This was the last ever traditional PPV. Today, the entire wrestling scene as we know it changed with the launch of the WWE Network. It’s a pretty interesting time to be a pro-wrestling fan right now, but as we look at the show, there’s not a lot of interest storyline wise. The big stuff will happen on Raw.
However, we did have some potentially good matches on the card, with The Shield squaring off against the Wyatts in a 6-man tag and the Elimination Chamber main-event with Orton defending against Cena, Bryan, Sheamus, Cesaro and Christian. I wasn’t expecting anything big to happen tonight, but there should be some solid wrestling as usual.
Kick-Off Match: Cody Rhodes & Goldust vs Curtis Axel & Ryback
Rybaxel are seconded by Larry “The Ax” Hennig, so they’re total babyfaces in Minneapolis.
Some back and forth early leads to a senton from Goldust off the apron to the floor. The usual weird commercial airs, then we’re back to Axel and Ryback working over Goldust. Axel miscues and ends up getting rolled up for a near fall.
Goldust hits a hurricanrana as he makes the hot tag to Cody, who hits the moonsault on Axel for a nearfall. He hits the Alabama Slam, but Ryback drags him outside, only to be taken out with the Disaster kick. Axel jumps Cody in the ring. Cody goes for the Cross Rhodes, only for Ryback to break it up. Goldust drags Ryback to the outside and Cody hits the Cross Rhodes on Axel for the pinfall.
Perfectly alright, but aside from a few Axel chants, nothing from the crowd – **1/4
WWE Intercontinental Championship: Big E (c) vs Jack Swagger
Colter cut a promo before the match saying that the immigration issues and the polar vortex are related. That’s kind of a stretch.
Big E takes control early with a few belly-to-belly suplexes. Swagger bails to the outside to recover, but Big E follows and spears him into the steel post. He throws him back in and covers for a nearfall. They go back to the outside where Swagger clotheslines Big E and covers back in the ring for another nearfall. Big E tries to gain momentum back but Swagger cuts him off with a big boot and hits a leg drop for another fall.
Big E hits an inverted suplex and goes for a clothesline, but it’s a double clothesline and they both fall to the floor. Some more back and forth. Swagger Bomb attempt but Big E grabs him, only to spear him through the ring to the floor. That was cool.
Back in the ring, Big E hits a big splash and goes to the top rope. Swagger grabs him, Big E pushes him off, only for Swagger to come back and hit a belly-to-belly off the top rope to the floor.
Swagger takes out Big E’s knee and goes for the Patriot Lock. E powers out and takes the straps down, but Swagger locks in the Patriot Lock again. Big E makes it to his feet, hits an enziguri on Swagger, then follows it up with the Big Ending for the nearfall.
Boring first part, but got really hot towards the end – ***1/4
Big E celebrates as suddenly Bad News Barrett arrives. He says he has some bad news. Russia won more medals in the Olympics than the United States and it will be four years before anyone could do anything about it. These are becoming more pointless by the week.
Footage of Kane abusing his power over the last week is shown. Saxton is with Daniel Bryan. He says whether he’s 10% or 100%, he’s going to do what it takes to win the title tonight.
WWE Tag-Team Championship Match: New Age Outlaws (c) vs The Usos
Big plug for Hulu for some reason. Weird to do it on the eve of the WWE Network launch.
Gunn and one of the Usos start off. Gunn overpowers him early, but the Uso gets the better of him as Gunn bails to the outside. Dogg follows, and the Usos tease a big splash, only for the Outlaws move out of the way.
Road Dogg and Jey come in. Jey has fun with Road Dogg, but Dogg arm drags him into the steel post where he starts to work him over. Gunn follows up with a big clothesline on the outside. Jey finally gains some momentum with a foot stomp (?) followed by an enziguri as they both make the tag.
Bubba Bomb by Jimmy. He follows with a headbutt, but Billy’s dragged out of the ring as Jimmy flies to the outside. Back in the ring, Billy cuts him off and tries for a Fame Asser, but Jimmy follows up with a superkick. Jimmy is distracted with Road Dogg and he superkicks him to the outside, but Billy rolls him up and the ref counts to three to retain the titles.
