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I really think Hell In A Cell 2013 deserves a place on this list. Let's go through the card together, shall we? Pre-Show: Big E Langston vs. Curtis Axel for the Intercontinental Championship. Now, I know what you're saying -- nobody could possibly care about this. Well, good news! It didn't actually happen, because Axel got injured, so instead they put up a wet fart of Kofi Kingston vs. Damien Sandow. We're off to a hot start here, guys. Rhodes Brothers (def) vs. Rollins/Reigns vs. The Usos for the tag belts. This was actually a good match, let's just move along to... Fandango and Summer Rae vs. Great Khali and Natalya. Hey, remember when they were pairing up Natalya and Khali for some godforsaken reason? No? You'd repressed those memories? HAHA, NOW YOU REMEMBER. Match was exactly as bad as you'd think it would be. Dean Ambrose (def) vs. Big E for the US Championship. Thrown together at the last minute and it showed, Langston won after Ambrose intentionally counted himself out to set up a feud that I'm pretty sure went exactly nowhere. CM Punk vs. Ryback with Paul Heyman in a Hell In A Cell match. We're well into "Punk is tired, hurt, and generally burned out and can no longer wrestle good matches" territory by now, and Ryback is at his absolute nadir. A boring slogfest of a match that then has about another six hours tacked on to the end as Punk slowly climbs to the top of the cage, menaces Heyman for a while, and then very carefully GTSes him because Heyman is legit scared of heights. Side note: Heyman is legit scared of heights. Why not do this poo poo on the ground so he can get some proper comeuppance instead of clinging, visibly terrified, to the cables holding the cage up? BECAUSE HELL IN A CELL 2013 THAT'S WHY. Real Americans vs. Los Matadores was inoffensive enough, which in this PPV makes it a bright spot. Cena returns from injury to rapadoo all over Del Rio and win the big gold belt for the final time, which he'd hold until they merged the titles. Goodbye, big gold belt. Goodbye, Del Rio. You both deserved better. AJ Lee vs. Brie Bella in a pointless piss-break of a match. Remember that the "story" here, such as it was, was that AJ had poo poo-talked the entire division, calling them unworthy wannabe reality stars. Turns out she was totally right, and would continue to steamroll every last one of them until a newcomer who could actually wrestle on her level showed up. Way to make your entire divas division look good, WWE! (Not that anyone would have believed any of them could beat AJ, but still.) Okay, so going into the main event, we've had a pretty bad PPV. One good match, two forgettable ones, and a bunch of poo poo. Still, we're not in Worst of All Time territory yet. Something really bad must be coming up, right? Oh yeah. Main event: Randy Orton vs. Daniel Bryan for the vacant WWE championship, special guest Shawn Michaels. Unpacking all the baggage this match was toting around is enough to drive you insane. Three months ago, Bryan had beaten Cena for the WWE championship and then immediately gotten screwed by HHH to ensure an Orton MitB cash-in, for the birth of the Authority and the meta "the Authority doesn't think Bryan looks like a champion ought to look, so they're screwing him out of the title at every opportunity". Steph has called Bryan a "B+ player". HHH has debuted the "best for business" catchphrase and explained, ad nauseum, that Bryan simply is not "the face of the WWE" but Orton is. It has been three months of this. The storyline is obviously, knowingly meta, taking the very real "Daniel Bryan is super over and an incredible wrestler but he's a tiny man with a beard, so Vince won't let him be champ" backstage issues and bringing them front and center. This is the third PPV in a row to feature a main event of Orton vs. Bryan for the WWE Championship (technically the fourth in a row, but it wasn't the booked main event for SummerSlam). The first one ended with Bryan winning with a "fast count" that was actually on the slow side and the title vacated. The second one ended when Big Show wandered down to ringside and knocked everyone out and they called it a no contest. The championship has been vacant for two months. Fans have seen this match again and again and it's ended in a screwjob finish every single time. Everyone's sick of it. The feud needs to end, and it needs to end clean, and Bryan needs to win, because thanks to the intentionally meta nature of the feud, a Bryan loss means "yes, Bryan is in the doghouse and we're gonna keep on keeping him down, we don't care what you want". I mean, seriously, I know how whiny-Internet-fan that sounds, which is why I keep repeating that it was the WWE who made those the stakes and have been delivering winking promos alluding to Vince's historic love for bodybuilder types for three months. So what happens? Screwjob finish (Michaels turns on Bryan, this is never addressed ever again), Bryan loses, and the win is treated as legit.  Bryan would go down to the midcard and Orton would feud with Cena over the unified titles until the fans' anger boiled over and they revolted at the Royal Rumble. And while the Rumble was the bomb going off, Hell In A Cell is when the fuse got lit. gently caress this PPV forever, seriously.
