The Year in PPV- 2014, Part I

The most recent year that I can review in full, 2014 was filled with ups and downs. The "YES" movement was in full effect, gang warfare began to erupt between the Wyatt Family, the Shield, and Evolution, and the single most shocking moment in wrestling history since the Montreal Screwjob took place. Batista returned, Hulk Hogan returned, Chris Jericho returned, Alberto Del Rio was fired, and Sting finally made his first appearance in WWE. The Shield broke up, the Wyatt Family broke up, the Bella twins broke up, then got back together, Batista quit (storyline), and CM Punk quit (for real). And of course, John Cena continued to do the same thing he's always done. That's a lot to get through and it was only a year ago that it happened, so let's not wait any further for me to cover it.

So let's get things underway by heading to a very vocal Royal Rumble event...


1. Royal Rumble

The 2014 Royal Rumble is a landmark event for the fans, as the crowd in Pittsburgh looked at the product that was given to them and said "We're not gonna take it anymore." No longer were the fans going to be spoon fed the booking that the corporate heads thought was "best for business" and they used their voices to show their displeasure. Once Daniel Bryan stole the show with a fantastic opening match against Bray Wyatt, the fans spoke loudly to tell the company that Bryan deserved better than just the opening match. During the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match between Randy Orton and John Cena, the crowd folded their arms and refused to care. Listen to their chants. Listen to their displeasure. This almost ranks on Goldberg/Brock Lesnar territory in terms of fan backlash. But the chants were just getting started by the time we got to the Royal Rumble match.

This Royal Rumble match has some serious pros and cons, so let's just analyze them briefly one by one. Pro. Roman Reigns set the record for most eliminations in a Royal Rumble match with 12. For 13 years, Kane held that record with 11 and Reigns unexpectedly came in and shattered it. Watching it when it first aired, I had no idea. I wasn't keeping score or anything and when they announced it I was shocked and impressed. Con. This is the last WWE appearance of CM Punk. Everyone and their mother has talked about Punk leaving, so I won't harp on it here (maybe down the road when he finally has his first UFC fight). I will say that the match is certainly worth watching just to see Punk's last wrestling appearance no matter where you stand on it. Pro. This match marks the in-ring return of Batista after being gone for 4 years. As a Batista fan, I was very happy for the Animal's return. Con. The fans wanted nothing to do with Batista. Knowing exactly what WWE was planning to do with Batista, fans wanted no part of it and voiced that heavily. Biggest Con. Daniel Bryan is not in the match. Fans waited all the way to number 30 to see Daniel Bryan "YES" his way down to the ring, but when it was Rey Mysterio, fans were crushed. Biggest Pro. The fans voiced complete displeasure with the company and demanded for things to change. If the Pittsburgh crowd only knew what they had started...

Mild Recommendation


2. Elimination Chamber

That fan movement I talked about would have to wait until the end of this PPV, but let's go ahead and address the two big pros of Elimination Chamber. The first was the epic gang warfare between the Shield and the Wyatt Family. These two trios had been dominating superstars left and right for the past year and it was finally time to see them go at it. You know you have an awesome moment when the fans are chanting "This is Awesome" before the bell even rings. These fans were ready to see a fight and these teams didn't disappoint. This was also the beginning of the Shield's face turn, which is good because in basic storytelling heel vs. heel matches rarely work. Keeping in mind this match occurred midway through the card, the bar was set pretty high for the main event.

The WWE World Heavyweight Championship was on the line in the Elimination Chamber. Randy Orton had to go through John Cena, Cesaro, Christian, Daniel Bryan, and Sheamus if he wanted to walk into WrestleMania XXX with the two title belts. I actually really enjoyed the pacing of this match and the chemistry the opponents had with each other. The stories were all handled well with Orton having rivalries with both Cena and Bryan that could be settled in the Chamber, Cesaro stepping up as the underdog that could make a name for himself, Christian proving he still has what it takes to be a champion, and Sheamus securing his dominance in the roster since returning from injury. Thanks to some outside shenanigans finding their way into the chamber, the stage was also set for a handful of rivalries to further develop heading into WrestleMania.

