Tribute To The Troops Hype, Title Unification Hype, Daniel Bryan vs. Wyatt Family Hype
After a Tribute To The Troops commercial, we return live in the arena to a close-up shot of both the WWE and World Heavyweight Championships hanging above the ring. Michael Cole runs down some facts about Cena and Orton’s history as champions and history in the company. A tale of the tape rundown, if you will. After that, we go to the commentary table and Michael Cole talks about CM Punk pulling off the upset against The Shield. He questions if Daniel Bryan can do the same with The Wyatt Family, as that match is up next. We see a video package highlighting the history of the Daniel Bryan and Wyatt Family feud.
Handicap Match
– Daniel Bryan vs. The Wyatt Family
Following the video package, Daniel Bryan’s music hits and the crowd goes nuts. They immediately start the “Yes!” chants and out comes Bryan waving the “Yes!” towel and doing his own “Yes!” chant. His beard, by the way, seems like it’s grown ten inches or so since Monday’s RAW. Wow. Lilian Garcia introduces Bryan and the crowd continues to do the loud “Yes!” chants. Bray Wyatt lights the lantern and informs us that, “we’re here.” Out come The Wyatt Family with their creepy, but spectacular, ring entrance. Bray stops near the ring and sits down in his rocking chair. Erick Rowan and Luke Harper get on the ring apron.
As Rowan is taking his sheep mask off, Bryan blasts him with somewhat of a cheap shot. Bryan is throwing multiple kicks at Rowan. Rowan eventually slows Bryan down with a big clothesline. An enormous “Daniel Bryan” chant breaks out as Rowan tags in Harper. Harper continues the beatdown of Bryan as we see Bray Wyatt rocking in his chair with a big smile on his face. For those keeping track, Bray’s beard is looking ridiculously long as well. Bryan takes out the leg of Harper now and has him grounded. Harper is back up and cuts Bryan off. Harper tags Rowan back in.
Rowan chokes Bryan with his boot in the corner as the crowd chants for “Daniel Bryan” loudly again. Rowan scoops Bryan up and slams him. He plays with his own beard a bit and then slams Bryan again. Rowan has Bryan in a bear hug now and is shaking Bryan around like Chyna used to do to Marlena early in her career. JBL and Jerry Lawler goof on Michael Cole a bit for being a “history buff” as Rowan beats up Bryan some more. Rowan tags Harper back in. Harper hits a sit-out slam on Bryan for a near fall. Bray Wyatt finally gets up out of his rocking chair. He takes his Hawaiian shirt off and enters the ring via a tagt from Harper.
Bray yells “it didn’t have to be like this, we coulda been friends Bryan. I coulda helped you!” Bray runs at Bryan and splashes him in the corner. Bray viciously attacks Bryan in the corner as the ref tries to break things up. Bray stops his attack momentarily to look at the crowd and smile. Bray throws Bryan across the ring. Bray drops to his back and rolls around and laughs. Bray gets up in the crab-walk position and taunts Bryan some more before popping up quickly and tagging Harper. The crowd chants “that was creepy” at Bray. Indeed it was, but it was also awesome. Harper tags in Rowan, who picks up where Harper left off, beating up Bryan in a one-sided match.
Rowan tags Harper back in and throws him face-first into a boot by Harper. Harper stomps Bryan a bit more and then tags Bray back in. Bray yells at Bryan to “look at these people. Look at these disgusting people. You coulda been like me. We could have destroyed this place.” He offers Bryan one more chance to shake his hand and he’ll make all of this go away. He tells Bryan this is his last chance. Bryan slaps Bray’s hand away. Bray goes at Bryan for a clothesline but Bryan starts firing back punches. Bray ends up viciously tackling Bryan and then taunts him a bit more before tagging Harper in and yelling at Harper to “finish him.” Harper nails Bryan with a sit-down powerbomb for a near fall.
Harper gets some advice in his ear from Bray. Harper goes for a big boot on Bryan but misses. Bryan is shaking his head now and is Warrior’ing or Hulk’ing up. Whichever you prefer. Bryan scoops Harper up and sits him on the top rope. The two are standing on the top rope now. Bryan hits a back-suplex off the top rope on Harper. 1-2…Harper kicks out at 2 and a half. Bryan continues shaking his head and Hulk’ing up. The crowd erupts into a loud “Yes! Yes! Yes!” chant. Bryan nails Harper with a bunch of “Yes!” kicks. Whoooaaaaa “Yes!” and he nails the final one. Bryan goes to the top rope and comes flying off with a headbutt for another near fall. Rowan comes in from behind but Byan catches him with kicks also. Rowan’s arms are tied in the ropes now and Bryan hits a bunch of “Yes!” kicks on him as well. Bray Wyatt is tagged in.
