E is for Excellence

I don’t tend to be drawn to overly muscled wrestlers. I gravitate towards high-flyers or talkers (oddly flyers that talk well are a rarity and I’ve only just this second realised that). Body guys generally don’t excite me because, well, they aren’t known for having great matches. The work of Lex Luger, Hulk Hogan, Scott Steiner and their ilk have created a stigma for that particular strain of wrestler.

But just recently I’ve become appreciative of a guy who is, by any criteria, a body guy. I’m referring to Big E.

His work in NXT had made me a fan of his, albeit not an especially fervent one. He demonstrated that he had a personality and that he could wrestle well. But crucially he never had a match I enjoyed in NXT that wasn’t against a smaller man. There was nothing about his stint there made me think he would be a muscle guy capable of great matches against anyone other than smaller guys. So I expected to enjoy his matches on occasion, but only when he was facing guys who wrestled a style I tended to enjoy anyway.

I was convinced of this throughout most of 2013. Look back at his split with Dolph Ziggler. There wasn’t a single memorable encounter during the whole story. I think it’s fair to assume we could have expected more from that series given ‘The Show Off’s’ ability. I took the fact that it remained utterly average as further evidence that I’d only ever see Big E shine on occasion and that wrestling a smaller, more athletic guy was not a guarantee of a great match form him.

What a man.

Things changed in October when E had a better than expected encounter with CM Punk. True Punk was one of WWE’s aces at that point but it was clear throughout the match that Big E was not a passenger. He carried his side of the match as opposed to simply feeding off of ‘The Second City Saint’.

I’ve seen more of those sorts of performances from Big E this year. Not in any greater number but enough to convince me that he could have an enjoyable match with a guy like Roman Reigns or Batista if it was laid out well enough.

The obvious example to give is his match against Jack Swagger at Elimination Chamber. That was a match between two big hosses that drew me in despite my usual indifference. It was an equal effort and ‘The Real American’ deserves just as much credit for it as Big E, but he didn’t have an enjoyable match with CM Punk in October and he hasn’t done anything especially noteworthy since. Big E had and has. He's also had enjoyable TV matches against guys like Alberto Del Rio, Sin Cara, Fandango and even 3MB.

I think WWE are taking the long approach with Big E, as they are with a number of their younger wrestlers these days. If guys can connect with crowds, either through a catchy phrase or a promo style or being great in the ring, they’re given more to do. It’s what’s been done with The Shield and Bray Wyatt and it’s worked. I hope it can work for Big E too. The idea of him facing John Cena is beginning to sound pretty appealing. As long as whoever laid out Big E’s Elimination Chamber match sticks around I think he’ll shine.

Elimination Chamber 2014 review

Last night WWE did what they could do all the time but only seem to do rarely. They produced an excellent pay-per-view. The show never dipped below good in terms of match quality and everyone who appeared seemed to be doing everything in their power to make themselves stand out. That’s such a rarity with WWE that it stood out. Everyone, from Big E and Jack Swagger to the six men in the titular title tussle, did everything they could to make this a great event. And it paid off. If only WWE could do this all the time.

The evening’s action kicked off with the pre-show tag match. Larry ‘The Axe’ Hennig, a big name a couple of decades ago who lives in the area, accompanied his grandson Curtis Axel, along with The Ryback, to ringside for their encounter with the Rhodes bros Goldust and Cody. The four put on an energetic show which did a good job of presenting the teams as even. It was the former tag champs who went over though, with Cody hitting Cross Rhodes for the win.

The only other noteworthy thing on the pre-show was the expert panel of Mark Henry, The Miz and Rey Mysterio being introduced. The talked up the night’s card in the standard fashion.

The show proper kicked off with Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter being introduced. As they meandered to the ring (Zeb is not a man who merely walks) they told us that the E in Big E stands for “enough”. Big Enough? Doesn’t make sense to me. Zeb revealing that his reasoning was that Big E hasn’t done enough as Intercontinental champion to improve the standard of living in North America didn’t help matters. If anything it left me more confused.

Big E got booed as he smacked his chest and roared on the apron. He managed to win the audience over during the match, thanks to a combination of a fast paced, E’s power moves, and Swagger taking some impressive bumps to help make his foe look impressive and playing the coward in the early minutes. Their greatest moment saw Big catch Swag as he attempted a Swagger bomb, then, realising he couldn't hit him with the Big Ending, dunk him onto the apron and spear him down to the mats. It got a well-earned "Holy shit!" chant.

Whoever thought Swagger and Big E would produce anything special?

The match was the first of many that felt like both men trying to prove something to the fans, and possibly management and themselves too. If so it worked. It was the best match I've ever seen the former Langston have and the best non-gimmick outing I've seen from Swaggalag. This is what I was talking about when I mentioned wrestlers being given more freedom on this show. Big E retained after countering out of the patriot lock and hitting the Big Ending.

As the champ celebrated Bad News Barrett appeared. His bad news was that Russia had outperformed the US in the Winter Olympics. I have some bad news at this point too. It was not the last we’d see of the former Nexus frontman on the show.

After some video recaps and Byron interviewing Bryan, both of which were designed to remind us the latter was not at one hundred per cent, it was time for the tag team title match. It was another great outing. The Outlaws fell about all over the place like they were still in their prime. The Usos kept up with some big falls of their own. Particularly impressive were a tope and a rough hip toss into the corner from Road Dogg.

I'd expected the match to end in a way that setup a rematch. That wasn't the case. Billy got a roll up on Jimmy after he'd super kicked Road Dogg off the apron. It was clean but I still expect the teams to clash again at WrestleMania. It feels as though WWE are ready to make a move with the Usos.

Wade Barrett returned to tell fans that Daniel Bryan would lose the Elimination Chamber match. That would make the fans turn on him and bring an end to the yes movement. The fans responded with a no chant.

Darren Young and Titus O'Neil sadly weren't able to keep the hot streak of matches going. They did what they could, D-Young looking impressive tumbling over the ring post to the floor and Titus doing everything in his power to look like an unstoppable monster, but the fans just weren't interested. I suspect that was a mixture of their issue seeming forced and the match's place on the show. Titus won a competent match with Clash of the Titus.

Bad News was out again after that. His bad news was that he had overshadowed  Hulk Hogan. That didn’t qualify as news or truth but hey, that’s the WWE creative team for you. Over on the expert panel ‘The World’s Strongest Man’ revealed he's unhappy with what's happened between the PTPs and Miz and Rey raved about the IC and tag matches respectively.

