Elimination Chamber 2015
Match 1: WWE Tag Team Championship Elimination Chamber Match - The New Day (c) def. The Prime Time Players, Cesaro & Tyson Kidd, The Ascension, The Lucha Dragons & Los Matadores (23:40)
I believe this is the only other Tag Chamber I have to watch. Gotta say… this was nowhere near as good as the other two. Matter of fact, I would say I was very unimpressed, except for Cesaro, who was the MVP of this match. Now, if you don't remember, all 3 members of New Day were allowed to be in the match for doing Kane's bidding on Raw, so they already have a huge advantage going into it. The match starts with The Acension and the Lucha Dragons. There's nothing interesting in their time here aside from Sin Cara hitting Viktor with a senton from the top of a pod. Kalisto is on the top of New Day's pod forever and twice they pull on his leg. Thankfully the first team out of their pod is Cesaro and Kidd. Cesaro uppercuts the hell out of Kalisto whos still on the pod by the way, and suplexes him to the mat, followed by a springboard elbow drop from Kidd. But Sin Cara saves them from being eliminated. Kalisto begins to scale the wall of the Chamber and climb to the center of the roof like Spider-Man. In that time, the Matadores are next to come out and El Torito who was standing on their pod the whole time, leaps off to hit a hurricanrana on Cesaro, who manages to make it look good because he’s just that great. Kalisto falls onto a crowd of people below him from the roof and then a minute later, El Torito tries the same thing, but gets caught by The Ascension, who throw into (insert Matador here). The Matadores are the first team eliminated by The Ascension. Ascension eliminate The Dragons a moment later. The second to last team to come out is the Prime Time Players, who eliminate The Ascension in a matter of moments. So CesarKidd have a solid few minutes alone with PTP, apart from the really goofy spot where Cesaro gutwrenches Darren's waist and Titus, instead of saving his partner decides to powerbomb Cesaro, who still has his arms hooked around Darren. And then as if they needed anymore of an advantage, The New Day come out last and they go after their remaining challengers, but all 3 good suplexed at the same time. Cesaro swings Kofi around into the kick by Kidd. But Darren Young like an idiot, rolls Cesaro up from behind and eliminates them, basically handicapping his team against 3 people. Good job stupid. So predictably, New Day has the advantage and they make full use of it. They trap Titus’ head between the links of the chain and plan to finish off Darren with a double midnight hour. But Darren slides off E. and knocks Kofi and Woods off the ropes. E. runs at Young, who sidesteps, causing Big E. to ram his shoulder into the ring post and his head into the pod. And that gives PTP some hope. Titus boots Woods and throws Kofi into the wall several times. Darren hits Kofi with a Gutcheck, but Kofi manages to kick out. Darren is take out of the equation when Big E. catches him and belly to bellies him on the steel grate. Titus catches Woods, but Big E. chop blocks his leg, dropping him to a knee, allowing Kofi to hit Trouble in Paradise, and all of New Day dogpile on Titus to retain.
My Rating: **3/4
Match 2: Divas Championship Triple Threat Match - Nikki Bella (c) def. Paige & Naomi (6:04)
Such a staunch difference from how the Women's division would look a few months later. Naomi had to carry it to be honest. I can't say they did anything worth noting aside from their tower of doom spot. That really became Vince's favorite thing in multiple person matches. Naomi hooks Paige's waist on the top rope and Nikki comes in to powerbomb Naomi, so Naomi German suplexes Paige. Nikki picks Paige up the Rack Attack but Naomi throws her ass in her face. Paige attacks an electric chair, and Naomi counters it into a reverse rana. That takes Paige out but Nikki grabs Naomi and hits the Rack Attack to pin her.
