WELCOME TO ELIMINATION CHAMBER!!...What Happened Last Night (May 31st, 2015)

Greetings Enthusiasts!  Well, not much changed but what did was monumental as the New Guard appears to be getting ushered in.  As far as PPVs go, I don’t think it was a spectacular outing but it was fun and at this point, I think that's good enough.  It also had a groundbreaking match so that makes it come off at least like you got your money’s worth so, I’m not gonna complain too much.  I had a great time and I’m very curious how everything is going to proceed.

I missed the Pre-Show/Kick-Off action but it appears that Stardust dispatched of Zack Ryder (surprise, surprise) and we get some Daniel Bryan updates via MizTV.  In regards to Bryan, his injury doesn’t appear to be career-ending and he plans on returning to the ring as soon as he can.  The Miz is as the Miz is and acts the pompous ass until “The Mega Powers” in Damien Sandow and Curtis Axel come out and show ‘em what the lot of us thinks of that.

We then get into the meat of the matter with the first match of the night being the Elimination Chamber Tag Team Championship Match.  The basic tenets of the Elimination Chamber are that all participants are en-caged in an enclosure which opens at random every 4 minutes. The last team standing, wins.  Given this structure, it would seem that one would benefit most from being the last team to enter the bout.  The first teams to start it off are The Lucha Dragons and The Ascension. In the “pods” are the Primetime Players, Los Matadores with El Torito on top, Cesaro & Tyson Kidd and The New Day to round them off.  Now, I was expecting this to just be an absolute mess and at times, it was but it wasn’t nearly the scramble I thought it was going to be.  There’s some impressive maneuvering with Kalisto being the brave one to jump from the top and Cesaro delivers a suplex to him from up there as well to add to the death-defying feats.  Cesaro even lends a hand late to his partner-in-crime, Kidd and the Prime Time Players who briefly team up to Triple Suplex the New Day just as soon as they get let out.  They also happen to be the last team out but, the present participants lock Xavier Woods back in a pod towards the end so that the last men standing can have themselves a fair tag team exchange.  Cesaro manages to grab up Kofi Kingston and sets into The Swing and Kidd doesn’t disappoint by putting his Kick on it.  Kidd goes for the cover for the pin but Darren Young of the Prime Time Players manages to roll up Cesaro and eliminate him and Kidd in the process.  Now, it’s just the Prime Time Players and The New Day.  I do have to commend all the participants in their display of stamina. When The New Day entered, most of the remaining teams were strewn about the ring but the Prime Time Players manage to “regain” their energy and make the last moments of the match interesting.  Young GutChecks Kingston and tries to land the pin but Kingston stays alive at 2.  From elsewhere in the ring, Big E. Langston makes his way over and dishes up a suplex to Young onto the surrounding steel grating.  This leaves O’Neil left to face The New Day on his own.  He puts up a fight but Kingston manages to land Trouble in Paradise and the rest of The New Day pile on O’Neil to keep him down for the pin.  Tag Team Champions still, The New Day!

Up next, we have the Divas Triple Threat Match for the Championship with Paige, Naomi and Nikki Bella all in it to win it.  As for connections, the ladies were much improved in my opinion.  With Tamina and Brie banned from ringside, there’s  less of a “playfight” as these ladies really seem intent on putting a dent in one another.  Nikki starts it off by blasting Naomi with a BellaHammer, leaving her and Paige to duke it out.   Not pleased with the early development, Naomi grabs Nikki’s feet the moment she can and pulls her out the ring and throws her into the announce table.  Naomi gets herself back in the ring and battles it out with Paige a bit until Nikki makes her way back into the ring.  The match doesn’t take long but they keep it going at a good pace.  These triple threat affairs can be awkward but this went smoothly enough.  There’s an interchange of signature moves with Naomi using her Rearview to block a Rack Attack attempt from Nikki.  Then Paige tries to settle Naomi into a Scorpion Crosslock but Naomi wriggles out of it.  Paige gets Naomi up against the turnbuckle and starts to work her over some but Naomi reverses, dazing Paige but leaving her open for Nikki’s Rack Attack and like that, Nikki Bella retains.

Moving along, we come to what I’m sure is the match of the evening in Kevin Owens vs. John Cena for the US Championship.  I haven’t seen much of Kevin Owens in action and by the looks of him I placed him alongside Bray Wyatt as far as presentability.  He’s another big slab o’fatback.  Yet, I liked how he is a meat and potatoes sort of brawler.  There was nothing really pretty about this match and it goes on forever but it’s a great match, no doubt.  No matter what, each one just keeps getting up.  Owens Powerbombs Cena, Cena kicks out!  Cena gets up and lands a Spingboard Stunner, Owens gets up!  They trade tired blows and Cena manages to get Owens up against a turnbuckle.  He’s going for a suplex but Owens figures out a counter and busts Cena up on the mat.  Owens keeps the offense going but Cena serves up a clothesline.  Both men are just at their wits end but Owens is determined.  He charges at Cena and does not 1 but 2 pop-up, powerbombs.  He settles on Cena for what seems like the 100^th time for the pin and this time he makes it to 3 and gets the win!  I’m glad they gave Owens the win.  I respect Cena and only partially understand the flack he gets but with a strong showing from Owens, it lays good foundation for the new guard to come through.  It’s time.  The Universe needs to be infused with new energy and with the upcoming prospects, it's all looking very promising.