Best Shield match ever?

Both The Shield and The Wyatt Family got cheered as they were introduced for the six man tag match. The audience roared out chants for both units as they stared each other down. Ambrose threw the first punch, triggering a ruckus that his team got the better of. The match that followed was one of the best I've ever seen from either team. All six men looked good, doing everything they could to make the match exciting and memorable and stuffing it with special moments: the initial meeting of Reigns and Wyatt, an incredible clothesline from Harper, Rollins getting choke bombed through the Spanish announce table, and Reigns powering out of Sister Abigail and taking out all three Wyatt members being just some of them. It could not have been better. The crowd made it even better: the reaction they gave the match made it seem like a big deal. It's a shame it couldn't be saved until WrestleMania.

Presumably it wasn't because bigger and better things are planned for 'The Granddaddy of Them All'. Reigns took the loss, being pinned by Bray Wyatt, which could see him labelled as the weak link by Ambrose and-or Rollins. A three-way match seems the obvious thing for WWE to present at this point, and considering the way the group's been built up the natural place for it to happen is WrestleMania. Hopefully that match can match this one. It won't be easy.

Backstage Renee Young spoke to Christian. He said he'd win the WWE title. Nobody believed him.

AJ Lee extended her 252 day Divas title reign went to 253 by escaping her encounter with Cameron with the gold. They didn't get long and so smartly focused on interacting with the crowd as opposed to trying to cram in a load of moves. It was most notable for Tamina accidentally super kicking her charge and then roughing up Cameron to cause the DQ. The dissent between AJ and Tamina will probably lead to a match at WrestleMania.

Bad News Barrett's final piece of bad news was that the WWE Network will be so good that people will become obsessed with it. Kids will be expelled to lack of attendance and adults will lose jobs. It was painful, as were all his segments. As I’ve written before, this is not the character that’s going to turn Wade Barrett into a star.

After Emma, The (Not So) Great Khali, Los Matadores, El Torito and Santino were shown playing with a LEGO-like toy in the back it was time for Batista v Alberto Del Rio. The audience made it very clear that they weren't fans of 'The Animal' by giving him the loudest boos of the night. Batista did a typically poor job rising above the response while the announcers no-sold the boos.

Who could resist cheering this?

ADR came out on a crutch and said he wouldn't be able to compete. The inevitable attack didn't get the blistering heat that was expected for two reasons. One: it was obvious that it was coming. Two: people wanted to see Del Rio assault Batista. The fans chanted "Sie!" and "Bootista" throughout the match, also throwing in chants for Daniel Bryan, CM Punk, RVD, Brock Lesnar and 'Y2J'. Mid-way through the match things had become so bad that the order was given to acknowledge the hostile crowd, although it was stated to be an unusual situation as opposed to the norm. WWE were adamant the Rumble winner remain a face.

The entire match was a transparent attempt to try and make Batista appear sympathetic. That aside it wasn't a bad showing. Yes it was basic. Yes the fans were more entertaining than the wrestling. Yes Batista's victory was terribly predictable. But the bout could have been far worse. That said I think WWE really need to listen to their audiences and turn Batista heel.

The expert panel were asked for their opinions on the Elimination Chamber match. Miz selected Bryan as the winner while Mark Henry went with Sheamus and Mysterio backed Cesaro. I mention this for completion rather than for interest. Because it's not interesting.

My prediction regarding Brock Lesnar attacking someone (specifically Christian) and nabbing their Chamber pod turned out to be incorrect. It would have been nice to see 'The Pain' involved but considering the quality of the match we got I'm not too unhappy it didn’t happen.

I’d expected Cesaro and Bryan to start the match. I was half right. 'The Swiss Superman' began with Sheamus. They hammered one another with uppercuts and closed fists and tumbled around on the steel structure for good measure. It was a good opening exchange that kept the crowd interested without involving anyone too important. Bryan was the third man into the match, immediately nailing both opponents with a top rope drop kick and then laying in some stiff kicks. Seconds later he trapped Shaymo in an Indian death lock and performed a northern lights suplex on Cesaro, a nice spot. On the outside Cesaro sent Bryan sailing through the "bulletproof" glass of an empty pod. That would become a theme.

After that things quietened down until entrant number four was added. 'Captain Charisma' started off targeting D-Bry's shoulder. Moments later he took out Sheamus with an inverse DDT on the steel grating and then got power bombed into an empty pod and uppercutted back into the ring by Cesaro.

Entrant five was Cena. He AAed Christian onto Cesaro before taking a top rope hurricanrana from Bryan. Before Bryan could connect with his big kick Christian snuck in with an Unprettier (no, I won’t call it the Killswitch). A sequence of finishers, signature moves and near falls followed, including a Swiss Death uppercut, Christians tornado DDT and Shaymo's White Noise. When the klaxon sounded to signify Orton was entering everyone was down. He started off with stomps but quickly broke out a pose when he started drowning in boos. That this is all Orton can think to do when he’s receiving such strong heat is incredibly disappointing. Anyway, the posing gave everyone time to recover and corner the champ, which sent him scurrying back into his pod.

That didn't work out well for him: in one of the highlights of the match Sheamus nailed him with a brogue kick through the pod. Back in the ring Orton was subjected to Cesaro's Big Swing. Moments later he was back on his feet to play a part in the first elimination, performing a superplex on Sheamus, which was followed up by a splash from atop a pod from Christian. That would be the only elimination 'The Instant Classic' would make though: he almost immediately fell victim to Bryan's running knee.

Cena and Bryan traded punches before Cena scooped Bryan up for an AA, only to be scooped up himself, still clutching Bryan, for a Cesaro German suplex. Cena countered a gut wrench into a hurricanrana, AAed 'The Real American' onto the steel and then made him tap to the STF. Cesaro looked incredibly strong in defeat. Not only did it take three major moves to put him down but it was the company’s top star that pinned him.

WrestleMania preview?

Cena wasn't done with his trusty STF. He slapped it onto 'The Viper' less than fifteen seconds later. That application would prove less fruitful. The lights were cut before The Wyatt Family appeared in the ring. They took out Bryan and then triple teamed Cena, ending with a Sister Abigail. That allowed Orton to eliminate Cena and left him alone with Bryan.

Kane went to ringside to order the Wyatts to the back and then entered the cage, to help remove the slumped Cena, where he absorbed a flying knee from Bryan. 'The Dazzler' and 'The Apex Predator' traded the upper hand for a minute or two before Bryan escaped an RKO attempt and dropped Orton with the running knee. The referee's count was broken up by Kane. He got a roundhouse kick for his behaviour, which allowed Orton to connect with an RKO for a believable false finish. Bryan came back with a small package and another kick but then got smacked by 'The Big Red Machine' and dropped with a second, match-winning, RKO.