Mild Recommendation


3. WrestleMania XXX

Even if this happened a little over a year ago, I have tremendous memories with WrestleMania XXX. I was at a point in my life where I really needed something fun to pick me up and this show did that for me. I'm forever grateful to the WWE because of what Mania XXX was to me. I mean, the show opens with Hulk Hogan coming out as the host and he has an in-ring promo with both Stone Cold Steve Austin AND The Rock. That already sets the bar so high for the rest of the show, and the show continued to deliver in momentum and quality. Sure, there are a couple of cracks in some of the shorter and more cluster-filled matches, but I still had a great time watching the show. If anything, the only match result I would've changed was the John Cena and Bray Wyatt match. What started off as a very engaging and entertaining feud eventually turned into a "paint by numbers" rivalry for all Cena opponents. Go ahead. Guess what happened. Guess who won the match. In hindsight, the other guy should've gone over here in order to make an impact. But, given what was going to happen in the next match, the crowd would've probably had a collective heart attack had that happened.

I've already gone into great detail about the match between the Undertaker and Brock Lesnar in one of my first posts on this blog, but to summarize how I felt about the ending, all I can say is I will never forget where I was. I nearly threw my laptop. I talked to myself for minutes saying that it didn't happen. I began to question how it could happen. I was absolutely furious that it did happen. A year later, I can say I understood what they were trying to do with having Lesnar end the Streak. However, the biggest flaw in the design is in Lesnar's inability to work a regular schedule. His incredibly sporadic part-time status made it hard for him to maintain a consistent form of momentum to capitalize on. Still, the moment happened, it was a shocking one, and had Taker officially retired or Lesnar stayed on more consistently, it probably would have been accepted by fans better than it had been. Speaking of the fans, just watching their reactions is worth ending the Streak in my opinion. You'll always spot a new reaction whenever you check it out that will leave you laughing.

The final great story of the evening involved the culmination of the "YES" movement. After a feud that began at SummerSlam, Daniel Bryan and Triple H finally settled their differences in the ring in an incredible opening match that had huge ramifications on the main event match. The winner of the Bryan/Triple H match would go on to the main event match between Randy Orton and Batista for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and the match would become a triple threat. Sure, the moment is VERY telegraphed, but I don't think that's a bad thing. The fans hoped for the incredible moment and we got it. It's one of the best stories WrestleMania has ever told. It began 8 months earlier at SummerSlam and culminated on the biggest stage in sports entertainment. It's a truly magical moment to watch as a wrestling fan. And that's how I feel about this PPV. It was magic. It's an absolute pleasure to watch Mania XXX whenever I get the chance and it ranks right up there as one of my favorite Manias and in my all-time favorite PPVs. Thank you WWE for giving me that when I needed it most.

Highly Recommended


4. Extreme Rules

When the WWE nowadays decides to go to the "extreme," it's usually considered a joke, case in point with the Extreme Rules PPV. This show had 7 matches and MAYBE 4 of them can qualify under the concept of going to the extreme. The show featured a steel cage match between John Cena and Bray Wyatt, which will probably be remembered solely for the ending. The show also featured another bit of gang warfare in a match between the Shield and Evolution. At this time, you could predict that the Shield were going to be the next big thing. I mean, they were going against a reunited Evolution. And when you really break that down, they were going against Triple H, Batista, and Randy Orton. That is quite the rub for any wrestler to have whether you win or lose.

The main event saw Daniel Bryan defend his WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Kane in an Extreme Rules match. This should've probably been a Falls Count Anywhere match based on the booking of the match, but it's still an enjoyable way to close the night. At first, I didn't care for this feud, but when I really thought about it, it was reminiscent of when Stone Cold Steve Austin feuded with Dude Love after Mania XIV. Unfortunately, the feud was cut short at the hands of some very bad news for Daniel Bryan and his fans.

Mild Recommendation


Initial Thoughts: It's easy to see what the fans were really into during this time. They were really into the Shield, the Wyatt Family, and Daniel Bryan. And thanks to this, that's where a lot of the company's focus was for the time being. Of course, the WWE can't let too much of a good thing happen and would turn this movement into an opportunity to see which of these superstars had the potential of being singles superstars. And as for Daniel Bryan, his time of glory would come to a screeching halt as the result of an injury. What does this say for the rest of 2014? We'll talk about that in the next installment.

Continued in Part II...


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