman Punch to knock him to the floor. Luke Harper is eliminated. Ambrose tries to dump Reigns but he holds on!!! Rollins and Ambrose argue as Cesaro attacks. The Shield fights him off and looks to dump him but Reigns dumps all three of them!!! Ambrose, Rollins, and Cesaro are eliminated. Spear by Batista to Reigns. Brogue Kick by Sheamus to Batista. GTS by Punk to Sheamus. Punk blocks a Spear with a kick to the head and he hits the GTS to Reigns. Corporate Kane comes back out and he dumps Punk to the floor!!! CM Punk is eliminated. Kane assaults Punk on the floor and he chokeslams Punk through the announce table!!! Sheamus clotheslines Reigns and he slugs it out with Batista. Corner clothesline by Batista and he hits a powerslam to Reigns. Fireman’s Carry Roll by Sheamus to Batista and he goes for the Brogue Kick but Batista moves. Crowd is booing everything as Batista gowes for the Batista Bomb. Sheamus blocks and charges but Batista dumps him to the apron. Reigns knocks him off to eliminate him. Sheamus is eliminated and Reigns breaks Kane’s record for most eliminations. Batista tries to dump Reigns but Reigns holds on. They slug it out and Reigns hits a clothesline. The crowd chants for Roman as he goes for the Superman Punch but Batista blocks with a Spear. Reigns comes back with a Spear of his own. Reigns goes to dump Batista but Batista reverses, sending Reigns to the floor!!!
Winner- Batista ***1/2 ( It’s hard for me to hate a Royal Rumble match and I know most people didn’t enjoy this one but I for the most part did. The ring didn’t fill up that much and I didn’t feel like there were any dead points during the contest. Sure it was one of the weakest matches in terms of star power but I enjoyed the stories during the match and loved the performances of Punk, The Shield, and Cesaro. The ending with Batista, Sheamus, and Reigns was also really good, so this gets a pass for a solid Rumble match from me. )

The 411: I'm going to be in the minority here but I really enjoyed this show. The Lesnar/Show segment was the only thing I didn't like and I enjoyed the hell of out of Cena/Orton and the Rumble Match, both from a wrestling quality standpoint and the train wreck in the way they reacted the crowd turning on everything. This show does highlight the problem in WWE, as the crowd is craving something new and fresh and are sick of seeing Cena/Orton/Batista in the main event scene and want to see more from guys like Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler, among others. For the wrestling, this is well worth a watch but the real appeal is the feud between the WWE and its fans.
 
Final Score:  7.5   [ Good ]  legend

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