WWE Smackdown Review - February 14th, 2014

WWE Smackdown Review - February 14th, 2014

by Ethan Lewis

1) The Shield vs. Daniel Bryan, Sheamus, & Christian

What better way to start the show than with a fast paced six man tag! These guys kicked the show off in phenomenal fashion with this action packed match up. Bryan got the hot tag near the end and all hell broke loose. Rollins goes for a clothesline, Bryan ducks and dives out of the ring onto Reigns. As Bryan is recovering, Rollins delivers a dive of his own to the outside onto Bryan. Back in the ring, Christian and Ambrose are going at it. We have a huge exchange of maneuvers going on near the end and Sheamus accidentally kicks Christian which costs their team the match. Great way to kick off the show!

Match rating - 8/10

2) Jack Swagger vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Mark Henry - #1 Contender's Match for the Intercontinental Championship

It's been so long since I've seen a good fourway match so this was very refreshing. Each man put in a solid effort which resulted in a fantastic match. Lots of action here with some cool counters such as Swagger catching Kofi in the midst of Trouble in Paradise and countering it into the Patriot Lock. Really good match.

Match rating - 8/10

3) New Age Outlaws, Ryback, & Curtis Axel vs. Cody Rhodes, Goldust, & The Usos

Another insanely awesome multi-man tag team match here. This match reminded me of why the tag team division in WWE is so great right now. The four biggest teams in the division in an eight man tag match is a recipe for chaos. That's exactly what happened as this match had alot of entertaining action. The ending sequence was amazing as Cody Rhodes springboard off the top rope to the outside onto Axel, Ryback threw Rhodes into the barricade, Goldust then cut a flip off the apron onto Ryback. After this, The Usos delivered a double superkick to Road Dogg and Jimmy ran and dove OVER the top turnbuckle onto Ryback, Axel, and Billy Gunn! Insane stuff from The Usos as usual. Great match!

Match rating - 8.5/10

4) Damien Sandow vs. Darren Young

Quick match that was mainly about furthering storylines as Titus O'Neil was at ringside on commentary and attacked Young afterwards. Titus and Darren start brawling which was very entertaining. Darren ends up ripping Titus' pants off which was hilarious seeing Titus all pissed off. I'm a big fan of Titus and this was a good segment that set out to further the storyline between him and Young and it did just that. The only thing I disliked was how Sandow jobbed to Young here. I know someone's gotta do it, but I was hoping for big things for Sandow after he cashed in on Cena last year. That's a minor negative though, his time will come. Good segment.

5) The Miz vs. Fandango

And here we have another case of a match happening just to further storylines as Santino and Emma came out during this match to distract Fandango. Summer Rae confronted them and slapped Emma which led to a fight between the two. Seeing Emma and Summer Rae feud on the main roster is great, I'm a big fan of both as they are outstanding competitors. Hope to see them wrestle soon. WWE is finally figuring out how to do comedy right without being childish. Emma and Santino are the perfect people to showcase that aspect of the show. Totally digging this storyline because of the Emma/Summer Rae potential feud.

6) Randy Orton vs. Cesaro

I was super excited for this match. I felt that this would be the match in which Cesaro finally breaks out and indeed it was. "Cesaro Section" signs filled the crowd as they chanted "We The People". Putting him with Zeb and Swagger was definitely the right move. Not only was the crowd great for this match, but Orton and Cesaro worked extremely well together. They put on a phenomenal match up to cap off a great episode of Smackdown. I was extremily happy with the outcome of this match! Cole's words say it all "CESARO PINNED THE CHAMPION! CESARO PINNED THE CHAMPION". Awesome moment, maybe next time it will be Cesaro winning the title!

Match rating - 8.75/10

Overall thoughts: This was another awesome episode of Smackdown. It's the second week in a row that Smackdown has produced an overall better show than Raw. Higher quality matches and better storyline development! Every match on this show is worth checking out. Even the two matches that I didn't rate, simply because they are made to further storylines and they did just that. Awesome show tonight. Good job, WWE!