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WWE Is Bringing Back The Elimination Chamber Event & The Suspected Card Might Already Be Better Than #WWEPayback
Wrestling – The anticipated, must-see WWE Elimination Chamber event will emanate from Corpus Christi, Texas, where the WWE Tag Team Championships and the newly vacant Intercontinental Championship will be defended inside the infamous structure. Plus, U.S. Champion John Cena will compete and the WWE World Heavyweight Title will be defended, all live on WWE Network.
Vince McMahon is just an entertainment machine. When news broke last year that the annual Elimination Chamber event would be replaced by Fast Lane, my heart was broken. Not only was the Elimination Chamber itself an awesome structure, but the pay per view was consistently one of the best shows for the WWE, and marked the final stop before WrestleMania. Fast Lane was headlined by a great Daniel Bryan/Roman Reigns match, but other than that, it was just OK. Well a few months later, we get the announcement that the Elimination Chamber is indeed coming back, and it’s coming back sooner rather than later. Two weeks after Payback, Elimination Chamber will take place, which is important for one very big reason. WWE made the month of May free for new subscribers, and that free trial ends on May 31st. With Elimination Chamber now on the 31st, I bet a lot more fans will keep the Network to watch the show and thus WWE has them locked in for June. At this point, if you don’t have the Network and you’re paying $45-55 for pay per views, you’re an idiot, but that’s your prerogative. Now, onto the show.
According to WWE.com, the Tag Team and newly vacated IC title’s will be defended inside the Elimination Chamber, while the US title and WWE titles will be defended in more traditional matches. It’s interesting the way they worded it, and it may just be that way to get Cena’s name in there, but both the US and WWE World Heavyweight Championships are being defended at Payback. The write up for the Elimination Chamber says “US Champion John Cena” while the write up for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship doesn’t mention anyone specifically. It’s pretty much a foregone conclusion Cena is going to win Sunday, but this write up pretty much confirms it. Looking past the WWE. com write up, the Elimination Chamber presents a couple unique opportunities for the WWE superstars. The IC and Tag Team belts have never been defended inside the Chamber, and while an IC match will probably be structured similar to the WWE and World Heavyweight title matches, I’m interested to see how they’ll set up the Tag Team match. If they’re going to still use the pods, they’ll probably start it off with one member of each team in the ring, while the other member of the team waits in a pod. Luck of the draw will determine which teams gains an advantage first, and if the New Day are involved, booking this match in a Chamber takes away their 3 on 2 advantage. Here are my predictions for the two Chamber matches, as well who will be involved in the US and WWE World Heavyweight title matches.
Tag Team Chamber Match: Cesaro/Kidd vs. New Day vs. Harper/Rowan vs. Lucha Dragons vs. The Ascension
IC Title Chamber Match: Ziggler vs. Barrett vs. Neville vs. Sheamus vs. Ambrose
US Title Match: John Cena vs. anyone but Rusev. Maybe Finn Balor gets the call up?
WWE World Heavyweight Title Match: Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns
I think Harper and Rowan win the tag belts, Neville wins the IC belt, Cena retains over whoever he faces, and Rollins does the same. There’s still a couple weeks to clear everything up and set up an actual card, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it ended up looking like this.
– Ryan
5 Stars From Last Night’s #RAW
The final Raw before Payback was last night, and for the second week in a row, it was a solid show. The opening talking segment ran a little too long, but Cesaro got to do Cesaro things, Dean Ambrose performed in front of his hometown crowd and Damien Sandow is now the Macho Man. Let’s get to the 5 stars from last night’s Raw!
