Category: Post Type article

Thumbs Up

Best Match: John Cena vs Kevin Owens

Worst Match: Divas

I could kind of follow WWE’s booking logic in putting Mark Henry in the IC chamber match. I mean, he’s a big guy, he gets a receptive pop, and there’s no harm in pinning him. But even Big Show could have filled that spot and meant more. Instead, Ryback wins his first singles title in WWE and gets the most lukewarm reception, despite the rub from Daniel Bryan.

The NXT guys were tremendous. Even Bo Dallas and Neville, who were put in the death spot post Cena v Owens, did what they could with a crowd that had largely been taken down from a tremendous star-making turn.

The only big “surprises” were that they inexplicably left the Divas title on Nikki. Perhaps Nikki is going to mimic boyfriend Cena’s open challenge and Sasha Banks is going to come out and win it on RAW some week.

Also, it was the perfect opportunity for Roman Reigns to turn on Dean Ambrose. Yet as soon as he laid out Rollins, J&J Security, AND Kane, there was no way he was going to lay out Ambrose and suddenly join forces with the Authority. Perhaps for Monday night, if its in the works.

Jeff Cohen

Flushing, NY

Thumbs Up
Best Match: Rollins vs. Ambrose
Worst Match: Divas Triple Threat

I really enjoyed this show.  There wasn’t a bad match on the card and the two big singles matches delivered huge.  Plus the two Chambers were decent if underwhelming.

The Tag Chamber was a really fun way to kick things off, and while I would’ve liked to see Cesaro/Kidd and New Day as the final two teams, this was enjoyable from start to finish while also making the Tag Titles seem important.  It’s nice to see a full tag team division again.

Divas 3-way was the usual throwaway women’s match.  Perhaps someday we’ll finally get the women’s wrestling we deserve on a main roster PPV.

Cena vs. Owens was pretty great.  Owens came off like a major deal and this was full of excellent false finishes.  The only thing missing was the intangible that comes from two guys who have wrestled each other a lot and have that perfect chemistry (more on that later).  HUGE moment for Owens getting a clean win.

Neville vs. Dallas was fine.  Little more than a showcase for Neville, and I would’ve liked more offense from him.

The IC Chamber was a bit disappointing, but still not bad.  It was a bit on the awkward side and the lethargic crowd kinda hurt it.  Ziggler was blatantly yelling out spots (particularly when wrestling Ryback), which I found very distracting.  I’m not sure what that was about, as I’ve never noticed him doing that before.  Ryback winning could be a good thing if it plays out right, and should elevate both him and the Title.

Rollins vs. Ambrose was awesome.  Loved the chain wrestling at the beginning, and these two have such amazing chemistry and clearly drawn characters I could watch them fight each other all day.  This might be their best singles match to date.  Usually I hate the Dusty finish, but in this situation I thought it worked great.  Rollins’ reaction at the DQ announcement was priceless.  This was a great heelish way for Rollins to retain while keeping Ambrose strong.

Overall Elimination Chamber was easily the best WWE PPV of 2015 thus far, IMO.  Yes, I thought this was much more fun than ‘Mania 31 and featured a great one-two punch, plus a fun tag Chamber. 

-Justin Ballard
Boston, MA
www.enuffa.com

Thumbs up.

Best match: Cena vs Owens

Worst match: Tag team chamber match

Kevin Owens continues his surprising run as a top guy, not surprising due to talent level, but surprising due to he being a guy that you wouldn’t think Vince would be interested in featuring based on the “look”. Great match too with believable near falls.  Let’s hope the follow up is just as strong.

The tag title match gets the worst match honor because in what universe (no pun intended) should all of the New Day been allowed in and none of the other teams had a third man (not counting Torito)?  Some plot holes I just can’t overlook.

Starting to get sick of garbage finishes in the main events too, with this being the third show in a row as such.  The match was real good, but it’s hard to get totally involved in it when you know a crap finish is coming.

– Chris H

Lakeland, FL

Thumbs in the Middle.

Best Match: Cena vs. Owens

Worst Match: Triple Threat Divas

I can’t say how big it is to have someone, let alone an NXT person in their first call up match, beat John Cena cleanly. It shows that WWE may be interested in pushing Kevin Owens to the stars; he could be the next major heel. Is this the beginning of the end of Cena’s ‘super’ status? Also, I must point out that it’s not common in WWE for opponents to steal each other’s finishers, and that’s a good thing; makes it feel like a big deal (or disrespect) when it happens.

