This Week In WWE TV – February 17-23, 2014

This week: The prelude to Elimination Chamber and to NXT Arrival. The Elimination Chamber participants continue to face off in one on one matches before the PPV, with entertaining results. Cesaro pushes Cena to the limit, Christian gets aggressive and Kane continues to make life difficult for Bryan. Plus, The Wyatts and The Shield finally come to blows, Neville and Bo and Sami and Cesaro do not, the Emma dance off comes to Smackdown and Bad News Barrett laughs at your winter Olympians (unless you’re Canadian).

RAW

– Cena came out. He talked about the Elimination Chamber and Wrestlemania. He said the only one of the six who didn’t have momentum was Orton, as he’d lost to Bryan and himself. Cesaro and Zeb interrupted and Cesaro pointed out he beat Orton as well. He said he’d become not just the face of WWE, but the face of America. Cena told Cesaro not to get ahead of himself since he’d never been in a Chamber match, before Sheamus interrupted and you can guess where things went from here. Christian, Orton and Bryan all came out and said their bit about the Chamber and being face of WWE and et cetera. Christian also brought up Sheamus accidentally Brogue Kicking him. Kane then came out and said he’d been left in charge to rectify his recent mistakes, so he made Cesaro versus Cena and Bryan versus Christian to start the show. Bryan teased fighting Kane, but Christian hit Bryan from behind and sent him into the steps before the match.

– Daniel Bryan d. Christian in 7:38. Bryan started the actual match strong until Christian cut off a dive attempt. Christian worked on the arm. Christian played heel in the match and they acknowledged Christian was the only one not to have beaten Orton in his gauntlet series. Bryan hit the dive but went shoulder first into the barrier as well. Bryan eventually made a comeback. After a back and forth finish Christian avoided the YES Lock, but Bryan countered the Killswitch with an Owen Hart style roll up to get the pin. Good as you’d expect and I’d be fine with a few rematches between these two. After the match, Kane said Bryan had another match, against him. Daniel Bryan d. Kane by DQ in 3:56. Kane in a vest and dress pants really isn’t a flattering look for him. Kane dominated at the start. When Bryan fought back, Kane sent him outside and put a submission on the arm against the post, causing the DQ. He continued the attack afterwards and blew off being disqualified.

– Renee interviewed The Shield. Ambrose claimed he gave Henry a beating last week, but Reigns pointed out he lost. Ambrose said he softened Henry up for Reigns and Reigns said he knew he could do better. When Renee pointed out they should get on the same page, Rollins claimed they were always on the same page and they all discussed the Wyatts. Fandango d. Santino Marella in 2:42. Summer distracted Santino as he went for the Cobra, so Emma gave her an airplane spin. Emma and Santino then locked eyes, but before they could kiss, Fandango took out Santino, leading to him winning with the falcon arrow.

– Renee interviewed Henry on his way to the ring and Henry said tonight wasn’t about winning or losing, it was about inducting someone into the Hall Of Pain. Roman Reigns d. Mark Henry in 2:49 after the superman punch and a spear. They teased that Ambrose wasn’t happy and Ambrose attacked Henry, but Reigns and Rollins didn’t join in and Reigns just asked what he was doing. The Wyatts then appeared on the screen and Bray cut a promo. Reigns dared them to come to the ring and they did. The Wyatts got in the ring, but before the fight could start the Wyatts left.

– Cody and Goldust had a segment backstage to plug the new WWE Stackdown toys, but Bad News Barrett came in and kicked the toys off the table like a big meanie. Jack Swagger d. Kofi Kingston by submission in 4:42. Kofi almost won with SOS, but Swagger got his foot on the ropes. A lot of the crowd bought that as the finish. Swagger then got Kofi in the ankle lock for the win. After the match, Big E came out ahead of his match and Swagger left. Two On One Handicap Match: Big E d. Jinder Mahal and Drew McIntyre of 3MB in 4:18. Zeb spoke on the microphone during the entire match. Big E still managed to win, giving both guys the Big Ending and pinning Drew. Big E insulted Zeb afterwards.

– Another Rusev and Lana video aired. Renee interviewed Cena, who reiterated his promo from last week about the future superstars having to go through him and said we’d see what Cesaro was made of tonight. John Cena d. Cesaro in 16:07. Cesaro had the better of things early, cutting Cena off at every opportunity. Great sequence of counters in the middle, with Cena countering the big swing into an STF attempt, but Cesaro countering that into a deadlift gutwrench suplex. Cesaro got a near fall with a pop up uppercut, before Cena did a sit up into a DDT to counter the big swing, for a near fall of his own. Cesaro knocked Cena off the turnbuckle to the floor with an uppercut, then gave him the deadlift superplex from the apron for another near fall. Cena got the STF but let go to drag him away from the ropes, allowing Cesaro to counter and give him the big swing for a two count. Cena countered the Neutraliser into an AA but Cesaro landed on his feet. A clothesline from Cena turned things around though and he won with the AA, after rolling through and picking Cesaro up off the mat on his shoulders. A great match.

