Live Instant Reaction - WWE Elimination Chamber
By Ben Tucker, PWTorch TV specialist

Overall Score - 6.5

Despite being part of the company's backbone, WWE has not hesitated in making television appear as important as the pay-per-views they lead up to. Raw has hosted World title changes, major returns, and moments that some B-Level events fail to come close to duplicating. Elimination Chamber, though, has tested the waters in making B-league pay-per-views nothing more than important Raws, leaving the "big four" to maintain their importance alone.

Due to the less expensive nature of the Network when it comes to PPVs, WWE can easily make events such as Elimination Chamber and Fastlane bi-weekly, serving as the true "A" show while Raw (currently struggling with their lowest consistent ratings since the first half of the Clinton administration) can serve more as as more prominent version of Smackdown today. At the halfway point of this trial (with Money in the Bank another two weeks away), the results are a mixed bag. Elimination Chamber 2015 lost the grandeur of a typical event but maintained enough mystique to maintain my interest. That said, with another Sunday event just on the horizon, any extra wrestling will lead me to feeding my extras to the dog under the table.

Just like the event itself, many matches on this show felt thrown together and were largely forgettable. Shockingly enough this includes both Chamber matches. The opener was a spotfest that, aside from a few chokes and Kalisto's insanely choreographed dive, did not use the structure at all. There were too many bodies in the ring at a time with nothing to do, making the match more reminiscent of a Money in the Bank match than a traditional Chamber contest.

Even more surprising was the lack of quality from the second Chamber match. Never in my life could I have imagined such a match being so plodding and uninteresting, but WWE managed to make a contest that rivals December to Dismember 2006 for having the least memorable Elimination Chamber match of all-time. Everything about it, from King Barrett's quick elimination to the announcers not picking up on Sheamus's cheating ways to Ryback's sudden three move comeback leading to his victory felt extremely odd, and while Rusev being taken out of the match was sure to have been an annoyance, it's nothing one day of fixes couldn't have ameliorated. Apparently the talent never got around to re-working the match, as we were treated to Mark Henry standing in the middle of the ring, mouth agape, for 30 seconds while the match progressed onward.

I thought the main event was equally disappointing, delivering a house show-style main event for the house show crowd. If these events become the "new" Raw, then it appears that we will have the exact same format of main event as usual. Outside of the false finish, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins appeared to be sleep-walking through their match, with plodding movements and awkward moments with Ambrose. The story told was technically sound (if not somewhat dull), but the match left a lot to be desired.

And, unfortunately, the Divas match featured ridiculous moves that were botched, Paige reacting to phantom kicks, and nearly becoming paralyzed after a botched reverse Frankensteiner. There was an overall reckless abandon that was as fun to watch as a comically bad comedian.

The "winner" of tonight's event was Kevin Owens vs. John Cena, an incredible match that tested Owens in every way possible. He excelled, delivering moonsaults, superkicks, and package... powerbomb things, all the while having a good handle on the basics (very nice chinlock) and expertly playing to the crowd. Cena held up his own end as well, despite screaming every single spot at the top of his lungs so that the world could hear (and sometimes see from his mouth movements) what the next moment will be before anything happens. As usual, the key is follow-up, but for one night only Cena's once-a-year clean loss played off incredibly. Hopefully the re-match actually does further the story instead of serving as a rush-job due to the quick special event schedule.

Overall, Elimination Chamber was a show that will be remembered like the 1996 King of the Ring: the genesis of Kevin Owens. The Chamber? Who cares? The Title? Big deal. Owens vs. Cena was a special event and I can't wait to see how WWE follows up on it. Just like 1996, there is a wave of change in WWE. Tonight's show spotlighted the products of NXT and nearly all of them shined in some way. The mid-card is bright and nearly overshadowing the dull main event scene. WWE needs to keep shaking up the show and see what happens. The Network is a stable service and affords WWE a safety net, so it's time to let some ideas jump and see who can wow the audience.

Any questions or comments? Message me on Twitter @BTuckertorch!

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