In terms of the tag team chamber match, I’m not a fan of allowing all three members of the new day in there at the same time, legally. Could have been really heel-ish if the third member were to sneek in when the outer door is open to allow a just-pinned team to leave. Are all three now tag team champions? Also, not sure when (if) Kane said the bull was allowed in. Happy to see the Prime Time Players get some shining moments.

Happy with Ryback winning the IC Title. Also Bryan presenting it to him felt very genuine. Would have been nice to have him on commentary during the match. Not really any special spots that I’ll remember. Would like to one day give Mark Henry a decent run before he actually retires.

The WWE WHC match was good. I couldn’t imagine that Ambrose would win but was marking out when he did, and quickly came up with an excuse to not give him the belt (the same one they wound up using, a DQ.) Didn’t like that as WWE does that type of cloudy, indecisive ending far to much, especially on PPV-like-events. Though, Ambrose keeping the physical belt has given me a big reason to tune into RAW tomorrow, to see what he does. Then again the whole thing feels like trying to recreate the beginnings of Austin (Ambrose) vs. McMahon (Authority) with Seth being HBK, around WM14. Let’s see if Ambrose throws the belt in a river tomorrow. I’ll be watching.

– Charlie Scott Machalow

Thumbs up

Best Match: Cena vs. Owens
Worst: Divas

Really happy to see them trying with some new guys, like Ascension, Neville, and Owens.  Having Ascension elminate two teams strong hopefully will help them out.  Enjoyed the tag a lot.  Interesting choice to put the PTP in at the end.  Kidd and Cesaro were awesome as usual.
Really enjoyed the Cena vs. Owens match.  Looks like they really trust Owens.

Really enjoyed the main too, and although it was too soon to put the belt on Dean, we saw that the fans will get behind when the time does come.

Good win for the Ryback.  Hey, it’s something new and he certainly can get over with his power stuff.  Nobody needed to see Sheamus win the IC belt.  
I will be very interested to see where they go with Money in the Bank coming up.

Dan Velten

How you doin’ Dave,

Thumbs Up

Good show, although the crowd hurt it which I feared after how deafly quiet the Corpus Christi crowd were for a Raw at the beginning of the year. Owens-Cena was a great match, and had the most shocking finish I’ve seen in years excluding the ending of the streak. Really pleased for Owens. They weren’t gelling at the start, Owens was trying to work a lot slower than Cena. I assume that was down to the months of working down in NXT where they adopt a slower pace. Also I think he was a little rough for Cena during the first half of the match as he appeared to lighten up during the second. In addition he’ll have to pull back on looking out at the crowd so much as they don’t like that there. 

I never stop being surprised that they’re yet to remodel the chamber, that grate really needs replacing with something less stiff and worse sounding. Also the distance between the top of the pod and roof continues to be a problem for high-flyers. I’ve said before Paige needs to calm down with her bumps, her frame simply isn’t going to be able to handle it. And combined with the WWE schedule she’s going to end up in a fair bit of pain. Then she goes and takes a top rope German in a six minute match where there wasn’t enough time to get the most out of it, not that she should be doing it anyway. Just crazy stuff. The girls were out to prove a point and tried hard, but they were trying to do too much too fast which led to a bit of sloppiness. Ambrose-Rollins was really good, but I didn’t think it was at the level of their two matches on Raw, the one being a few weeks ago and the other the night after Summerslam.       

Best Match: Owens vs. Cena ****1/4

Worst Match: Ryder vs. Stardust **

Tag Title Elimination Chamber Match ***1/2

Naomi vs.Paige vs. Nikki **3/4

Dallas vs. Neville **3/4

IC Title Elimination Chamber Match ***1/4

Ambrose vs. Rollins ***3/4

Thanks Dave

Tom (griffo120)

Wow is all I have to say about tonight as it was NXTs coming out party as if they needed it; know the claim has been made for a while now that its their own brand and not developmental and tonight showed that. 

Huge Thumbs up; match of the night and match of the year canidate goes to Owens vs Cena. 

