Reviewing every WWE PPV in order from worst to best

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Jarf

Well-Known Member
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Money in the Bank 2025

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Oof…

Match 1: Money in the Bank Ladder Match - Naomi def. Rhea Ripley, Alexa Bliss, Giulia, Roxanne Perez & Stephanie Vaquer (25:11)

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Alright, lets get this over with. I went into the women's Ladder Match with higher expectations than the men's. I thought this field kicked ass, but it was very underwhelming if I'm being honest. Here's an idea. How about not giving them so much time. Seriously, this is the one HHHism I have a problem with. More time doesn't equal better matches and this show pretty much proves it. This match has its moments but because its 25 minutes long, so much of it is set up. Set up for whatever the next spot is supposed to be. And it just really feels like a drag to watch. One of the few cool spots of the match happens early on when Rox hurricanranas Rhea onto a ladder. Roxi hits a nice springboard moonsault on Rhea laying on the ladder. Roxi and Giulia form a temporary alliance and bury Rhea under a bunch of ladders. But she later comes out from under them and grabs Rox, throws her into the barricade. A ladder gets set up in the ring, and another gets bridged between the the middle rope and the rungs of the standing ladder. And what is by far the best part of the match, Stephanie gives Rhea the Devil's Kiss on the ladder! Hell yeah brother! Another ladder is bridged on the other side of the ladder, and Alexa and Rox hit dueling Code Reds to Naomi and Steph on the ladders, that was sweet. Rhea and Alexa both take out Giulia and Rox and stare each other down. Buddy Matthews just smiling and nodding his head watching at home. Rhea and Alexa both end up climbing the ladder, and Naomi comes in, tips the ladder over, Rhea and Bliss end up hitting a ladder bridged in the corner. Naomi makes the climb and takes down the briefcase. In my opinion, the right choice. Giulia, Steph and Rox especially haven't been on the main roster very long, Alexa doesn't need it, Rhea sure as hell doesn't need it. Naomi though needed something after losing to Jade at Mania. So good choice for winner. Just wish the match wasn't so long.

My Rating: ***

Match 2: Intercontinental Championship Match - Dominik Mysterio (c) def. Octagon Jr. (4:55)

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An okay match but whereas the last match was too long, this one was too short. You seriously couldn't shave off a few minutes from both ladder matches for this one. Especially when it seems like you're trying to sell AAA to a casual audience. This match comes about because Octagon idolized Rey Mysterio as a kid. And that fact makes me feel old as hell because I idolized Rey Mysterio as a kid too. The bell rings and a minute into the match, Octagon has Dom stumbling. He pulls out a back corkscrew crossbody off the top rope, Octagon sends Dom outside with a tilt-a-whirl. And then hits a springboard moonsault to the outside. But they get back in the ring, Dom crotches Octagon on the top rope and ties the tails on his mask to the bottom rope before stomping a mudhole in his ass. Dom goes for 3 Amigos but only gets one suplex out of it. Octagon runs off the ropes and gets hit with a Michinoku Driver. Dom goes for a 619, but misses, Octagon hits a swinging fisherman neckbreaker, and heads to the top rope. But Liv Morgan gets on the apron and distracts him. Dom crotches Octagon on the top though and now hits the 619, goes up to hit a Frog Splash to the back for the win.

My Rating: **1/4

Match 3: Women's Intercontinental Championship Last Chance Match - Becky Lynch def. Lyra Valkyria (c) (15:20)

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Just like at Backlash, Becky and Lyra put on the best match of the night. But this fell under expectations set by that match in my opinion. Becky tries to attack Lyra as they're doing ring announcements, but Lyra thwarts that and tackles Becky, laying into her with elbows. Lyra goes for a kick through the ropes after Becky rolls to the outside, but Becky catches her foot and yanks to the floor, Lyra hits it hard, and this gives Becky the advantage even after the hot start Lyra got off to. Becky starts wearing Lyra down, Lyra fights back. This match doesn't quite have the same sizzle as their Backlash match. Lyra goes for a roundhouse kick, but her foot gets caught by Becky, who flips Lyra back on her chest. Becky goes to the top rope, Lyra meets her up there and hits a superplex and then a fisherman for a 2 count. Lyra tries for a moonsault, misses but lands on her feet, hits Becky with a heel kick, goes for Nightwing, but Becky counters, double underhooks into an armbar. But Lyra escapes and counters it into kind of a half crab, but putting her foot on the back of her neck as she does. Becky somehow makes it to the bottom rope, but Lyra follows her out. Lyra drapes Becky over the barricade and hits a legdrop to the back of her head. Lyra throws Becky back inside and goes up, but gets caught and powerbomb on the back of her head by Becky. After Lyra kicks out of that, Becky heads up, but gets met up there by Lyra, which turns out to be a mistake because then, Becky hits a Manhandle Slam from the 2nd rope and Lyra kicks out before rolling outside the ring. Becky goes out after her and throws Lyra into the post before hitting another Manhandle Slam out there. Becky gets back in the ring to break the count, but she picks Lyra back up on the outside and gets hit with a Nightwing. Both women make it back in the ring on a 9 count and the match continues. Both women start exchanging blows, Lyra picks Becky up for another Nightwing, but Becky escapes, rolls Lyra up from behind and they counter roll ups a few times before it ends with Becky winning the match. Part of the stipulation was that if Becky won, Lyra would have to raise her hand. And I don't like how they handled this. Lyra raises Becky's hand the first time, fine, whatever. She holds up her end of the deal, but then Becky demands Lyra hold up her hand on all four sides of the ring. And Lyra does it. She already did it the first time, she shouldn't do it again, at least thats the angle I would've run. And then Becky demands Lyra to put the belt around her waist. That definitely isn't the deal they made. As soon as Becky threw the belt at her, Lyra should've clocked her with it. But she does and then she hits Nightwing, which too late, you already complied with everything Becky said. Whatevs.

