RATING LEVELS:
Curt Hennig – A
“GOAT” show, as Perfect as possible
Watch It – A
consistently good show worth watching in its entirety
Watch It…With Remote
in Hand – 3 or more above-average ratings
High Risk Maneuver –
Mostly filler, inessential, but 1-2 good matches
DUDleyville –
Zero redeeming qualities, chore to watch
Elimination Chamber –
May 31st, 2015
Corpus Christi, Texas
CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN:
Going into tonight's show, Seth Rollins the WWE World Heavyweight Champion, the
Intercontinental Championship has been vacated, John Cena holds the United
States Championship, and the Divas Title is held by Nikki Bella. The New Day
are the Tag Team Champions.
The Tag Team
Championship Elimination Chamber kicked things off and there is just not
much to nitpick about this one based on what I went into it expecting. The
Lucha Dragons and the Ascension were the first two teams in the ring, which I
thought was a a bold move considering that the other four teams involved
are considerably more over and experienced. Fortunately, the four men put
in great effort and wowed the crowd with several cool spots. Kalisto getting
tripped up by the New Day built great heat and, as Cole said on commentary,
this was easily the best work the Ascension has done since joining the main
roster. Next in were Cesaro and Kidd and their inclusion only helped. I was not
a fan of Cesaro bumping for El Torito when Los Matadores joined the fray, but
that would probably be my only real complaint. The
Ascension eliminating the Luchas and Los Matadores was the right decision, a
necessary step in giving them some credibility moving forward. The
final two teams, The New Day and Prime Time Players, were the show-stealers,
though. I've been a fan of Titus O'Neill for awhile, but Darren
Young's offense looked energized and more fluid than ever before. The New Day
are a red hot act worthy of holding onto the straps for a long while. The final
two eliminations were well-executed and credible. I'm not sure how
anyone could have been disappointed by the layout, high spots, or finishes in
this match. Really strong opener where everyone came out of looking better than
before. (4/5)
The next match was for the WWE Divas Championship, the
defending champion Nikki attempting
to fend off Naomi and Paige. NXT fans love to point out how
much better NXT's Womens' division is than the main roster's and they're not
incorrect - but I wouldn't point at this match as evidence in their favor. All
three women worked hard and took big risks. Within the first minute,
Nikki got tossed hard into a table and Naomi launched herself full steam into
the center of the ring, missing a body splash on Paige. From there, we saw a
dangerous Tower of Doom spot that was borderline
botched. Later on, Naomi and Paige attempted a maneuver similar to the
Canadian Destroyer (though, to their credit, less markedly choreographed in its
application) that looked unintentionally devastating. While this match lacked
the selling and storytelling of the critically-acclaimed Becky Lynch/Sasha
Banks match from a few weeks ago, it's hard not to give credit to the women
for their efforts. (3/5)
Kevin Owens vs. John
Cena was the next bout and, again, I have few complaints about what
they delivered. From the first bell Owens looked comfortable in the spotlight,
developing a slow pace early but sprinkling in some high impact offense (a
somersault cannonball and impressive spinning back drop). The Attitude
Adjustment has become a complete non-finish at this point, so seeing Owens kick
out was not surprising (though, to some degree, still disappointing in that
Cena has yet to introduce a new finisher). As the match wore on, more and more
details connected with me (and the live audience), Owens showing off some of
his great working punches, while Cena popped the crowd with stiff clotheslines and his springboard stunner. Kevin Owens stealing John
Cena's "You Can't See Me" taunt and Attitude Adjustment toward the
end of the match are nothing new, the kind of thing that I swear we've seen multiple
heels use over the years, but they were a nice way to develop Owen's
character as a legitimate "anti-Cena." Cena is clean shaven with movie star looks, Owens is gruff. Cena has
the superhuman physique, while Owens covers up his less impressive body. Both men are fierce competitors, but Owens openly admits
he fights for money, not adoration. Despite both guys pulling out some
innovative offense, the match still lacked a real climax, which made the finish
a bit too "out of nowhere" for me to score it higher. All in
all, a very, very good match and an excellent way to introduce Owens to the
greater public, but still a few notches below a true Match of the Year bout due to the conclusion. (4/5)
Neville took on Bo Dallas in the next match, one that served its purpose as a "breather" after the intensity of the
prior match. Bo Dallas has some charm and a little bit of "it
factor", but too often, people forget that even someone with "it" needs to work hard to leave a real impression (see Kennedy, Mr.) to get over. The finish was the right one as Neville was deserving of the hard fought victory. Dallas continues to be an
interesting idea with no context and no relevance on the main roster. Not the worst thing
I've ever watched, but far from the best. (2/5)
The Intercontinental
Championship was on the line in the second Elimination Chamber match. This one featured Ryback, R-Truth, King Bad News Barrett, Dolph Ziggler, Sheamus, and surprise
entrant Mark Henry (replacing an injured Rusev). Without Rusev, this match
needed a bit more star power, so the involvement of Mark Henry was a
good call. Ziggler played his usual
role, bumping like crazy for his bigger opponents and valiantly kicking out of
their devastating signature moves. I'm not exactly sure I understood what was
intended by Sheamus not being able to get out of his pod (or was he able to get
out all along and was trying to make it look like he couldn't?) but it was either
an unnecessarily confusing twist (if it was intended) or a scene-breaking, technical error goof
that took me out of the match. Some nice sequences, but lacking the madcap fun of the opener with an odd ending that saw Sheamus and Ryback trade power moves until Sheamus couldn't take any more. I've seen some call this
one of the worst matches of the year, but I won't go that far. (2/5)
Main event time - Seth
Rollins defending the WWE Championship against longtime rival Dean Ambrose. I called their Lumberjack
Match in 2014 the best lumberjack match I've ever seen, but was a bit cooler on
the Hell in the Cell Match they had later on. This one falls somewhere
between those, delivering a different type of match than they've put on PPV before.
Kane and J & J Security didn't play major roles (a plus to me, considering
how involved they were in Rollins' previous PPV matches), so instead of the
added bells and whistles they provided, this one relied on hard-hitting
back-and-forth action from bell to bell. Ambrose went to the same well a few
too many times for me, hitting several of his signature spots 3-4
times. Meanwhile, Rollins' execution of his big moves was flawless, but with both guys
willing to go 100 miles per hour at all times, I do think Rollins would benefit
from milking the audience and pacing his matches one notch slower to build the suspense. I absolutely loved the finish for the shock it provided and credit
the writers with the post-match shenanigans, which kept the crowd positive
despite getting screwed out of a title change. Great match. (4/5)
With an average match rating of 3.16-out-of-5, Elimination Chamber 2014 was a better-than-average
show featuring three matches I'd readily recommend. The
opener and main event were excellent, a rung below Match of the Year Candidates
but highly enjoyable. Owens/Cena was a sensational debut for Owens and probably
one of the top five Cena matches of the year - though, considering how good
Cena has been in 2015, I would probably put it outside of the top two spots and
maybe even outside of the top three. The Divas Championship match was as good
as could be expected. In fact, I'm not sure the sloppy execution didn't help
the match by adding suspense to a "genre" of matches that
often come off as too choreographed. Sadly, the middle of the show lagged as
Neville, as exciting athletically as he is vanilla personality-wise, needed a
better opponent to make me care about his match. The IC Title Chamber Match
was either full of botches or planned out terribly, with starts-and-stops in
action and nonsense "twists" that detracted from the central
storyline of the match.
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