CORPUS CHRISTI, TX – SmackDown said goodbye to 2013 with a visit from John Cena, three explosive Shield showdowns, the excruciating bite of The Viper and the continued scourge of The Wyatt Family.
Kicking off the last SmackDown of 2013, 11-time WWE Champion John Cena discussed the excitement of rocking in the New Year. However, of the many resolutions he was considering for 2014, at the top of his list was winning Randy Orton’s WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Eager to have his guaranteed rematch from WWE TLC on SmackDown, The Cenation leader called out The Viper!
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But, instead of The Face of WWE, The Shield emerged and engaged Cena in a vicious 3-on-1 assault. It wasn’t long before Intercontinental Champion Big E Langston and Mark Henry joined the fray in Cena’s defense and helped to turn back The Hounds.
As the smoke cleared, Director of Operations Kane stepped into the mayhem, recognizing that the Superstars all needed to “work out their issues” before the New Year. Accordingly, he decided to put The Shield into three separate singles matches: United States Champion Dean Ambrose vs. Intercontinental Champion Big E Langston, Roman Reigns vs. Mark Henry and Seth Rollins vs. John Cena!
One week after The Wyatt Family attacked Daniel Bryan in the backstage area on SmackDown, Luke Harper & Erick Rowan took on the turbo-charged Usos.
Photos: High-flyers battle the highly creepy
Though it looked like the Samoan warriors might have their creepy adversaries on the ropes in the match’s final moments, The Usos ultimately fell victim to the tag team excellence of the dangerous Wyatt disciples – culminating in a devastating clothesline by Harper and Rowan’s earth-shattering splash.
As the smoke cleared, Bray Wyatt added further punishment to Jimmy and Jey, hitting Sister Abigail on one of the fallen brothers.
When Jack Swagger attempted to affect the outcome of tag team partner Antonio Cesaro’s match against Cody Rhodes, the youngest son of WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes knocked The Real American back to earth. But the distraction allowed Cesaro the seconds he needed to roll up his opponent for a huge singles victory.
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In the height of their fevered tag team encounter, The Prime Time Players worked together to send Ryback sailing out of the ring. Then, while Curtis Axel tried to steal the win with a roll-up from behind, Darren Young reversed the pin attempt to pick up a pre-New Year’s triumph for himself and Titus O’Neil.
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Moments after quelling a potential dispute between Randy Orton and Dolph Ziggler, Director of Operations Kane created a match between the two volatile Superstars. But when The Showoff walked off, The Authority executive hinted to The Viper that he didn’t mind if things got a little out of control once they got into the ring.
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Despite Ziggler's several near-falls in an impressive effort in the intense match that followed, The Viper would reign supreme with an RKO out of nowhere.
But, as it turned out, the carnage hadn’t even begun. For, after the bell, an apparently unsatisfied Orton suddenly hurled Ziggler into the announce table and over the ringside barricade. WWE’s Apex Predator then finished off The Showoff in brutal fashion with a hanging DDT onto the ringside floor.
On Raw, Damien Sandow suffered a humiliating loss to Mark Henry in a Good Santa vs. Bad Santa showdown. Four days later on SmackDown, all the brutality in the world couldn’t stop The Intellectual Savior of the Masses from falling yet again, this time to Daniel Bryan’s devastating Running Knee.
Photos: The Beard dishes out an Intellectual SmackDown
As the smoke cleared, though, The Wyatt Family appeared. Bray Wyatt informed The Beard that while he and the WWE Universe chose each other like a moth to the flame, The Eater of Worlds was not a man, but a god, controlling the inferno.
In the first of three SmackDown main event matches involving Shield members – set up by Director of Operations Kane – Intercontinental Champion Big E Langston reigned supreme over United States Champion Dean Ambrose after he hit The Shield's mouthpiece with The Big Ending. And with John Cena and Mark Henry watching his back to prevent interference from Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins, Langston's was a resounding Friday night victory.
The Big Ending for the U.S. Champion
In the second SmackDown match of the night involving Shield members, Roman Reigns triumphed over the awesome power of The World’s Strongest Man with a devastating Spear.
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In the third and final SmackDown match of the night pitting the members of The Shield in singles action, Mark Henry and Big E Langston ripped through Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose outside the ring, clearing the way for John Cena to triumph over the extremely innovative offense of Seth Rollins with the Attitude Adjustment!
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