My Rating: ***1/2

Match 4: Money in the Bank Ladder Match - Seth Rollins def. LA Knight, Solo Sikoa, Penta, Andrade & El Grande Americano (33:35)

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Okay, I might need some help here because I really don't understand why so many like this match. Granted, it is better than the women's Ladder Match, but not by much. I'm starting to sound like a broken record here, but I did not need this to be over half an hour. Why was it so long?? Both Ladder Matches last year were so much shorter and they ruled! Stop booking long matches for the sake of doing long matches! Its pretty bad when the best part of the match is when the guys who aren't even in the match run in. The bell rings and the three babyfaces in the match gang up on Seth while El Grande leaves the ring. Solo tosses Seth outside and finds himself getting ganged up on by Knight, Penta & Andrade. Knight dropkicks a ladder back into Americano's face. Seth whips Andrade to the ropes, and he uses that as a chance to dive onto Solo, Knight and Americano. Penta sends Seth outside with a superkick and he climbs on the post, and dives on the field. Americano ambushes Penta and starts beating on people with a ladder. Poor Andrade gets it dropped on his dick. That sucks I bet. Not much to write home about the next several minutes. Americano hits kinda like a Dominator from a Razor's Edge on Seth on a ladder. Knight hits a Scorpion Death Drop to Solo on a ladder. One of the best spots of the match is when Seth is the only one in the ring, he goes up but Americano comes in and goes up the same side as Seth, pushes him head first down the other side and locks in an ankle lock on the ladder. Andrade and Penta run in and Andrade hits a sunset flip powerbomb to Americano while Penta hits a suplex into a ladder propped in the corner! This spot was awesome at least. The next spot is cool too, it just takes so much time to set up because they gotta kill time. Andrade bridges the ladder propped up between the ropes and the ladder in the middle of the ring. But it ends with Penta hitting a Mexican Destroyer on top of it. El Grande Americano brings out the fireball branded ladder and laid it on his shoulders and spun around with it. Another good spot. Americano climbs the ladder but gets knocked off with a headbutt by Penta. Seth goes up to stop him, but gets knocked off after Americano put the steel plate in his mask. I might be alone but I absolutely hated this next spot. Penta and LA Knight both look like idiots here. Penta is at the top of the ladder, he's just knocked Rollins off, there is no one to stop him from winning. Except LA Knight, who instead of stopping Penta goes, “why don't I catapult Americano into a ladder, I think I'm gonna do that.” So he catapults Americano into a ladder propped up against the ring post, Americano uses another ladder propped on the turnbuckles to swing onto the ladder in the middle of the ring and headbutts Penta off, Knight climbs up the ladder and backdrops Americano off the ladder. I can normally let ridiculous spots go but I'm sorry, all of that was stupid. Penta had the match won but because he's not supposed to win, he has to look dumb by not knowing how to unclip the briefcase. Anyway, next thing that happens, Seth Rollins calls Bron and Bronson out to the ring. Bron Breakker kills Americano with a Spear, we don't really get to see it because the camera guy missed it. Breakker tears Knight in half with a Spear, Bronson Tsunamis Andrade. Heyman points out Solo on the outside. The Bron(son)s begin to move on him, but then Jacob Fatu's music hits. He comes out with JC Mateo and the four big dudes fight it out. Bron Spears JC through the barricade while Fatu hits a pop-up samoan drop to Bronson and a suicide dive. Fatu helps Solo back in the ring, actually sets the ladder up for him. Solo doesn't get far up before his ankle gets grabbed by Fatu. He looks up at Solo and says “SOLO, I HATE YOU!” He yanks Solo off the ladder, superkick, moonsault off the top and then a uranagi through a bridged ladder outside. Fatu leaves and now everyone but Seth Rollins is down. Seth goes up, but LA Knight pulls him down, but it was just one last bit of resistance before Seth climbs and takes the briefcase. The match has its moments, but so much of it is setting up for the next spot. And I couldn't help noticing how long Americano, Andrade and Penta had to stay down. That whole ending felt like it took 10 minutes. They were out for so long. As for the winner? Can't say I'm excited about it but I'm willing to see where it goes.

My Rating: ***

Main Event: Cody Rhodes & Jey Uso def. John Cena & Logan Paul (24:00)

