So, interestingly enough, this was originally
scheduled to be a regular WWE House Show, but it was decided a few weeks prior
that this would be put together as a WWE Network Exclusive. It’s pretty cool to
see that they’re actually using the WWE Network to put out exclusive content.
WWE Elimination Chamber 2015
Corpus Christi, Texas 5/31/15
Pre-Show
1.) Stardust vs. Zack Ryder: *3/4
There’s really not much to say here. It was a
pointless pre-show match that served absolutely no purpose. Stardust gets the
win.
We did get something a little more noteworthy on
this pre-show, as Daniel Bryan was a guest on Miz TV. Bryan had to vacate the
WWE Intercontinental Title a few weeks prior after going down with an injury. The
Miz is with Summer Rae, who is his co-star in The Marine 4. He takes credit for all of the success that Daniel
Bryan has had in the WWE (as he was Bryan’s NXT mentor back when Bryan signed
with WWE). Bryan says that his career is not finished (though, unfortunately,
it would come to an end with his official retirement in early 2016). He hypes
up his new book coming out, and says that Miz TV is boring. This leads to Bryan
bring out The Mega Powers. The Miz attacks Macho Mandow immediately, but with
the help of his partner, Curtis Axel, he’s able to take out The Miz.
Main Show
1.) WWE Tag Team Titles – Elimination Chamber
Match – The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston, & Xavier Woods) vs. Cesaro &
Tyson Kidd vs. The Lucha Dragons vs. The Prime Time Players vs. The Ascension
vs. Los Matadores (with El Torito): ***1/4
This is the first of two Elimination Chamber
Matches tonight, and for the first time, the WWE Tag Team Titles are on the
line inside this infamous structure. I was curious to see how this would play
out, considering that there would be twelve people inside the Elimination
Chamber. Actually, scratch that, there were fourteen people in this match, as
Xavier Woods & El Torito were allowed inside the Elimination Chamber, for
some reason. This was probably as good as it could have been. It had its good
moments, but there were some sloppy moments in here as well. Los Matadores
& The Lucha Dragons were both eliminated by The Ascension (in that order).
After that, The Ascension, followed by Cesaro & Tyson Kidd, were both
eliminated by The Prime Time Players. Finally, The New Day would eliminate
Darren Young & Titus O’Neil to win the match and retain the WWE Tag Team
Titles.
2.) WWE Diva’s Title – Triple Threat Match –
Nikki Bella vs. Naomi vs. Paige: **
So after having conflicts with both Naomi &
Paige over the past few months, Nikki Bella is defending her title against both
in a Triple Threat Match. I actually had hopes that this could be good. In some
ways, it was better than the usual Diva’s Match. On the other hand, there were
a number of notable botches, including a messed up Tower of Doom spot, and a
Reverse Rana attempt (that’s the key word, right there) by Naomi on Paige that
just looked horrible. It’s honestly more memorable for those mistakes than some
of the actual decent work in the match itself. Nikki Bella would get the win to
retain her Diva’s Title.
3.) Champion vs. Champion Non-Title Match – WWE
United States Champion John Cena vs. NXT Champion Kevin Owens: ****1/2
This was easily the most anticipated match on
this entire show. A few weeks prior on RAW, then-NXT Champion Kevin Owens made
his debut on RAW, and immediately made a statement by attacking, both verbally
and physically, WWE United States Champion John Cena. I think a lot of people
had high hopes for this match coming in, and I can firmly say that it
definitely delivered. This match was awesome!! There was a ton of great back
& forth action from start to finish. Owens is great at pretty much
everything he does, and really shined here. Cena was able to hold his own here
as well, and interesting enough, kind of wrestled a Kevin Owens/Indie-Style of
match, with a lot of big MOVEZ (with a “Z”, of course). The big story here is
that Kevin Owens won clean as a sheet in the middle of the ring. Its crazy to
think that, just a little over a year prior, I saw Kevin Steen wrestle Shinsuke
Nakamura in the Hammerstein Ballroom for ROH & NJPW, and then a year later,
he’s beaten arguably the biggest wrestling star of the 21st Century.
A really awesome moment, and an incredible match!!