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Sep 10, 2014 21:12
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Daniel Bryan/Randy Orton Hell in a Cell 2013 is WWE's version of Storm/Roode Lockdown 2012 in TNA, where the screwy finish is ok if and only if the babyface ultimately gets his win on a bigger stage. ...Yes, I am a very bitter James Storm fan.
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Sep 10, 2014 21:20
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i remember that ppv just being kinda boring and bad, wouldn't really call it anywhere near one of the worst i've ever seen. the finish to the main event really was dreadful though.
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Sep 10, 2014 21:20
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Great White Hope posted:Daniel Bryan/Randy Orton Hell in a Cell 2013 is WWE's version of Storm/Roode Lockdown 2012 in TNA, where the screwy finish is ok if and only if the babyface ultimately gets his win on a bigger stage.
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Sep 10, 2014 21:24
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Summerslam 2013 to mania 30 is, looking back, a fascinating period of booking, in-ring wrestling, fan anger and backstage politics. It deserves a book or a documentary or something.
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Sep 10, 2014 21:30
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As I recall, Michaels superkicked Bryan immediately after Bryan laid out Triple H. Which kind of made sense. He had no pony in this show, but mess with his friend and you trigger the Shawn Michaels Will Superkick Anyone Button.
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Sep 10, 2014 21:33
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DeathChicken posted:As I recall, Michaels superkicked Bryan immediately after Bryan laid out Triple H. Which kind of made sense. He had no pony in this show, but mess with his friend and you trigger the Shawn Michaels Will Superkick Anyone Button. Except he then doubled down on being pro-HHH and against Bryan soon after and we had that bit where he got in Bryan's face until Bryan tapped him out with the yes lock on RAW (which apparently was an attempt to give HBK the wrestling bug again and into the idea of a return match with Bryan at mania but didn't end up working) so it definitely felt like another screw job.
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Sep 10, 2014 21:37
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Post-Summerslam 2013 was really only bad because of the incredibly stupid booking of the main event scene and the fact that that was where they were exerting so much of their energy. Looking back though between the Rhodes brothers, Shield, Wyatts, and Punk there was almost always something of notable quality going on. It was at the very least leaps and bounds ahead of post-Summerslam 2010-2012.
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Sep 10, 2014 21:45
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I find it hilarious that they didn't want to put the belt on someone becoming their most popular wrestler with the crowds because they didn't like his look so badly that they attempted to pull Shawn Michaels out of retirement as the "safer option."
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Sep 10, 2014 21:46
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Blasmeister posted:Except he then doubled down on being pro-HHH and against Bryan soon after and we had that bit where he got in Bryan's face until Bryan tapped him out with the yes lock on RAW (which apparently was an attempt to give HBK the wrestling bug again and into the idea of a return match with Bryan at mania but didn't end up working) so it definitely felt like another screw job.
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Sep 10, 2014 21:47
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CapnAndy posted:Also Michaels was the guest referee and instead of reacting to the blatant HHH interference and calling the DQ right then, or even calling the DQ after he superkicks Bryan, he gives Orton the three count (did he even help drag Orton onto Bryan? I don't remember) and calls it a win. There's no way to view it as anything but a screwjob at that point. I agree, WWE should have gone full-WCW and ended a No DQ match in a DQ.
