WWE Live Show Review:
Elimination Chamber 2013
The Elimination Chamber
may be one of the WWE's more recent gimmicks, but it has also become
one of the company's most popular and inventive. The (now) annual
Elimination Chamber is always an interesting event and one that helps
build up the hype for WWE PPV highlight WrestleMania.
This year was no
different, alongside the highly anticipated EC bout we had a few
Title re-matches and some pretty decent encounters too.
The pre-show match
(which may well become a DVD extra) saw the reunited Team Rhodes
Scholars tackle the oddball combo of Tensai and Brodus Clay. Whilst
Rhodes/Sandow did exactly what we expect of them it was Tensai/Clay
who impressed in this one. The short bout ended with a surprise win
for the big man duo. The future of the tag team division may well be
Clay/Tensai and you know what it may just work.
The event properly
kicked off with the World Heavyweight Title match between Champion
Alberto Del Rio and Big Show. Show was on fine form here and really
worked hard to put ADR over as a worthy title holder. Del Rio pulled
off the win with a very decent looking arm-breaker submission.
The big shock was that
we never saw Dolph Ziggler make a Money in the Bank cash-in (which
many of us speculated).
Antonio Cesaro's United
States Championship was on the line next and his opponent The Miz
really did try to make this a watchable affair. The DQ finish did
nothing to elevate either grappler and proved to be a flat way to end
the scrap. Odds are we will be seeing a rematch sometime soon.
The EC match to
determine the #1 contender to the World Heavyweight Championship was
then upon us. The combatants were all former world title holders and
they all had their work boots on. Daniel Bryan and Chris Jericho
kicked things off in style and for the rest of the match the pace was
perfect. Early on in the match there were some nice spots and they
grew along the way, each elimination worked perfectly with the
storyline and told a wonderful tale. To be honest, even after all
these years of wrestling writing this was a match that really did
hold my attention throughout. The 30 plus minute match saw some
surprise eliminations and career shortening moves. The finish was
even more of a shock, as the newly re-packaged Jack Swagger pulled
off his biggest win in recent times.
Swagger has of course
been associated with Zeb Colter (Dutch Mantel) as of late and perhaps
this character change may be the big break he needs. A World
Heavyweight Title match may be the prefect way to take him to the
next level and beyond.
As six man matches go
the following one was superb. The early all-out brawl between the
combatants worked well and let us see the potential of this match-up.
The 'Let's Go Cena/Cena Sucks' chants were abundant as usual and
helped elevate The Shield's profile over that of their opponents
Cena, Sheamus and Ryback.
This was yet another
good example of in-ring storytelling and also helped build up the
newer members of the roster too. The Shield not only pulled off the
win (in a superbly times finish), but now see themselves as genuine
stars in the company.
Ziggler turned up next
and had an impromptu match with Kofi Kingston. This was short and
somewhat sweet. This felt like a forced encounter and one that the
PPV didn't really require. Ziggler's cohorts AJ Lee and Big E
Langston had a hand in the finish too. Langston even went as far as
to assault Kingston post-match as well.
Kaitlyn defended her
Divas Title against Tamina Snuka in a short and un-emotive match
next. The moves were basic and the action limited. It is a shame to
see the once exciting Divas division fall so low. Kaitlyn retained
her belt here and we do hope the WWE get some of their developmental
talent (like the UK's Paige) trained up and moved up to the main
roster asap.
The main event saw new
WWE Champion The Rock face former champ CM Punk (with Paul Heyman).
The stipulation was that if Rock was counted out or disqualified he
lost his gold. Paul Heyman was key here, his role is pivotal in many
of Punk's matches and even more so here. The action took place both
in and out of the ring and even saw the announcers tables utilised
(which always proves to be fun). Considering his lack of ring time
and movie career Rock showed no signs of ring-rust and worked well
with Punk. A ref bump and Heyman's botched interference led to Rock
retaining his belt.
As EC went off the air
a graphic show the much anticipated Cena/Rock re-match will happen at
Mania and now we all hope that Undertaker is fit enough to meet CM
Punk on that show too.
Elimination Chamber was
a very good PPV for the WWE and one that offered up some nice
finishes and story line developments. We also now have one half of
the Mania main event. Who knows what the WWE have lined up for us
between now and WrestleMania weekend.
By Phil Allely
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