Matt’s Recap: TLC (and Stairs and things) 2014

Here we are, at a Pay Per View that should be
exciting…but has to be one of the most boring cards I’ve ever seen.
It stinks of uninteresting feuds, both new and old with no real velocity
or energy behind them.

Let’s find out…

We begin with gritty footage of WWE superstars inter-cut with footage from a Demolition Derby.

We are LIVE(!!!) from Cleveland, Ohio!!!

JBL,
Cole, and King are the guys at the desk. Marcelo Rodriguez and Carlos
Cabrera are manning the Spanish Desk of Eventual Destruction.

Dolph
gets a NICE ovation from his hometown crowd. Dolph misses a couple of
Superkicks to start, then both men bolt outside and put some ladders
into the ring. Harper walks around the ring and just tosses Ziggler into
one of the standing ladders outside, then into the Timekeeper’s area.
Harper sets up a tall ladder and begins to climb but Ziggler manages to
run in and knock the ladder over. Harper lands on his feet and boots
Ziggler’s head off his shoulders. Ziggler rolls out and Harper follows
him, attempting a powerbomb into a ladder outside. Ziggler evades this
and rushes at Harper who just slams him into the cement. Harper rolls
back into the ring and sets up another ladder but Ziggler pulls him off
again. Harper just tosses him across the ring and drops a ladder on his
face. He picks Ziggler up and puts him in the corner, then just slams
him with a ladder. Ziggler manages to get up to the top turnbuckle with a
ladder on a comeback but Harper just uses the ladder to knock him
ouside. Then he press slams a ladder at Ziggler’s face. Harper tries a
Suicide Dive but collides with a ladder that Ziggler has set up. Ziggler
rushes inside and sets up a tall ladder. He gets his hands on the belt
but Harper grabs him, Ziggler kicks him away and NEARLY grabs the belt
but Harper gets up and knocks the ladder over, sending Ziggler into the
buckle.

Ziggler
gets to his feet. Harper goes for a Powerbomb but Ziggler counters it,
only to get Powerbombed into a ladder anyhow. Harper slingshots Ziggler
into a rope, smashing his body against a ladder and the abuse continues.
Ziggler is busted open as he rolls outside and doctors check on him.
Inside the ring, Harper sets up another ladder and climbs. Ziggler
suddenly gets up and rushes to Harper, managing to knock the ladder off.
The two men fall but Ziggler gets the worst of it. Harper gets another
ladder. Ziggler grabs it so Harper goes for a Powerbomb. Ziggler
counters with a Facebuster and climbs. Harper pulls him off and Ziggler
falls, hitting a DDT on the way down. Harper gets to his feet and grabs a
ladder and clocks Ziggler in the face. He swings at Ziggler again but
Dolph ducks and hits a Superkick, then knocks Harper off the mat to the
outside area. Ziggler gets to his feet and climbs the ladder. Harper
gets up and shoves the ladder. Ziggler takes a NASTY fall, landing on
his shoulder. The fans chant “THIS IS AWESOME” as Harper sets up the
ladder again. Ziggler gets to his feet and swings across the ring with a
ladder, knocking Harper down and grabbing the ladder. He climbs…but
Harper grabs him. He kicks Harper away. Harper sets up a ladder next to
Ziggler — but Ziggler Superkicks Harper off his ladder! He grabs the
belt! Ziggler’s the new champ!

We get an ad for Florida Georgia Line at WWE Salute to the Troops, both of which we must all enjoy or the terrorists win.

