BRM Reviews WWE Tables, Ladders, Chairs... and Stairs

[Big Red Machine]

WWE Tables, Ladders Chairs… and Stairs (12/14/2014)- Cleveland, OH

KICKOFF SHOW: Goldust & Stardust vs. The New Day (w/Xavier Woods)- 5.5/10
What is actually “new” about these New Day guys? They seem like their same old selves but with new music and bright new gear. They need to push the gimmick itself better.
The announcers claimed that Stardust was dressed like the Great Gazoo. He had some green on him, but that was the only similarity.

MIZ & NAOMI SEGMENT- Miz tries to offer her help getting an acting job. She responds that her main focus right now is the Divas’ Title, and claims that Miz can’t help her with that. If she wants to win the title, shouldn’t she be… I don’t know… trying to get booked in matches or something? Because all she has been doing recently is watching her husband’s matches from backstage.

The bottom-third advertisements for the WWE Network still mention the six-month commitment.

MAIN SHOW:
LADDER MATCH FOR THE WWE INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE: Luke Harper(c) vs. Dolph Ziggler- 7.5/10
Quite a few scary bumps in this one, but both guys seem to be okay. I really liked the pacing of this match and they had some very good nearfalls. They did a great job of making Harper seem like a huge, scary obstacle for Dolph, and he still managed to maintain that aura, even in defeat.

WWE TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Miz & Damien Miz-dow(c) vs. The Usos- 5/10
Yeah… Miz-dow has outstayed his welcome with me. I feel like I’ve seen all of his stuff before, and it has ceased to be funny and started to feel stupid.
Am I the only one who marked out because it looked like Jimmy Uso was about to lock in a CHIKARA Special?
Other than that, the match was pretty decent, but with a lame finish. Yes, it works if they are building to a No DQs match at the next PPV (which would be a good idea), but I really don’t see them doing that.

SETH ROLLINS PROMO- very good

STAIRS MATCH: Erick Rowan vs. Big Show- 4.5/10
Yeah… I hope they never do this gimmick again. It just wasn’t interesting in any way. This is also probably the end for Rowan for any sort of push.

TOTAL DIVAS COMMERCIAL- can someone explain to me why they haven’t fired Eva Marie yet? Hasn’t she proved herself completely incompetent, and nowhere near hotter than the average Diva to justify her continued employment?

TABLES MATCH IN WHICH IF CENA LOSES, HE LOSES HIS #1 CONTENDERSHIP: John Cena vs. Seth Rollins (w/Joey Mercury & Jamie Noble)- 7.25/10
I really liked everything up until the restart. Others might not like that kind of story, but I enjoyed it and thought they told it really well. I hated the restart just because it felt like a big waste of time, and the stuff that came after it really didn’t feel connected to the earlier part of the match. I’d have rather seen Reigns spear the stooges and leave Big Show out of it entirely.

BELLAS PROMO- “blood is thicker than water.” That’s how they explain away the fact that they like each other again.

WWE DIVAS TITLE MATCH: Nikki Bella(c) (w/Brie Bella) vs. AJ Lee- 3/10
An okay match with a heel finish that came off as very dull after both the DQ and the big overbooked match we have already seen.

ROMAN REIGNS PROMO- good

CHAIRS MATCH: Kane vs. Ryback- 5.25/10
Most awesome chair-throwing spot ever.

WWE UNITED STATES TITLE MATCH: Rusev(c) (w/Lana) vs. Jack Swagger- 3.5/10
The match was very short and Rusev certainly could have sold his ankle better, but I was 100% into every last little thing they did.

TLC MATCH: Bray Wyatt vs. Dean Ambrose- 8.25/10
An awesomely violent match marred by a horribly stupid finish. If you ever find yourself booking a wrestling promotions, here’s a good rule of thumb to go by: If you need special effects for your finish, DO A DIFFERENT FINISH!

A great show from WWE, but it would have been a lot better if the finishes for some of the big matches were better.

Oh… and to the guy who brought a “Hire Russo” sign: I hope you get a flat tire on the way home. You know what? Make it four flat tires. And not all at the same time. I mean at four completely different points on your journey. F*ck you.