Worst match if we have to pick one would be neville vs bo dallas. 

Wasnt a fan of how it went off the air but you knew Ambroise couldnt walk away as champion yet. 

~John Chagaris
Davenport, fl

Hi Dave,
  Just wanted to give my thoughts on the Elimination Chamber. I gave the show a thumbs in the middle with the best match actually being between John Cena and Kevin Owens (Hell must have froze over if anything involving Cena get’s best match from me, lol!) and the worst match being the Chamber match for the I/C title which was just a bunch of sloppy looking power moves in my opinion and a missed opportunity to enhance a storyline feud between Daniel Bryan and Sheamus. But it was an ok show, and the Chamber cage is a good spectacle but seems difficult to navigate.

1. Tag title chamber match – The match was good and had some cool moves, but really mostly comprised of undercard guys with no real talent depth in the match in my opinion. They really need to beef up the teams in the tag team division or show them in a more positive light. Most of the tag teams are portrayed as an undercard comedy act or two guys put together who could not get a singles push. I guess the right ream won in New Day, but none of these teams really stood out.

2. Divas match – Nothing really special here as Nikkie retains the title over Paige and Naomi. Another division that really needs enhancement, even more then the tag team division. WWE really seems to want to push the IC and US titles as being important, but not really seeing the same thing for the Divas title or the Tag team title for that matter. But it does seem that a new era in women’s wrestling is coming soon with the recent action in NXT which has been awesome, hopefully that translates soon to the women’s division on the main roster.

3. Cena VS Ownes – Now this was the best match of the night for me, totally unexpected. I was not in complete shock at the win, as they tried to portray it along the same lines as Undertaker losing at Mania, complete with trying to act like the crowd was in complete shock. But it was an excellent match, and that is the first time I’ve ever said that regarding anything involving Cena. I don’t know much about Kevin Owens as I have not really followed his career until this point, and he looks like the pro wrestling version of Roy Nelson. But anyone who can get a great match out of John Cena has to be an excellent performer! I hope Owens wins the US title as I think it would be very unique to keep him as both the US champion and NXT champion to see how it works. Hopefully their rematch at Money in the Bank will be just as good. On a side note however, why does half the roster wrestle in jean shorts, work out clothes, or other non wrestling related gear? This
 match made me think of how much half the roster looks like they just came from Wal Mart, just saying, lol!

3. Dallas VS Neville – Bo is actually really entertaining as a heel pretending to be a face, and Neville is just awesome. Hopefully both of these guys continue to advance in the main roster as they seem to be building from their NXT past with these two.

4. Chamber match for the I/C title – This match appeared to be just a big mess with a bunch of power guys doing a few power moves and not much else. Henry as a replacement for Rusev didn’t really do much for the match. R Truth should not have even been in the match. And if they want to make the I/C title more important and have quality matches, then Ryback is the wrong guy for that. They had a storyline sitting in their hands with Daniel Bryan at ringside to present the I/C title to the winner. They really should have had Sheamus win the match and Bryan forced to hand the title over. This could have very easily pushed the feud going between the two, and have a title grudge match ready for when Bryan returns.

5. World title match – Rollins VS Ambrose – Really good match with spot of the night when Ambrose dove onto everyone at ringside, that was awesome. A good match but after the ref bump and the other ref running in, well I could see the “Dusty” finish a mile away. The ref should have been wearing a T shirt that read “I’m here to reverse the decision”, way too predictable. That was just lazy booking. And why did Ambrose and Roman continue to celebrate like Amrbrose still won the title after the decision was announced that he won by DQ? It made them both look like idiots. Speaking of idiots, the commentary the entire night was just awful. It was like Cole, King, and JBL were all calling different matches all night at the same time, making no sense, bad jokes, and just not flowing with the matches in any way at all. If Cole is going to be the lead announcer then he really need’s to direct the commentary for the whole team to follow. Although I’m sure that is
 an impossible task with JBL and King, and who knows what Vince is also telling them to say at any given time. But the commentary need’s to improve badly in my opinion.

Thanks,
Jon Southerland
Clovis, Ca.

