Elimination Chamber 2013

[jpchicago23]

Before he went on hiatus last summer, Swagger did clean jobs for Santino, Zack Ryder (!), Tyson Kidd(!) and Brodus. I like the guy but man they have a lot of work to do these next six weeks

 

This is the WWE. In their minds those things didnt happen and all is forgotten because he has a manager now and new music.

[Strummer]

now that I think about it I hope they do Punk/Brock v Hunter/Taker at the PPV. No way is it happening but Id much prefer it to the singles matches. I have interest in Punk/Taker but Punk is coming of two straight PPV jobs and they would have to do a lot to make him seem half way credible to the streak.

 

 

the third straight year of Rock/Cena promos are going to be tough to sit through

[ZThomas]

I'd much rather have Henry vs Del Rio.

Swaggers push is something that shouldve been done after Mania.

Punk needs to be in the WWE title match with Cena/Rock if 'taker isnt around

[evilclown]

I thought it was obvious as soon as Swagger came out with a new Tea Party gimmick that he would be paired with Del Rio at WrestleMania and said so at Bleacher Report. It seemed like the only finish that would really work for the Elimination Chamber other than Jericho winning and Ziggler cashing in to create that pairing.

 

I think the WWE has grand plans for this one. They want to get on cable news and patted on the back for being topical and current. We'll see if it works and how desperate they get to make it happen.

[Blehschmidt]

For a wrestling fan, I can imagine many worse ways to spend an evening than watching this show.

I was at a TNA show....

 

 

Wish I'd stayed home and watched the six man tag instead!

[Guest Nell Santucci]

I thought it was obvious as soon as Swagger came out with a new Tea Party gimmick that he would be paired with Del Rio at WrestleMania and said so at Bleacher Report. It seemed like the only finish that would really work for the Elimination Chamber other than Jericho winning and Ziggler cashing in to create that pairing.

 

I think the WWE has grand plans for this one. They want to get on cable news and patted on the back for being topical and current. We'll see if it works and how desperate they get to make it happen.

Now that the election is over and the GOP is changing its position on immigration, you have to wonder if the WWE's attempt is a tad too late.

[Matt D]

if they're just a "tad" then that's pretty good for them.

[tigerpride]

Mark Henry destroying Del Rio at Wrestlemania could set up a whole year of storylines. Instead he ate an RKO

[MJH]

Thought the show was pretty good but nothing I'm liable to remember in a few months' time...

 

Del Rio/Show was alright, though I think Show is much better against a guy like Sheamus who, whilst probably no better than Del Rio generally, can lay it in and be physical back at him. The botch was hilarious, made even worse by the fact that Show was well within reaching distance of the ropes and had to extend his arm bent when he tried to grab it.

 

Cesaro/Miz was a solid match. I'm not seeing anything particularly special in it that others have, but it was pretty good. I still think Cesaro is missing something, a presence maybe, but as others have mentioned, he stands out in a very positive way that bodes well for him. I'm gonna go against the grain on the finish. I'd've much rather seen Cesaro win clean and Miz relegated to FCW or something but, for what it was, I thought it was a pretty clever way to do the cheap finish.

 

The Chamber was pretty pedestrian before Henry cleaned house, and he was clearly the star of it. Though once he went I thought the other three picked up the pace quite well, the two eliminations/falls at the end being a particularly nice little sequence.

 

The six-man wasn't as strong as the TLC version, suffering for the lack of weapons and what-not, but was really, really well done, and as others are, I'm both impressed and very glad at how they've handed the Shield thus far. Easily the best match on the show.

 

Dolph/Kofi was what it was, though the front suplex across the turnbuckle drew a wince from me. The divas match, well... they are what they are too, though Tamina at least presents herself as a wrestler.

 

The main event? Pretty meh, really. The finish felt flat to me. The rolling-across-the-ankle ref bump was better done and far less contrived than they tend to be. Though if you're gonna have to do chinlocks to cover for the Rock's cardio they need to at least be synched in somewhat. I'm surprised they didn't have Heyman slap Punk at some point and get the Rock DQ'd, I figured that was the obvious reasoning behind the stip, but I guess it's a "Punk believes he can beat him clean" thing... still, as a desperation measure down the stretch maybe? I dunno.

[MikeCampbell]

Quickie thoughts:

 

My friend and I both thought that the opener sucked, even before the botch. It seemed like Show was bumping too early for Del Rio's shots, and some of their stuff barely made contact.

 

Cesaro/Miz was lots of fun, and I liked the booking, although I'd have preferred to see Cesaro cheap shot Miz.

 

Chamber was probably best of the night. Like I said before, they need to find something important to do with Henry now, before he cools down. The fact that he still got on ovation after laying the other three out speaks volumes for him. If Henry couldn't win, then I'll take Swagger. It was a surprise that nobody saw coming, but they can make it work, with Mantell cutting promos on ADR and Ricardo.

