Survivor Series delivered a little more than its build led you to believe it would, and I have been thinking over the results ever since the show came to a close. The big story is obviously the main roster debuts of Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns, but the biggest story in this mark’s heart is Ziggler’s massive Survivor Series victory(over Randy Orton, of all people). Since he was preoccupied with John Cena on Monday, the question on my mind is whether he plans on spending any time to brag about his prestigious “W”? Or will we get a rare appearance from Cena on The Big Blue? On top of that, Sheamus has become rather intimate with Steel Chairs, and he loves to involve The Big Show. I expect a lot of drama and violence, and unlike in real life, that is a splendid idea.
SPOILERS FOLLOW
We start the show with Miz TV(Again, though I’m not necessarily complaining), and the guest tonight is John Cena(I called it, by the way). Strangely, this is a good thing. One, he’s been able to let loose more often, and it’s enjoyable. Two, this means Ziggler will be coming out before long.
Miz makes the perfect caricature of a obnoxious playground brat mocking two kids that have a crush on each other, but he makes it work like he does with almost everything else. In fact, it’s a slightly different spin on his usual attitude that’s applicable to his new “good-guy” attitude, but the best part is that it in no way sacrifices his already successful personality just so they can gain cheap endearment from the fans. After some back and forth jaw-jacking and an appearance from AJ, Ziggler makes his presence known and delivers another…*sigh* lackluster live promo. He needs to fix that issue. Still, he gets into his groove and gets a couple good quips in, particularly when Vickie comes out and…
…Wait a minute…are we watching RAW or Smackdown? Only reason I bring this up is the brand split is incessantly proven to be inconsequential at this point, and it hardly serves any point. I guess this is both digressing and beating a dead horse…but all this leads to a small bit of dissension between Dolph and Vickie. Oh, and Dolph has a match with Randy Orton for the main event.
Ryback v Darren Young(N/A): As is to be expected, this is hardly more than a squash match, but it’s a fun little bit reminiscent of his work before he was being mixed into the main event. Ryback takes the win, and though O’Neal reprimands him for destroying “Millions of Dollars,” the only response he gets is a Shell Shock.
R-Truth v Antonio Cesaro(N/A): I am not too sure what to think of this. It started for approximately 30 seconds like a building TV match would, then everything got all “Signature-y” and the match abruptly stopped. I understand short TV matches, bu this one just did not make a lick of sense. I guess Truth finally gets a win so he can get a rematch for the Title, but I am not looking forward to their next encounter.
Sheamus is ready to get in the arena and prepare to compete, but Booker T is tired of all the chaos that has surrounded the World Title. As a resolution for the night, Sheamus is told to go have a few drinks and watch the show in the crowd(as you’ll find out later…deep in the crowd). Sheamus agrees, but Booker does leave him with a parting gift: Sheamus gets one last rematch at TLC against Big Show in a Chairs Match. It was expected, but I support it completely. Let’s just wrap things up there, yeah?
Sin Cara v Alberto Del Rio(C+): FINALLY we are treated to match that lasts longer than two minutes. Knowing that, my confidence has been restored that this week will not suffer from SD’s usual stigma of having astronomically short matches on a whole card. This match was remarkably well-wrestled by both men. Del Rio is continually vicious, and his arm-drag off the top-rope was gnarly. Alberto Del Rio may still be on a fast track to nowhere for the next few months, but he was still able to pull out a memorable exchange with Sin Cara before he’s forgotten.
Team Hell No can never stop bickering, but it slowly grows into a regular part of a functioning relationship, especially when this argument stems from Kane being upset about not getting an invite to Daniel Bryan’s Dinner. Insert Vegan joke. Then Bryan offers to let Kane join him for Christmas dinner if they win tonight’s match(which happens to be a handicap match against The Big Show). Insert Kane/Violence Joke. It’s like a bad sitcom with these two, and when I think it might be getting too cheesy, these two turn it into something that can make the toughest man giggle. That said, this team does have an expiration date, and my best hope is that it’s over no later than a month before WrestleMania. I have said it before, and so have many internet fans across the world…but Daniel Bryan NEEDS a huge spotlight on WrestleMania…on his own…without a tag team partner.
The Big Show v Team Hell No(Kane & Daniel Bryan)(): This match sticks to the basics, and as much as I despise Handicap matches with tag rules, sticking with the template of having The Big Show destroy Bryan due to the sheer size manages to create the best dynamic. When Bryan refuses to shelf his pride and tag in Kane, it almost costs Hell No, but he displays his resiliency and mastery of submissions enough to wear down the monster…and make another opening to tag his partner. Unfortunately, Bryan’s greed succeeds in costing the team another match, but they add a nice touch. Kane walked out on Bryan for tagging himself in, so if Bryan had not been so selfish, they likely would have defeated the World Heavyweight Champion. Sheamus sat in the crowd watching the whole thing, so Big Show does some generic trash-talking to prompt Sheamus unintelligibly shout into the camera. The real issue here is that Kane won’t be invited to Daniel Bryan’s Christmas Dinner now!
Kofi Kingston v Damien Sandow(C+): For the Intercontinental Championship, you have to imagine Damien Sandow will be firing on all cylinders here, and Kofi will naturally match him. Sandow is so immersed into his character that every expression draws you into his actions, while Kofi has a creative streak when he’s motivated. Some inventive spots come out of this match, but it did end much quicker than I would have liked. More time for the main event, I hope.
Dolph Ziggler v Randy Orton(B-): It’s Dolph Ziggler vs. Randy Orton for the xteenth time, but the difference in this encounter is Ziggler actually has a victory over Randy worth bragging about. Regardless of the circumstance, Ziggler and Orton will deliver especially when it matters, and you better believe tonight matters. These guys seem to get the crowd riled up, and each spot feels like a big moment, all the way up until Dolph Ziggler goes for the roll-up at the end. I don’t need to go on about how Ziggler makes every move look painful…I do that every other week. It’s not a clean win, but it’s a win nonetheless. I am more concerned with Del Rio immediately coming out for an attempted surprise attack following the bell…meaning Orton and Del Rio are not finished with each other…
At least the show ends with Cena snapping and locking a STF on Dolph until Refs are eventually(off-camera) able to pry him off.
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Smackdown has the right schematics tonight, but it didn’t press all the right buttons. Even so, it actually had my attention this week, which is a major plus.
-Julius Johnson(@aPsychoSoldier)
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