Best Match – Owens vs Cena
Worst Match – Women’s match
Thumbs Up

If you had told me even a year ago that Kevin Owens would be on the WWE roster, and cleanly pinning John Cena, I would have openly laughed. My jaw literally hit the ground when the ref counted for three. A tremendous match and a great effort by both of them. Easily the best match of the night and shows again how versatile that Cena is, no matter who the opponent is. Overall a great PPV, although disappointed in the crowd reaction and how it died off after the Cena/Owens match, even when there was great action going on. Also great to see that the Dusty finish still lives in 2015! After a slow start, Rollins vs Ambrose turned out to be a great match, and looking forward to what the feud has in store on the next PPV (possible Reigns to turn on Ambrose?)

Roy Lucier

Thumbs way up
Best Match: Owens v Cena
Worst Match: Stardust v Ryder

Great event for something that came together so quickly! Owens Cena was just amazing, was looking forward to it the most and it overdelivered. Even if we had the expected non finish it would have been off the charts but Owens going over was that extra level that say Cena Lesnar extreme rules 2012 could have used to cement it. Some of those moves for Cena to trust owens with them says a lot about John and he busted his ass in the match. I want Owens Lesnar in Dallas.

Only a couple chamber matches have been duds and these ones tonight were the norm not the exception. The tag match was a sight only negative was some of that weird climbing by Kalisto and would have liked Cesaro Kidd to be in from the start. Bryan putting Ryback over afterwards was a nice touch and made the title a little more important. Main event was solid we knew there would be wackiness at the end. Thought it would be the dusty finish where it was reversed on Raw ( which might have been a cool story since it hasnt been used for a while?).

Odd announcing of the MITB participants out of the blue. Why not fill Raw with 6 ( or 7 or 8) qualifying matches? But thats nitpicking who can complain too much after a tremendous show!

Michael O’Brien
Brockton, MA

WWE Elimination Chamber: Thumbs Up
Best Match: Cena vs. Owens
Worst Match: Divas Triple Threat

Tag Title Chamber was good, although not to the level I expected.  Was surprised they tried to push the Ascension finally.  Was expecting them out first.  New Day retained which I did expect and it was the right move for now.  Divas triple threat was fine, but nothing special.  They really need to showcase the NXT women and let them show everyone how it is done.  Kind of surprised that Nikki retained.  John Cena vs. Kevin Owens was excellent.  They pulled out all the stops and Owens was tremendous doing some really great moves.  That superplex reversal was beautiful.  Great match and made the show.  Neville vs. Bo Dallas was fine, but maybe a little slow in spots.  Neville is just an excellent talent.  Hope to see him rise up the ladder (no pun intended for MITB).  I-C Title Chamber was also good, but still could have been better.  Maybe too many slow moving guys in it.  Mark Henry and Truth should not have been it since they are so low on the totem poll.  Nice to see Ryback finally pick up a title after all this time.  Hope he doesn’t go on a losing streak now.  Main Event title match was good and of course they took the wind out of everyone’s sails with the Dusty finish.  I had a feeling that would happen or at the very least a reversal the next night.  Overall a very good show.

Robb Block

OVERALL: Thumbs Down
Best Match: Kevin Owens vs. John Cena
Worst Match: Divas Three Way

Tag Team Championship Elimination Chamber Match — I didn’t like this match. And for a minute I thought I was going to be the only one who didn’t but it seems like a lot of people thought this was a trainwreck. Lots of spots but no story and a lot of the spots looked silly. This looked like a bad ROH match. I’ll give credit, though, they worked hard. I thought it was too early to take the belts off the New Day so I was fine with the outcome. I think the match actually would have been stronger if the “extras” like El-Torito and Xavier Woods were kept out of the match. Nothing against them, but they weren’t used well here. Match itself wasn’t good to me at all. *3/4

Divas Three Way Title match — If they’re calling up Charlotte or Sasha and putting the belt on one of them, this was the right call. This match was more unfortunate than bad. They had 6 minutes and because theyv’e been berated by ignorant internet fans and unfairly compared to the NXT girls (who get way more time), they felt pressured to cram 12+ min. of wrestling into a small timeframe. Anytime that happens, you have this kind of match: a dangerous one. Hope Paige is OK. *1/4