Bryan pulls down the top rope and Harper and Rowan both end up on the floor. Bryan hits a dive onto Harper on the floor and then drop toe-holds Rowan face-first into the ringside steps. Bryan goes to the top rope and hits a missile dropkick on Bray Wyatt. Bryan goes for the “Yes! Lock” on Bray but Bray avoids it and pummels Bryan with punches on the ground. Bray hoists Bryan up and nails him with his Sister Abigail finisher. 1-2-3. Bray Wyatt pins him. The Wyatt Family wins. Bray cradles Bryan in his arms like a baby and holds his head as The Wyatt Family music plays. The match was pretty damn cool.
Winners: The Wyatt Family
TLC Title Unification Match
– John Cena (c) vs. Randy Orton (c)
We shoot back to the expert panel and the guys do some final hype for the title unification match between John Cena and Randy Orton, which is coming up next. The video package for the match airs. After the video package airs, Randy Orton’s music hits and out comes the World Heavyweight Champion. There are tables, ladders and chairs all over the aisle now. Orton stairs up at the two title belts hanging above the center of the ring. Orton’s music hits and WWE does a long, drawn out dramatic silence before John Cena’s music hits. The crowd explodes with their typical mixed reaction and out comes the WWE Champion. “Tonight is history” is Cena’s little direct statement to the camera before he begins his sprint to the ring. The bell rings and Justin Roberts does the formal introductions for the evening’s main event. He makes sure to announce that the winner will be determined when a man climbs a ladder and retrieves both belts. At that point, we will crown the new “WWE World Heavyweight Champion,” which is the official name of the new title holder from this point forward.
The bell rings again and here we go ladies and gentlemen! As long as WWE doesn’t screw with the finish, then yes, history will indeed be made here during the final WWE pay-per-view event of 2013. Cena and Orton circle each other. The two stop to let the crowd do their split “let’s go Cena, Cena sucks” chant. They lock up and Cena pushes Orton into the corner. Cena headlocks Orton and takes him down. The fight spills out to the floor and Orton grabs a ladder and throws it into the ring. Orton sets the ladder up in the middle of the ring as Cena comes in to stop him. Cena slams the ladder into Orton. Orton rolls out to the floor. Cena does as well. Cena grabs a table and throws it in the ring. “It didn’t take long for the toys to come out!” exclaims JBL on commentary. “Let’s go Cena, Cena sucks” exclaims thousands of WWE fans in Houston, Texas. The table is propped up in the corner. Cena goes for the Attitude Adjustment but Orton escapes. Cena throws Orton to the floor. Orton grabs a steel chair and comes back in the ring. Orton goes to blast Cena with a chair but Cena blocks it. Orton knocks Cena down and nails him in the back with a chair. Now Orton hits Cena in the ribs with the chair in a stabbing motion.
Orton throws the chair down and goes out after Cena, who rolled out of the ring. Orton grabs another chair on the floor. He goes to whack Cena with that one and I guess he does, but it looked more like Cena moved and Orton hit the ringside steps. Orton smashes another chair across Cena’s back, and there is no questioning whether or not that one landed. Youch. Orton goes to swing it again but Cena moves and Orton nails the post. Cena has a chair now and Cena blasts Orton repeatedly with it. The last chair shot from Cena was absolutely vicious. Man oh man, these guys are going for it early on.
Cena opens and sets up a table on the floor as Orton crawls around the other side of the ring, still hurt from the aforementioned chair shot. Cena hoists Orton up and attempts to powerbomb him through the table, but Orton slides out the back door and shoves Cena into the ringside steps.
Orton grabs another ladder and brings it into the ring. Orton sets the ladder up in the middle of the ring and begins to climb. Orton gets his fingertips on the belts but Cena is in the ring now. Cena yanks Orton down. Cena goes to hit the ropes and can be overheard saying “dropkick.” Sure enough, Cena comes off the ropes and eats a dropkick from Orton. Whoops! The ladder is thrown out of the way and Orton continues his attack on Cena. Orton drops some knees onto the face of Cena. Orton now taunts Cena a bit as Cena crawls up Orton’s body. Orton blasts Cena with a punch but Cena punches back. The two trade punches until Cena hits the ropes. When he comes off, Orton catches him with a big powerslam. Orton stomps on the inside thigh-area of Cena as we get a nice closeup shot of the two titles dangling above the ring.
Orton goes outside the ring again and grabs yet another ladder. When he comes back into the ring, Cena has the ladder and blasts Orton in the gut with it. Cena sets the ladder up in the middle of the ring. Cena begins to climb. Orton blasts Cena with punches on the back and pulls him off the ladder. Orton nails Cena with a back-suplex and looks up at the belts. Orton grabs a chair and we can overhear the two calling another spot. The ladder is moved and Orton blasts Cena in the back with two extremely hard chair shots. It seems like this is one of those matches where the guys agreed to “go for it” ahead of time. They are truly baseball swinging these chair shots.
Cena is firing up on offense now during a comeback. Two shoulder tackles and a side-slam by Cena sets up a Five Knuckle Shuffle. Cena goes to tell Orton that “he can’t see him” but Orton throws a kick up to Cena’s face from his back and nails him. Orton stands up and throws Cena face-first into a steel chair that was wedged into the corner. Cena remains lifeless half-standing in the corner still selling that spot. Orton rolls out to the floor and sets up another ladder in the middle of the ring. Orton grabs both titles but Cena stops him just in time. Cena knocks Orton off the ladder. Cena climbs the ladder and does the “you can’t see me” gesture followed by a Five Knuckle Shuffle off of the ladder.