1. Dean Ambrose
I’ve written about this before, but billing WWE Superstars and Divas from their actual hometowns is always a plus. It worked for Barrett and Paige in the UK, it worked for Ryback once upon a time in Vegas, and it worked last night for Ambrose. Throughout the entire opening talking segment, the crowd was consistently chanting ‘We Want Ambrose’, and thankfully HHH pulled a Donny Donowitz and obliged them. Ambrose got to toss around J and J Security and get a clean win in front of his hometown crowd, but the best moment for him came at the end of the show, as for the second week in a row on Raw, he was the lone man standing tall to close out the show. For a split second I really thought The Shield might reunite when Ambrose and Reigns were behind Rollins, but alas, it is not meant to be yet. I don’t know if Ambrose has any real chance of winning the title Sunday, but throwing him in the main event mix accomplishes two things. 1. Ambrose is now being viewed as a main eventer, which is something he was lacking after his Rollin’s feud ended and 2. Ambrose brings a little bit of unpredictably to the main event scene that has been dominated by Rollins, Orton and Reigns, who aren’t exactly Mr. Personality’s. With Lesnar out until close to Summerslam, the WWE title picture needed a bit of a shakeup, and that’s exactly what Ambrose has brought to the table.
2. Harper & Rowan
Two things I’ll never forgive WWE for is breaking up The Shield and breaking up The Wyatt Family. The Shield I understand more, because they were three guys with unlimited potential who needed to be on their own to truly flourish. The Wyatt Family I’ll never understand. From day one on the main roster Harper & Rowan should have been the tag team champs who dismantle every team in their path, and Bray Wyatt should have been their psychological leader who preys on whoever gets in their way. Instead, Harper & Rowan lost every tag team title match they were in and Bray Wyatt got fed to Superman wearing a John Cena shirt. Now Wyatt is in a feud with Ryback and Harper & Rowan are taking turns mauling Fandango. With that said, I’m glad Harper & Rowan are back together. While Harper could easily survive on his own, I like them better as a team. You have two guys who look and act like monsters, so why not make them a monster tag team? Throw them in the mix with New Day and Cesaro/Kidd and you automatically have three solid tag teams that can fight over the titles. I hope this is the plan, and if it’s not, I hope Fandango joins them but it is ultimately kicked out because he can’t grow a beard.
3. Neville
So I don’t hear anyone talking about how the WWE is burying Neville anymore. Weird. Neville has consistently been the best part of Raw since his debut, and last night was his best night by far. Neville challenged John Cena for the US title, and he had the match won before that mother f&*^er Rusev came in and kicked the shit out of him and Cena. I love Rusev, but I was FURIOUS when he caused this DQ. Thinking back on it, I’d rather he cause the DQ than Cena kick out of the Red Arrow, which is 1000% what I thought was going to happen, but still. The second rope corkscrew splash, the backflip/corkscrew moon sault and the general energy Neville brings to the ring is impossible not to love. Neville looked awesome here, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for him.
4. John Cena
As great as Neville looked, you have to give credit to John Cena. For the second week in a row he’s faced an NXT superstar or alumni and made them look like a million bucks. Win, lose or draw, putting guys like Sami Zayn and Neville in a championship match with John Cena is such a great move, and the fact that Cena is giving these guys 10-15 minutes to beat his ass makes it that much better. I still don’t like everyone kicking out of the AA, but when you’ve been around as long as Cena has, I guess it’s going to happen eventually. I really think he should find a new finishing move outside of the AA and STFU and start beating guys with that, as it will add an element of surprise to his matches that you usually don’t get. Other than that, it was a great match, and John Cena has as good a chance of losing to Rusev as I have with becoming best friends with George Clooney.
5. TONY
Cesaro got a couple minutes to wrestle in a singles match last night and predictably dominated like the absolute animal that he is. My only complaint with this match is that if Big E wants to go head to head with Cesaro, he better work on his conditioning, because Cesaro doesn’t mess around. Cesaro was suplexing and upper cutting Big E into oblivion, and at one point it looked like Big E might die in the ring. The two Germans into a belly to belly almost killed Big E because he couldn’t even jump off the ground, but thankfully Cesaro is superhuman and just tossed him over his head anyway. I will never get tired of seeing Cesaro throw guys around, and I will never understand why WWE doesn’t let him do it more often. Also, how about that rollup pin? I just want to find Cesaro and hug him for being so goddamn good.
