Jump to content
Pro Wrestling Only

[2014-02-14-WWE-Smackdown] Randy Orton vs Cesaro


Loss

Recommended Posts

Probably my favorite Cesaro performance of the year, mainly because while the Cena match was a great power vs. power matchup, he made Orton really bring his workbooks here and Orton was up for the task. This was more of a Cesaro showcase match, with him throwing some great uppercuts and being a dick to Orton in a lot of ways, and then Orton having these really great moments of disgust before realizing that he was the champ and wanted to show people why he should beat a guy like Cesaro. The finishing stretch remains my favorite of the year and totally made Cesaro look king-sized, with Orton taking the power bomb, uppercut and Neutralizer to finish really well. If this was on Raw, the crowd would have exploded, but the somewhat stunned reaction to what had just happened, and with the finality of it all makes it the best example I can think of for really making a guy. This match is my go-to example for showing why Cesaro is the best wrestler on the planet right now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was there and the crowd did explode. I still haven't watched this on TV, but the match had the crowd going from the first minute. Orton worked a fake injury really well, and the finishing stretch was of course excellent. Cesaro would seem to be the only guy in the company with moves that look like they could finish somebody beginning with the first move of their finishing sequence. Lots of alternate finishers in that sequence too. Cesaro is one of those guys the WWE could get a lot out of by pushing harder.

 

Was trying not to overreact at the time of seeing the match, but I was having a hard time thinking of many non-gimmick matches Orton has had that were better than this. I could only think of a few.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

This was another fantastic Cesaro match, however it didn't feel as epic and was a lot more simple than the Cena match. I'd give the Cena match the nod as it felt bigger and they really went all out. This however was more of a TV match where they didn't go all out and kept it a lot more simpler without going over the top with spots and false finishes.

 

Cesaro was on point here hitting all of his usual spots. Orton particularly stepped up his game here bumping all around for Cesaro and letting him go over clean with the huge upset which got a big reaction from the crowd.

 

Despite them keeping it simple, it was a very defining match for Cesaro as it was a clean win over the world champ.

 

Anyway, as good as this was, I'd say I liked this the least of the 3 big Cesaro matches; vs. Cena on RAW and vs. Zayn on NXT. I know this was a lot more different than the Zayn match, but I still prefer that match to this one and that's not a nod as they're still very good matches.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

I enjoyed this WAY more on second viewing, and for good reasons. The crowd wasn't into this at first, which is understandable. Cesaro had never done anything to make the audience believe that he was on Orton's level. Cesaro did dominate early with his technical wrestling, causing Orton to ease back and regroup. Orton would gain the upper hand thanks to his veteran experience at the top and ruthless aggression, but perhaps he was looking past Cesaro, who had proven since the Kings of Wrestling reformed in 2010 that he too has some fucking ruthless aggression in him.

Orton couldn't put Cesaro away, and Cesaro kept getting closer and closer to pulling off the upset. The crowd got more and more into this too as it went along, sensing they were about to see a special moment. They were going insane for the nearfalls. And what a reaction when Cesaro got his biggest career victory to boot. This was definitely a breakout match, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. It's nowhere near Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Mitsuharu Misawa, Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin, or Bryan Danielson vs. Austin Aries, but it's really good and proves why SmackDown! matters. ***3/4

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • GSR changed the title to [2014-02-14-WWE-Smackdown] Randy Orton vs Cesaro
  • 2 years later...

They were at each other's throats from bell to bell in this one, wrestling tight and physical and with a lot of feeling. I'd say the TV match against a break out opponent is one of Orton's specialties after watching this and thinking back on some of his stuff VS Bryan and Harper in particular. I really liked how he suckered Cesaro with the shoulder injury but it still seemed to keep bothering him. Not a total possum strategy, but taking a negative and turning it into a positive. And Cesaro wrestled this with a real chip on his shoulder and was equally convincing on offense and working under building to his comebacks. Really efficient match that did everything it could have wanted and then some.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...