My Rating: *1/2
Match 3: Kevin Owens def. John Cena (19:57)
Ahhhh yeah, here we go. Its wild that i get another Cena/Owens classic so close to another one. Fantastic match as expected. KO takes control of the match after he spikes Cena with a DDT. And the next several minutes aren't much to talk about, just KO grounding Cena. Owens has Cena scouted on just about everything it seems. But Cena starts hitting his 5 moves of doom, but Owens slides off his shoulders on the AA attempt, and throws Cena off the ropes and hits a Pop-Up Powerbomb for a 2 count. The turning point of the match comes with a missed moonsault by Owens. Cena dodged and gets up to hit an AA for a 2 count. Both men recover and Owens hits Cena with a superkick before raises his hand and tells Cena he can't see him. Cena grabs Owens’ leg and brings him down to the mat into the STF. But Owens manages to reach the ropes and shoves Cena off. Cena runs back into Owens who picks him up for the AA. KO hits the not package piledriver for a 2 count. Owens and Cena start exchanging blows with KO getting the better, until Cena ducks under a punch, and springboards into a stunner to Owens. Really miss when he did that, it was cool. Cena gets a 2 count from that and slaps the mat in frustration, which was nice to see some difference, and really showed how much Cena wanted to beat KO. Cena puts Owens on the top rope and this historically never goes well for his opponent. Owens hits a fisherman buster for a close 2 count. Cena comes back up with a hard, pissed off clothesline, and then another. He goes for a 3rd, but Owens ducks under it and hits another Pop-Up Powerbomb. One. Two. THREE!!! Kevin Owens has upset John Cena after a great match! I don't think it's anywhere near their Battleground match. But still loved it! Can't wait for their MITB match!
My Rating: ****1/4
Match 4: Neville def. Bo Dallas (8:54)
Just a basic match. Only put here to fill time. I will say that Bo showed a vicious streak in this match. I guess it was kind of always there. Neville starts off strong out of the gate and hits a moonsault on Bo to the outside. Bo takes after Neville misses a kick and Bo yanks him by his trunks to the outside. Bo starts grounding him and putting me to sleep. Neville starts to comeback after Bo strikes the turnbuckle with his face after Neville dodged. Bo eventually hits a spiking DDT to Neville, before going for the Dudley Dog, but Neville shoves him off and Bo runs into an enziguri. Neville places Bo in position for the Red Arrow and pins him to win.
My Rating: *1/2
Match 5: Elimination Chamber Match for the vacant Intercontinental Championship - Ryback def. Sheamus, Dolph Ziggler, Mark Henry, R-Truth & King Barrett (25:10)
You look up disaster in the dictionary, you'll find a picture of this match. It's kinda funny for a little bit but then it just becomes a drag to watch. The match starts with Barrett and Ziggler. There's nothing interesting that happens here. R-Truth is the first man to be released and Barrett attacks him in his pod before he can even get out. Just trying to control the match as much as he can. But the match completely goes to hell when Barrett slams Dolph into Mark Henry's pod, breaking the glass and allowing him to escape. The referee tells him to stay where he is like he's a dog and Mark visibly has no clue what to do. He ends up saying fuck it and gets out to go after Barrett. This is less than a minute before somebody else is supposed to be released. It ends up being Ryback. And this match is just fucked now. Mark stands behind Barrett like a pervert waiting to pounce at one point. Barrett sets Dolph up for a Bullhammer Elbow, but Dolph superkicks him followed by a scissors kick from Truth to eliminate him. So now all 4 men in the match have a high noon showdown, trying to figure out what the hell to do. Sheamus is about to released next but the referees for one reason or another, can't seem to get his pod open. Dolph, Ryback and Truth start teaming up on Henry. Ryback bowls down Ziggler and Truth, before he picks Truth up for a Shell Shock to eliminate him. Dolph and Ryback start going at it now with Henry still down. Ryback hits a stalling suplex before going for the Meat Hook clothesline, but Dolph catches him with a superkick. Sheamus smirks before he picks up his cross necklace he was using to jam the door shut. If he were really smart, he would've waited until there was one guy left. This I know was done to keep Sheamus in his pod until he was originally supposed to be released. Sheamus throws Dolph into his pod, clotheslines Ryback out of the ring to the steel grate (not the protective padding). Before he runs into Henry, who gives him a fight, but Sheamus eliminates him with a Brogue Kick. The next couple minutes, you have Sheamus and Dolph having a mini match, continuing their feud. Dolph nearly pins him with a small package. Ryback comes in and picks Dolph up for a powerbomb probably, but Dolph lands on his feet behind Ryback and superkicks him. Dolph ducks under a Brogue Kick and hits a Famouser. But then Sheamus just gets on his feet and Brogues Dolph anyway so it doesn't matter. Now its down to Ryback and Sheamus. And boy, this ending is as boring as you can imagine. They drag this ending out. Sheamus is the one mainly in control here. He hits a Celtic Cross and a rolling senton on the steel outside. But Ryback catches Sheamus in a powerbomb position out of a Brogue Kick. He slams Sheamus into the chain link before throwing him back into the ring. Then picks him up before hitting a Shell Shock to win. What a disaster of a match. Daniel Bryan, the man who had to vacate the title in the first place, presents him with the championship.
