Friday, November 20, 2015

WWE Elimination Chamber 2015 Review

Match 1: WWE World Tag Team Championships - Elimination Chamber - The New Day (c) vs. Tyson Kidd & Cesaro vs. Los Matadores vs. Prime Time Players vs. The Ascension vs. Lucha Dragons
For this first time in Elimination Chamber history, the Tag Team Championships are on the line. This has all the makings to be a fun, fun mess. The champs get a definitive advantage in the match as all three members are allowed to compete and they enter the match last. We get two former NXT teams going at it to begin the match in Ascension against Lucha Dragons. Fun action throughout that did get a little odd at some points. Why exactly did one of the Lucha Dragons have to climb his way to the middle of the chamber? Why is Cesaro breaking up counts against other teams? I hate to dwell on that but it really made me scratch me head. There were some fun spots throughout the match but nothing that really stood out and lived up to the match's hyped billing. Prime Time Players had a prime opportunity to score a victory but The New Day scored the win and retained their titles. This match just had so much hype but did not live to its expectations. Simple as that. The eliminations did not seem important at all and they did not make much use of their surroundings. Easily one of the weakest Elimination Chamber matches in history.
Winners: The New Day
Rating: **

Match 2: Divas Championship - Nikki Bella (c) vs. Naomi vs. Paige
Finally switching things up in the Divas division with a triple threat match. Hey! At least we get something else other than our typical singles match that pretty much is a carbon copy every week. Some pretty decent action from the three but still sluggish in a lot of areas that it just made things difficult to really sink my teeth into. Bella retains the title as she hits her Rack Attack finisher for the win.
Winner: Nikki Bella
Rating: *

Match 3: John Cena vs. Kevin Owens
As I review Extreme Rules from 2014, I recall mentioning that it felt impossible to believe that The Shield defeated Evolution. The same can easily be said here, it feels impossible to believe that Mr. Wrestling is taking on John Cena on a PPV in his first WWE match. Kevin Owens made a huge debut on an edition of Raw when the NXT Champion answered John Cena's open invitational. Crowd is hot for this one and that includes Owens, who was only introduced to the WWE audience a few weeks ago. I had no doubt in my mind that this was the match to steal the show. I was right. Back and fourth match that had the crowd on the tips of their toes. WWE looks to be really behind Owens, especially considering how much offense he was able to put upon Cena who sold his moves accordingly. Owens even kicked out of an Attitude Adjustment! Owens managed to hit his Powerbomb and score the incredible victory over the face of the WWE. Triple H definitely likes this Owens guy. Awesome match that made me feel like I was watching ROH on a WWE scale. What an amazing story, an amazing journey. Truly living the dream, truly working his ass off, an inspiration to anyone who enjoys this sport. Let's see where the rest of this story takes us...
Winner: Kevin Owens
Rating: ****1/4

Match 4: Bo Dallas vs. Neville
These guys definitely have their hands full as the vibe of the audience is completely different following the last match. Bo Dallas isn't the best guy to get a crowd on their feet but with Neville around, fun things are bound to happen. The commentators are quick to point out the NXT influence upon the show but quickly change the subject to random talk as the crowd and the match have been completely deflated. Even still, I enjoyed the action in the ring and do like Bo Dallas as a snarky heel. In the end, Neville hits his beautiful Red Arrow to score the easy victory. Decent match to separate the last match and the Elimination Chamber match after this.
Winner: Neville
Rating: **

Match 5: Intercontinental Championship - Elimination Chamber - Mark Henry vs. Sheamus vs. R-Truth vs. Ryback vs. King Barrett vs. Dolph Ziggler
This is the second Elimination Chamber match of the night and for the first time ever, this is for the vacant Intercontinental Championship. Rusev was scheduled to take part in the match but due to injury, he is not in this match. That somewhat takes out a different layer to the match. Things start with both King Barrett and Dolph Ziggler with Barrett getting the better of the exchange. Crowd is completely dead for this match, WWE should reconsider coming back to this arena. Sheamus is the last person to enter the match but purposely jams the door with his cross necklace. Once he enters, he looks to be in control before the tides change. However, he remains in the final three with both Ryback and Dolph Ziggler. After Ziggler gets eliminated, it is down to Ryback and Sheamus. The two go at it before Ryback hits a Shell Shocked for the win. Nice exchange but Sheamus put some heavy damage on Ryback but Ryback hardly sold anything once he scored the pin. Afterwards, Daniel Bryan gets in the ring and congratulates The Ryback. Despite the terrible, terrible crowd, the match was good. But it lacked build and any real intrigue from the audience. The Chamber needs to have a better reason to take place, not just six guys beating up each other on a two weeks notice.
Winner: Ryback
Rating: ***1/4

Match 6: WWE World Heavyweight Championship - Seth Rollins (c) vs. Dean Ambrose
Two former Shield brothers collide as the richest prize in the business is on the line. Before the match, Triple H made it clear to Roman Reigns that any interference from him would lead to a disqualification. This was a fun roller coaster of a match, their chemistry together is simply off the charts. Seth Rollins was booked like a real champ here and didn't have to resort much to help from J & J Security or Kane who were all by his side. It's pretty amazing to see how the company has evolved, who would have thought that these two would be the main event of a special event a few years ago? This felt like they were wrestling their style of match on a WWE platform, it felt like I was watching a Ring of Honor match with all the counters and innovative spots. The ending saw Rollins pull the referee in the way of Dean Ambrose flying off the top rope. However, Ambrose was able to hit his Dirty Deeds DDT to score the win as another referee came to make the count. The call was overruled when the referee that was hit by Ambrose made the disqualification call. Ambrose wins by disqualification, Rollins retains. The look on the face of Rollins was absolutely priceless. Ambrose doesn't want to give up the belt and gets ambushed before Roman Reigns comes out to make the save as they both leave together through the crowd as Ambrose carries the belt with him. The ending felt more like an ending to Monday Night Raw more than anything. I'm not a fan of these types of finishes but if they were ever to pull off this type of finish, I guess this would be the match. Despite the wonky finish, I still really enjoyed this match.
Winner: Dean Ambrose
Rating: ****

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
This was a tough event to score. On one hand, you had a couple really good matches but on the other, it never really felt like a special event and with the crowd being really dead, it never seemed to get out of first gear. However, it wouldn't hurt for anyone to check out the Cena vs. Owens match or even the main event. It's just so hard to build a show like this in two weeks and to think that Money in the Bank is only two weeks away from this show is pretty staggering. It's a definite oversaturation of a product.
Rating: 6.25/10

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