WHAT I LIKED:
Opening Segment: Maybe it's just the contrast between her and Betty White, but Stephanie McMahon looked fucking amazing in that dress. You can't miss that. Hot damn! Are we sure she's had three kids? This Los Angeles audience is a much livelier crowd than last week. The 'CM Punk' chants are a little more difficult to just drown out. Still not going to be as long and boisterous as the Chicago crowd is going to be. I know they have March 3rd circled in red on their calendars. Glad to hear the Yes! Movement has found it's way to the City of Angels. I don't normally LIKE when they do the 'night off' routine, but since I know it's not going to stick, I'll allow it. It's just a waiting game now to see just how Daniel Bryan weasels his way into a match. WWE: where babyfaces try to wrestle and heels try not to.
Mysterio & The Brotherhood vs The Wyatt Family: I made a quip in the first Road to Wrestlemania post about The Shield passing the six-man tag team match baton to The Wyatts at Elimination Chamber. Based on what I saw tonight, they don't need that goddamn baton. That was an awesome close to that match. That Sister Abigail maneuver looked wicked on Rey Mysterio. He's either legitimately hurt or he sold the hell out of it. Either way, great job. The crowd even cheered that finish despite the babyface team (and quasi-hometown hero, Mysterio) losing. Sometimes you just have cheer a good match for being a good match.
Christian & Sheamus vs Real Americans: This match was made just so Zeb Colter could cut that promo about Sheamus & Christian being non-Americans. I approve. LOVE the pop for Antonio Cesaro! I also LIKED how Colter forced Jack Swagger to cede starting the match to Cesaro. It's obvious that Colter has more faith in Cesaro, which could lead to a split between The Real Americans, which is a mistake in my opinion. They're starting to become popular. WWE should take advantage of that and move them up the tag team ranks. I would argue for them to push Cesaro as a singles superstar, but I doubt that'd end well. I really LIKED the physicality between Cesaro and Sheamus. Both of them are big, strong foreigners who enjoy getting physical. I hope there's a portion during the Elimination Chamber where they just get to beat the hell outta each other. You didn't have to guess who would be pinned - there's only one superstar involved not in the Elimination Chamber match - but by the end of the match, I was wondering. That was a great, multi-faceted tag match with amazing brutality and an excellent pace. After a while, the crowd stopped booing Sheamus and just started cheering for everybody. I don't blame them. Being associated with Swagger forced a loss onto Cesaro, but he looked like a BAMF during this match. Antonio Cesaro definitely deserves to be in the Elimination Chamber.
WWE Network How-To Video: Yes, it was cheesy but I LIKED it anyway. Take it from a guy who sometimes has to answer questions about connecting devices to televisions, a how-to video like that is very helpful. Even though the majority of the people purchasing the WWE Network will be of the younger, technologically-savvy generation, there will still be some people who need assistance. If my job had the Bella Twins explaining everything to these people in a handy little how-to video, it'd make my day a lot easier.
Lita!!!: Oh, I LOVE me some Lita. Aside from Trish Stratus, of course, there's no better deserving diva from the Attitude Era to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. WWE wishes they had a diva like her on the roster today. Hey, since we know Lita is going to be in New Orleans come Wrestlemania XXX, maybe she can be the diva who challenged AJ Lee for the Divas Championship. I think Lita would be up for it and we already know that AJ Lee would love, considering she idolized Lita in her youth. WWE should make this happen. And congratulations to Lita!
Shield/Wyatts: I want to see this. I want to see this so bad. I don't even know whay I want to see this. I LOVED the little game of inches they played tonight, each team getting closer to the ring until one of them backed down. That team being The Wyatt Family. There's no question who WWE is pushing as the 'heel' team of confrontation. I'm just glad the crowd popped for it. Usually, WWE fans don't get excited for heel vs heel matches.
Kane/Bryan: It was odd to say Kane was on suspension, only for him to come out to the ring. JBL tried to reconcile it, by saying "Monday to Monday is a week, brain surgeons," but Michael Cole pointed out that Kane was on Smackdown this past Friday. So, if you're keeping score, that's JBL - 7,534; Michael Cole - 1. It wasn't a match, but at least they gave Daniel Bryan something to do to keep the fans happy.
Cena vs Orton: Not a great match, but not a horrible one either. At least the crowd didn't completely ignore the match like they did at Royal Rumble. They were into it enough to react to each near-fall, big move and heel tactic. And for the most part, they really cheered for John Cena. There were some 'Cena Sucks' chants to start the match, but they died out as the match progressed. It ended up being a pretty good main-event, though I'd still have rather seen a match from Daniel Bryan.
WHAT I HATED:
Santino vs Fandango: When I saw that Emma was being called up, I naturally thought that WWE would be using her as competition for AJ Lee and the Divas Championship. Not the best they could do, but better than the current crop. But no. They stick her with Santino and add to the comedy troupe ranks. Sigh.