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There was no reason for this match to happen if we're being entirely honest with ourselves. Cody pins Cena but somehow that doesn't make him next in line for a title shot? Jey Uso loses the World Title 2 days later which means his feud with Paul is pretty much over. So ultimately, it doesn't really matter who won this match. Great. This is a tough match to rate also. Because the first half of the match is very slow and very boring. Nothing to write home about, you could probably save yourself some time by just watching the last 10 minutes because thats when all the good stuff actually starts happening. The match starts with Cody and Cena, who tags out to Paul just to get cheap heat. And then he tags himself back in. So officially Cody and Cena start the match. Jey Uso comes in and he winds up getting the isolation treatment from Cena and Paul. And they just get heat on him for forever. And stupidly, the only reason Jey is even able to get to Cody is because Cena and Logan started arguing and having a shoving contest. Its very silly in my opinion. But man, once Cody gets that hot tag, the energy is dialed to 11. Cody manages to turn the tide, taking on both men by himself, Cody Cutter to Cena, suicide dive to Paul. Cody goes for a Cross Rhodes, but gets countered by Cena, who shoves him into a right hand from Logan. Cody stumbles into an AA by Cena. 1, 2. Pin is broken up by Jey. Logan goes for the buckshot lariat, but lands awkwardly which made me smile. Jey superkicks him, Cena gives him an AA. Cody drops Cena with a Cross Rhodes and covers him. Paul goes for a springboard splash, but Cody dodges and hits Cena instead. Paul gets dropped with a Spear from Jey. All four men are down. Logan and Cody exchange blows that ends with Logan hitting the Paulverizer. But instead of covering him, Logan points to a drone, signaling that he wants it to come to him. Logan climbs the top rope and I love this part. Logan holds the drone in his hand, so we have an up close view of him taking a superplex by Cody and then Jey splashing him a second later. Cena comes back inside, hits Jey with an AA and then one to Cody. Cena covers him and gets 2. Cena gets pissed now and throws Cody outside he takes apart an announce table and goes to AA Cody through the other, but Cody slides off, Jey hits a Spear from the other table. Jey is laid on the table which gives Logan a chance to hit a springboard moonsault through the announce table! Paul and Jey won't be getting up after that. As the referee is out there checking on them, Cena slides in with the WWE Title and hits Cody with it. Evil John Cena has done it again folks. But then, a man in a black hoodie runs into the ring and starts beating up Cena. And its R-Truth! Big pop for the Truth who lays Cena out with a bat! Cody drops Cena with another Cross Rhodes and pins him, 1, 2, 3. Cody picks up the win and gets nothing for it. So… Good for him. This match would be better if it wasn't for how long they got heat on Jey. I think 15 minutes would've been more ideal for this match.

My Rating: ***1/4

Cagematch Rating: 6.24

My Rating: 5/10

Yeah, to be honest, I didn't like this one. I can't really say I had much fun watching it. The ladder matches were disappointing in my opinion. Only half of the main event was any good. And this show really suffers from the HHHism that a longer match is the same as a better match.
 

Jarf

Well-Known Member
Joined
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Messages
475
Reaction score
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Points
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Age
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Survivor Series 2005

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Match 1: Match 1 in the Best of 7 Series for the United States Championship - Booker T def. Chris Benoit (14:21)

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The night starts with a best of 7 Series. If you remember my Armageddon ‘05 review, Benoit ended being down 3 to nothing so of course Booker wins this match. Their Armageddon match is definitely better but I liked this one too. Benoit was fighting up for almost the entire match. There's a few times at the beginning where Booker has to roll outside but he gives Benoit a wicked axe kick. It looked it was gonna turn into a shoot a couple times. Booker wears Benoit down. Benoit eventually has to start making a comeback. He tries to put Booker in the Sharpshooter, but Booker counters into a small package. Booker does a pretty good job at avoiding Benoit's submissions all match, I don't think Benoit ever locks the Crossface or Sharpshooter on him. Benoit drops Booker with some german suplexes and heads up to the top rope. A distraction from Sharmell gives Booker time to meet Chris up there. Benoit knocks Booker off after multiple headbutts. And I don't mean, 3 or 4, I mean like 10. Benoit goes for the Diving Headbutt, but Booker moves out of the way and rolls Benoit in an Oklahoma Roll to win Match number 1 of 7. Sharmell grabs Booker's boot from the outside and holds it down so they act like its a cheatery finish, but I don't honestly see how that helps.

My Rating: ***1/2

Match 2: Women’s Championship Match - Trish Stratus (c) def. Melina (6:35)

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To be honest, not a bad match at all. They let Melina get quite a bit of offense on Trish in this match. That being said, Melina doesn't look terrible, but she still looks very green. Melina comes out with MNM and Trish comes out with Mickie James. Trish gets in the ring and double legs Melina immediately. Trish throws Melina to the outside, MNM go to help her up, but Trish dives on all 3 of them to the outside. Trish beats up Melina for a bit. But Melina first gets fucking mule kicked by Trish and then elbows her in the back. Melina goes outside to fight with Mickie. Joey Styles gets his “CAT FIGHT” line and its fucking funny because he does it quick. He says it fast as if he just wanted to get it in there. Tazz is doing commentary too and he's on a different level on this event in a funny way. Because Joey goes “on paper, Melina isn't as accomplished as Trish Stratus” and Tazz gets pissed about it. “Whats this On PaPeR? I'm sick of hearing of about this paper!” I couldn't stop laughing. Tazz is worked up about this over this “on paper” line. And Styles isn't even wrong anyway. But anyway, the ref gets distracted by Melina and Mickie fighting outside and MNM slide in, and go to hit the Snapshot on Trish, but the referee catches them in the act and send them to the back. Melina gets pissed about it and gets pissed the more and more Trish kicks out of her moves. Trish comes back and goes for Stratusfaction, but Melina counters by lifting Trish so she misses the top rope. Trish lands on the apron. Melina goes for a shoulder block, but Mickie pulls Trish out the way. Trish hits a kick to Melina's head and then a bulldog from the top rope to retain, much to the chagrin of Tazz who makes me laugh again later during the main event.

