The Year in PPV- 2014, Part III

With 2014 ending, let's head to Nashville, Tennessee for Night of Champions...


9. Night of Champions

This is actually a really good PPV. The momentum is all there, and so is the amount of effort and quality from the performers. To name a few memorable clashes, we have The Usos vs. Gold and Stardust for the WWE Tag Team Championship, Sheamus vs. Cesaro for the United States Championship, Paige vs. AJ Lee vs. Nikki Bella for the Divas Championship, and a one on one encounter between Chris Jericho and Randy Orton. We even have a great segment featuring Seth Rollins, where he comes out for his scheduled match with Roman Reigns, and asks to be declared the winner by forfeit since Reigns was hospitalized with a hernia. An open challenge is then issued and answered by the last person Rollins wanted to see that night.

The main event saw Brock Lesnar defend the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against John Cena. For a back and forth type of match, this match is superior to their SummerSlam match because the story was about Cena proving he could bring the pain to Lesnar. And just when the fans think they've got everything figured out about what's going to happen in this match, Seth Rollins makes his way out to the ring with his Money in the Bank briefcase and total chaos erupts.

Recommended


10. Hell in a Cell

Besides the Cell matches, this edition of Hell in a Cell is actually a well-rounded PPV with the undercard. Three matches really stand out in my mind. The first was the opening match that put Dolph Ziggler against Cesaro in a 2 out of 3 falls match for the Intercontinental Championship. What about that does NOT sound like a good time to watch? Another captivating match is the showdown between Brie Bella and Nikki Bella, in a match where the loser is the winner's servant for 30 days. And finally, Big Show tried to give Rusev his first defeat, in a match that really played the encounter up as a battle for patriotism, going as far as having Rusev attack an American soldier during the build up.

The two Hell in a Cell matches are pretty well done as well. The first, pitting John Cena against Randy Orton (in the first ever Hell in a Cell rematch), was a match that (as of now) brought their epic rivalry to an end, while also deciding the number one contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match at the Royal Rumble, since that was the next time Brock Lesnar would actually wrestle.The main event was purely personal between Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose. The beginning of the match is pure genius, channeling back to the days of the Undertaker/Mankind Cell match, and the rest of it is a proper way to bring the feud to a close. That is with the exception of the ending. While the ending may be a disappointment to ending the Rollins/Ambrose rivalry, it's still very cool to watch.

Mild Recommendation


11. Survivor Series

For years, the joke has been that Survivor Series no longer has that feeling of a Big Four PPV attached to it. Boy, did this year's change that for me. From the opening contest, to the main event, every match (except for one squash tag team match) kept the momentum flowing at a great pace. Some particular highlights is the traditional Survivor Series elimination match featuring the Divas. Team Fox (Alica Fox, Emma, Natalya, and Naomi) faced off against Team Paige (Paige, Summer Rae, Layla, and Cameron) in a match that got some good amount of time and effort put into it, which is a big deal for the Divas division nowadays. Another fun match on the card is the encounter between Dean Ambrose and Bray Wyatt in a feud to see who can out crazy the other.

The main event is easily one of the few times I have truly cared about the outcome of a Survivor Series in years. Team Authority (Seth Rollins, Kane, Mark Henry, Rusev, and Luke Harper) took on Team Cena (John Cena, Dolph Ziggler, Big Show, Ryback, and Erick Rowan) in a match with a lot on the line. If Team Cena won, the Authority would be removed from power, but if Team Authority won, then all of Cena's teammates would have been fired. This match got nearly 45 minutes of time, and is arguably the first Survivor Series elimination match since Team WWF vs. The Alliance in 2001 that really had all the fans awaiting the outcome. The results is a match with terrific psychology, eliminations that make sense, tons of overbooking and swerves, and easily a moment that was the hardest I've ever marked out in my life. Trust me, the conclusion of this match has a moment that I believe fans NEVER thought they would ever see in their lifetime. And then it happened. A truly memorable way to end an entertaining Survivor Series.

Highly Recommended


12. TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs...and Stairs

With the advertised gimmick of being a modern demolition derby, this year's installment of TLC added an extra weapon to the arsenal: the steel steps. Unfortunately, the Steel Stairs match between Erick Rowan and Big Show seems to fall into the underwhelming department of the evening's matches. I don't see it catching on by the time we get to the TLC show in 2015, but hey I could be wrong. I mean, they did make the Chairs match a longstanding match now for 5 consecutive years. Speaking of the Chairs match, Ryback and Kane tried their hardest to have a good match with this gimmick, but I don't think their chemistry worked here. I honestly think these two would have been better suited for a Tables match, if they wanted to get some traction with their stale feud. A Chairs match just naturally allows the audience to continue being disinterested in whatever feud is shoehorned with that gimmick, at least Tables matches have an exciting finish.

While we're on the topic of Tables matches, the Tables match between Seth Rollins and John Cena surprisingly works really well. Normally, fans normally expect a Tables match to go on for maybe 10 or 15 minutes before getting bored. Yet, Cena and Rollins went out and entertained for nearly 25 minutes and never left me bored. The added stipulation that Cena would lose his number one contender's spot if he lost definitely added to the equation (either positive or negative) to see how things would turn out. The ladder match that opened the show saw Luke Harper defend his Intercontinental Championship against Dolph Ziggler. This match was tons of fun and was very physical, to the point where it didn't feel choreographed. As a fan, I love when spots aren't perfect, because it adds to the realness of the match. Closing out the show was a TLC match between Bray Wyatt and Dean Ambrose. The spots were all fine and the match was good all the way up to the ending. I don't know, something about it seemed really, really, really stupid. Even by wrestling's standards. Still, the show was a fun way to close the year.

Mild Recommendation


Final Thoughts: While I've gone on to talk about these last 4 months in pretty good detail, I'm going to end it on a pretty hefty rant about Brock Lesnar. The man wins your company's main title at SummerSlam, defends it ONE time at Night of Champions, and then doesn't defend it again until Royal Rumble in 2015. WWE...what is your major malfunction? I get that he has a limited schedule but still, you could either a. make sure he shows up to at least defend his title on PPV only, or b. decided not to give him the title for those scheduling reasons. I mean...it's not rocket science. While the company still had plenty of good matches and moments, there was definitely a noticeable emptiness in the wake of Lesnar's absence. And no, it wasn't for Lesnar. It was for the freaking WWE World Heavyweight Championship. I'm not saying the people who decided to put the belt on him were morons. But they were morons for not agreeing to have him at least show up for 3 PPV matches to end the year with the company's main title. Ok, glad I got that out of my system. Other than that 2014 is a solid year with a few ups and downs throughout.


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