As Orton left with his belts Cole confirmed that Batista v Orton will headline WrestleMania for the championship. They are the two most hated men on the roster. If WWE goes through with that and doesn't involve Bryan they deserve all the negative and abusive chants they get during that match.

The booking the show seems to indicate that Daniel Bryan will clash with company COO Triple H at WrestleMania XXX. This doesn’t necessarily preclude him from the WWE championship match he deserves to be a part of. He could be booked in the match opposite ‘The Game’ with a stipulation that he’ll be placed into the evening’s main event if he wins. A big name wrestling twice at WrestleMania may seem odd but it’s not unprecedented (WrestleMania X) and it would fit with Bryan being the man who wrestles two or three times on practically every other episode of RAW.

The last thing WWE management should be doing is sticking to their guns and planning Orton v Batista in a singles match. That is not best for business.

SmackTalk 21.02.14

For the final (relatively) significant piece of WWE television to air before the arrival of The WWE Network SmackDown felt anti-climactic. The new streaming service was, to the best of my recollection, not mentioned once and the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view was half-hearted. It was as though WWE were producing a piece of television by the numbers. While that’s nothing new I would have expected their final non-Network era piece of work to be more meaningful.

As understated as the show was it was still enjoyable. The opening two matches in particular were very good. The first saw Daniel Bryan defeat Jack Swagger relatively quickly with a running knee. The second also featured Bryan, this time tangling with his old indy foe ‘Don’t Call Him Antonio’ Cesaro. That one got longer and was more enjoyable, even though it saw Bryan writhing in pain for a lot of its run time.

The main event, Christian v Sheamus, wasn’t bad but wasn’t especially good either. It was a standard match from the two men. That they’re deemed worthy of headlining SmackDown demonstrates how little effort is put into the programme these days. The same match closing RAW simply wouldn’t happen.

A better choice for the main event would have been the lively six man tag that pitted Erick Rowan, Luke Harper and Bray Wyatt against Goldust, Cody Rhodes, and Rey Mysterio. The Wyatts are easily as over an act as either Christian or Sheamus, Goldust and Cody aren’t far behind and Rey Mysterio, for all he’s falling apart and passed his best, can still excel in multi-man showings. It was the best match on the show.

Opening

Tweet 1: It's SmackTalk time!
Tweet 2: Nothing says B show like a Christian v Sheamus main event.

Daniel Bryan v Jack Swagger

Tweet 3: But don't worry, Daniel Bryan's in the opener! "Why put the most over man in the company on last?" he asked rhetorically.

Tweet 4: Lengthy recaps of RAW happenings. Never a good sign. Still, it's nice to see Kane wrestling in his vest again.
Tweet 5: Swagger v Bryan? And we could have had Cesaro v Bryan. #continueddisappointmentofSwaggersexistence
Tweet 6: Anyone else noticed that Zeb Colter usually wears a tie? I like that. So few people dress for ringside anymore.
Tweet 7: Just look at Jerry Lawler.
Tweet 8: Actually, don’t.
Tweet 9: I still don't understand why The Real Americans aren't wrestling in red, white and blue gear. Natural fit for their characters.
Tweet 10: Swagger's working the injured arm but I bet he'll still try the ankle lock at some point.
Tweet 11: Swagger gets randomly belted with the knee then loses. Completely unsurprising result.

Daniel Bryan v Cesaro

Tweet 12: Oh look, it’s Rita Repulsa!

Tweet 13: Oh we ARE getting Bryan v Cesaro? Delightful.

Bryan v Cesaro never gets old

Tweet 14: JBL says it's best for business. I think that line's played out by WWE. Does Triple H even say it anymore?
Tweet 15: How many times has Vickie Guerrero been the SmackDown general manager? It's got to be at least four.
Tweet 16: Michael Cole concedes that, on paper, Bryan v Cesaro is best for business.
Tweet 17: "Whaddaya doing, Jack?" - Unbiased commentator Michael Cole
Tweet 18: "No! No!" - Jack Swagger, misunderstanding the concept of yes chants
Tweet 19: Why was Kane's walk down to ringside not televised? That could have been a highlight of this show.
Tweet 20: Why refer to your most popular wrestler as a gnome and a farm animal?
Tweet 21: Small package followed by a Swiss Death European uppercut. Good exchange. Nice that those moves are now established as convincing finishes.
Tweet 22: Kane interferes. What a bad dude. I'm pretty much convinced he's going to do the same at Elimination Chamber.
Tweet 23: I'm getting worried that WWE are planning Kane v Bryan at WrestleMania. The correct use of Bryan at 'Mania is a triple threat title match.

Christian speaks to Renee Young backstage

Tweet 24: Christian getting some boos there.

Tweet 25: 'The Man of the Peeps' lashing out at the fans there. No reason for it beyond reminding us he's a heel now.
Tweet 26: I'm bored of all WWE heels sounding the same.

The Wyatt Family v Goldust, Cody Rhodes and Rey Mysterio

Tweet 27: JBL is wearing a polka dot tie and a checked shirt. Not cool, bro. #fashionsense

Tweet 28: The Wyatt Family are being booed. What exactly have they done or said to make them heels?
Tweet 29: Bray Wyatt: king of nonsense.
Tweet 30: Remember when Mysterio and Cody Rhodes hated each other and Dusty came in to betray his pal for his son? Well now they're tagging together.
Tweet 31: I miss Goldust’s pink gloves.
Tweet 32: "Constantly talking in riddles..." - Michael Cole on Bray Wyatt. I think he was thinking of The Riddler
Tweet 33: Goldust needs a better brand of face paint. The one he currently uses is always running. Maybe put in a call to Prince Devitt...
Tweet 34: Goldy gets the hot tag to Cody. Has Rey even been in this match yet?
Tweet 35: Ah he's just tagged in. Knee status: frisky.
Tweet 36: I couldn't be more pleased that Harper escaped the 619. Mysterio is a smug little ferret who needs taking down a peg.
Tweet 37: Erick Rowan is tossing Rey Mysterio around in a bear hug. It's not particularly interesting but bless 'im for trying.
Tweet 38: "He's like a member of the MENSA society" - Michael Cole on... wait for it... Bray Wyatt

FYI: Rey Mysterio's outfit was modeled on the Swiss flag

Tweet 39: Goldust is the most over man on his team. WWE need to find a way of transferring some of that reaction to Cody permanently before they split.
Tweet 40: Tasty little springboard from Cody there.
Tweet 41: Great finishing sequence to that match. Lots going on and people being taken out. Right result too: Wyatt over Goldust with Sister Abigail.