Kevin Owens vs. John Cena — This was spectacular. I loved this match. Kevin and Owens and John Cena had way better chemistry than I had anticipated. I honestly think that this was Kevin Owens’s best match since coming to WWE. What a debut for him and I’ve become a huge fan of his. The match at first I thought was going to be one-sided but it was just a great back and forth match. I thought the decision to have Owens defeat Cena was a very good one. Cena is such an established star that he can lose 10 times and will still be John Cena. Kevin Owens has nowhere to go but up from here. I see this feud continuing.  ****

Neville vs. Bo Dallas — The match started off really, really slow for me. Once the match got further along it got a lot better. They weren’t booked to steal the show but they still had a really solid match in the end. I thought this was good. **3/4

IC Championship Elimination Chamber — I liked it for what it was. Certainly better than the last Chamber match. Glad to see Ryback won. I’m a little worried about how Sheamus is going to come out of this because he’s the one that got Shellshocked and powerbombed. I feel like they need to do a little better job protecting him. He had good momentum and has obvious talent in the ring but he’s kind of been waffling without a story for a while. I don’t believe it was right for R-Truth to pinn King Barrett. That only makes your King of the Ring look like a chump. I feel like Rusev could have gotten a lot of heat put back in this match but Henry wasn’t bad in this at all. ***

Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins — Awesome match but the booking of this was a complete fail for me. The “Dusty” finish never works. Ever. It is always counter-productive. They could have just as easily had Rollins cheat to win. You have Dean Ambrose now stealing yet another title. The fans were more pissed off by the booking than mad in storyline at Rollins. I love Seth Rollins to death (own one of his T-shirts) but J&J Security has GOT to go. They suck. My old lady is taller than both of them. They ruin every single match they are in. I see nothing in them at all. Ambrose hit an awesome Tornado DDT and still looked like a superstar here even when the booking constantly fails him. I can’t think of anyone in this company who has been so poorly booked for so long yet still the most over person in the company. Seth Rollins sold the hell out of Ambrose’s lariat which I thought looked sick. Great storytelling match here and really good action. Both of these guys are talented. But the booking was stone stupid. ***3/4

Craig Reeves

Hey Dave,I gave the show a thumbs upBest Match: Cena vs OwensWorst Match: Dallas vs Neville or Divas match – take your pickCena vs Owens really delivered and the right way to get Owens over on his first major show.Loved his springboard from the 2nd rope reversing his position to a moonsault as well as him reversing Cena’s superplex into his own sidewalk type slam. He also had that nice tease of the package piledriver setup into another slam. After the “upset” win they had the crowd shots to show the stunned reactions almost like it was the Undertaker Wrestlemania loss shots. Let’s home the Cena vs Owens II match doesn’t turn into even steven booking and Owens beats Cena again.Neville vs Dallas fell into that spot of death on the card trying to follow the Owens vs Cena match and it just seemed flat. Wasn’t horrible but had a bit of a disconnect for me.I don’t think the announcers got over the whole Sheamus spot in the IC title Chamber. It wasn’t like he couldn’t get out of his pod, it was him not wanting to come in by having his cross jam the door shut so the official couldn’t open the door. Having 2 panels come out so easily when Ziggler was thrown into them sort of ruins the impenetrable aspect of them as someone could really just kick their way out pretty easily, they looked pretty flimsy when they came out. This match was OK but the crowd still didn’t seem that into it. Mark Henry looks like he dropped a ton of weight and looked in the best shape of his career.Tag Chamber match was decent but they are really stretching it trying to come up with 6 teams. Didn’t make sense that New Day could have all 3 in the pod rather than them deciding with Freebird rules of which 2 were going into the match. Same with why Torito was in there. Kalisto, aside from climbing to the top of the Chamber and dropping really did nothing all match besides being held down by New Day in their pod. Maybe he was hurt.I was expecting a Reigns turn in the main event when him & Ambrose seemed so buddy buddy in the pre-interviews. Main event was solid and a good match. I think Ambrose needs to lose the slingshot clothesline Nigel McGuiness spots. It just looks so hokey. The Dusty finish…we will see where this goes now. I assume a title can change hands of a DQ match perhaps.Check out my current ebay auctions featuring some great wrestling memorabilia including some fantastic Stampede wrestling programs which feature Owen Hart, Chris Benoit, Brian Pillman, Bret Hart, Dynamite Kid, Bad News Allen, Keichi Yamada, Shinya Hashimoto, Hiro Hase and so many more. Seller name is grantsindexEmail me for some recent wrestling observer specials including UFC, Royal Rumble, Survivor Series, Wrestlemania and more.grantsindex@nexicom.netGrant ZwarychWrestling Observer Index
Hey Dave,

