WWE Elimination Chamber Review
May 31, 2015
By: Mike Tedesco of Wrestleview.com
For a show that wasn’t even announced until a little less than three weeks ago, WWE really delivered the goods. I was expecting a good show because it’s kind of hard to screw up the Elimination Chamber… but I wasn’t expecting that. If you’re a new subscriber to the WWE Network, you got a good offering in WWE Payback and an excellent, unexpected Elimination Chamber event. How can you cancel after getting all that for free?
Fun finish to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match
I don’t think anyone was expecting Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose to not have a good match. A couple of weeks back on RAW, they tore the house down with Ambrose pinning Rollins to be added to the WWE Payback main event. Once again, they didn’t disappoint tonight. They had a tremendous back and forth match. It featured the Dusty Finish, which saw one referee get knocked out and a new one count the fall for Ambrose. The first one recovered and overturned the decision to allow Ambrose to win by disqualification. Years back, the Dusty Finish was overdone to the point of nausea. It’s been a long time since I can recall that kind of finish being done, so I didn’t mind it whatsoever. Ambrose decided he was going to keep the title anyway and ran off with it after fighting The Authority off with Roman Reigns. This should set up some good stuff for RAW tomorrow night with Seth Rollins trying to reclaim his stolen WWE World Heavyweight Championship. You can’t really complain too much about the finish because this event wasn’t even on the schedule at the beginning of the month. With all the other stuff that was on this show, you already got more than you bargained for.
Kevin Owens finishes the fight with John Cena
When I was writing my prediction for this match, I said that Kevin Owens should win. It’s a non-title match with the chance to make a huge star. Owens left Cena laying these past two RAWs, so normal WWE booking says Cena is going over. I hoped it wouldn’t be the case. WWE did the right thing: they put Kevin Owens over John Cena in a spectacular match. This was a back and forth match that was red hot the entire time. The crowd was buzzing the entire time. For a man who was only introduced to the main WWE audience two weeks ago, Kevin Owens was over and red hot. Owens didn’t look out of his element at all. In fact, he looked like he belonged in the ring with Cena. Cena has been incredible with his new role of putting over the young talent. Cena has been incredibly generous letting them hit all their big moves on them and making them look like a million bucks. After all the years of sacrifice Cena has given, he doesn’t need to be killing himself night in and night out. I also loved Owens trying to mock Cena by stealing his signature spots, including hitting Cena with an AA. Then the promo he cut after the match where he said, “The Champ is here”… forget it. That was awesome.
In one night, WWE made a brand new superstar in Kevin Owens. A rematch at WWE Money in the Bank has already been booked. I hope they handle Owens right. He’s a rare talent and could go very far in this company.
One excellent, one decent Chamber match
The two namesake matches of the event were quite good, particularly the first ever tag team Elimination Chamber. I absolutely loved the energy all six teams put into this match. They really went all out in this one. Even The Ascension managed to look good in this. I was blown away by the athleticism on display. Kalisto was made into a star with some of his antics, including scaling the roof and coming down with a cross-body. Come to think of it, NXT had a hell of a night on this show. The New Day picked up the win, which is absolutely the right move. They’re red hot since turning heel and have provided quite a few entertaining moments. Like someone said in the comments, if you think the tag team division is dead, you are wrong.
The Intercontinental Championship Elimination Chamber was only decent. Mark Henry was a disappointing replacement to the injured Rusev. I think a lot of people (including me) were hoping Bray Wyatt would be the replacement, but it is what it is. This match lacked a lot of steam. There was one point where Ziggler was put through the plexiglass in Henry’s pod, so he just randomly entered the match. I don’t think that was planned. It seemed like they had no idea what to do for a little bit, and they all awkwardly just did stuff. Sheamus was probably supposed to come in last, but to keep the match in order, they faked his door being stuck for about three minutes, coincidentally which is nearly the time between competitors being added in. I’m not really stoked about Ryback winning the match. I think Sheamus should have picked up the win, which would’ve forced Daniel Bryan to give the title to the man who injured him. What drama! Oh well – let’s see how Ryback fares with it.
Quick Thoughts
The Divas Championship match was supremely disappointing. It was incredibly sloppy, and the finish was the wrong one in my opinion.
I enjoyed the Neville vs. Bo Dallas match, even though it was put in the death spot of the card after Owens/Cena. They delivered a fine little match, but it had no heat whatsoever.
Overall impression
Aside from WrestleMania, this is probably my pick for the second best event WWE has put on this year. Almost everything delivered as it should. Hell, it’s really bonus wrestling. As I keep saying, this wasn’t on the schedule until about three weeks ago. How can anyone complain about something that is essentially a free show? My hat is off to WWE on this night.
Bump of the Night: Big E giving Young a belly-to-belly on the steel grate!
Match of the Night: John Cena vs. Kevin Owens ****
Final Rating: ****
Well those are my thoughts. Do you agree? Disagree? Let me know by commenting or using one of the other two options to get in contact with me.
E-Mail – MikeyT817@gmail.com
Twitter – @MikeTedescoWV
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Thanks for reading!
Mike Tedesco is the official recapper of WWE Monday Night RAW for Wrestleview.com.