Sheamus speaks to Byron Saxon backstage

Tweet 42: Sheamus, cut back on the hair gel, yeah?
Tweet 43: "A fired up Christian is just what the doctor ordered!" - Sheamus, revealing his view on America's leading religion

Renee Young hosts a dance off involving Emma, Santino, Summer Rae and Faaaaaan… daaaaaan… goooooo

Tweet 44: Emma and Santino... *rolls eyes*

Tweet 45: Renee Young's hosting the dance off, so it's not all bad.
Tweet 46: And in fairness I love me some Fandango.
Tweet 47: I wasn't that into this crowd to begin with but they've completely lost by not humming Fandango's music.
Tweet 48: Cole's feigned enjoyment of Emma's dancing is nauseating.
Tweet 49: #hipaction
Tweet 50: Forget Bryan, Fandango v Santino needs to be the WrestleMania main event! #grudgematch

Titus O’Neil v Dolph Ziggler

Tweet 51: I'm still a fan of Titus O'Neil even though he's not going anywhere as a singles wrestler.

Tweet 52: Darren Young's on commentary claiming that The Prime Time Players were the roughest and toughest tag team in WWE. He is incorrect.
Tweet 53: This match is a waste of Dolph Ziggler.
Tweet 54: Darren 'You Know What?" Young.
Tweet 55: Nice that Ziggler won but doing it off a WHISTLE distraction? C'mon, WWE.

Road Dogg v Jimmy Uso

Tweet 56: The Usos gets a televised entrance but the Outlaws don't? Poor...

Tweet 57: It says something about the younger members of the WWE roster that Road Dogg has worked the crowd better than anyone else on this show.
Tweet 58: Yes, including Bryan. He's more over than Road Dogg but he was selling for most of his matches. There wasn't much interaction there.
Tweet 59: Road Dogg loses. That makes me think the Outlaws will be winning at Elimination Chamber.
Tweet 60: So does Michael Cole saying that the Usos have the Outlaws' number.

Sheamus v Christian

Tweet 61: FELLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!

Tweet 62: "Sheamus is out there, cue up the piped in crowd noise, quick!"
Tweet 63: After my comments about Road Dogg's crowd interactions it's probably fair to point at that Sheamus is also doing well in that area.

Tweet 64: Who does Michael Cole think has the most momentum going into the Chamber match? Cesaro...

Tweet 65: Even if that were true (it's not) Cesaro ain't winning the WWE title at EC.
Tweet 66: Orton's never won a Chamber match. That's another reason to predict a victory for him.
Tweet 67: Why did Sheamus take a bump near the timekeeper's table? He wanted to look up Lilian Garcia's dress. #filthySheamus
Tweet 68: It sounded like Sheamus just shouted "I'm Irish!"
Tweet 69: JBL's sports guru gimmick is annoying.
Tweet 70: Mostly because he only knows things because he looks them up specially on Wikipedia, as opposed to having a genuine interest.
Tweet 71: JBL thinks Christian is bad looking. What he needs is a blue dot over his face...
Tweet 72: Tornado DDT being countered into the Irish Curse was nice.
Tweet 73: Anyone who thought Christian would win doesn't know WWE. 
Tweet 74: SmackDown ends with Sheamus hitting his own chest and then being knocked out of the ring by Christian.

It was never going to end well for Christian

Tweet 75: Maybe 'The Celtic Warrior' will be the man jobbed out by Lesnar at Elimination Chamber.
Tweet 76: I don't want to see that. Because ti will almost certainly mean we're getting Lesnar v Shaymo.

Elimination Chamber 2014 preview

Yes, this year’s Elimination Chamber poster does depict Stephanie McMahon pulling a puppet master pose and hovering over the Elimination Chamber structure. Don’t read too much into it. It could play into the last few months of storylines that have shown The Authority playing favourites and holding people down. But it won’t. It’s just the latest in a long line of WWE posters that bare little connection to the card they’re promoting.

While I don’t think EC will achieve the storyline potential that its poster (admittedly only very slightly) hints at I do think it will be a worthwhile show. It’s the last event the company will hold before the launch of the WWE Network so they’ll be feeling the pressure to make it a good one to encourage more subscriptions. It’s also the last pay-per-view¹ the company will produce before WrestleMania XXX. I’m sure the following evening’s RAW is going to be more eventful than the Chamber event but we can expect at least some of the big things occurring on Monday night to be set up on Sunday.

The card itself is a mixture of good and bad. The Elimination Chamber and six man tag matches will both be highlights while I think it’s safe to assume Big E’s first title defence of 2014 and the bout between former teammates Darren Young and Titus O’Neil will be forgettable. Cards like this are what happens when companies don’t concentrate enough on creating stars that people can’t care about.

The evening will kick off with former tag team champions Cody Rhodes and Goldust facing RybAxel on the pre-show. It should be fun. The Rhodes bros are one of WWE’s most popular acts and never seem to have a bad match. While Curtis Axel and The Ryback are no strangers to less than great matches they are at least proficient. More promisingly ‘The Big Guy’ has recently been hilarious with his high school jock-inspired tweets, YouTube antics, and keyboard-mashing entrance taunts. His gimmick is basically that he’s trolling internet wrestling fans and it’s great. But as great as it is I don’t think it will help him and his partner win. Cody and Goldy are the men I expect to go over.

Perhaps the most interesting thing is whether or not the brothers will split to set up a singles match between them at WrestleMania. That’s a match both men have wanted to have for years and now would be the logical time to do it, what with them being affiliated on-screen and all. I’ve said before that I hope they don’t go their separate ways. I’d be much more interested in seeing them wrestle together as a team at WrestleMania than against each other. A three-way tag title match involving the Rhodes boys, the Usos and the New Age Outlaws would be nice. I’m going to hope for that.

Titus O’Neil v Darren Young does nothing for me. I’m only interested in the two as a team. That they’ve been split strikes me as a massive waste. The roster’s clogged up with singles guys doing nothing. It’s going to be very hard for either of them to connect with audiences in a meaningful way. As the aggressor in the split and the bigger of the two I think ‘The Big Deal’ has been selected as the one to get moved up the card, so I’ll go with him to win.