Overall: Thumbs in the middle. It was a tale of two shows. The good (Owens/Cena, Rollins/Ambrose) was really good. In fact, I would say Cena and Owens was great. The bad (The Elimination Chamber matches/ Divas match) was quite bad. In fact, these were probably two of the worst Elimination Chamber matches I have seen. I have slanted this way for many years now, but tonight I will strongly declare: I want to see straight up wrestling matches with all of the rules enforced. No more gimmick matches. They have been used at excess and no longer serve a purpose.

Best Match: Owens Vs. Cena was everything every fan hoped for.Worst Match: The women’s match was atrocious. The timing and ring positioning was awful.

Pre-Show:
Miz TV segment was harmless fun. Crowd was tepid at best. Daniel Bryan said he will be back, but he did not specify if he would be back in the ring wrestling.
1.       Tag Team Title Elimination Chamber Match: New Day vs. Cesaro/Kidd vs. The Ascension vs. Los Matadors vs. Prime Time Playas vs. Lucha Dragons. The match had a lot of potential and it was set up to thrill, but in the end it failed to execute. When you have too many guys, doing too many spots, you have too much room for error. In this match, there were a lot of errors. Lots of ambitious ideas, but only about ½ were pulled off. Callisto looked perpetually confused throughout the match. Most of the guys wrestled in spot mode, looking over their shoulder and through the corner of their eye waiting for their turn to hit a spot. I suppose this match was set up to build up the Prime Time Playas and the Ascension. It did not succeed in either regard. To top it off, the finish was flat. **
2.       Divas Title Match: Naomi vs. Paige vs. Nikki Bella. The fans were willing to give the Divas a chance. The divas failed to deliver. Paige’s timing and ring placement was off the whole match. Naomi has started to botch spots on a regular basis. Some of the maneuvers in this match were reckless. *
3.       Kevin Owens vs. John Cena. Fantastic match. Well-paced, well laid out, and solid build to a clean and decisive finish. This was everything every fan could have asked for. It was a highlight reel for Kevin Owens and a testament to the confidence and ability of John Cena. Cena’s goal was to make a star, and Owens did not need much help. It is also refreshing to know that when the announce team wants to, they can help put somebody over. It makes you wonder why they do not do it more often. **** ½ star match and the promo was icing on the cake.
4.       Adrian Neville vs. Bo Dallas. Okay match. It was a little slow, and hence a little disappointing. More changes of pace could have helped the match significantly. For what it was, a solid win for Neville. **
5.       Intercontinental Title Elimination Chamber Match: R Truth vs. Wade Barrett vs. Sheamus vs. Mark Henry vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Ryback. With the exception of the final battle between Ryback and Sheamus which was pretty good, this match was a disaster. Obviously, Henry was not supposed to enter the match when he did and his presence totally flubbed the flow of the match. You could tell the wrestlers were attempting to overcome and adapt, but they were never able to find a pace. The announcers completely missed Sheamus locking himself into the pod to give himself a decided advantage. Maybe they should pay closer attention. I do like the fact that Ryback won and the concluding handoff between Bryan to Ryback was a feel good moment. **
6.       WWE Title Match: Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose. A very good match that bordered on great, but never sustained that level to be considered a classic. These guys have chemistry, and that chemistry was on display. The crowd was tired, but the solid work stirred them into frenzy towards the final stages. The dusty finish accomplished what it was supposed to accomplish; it produced a roller coaster reaction from the live crowd. The fact that many people will complain and critique the finish serves its designed purpose. ***3/4.
 Thanks, Derrick Hubbard

Thumbs in the middle

Best Match: John Cena vs. Kevin Owens

Worst Match: IC Chamber match

This would have been a thumbs down show without the Cena/Owens match and the Dusty Finish in the main event didn’t help either.