The match to follow serves more to cleanse our palates for the main event as we have the more recent NXT alums in Neville and Bo Dallas come out and have a short match.  Dallas continues to be his “inspirational” self, though by opening with a few words.  Apparently, he’s tried to be nice to Neville.  He doesn’t know why he didn’t see that given how he bashed Neville’s busted knee last they met.  Yet, for all Dallas’ "efforts", Neville just isn’t meeting Dallas’ attempts to be friendly.  Well, the time for being nice is over.  Dallas attempts to make some sort of statement but, with Neville just about recovered he makes quick work of Dallas and finishes off with the Red Arrow as we’ve become accustomed.

That brings us to the 6-Man Elimination Chamber match involving, Sheamus, Ryback, Dolph Ziggler, R-Truth, “King” Wade Barrett and to replace the injured Rusev, Mark Henry.  To be honest, this wasn’t the most engaging match.  Though there were plenty of people involved capable of making it interesting, I found myself having a hard time staying interested.  Suppose everyone’s gotta get used to the concept again.  There were some interesting “mishaps” though.  One of the plastic partitions that made up Mark Henry’s pod was knocked loose after Ziggler was tossed into it, prompting an early entry.  Ziggler gets tossed into the side of a pod a couple of times actually.  As for eliminations Barrett gets ejected first by R-Truth.  Then, soon after Ryback’s entry, he shows R-Truth the door.  After finally getting his pod door open, Sheamus is last to enter but is able to get rid of Mark Henry unceremoniously.  He then focuses on Ziggler who seems to get thrown around more than wrestle this night out.   He still puts up a fight but Sheamus gives him a face full of Brogue Kick to take him out leaving him and Ryback to battle for the title.  Well, the finish wasn’t all that exciting but it definitely seemed hard-fought.  Sheamus was playing kinda dirty most of the match and continues with Ryback, suplexing him onto the “steel” grating.  Well, it doesn’t keep Ryback down and once back on his feet, he muscles Sheamus into a ShellShock and takes the win and the Intercontinental Championship.  Daniel Bryan has stayed on hand as well and presents him with the title belt.

All that leaves is the main event, Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose.  Well, it’s the frenzied exchange one would think.  Ambrose was cracking me up when I caught him dealing himself shots to the face early on after taking a hit from Rollins.  These 2 go ahead and lose their minds for us and it’s a lot of fun.  They chase each other all over the place, beating each other up and taunting.  Of course, J&J and Dad (Kane) circle around the ring, waiting for their opportunities to muck Ambrose up.  Rollins did what he could to take Ambrose out as well, being quite nimble with his kicks and Ambrose seemed to have no mercy with the clotheslines.  J&J and Kane wait until the final minutes to start nipping at Ambrose and with so much on the line, Ambrose doesn’t want to deal with them any more than he has to.  They fall into a brief kafuffle outside the ring and during this Rollins pulls the referee out.  Ambrose, still focused on beating Rollins’ ass doesn’t let this stop him.  He just keeps putting his foot square up Rollins’ ass.  After some desperate yet fancy footwork from Rollins, Ambrose manages to land Dirty Deeds and sets in the pin.  A 2^nd referee comes flying down the ramp and makes the count and Ambrose gets the win!   But wait…there’s some discussion near the TimeKeeper booth.  There appears to be a technicality.  The original referee has to disagree with the decision.  Due to Rollins’ interference, it’s decided that Rollins is disqualified, therefore retains the title though Ambrose does technically get the win.  Ambrose can’t believe it.  Rollins and The Authority celebrate.  Ambrose tries to argue with the referee but his mind’s made up.    Seth Rollins basically goes, sucks to be you and takes his title belt and heads up the ramp only to be clotheslined by Roman Reigns.   The belt now on the ground, Reigns picks it up and heads into the ring.  J&J try to stop him but they get run over per usual.  Dad tries to settle him down but all he gets is speared.  Rollins tries to make a grab for the belt but Ambrose sends him back over the ropes and he and Reigns make a break for it through the crowd.  Ambrose declares that since he won the match he keeps the belt and he and Reigns bail out to wherever’s open and still serving food and booze.

So, all in all it was not a bad PPV but not the greatest.  The elimination chamber matches were the most trying to watch, strangely enough so, I hope Creative took a lot of notes on this outing.  The roster has plenty of depth and with these new upstarts coming in, there are plenty of ingredients that could be put together to keep We the Audience happy.  I’d rather they take their time and get the recipe right, lest we have to throw the whole batch out.

See You Tonight,

-Nicole Alexis (^.~)