Jey
starts with Miz and there’s about 72 counter spots until Jey hits an
armdrag. Jimmy tags in but Miz escapes. After re-entering the ring,
Jimmy is all over Miz, punching at him after a press and chopping at
him. Tag to Jey. They hit a Double Suplex and Miz-dow imitates that.
Then he imitates getting tosses from the ring like The Miz. Naomi
watches from the back as the action goes back into the ring. Miz hits a
DDT as the crowd chants for Miz-dow. Jey pulls Miz into a roll-up pin as
Miz and Miz-dow argue about who should be in the ring. Two count. Miz
puts Jey into a headlock but Jey escapes and hits an Enzuguri. Hot tag
to Jimmy who clotheslines Miz, hits a kick and Samoan Drop. Miz-dow
continues to imitate Miz. Jimmy hits a Rikishi on Miz and goes for one
on Miz-dow who escapes. Miz comes out of the corner and boots Jimmy to
the mat. Jimmy counters and nearly gets a pin but Miz-dow finally
interferes. All hell breaks loose with Jimmy going for a Superfly Splash
which doesn’t happen because Miz escapes the ring, grabs his titles and
starts to leave. Jimmy hits Uso Crazy on Miz-dow, but Miz clocks Jimmy
after that. 

Byron
has Rollins backstage with Joey Mercury and Jamie Noble. He says that
the Authority isn’t around because of “The Vigilante Known as Sting”
which is his name now, I guess. He says that, tonight, he’s gonna end
all of Cena’s dreams.

Cole
gives us an “Anatomy of the Stairs” analysis which includes interesting
facts like, “The steps are 275 pounds” and “they can withstand 2200 lbs
of pressure” which totally matters in a match like this.

Rowan
is all over Show, splashing him in the corner and hitting a nice high
spinning kick. Show exits the ring. Rowan follows and gets kneed in the
stomach and slammed. He whips Rowan in the stairs and, yay. Stairs. He
rolls Rowan back into the ring, grabs some steel stairs and climbs to
the mat. Rowan dropkicks the stairs into Show’s face and clocks him
after exiting the ring. Rowan starts throwing stairs everywhere and
kicks Show in the ribs. He picks up some stairs and stacks them
vertically, aligning them like a wall. Show grabs him and tosses him
into the ringpost. He puts Rowan on the mat and slaps his chest, then
tosses him into the timekeeper’s pit. Show picks up some steel steps and
tosses it on the announce desk much to Cole’s surprise. Rowan gets up
and starts slugging away but Show knocks him down and uses some stairs
to nail him in the stomach. Show puts more stairs in the ring and then
rolls Rowan in.

Once
in the ring, Show just nails Rowan in the back with some steps and sets
up the steps underneath the top buckle, throwing Rowan into them. He
does it even harder the second time, then clotheslines Rowan for good
measure. He goes for a Chokeslam but Rowan fights out. Rowan lifts Show
up and slams him on the stairs. Rowan goes for the top portion of the
stairs and goes to the second buckle and just misses Show. Rowan rolls
out of the ring. Show follows and knocks him through the wall of stairs
Rowan set up earlier. Back in the ring, Show lifts up some stairs but
Rowan boots them into Show’s face. Rowan rushes at Show who counters and
Chokeslams him into the stairs, then hits the KO Punch and pins Rowan
under the curve of the stairs.

We get a commercial for the return of Total Divas.

We get the build-up for Cena/Rollins.

Paul Heyman comes down to the ring so you know this finish isn’t gonna be clean.

Brawl
to start, culminating in a bulldog by Cena. Security distracts Cena and
Rollins takes over, stomping at Cena in the corner. Cena comes back
with a clothesline. He goes under the mat for a table as Rollins’
security force looks on. Mercury and Noble pull the table away from Cena
once he gets back into the ring. Rollins beats up on Cena and goes for a
table under the ring but Cena nails him. The table ends up in the ring.
Security goes to get it but Cena pushes them into the crowd wall using
the table. Rollins attacks Cena and sets the table on the top buckle.
Noble and Mercury come in and pull the table off which makes no sense,
but we move on. Rollins attacks Cena and hits a DDT. Rollins goes for a
table under the ring and it doesn’t get stolen, so I guess that’s
progress. Rollins stomps Cena in the corner. He sets the table up in the
corner and tries to whip Cena into it. Cena baseball slides and hits
Moves 1 through 4. He goes for the AA but Security comes in and it’s a
3-on-1 mudhole stomp. Ref does nothing. They set Cena up for a Table
Bomb but Cena kicks Rollins and fights off Security, then just beats the
hell out of Noble. He grabs a crowd gate and knocks down all three men
near the entrance ramp.