I am similarly disinterested in Big E v Jack Swagger. Neither man excites me with either their wrestling style or character. In fact the most interesting thing that’s happened to either lately is the loss of a surname. It feels safe to assume that the former Langston will retain his IC gold. A lengthy title reign with the restored number two title is probably something that those in charge think will get him over. In and of itself it won’t. But if he’s given some worthwhile feuds and defences that mean something then Big E might be able to move up in people’s estimations and restore some cred to the strap.

The New Age Outlaws’ title defence against the Jimmy and Jey Uso is neither good nor bad. It merely is. The Usos are a team that WWE have kept in a position of minor prominence for a year or two now. They’ve never had the big push but they’ve been kept chugging along with outings against everyone form the Rhodes brothers to The Shield. Whenever something’s come up for a less important tag team to do it’s them that have been given it. I remain convinced they’ll never be a huge act but WWE are at least taking the right approach with them, taking things slow and letting the crowd accept them in their own time. They should do that with more of their wrestlers.

On the other hand the Outlaws are a nostalgia act. They’re not going to have the titles for long. They’re not going to stay on our screens for long either. They’re two guys getting one last run of relevance. With that in mind it’s possible their sixth championship reign will end with this match. I’m leaning towards it lasting six more weeks though. As I mentioned above, a triple threat pitting Road Dogg and Billy Gun and Cody and Goldy and Jey and Jimmy would be a nice ‘Mania bout. It would be ideal for the pre-show.

Speaking of teams Elimination Chamber will play host to a six man tag match WWE have masterfully held off: The Shield versus The Wyatt Family. Both units have been kept strong by winning more six man tag matches than they’ve lost, by being used consistently instead of having their pushes halted for backstage faux pas or decreases in interest, and by interacting with names further up the card. It’s been a great example of building new acts, welcome proof that WWE can still succeed at that task if they decide they want to.

Because of how well the teams have been built up and because they’re both trios it’s always been a natural match for WWE to book. By not rushing into it and allowing the teams to establish themselves separately the match means more than it would otherwise. They’ve also sensibly held off until one of the units is near the end of its life. ‘The Hounds of Justice’ will either face one another at WrestleMania or split and face off shortly afterwards. A match with the Wyatts is the last, obvious, box for them to tick before they take off the riot gear and do their own things.

I find it hard to imagine The Shield winning this match. They’ve been shown bickering amongst themselves and Roman Reigns is increasingly looking like he’s ready to step away from the gang and be his own man. Meanwhile the Wyatts are a united force.

A Wyatt win makes sense. It keeps the act that’s staying together looking stronger and gives Bray Wyatt another win over an over act. That’s important if he’s to be taken seriously as a foe for John Cena, which seems to be what’s planned for him. A Shield loss makes just as much sense. It creates another reason for the three members to have issues with one another.

I’ll be interested to see how this match is laid out. Reigns is set up for a face turn and Rollins and Ambrose are both smaller than all three members of The Wyatt Family so The Shield playing face makes sense. More flattering booking for Reigns wouldn’t be surprising. Neither would Ambrose attempting to upstage his teammates. It seems pretty clear he’s going to be the central antagonist of the three when they split, while Rollins could go either way².  

Batista v Alberto Del Rio is, more than anything else, a necessary evil. As the Royal Rumble winner and the man who will wrestle for the WWE championship at WrestleMania Batista needs to have a presence on this show. A promo wasn’t going to cut it. He’s been talking for weeks. This show needed to have him wrestle.

If kept short this match could be fine. That would allow ‘The Animal’ to run through a sequence of power moves before the crowd has a chance to become bored and really get into heckling him. As it is they’ll do that anyway, but the longer he’s out there the worse it’ll get. A short length would also help with the quality. Batista has only ever worked satisfying lengthy matches with men of a very high level. As much as I like ADR he’s not of that level, partially because his character has not been permitted to progress that far. The WWE faithful simply aren’t conditioned to expect twenty minute PPV matches from ‘The Essence of Excellence’.

On top of that Batista has been getting blown up performing entranceway taunts. That’s another reason I think this match would benefit from a slender run time.

The result seems the most predictable thing on the card. There’s just no logic in Batista losing: he’s going to wrestle for the company’s top prize at their biggest show while ADR isn’t even guaranteed a match on the show. As flat as his return’s been WWE have invested a lot of money in it and made plans centring on the former Evolution man. They’re not going to have him lose on this show.

We’ll find out who Batista will be facing in the Elimination Chamber match. Randy Orton, John Cena, Sheamus, Christian, ‘Don’t Call Him Antonio’ Cesaro and Daniel Bryan will compete for the WWE championship. That’s the announced match at least. With this show being held in Brock Lesnar’s billed from town of Minneapolis I’m expecting him to be added to the match. Christian and Cesaro could be attacked early in the show or on their way to the ring and have their spot taken by ‘The Pain’. It’s something WWE’s done before and it would add star power to an already strong Chamber line-up. ‘The Man of the Peeps’ would be my preferred choice to receive that beating: I don’t need to see him in the Chamber while I think Cesaro could benefit from the spot.

There are a lot of things that could happen in this match. Cena is expected to become linked to the Wyatts, so they could interfere. Bryan has had a half-hearted, short-lived programme with Kane over the last couple of weeks, so he could interfere. Triple H could interfere to cost D-Bry the match, setting up a match between them for WrestleMania. There’s even a slender chance Undertaker could appear in order to kick off his ‘Mania feud, something that I think will be likelier if Lesnar’s involved than not.

If you’ve never seen an Elimination Chamber match before, or if you have a very short memory, you may be wondering how this interference could happen. Well, in 2010 Shawn Michaels popped into the Chamber by removing hiding under the ring and removing one of the metal grates. And, y’know, the cage door opens when people are eliminated, someone could easily run in then. For ‘The Phenom’ I’d particularly enjoy the lights out-lights back on trick. I won’t expect it though.

There are two men I think have a real chance of leaving this match with the WWE championship. The first is Randy Orton. The second is Daniel Bryan. The original plan for WrestleMania seems to have been ‘The Viper’ defending the title against Batista. Due to Batista not being as popular as WWE believed and the ascension of Daniel Bryan I think there’s a good chance that plan has been altered to either a triple threat involving Bryan or a singles match between Bryan and Batista.

