Wyatt Family vs The Shield (WWE, 4-8-2014)

WWE Main Event, Lafayette, LA

A request. Two days after WrestleMania and third of the Wyatt Family vs Shield matches of 2014, with the Wyatts having won both of the first two at Elimination Chamber and the March 3 Raw, the former seeing the Wyatts simply out-war the Shield with a stronger, more cohesive plan of attack, and then the latter seeing Seth Rollins quit on his team.

The second match was partially done, I reasonably (I think!) suspect, because they needed a hot match for Chicago to not shit their pants about the departed CM Punk for the entire three hours. This one was partially done, I think, because WWE were trying to half-heartedly make Main Event appointment television as a live show on the newly-launched WWE Network, and this could be a hook. But neither of those things come together that way if the first match hadn’t been an instant classic, either, so it’s not a bad thing.

(Requests open and tips always appreciated!)

The Shield had also just switched their focus to a newly-reunited Evolution, because HHH wanted to jump in on some of this hot trios heat with his buddies who were either sitting a little stale (Orton) or had come back as a pretty immense flop with the crowd (Batista, no matter how much we all love him now). It worked out and I’m not saying it was a bad idea; those teams also had great matches that made the Shield look tremendous, and then you got the eventual Rollins turn.

Commentary here is Tom Phillips and Byron Saxton so you can be sure it’ll have all the feeling of those first two Wyatts-Shield matches.

The Cajundome crowd is not nearly as up for this as the fans at EC or Rosemont Raw were. Rowan starts the match with his sheep mask on against Ambrose. It feels quickly like they are presenting this match almost as if the other two didn’t happen.

Ambrose smacks the mask off and gets on the offense, flying back elbow hits, tag to Rollins. Rowan fights back on Seth, whip to the corner, but he runs into a boot and a chop, right hand, chop, right hand, chop, right hand, right, right, right, right, and Rowan is being moved into the Shield corner progressively. Rollins outfoxing Rowan repeatedly and fairly easily here, and he struggles into some sort of goofy standing quasi-triangle submission.

Byron Saxton, as always, is purely tickled, surprised, and seeing wrestling for the first time. Classic B/C-show stuff.

All six get in to stare at each other. There’s so much less energy to this so far.

Oh, man, a commercial for Legends House! It never has surprised me that WWE wimped out on every “Network Original” series, but I am still disappointed there was never a second season of Legends House with Michael P.S. Hayes annoying the shit out of everyone.

Back from the fake break and Wyatt has control of Rollins, breaking out a wild gutbuster. Reigns on the apron talking some shit toward Wyatt. Wyatt drags Rollins over to their corner and makes the tag to Rowan. Harper gets a knee to the jaw in when Rowan distracts the referee.

Back suplay from Rowan gets two. Wyatt orders the tag, Harper is in. YEAH YEAH YEAH. Harper playing up his mannerisms like he’s acting in a pilot again. Reigns gets the hot tag and takes over fast, then a tag to Ambrose, and they hit a sloppy back suplay/neckbreaker combo.

Ambrose walks into a Harper boot and sells like he’s out cold. Two count. Wyatt with the tag and some aggressive offense, yapping at Ambrose, slapping him in the back of the head. Makes the tag to Rowan and tells him to finish Dean. Seems unlikely.

Rowan with a slam and then the skull crusher deal. Harper tags in and they’re punishing Ambrose in the Wyatt corner, Bray chuckling at the battering Dean is taking. Harper fishhooks Ambrose. Dean comes back, but Harper bulls him to the corner again and tags Rowan. Crowd trying to rally Ambrose, who skins the cat at one point but gets kicked down halfway through it.

Another break! Some bullshit about the Ultimate Warrior. Ambrose still reeling when they return. Harper with the gator roll into a chinlock, but a chinlock with style. Again, crowd trying to rally Ambrose, who fistfights the air because he might hit something.

Ambrose breaks free, throws a bunch of shots, but gets his face smacked off the canvas when Harper catches a boot. And it’s a tag to Wyatt.

“Bray Wyatt is the perfect melting pot between creepy, odd, and strange,” Byron says with his trademark happy enthusiasm. The problem with Byron as a commentator is maybe the real life strength that keeps him in the company — he is extremely nice. But in character he just can’t tap into any emotion deeper than “friendly.” He tries, but he can’t convincingly get there. I realize how fucking ridiculous it sounds to criticize someone for being too pleasant, yes.

Rowan tags in, more work on Ambrose. BEAR HUG. And when Ambrose tries to get free by climbing around to his back, Rowan drops down. Tag to Harper. More slower domination, but Ambrose hits a wild clothesline. Wyatt tags in and runs into boots from Ambrose in the corner. Ambrose, all instinct, climbs up top and Wyatt cuts him off.

Ambrose fighting off a superplex attempt, and he headbutts and punches his way free, but jumps down into a uranage from Wyatt. Rollins makes the save on the pin. Rowan in, Reigns in, and here we go. Superkick from Harper to Reigns, and then big Luke hits that horrible 2010s style flying push that they called a tope suicida in WWE. Harper and Moxley are wrestlers I love, but they were both guilty of that bad move on the reg.

Reigns flies over the commentary desk all the same. In the ring, Wyatt has Ambrose lined up for Sister Abigail. Ambrose counters this time, gets a roll-up for two. DDT from Ambrose! Both down, everyone else missing, but Rowan hits the apron, and Rollins is back on the other side.

Dual tag! Rowan runs himself right out of the ring on a low bridge, and now Seth’s flying around. His tope was at least, like, a crossbody. Big ol’ flippin’ dive onto Rowan! Rollins is a blur of offense here, a step ahead of everyone trying to cut him off, until Harper breaks a pin on Rowan.

Ambrose tackles Harper, Wyatt levels Ambrose, Reigns hits the Superman punch on Wyatt, Rowan tosses Reigns, Rollins takes out Rowan, Harper gets doubled up by Rollins and Reigns, Ambrose tags back in, and he and Rollins team to finish off Rowan. Ambrose gets the pin, and the Shield beat the Wyatt Family.

Very simply, this is a very good wrestling match, more in common with the underrated Shield vs Sin Cara & Los Matadores six-man on Main Event, which took place in late February, than with the prior Wyatts-Shield matches. This does not even approach the sort of energy and vibe and immediate “big match feeling” of Elimination Chamber or the Raw rematch; instead, it’s worked in a far more traditional style, reminiscent of a great house show match or the rare actually really good Coliseum Video exclusive. Ambrose is really good on the sell for a long stretch, and the final rush of offense led by Rollins makes you think you saw something more exciting than you did for the most part, and giving people the good feeling late in a match is a tried and true trick of the trade.

I don’t mean to knock this at all. Again, it’s legitimately quite good, and the change in tone is very easy to explain. First off, it’s just Main Event, and even the people in the Cajundome in Lafayette know this will be a short-lived fascination for WWE, which it was. Second off, the Wyatt Family were no longer the Shield’s main focus, and along with that, the Shield have been sort of rebooted out of their “fracturing” stage because they have decided to come together strong to battle “The Authority.” They were a hot act who kind of got lost in the shuffle in terms of having a noteworthy WrestleMania match in ’14, but they got an angle out of it and some new fire, utilized to burn bright and then be extinguished while making sure all of them were set to take off as singles guys after the fast-approaching dissolution of the unit.

3.5/5