Cena
suplexes Noble on the crowd gate and Rollins immediately attacks.
Mercury takes over, punching at Cena, tossing his head into some chairs,
then tossing him into the ringpost. They go to smash Cena with a table
but Cena moves. Cena grabs Mercury and tosses him into the Timekeeper’s
Pit with an AA. Rollins goes after Cena and whips him into the crowd
barrier. He puts a table up outside and then grabs another table,
propping it next to the one he just set up. Cena is inside the ring.
Rollins goes for a Suplex to the outside but Cena reverses it. The two
exchange shots and both exchange counters until Rollins hits a Reverse
Inverted Suplex. Rollins tries to toss Cena into the corner table but
Cena whips Rollins up and over the top rope to the outside. He slides a
table into the ring and goes after Rollins who clocks Cena with the
briefcase. Cena rolls into the ring and Rollins just clocks him again
and again.

Rollins
raises the case in victory, then tosses it aside. Rollins sets up
another table and he tells Cena “Your time is up, my time is now.” Cena
gets up and grabs him for an AA. Rollins blocks it and the ref takes a
bump. Rollins ends up clocking Cena, who falls, face-first on the table.
Rollins sets up for the Curb Stomp but Cena gets up and AA’s Rollins
through the table…but the ref is still out. Suddenly, Noble and
Mercury miraculously wake up and the same time and run into the ring,
attack Cena, get rid of the broken table for some reason, and then try
to help Rollins win the match with another Table Bomb. Cena fights out,
knocks Rollins out of the ring and AA’s the Security through the table.
Rollins comes in and attacks and both men end up going through the
tables outside. The bell rings and two other refs who were absent during the first ref bump
fly into the ring to confer. One of the refs calls Cena the winner while the other ref somehow
calls Rollins the winner, which should make no sense to anybody, sober, crazy, drunk or high. Chiota restarts the match and Cena AA’s Rollins
into the Announce Table. It doesn’t break. Cena gets into the ring and
here comes Big Show who nails Cena and calls for a Chokeslam…but Roman
Reigns’ music hits and he comes out of the crowd, hits the Superman
Punch on Show, Spears him through the table, Superman Punches Rollins
and Cena finishes it by AA’ing Rollins through a table.

We get an ad for the Royal Rumble on January 25th.

Renee and her lisp is back at the WWE News Desk.

Byron
has the Bella Bewbz backstage. Nikki’s sick of talking about AJ. Brie
says that they’ve had their problems…but blood is thicker than water.
Here comes the face turn…

AJ
hits a Hurricarana, whipping Nikki out of the ring. AJ attacks. Brie
tries to help but AJ ducks and attacks Nikki, sending her into the ring.
AJ corners Nikki who comes back, slamming AJ to the mat and hitting a
backbreaker. Two count. Nikki hits a quick suplex and then chokes AJ
against the ringpost. She puts a Surfboard on AJ, who fights out. Nikki
just whips her to the mat. She locks AJ’s chin but AJ gets to her feet
again. Nikki tries a whip but AJ counters into an Octopus and attempts
the Widow. Nikki rams her into the corner buckle to break it. Both Divas
rush at one another and clothesline each other. AJ gets to her feet and
splashes Nikki in the corner. She hits a Tornado DDT off the buckle as
Brie yells “C’MON NIKKI” until she’s blue in the face. Nikki hits a
dropkick off the buckle and gets two. Nikki sets up for a falling
facebreaker but AJ counters with a standing bulldog for two. AJ hits the
Shining Wizard and gets two because Brie puts Nikki’s foot on the rope.
The ref ejects Brie from ringside. On the distraction, Nikki sprays
something in AJ’s eyes and hits the Rack Attack and we’re done.