I’m not sure where the Outlaws as tag champions is going, but whatever…it hasn’t been bad – **1/2
More Bad News Barrett. Says Daniel Bryan won’t win tonight in the main event. Well duh.
WWE Network demonstration.
Titus O’Neil vs Darren Young
Titus works on Darren as the crowd and the announcer’s suddenly become very uninterested in this match. I wonder why.
Darren with a right hand and he clotheslines Titus out of the ring. Darren flies off with a clothesline for a nearfall. Darren goes to whip him into the turnbuckle, but Titus counters, throwing Darren to the outside.
Back in the ring, Titus lays in a bearhug. Darren powers out and goes for a crossbody, but Titus cuts him off and hits a backbreaker followed by an abdominal stretch. Big splash by Titus, but Darren cuts him off with a boot. Darren follows with a clothesline and a back body drop, then lays some mounted punches. Neckbreaker on the apron by Darren. Titus cuts him off with a shot to the kidneys then follows it up with the Clash of the Titus for the pinfall.
There were some good spots here and nothing was too bad. The crowd was sorta into it, but not really. The announcers buried the match after, probably after demanding it from JBL’s mysterious voice inside his head. Excellent way to get people over and ensure they never get over with people – **
Bad News Barrett again. I guess this is going to be a gimmick throughout the night. He said Hulk Hogan was returning to the WWE, but he can never compare to the charisma of Bad News Barrett. Again, if they’re doing this for every match tonight, it better lead to something. Speaking of which, remember when Jerry Lawler cut him off that one week on Raw? What was the point of that?
Shield vs Wyatts video package.
The Wyatts vs The Shield
The crowd were totally into this, back and forth chants as they start to go at it. The Wyatts bail as the referee tries to settle things down.
Rollins and Rowan start things off. The Shield do some back and forth tags, but Rowan clotheslines Rollins and tags in Harper who works on Rollins, then tags in Wyatt who does the same. Rollins cuts him off and Reigns is tagged in as he works Wyatt over, but Wyatt takes him out and tags in Harper, who tries to go for a suplex, only for Reigns to counter with one of his own.
Ambrose is tagged in as all three members of the Shield work over Harper. They work on him for a good while, until Harper dropkicks Ambrose (yes…) and tags in Wyatt, who hits a big splash. Tag back to Rowan who works over Ambrose. Tag to Harper who does the same.
Ambrose finally tags in Rollins who unleashes a flurry of offense, but Rowan distracts him, allowing Harper to grab Rollins and launch off with a back suplex. Rollins lands on his feet (!) and clotheslines Harper out of the ring, following up with a suicide dive.
Back in the ring, Harper cuts him off and hits a sidewalk slam. Wyatt is tagged in and works him over, and soon enough, it’s a 3-on-1 against Rollins. Rollins finally cuts Wyatt off with a big boot, but Wyatt counters with a chokeslam. Ambrose tries to make a save, but gets cut off by Harper. Hot tag to Roman Reigns who cleans house.
A melee breaks out and, all of a sudden, Luke Harper hits a suicide dive! Rollins follows with a senton to the outside. Rollins starts eyeing the Spanish announce table, but Wyatt cuts him off. Harper and Wyatt go for a powerbomb, but Wyatt gets taken out by Ambrose and they go out into the crowd.
Reigns and Rowan are battling it out in the ring. Rowan posts Reigns and, on the outside, Rollins is put on the Spanish announce table. Rowan exits the ring. All 3 Wyatts are standing outside. Harper and Rowan take Rollins, and chokeslam him through the Spanish announce table.
The Wyatts corner Reigns as he’s the only one left standing. Harper and Rowan destroy him. They tag in Wyatt. He sets him up for the Sister Abigail…but Reigns powers out! He takes out Rowan and Harper and hits the superman punch on Wyatt, but Harper comes back in. He spears Harper, but Wyatt quickly takes him and plants him with the Sister Abigail for the pinfall.
Excellent match with incredible heat, and the best match of the year anywhere thus far – ****3/4
Christian promo. He says he’s desperate to win tonight.
