I recently watched the debut match of a young John Cena against Kurt Angle, who had challenged anyone in the locker room to come out and face him, following his stunning submission defeat of Hulk Hogan. Cena, without his trademark (ugly) colors, came out of nowhere and almost scored a victory over Angle. Almost, but not quite. Kurt gave the kid a chance, but he didn't put him over.
KO's rise to fame is much different than the route John Cena took and Owens is the current NXT champion. My guess is that this victory over Cena cements Owens as a WWE superstar, which will make it easier for them to bring Samoa Joe up to face him after the Cena feud finishes. Cena may be following the Triple H formula for putting guys over: Three matches, two losses followed by a huge victory. Whether you love him or hate him, you got to give Cena credit for giving Owens a shot. Lately Cena has been doing a great job putting over the new guys, something that a lot of legends refused to do back in the 90's. I've always said the worst thing Bret Hart did was let his ego interfere with his position as a leader. Bret Hart, although one of my favorite wrestlers, never gave back to the industry that made him by helping develop new talent.
Right now we have not one but TWO amazing Canadian performers ready for the prime time.
I am curious what they are going to do with the NXT title, however, I really don't think it belongs on a WWE program. Having the wrestlers cross over once in a while is okay, but the titles need to be distinct.
The only down side to the Owens/Cena feud is that it has devalued the US title, after Cena worked so hard to give it back some prestige. It's hard to claim "the champ is here" when the crowd is chanting "you got beat!"
The top rope reversal was one of the best moves of the night. Cheers to my fellow Canadian for finally reaching the top. Fight Owens Fight!
Interesting note from my wife: One of the announcers mentioned Owens physique but they changed directions when he pulled off a big move. My wife says "NO! What we they going to say about his physique??" She is no fan of Kevin Owens.
Elimination Chamber Results:
For the record, this review only features the main event matches. I only watch the pre-show if there is time. I tend to ignore them. In this case, I heard there was a Stardust match so I will probably watch the pre-show this weekend. Yes, I watch a lot of wrestling out of sequence. As a writer, I can easily jump into story lines at any given point and no keep continuity. :)
Divas Triple Threat Match
I'm a big fan of the Bella Twins and I was glad to see Nikki retain her belt. No one in this match really stood out; I keep hearing that Paige is a great wrestler but I've yet to see it. Fact is, Nikki deserves that title because no one else in the division is good enough. Until they bring Becky Lynch in from NXT, I don't see the division getting better any time soon. We just need more solid matches, not more gimmick matches. Apparently Paige and Nikki faced each other on Raw, but I haven't gotten a chance to watch it yet.
Neville VS Bow Dallas
These two had a match? I don't remember it, although I do have a mild memory of hearing that whiny Bo Dallas. . . I know Bo is talented and young and could one day become a major player, but all I see when I look at him is a future washed up Comicon guest. . . .
Intercontinental Title Match
The best part of the match was Rusev's tweet.
Little broken foot..... big deal. Stupid American doctors won't let me compete. In my country I put dug tape n fight. #WWEChamber @WWE
Yes, in Bulgaria they call it dug tape.
So Mark Henry gets his spot. Mark, the mark. Listen, I really want to support black wrestlers, I'd love to see a great black champion, but so many of them are so bad. Shit, Henry isn't even the world's strongest man anymore, that big dude from Game of Thrones is. It was a waste of opportunity. (Had I watched the pre-show, I'd have known Stardust had already wrestled and I wouldn't have been expecting him in the chamber. Do you know how disappointing it is to want Stardust and get Sexual Chocolate??)
I honestly didn't care whether any of these guys one. So Ryback won, but what is he going to do with that title? Unless they get Bray Wyatt after him again, there really isn't anyone in the division who hasn't already gotten beat. The only interesting idea I can come up with is Ryback vs the Wyatt Family.
WWE Tag Team Championship Match
Unfortunately the part I was looking forward to the most, the men squished in the cells, wasn't that interesting. Apparently there is a lot of room in there.
Always glad to see the Prime Time Players get some camera time, but Darren Young did most of the work, Titus just tossed guys around. Like Roman Reigns, Titus has a lot of power but he needs to work on his traditional ring moves; I want to see a suplex or submission move once in a while.
New Day won and I am sort of coming around to them. They are just so annoying that you can't help but cheer for whoever puts them down. Hopefully Titus and Darren can sharpen their skills enough to take and hold the championship.
I don't know what the hell the Lucha Dragons were doing in this match. Mainly hanging out on top of the chambers for no apparent reason at all. Climbing out to the middle and dropping down probably sounded like a good idea backstage but it fell apart in-ring.
Seth Rollins vs Dean Ambrose, WWE Title Match
Seth Rollins continues to show what an amazing athlete he is. These two men have completely different styles and yet they work so well together that you can tell they know each other very well. Seth is the new version of the Heart Break Kid; not everyone will like him but you have to respect his in-ring talent.
Personally, I prefer Ambrose's mic work over his ring work, I find his in-ring style a little rough, but he certainly knows how to entertain.
Ambrose is champion. I heard them announce it and he has the belt so I am just going to pretend they didn't change the call and Seth didn't retain the title. I don't think Seth will hold his belt again until Money in the Bank anyway.
I try not to read too many wrestling rumors, that kind of stuff ruins the show for me, but I heard that Owens was going to be working with the Authority. This would be a huge mistake. Owens needs to be against everyone, especially Triple H. There are enough flunkies to choose from without making Owens another lap dog for "Mom and Dad".
Another great pay-per-view, although that six man IC title match bored me to sleep. . . If Wrestlemania was a 9, this was a 6 out of 10.
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