WWE SmackDown, February 7, 2014: 5 Talking Points

WWE served a great episode of SmackDown to their fans, as the show intensely focused on the build up of all big Elimination Chamber matches. 5 of the 6 Elimination Chamber match participants were in action, members of The Shield and Wyatt Family registered wins and delivered outstanding promos, and Kane made his intentions clear to Daniel Bryan.

The show ended with the following talking points:

Ryback performing good after ages

5 of the 6 Elimination Chamber participants were in action on SmackDown, with 4 of them facing each other, except for Sheamus who wrestled with the under fire Ryback.

Towards the end of 2012, fans were expecting Ryback to be the WWE Champion in 2013, but what they saw was a declining career. Of late, Ryback was seen more in tag team action alongwith Curtis Axel, but none of their matches were worthy of an applause.

As an improvement over past several months, Ryback performed exceptionally well against a strong opponent like Sheamus, never looking an easy target for the “Celtic Warrior” throughout the match.

As expected, he did lose the match but the way he countered most of Sheamus’ big moves and brought the fight to him, made him look strong even in a defeat. An improved booking after months hints towards the end of Ryback’s dark days, and WWE would also need him after guys like Batista, Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker leave the company once the WrestleMania season is over.

Goldust and Cody Rhodes’ continuing losing run

After months of great performances the Rhodes Brothers are losing all the momentum gained during their tag title run, since losing their titles to The New Age Outlaws at Royal Rumble.

They couldn’t retain the titles even in two attempts, and on Friday night, Goldust lost to Bray Wyatt in a singles competition, never coming closer to any of his great performances from the past months.

So, it’s not just in the tag team matches, but they are finding it hard to register a win even in a singles match. All of this only hints towards, as everyone knows, an imminent break up between the Rhodes Brothers, who will eventually battle each other out at WrestleMania.

But with Goldust extending his contract until SummerSlam, twists are to be expected in their storyline.

Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose not getting along…again

The Shield’s Reigns and Ambrose were involved in a tag team match with two of WWE’s best mid-card wrestlers, Dolph Ziggler and Kofi Kingston.

As expected, The Shield won the match and again gave hints of dissension as Reigns tagged in Ambrose on purpose and allowed him to pin Ziggler for the win, something which he could have done himself but instead he chose to chuckle away. This only highlighted the absence of unity and respect among The Shield, forcing Rollins to clear the air of doubt again.

Ziggler and Kingston did their work of helping their opponents look better as the feud between The Shield and the Wyatt Family intensified further with the two trios delivering some more outstanding post-match promos.

But, with The Shield in disharmony, the Wyatt Family are already in an advantageous spot.

WWE focusing on a mid-card feud between Titus O’Neil and Darren Young

It usually happened during the old Attitude Era days that WWE actually cared about a mid-card tag team feud, that is why watching Young attack his former tag team partner, Titus gave fans the belief that WWE’s tag team division is heading in the right direction.

The Prime Time Players broke up a little time ago when Titus O’Neil attacked his partner Darren Young, after getting tired of his team’s losing run.

On SmackDown, Renee Young was interviewing Titus (who was cutting a great promo) until Young attacked his former tag team partner, leading Titus to back up instead of fighting back. This could be a great feud in the making, but only if WWE gives it the right amount of time to unfold so that the fans find it interesting enough and worth watching.

Kane turning on Daniel Bryan

It was the opening segment of the night as Daniel Bryan called out Kane, upset about his former tag team partner’s attack on him on Raw. Kane came out, and Bryan implored him to shed his corporate image and return to his old monstrous ways.

In reply, Kane apologized but quoted Triple H by saying: “In this business, you can either make friends or you can make money.” It looks like that Kane is too much into his corporate gimmick. Kane then set up a match between Bryan and his Elimination Chamber opponent, Antonio Cesaro.

The match between WWE’s two best wrestlers was great as expected, with Bryan winning the match and gaining momentum for the Elimination Chamber match. After the match, Kane came out and distracted Bryan, allowing Cesaro to deliver a Neutralizer to him, and then Kane did his part by giving a choke slam to Bryan, ensuring that the feud between former Team Hell No partners is finally on.

In the main event match Randy Orton took on his old foe, Christian, as the two delivered another classic match on the road to their Elimination Chamber match, with Orton picking up the victory and covering up for his loss against Bryan on Raw.