AJ comes to the ring. She says she has no competition. She makes light of Naomi’s injury, which brings out Cameron. Yes, she’s going to wrestle live. What a great follow up to the previous match. Where is Bad News Barrett?
WWE Divas Championship Match: AJ Lee (c) vs Cameron
AJ kicks Cameron in the midsection and she falls flat on her face. Cameron gets whipped into the turnbuckle. AJ goes for a splash, but Cameron counters. She lands a few clotheslines and dropkicks AJ in the head to get a nearfall. Cameron channels Lou Thesz with a Thesz press. That is the only time those two people will ever be in the same sentence, so savour it!
CM Punk chants as AJ mocks Cameron with her pom poms. Cameron grabs her and throws her into the apron head first. Tamina interferes, but accidentally nails AJ. Cameron takes her time throwing AJ back into the ring and covering her, but Tamina breaks it up. Cameron exits the ring to confront Tamina, but Tamina clocks her for the DQ.
Bad match, terrible finish – (-)3/4*
Bad News Barrett again. He says the WWE Network will be so great people won’t be able to do anything. Kids will be expelled from school, adults will lose their jobs and garbage will collect, meaning the government will come in and shut down their house or something.
WWE toy commercial. There are so many better things to do than plug your own toys in a live segment.
Batista vs Alberto Del Rio
Alberto Del Rio comes to the ring on a crutch, wearing a neckbrace. He says he won’t be able to compete tonight…then jumps Batista and beats him up with the crutch. A blind man could’ve seen that coming. The crowd is actually behind Del Rio, of all people! Massive boos for Batista. Bootista chants, which was pretty damn funny.
Del Rio stomps on Batista as Daniel Bryan chants start. I wonder why no-one cares about this match. CM Punk chants. Batista fires back, but Del Rio works on the arm. Y2J chants. Del Rio goes for a spear, but Batista dodges it. Del Rio counters with an enziguri to get a nearfall. We want Lesnar chants.
Batista hits a spear, but only gets two. Del Rio with a backstabber, but he misses a splash and Batista hits a spinebuster. He goes for the Batista Bomb, but Del Rio counters and lays him out. He motions for the armbar, Batista dodges it and nails him with the Batista Bomb for the pinfall.
A “whatever” match…the crowd was far more interesting than the match itself – *3/4
The Elimination Chamber lowers as we head to the main event.
Elimination Chamber Match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Randy Orton (c) vs John Cena vs Cesaro vs Christian vs Sheamus vs Daniel Bryan
Sheamus and Cesaro start things off in the Chamber.
Sheamus gets jumped by Cesaro, but Sheamus returns with some punches. Cesaro counters with some uppercuts. Crowd is into Cesaro. Sheamus flies in with a shoulder tackle. Sheamus tries to go for the club chops on the apron and Cesaro tries to escape, but to no avail. Cesaro tries to suplex Sheamus into the steel but can’t, so instead he opts to stomp him off the middle rope. Cesaro mocks Cena as he uppercuts Sheamus. Sheamus fights back but falls to Cesaro. He tries to go to the top rope, but another uppercut derails him.
Bryan enters the Chamber and missile dropkicks both competitors before working them over. Kicks to both of them. Roundhouse kicks to Cesaro. Sheamus clubs Bryan, but Bryan counters with a drop toe-hold and puts Sheamus in a submission, while also planting Cesaro with a suplex. He covers Cesaro for a nearfall.
Cesaro works on Bryan, but Sheamus comes back and lays him out with a clothesline. Cesaro and Bryan go at it and Cesaro whips Bryan into one of the pods. Cesaro peppers Sheamus with uppercuts, but Sheamus grabs Cesaro and hits the rolling senton on the steel. Bryan comes back and battles it out with Sheamus.
Next participant in is Christian, who attacks Bryan’s shoulder by pushing him into the cage. Christian goes to the top rope and hits a tornado DDT. Bryan fights back with an enziguri and some kicks, but misses the running knee splash to the corner.
Sheamus comes back and repeatedly throws Christian into the cage. He attempts a running powerslam, but Christian counters with an inverted DDT. Cesaro comes in, but he gets caught by Christian. He goes for an uppercut, but Christian climbs the cage, only for Cesaro to catch him and powerbomb him into the nearby pod. Ouch!