My Rating: **1/2

Match 3: Last Man Standing Match - Triple H def. Ric Flair (26:59)

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I find it so strange how this match is not brought up more for people's favorite Last Man Standing Match. Because I thought this was amazing. Fun fact, this was one of the first wrestling matches I ever watched. Because my parents bought me the DVD when I was 7 and I fucking loved it even back then. Triple H comes out first and attacks Flair in the aisle. The bell rings as HHH whips Flair's ass as he's wearing the robe. The two fight into the crowd, fight out there for a bit until HHH back drops Flair to ringside. Ric Flair's selling in this match is spectacular. Its surprising that he hates hardcore wrestling, because he is really fucking good at it. And he bled buckets in this match too. HHH grabs a screwdriver from a toolbox and digs it into the head of Flair. And as a kid, I thought that shit was legit so I thought HHH was vicious as fuck. The blood runs down Flair's chest, it runs into his hair. HHH paints his own body with it, he looks badass here. HHH throws Flair to the outside and hits a Spinebuster. Then he grabs a mic and tells Flair to “get up you old bastard” and then he says “stay down or I'm gonna put you down for good.” Very contradicting statements Hunter. HHH looks like he's gonna pick Flair up, but then Flair grabs HHH's junk and HHH is still holding the mic to his mouth and he fucking screams into it. HHH slams the mic into Flair's head to escape the ‘ol dick twist. HHH throws Flair on one of the announce tables and goes to Pedigree Flair onto it. But Flair counters and backdrops HHH through the spanish table. Triple H is back up at the count of 9. HHH knocks Flair with a facebuster to the knee. HHH heads outside and grabs a steel chair, he goes to Pedigree Flair onto it, but Flair hits HHH in the dick again. And this would not be the last time he does this in the match. But then Flair picks the chair up and swings into HHH's face. Flair bites him twice. Once in the forehead, the other on the back of his thigh. Flair punches HHH in the cock again in the corner. Like the amount of cock and ball offense on display is almost comedic, but also somehow doesn't take away from the match quality. Flair wraps HHH's legs around the ring post, swings his knees into it as well as pulling him into it. Several times. So that HHH takes more damage to the dick. Its hilarious that Flair is working the balls. But then he goes after HHH's knees. He wraps them around the post again and swings a chair at HHH's leg. Flair locks in the Figure Four on HHH for a while and Flair is free to pull on the ropes for leverage so thats what he does. Triple H stands back up on very trembley legs. HHH knocks Flair down with a clothesline and leaves to grab the steps. HHH slams them into Flair's bloody face. And Flair screams like its the most painful thing he's ever experienced. HHH tries it again but Flair drop toe holds him, and HHH's face hits the steps. When HHH stands back up, Flair sends him off the ropes, but HHH catches him bent down and Pedigrees him. Flair has to use the steps in the ring to pull himself up. HHH hits another Pedigree. Flair as he's pulling himself up, and flips HHH the bird, which sends HHH into a frenzy. Triple H beats him in the corner and pulls him out to hit a 3rd Pedigree. Is that it? No, its not. Flair very, very slowly stirs. The referee pronounced could've counted him out if he wanted, but now HHH is pissed. He goes out to grab a sledgehammer and slams in the back of Flair's head. Ric Flair is no longer moving, he's not even stirring. Triple H wins as the referee counts to 10. This match was so damn good. What I loved most though is the brutality by HHH. Over the years, I've gotten so tired of hearing people say “I'm gonna end his career.” Because we all know those words don't mean shit. But HHH beat Flair's ass like he meant it. I legitimately believe Flair could've hung it up after this match. Aside from the WrestleMania match with Shawn, this would've been a much better retirement match than any of the other 14 that Flair has had since then. They would've had to find a new IC Champ, but that might have added some prestige to it. Like, “this was the last title Ric Flair ever had.” But anyway, damn good match. Very much a forgotten classic.

My Rating: ****1/2

Match 4: WWE Championship Match with Daivari as Special Referee - John Cena (c) def. Kurt Angle (13:50)

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Speaking of forgotten gems. This match is pretty good too. Doesn't come close to the match before it but I enjoyed this. Of course, there are some mamy ref bumps in this match, it very much feels like an attitude era main event. Kurt Angle was on a different level in 2005 by the way, the way he goes from being a goofball to a bloodthirsty maniac is insane. The video package they played before the match made him look like a bad dude. Daivari is the special ref assigned to make sure Kurt Angle wins. And they don't even try to hide that he's not gonna be impartial. He raises Kurt's hand before he even calls for the bell and Cena just nods and says “okay.” Its funny because even though Daivari is the guest ref, I'm pretty sure he spends most of the match taking a nap. A few minutes into the match, Cena hits a fisherman and pins Kurt, but Daivari stands still as a stature and doesn't count once. Cena stands up and walks over Angle, who grabs Cena's leg and puts on the Ankle Lock. Cena is in the hold for a while. After about a minute in the hold, Cena reaches the ropes, but Daivari kicks Cena's arm off. Cena kicks Angle off and gets up to hit a spinebuster. And without a beat, he stands up and bitch slaps Daivari. And I could not stop laughing. Then Daivari yells at him and motions to his ref shirt as if that means anything. And then Cena bitch slaps him again. So Daivari starts throwing a fit and almost DQ's Cena. But Kurt nearly tackles him to stop him from doing it. Kurt can't win the title on a DQ. Cena shoulder blocks Angle into Daivari, sending them both outside. Daivari falls asleep outside and the match continues. Angle pulls Cena outside and hits a belly to belly. Kurt calls for another referee to run out and another referee does. These two have a standard wrestling match for the next several minutes. Kurt starts to wear Cena down, but Cena is able to get back into the match with a DDT. They start trading shots back and forth, but Cena ducks a clothesline, hits 4 out of his 5 moves of doom, and as he goes for the 5th, Kurt clotheslines the referee and low blows Cena. Kurt motions for another referee to run out and as the new guy runs out, Angle drops Cena with an OLYMPIC SLAM! He hooks the leg and Cena kicks out. Angle lifts Cena onto the top rope and hits a suplex from there before pulling Cena in position for a moonsault. Guess what, Kurt Angle misses the moonsault. Cena stands up and lifts Angle up for the FU. But Angle grabs the referee and escapes, and takes Cena down with a clothesline. The referee tries to berate him, but Kurt grabs this man and hits a dirty uppercut on this man. He heads out and throws Daivari in the ring. Kurt sees a SmackDown referee on his way out and tries to send him back. Meanwhile, Cena DDTs Daivari in the ring and plays dead. There are striped shirts everywhere. Kurt sees everyone in the ring down and gets inside. Kurt goes to pick Cena up. Cena lifts Kurt and drops him with an AA for the 3 count. They definitely overbooked this match but I still think its enjoyable. But man, I think this was the point people started to turn on Cena. It had been 8 months into this reign and everyone loved Kurt. So this really did John no favors.