[NWK2000]

I agree with you. But I thought for a main roster divas match, Nikki and AJ was at least worth a 5. They didn't do anything particularly horrible, not anything extraordinary, but they had a good match, with a Rick Martel style finsih! I also disagree with hating the Cena/Rollins restart. I saw it as "Let's give the fans the maximum amount of table spots we possibly can this match." which is why I think they did the ref bump too.

[badnewzxl]

I didn't mind the monitor spot; maybe I'm the only one, lol. I'm looking forward to a rematch at the Rumble or the next ppv.

Totally agree about Show in the tables match; woulda been better if they'd had just left him out but they are obviously wanting to put Reigns against Show to help his Rumble push

[cero2k]

I didn't mind the monitor spot; maybe I'm the only one, lol. I'm looking forward to a rematch at the Rumble or the next ppv.

i did particularly felt that it insulted the intelligence of anyone who has ever used an electronic, especially a computer monitor

[cero2k]

Oh… and to the guy who brought a “Hire Russo” sign: I hope you get a flat tire on the way home. You know what? Make it four flat tires. And not all at the same time. I mean at four completely different points on your journey. F*ck you.

with how crap the booking was for this show, i'd say they already hired him, or at least should. Chances are Ambrose won't lose to a TV monitor if Russo is on creative

[Big Red Machine]

Oh… and to the guy who brought a “Hire Russo” sign: I hope you get a flat tire on the way home. You know what? Make it four flat tires. And not all at the same time. I mean at four completely different points on your journey. F*ck you.

with how crap the booking was for this show, i'd say they already hired him, or at least should. Chances are Ambrose won't lose to a TV monitor if Russo is on creative

Dude... Sting vs. Vampiro? The Electric Cage in TNA? EVERYTHING else... Russo loves his ridiculous special effects finishes.

[cero2k]

Oh… and to the guy who brought a “Hire Russo” sign: I hope you get a flat tire on the way home. You know what? Make it four flat tires. And not all at the same time. I mean at four completely different points on your journey. F*ck you.

with how crap the booking was for this show, i'd say they already hired him, or at least should. Chances are Ambrose won't lose to a TV monitor if Russo is on creative

Dude... Sting vs. Vampiro? The Electric Cage in TNA? EVERYTHING else... Russo loves his ridiculous special effects finishes.

i'm ok with special effects finishes and russos's weird gimmicks. an exploding monitor because you unplugged the VGA plug is worse than anything Russo ever did

[Big Red Machine]

with how crap the booking was for this show, i'd say they already hired him, or at least should. Chances are Ambrose won't lose to a TV monitor if Russo is on creative

Dude... Sting vs. Vampiro? The Electric Cage in TNA? EVERYTHING else... Russo loves his ridiculous special effects finishes.

i'm ok with special effects finishes and russos's weird gimmicks. an exploding monitor because you unplugged the VGA plug is worse than anything Russo ever did

I think it is better than the Human Torch match with a stun double who clearly wasn't Sting taking the fall, or the horrible "electrified cage" from Lockdown 2007, or Bret trying to run someone over in a Monster Truck or a million other dumb Russo ideas.

[cero2k]

I think it is better than the Human Torch match with a stun double who clearly wasn't Sting taking the fall, or the horrible "electrified cage" from Lockdown 2007, or Bret trying to run someone over in a Monster Truck or a million other dumb Russo ideas.

this may have looked less cheap, but like I said, an insult to the intelligence to whoever has used an electronic appliance. Next show his iPhone will explode because he unplugs his headphones.

[Big Red Machine]

I think it is better than the Human Torch match with a stun double who clearly wasn't Sting taking the fall, or the horrible "electrified cage" from Lockdown 2007, or Bret trying to run someone over in a Monster Truck or a million other dumb Russo ideas.

this may have looked less cheap, but like I said, an insult to the intelligence to whoever has used an electronic appliance. Next show his iPhone will explode because he unplugs his headphones.

As someone who uses said devices all the time but isn't familiar with their inner workings, it took quite a few minutes for it to dawn on me on silly it was, as opposed Russo's ideas, which both looked and sounded stupid from the get-go.