The three-way seems likeliest and that could be set up with either Bryan or Orton leaving as champion. Bryan could request a chance to be entered into that match and be given the chance to do so in a match (pitting him against Batista would be a nice idea, but not something I’d expect from the overly protective WWE). If Orty lost the title he could add himself to the WM30 main event via a rematch clause (although the way WWE books him I wouldn’t be surprised if he had to earn his way in too, even though he’s a conniving, cowardly heel). Either Bryan or Orton could go into that match as champion but I’d like to think WWE would do the sensible thing and have ‘The Apex Predator’ enter as champion. That would allow Bryan that feel good win on the company’s largest stage, getting the best crowd reaction of the entire show.

I can see WWE taking the stupider three-way route. That would see Bryan winning the championship at EC14 and losing it to Batista at WrestleMania. The justification for this would be that it gets the Bryan title win everyone wants but would also allow the original plan of a Batista title win to go ahead. It would, of course, be a bad move, because it would see the promotion’s hottest star losing the championship everyone wants him to have at the biggest show of the year. That result would get booed out of the building, even if it was designed to set up Bryan regaining the gold a month later in his home state.

Predicting an Orton win also covers me in case none of the above is applicable and WWE are arrogantly sticking to their guns and going ahead with a Batista versus Orton singles match. It would be a completely stupid decision to do that match but don’t put it passed them. Whatever the plan for the future I think the Chamber will come down to Bryan and Orton.

There are alternatives of course. As I’ve said before John Cena can never be ruled out in title matches. With so much uncertainty going on around who’s over and who’s not it would be easy for WWE to fall back on their tried and tested top guy. Yes he’d get booed at WrestleMania, but they’re used to that and Cena copes with it better than anyone else. He’d be a safe bet and could wrestle Batista, Orton, Bryan or any combination of the three at ‘Mania in a satisfactory match.

There’s also the potential for Lesnar to win (if he ends up entering that is). Lesnar v Batista would be a fresh match and one I imagine WWE have always wanted to promote. If they were prepared to have Batista lose his guaranteed title match (which they would be) then Lesnar v Orton and Lesnar v Bryan would also be fresh. The latter would also have benefit from having a very interesting dynamic and probably being the best thing on the show.

While Elimination Chamber doesn’t have an announced card that will go down as one of the greatest of all time it does at least promise to be interesting. The uncertainty around the main event is what will make or break this show. I’m as confident as I can be that WWE will do the right thing for the success of their bigger show. And that’s having Bryan lose to set him up for a win later.

Predictions summary:

Randy Orton to retain the WWE championship
The Wyatt Family to defeat The Shield
Batista to defeat Alberto Del Rio
The New Age Outlaws to defeat the Usos
Cody Rhodes and Goldust to defeat RybAxel
Titus O’Neil to defeat Darren Young
Big E to defeat Jack Swagger

***

¹ What are we going to call them when they’re on the Network? Supershows? Somehow that doesn’t feel very WWE.

² And I don’t mean that in a fanfic way, obvs.

First RAW of the Network Era

February 24 2014 is going to be one of the most important dates in WWE history. It's the Monday after the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, which means an episode of RAW that's more eventful than the average instalment. It's a night six weeks out from WrestleMania XXX, which should mean the line-up for that show is finalised and storylines are ready to start moving towards them. And then of course there's the thing that makes it a really big day: the launch of the WWE Network.

WWE will obviously do everything they can to ensure the launch is a success. I've no idea what that will require from a technical position. Lots of servers being online or something I s'pose. Content-wise it will involve decent numbers of worthwhile shows being ready to watch for people who sign up. As for RAW it should involve a strong line-up. That means every major star currently on the roster, part-timer Brock Lesnar, cameos from past stars, and some significant returns.

Four names spring to mind when I think of significant returns. Of those two seem very likely to pop up, one seems unlikely, and one seems impossible.

The men in the first category are Hulk Hogan and The Undertaker. Despite creating a number of top stars since Hogan made his first high profile split two decades ago (he wanted to crack films but ended up in WCW) WWE seems unable to completely sever the link they have with him. This is partly because to many, including the media, Hogan is still a comfortable shorthand for the pinnacle of the wrestling business. With WWE being the biggest wrestling company in the world and an organisation that started their rise to dominance with ‘The Hulkster’ as their figurehead the linking of the two parties is natural and understandable. To people with only a basic knowledge of wrestling Hogan and WWE are inseparable entities. With WWE always hungry for media coverage it makes sense that they’ve never gone out of their way to attempt to alter this perception.

It's a link both WWE and Hogan benefit from. WWE gains access to a man who can still draw in the punters. Hogan gets paid lots of cash to spout whatever company line he's asked to and the spotlight. With Hogan it always comes back to the spotlight. It’s a setup that works for both parties, basically. That Hogan’s been away from WWE for seven years won’t hurt either. Comebacks mean more when the person coming back has been away for a long time.

Undertaker’s is a different situation. Over the last several years he has dropped into a pattern of making annual returns before WrestleMania. As such his comeback is to be expected and can be relied upon to boost the rating of RAW. Timing that boost to coincide with the Network is a smart move. Pairing it with the return of Hogan is smarter still. It would encourage a large audience, something WWE wants because they’ll be plugging their new streaming service all night long.

Be aware that he looks very different now

The name who seems unlikely is The Ultimate Warrior. Announced for a Hall of Fame induction in New Orleans we know Warrior will be appearing at WrestleMania. It’s entirely possible that part of the deal he’s struck with WWE is an appearance to coincide with the Network launch. He’s not appeared for the promotion since the summer of 1996. For many people who grew up watching WWE in the late eighties and early nineties Warrior is either the equal or superior of Hulk Hogan. It’s those lapsed viewers with a love for or interest in nostalgia WWE are hoping to entice to subscribe to their Network. With that in mind Ultimate Warrior would be a very significant figure to reintroduce after an eighteen year absence.

The final name, the man whose return would be significant but whom I can’t imagine WWE getting, is CM Punk. The reasons for this should be obvious. ‘The Second City Saint’ walked out without a goodbye after Royal Rumble. Since then audiences have chanted his name at every televised WWE show. It’s only been a few weeks but it’s been made very clear that fans want him back. He’s still under contract and if WWE could sort out their creative differences then they could get Punk to appear. That doesn’t seem likely though. The problems are too deep and fresh to be overcome in time for the post-Chamber RAW (unless it’s all been a part of a worked shoot conspiracy theory all along; not something I seriously expect).

Whoever they get to appear alongside the core members of their roster the fact that the Network is so important to the future of the company makes me think that WWE will do everything in their power to make the February 24 RAW exciting and memorable. It’s a chance for them to advertise their new venture for three hours. A good show is going to energise regular viewers and, more importantly, possibly trick those tuning in for the first time in a while that WWE is just as exciting as ever. It’s the first RAW in a while that we can expect to be great before it airs.