Cena grabs a ladder and blasts Orton, who is standing outside the ropes on the apron, with a big shot. Orton falls off the apron and crashes through the table on the floor that was set up earlier. Cena sets the ladder up and begins to climb. As he nears the top, Orton gets back in the ring, yanks Cena off the ladder, and blasts him with a RKO out of nowhere. Both guys are down. Each guy gets up to one knee and they trade punches. Orton starts mixing in some headbutts. Cena starts punching back. Cena hits the ropes and runs into Orton, nailing him with a clothesline that sends him over the top rope. Cena goes out after him. Cena picks up the ringside steps and blasts Orton with it. Orton is bleeding from the face now. Orton gets up and Cena blasts him with the steps again. Cena grabs another table and throws it into the ring.
Cena rolls into the ring and leans the table in the corner. There are two corners of the ring now with tables propped up in them. Cena goes out to grab Orton but Orton pops up and blasts Cena with a microphone shot that echo’s throughout the Toyota Center. Orton places Cena across the ringside steps and stomps on his head. Orton has the microphone again and repeatedly blasts Cena with it in the face. Orton clears off the Spanish announce table and the crowd pops.
Orton waits for Cena to get up. Orton runs at him and attempts to nail him with a punt kick, but Cena pops up, avoids it, and hits Orton with an Attitude Adjustment through the Spanish announce table. Both guys are down. Cena is up first. Cena uses the ropes to pull himself into the ring. Orton is now crawling out of what is left of the Spanish announce table on the floor.
We’re in the ring now and Cena is setting up a ladder. Cena is moving slowly, but is finally starting to make his climb. Cena has a firm grasp on both of the titles. Cena is hanging onto the titles now as Orton pushes the ladder out from underneath him. Cena is dangling, holding onto the loop that holds the belts above the ring with no ladder underneath him. Orton whacks Cena with a chair while he is dangling and Cena goes crashing to the canvas. Orton has a sick smirk on his face now as he waits to hit Cena with a homerun shot with the chair. As Cena gets up, Orton goes for a big swing. Cena ducks it and spears Orton thruogh the table set up in the corner of the ring.
Orton rolls out to the floor. Orton starts ripping the padded mats off the floor. Orton finds a pair of handcuffs. Orton cuffs Cena to the bottom rope. Cena’s left hand is now cuffed to the bottom rope. Cena looks scared now that he’s stuck. Orton shows Cena the key and smiles. Orton rolls into the ring. Cena stands up with his hand still cuffed to the bottom rope. Cena kicks at Orton but can’t reach him. Orton throws the key into the crowd. Cena drops to his ass and is putting his feet on the ropes, trying to break the cuffs off with brute force. Orton walks up the ramp as if he’s leaving.
Orton grabs a ladder from far up the entrance way and walks it back to the ring. Cena is outside of the ring now on the ground still cuffed to the bottom line. Orton nails Cena with the ladder and then throws the ladder in the ring. Cena rolls back into the ring, still cuffed to the bottom rope. Orton sets up the ladder in the middle of the ring. Cena takes the entire turnbuckle and rope off of the ring post. So he’s still cuffed to the bottom rope, but he’s got the entire bottom rope and turnbuckle with him. He climbs up the ladder like that and knocks Orton off. Cena is tripped up in the rope that he’s attatched to at the top of the ladder. Orton grabs part of the bottom rope and the two are having a tug-of-war with the rope that Cena is still cuffed to. Orton finally pulls it hard and Cena comes falling off the ladder near the table in the other corner of the ring. Looks like he was supposed to go through that table during that spot. Whoops!
Orton climbs back up the ladder and grabs the titles. He has them, but stops and looks around. He looks back down at Cena. He slowly reaches up to unhook them but pauses. He slowly unhooks the two title belts. Ding ding ding. Randy Orton is the new “WWE World Heavyweight Champion.” Pretty damn good match, by the way.
Winner and NEW WWE World Heavyweight Champion: Randy Orton
After The Match
Orton stands tall on the ladder holding up both titles. We see some replays of the highlights of the match. When the highlights end, we see a disappointed Cena still on the ground, finally coming to and realizing what has just happened. Orton has both titles held high above his head. Vince McMahon’s music hits. Out comes the Chairman of the Board along with The Authority, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. All three walk to the ring. Stephanie is smiling and clapping. Vince is doing a mild version of his normal strut. Triple H is just walking. The three enter the ring. Stephanie hugs Orton. HHH and Vince congratulate Orton as we get another shot of Cena looking up at all of this looking disappointed in himself. Orton holds the belts up again as Vince and HHH extend their hands as if to present their new WWE World Heavyweight Champion to the WWE Universe. Orton holds the titles up and we get one last shot of Cena shaking his head before we get one final image of Orton celebrating his victory. The show ends on that note.