My Rating: ***1/2

Match 5: Theodore Long def. Eric Bischoff (5:18)

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I can only assume this match was happening because WWE wanted to make sure that people took away something to hate from this PPV. What other reason is there to book it? The match is this. Teddy Long avoids Bischoff's karate kicks until Palmer Canon (remember that guy?) gets on the apron for whatever reason. Bischoff takes his black belt and chokes Teddy from behind with it. Bischoff karate kicks Canon off the apron, who by the way, had to stay up there until Bischoff kicked him off, and Bischoff kinda forgot about that, so Canon is just standing on the apron, doing lots of odd hand motions, moving around like a weirdo. Thats pretty funny I'll admit, but its not intentionally funny. A lot of this match is just Bischoff choking Teddy. Until the Boogeyman's music hits and Bischoff sends both referees (oh yeah, theres two of them in this match, one for raw and one for SmackDown) The Boogeyman turns out to be behind Bischoff. Boogey hits Eric with a Pumphandle Slam, which, neither referee seems to care about or somehow didn't see it happen. Anyway, Teddy crawls to the cover and pins Bischoff to win this terrible match. They had this match after the WWE Title Match… huh.

My Rating: DUD

Main Event: Survivor Series Tag Team Elimination Match - Team SmackDown (Batista, Randy Orton, JBL, Rey Mysterio & Bobby Lashley) def. Team Raw (Shawn Michaels, Carlito, Chris Masters, Kane & Big Show) (23:28)

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Considering how intense the Raw and SmackDown beef was since 2002, I'm surprised it took them this long to do a match like this. This was the first time they did it and back then, this was actually a cool idea because they hadn't beaten it into the damn ground yet. Speaking of tropes they beat into the ground, ya know what there wasn't in this match? In-team fighting. It is so nice to watch a Survivor Series Match for once where teammates aren't fighting each other. The match starts with Orton and Michaels, but pretty quickly Lashley gets in and starts wrecking shop. He manhandles Masters. He manhandles Carlito. He manhandles Michaels, all pretty easily. Lashley picks HBK up for the Dominator, but Kane goosles him from the apron and drops Lashley with a Chokeslam, Shawn covers him for the 3 count. Lashley is the first man eliminated. Rey gets in like a house of fire, but its quickly stopped by Kane. I'd say apart from this one bit, the match doesn't slow down. Rey escapes the grasp of Kane and tags in Batista, who has his torso all taped up. But Batista still manages to eliminate Kane after a Spinebuster following a 619 from Rey. Big Show gets in the ring and Chokeslams Batista, gets a 2 count. Team Raw distract the referee and behind his back, Big Show and the eliminated Kane double Chokeslam Batista. Big Show covers him and eliminates the World Heavyweight Champion. JBL comes in and goes for a Clothesline From Hell, but gets tossed aside easily by Big Show. Rey leaps in, gets caught by Show, who just throws Rey into the corner. Big Show goosles Randy on the apron, but Orton hangs Show on the top rope to escape. JBL clotheslines Big Show to hell, but Big Show stirs after that, JBL tags in Rey who hits a 619 to Show, who stumbles on his feet. Rey tags in Orton who rolls in like he's a spy or something and RKOs Big Show. Orton tags in JBL, who drops Show again with another Clothesline From Hell. And somehow after all that, Big Show is still moving and sits up slowly. JBL tags in Rey, who hits a West Coast Pop and eliminates Big Show. After that, the remaining members of Team Raw get in and a brawl ensues. JBL hits a fallaway slam to Shawn on the outside which knocks him out for several minutes, which makes me wonder why the fallaway slam wasn't a regular finisher for JBL. In the time Shawn is out cold, they eliminate Carlito & Masters, due to surprisingly good teamwork by JBL and Rey. Carlito catches Rey off a springboard moonsault in a powerslam position and transitions to a reverse DDT position. But JBL tagged himself in as Rey hit the ropes. JBL comes in and clotheslines the hell out of Carlito and takes him out. Masters comes in, but he's quickly eliminated after a 619 and a springboard legdrop to the back of the head. JBL goes and grabs HBK, to throw him back in the ring. HBK shows some signs of fight left. Rey drop toe holds him to the second rope and hits a 619. Rey springboards in and eats Shawn's boot to the chin! It looks super clean! Shawn falls into the cover and eliminates Rey. JBL runs in and tries to immediately Clothesline Shawn. But he ducks and drops JBL with a superkick and eliminates him too. And just like that, its down to HBK and Orton. The match doesn't go on too much longer. Orton gets in and goes for the RKO, but Shawn shoves him off, goes for a superkick, but Orton pulls himself back from it and rolls outside. Shawn follows him though and dives on him from inside. Shawn hits all the classics, flying forearm, elbow drop and then tunes up the band. JBL gets back in with a steel chair though. He takes a swing, and misses, taking another superkick. That little distraction gives Orton the opening to hit an RKO for the 3 count. SmackDown wins.