Will WWE make a similar effort when the Network launches in other territories later in the year or early next year? Somehow I doubt it.

Hijacking

The concept of audiences “hijacking” shows doesn’t make sense to me. What they’re actually doing is responding to what’s presented to them, something they’re well within their rights to do as paying customers. Hijacking implies that they’re taking over the show. They’re not. WWE retains complete creative control before, during and after hostile reactions to unpopular segments. The crowd can influence what happens but they can’t control it.

This is how wrestling should work. Promotions should listen to crowd reactions for their stars and place them in positions of prominence accordingly. If someone provokes a strong reaction they should logically be given more to do because the reaction indicates that audiences are willing to pay to see them.

What’s more WWE, and other promotions, should be seeking this sort of reaction. It demonstrates that the audience is passionate about a performer. That’s exactly what any wrestling promotion should be after. Whether they act on the reactions is something else entirely. Obviously they should because the audience are making it clear with these outbursts who they desire to see moved into positions of prominence. But even if they take the poor decision to ignore the reactions they’re still desirable, because of the passion.

Another day another picture of Daniel Bryan on this blog

The reason this is considered a topic is of course because of the recent events involving Daniel Bryan. Crowds have been chanting for him during matches and segments that don’t involve him for the last month or two as a way of letting WWE know that they support the guy and feel he deserves to be used more prominently. Royal Rumble was hit particularly badly. The WWE championship match between Randy Orton and John Cena played to silence and smattering of boos while the Rumble match itself was met with outright hostility once all thirty entrants had been announced and Bryan wasn’t among them.

A fair question is: what do these fans actually want WWE to do with Bryan? He’s already wrestling in lengthy matches every week, which is by far the best use of him. He’s getting involved in talking segments but having his part kept to a minimum. Anyone who wants him doing more talking is being ridiculous. D-Bry’s promos have improved a lot over the years and he’s now above average but I don’t think he’s on the Austin, Hogan, Punk, Cena and Triple H level of being able to guide an audience through a lengthy promo that keeps them interested, explains plots and sets up matches. Besides, what’s he going to say if he gets more mic time? Part of his appeal is that he initiates monosyllabic chants. I think a lot of people want him to be given the world title. The reasoning behind this wish is almost certainly that a lengthy title reign, taking in WrestleMania, will be an acknowledgement from WWE that Bryan is capable of leading the company forward.

So really WWE bosses created this rod for their own backs when they decided to do a months-long storyline in which The Authority stated that Bryan is not worthy of being ‘The Man’. They have nobody to blame but themselves.

WWE’s way of combatting this so far has been a combination of ignoring and denying these outbursts. Some people have suggested they’re going out of their way to script deliberately ponderous and unexciting episodes of RAW as a way of burning out crowds. It’s certainly plausible, with recent episodes having been, well, unexciting and ponderous. I don’t think it’s what’s happening though.

Ignoring the reactions will only suffice for so long. WWE will need to either figure out a way to stop the chants or give the people what they want by WrestleMania. That’s their flagship show, the one they want to be as great and remarkable as it can be every year. They won’t want people booing their main event or chanting for someone who’s not involved. As I can’t think of any way to stop the reactions the only option left to WWE is to give people what they want: more Daniel Bryan.

There are worse things to do than give your customers what they want. But that’s not how WWE operates. As such I think we can expect a few more weeks of hostility before they finally remedy the situation by putting the championship on Bryan or adding him to the ‘Mania main event. Hey, he’s in the Elimination Chamber. That’s a start.

That RAW Recap 03.02.14

It's an accepted part of wrestling that WrestleMania Season, which stretches from Royal Rumble to WrestleMania (maybe the night after WrestleMania nowadays), is WWE's peak time of year. WrestleMania being their biggest show means all the big matches and the storylines that go with them are saved until then, with big name returns tying into that. This attracts lapsed fans and encourages casual viewers to tune into RAW more regularly.

That's the theory anyway. The two RAWs we've had since the Rumble have done very little to mark this out as a special or important time of year. The highlight of last week's show were an in-ring confrontation between Randy Orton, Batista and Brock Lesnar and a six man tag match putting Sheamus, John Cena and Daniel Bryan against The Shield. It's not unfair to expect more from the promotion at this time of year.

This week's episode was even less interesting. In addition to the absence of CM Punk (which went unacknowledged for the second week in a row) Brock Lesnar and John Cena were both absent. Lesnar's appearances are being hoarded for later weeks while Cena was held off the show because of an eye injury he suffered in a match with Randy Orton at a house show on Saturday. These things are unavoidable but there's nothing to stop WWE using the guys and girls they do have on the show better. The increased audiences should be an incentive to do that anyway: perhaps a new viewer will take a liking to a newly pushed act and continue watching to see them. Longer term new acts are going to be needed because returning names like Batista and part-timers like Lesnar and Undertaker are not going to be the answer forever.

Lengthy Randy Orton promos: always a popular way to start RAW

RAW started with a Randy Orton promo. Chants for CM Punk started up as soon as he opened his mouth, forcing him to speak quickly in a attempt to drown them out. He didn't manage that but the audience did get bored quickly and dropped the chant themselves. The mention of 'The Viper' potentially losing his titles got cheers. The mention of Batista got boos. It was a stumble-ridden, uncertain effort from the usually reliable, if unimpressive, Orton.

The Authority strolled to the stage after Orty again chose to speak out against them. Steph called the champ paranoid as the Punk chants started up again briefly. Triple H said Orton says the same thing every week. That's true but it's a bit rich coming from the man who said the same thing every week during the his time as top heel from 1999 onwards. More importantly 'The Game' said they'd maybe have to consider selecting a new face of the company because of Orton's excuses. That earned cheers and a halfhearted attempt at a Daniel Bryan chant (give me an east coast audience for crowd participation any day of the week). It was announced Randy will face his five Elimination Chamber opponents in singles matches on RAW and SmackDown episodes before the show and if any of them beat him they'll be in the running to be the new face. The first man to face him would be Bryan. He seemed like an odd choice. I'd have thought they'd want to save him until last and build up to him. Then again a series like this can only really work if the two biggest names open and close it. With Cena indisposed Bryan was the only realistic choice to wrestle 'The Viper'.