Gutwrench powerbomb by Cesaro on Sheamus, who connects with the steel. Cena’s now in. He takes out Sheamus and Cesaro. He climbs to the top rope, but Bryan grabs him and throws him off the ring to the floor. Christian suddenly comes in and hits the Killswitch for a nearfall.
Cesaro grabs Christian and goes for the Giant Swing, but Cena interferes, only for Sheamus to come in and hit White Noise on Cena. Cesaro goes for the Neutralizer. Christian escapes it and hits a tornado DDT on Cesaro instead. However, Christian then runs into Cena, who suplexes him onto the cage.
Cesaro grabs Cena and hits the uppercut. There’s a wild brawl. Sheamus grabs Bryan and throws him into the cage shoulder first. Cesaro lands a suplex off the apron to the floor for a nearfall.
Orton’s in now. He stomps on everyone as he poses and points to the WrestleMania sign. The five challengers corner the champion as Orton hides back in his pod. Sheamus doesn’t know what to do, but then Brogue Kicks Orton through the pod and throws him back into the match.
Cena takes advantage but Cesaro throws him to the outside. Cesaro grabs Orton and hits the Giant Swing. Daniel Bryan hits the Chaos Theory suplex, but gets taken out by Sheamus. Sheamus also Brogue Kicks Cena, but Christian comes in and rolls him up to get a nearfall. Sheamus grabs Christian on the outside and goes for the Celtic Cross. Christian climbs on top of one of the pods and Frog Splashes Sheamus to eliminate him from the Chamber.
Orton goes for the draping DDT, but Christian throws him to the outside, only to get hit with the flying knee by Bryan to eliminate him from the match.
Cena and Bryan go at it. Bryan tries to cinch in the Yes Lock. Cena hoists him up for the AA, but Cesaro comes back and hits a German suplex. Cena lands the AA on Cesaro, throwing him into the steel. Cena drags him back in the ring and locks in the STF to eliminate Cesaro.
Cena and Orton go back and forth. As Cena locks in the STF, the Wyatts suddenly appear and mysteriously enter the Chamber. They lay Cena out Cena and exit the Chamber. Orton covers Cena to eliminate him.
Bryan and Orton are left. Kane suddenly arrives and he throws out the Wyatts – giving him a reason to be there. Kane enters the Chamber, only for Bryan to fly off the top rope and land a knee. Orton takes advantage and throws him into a pod, but Bryan fights back and makes his comeback.
Side suplex off the top rope to the floor by Bryan. He goes to the top rope again and gets nailed by Orton, who lands the draping DDT. He motions for the RKO, but Bryan counters with the knee…only for Kane to break up the count! Bryan takes him out again. Orton counters with an RKO…but Bryan kicks out! Bryan works on Orton some more, but Kane comes back. Kane lands a right hand on Bryan, allowing Orton to hit a second RKO and cover him for the three count.
Great match – ****
The camera shows a bunch of fans around the arena looking sad. Cole says Daniel Bryan is the runner-up again and it’s been happening since SummerSlam. He asks how much more Daniel Bryan can take as the show goes off the air. I would have pointed out that all the times he lost can be attributed to the Authority, which is true, but I guess we’ll see where this goes on Monday.
SUMMARY: A pretty damn great show. The two matches that were hyped the most delivered, and it also brought some interesting questions regarding the title match for WrestleMania.
This was the second month in a row that Batista, Orton and Cena were all pretty much booed out of the building, while Daniel Bryan appears to be the top face in terms of crowd reactions. If they do Orton vs Batista, I can only see it drawing parallels to Goldberg vs Lesnar from WM20 and that’s not good.
The Wyatts/Shield match was awesome. The heat for the last few minutes was incredible, better than anything New Japan has done so far this year. Go out of your way to see it. Everything else was fine, excluding the Divas match. There was no excuse for that to air on live PPV, or television. People will be mad at the ending, but…you knew it was coming. Don’t lie.
Oh, and the Bad News Barrett segments went nowhere. Again. Ugh…
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