My Rating: ***3/4

After the match, every SmackDown jobber runs out to the ring to celebrate. A couple of them lift Orton onto their shoulders. They really give him the Bret Hart, WrestleMania 10 celebration. But the mood shifts as soon as we hear a gong. Orton starts to freak out. A bunch of hooded dudes drag this big casket out. Orton makes faces like he's taking the most burning shit he's ever taken. Lightning strikes the casket, setting it on fire. And after a very long pause, the casket busts open and out steps The Undertaker with a sick beard. Dude should've kept this look honestly. Undertaker marches down to the ring and starts beating everyone's ass. Orton and his dad high tail it out of there. Most people get out of the ring but those that don't, get beat by Taker. Taker finishes the attack with a Tombstone to William Regal. Undertaker stares down Randy Orton who's still watching from the aisle. I thought this ending was pretty cool. Some may ask why Undertaker didn't go after Randy. But I like to believe its because he wanted to wait and make Randy think about the next time they see each other. And this would lead to the great Hell in a Cell Match at Armageddon.

Cagematch Rating: 6.77

My Rating: 8.5/10

The only bad spot of the show is the GM Match. That match was so bad. Even worse than I remembered. Trish and Melina isn't anything to get excited about. I really like everything else on this show though. Good opener. Good WWE Title Match. Good main event, good ending. Classic Last Man Standing. That and this event is also oddly comedic at times. There was several parts of this that got a legit laugh out of me. Cena bitch slapping Daivari will never leave my brain again.
 

Jarf

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Elimination Chamber 2014

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Match 1: Intercontinental Championship Match - Big E. (c) def. Jack Swagger (11:41)

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The night starts the Intercontinental Title Match. Pre-New Day Big E. feels so strange to me just because he feels like a totally different person. Big E. uses his strength to push Jack around in the beginning. But they work an okay match good for TV but not so much for PPV. Swagger sits on E. They work like big dudes as they should. Swagger goes for the Swagger Bomb, which is countered by Big E who catches him in a powerslam position. Swagger hangs on to the top rope so E. couldn't hit the Big Ending, so E throws Jack onto the apron and hits the Spear through the ropes. Big E. E goes to the top rope, but Jack meets him up there and hits a belly to belly from the top rope. Swagger clips Big E's knee and locks in the Ankle Lock. E. is in the hold for a while before E kicks him off. They have a brief exchange and E just bowls over Swagger before removing the straps to set up the Big Ending, but Swagger trips him up from the mat to lock in the Ankle Lock again. It looks like E is about to tap out, 2nd time he's been put in the hold. But Big E. stands up and whips out an enziguri to get out. E. hits the Big Ending to retain. A fine match for TV. Not so much for PPV.

My Rating: ***

Match 2: WWE Tag Team Championship Match - The New Age Outlaws (c) def. The Usos (8:52)

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I still can't believe that the New Age Outlaws were given a Tag Team Title reign in 2014. Doesn't matter how long it was. Why did they have them? My guess is because they were supposed to be transitional champions for The Usos. But why did they win this match if that were the case. Anyway, they just have an average match. I would say the Outlaws looked slow, but they weren't that good even in their prime soooo. Anyway, the first few minutes of the match is nothing to talk about, but Jey takes a run at Road Dogg in the corner and gets flung hard upset down in the corner. That actually looked like it hurt a lot. The Outlaws start to sit on Jey, getting their heat. Its very dull. The crowd is so bored they start chanting CM Punk. Because we are not even in a month after Punk's departure from the company. Jey eventually reaches his brother for the tag. Jimmy comes in like a house of fire and takes on 2 old guys at once. Jimmy goes to dive on them over the ropes, but Billy moved and Jimmy only hits Road Dogg. I think they actually crack heads. Billy throws Jimmy back in the ring, but eats a superkick from Jimmy. After a kickout, Jimmy goes up top for a Splash, but Road Dogg hops on the apron. Jimmy leaps over a standing Billy, ducks a clothesline to superkick Road Dogg, but gets rolled up from behind by Billy for the win.

My Rating: **1/2

Match 3: Titus O'Neil def. Darren Young (6:18)

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“Is there a problem with the Prime Time Players? I don't think so.” Anyway, this match isn't actually bad. The problem is that nobody really cares about this match. But again, its like what I said about the opener. Fine for TV, not for PPV. Titus tries to push Darren around, but Darren fires off a few shots that stuns the big man and clotheslines him over the top rope. The match is pretty even for the most part surprisingly. Titus reverses a whip into the corner and Darren takes the Triple H bump over the ropes. After that, Titus works over Darren's ribs. Darren starts to fight back though. Like I said, typical TV match. Its fine. Darren hits a neckbreaker on the apron and tries to go for the Gut Check, but Titus escapes, sends Young off the ropes, hits a pop-up spinebuster for the win.