Todd
Phillips has Roman Reigns backstage. He says he’d be back and he’d make
an impact. He took out Big Show and punched Seth Rollins in the mouth.
At the Royal Rumble: he’ll do damage this year.

Kane
and Ryback grab a chair each and smack them together. Both chairs fall
and it’s a quick brawl. Kane grabs a chair and whacks Ryback with it. He
props a chair between the buckles but ends up taking the hit on a
reversal on the whip. Ryback hits a forearm and press, then hits a
Splash. He hits a Bulldog Powerslam and goes to the second buckle,
hitting three consecutive body splashes. He grabs a chair and just
destroys Kane with it. He puts a chair on top of Kane and goes for
another splash but Kane lifts the chair up and Ryback hits that instead.
Kane whacks Ryback with the chair and sets it on the top buckle, then
nails him with Snake Eyes. Kane picks up another chair and just whacks
Ryback with it again. Kane goes for a suplex. Ryback reverses but Kane
blocks it. Kane hits a running DDT into the chair for two. Kane goes to
nail Ryback with a chair but Ryback kicks the chair into Kane’s face. He
goes for an axehandle off the buckle but Kane uppercuts him. Two count.
Kane sets up a chair but Ryback fights back. Kane uppercuts him and
then boots Ryback into the chair, which falls over. Kane splashes Ryback
in the corner, then tries again but Ryback hits a belly to belly.
Ryback grabs a chair but Kane just kicks the chair into Ryback’s face.
He takes the chair and hits a half dozen chair shots, then goes outside
and tosses six chairs into the ring. He sets the chairs up the way he
wants and goes for a Chokeslam. Ryback counters and hits a Spinebuster
into the chairs which just doesn’t look as painful as it was intended
because Ryback botched the landing. Ryback hits about 6 or 7 chair shots
and goes for the Meat Hook Clothesline but Kane just throws a 97 MPH
fastball of a chair into Ryback’s face. He hits a Chokeslam from Hell
and NEARLY gets a fall. He calls for a Tombstone but Ryback counters
with a Meathook. He goes for Shellshock and hits it for the win.

JBL’s excited about WWE Week and says that Y2J will be the host of RAW tomorrow, calling him “Y2-Jizzle”. (DANIELLE: “Oh…are you sure you wanna use that now or ever again?”)

Quick
brawl and Swagger barely slams Rusev. Rusev’s ankle is bad and he won’t
let Swagger near it. Swagger chases him into the ring, splashes him,
boots him, then celebrates. He goes for the Swagger Bomb but misses.
Rusev goes for a Superkick but Swagger grabs it and hits the Patriot
Lock. Rusev counters it and hits an Accolade. Swagger breaks it the
first time but Rusev locks it again and we’re do–…wait. Swagger gets
to his knees and fights out of it. He gets to his feet, then counters
into the Patriot Lock. Rusev screams, then kicks Swagger in the face. He
rolls out of the ring, to the floor. Swagger chases and Rusev hits a
Superkick. Rusev gets into the ring. Swagger beats the count at nine,
then enters the ring and gets a Superkick and another Accolade. 

We get the Rollins/Wyatt build-up…this match is going to be about 25 minutes if the 7:45 stop time holds.

The
lights come back on, Wyatt sets his lantern down — and Ambrose just
throws a ladder at him, knocking him down. It’s a brawl to the entrance
ramp. Ambrose throws his head into the table and then chases him to the
announce table, hitting a Suicide Dive from the ring mat. Wyatt ends up
in the time keeper’s pit. Ambrose runs across the table and hits a
forearm. They fight into the crowd all the way to Lisp Central where
Alex Riley is sitting. They brawl to the ring again and Ambrose grabs a
chair, whacking Wyatt in the back. He tosses more chairs into the ring
and starts headbutting Wyatt. He sets up a table outside, then grabs
some Kendo Sticks. Wyatt is on his hands and knees, staring at Ambrose.
He tells Ambrose to hit him — then goes for a chair but Ambrose just
nails him in the head and back. He picks up a chair and hits a Flying
Chair Splash on Wyatt. He sets up another chair, then grabs Wyatt,
choking him with the Kendo Stick, then grinds it into his neck. Ambrose
goes top rope but Wyatt gets up and knocks him off the top, into the
table outside.