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Sep 10, 2014 21:49
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Funnily enough, the next time Shawn talked about Bryan, he talked about how he supported and believed in Bryan like the whole mess never happened.
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Sep 10, 2014 21:52
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El Gallinero Gros posted:Funnily enough, the next time Shawn talked about Bryan, he talked about how he supported and believed in Bryan like the whole mess never happened. A lot of the time between Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania 30 was pretending like most of the previous fall never happened.
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Sep 10, 2014 21:54
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LightsGameraAction posted:Post-Summerslam 2013 was really only bad because of the incredibly stupid booking of the main event scene and the fact that that was where they were exerting so much of their energy. Looking back though between the Rhodes brothers, Shield, Wyatts, and Punk there was almost always something of notable quality going on. I'm not saying it was all bad; the in ring product at the time, especially on tv was incredible, with the Wyatts, the shield and Bryan getting a load of time. We had one Raw that ended with like 45 minutes of Daniel Bryan gauntlet match and that nearly hour long 12 man tag on smackdown.
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Sep 10, 2014 21:55
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Great White Hope posted:I agree, WWE should have gone full-WCW and ended a No DQ match in a DQ.
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Sep 10, 2014 21:59
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Blasmeister posted:We had one Raw that ended with like 45 minutes of Daniel Bryan gauntlet match Was this the one that was against The Real Americans? I remember a match where Bryan eliminated Swagger really early on and he and Cesaro just wrestled for like 40 minutes as the main event.
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Sep 10, 2014 22:35
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RZApublican posted:Was this the one that was against The Real Americans? I remember a match where Bryan eliminated Swagger really early on and he and Cesaro just wrestled for like 40 minutes as the main event. yes, then followed by Ryback
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Sep 10, 2014 22:46
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Blasmeister posted:Summerslam 2013 to mania 30 is, looking back, a fascinating period of booking, in-ring wrestling, fan anger and backstage politics. It deserves a book or a documentary or something. It also felt like an Attitude Era-style booking where WWE was just organically building to something, feeding off of fan's responses, keeping focus even when people were pissed off and going with the flow a lot of the time. It's probably my favorite period of wrestling since the 2011 Summer of Punk.
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Sep 10, 2014 23:06
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Justin Godscock posted:It also felt like an Attitude Era-style booking where WWE was just organically building to something, feeding off of fan's responses, keeping focus even when people were pissed off and going with the flow a lot of the time. It's probably my favorite period of wrestling since the 2011 Summer of Punk. What made it really great is that ROH was getting into a good groove as well, PWG was being it's usual self, NJPW was putting on amazing shows as well. It was in general, a good time to be a wrestling fan.
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Sep 10, 2014 23:10
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81sidewinder posted:maybe I am wrong, but didn't Canada have limited access to WCW in the 90s? As in, the last time many Canadians saw Hogan regularly was when he was the Hulkster, and they were not fatigued of him the way many Americans were? The first legit ppv I remember being shown in a bar here in Canada was Halloween Havoc that ended with the Hogan Piper match in the cage. (I think) My friend and I were the only ones who showed up there and then I recall shortly thereafter Bret Hart came over to WCW and that same bar was packed for WCW PPV. Apart from that I remember having to watch Nitro's on my friends grey market satellite. Then again, maybe I didn't have TBS or something. Danny LaFever fucked around with this message at 23:20 on Sep 10, 2014 |
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Sep 10, 2014 23:16
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Danny LaFever posted:The first legit ppv I remember being shown in a bar here in Canada was Halloween Havoc that ended with the Hogan Piper match in the cage. (I think) My friend and I were the only ones who showed up there and then I recall shortly thereafter Bret Hart came over to WCW and that same bar was packed for WCW PPV. Age in a Cage was Halloween Havoc '97. Good show, and yeah Bret jumped ship a month later.