My Rating: **1/2

Match 4: The Wyatt Family def. The Shield (22:28)

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“This is awesome!” They chanted this before the bell even rang, before they even touched, before the Wyatts even got in the ring. The hype for this match was so high and the energy for this was amazing. This should've happened at WrestleMania. Imagine 75,000 people chanting “This is awesome!” Just for the staredown. Both teams look like they're gonna retreat to a corner, but Ambrose makes the first move and attacks Bray, forcing the other four to throw themselves in too. This is all before the bell rings. The match starts with Rollins & Rowan and within a few minutes in the match, The Shield try to beat down Rowan in their corner, which doesn't work because Rowan charges out of the corner and flips Seth back with a shoulder block. Roman and Harper both get in and Roman pushes Harper back to his corner where him, Seth and Dean can just beat him down. But Harper dropkicks Dean and the tides start to turn. The Wyatts try to isolate Dean, but Dean pretty quickly tags in Seth, who comes in and makes the crowd lose it! He comes with an onslaught against Harper. He heads to the top rope facing the crowd, but Harper meets him up there and goes for a throwaway German off the top, but Seth flips back, lands on his feet! And then he clotheslines Harper over the top rope and hits a suicide dive. Seth throws Harper back inside and springboards to knee him in the face. Seth runs off the ropes for a Curb Stomp, misses and runs back into a sweet black hole slam. The Wyatts keep Seth away from his corner for a few minutes. Bray covers Seth at one point and Dean comes in to break the count, but gets booted in the face by Harper for doing so. Seth knocks Harper down with an enziguri and as Harper tags Rowan, Seth tags Roman and it is full steam ahead the rest of the match! Roman takes on all 3 Wyatts divide and conquer style. Quickly taking Harper and Bray out before taking down Rowan. Bray gets in to break up a pin, but Dean gets in swinging like a mad man. Harper gets and pulls Dean off Bray. Dean rocks Luke and dropkicks Bray off the apron. By the way, can I just say, the camera work in this match is spectacular. The way they follow everyone's movements makes it look like they're having trouble getting everything. Dean goes outside after Bray and Harper goes after Dean with a suicide dive! Then Seth gets in and one ups him with a tope onto Harper. Back in the ring, Rowan goes to squash Roman in the corner. But Roman dodges, rolls Rowan from behind but gets a 2 count, which is followed by a double down. They clothesline each other at the same time and everybody is down. What an awesome sequence! Seth goes over to the spanish table, tearing it apart to do something but gets stopped by Bray. Him and Harper prep Seth for a powerbomb, but Dean throws his body into Harper before him and Bray start throwing hands. They head out into the crowd and Lawler goes “this is a war!” Roman and Rowan continue to throw hands in the ring. Just two big men slabbin meat! Bray returns to ringside, no Dean Ambrose in sight. He helps Harper with Seth. Rowan hits a fallaway to Roman on the inside before going outside to help his brothers. Bray directs them towards the tables. Harper and Rowan drop Seth from one table through the other. Roman starts to roll back in, there's no Dean, there's no Seth. He's the only man left. The Wyatts surround Roman and maul him. Harper presents him as if he's a tribute for Bray. Bray gets tagged in and sets up Sister Abigail, but Roman pulls Bray's hands off him and stands back up straight, getting eye level with him. Bray headbutts Roman and Roman screams in his face before countering with a samoan drop. Harper comes in and Roman throws him to the outside. Rowan comes in and gets a Superman Punch. He hits Bray with one and goes for a Spear. But Harper steps in front of Bray and takes the Spear! Bray throws his whole body at Roman and hits Sister Abigail to win the war at Elimination Chamber. Amazing. Just amazing! Should've happened at WrestleMania. But we got it at the very least and I'm glad we did because this is a classic!

My Rating: ****3/4

Match 5: Divas Championship Match - Cameron def. AJ Lee (c) via DQ (3:57)

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Dumb. Just fucking dumb. This match was terrible. To no fault of AJ Lee either which sucks. Okay, so first of all, why was there a need for a DQ finish? What were they protecting Cameron for? Were they gonna launch the big Cameron push or something? Not much to talk about other than the absolutely stupid finish. Cameron has hold of AJ on the outside by her hair and I'm guessing she was supposed to dodge this but it just looks like she was holding AJ still for this. Tamina superkicks AJ and commentary try to play it off like she was trying to hit Cameron. I don't care what your words say, my eyes are telling me a different story. So then, Cameron throws AJ back inside and covers her. Tamina shoves Cameron off the pin. Cameron goes outside, gets hit by Tamina and Cameron wins by DQ. Awful. Even for a 4 minute match, its awful. Everyone here came out looking like an idiot.

My Rating: DUD

Match 6: Batista def. Alberto Del Rio (7:11)

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I can't really remember a whole lot from this match. The only thing I took away from this is that this crowd was not having it with Batista. Do you know how bad it has to be for Del Rio to get cheered over you? I might be being generous when I say that because clearly this crowd gave no shits about this match. Del Rio comes out, wearing a neckbrace and hobbling to the ring on a crutch, pretends like he can't compete. But surprise, surprise, he was lying and attacks Batista with the crutch. Del Rio works over the arm… ah who am I kidding, you don't care about this. During this match, they chant for everyone they can think of that isn't anyone in this match. They went from chanting “Daniel Bryan!” To “CM Punk!” to “Y2J!” To “RVD!” Anyway, Batista wins with a Batista Bomb to the boos of this audience.