Tag Title Chamber match was okay better than I expected but the Ascension being put in first is laughable. ** stars

Divas Title match: A terrible match compared to the Becky Lynch/Sasha Banks match from Takeover a few days earlier. Botched spots all over the place, mostly by Naomi. Sad that Paige has to work with these girls until the NXT crew moves up. DUD

John Cena vs. Kevin Owens: This match I would put up with some of the great G1 matches from last year. Awesome awesome match. Owens became a made guy tonight. It’s too bad the crowd was awful cause in any other big town the crowd would have gone nuts for the finish. This match is the front runner for the WWE’s Match of the Year. **** 3/4 stars

Bo Dallas vs. Neville: Never had a chance after Cena/Owens. It was a 3rd hour Raw match. * 1/2 stars

IC Title Chamber: Awful. Wade Barrett is the jobber king, R-Truth was nothing, Dolph Ziggler continues to get worse, Mark Henry looked lost, Ryback looked dangerous and Sheamus was there.  -* star

Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose: Very good match which was to be expected but the Dusty Finish ruined everything, as they usually do. ** 1/2 stars w/ the DF

Josh Hayes

WWE Elimination Chamber

Thumbs in the Middle. Another just good enough but not great WWE show. Crowd was hot at spots but it was clear that it was mostly a small-town house show crowd.


Best Match: Owens vs Cena
Worst Match: Neville vs Dallas

1. Stardust vs Zack Ryder. This aired just minutes before the “official” Pre-Show. They try nobody cared. *1/2

2. New Day vs  PTP vs Cesaro & Kidd vs Ascension vs Lucha Dragons vs Matadores. All action match with some unique creative spots but the Chamber gimmick just don’t work with teams. ***1/2

3. Nikki Bella vs Paige vs Naomi. *1/2

4. Owens vs Cena. Absolutely great match. It will be interesting how Cena explains him losing since it was as clean as any other match he has lost in the past. Even when Punk beat him in Chicago there was some outside involvement. ****1/2

5. Neville vs Bo Dallas. Totally out of place. This match needed to be between the first Chamber match and the Divas. Dallas is a geek and WWE is booking Neville just like one. *1/4

6. Ryback vs Sheamus vs Ziggler vs Henry vs R-Truth vs Barrett. You know that this was a small town crowd when Sheamus totally over reacted being mad about getting stock in the pod and fans there bought it and some of them even chant his name. Marks. Way too long. Crowd was pretty much dead for most of it. This was the perfect scenario to debut a NXT guy. A Finn Balor win would have set a perfect scenario for a match between him and Bryan, hell that’s a Mania caliber match. Anyway none of that matters. Ryback won, who cares ***1/4

7. Rollins vs Ambrose. It was great until the finish. What a lame angle. Guess WWE is celebrating the 30 Year Anniversary of Back to the Future, because that type of shit is directly from the 80’s. Other than that is was a clothesline festival. ***3/4

Leonardo II Mendez Toledo

Thumbs…up?  (-It was down when I saw the decision reversal.)

Best match: Cena v. Owens
Easily.  I think this will become the match that defines our current era of wrestling.  Great back and forth. Cena “PPV” events usually have lots of production and hype going in.  This one focused on the meeting of these two champions and it delivered a championship quality match.

Worst Match: 
Elim 2: IC Belt
Painful stuff here.  I don’t know if anyone was interested in any of these guys winning.  And as that match dragged on, they gave us more reason not to care.  Sheamus stuck in the pod and using the cross was just awful.  Lots of visible standing around moments.  People weren’t acting like they wanted to be in the ring.  Bad match.

Worth mentioning:
There was WAY too much audible ring talking tonight!  I expect some from Cena, but every match people “TALK TOO MUCH.”  
Awful commentary is expected, but they weren’t calling the main event tonight.  There was more commentary from competitors in the ring tonight than from this team during the main event.
I think the J&J interference has been stale for awhile.
That Ambrose decision reversal was touch and go for the whole event.  Things were going to get real ugly.  Keeping the belt with Ambrose, albeit illegitimately, was a smart move.

Divas match:
This looked like it was over scripted.  It meant that botched spots ended out disrupting the whole flow of the match.  
VERY anticlimactic ending, too.  Not a fan of seeing a smiling and fresh Nikki Bella at the end of a championship match.

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Nick Garcia