Ziggler vs Del Rio: This match makes me miss the World Heavyweight Championship. You think either of these guys will ever be THE GUY? If either of them will ever be WWE World Heavyweight Champion? Probably not. Their championship goals went out of the door once the WWE and WHC were integrated. But this was never about a match, it was just a ploy to get Batista to come out and beatdown Alberto Del Rio. Anything to get him over with the crowd. "Please, please like our hand-picked next WWE World Champion. He's big and tough. He's going to be in a big movie later this year. And have you seen him do his powerbomb?"
The Usos vs Rybaxel: Here I was, all set to enjoy a tag team match from one of the remaining tag teams in WWE not set to disband and we have to deal with antics from the New Age Outlaws and Betty White at ringside. I still LIKED the match. The tag while diving out of the ring was pretty unique. But I didn't LIKE hearing Road Dogg disparage them the entire time. The Usos are probably the best tag team in WWE and deserve a title shot more than anyone else. They were passed over when the titles were given to The Shield. Then passed over in favor of Cody Rhodes & Goldust. And finally passed over for the New Age Outlaws. Their time has come. If the NAO are at least noticing them, it spells at least a championship match for them in the future. But The Usos can't be too certain. There might be another tandem that catches fire and they might get passed over again.
United States Championship: There are so many possibilities to take Dean Ambrose up on his open challenge. Daniel Bryan was banned from competing, so an open challenge could be his way of getting a match. Mark Henry is making his return tonight. RVD is reportedly backstage. And so is Stone Cold Steve Austin. Okay, the last one is a little far-fetched. But you never know. And the challenger is... Mark Henry. If Henry wins tonight, it means the US and Intercontinental Championships will be unified at Wrestlemania XXX. Langston vs Henry at Wrestlemania XXX is a go. Thankfully, that bleak future isn't to be. At least not right now. That could still change, but I'm happy I don't have to look forward to that right now.
QUOTE OF THE NIGHT:
"Kane is on administrative leave for one week and he has a very strongly worded letter of reprimand in his performance evaluation file." - Stephanie McMahon
I laughed at that because it sounds like such a corporate thing to say. Stephanie delivered it perfectly. Must have been awkward when she saw that Renee Young was wearing the same dress as her. Don't you hate when that happens?
MATCH OF THE NIGHT/BEST IN SHOW:
The tag team match between The Real Americans vs Sheamus & Christian was the best match of the night and a surprise. Every superstar involved was at their best, but no one was better than Antonio Cesaro, who stole the goddamn show. He earned a place in the Elimination Chamber and might earn more if he continues to compete at this level and keeps getting crowd reactions like that. The good news is I know he's capable of it. I forsee BIG things to come for him.
REACTION:
I'll never understand how telling a superstar not to wrestle is supposed to be punishment. If I got to work and my boss told me not to work, but I'm still getting paid, I say nothing but "Okay" and leave before he can change his mind. But then again, my job isn't near as exciting. I guess for Daniel Bryan, who is great at what he does and enjoys doing it, he would take that as a punishment. I'm sure there's a backyard or an auditorium or a school gym somewhere in the L.A. area where Daniel Bryan can have a match or two. Well, it's Hollywood, so maybe a sound stage instead.
WWE should really be taking more advantage of the Olympics being in Sochi, Russia by pushing Alexander Rusev harder than they are now, which is just an advertisement/promo about him. He should be out in the ring, taking full advantage of the US's enmity towards Russia and their politics. That's some really easy heat that WWE is completely missing out on.
I can't be the only person who cringes when the announcers call John Cena and Randy Orton 'the best of this generation,' am I? Not because it isn't true. It is true. Cena & Orton are the top superstars of the modern era in WWE. But if they are the best, that doesn't say much for the modern era of WWE. When Cena cut his promo earlier tonight and talked about the newer superstars, I almost scoffed at the thought of him being a veteran. He is a veteran in this company. He's a 14-time Heavyweight Champion. Yet, I still feel that he hasn't proven anything yet. The same goes for Randy Orton. I don't think he's proven anything either. And when they talk about the history they've had against each other, all their matches are utterly forgettable. This one is no different. In years past, when the top two superstars in the company faced off, it meant something. But in this era, WWE went and made two distinct championships, two distinct brands in an effort to keep them away from each other and have them face other superstars. Maybe that's the reason why when they are called the best of this generation, my first instinct is to roll my eyes. I don't buy it because WWE never sold it to me until now. And now it's too late.
With Cena's clean defeat of Orton tonight, that makes two losses for Orton against his Elimination Chamber opponents and only one win. With two to go, he's going to have to win out to end with a favorable record. All in all, it doesn't really matter because the Elimination Chamber isn't a match where you win. It's a match where you survive. Heels survive in WWE. Orton could lose every single match against his EC opponents and he'd still come out as WWE World Champion and on the road to Wrestlemania. But if they have any hope in making the WWE Championship match between he and Batista viable, they need to stop making him look so weak. And do it sooner, rather than later.
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