After a steel cage tag title match was announced for later in the show The Shield strolled to ringside. They were facing Rey Mysterio, Big E Langston, and, outside of his natural hour two habitat, Kofi Kingston. Notable commentary included JBL highlighting the fact that Ambrose hasn't defended his US title in months and Michael Cole trying to force the nicknames of 'The Architect' and 'The Lunatic Fringe' on Rollins and Ambrose (I really hope neither catch on because they're about as nonsensical as wrestling nicknames can get, and wrestling nicknames can get pretty nonsensical). It was a decent opener, marred slightly by Big E recklessly busting Reigns open during his running body tackle. It's not the first time that's happened. Langston needs to take more care.

The dissolution of The Shield also continued to be hinted at. Reigns dropped Big E with the Supermsn punch but Ambrose tagged himself in before he could follow up with a spear. Ambrose then got the win with his tumbling DDT. As Rollins tried to keep his teammates cool the Wyatt Family appeared on the Titantron and did one of his strange promos, this one mentioning The Shield waiting to serve their king. Harper added something about Bray being that King and whistled. Erick Rowan's single line was to tell 'The Hounds of Justice' to run.

Back at ringside Bad News Barrett perched atop his really tall podium and said America had overeaten so much during the previous evening's Superb Owl that most of them would be dead by next year's game (which seemed a bit dark). Jerry Lawler stood up at commentary and said he had some bad news himself: he hoped Barrett wouldn't be around the following week. Not strictly news, 'King', but fine, whatevs.

Match two saw Christian defeat Jack Swagger with a roll up. After the match Zeb and Swagger had words and Cesaro shook his head sadly. It looks like Swagger's been lumbered with a variant of the losing streak gimmick. Again.

I think Cody's about to get a face full of fence

The tag team title cage match was on after that. Rules vary in these sorts of matches. This week tags were being made and only pins and submissions would win the bout. The match suffered from a slow pace and an uninterested crowd. That changed, though not by as much as was deserved, when Cody performed a moonsault from the top of the cage at the finish of the match. It was nicely done and would have made a better match feel special. As it was it felt a little incongruous doing something so extreme to end a decidedly average bout. Rhodes hit Road Dogg but got pinned by a Fameasser, giving the Outlaws the win.

Hour two continued with Zack Ryder falling to the newly heel Titus O'Neil. The Miz stormed to the commentary desk during this and said it was wrong that Ryder and O'Neil had a match on RAW but he didn't. Fandango v Santino instead became a dance off between Summer Rae and Emma. The crowd did not get into Emma's dancing. That wasn't surprising. They still picked her as the winner though. I think that can be taken as Summer Rae being an effective heel as anything else.

Sheamus v Curtis Axel was also in hour two. Six months ago Axel looked like he was going somewhere. Now he looks like a no-hoper. His team with Ryback, while enjoyable for its overwhelming naff factor, isn't going to amount to anything. 'Great White' won with the Brogue kick and then shouted at 'The Human Wrecking Ball'.

The crowd's earlier pro-CM Punk chants were shown to be meaningless when they cheered Batista. I don't think Batista deserves all the negativity he gets but he is a very clear target if fans want to send a message to WWE that they don't like what's being put on TV. He's a shorthand for the perceived lack of creative team support for the likes of Bryan and Punk. This week 'The Animal' was wearing a jean jacket, shades and a tight blue V-neck (because clothing is what people really care about with Batista segments). Before 'The Animal' could speak Alberto Del Rio strolled out. Batista said he didn't have a problem with ADR. ADR punched him in the mouth, showing he still has a problem with Batista. A Batista bomb was attempted but Del Rio ran away before he could take it. It was a pretty poor segment. Batista pulling shirt off for no reason didn't help. Though it probably didn't hurt.

Note Bray Wyatt's boots

Hour three began with Dolph Ziggler teaming with R-Truth and Xavier Woods against the Wyatt Family. The Family won with a Sister Abigail on Ziggler. It was not a surprising result. This match is a good example of what I said above about WWE making better use of the guys they do have. The Wyatt Family were always going to win but imagine if the match had been about Truth or Woods being isolated and constantly trying to get the hot tag to Ziggler. Teased enough it could have provoked a strong reaction and Ziggler could have cleaned up on his opponents before being pinned after a double team move and then Sister Abigail. That layout would have made Ziggler look more like a star and kept him strong in defeat while further establishing Bray's finisher and the Family's teamwork. Pairing 'The Show Off' with more credible partners, such as Mysterio and Sin Cara wouldn't have hurt either.

The Shield returned the promo favour after the match. Ambrose mentioned not living in a world of monsters and haunted rocking chairs, which was funny. Rollins' few lines were delivered well. I think he's improved at delivering wrestlespeak since joining WWE. He's worlds better than he was as Tyler Black in ROH.

A promo for Alexander Rusev was shown. He spoke in Bulgarian before Lana speared to say "Alexander Rusev crush." There was no hint as to what the plan with Rusev is. There probably isn't one.

Naomi v Aksana followed that. It was inconsequential. AJ Lee was on commentary. Naomi won with a split legged moonsault. The point of the match seemed to be to give Naomi a win and Cole the chance to talk about how she's pinned AJ twice. Presumably they'll face one another at Elimination Chamber.

Sticking this guy in the main event was, ahem, best for business

Randy Orton v Daniel Bryan was the evening's final match. It was around the same level of quality as their PPV series last year. Not bad but probably capable of being better. It's their June 24 street fight they should be trying to emulate. That was great. Bryan targeted the knee of the champ and the champ retaliated by targeting his arm. That was the story of the match until Corporate Kane wandered out to start the finish. 'The Big Red Machine' got knocked off the apron and drop toe held (holded?) into the ring steps after Bryan had dived through the ropes on to him. Back in the ring Bryan pushed out of the RKO and performed his running knee for the victory. After the match Kane and Orton double teamed Bryan (not like that) and 'The Dazzler' was put down with a choke slam. Kane then did his pyro. Yeah, he still does that. That's what's great about him, the fact that he still does the magical and supernatural stuff while wearing a suit. 'The Apex Predator' posed as the show closed.

The result of this match would mean more if Orton went on to defeat every other Elimination Chamber opponent in singles matches. Bryan's victory would become more significant if nobody replicated the feat and it would show that Orton's a skilled competitor and worthy champion. People will pay more to see him lose if it happens less often. That's what I think anyway.

Once again I find myself ending a RAW recap hoping that WWE can pull things together next week. Now is the time to impress people, not put them off with loads of filler matches and a lack of ort for wrestlers that are cared about.