– Backstage, Orton told HHH he appreciated when he and Stephanie had done for him. HHH brought up his losses and Orton said things were different now. He started badmouthing Batista, not realising Batista was behind him. Batista called him the ass of WWE and Orton left sheepishly. Del Rio appeared in a neck brace and said unlike Batista he wasn’t an animal, he was a man and he hoped Batista wasn’t planning to use his arms at Wrestlemania. Batista shoved him into some equipment and left.

– Renee interviewed Titus about his match with Darren Young at Elimination Chamber. Or she tried to. Titus took over the interview and said Darren had been a roadblock to him being a champion. He said everybody would witness the rise of Titus O’Neil. The Wyatt Family d. Sin Cara and Los Matadores (Bray pinned Sin Cara) in 5:35 in a rematch from Main Event. Sin Cara made a comeback before El Torito tried an asai moonsault. Rowan caught him and threw him back onto the apron before Los Matadores hit him with a double dive. Sin Cara missed the senton and took a spinning clothesline from Harper. He then tagged in Bray to finish Sin Cara with the Sister Abigail.

– Jey Uso d. Billy Gunn in 3:21. Road Dogg and Jimmy did commentary. Jey avoided a Fameasser and rolled Billy up for the pin, then Jimmy hit Road Dogg with a superkick and Jey hit a dive on both Outlaws. Byron interviewed Sheamus, who said he could taste the Wrestlemania main event and tonight, Orton would see his aggressive side and the antidote to the Viper was blunt force trauma. Sheamus d. Randy Orton by DQ in 11:50. Orton stalled early on. He avoided a Brogue Kick and sent Sheamus into the post from the apron. When Sheamus fought back, Orton gave him a back suplex through the announce table. Sheamus beat the count back in. After an exchanging their big moves at the end, Sheamus countered an RKO and hit three Irish Curse backbreakers. As he went for the Brogue Kick though, The Shield ran in for the DQ. Cena, Bryan, Cesaro and Christian ran out, before the Wyatts appeared and brawled with The Shield, very briefly, to a big pop, before it turned into a big melee involving everyone except Orton to end the show.

MAIN EVENT

– The Shield d. Sin Cara and Los Matadores (Rollins pinned Diego) in 12:59. Shield, or Ambrose and Rollins at least, struggled early before cutting off Fernando. Sin Cara made a comeback and sent Rollins into the announce table with a dive, before he was cut off as well. Diego ran wild on Ambrose and El Torito hit a double springboard dive on Rollins. Ambrose grabbed Torito and Diego just about hit a dive onto him. As Sin Cara and Fernando went for dives though, Reigns delivered a double spear. Which left Diego three on one and finished with the Blackout from Rollins. Cameron d. Aksana in 3:15. They showed a Cameron video using Total Divas footage, which convinced me she should be doing this ‘character’ on TV. Aksana knocked Cameron off the apron during her entrance. Alicia tried to interfere and Cameron sent Aksana into her, before winning with a small package.

– They showed a clip from HHH’s WWE.com interview where he talked about Bryan and said whoever won the Chamber, the Authority were prepared to make them the face of WWE. Bad News Barrett and his giant podium on a forklift appeared and gave the crowd some Bad News about the US team’s performance at the Winter Olympics. And Kofi Kingston d. Curtis Axel in 7:37. Kofi went for Trouble In Paradise early and Axel rolled outside to strategise with Ryback. As RybAxel teased getting in the ring though, Henry came out to even the odds. Axel took control and Henry stepped in when Ryback teased attacking Kofi outside. Kofi then made a comeback, before being tripped by Ryback for the disqualification. Henry threw Ryback outside and Kofi hit a dive onto RybAxel to end the show standing tall.

NXT

– The Ascension d. Casey Marion and Mike Lebosca (Viktor pinned Marion) in 1:34 after the Fall Of Man, with Lebosca not even tagging in. After the announcement that Tyler Breeze had entered the building, Emma d. Summer Rae by submission in 7:13. Emma had Bayley with her. Summer controlled things for a while and when Emma fought back, a slap from Sasha lead to a roll up for a near fall. Emma then sent Summer into Sasha, before putting Summer in the Emma Lock for the win.

– Devin interviewed Breeze, who was appalled at the idea of Adrian Neville being the face of NXT, so tonight Neville would get the Beauty Shot for the first time in his life. Renee did a sitdown interview with Sami and Cesaro. Cesaro kept cutting off Sami in mid sentence, after they’d clarified that neither could lay a hand on the other or they would be punished. Sami got annoyed and said things were past personal, it was professional now and Cesaro ended up storming off. Emma was interviewed backstage and said she had some things to say to Paige face to face next week.