– Ryan
The Top Two Matches At The Next #NXTTakeOver Are Now Confirmed
It’s @HideoItami vs. @MmmGorgeous vs. @wwebalor in a #1 Contender’s #TripleThreat Match at #NXTTakeOver LIVE May 20th on @WWENetwork!
— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) April 30, 2015
On Wednesday May 20, it’s @iLikeSamiZayn vs. @FightOwensFight for the #WWENXT TITLE at #NXTTakeOver LIVE on the Award-Winning @WWENetwork!
— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) April 30, 2015
The NXT live specials have become sort of a sacred thing over the last year or so, and the next one on May 20th should be no exception. In addition to Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks for the NXT Women’s Title and Big Cass/Enzo Amore vs. Blake & Murphy for the NXT Tag Team Titles, we now know what the two main matches will be. Finn Balor, Hideo Itami and Tyler Breeze will square off in a Triple Threat Match to determine the #1 contender to whoever wins the main event, which is NXT Champion Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn. The amount of talent in these two matches alone are unreal, and I can’t wait to see how it unfolds.
My pick for the #1 contender’s match is Hideo Itami. Balor is going up on the main roster after this live special, and I think Breeze follows him shortly thereafter. Both guys are main roster ready, and while it took Breeze some time to adjust to wrestling a WWE style, Balor came into NXT as a five tool player ready to take over the company. Itami had the biggest learning curve out of the three as his style was too ‘stiff’ for the WWE product. The funniest part about Itami is that the moves he used in NJPW were also being used in WWE, as CM Punk used his GTS finisher and Daniel Bryan used his running knee. After his WrestleMania moment in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, I can see Itami winning here and challenging the NXT Champion.
As for the NXT Championship match, it really depends on how long the Owens/Zayn feud is going to last. If this is going to be a long term feud, then I think Zayn wins here. Zayn already lost the belt to Owens fair and square, so another loss here would have to put him out of the title picture for awhile. If Zayn wins, I think the loss sends Owens into a tailspin where he just destroys everyone in NXT until Regal gives him another title shot. We haven’t seen a loose cannon Kevin Owens yet, but if he loses the belt to his blood rival, I think he’s going to snap. The best thing about NXT is that as a fan, you have confidence that not only are they going to develop good stories, but they’re going to end them the right way as well. No matter who wins or loses on May 20th, it’s going to be an awesome show.
– Ryan
5 Stars From Last Night’s #RAW
Last night’s Raw emanated from Green Bay and saw the return of the King of the Ring! WWE had four opening round matches last night, and will conclude the tournament with the semifinals and finals tonight on the WWE Network. In other news, Kane and Rollins are still not on the same page, Rosa Mendes got to make out with Adam Rose and we know now the main event of Payback. Let’s get to the five stars from last night’s Raw.
1. The King of the Ring
During Extreme Rules on Sunday, the WWE announced that the King of the Ring tournament would return, with the opening round airing on Raw and the semifinals and finals airing Tuesday night on the WWE Network. I love the King of the Ring, and it gives mid card guys a chance to have spotlight matches on WWE’s most important weekly show. Besides it giving guys an opportunity to wrestle on Raw, I hope the WWE rewards the winner with something of value. In Lucha Underground, the Authority/GM figure Dario Cueto gives out ‘unique opportunities’ to wrestlers looking for a leg up on the competition. Why not have the winner of the King of the Ring become the de facto #1 contender for any belt. It doesn’t have to be the WWE championship, but at least give the viewers a reason to root for a certain guy besides having to watch them wear a robe and a crown. WWE is the land of no consequences, but it’d be nice if they used this mini tournament as a way to start a fresh championship feud. I won’t be holding breath though.