 

Did anyone else notice that Cena, Sheamus, and Ryback didn't really get much of a reaction? That comes from having to follow Mark Henry . This was fun too, although it took some time to warm up. Once again, surprise booking, with Shield pulling it out, and I'm surprised to see Ryback eat the pin, I figured it'd be Sheamus.

 

Doph/Kofi was fun for what it was, and they've worked together 1,000 times, so it's to be expected. The Biggie beatdown seemed to take forever.

 

Diva's Title match: Can't say I cared one way or another.

 

WWE Title match: Not bad, but not up to the level of the EC or the six man. The booking has me thinking that Punk is getting inserted at 'Mania to make it a 3-way.

[Dylan Waco]

I thought it was obvious as soon as Swagger came out with a new Tea Party gimmick that he would be paired with Del Rio at WrestleMania and said so at Bleacher Report. It seemed like the only finish that would really work for the Elimination Chamber other than Jericho winning and Ziggler cashing in to create that pairing.

 

I think the WWE has grand plans for this one. They want to get on cable news and patted on the back for being topical and current. We'll see if it works and how desperate they get to make it happen.

I thought it was obvious he would be paired with Del Rio, but assumed they would wait til after Mania. In hindsight that was an obvious error in judgment, as I forget that they see no value at all in the World Title.

[Slasher]

Well come on now, with Del Rio as the champion, who else makes the most sense challenging? I know people love Mark Henry but the matchup in itself is not as interesting as the foreigner/anti-immigration patriot storyline. Mark Henry's glorious Hall of Pain Title Run II can wait.

[Slasher]

Besides, if Mark Henry was to be involved in a title match at Wrestlemania, his character is such that he is better as the defending champion walking in, as opposed to being the challenger. Only way he works as a Mania title challenger is if the defending champion was a beast himself (like Ryback) and Mark walks in as a Royal Rumble winner and looking to fuck shit up.

[Dylan Waco]

Well come on now, with Del Rio as the champion, who else makes the most sense challenging? I know people love Mark Henry but the matchup in itself is not as interesting as the foreigner/anti-immigration patriot storyline. Mark Henry's glorious Hall of Pain Title Run II can wait.

Who makes the most sense challenging.....

 

guy who was last seen on tv destroying everyone, then came back and destroyed everyone

 

guy who was last seen on tv jobbing clean to zack ryder, and beat up two undercard guys in the last couple of weeks

 

From a kayfabe perspective I don't think Swagger is the best pick. From a storyline perspective? I really don't think so either because while anti-immigrant v. Mexican is the obvious angle, a guy like Del Rio needs a big "Mania moment."

 

I'm probably the biggest Henry mark on the board, but if I was trying to build Del Rio as a top face (and in theory the WWE are), a Mania win over monster Henry means more than a Mania win over Swagger. Easily.

 

My problem isn't with Swagger getting a shot at Del Rio (it's obvious that's the whole reason the character was created) or even that he is getting the shot at Mania over Henry. My problem is that if this was the plan they should have started building Swagger sooner or at bare minimum should have put him over much stronger in The Chamber. As it stands now the World Title match at Mania feels like something that should be on the pre-show.

[Dylan Waco]

Besides, if Mark Henry was to be involved in a title match at Wrestlemania, his character is such that he is better as the defending champion walking in, as opposed to being the challenger. Only way he works as a Mania title challenger is if the defending champion was a beast himself (like Ryback) and Mark walks in as a Royal Rumble winner and looking to fuck shit up.

Del Rio v monster just worked well in getting him over. Del Rio v. monster II would presumably help that along. Del Rio v. guy who regularly lost to Santino and Tyson Kidd last time he was on tv and who won EC via schoolboy? Well if the goal is to present Del Rio as your traditional underdog babyface overcoming the odds (and I think based on how he has been working it clearly is) Swagger needs to go over clean on several upper card guys in decisive fashion now. Or they need to shoot an injury angle with Del Rio. Or they need to bring in Don Black as swagger's special "American" ref. Something. Because right now Swagger is just a guy.

 

This sort of thing doesn't help Swagger either by the way.

[Slasher]

I suspect they planned the Swagger thing before Mark Henry returned to great pops. If the WWE knew what they should know now back then, I am sure they would have crafted a Road to Mania title storyline around Mark Henry, but they did not. Honestly, I don't want Del Rio beating Mark Henry, so Swagger serves well as that Mania moment for Del Rio. He gets to slay the bigoted heel on the biggest stage and validate his standing in the company. Who cares what Swagger did six months ago? They spent like two months building Swagger up as a "I am sick of this shit! I'm going to fuck people up now" heel, with the ankle lock thing. It's not like they woke up two weeks before the chamber and decided "You know, maybe we should have Jack Swagger challenging for the title at Wrestlemania". It does not really matter who looks stronger. You start somewhere for everyone. Mark Henry was off the heels of being a fat jobber before he put things together and became the great character he is now. You never know who shines when given an opportunity. Mark Henry is, to my estimation, nearly a made man now. He can wait.