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Sep 10, 2014 23:40
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CapnAndy posted:I really think Hell In A Cell 2013 deserves a place on this list. quote:AJ Lee vs. Brie Bella in a pointless piss-break of a match. Remember that the "story" here, such as it was, was that AJ had poo poo-talked the entire division, calling them unworthy wannabe reality stars. Turns out she was totally right, and would continue to steamroll every last one of them until a newcomer who could actually wrestle on her level showed up. Way to make your entire divas division look good, WWE! (Not that anyone would have believed any of them could beat AJ, but still.)  Say it to our FAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!
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Sep 11, 2014 00:00
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Royal Rumble 2014 is, in itself a really fascinating event. Are there any WWE events where the crowd completely revolted in that manner? The only one I can think of is One Night Stand 06 where the crowd loving DESPISED nearly half the roster.
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Sep 11, 2014 00:43
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OldTennisCourt posted:Royal Rumble 2014 is, in itself a really fascinating event. Are there any WWE events where the crowd completely revolted in that manner? The only one I can think of is One Night Stand 06 where the crowd loving DESPISED nearly half the roster. The great American bash without flair
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Sep 11, 2014 01:03
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Not long after Danielson got fired there was a WWE PPV that ended with I think John Cena face down while the crowd very vocally chanted "Daniel Bryan".
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Sep 11, 2014 01:15
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CapnAndy posted:CM Punk vs. Ryback with Paul Heyman in a Hell In A Cell match. We're well into "Punk is tired, hurt, and generally burned out and can no longer wrestle good matches" territory by now, and Ryback is at his absolute nadir. A boring slogfest of a match that then has about another six hours tacked on to the end as Punk slowly climbs to the top of the cage, menaces Heyman for a while, and then very carefully GTSes him because Heyman is legit scared of heights. Side note: Heyman is legit scared of heights. Why not do this poo poo on the ground so he can get some proper comeuppance instead of clinging, visibly terrified, to the cables holding the cage up? BECAUSE HELL IN A CELL 2013 THAT'S WHY. Yeah Heyman was really out of character during this match - if he wasn't afraid of heights, you know he would have been crawling on top of the cage and shouting advice to Ryback. Instead he just stood there for the whole match and barely looked down.
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Sep 11, 2014 01:31
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OldTennisCourt posted:Royal Rumble 2014 is, in itself a really fascinating event. Are there any WWE events where the crowd completely revolted in that manner? The only one I can think of is One Night Stand 06 where the crowd loving DESPISED nearly half the roster. SummerSlam 2004 had the entire Toronto crowd go full-smark on the entire roster. During the terrible JBL/Taker match the crowd started doing the wave as well.
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Sep 11, 2014 01:36
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I think 2014 Rumble is still in a class of its own. That crowd booed Rey Mysterio, they were that mad. That's a special level of mad.
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Sep 11, 2014 01:55
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My favorite example during the Rumble wasn't the Rumble itself, it was the Orton/Cena match. God, the crowd just completely poo poo on them both. They very lamely tried to cover it too, by saying the fans were doing it to throw off Orton, when Cena was getting booed and chanted at just as much. "They're havin' FUN, Maggle!"OldTennisCourt posted:Royal Rumble 2014 is, in itself a really fascinating event. Are there any WWE events where the crowd completely revolted in that manner? The only one I can think of is One Night Stand 06 where the crowd loving DESPISED nearly half the roster. There was a minor string of PPVs in late 2011 where Cena was clearly treated like a heel even though he was still pushed as the mega-face, most likely because the main focus was still on him when Punk became champion after the pipebomb. People hated that Cena was still the main event just because he was fighting The Rock at a different PPV next year, and when he was in the title scene they hated him because they didn't want him threatening Punk's championship. When it was just guys like Miz and Del Rio, Punk going over them wasn't really in question.
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Sep 11, 2014 03:09
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Don't forget how it took what felt like 15 minutes just to get Heyman on top of the cell because whoever was operating the mobile lift couldn't handle a straight ramp.