2. Bray Wyatt, If This Ryback Feud Is Going Where I Hope It Goes
1. I will never get tired of Wyatt teleporting to the ring to deliver a Sister Abigail and 2. I will only like this feud if it’s going where I hope it goes. For the last two years, Bray Wyatt has dominated May-March and then lost the two biggest matches of his career. While I’m not too keen on basing a guy’s success on wins and losses, Wyatt kind of lives and dies by them. In the case of The Undertaker, he spent the entire winter beating Dean Ambrose, then the entire Road to WrestleMania calling out The Undertaker. Then Taker shows up for one night, beats him, and Wyatt just starts his cryptic promo feud all over again. As a fan, why should I even be paying attention to Wyatt? The casual fans are tuning him out because he seems like a fraud. The hardcore fans who like him no matter what will stand by him, but that’s now where you make your money. Wyatt needs to be seen as a man of his word, not a guy who makes threats and then can’t cash in on them. I have to assume WWE is having Ryback dispatch Bo Dallas for a reason, and I hope that reason is so that Dallas and Wyatt, who are real life brothers, can join together. Wyatt was at his peak when he had loyal followers, and who better to follow him than his disillusioned brother? Dallas has grown out his facial hair and his promo’s the past few nights have been considerably less happy go lucky and a lot more stern. The WWE has been in business for a long time, so I know they can create a feud with these three that makes everyone look better when it’s over.
3. Sheamus
Coming off a night where he had another man kiss his ass, Sheamus turned up on Raw and moved on to the semifinals of the King of the Ring tournament. Since embarrassing Ziggler wasn’t enough, Sheamus decided to come out on the microphone and interrupt Ziggler’s match with Barrett to show the still photos of Ziggler kissing Sheamus’s ass from Extreme Rules. Sheamus and Rollins are the best bad guys in the company right now, and it’s solely because they’re great at being assholes. Forcing someone to kiss your ass is bad enough, but coming out the next night to show them pictures of the ass kissing is next level dick head-ness. My only complaint with the King of the Ring tournament setup was having Sheamus face Ambrose. Couldn’t Sheamus face Stardust and Ambrose face R-Truth so they both could advance? Why have Ambrose look so good at Extreme Rules then the next night have him lose via DQ? Isn’t the goal to have your best guys in the top spots? Rosa Mendes will become Divas champ before R-Truth wins this King of the Ring tournament, so why prolong the inevitable? Anyway, I’m glad Sheamus advanced, but I think he loses to Neville tonight.
4. Neville
This shouldn’t’ come as a surprise, but of the four opening round matches on Raw, Neville had the best one. Luke Harper is the best, and he’s mastered the style of making it look like he’s literally pulverizing the guys he’s in the ring with. I’ve also made it a personal goal to include Neville on every write up I do if he hits and wins with the Red Arrow. No one else on the main roster has a move that’s close to it, and seeing it live last week gives me a new found appreciation for his athleticism. Neville’s win sets up a match with Sheamus which I really think should be the finals match. Hopefully Ziggler costs Sheamus the match tonight and Neville gets a chance to beat Barrett again, which HAS to solidify him as the #1 contender for Daniel Bryan’s IC belt. If that’s the story WWE is going to tell, I’m all for it, and it continues Neville’s excellent main roster push. Minor complaint: WWE is obsessed with giving guys a million nicknames. Reigns is the juggernaut, superman, monster, yada, yada. Neville is the Man That Gravity Forgot and now they’re calling him the New Sensation. Just stick to one nickname and let it work itself out.
5. A House Show Main Event
Calling last night’s main event a ‘house show main event’ is not an insult. Ambrose, Reigns and Rollins all looked pretty into this match, and it had a house show kind of feel to it. Wrestling on live television limits what the performers are able to do because everything is timed out so meticulously. The Kane/Rollins feud is king of dragging, but a tweet after Raw might clue us into the future of the Authority/Seth Rollins storyline:
— Finn Bálor (@wwebalor) April 28, 2015
Give me Finn Balor as the new demon for The Authority. Give me Finn Balor against Rollins. Just give me Finn Balor on the main roster right god damn now. If this is the payoff to the current feud, I’m willing to stick it out. I also love the main event of Payback being a triple threat, as Reigns should be in the main event after his performance at Fast Lane, WM and Extreme Rules.