Wyatt
tosses him into the ring and hits him with a Kendo Stick, then tosses
him, face first, into another Kendo Stick. He beats on Ambrose some
more, then goes outside and gets a ladder. He comes back into the ring,
nails Ambrose with a chair, hits an uppercut and Ambrose lands on the
ladder. Wyatt hits the Reverse Senton and starts trying to choke Ambrose
with the Kendo again. Ambrose gets up so Wyatt clocks him and sends him
flying into the ladder. He tells Ambrose that he asked for this. He
tries another ladder splash but Ambrose moves out of the way. The two
trade punches and Ambrose sends Wyatt into the ladder and splashes him,
then hits a Bulldog. Ambrose props a ladder on the top rope and goes up
top, nailing Wyatt from above and getting two.

Wyatt
leaves the ring but Ambrose grabs a chair, hits him in the stomach and
dropkicks him. Wyatt is left hanging on the second rope and hits a
legdrop, putting Wyatt’s head into the chair for two. Both men get to
their feet. Wyatt tries Sister Abigail but Ambrose counters and runs
into the ropes. Wyatt hits a HUGE clothesline and NEARLY gets a fall.
Wyatt rolls out of the ring. Ambrose follows. Wyatt tosses Ambrose back
in. Ambrose rolls right back out and hits the Comeback Clothesline. It’s
another brawl as Ambrose grabs a couple of chairs, tossing them to the
floor. He sets up a table as the two men brawl. Ambrose places Wyatt on
the table and climbs a ladder, dropping an elbow on Wyatt, breaking the
table. The crowd nearest to them chants “HOLY SHIT”. The rest of crowd
is kinda apathetic. Ambrose grabs Bray again and grabs another table,
setting it up and placing Bray on it. He climbs another ladder, hitting
another elbow smash through the table.

The
crowd chants, “ONE MORE TIME” as Ambrose gets to his feet. He lifts
Bray up and drags him to the ring. Ambrose grabs a rib and goes into the
ring…and runs right into a #SisterAbigailOutofNowhere. Bray nearly
gets a fall. Bray does the Hanging Spider and goes for Sister Abigail
which Ambrose counters with a roll-up. Bray kicks out and rushes Ambrose
who side-steps, sending Bray, head-first, into a chair. Ambrose hits
Dirty Deeds but Wyatt kicks out! Wyatt rolls outside and Ambrose
follows, laughing crazily and grabbing more chairs. Then he pulls out an
LED monitor that is fully functioning. Ambrose laughs his ass off and
goes to the aisle to grab an extra tall ladder. Bray is still
unconscious as Ambrose lugs the ladder and sets it up near the announce
table. He tells Marcelo and Carlos to leave the table so they don’t get
heard and starts taking their table apart.

Ambrose
goes for Bray who gets up and whacks Ambrose with a chair. He headbutts
Ambrose and sets the chair up under his chin but Ambrose blocks and
reverses and sends Wyatt into the chair with the stairs instead. He puts
Wyatt on the table, climbs the tall ladder and hits a HUGE Flying Elbow
into the announce table. Crowd chants “THIS IS AWESOME”. He pushes Bray
back into the ring after getting to his feet. He picks up the monitor
but the TV won’t reach across the ring due to the power cable being too short. He pulls on the TV even harder and it sparks and
explodes in his face like a product from the ACME Company. Ambrose is
blinded, can’t see and walks right into Sister Abigail. Wyatt wins.

Bray celebrates as we go off the air.