My Rating: *1/2
Main Event: WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match - Dean Ambrose def. Seth Rollins (c) via DQ (21:49)
I enjoyed this match. Thought it was really good. But man, what a dumb finish. If I were Ambrose, I would've socked this referee on purpose that time. Earlier in the night, Triple H banned Roman Reigns from being at ringside during the match. Notice how I say during the match. Seth of course has Kane and J&J down there with him. Early in the match, you have Ambrose taking it to Rollins. Then a brief distraction from J&J allows Seth to take advantage. It's your typical WWE match early. It's after a double running crossbody attempt from both men that Ambrose starts to come back. Dean hits a clothesline in the corner and then goes for a bulldog, but J&J save Seth by pulling him to the outside. So then Dean dives through the ropes into Seth, sending both men over the announce table. There's a few near falls, Seth tries to put his foot on the ropes and the referee catches him. It's an even matchup now. Dean is able to avoid the first buckle bomb, and clotheslines Seth out of the ring and landing out there with him. Seth ducks a clothesline and picks Dean up powerbomb position and hurls him into the barricade. Seth throws Dean back inside where he connects with a springboard knee. Seth connects with a couple splashes in the corner, Dean follows him to the other side to hit a clothesline before running back to the other, as Seth chases him. Seth hits the turnbuckle as Dean sidestepped and hits a tornado DDT from the second rope. Dean goes for the rebound clothesline, but Seth was ready and sends Dean out of the ring before hitting a suicide dive on him. He throws Dean back inside and buckle bombs him, only for Ambrose to come out of the corner with a clothesline. Kane and J&J get on the apron, only for Dean to knock all 3 of them off and drop an elbow into them. Dean attempts another elbow drop to Seth, but Seth pulls the referee in Dean's way. So there's no referee and Rollins tries to hit the Pedigree. But Dean counters and slingshots Seth, who lands on his feet on the middle rope. Seth donkey kicks Dean and goes up to attempt a phoenix splash that Dean rolls out of the way of. Dean hits Seth with Dirty Deeds, a new referee runs out and counts the pinfall… Wait really? Dean won?! The pinfall was counted, he's handed the championship. How can this possibly go wrong? Well here's how. The first referee comes back in the ring and starts telling the second referee, ya know, the one who actually called for the bell. Next thing you know, Dean Ambrose is announced again as the winner… But by disqualification. Okay so let me get this straight… the referee who actually made the match ending call let the one who didn't decide what the final decision was. Not only that, this referee fully acknowledged that Seth pulled him into Dean's way. Thats the reason he disqualified him. But knowing that the only way a title can change hands is by pin or submission, you would think he would let this decision stand and let Seth lose his title. Yeah, this ending is dumb as hell. Such a roundabout way to have Seth keep the title. So then the Authority start ganging up on Dean. Then Roman's music hits and he cuts Seth off at the path with a superman punch, grabs the title and helps Dean fend off Kane and J&J. Roman hands Ambrose the title, and he holds it over his head again before him and Roman leave through the crowd with the title in Dean's hands.
My Rating: ***3/4
Cagematch Rating: 6.55
My Rating: 5/10
Yeah um… this was not it. I can see why there was no Chamber PPV in 2016. The Tag Title Chamber was just bleh. But the IC Chamber was abysmal. Cena vs Owens was a fantastic match and the main thing that everyone should remember. Seth and Dean had a satisfying main event with a dumb, unsatisfying ending.