– Adrian Neville d. Tyler Breeze in 7:49. Pretty even match the whole way. Neville hit a corkscrew dive and almost won with a sit out powerbomb. Moments later, Breeze tried to dropkick Neville as he went for a springboard, but Neville just casually hopped off the top rope and let Breeze land face first, which was a cute spot. Breeze recovered with a superkick though. But Neville then ducked the Beauty Spot and hit a couple of enziguris, before winning with the corkscrew shooting star. A few neat moments in this one. After the match, Bo interrupted Neville as he started to talk about NXT Arrival. Bo said he thought Neville had gone as far as he could go, because he had no intentions of losing. He called Neville a ‘good kid’ and gave him a pat on the shoulder. Neville claimed Bo was scared of him and he knew Bo wanted to hit him, so he offered him one shot. Bo took off his jacket, but didn’t take the shot and left the ring instead.

SUPERSTARS

– Cody Rhodes d. Curtis Axel in 8:43. Cody hit his big dive early on before Axel took control. Cody hit the moonsault and made a comeback. When Ryback jumped on the apron, Cody gave him the disaster kick and Goldust hit a right hand. Cody then blocked a roll up by Axel and won with Cross Rhodes. And The Bellas and Natalya d. Tamina Snuka, Eva Marie and Summer Rae (Brie pinned Tamina) in 3:58. Tamina hit a superkick to Brie, but missed the superfly splash after kicking Nikki off the apron. Brie then hit a facebuster for the win.

SMACKDOWN

– Daniel Bryan d. Jack Swagger in 4:51. Bryan had his shoulder taped from Raw. He started strong until Swagger caught him trying the knee off the apron and went after the arm. Bryan escaped a belly to belly superplex attempt and hit the running knee for an out of nowhere win. Kane and Vickie then came out and ‘awarded him the opportunity’ to compete again. Daniel Bryan d. Cesaro by DQ in 9:42. Cesaro focused on the arm as well. Bryan hit a dive before Zeb distracted him to allow Cesaro to retake control. Swagger teased using a chair so the referee threw Swagger and Colter out. Kane came out to watch from ringside. Cesaro did the big swing but Bryan rolled outside before he could be pinned. He almost won with the small package, before Cesaro got a near fall with the pop up uppercut. Bryan then hit the running knee out of nowhere, but Kane hit the chokeslam for the disqualification. Kane then announced Bryan as the winner and left, before Cesaro gave Bryan the Neutraliser.

– Renee interviewed Christian. He talked about his new aggressive side and said he was desperate because his window for becoming WWE World Heavyweight Champion was closing. He also insulted the crowd, so he’s officially turned. The Wyatt Family d. Rey Mysterio, Cody Rhodes and Goldust (Bray pinned Goldust) in 12:50. Bray cut a brief promo on The Shield before the match. The Wyatts worked over Goldust first and then Rey after Harper hit a brutal big boot as Rey was going for the 619. Goldust made a comeback and Rey hit the 619 to Rowan, into a powerslam by Goldust. Harper broke the pin and Rey tried a hurricanrana off the apron but got thrown into the barrier. Cody then hit a dive on Harper and Goldust went for Shattered Dreams to Rowan, but Bray had tagged in and cut off Goldust, before hitting Sister Abigail for the pin.

– Byron interviewed Sheamus, who said he was looking forward to facing a fired up Christian and tonight the Brogue Kick wouldn’t be an accident. Emma and Summer had a dance off. Emma won the fan’s vote and threw Summer outside when she tried to attack. Fandango then tried to seduce Emma, but Emma shoved her over Santino and dropkicked him out of the ring. Another Lana and Rusev’s video aired.

– Dolph Ziggler d. Titus O’Neil in 2:38. Darren did commentary. He distracted Titus with the whistle allowing Ziggler to win with a roll up. Jimmy Uso d. Road Dogg in 3:03 after countering the pumphandle slam and hitting a superkick. And in the main event, Sheamus d. Christian in 12:42. After an even start, Sheamus gave Christian a Finlay roll on the floor. Sheamus then speared Christian into the barrier, but Christian took over after back dropping Sheamus over the barrier and taking away the padding to send Sheamus’s injured shoulder into the exposed barrier repeatedly. Christian then worked over the arm. Sheamus fought back at the end. Christian managed to post the shoulder and got a near fall with a roll up. In the end, Sheamus hit a pair of Irish Curse backbreakers and set up the Brogue Kick, but Christian rolled outside. Christian ran into a knee but slammed Sheamus off the top. After a second rope elbow, Christian then teased the Killswitch. But Sheamus caught him with White Noise for the pin. Christian pushed Sheamus off the ropes while he was celebrating right as the show ended, which was a bit abrupt.