4.) Neville vs. Bo Dallas: **3/4
The two men who had the unenviable task of
following Kevin Owens vs. John Cena ended up being Neville and, of all people,
Bo Dallas. To be fair, this was actually a pretty decent match. These two did
work together in NXT (they were the Main Event of the first NXT TakeOver Special), so there is some
experience there. The only criticism I have is that I think Bo Dallas was in
control for a little longer than he needed to be. Other than that, this was
fine for what it was. Neville would get the win with the Red Arrow.
5.) WWE Intercontinental Title – Elimination
Chamber Match – King Barrett vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. R-Truth vs. Mark Henry vs.
Ryback vs. Sheamus: **1/4
As I mentioned earlier, Daniel Bryan had to
vacate the Intercontinental Title a few weeks prior due to an injury. These six
men were selected to fight it out inside The Elimination Chamber to decide who
would be the new champion. I believe Rusev was originally scheduled to be in
this match, but he suffered an ankle injury (if I recall correctly), and was
replaced by Mark Henry. Unfortunately, this match was not that good. In fact,
I’d say this was the worst Elimination Chamber Match ever held. The Elimination
Chamber is one of my favorite matches in WWE. No matter who is involved,
they’re usually always good. That changed on this show. This was just not good.
There wasn’t a lot of good action, guys were breaking up pin attempts (which is
counter-productive in an elimination-style match) the crowd was silent for the
most part, and it was, as a whole, just boring. Sheamus tried to “cheat the
system” a little bit, by using his metal cross to jam the door shut, so he
could enter the match at just the right time. King Barrett would be eliminated
first (hasn’t done much of note since becoming “King”…except lose), followed by
R-Truth, and then Mark Henry. Dolph Ziggler would then be eliminated, and
finally, Ryback eliminated Sheamus to win the match and the WWE
Intercontinental Title. For Ryback, it’s his first title win in his WWE Career.
After the match, Daniel Bryan came out to
congratulate and celebrate with the new Intercontinental Champion.
6.) WWE World Heavyweight Title – Seth Rollins
(with The Authority) vs. Dean Ambrose: ***1/2
Following Payback, Dean Ambrose resumed his feud
with his former Shield partner Seth Rollins. This time, the feud involves the
WWE World Heavyweight Title. Now, earlier in the night, Triple H made a decree
that if Roman Reigns interfered in the Main Event, Dean Ambrose would be
automatically disqualified. Now the match itself was honestly not that bad. The
action was pretty solid, and there were some cool spots. Unfortunately, there
was interference from both Kane as well as J & J Security. Then, there was
the finish. Towards the end of the match, the original referee gets taken out
when Rollins pulls him in front of an incoming Ambrose. A second referee comes
out, and shortly thereafter, counts the pin for Dean Ambrose, who has seemingly
won the WWE World Heavyweight Title!! However, the original referee recovers,
and rules that Dean Ambrose has won the match by DQ, meaning that Rollins
retains the WWE World Heavyweight Title (and from that, we get one of the most ridiculous
facial reactions EVER from Seth Rollins). Like I said, the match was good, but
this was a typical Dusty Finish, and I think it pissed a lot of people off.
After the match, The Authority beat down Dean
Ambrose, until Roman Reigns comes out to make the save! He cleans house, and
Ambrose proclaims that he’s taking the WWE World Heavyweight Title, which
Rollins left in the ring. He & Reigns then exit through the crowd with the
title belt to close the show.
Overall:
6.5/10
This was the definition of a one-match show. John
Cena vs. Kevin Owens was an instant classic, and easily one of the best matches
we’ve seen on WWE’s Main Roster in 2015 (up to this point). The build was
really good, and Owens became a star by pinning Cena clean in the middle of the
ring. Unfortunately, there really wasn’t much else on the main card. The Main
Event was solid, but a variety of shenanigans and storyline stuff brought it
down, in my view. Both Elimination Chamber Matches were ultimately
disappointments, with the WWE Tag Team Title Elimination Chamber being good,
but sloppy, while the WWE Intercontinental Title was extremely disappointing.
There wasn’t anything overtly bad on this show, but it wasn’t that good, for
the most part. This show is only worth checking out for Cena vs. Owens, and you
can pretty much skip everything else.
No comments:
Post a Comment