[Slasher]

Just to clarify, Dylan, I am not really disagreeing with your points. I am just sort of defending the idea of Swagger being picked as the lamb to be led to slaughter. Del Rio is not losing the belt at Wrestlemania in nearly any circumstance*

 

 

*Then again, I thought the same thing when they did Eddie Guerrero vs JBL at GAB...

[Dylan Waco]

I suspect they planned the Swagger thing before Mark Henry returned to great pops. If the WWE knew what they should know now back then, I am sure they would have crafted a Road to Mania title storyline around Mark Henry, but they did not. Honestly, I don't want Del Rio beating Mark Henry, so Swagger serves well as that Mania moment for Del Rio. He gets to slay the bigoted heel on the biggest stage and validate his standing in the company. Who cares what Swagger did six months ago? They spent like two months building Swagger up as a "I am sick of this shit! I'm going to fuck people up now" heel, with the ankle lock thing. It's not like they woke up two weeks before the chamber and decided "You know, maybe we should have Jack Swagger challenging for the title at Wrestlemania". It does not really matter who looks stronger. You start somewhere for everyone. Mark Henry was off the heels of being a fat jobber before he put things together and became the great character he is now. You never know who shines when given an opportunity. Mark Henry is, to my estimation, nearly a made man now. He can wait.

I think the fact that they likely did have this planned farther out makes it way worse. They should have given Swagger a Cesaro style slow build. I hate this hot shotting shit, it's what cut Swagger's balls off the first time. I also disagree that it doesn't matter who looked stronger, largely because one guy was a complete nothing. Henry was a gatekeeper.

 

But really it doesn't matter much. The bottom line is that is the match and all hyperbole aside this is the least interested I can remember being about a Mania in a long, long, long time.

[Slasher]

Same here. I think my interest died when they announced Rock/Cena again and the possibility of HHH getting his win back from Brock (which is still very much in play).

[Badlittlekitten]

Well come on now, with Del Rio as the champion, who else makes the most sense challenging? I know people love Mark Henry but the matchup in itself is not as interesting as the foreigner/anti-immigration patriot storyline. Mark Henry's glorious Hall of Pain Title Run II can wait.

Both Del Rio and Swagger were a complete irrelevance two months ago. They've got their work cut out for them in making ADR vs Swagger into a match people are interested in and (i hope I'm wrong) I can't see the Zeb Colter gimmick ending pretty. WWE should never do grown up people stuff.

 

 

Really enjoyable show. The only negative that came out of it for me is Swagger getting in the title picture again. Colter or no Colter, the guy is useless.

 

ADR vs Big Show was fine. The botch was pretty bad and Show bumping for the hurricanrana looked ridiculous.

 

Miz vs Cesaro was a top little match, even the ending. Miz has made a great bumbling idiot for the last couple of months but he more than held his own in this match with a decent spunky babyface performance. Cesaro was as solid and as boring as usual. Both guys could have done without a loss here so I'm glad they went with a BS ending that got a laugh - out of me anyway.

 

I'm not someone who usually gets all hot and bothered about Menry but he looked like a fucking STAR in the EC match.

 

The Six man was even better then I hoped. The Shield are my favourite thing in the wwe so, yeah, I marked out a bit with THAT end. Tremendous storytelling in that match. The ending with the tease of the synchronised supermen finishers being cut off with Reign's spear was quality. Rollin's seemed like the weak link in the team before but he seems to be getting it now personality wise. The only thing I didn't like was Ryback taking the pin. He's fucked ain't he? Surely this has to lead to something new with his character - which was hinted at at the end. They didn't bother pushing him as a silent assassin so they might as well flesh him out personality wise.

 

Where do Shield go from here though? Surely EVOLUTION is the only answer?

 

Main was good enough, certainly better then the RR match. They did a much better job of protecting Punk in this match with the visual fall and all that. It makes me think they're gonna end up slotting Punk into the WM main, which I'm apathetic about either way. Heyman was hilarious with the "You got a 1! Yes, now 2 and a half!" nonsense.

[Ditch]

Where do Shield go from here though? Surely EVOLUTION is the only answer?

Team Heyman (Punk/Lesnar/Shield) vs HHH/Orton/Flair/Ryback/Sheamus would be interesting...

[Slasher]

Where do Shield go from here though? Surely EVOLUTION is the only answer?

That is a fantastic idea. Triple H calling in favors to get Batista and/or Flair and teaming up with Orton to eliminate the threat.

[tigerpride]

Yea, Shield v. HHH/Orton/Batista would be awesome.

 

Swagger is such an awful idea that they need to just scrap the World Title. It's worthless

[Slasher]

Yea, Shield v. HHH/Orton/Batista would be awesome.

 

Swagger is such an awful idea that they need to just scrap the World Title. It's worthless

Probably why they thought it was a good idea to do a potentially (read: not really) big media-related angle for the belt. If it's worthless, why not take a shot in the dark and do the stupid thing rather than waste a Hall of Pain induction for Alberto Del Rio.

[Slasher]

Question: Are house shows still single-branded? If they aren't, and the top stars go to every house show, why not just end the World title? Or at least have it merged back into the WWE title?