My Rating: *

Main Event: WWE World Heavyweight Championship Elimination Chamber Match - Randy Orton (c) def. Daniel Bryan, John Cena, Cesaro, Sheamus & Christian (37:33)

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An overlooked Chamber Match in my opinion. I thought this was a really great match. I can definitely see a lot of people being pissed over this, but I think its aged pretty well. The match starts with Cesaro and Sheamus, future teammates. They get us off to a fine start, but its when Daniel Bryan comes in, being the first let out of a pod that the match quality picks up. He comes into this match with a bad, heavily taped up shoulder, but he is all gas no brakes immediately. Cesaro finally slows down Bryan by catching him in mid-air and hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. They all head outside and Bryan whipped into the pod he came out of, takes it with his bad shoulder which won't do him any favors. Christian is the next man to be let out of a pod. He attacks Bryan and goes after his hurt shoulder. There's a really cool spot where Christian gets thrown up by Cesaro outside. Christian grabs onto the chain wall and leaps off, going for a hurricanrana, but Cesaro catches him, holds him up in powerbomb position and throws Christian into an empty pod. Cesaro and Sheamus continue to go at it until the countdown for a new challenger comes up. Cena comes out next. He catches Christian out of a crossbody and AAs him onto Cesaro in the ring. Cena then heads up but is dropkicked by Bryan, who hits a head scissors off the top. Bryan gives Cena kicks to the chest but is stopped by Christian who drops Bryan with a Killswitch. Christian covers Bryan but gets a 2. If Bryan had been eliminated there, there would've been a riot. Cesaro hooks Christian's legs, teases a swing, but Cena hits a running crossbody to Cesaro, causing him to catapult Christian into the top buckle. That was a sweet spot. Cena drops Christian with a side slam, Sheamus hits a Celtic Cross on Cena. Cesaro and Sheamus throw hands with each other which is always fun to watch. Cena picks up Christian from the outside and slams him into the Chamber wall. Cena comes in, hits a shoulder tackle on Cesaro. Goes for another and gets thrown into the air and hit with an uppercut! Cena, Cesaro and Bryan all get into a 3-man strike exchange. The match desolves into a brawl between everyone. Bryan just starts throwing feet at anyone. Sheamus actually holds Cesaro back in the corner for Bryan to kick him, Sheamus throws Bryan into the wall and then, Cesaro suplexes Sheamus for the outside to the inside of the ring. This is a lot of fun. Orton finally gets out of his pod as everyone is down and he takes the time to gloat and pose. Which, surprise, ends up being a mistake. He tries to punt Bryan, but Bryan moved out of the way. Orton finds himself back in a corner with Cena, Bryan and Sheamus staring a hole through him. Orton decides the best course of action… is to get back in his pod. Orton shuts himself in the pod and taunts Sheamus from the inside. Bryan and Cena are pulled away by Cesaro and Christian. So Sheamus decides that the best course of action… is to Brogue Kick the pod open! Orton slumps down in his pod and Sheamus pulls his carcass out. All 6 men are now in the match. Sheamus tosses Orton into the ring where Cena awaits. But then Cesaro tosses Cena out of the ring and proceeds to swing Orton for over a minute! Bryan takes advantage of a dizzy Cesaro and hits a chaos theory. Sheamus goes to Brogue Kick Christian, who dodges and causes Cena to get Brogued instead. Christian goes up on top of a pod to get away from Sheamus. Sheamus goes up to get him, but is stopped by Orton, who hits a suplex from the ropes. And Christian hits a frog splash from the top of the pod to take Sheamus out of the match. Christian is eliminated less than a minute later though by Bryan. Bryan and Cena fight each other. Bryan tries to wrestle Cena down into a Yes Lock, but Cena escapes and picks Bryan up for an AA. Cesaro comes back inside and german on Cena as he has Bryan up. Cena picks Cesaro up for an AA and drops him onto the grate outside. Cena drags Cesaro back inside and locks in the STF, forcing Cesaro to tap out. Orton tries to RKO Cena, but gets shoved off and is tripped into an STF. Then the lights go out, and when they come back on, the Wyatt Family is in the ring and they gang up on Cena. Orton takes advantage and pins Cena to eliminate him. Kane comes down to make the Wyatts leave, and they comply with big smiles on their faces. Then Kane gets in the Chamber to check on Cena, who is probably totally fine. Bryan leaps off the top to knee Kane in the face. Orton grabs Bryan by the hair and throws him through a pod. Bryan hangs Orton in a tree of woe and kicks him repeatedly, but Orton hits a draping DDT and then tries an RKO, but Bryan shoves him off and hits a running knee and is about to win, but Kane pulls the referee out of the ring. Bryan kicks Kane in the head, but turns around to get an RKO. Orton hooks the legs. 1, 2, Bryan kicks at 2! Orton starts to flip out and nearly gets pinned with a small package. Whatever hope had though is snuffed out a second later when Kane gives Bryan a right hand and Bryan turns back into an RKO. Orton eliminates Bryan and retains the title. And you can feel all the life drain from this crowd. They're so disappointed that they aren't even booing. They show us several shots of people in the audience just looking sad. Their eyes are what says it all really. Now this is either good booking or bad booking depending on one thing. When they decided Bryan would win the title at WrestleMania. If they decided on it before this event, this is good. Doing it at WrestleMania instead of Elimination Chamber is the right move. If they hadn't yet… Then this is just terrible. Ain't none of wanted to see Batista vs Orton. Either way though, this match was awesome.

My Rating: ****1/2

Cagematch Rating: 6.80

My Rating: 6.5/10

So much of this rating depends on the two awesome matches on it. Because pretty much everything else stunk. After watching the 6-Man Tag and then that being followed by 2 terrible matches, I had to take a break. Its just such a drastic drop in quality. I think this show is pretty much in the right ball park.
 
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