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Sep 11, 2014 04:34
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Fall 2013 was a time of amazing Raws and terrible PPVs up until Hell In A Cell, after which they dropped the Bryan program entirely and the TV was only good from a trainwreck perspective. But that 3 and a half month run into November, man? Killer loving television. Hour-long Bryan gauntlet main events, an actually somewhat lively tag division (that they then destroyed at the beginning of 2014 by breaking up all the teams) and those Shield 3-mans. It was the only time I've actually watched Smackdown just because I got to watch the Shield wrestle for 40 minutes.
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Sep 11, 2014 07:31
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i don't think that gauntlet match was anywhere near an hour long
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Sep 11, 2014 13:08
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CapnAndy posted:Also Michaels was the guest referee and instead of reacting to the blatant HHH interference and calling the DQ right then, or even calling the DQ after he superkicks Bryan, he gives Orton the three count (did he even help drag Orton onto Bryan? I don't remember) and calls it a win. There's no way to view it as anything but a screwjob at that point. Let's not forget that they let the fans vote on the special referee, with the options being: Booker T: "I'll be a good ref, and do what's best for business." /holds up hall of fame ring Fan reaction: /crickets Bob Backlund: "I WILL PUT ANYONE AND EVERYONE! INTO! THE! CROSS! FACE! CHICKEN! WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINGGGGGG! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Fan reaction: holy poo poo Shawn Michaels: "Shucks, I'll be ref I guess" Fan reaction: Oh a guy we know, and he was introduced last, so ok The forums went ape over Backlund's amazing promo, but Shawn won the vote.
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Sep 11, 2014 14:04
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CapnAndy posted:Also Michaels was the guest referee and instead of reacting to the blatant HHH interference and calling the DQ right then, or even calling the DQ after he superkicks Bryan, he gives Orton the three count (did he even help drag Orton onto Bryan? I don't remember) and calls it a win. There's no way to view it as anything but a screwjob at that point. 1. it was a HIAC match, thus No DQ 2. he snap reacts to HHH getting kneed in the face by superkicking Bryan, and then Orton recovers and pins Bryan in a way that not counting the pin would be screwing over Orton 3. Michaels actually did a good job of looking sorry for kicking Bryan in the face
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Sep 11, 2014 14:17
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Abrasive Obelisk posted:3. Michaels actually did a good job of looking sorry for kicking Bryan in the face He does a good job of looking sorry for superkicking people, like when he superkicked Flair and mouthed "I'm sorry for sending you to TNA"
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Sep 11, 2014 18:19
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El Gallinero Gros posted:Not long after Danielson got fired there was a WWE PPV that ended with I think John Cena face down while the crowd very vocally chanted "Daniel Bryan". Fatal 4-way. The Nexus came down to the ring to tear apart the competitors in the Raw F4W (Cena, Edge, Orton, and Sheamus), Sheamus picks up the victory and the Nexus chase him off backstage. Cena, Orton, and Edge were left totally a mess in the ring and the crowd were chanting for Daniel Bryan. There had been smaller chants breaking out throughout the night for him but once the Nexus came out and nobody saw D-Bry the crowd got way, way louder.
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Sep 11, 2014 19:03
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Red posted:Let's not forget that they let the fans vote on the special referee, with the options being: They most likely had the finish to the match written at that point. While it's likely Shawn won the vote anyway, if he didn't they could just work the results. Shawn made sense as part of the story since he had history with everyone involved.
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Sep 11, 2014 19:15
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Or they would've had some quick angle on the next Raw where Backlund couldn't do it because reasons.
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Sep 11, 2014 19:24
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Red posted:Let's not forget that they let the fans vote on the special referee, with the options being: Surprised they haven't used Backlund since. Even though I can't stop laughing at the AE podcast likening him to Lemongrab. "A HUNDRED YEARS CHICKEN WING! A HUNDRED YEARS!"
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Sep 11, 2014 19:28
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CapnAndy posted:I think 2014 Rumble is still in a class of its own. That crowd booed Rey Mysterio, they were that mad. That's a special level of mad. Didn't the 2006 One Night Stand crowd boo Rey Mysterio when he went against Sabu for the World Championship?
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Sep 11, 2014 19:30
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