– Ryan
5 Stars From WWE #ExtremeRules
Extreme Rules was last night and the first post WM pay per view was a solid show overall. Daniel Bryan’s precious bunny neck caused him to miss the show, but rising star Neville took his place. In a shocking twist, John Cena retained his US title and Sheamus made an unconscious Dolph Ziggler kiss his ass. Let’s get to the 5 stars from last night’s Extreme Rules show.
1. Neville
At this point, if I’m reviewing a show or pay per view that Neville is apart of, there’s a 100% chance he’s going to be one of my stars. I don’t want to jinx it, but I can’t compliment WWE enough for how they’ve booked Neville since his debut. After a quick first squash, he was put into a match with the WWE Champion, then Dolph Ziggler, and now Bad News Barrett. Although he lost to Rollins and Ziggler, he proved he can hang with them immediately, which I believe does more good than having him squash a bunch of low card guys. I also love that the mid card titles are now something guys of value are trying to attain. The WWE has this weird theory that whoever loses a title automatically becomes the new #1 contender. It’s fine, but my problem with that is that it delays the start of new feuds. Neville beating Barrett twice in the same week automatically puts him in either the #1 contender spot or somewhere close, so when Bryan returns there are going to be at least two people gunning for his title. Also, this was Neville’s first pay per view win since joining the main roster, and he won clean.
2. Sheamus
One of the things I wasn’t looking forward to last night was seeing either Sheamus’s or Dolph Ziggler’s ass, and luckily we didn’t see too much. Ziggler won the match, but Sheamus was the one who got the upper hand (cheek) on Ziggler. Dolph is not the brightest bulb in the world, and for some reason he thought the guy who returned from injury with a Mohawk and a newfound sense of hurting people was just going to pucker up and kiss his butt. Instead, he got a low blow and a boot to the face, and then had his unconscious face rubbed against Sheamus’s ass cheek. Not Ziggler’s finest moment, but bad guy Sheamus is a guy I can get behind. You’re not going to root for him because he’s an asshole, but I’m all for him having hoss fights with the likes of Ziggler and Bryan and Neville. Also, his new music is awesome and I’ll never get tired of typing that.
3. Cesaro
New Day won the tag titles, but Cesaro, per usual, was the star of the match. Slowly transitioning Cesaro and Kidd to good guys while simultaneously turning New Day heel is not as easy as WWE is making it look, but it’s working perfectly. They knew the Chicago crowd would be cheering for Cesaro and Kidd and they knew that the same crowd would be chanting ‘New Day Sucks’, so why not feed into that? Cesaro and Kidd haven’t been together long but they’re both excellent in the ring and have created some fun to watch tag team moves. The over the rope suplex followed by a top rope elbow drop and the swing into the dropkick are crowd pleasers, and just make a tag team match better. Cesaro snatching Big E and Kofi out of the air and throwing them around will always be impressive, and I’d be fine with watching him do that for every match until the end of time. The end of the match makes sense, too, as New Day is using their 3 on 2 advantage to distract teams and win matches. That’s what smart heel teams do, but I do hope that Cesaro and Kidd stay in the tag title hunt.
4. The Last Man Standing Match
I went into the Last Man Standing match last night with zero expectations, but Big Show deserves an ice cream cone or something for his performance. He and Reigns just basically beat the crap out of each other, and while the crowd was clamoring for tables throughout the night, I’m glad they saved it for this match. The WWE and it’s superstars/divas are over saturated because we see them so much. On a week that includes a pay per view, the WWE puts on 8 hours of television, plus Main Event, Superstars, Backstage Fallout videos and whatever else they have planned for that week. With so much TV time to produce, certain shows can feel monotonous and employ the same kind of matches. If Ambrose/Harper had put themselves through tables in the opening match, the Show and Reigns table spots wouldn’t have been as effective. Reigns looked great, and Big Show looked like a worthy adversary, which also helps out Reigns. The table spots were also really well done, especially Big Show choke slamming Reigns from the ring to the outside through two tables and Reigns spearing Show from on top of one table and through the next one.
5. Seth Rollins
What a slimy piece of shit Seth Rollins is. The ending of the main event cage match between Orton and Rollins for the WWE Championship saw Seth Rollins use the RKO on Randy Orton then weasel his way out of the cage. As Extreme Rules was going off the air, the announce team was arguing about whether or not that was legal, since Rollin’s own stipulation for the match was banning the RKO. I’m sure there will be a 20-200 minute talking session to open up Raw dissecting whether this was legal or not, but either way I loved it. How much of a dick do you have to be to ban a guy’s finishing move, then not only use that move during the match, but use it to beat him and retain your title? That’s next level heel work, and Rollins is the most exciting part of the show. One of the friends I was watching this with brought up a great point about the main event scene right now without John Cena – you don’t automatically know who’s going to win. With Rollins as the champion, there’s always that chance that he’s going to lose the title, and that makes for exciting, unpredictable TV.
– Ryan
3 Stars From Last Night’s Smackdown #WWE
While I don’t usually watch Smackdown on Thursday nights, I made an exception this week. Smackdown was taped in my hometown of Providence, RI, so obviously the Average Nobodies attended and as always, the WWE put on a great live show. The usual script for Raw reviews is 5 stars, but since Smackdown is only 2 hours, I decided to limit it to 3 stars. Smackdown featured a couple solid tag team matches, and I sat close enough to Roman Reigns to brush his soaking wet hair.
1. Neville
Neville has been extremely impressive since joining the main roster, and anyone who had concerns that he wouldn’t be utilized correctly should be breathing a sigh of relief so far. This was the first time I’ve seen him live, and holy hell is he quick. Neville is that rare superstar who can flip and jump with the best of them, but also understands the psychology of wrestling as well. He knows how to wrestle the bigger guys like Sheamus and he knows how to wrestle guys his size like Rollins and Ziggler. I love that he pinned Barrett, too, and I mentioned in my Extreme Rules preview that if Daniel Bryan can’t compete, I’d love to see Neville and Barrett take place and Neville secure another victory. If Neville can beat the #1 contender for the IC belt twice in the same week, he’d definitely be in the discussion for challengers to the title once Bryan returns. The highlight of the entire show was seeing Neville hit the Red Arrow live. If WWE is coming to a city near you and Neville is advertised, you owe it to yourself to go see him.
2. Prime Time Players
I’d be ok if the PTP never wrestled another match again, as long as I could get a Titus ‘OORAH’ once in awhile and as long as they keep doing these backstage promos every week. The tag team division is filled with entertaining and exciting teams, who are normally given about 2-3 minutes to have a match and tell a story. While the WWE is doing their best to elevate the US and IC belts, they’ve continually let the tag team division fall by the wayside. My suggestion would be to have the writing team ignore them, but give them at least 15-20 minutes per Raw to get themselves over. You’re telling me guys like Titus, Darren Young, Cesaro, Tyson Kidd, New Day and Lucha Dragons can’t have solid matches and entertaining promos on their own if given enough time? The tag team division should be a lot more exciting, especially considering the teams that are in it. While I’ll never condone anyone making fun of Cesaro, Titus’s satchel and paper boy hat were a nice touch. Hopefully the PTP challenge for the tag titles soon, and hopefully the WWE realizes the diamonds they have in the tag division just waiting for their time to shine.
3. The Main Event
The main event of Smackdown was a tag team match featuring Ambrose and Reigns vs. Harper and Rollins, and it was fantastic. Ambrose and especially Reigns were incredibly over with the Providence crowd, and all four guys worked their tail off to close out the show. While you’d want to keep the champion getting pinned in non title matches to a minimum, I did like Reigns getting the clean pin here. He deserves much better than a Last Man Standing match with Big show at Extreme Rules, so hopefully after Sunday he’s back closer to the main event. I think Harper and Ambrose are going to have the best match Sunday, so I’m glad they got to give us a little preview of what to expect. The Authority continues to tease tension with it’s champion, and that was escalated last night with Kane throwing Rollins back in the ring just in time to eat a spear from Reigns. All in all it was a fun show with a really good main event to send the crowd home happy.
– Ryan
