Show opened up with Big E Langston... oh wait, he's just called Big E now? Great...
So the show opened with Big E retaining his Intercontinental Championship over Jack Swagger, who notably used a big boot and legdrop at some point in the match... no doubt a mockery of Hulk Hogan and something that will no doubt telegraph the eventual encounter between Swagger and Hogan at tonight's RAW... The match itself was largely forgettable; I recall nothing about the match other than Big E retaining.
Stone Age Outlaws retain the Tag Titles over the Usos... remember when these guys were mocking WCW for their use of old timers in major roles? Yeah, funny how that works, huh? The crowd is so into this match that they're chanting for some guy named CM Punk. Yeah, that CM Punk guy is pretty over. The WWE should sign him to a contract or something... oh wait.
Titus O'Neil defeated Darren Young... at which, I asked myself if this was this the equivalent of a Divas match where it's basically a piss break match? Maybe it's because I don't watch enough Smackdown (or anything else for that matter), but it seems as though this didn't belong on a PPV event.
Wyatt Family defeated The Shield in an awesome match when Bray hit Roman Reigns with a Sister Abigail. Easily the match of the night and probably the most excited this crowd has gotten the whole time outside of the main event.
By the way, did I mention that I like Bad News Barrett? Seriously, right now, he's the only one saving this mess with his quick appearances and delivery of bad news. I especially liked the part where he pissed on the technicians for breaking his podium. Funny guy.
There was a Divas title match... AJ Lee retains... I honestly didn't care... maybe when we get the WWE Network next year, I might care a bit more.
By the way, heard about the WWE Network site crashing because of all the sign-ups... lots of Internet fans going for that thing. You know, the same Internet fans that Gonzo H likes to mock?
Boo-Tista defeated Alberto Del Rio... once again, the crowd doesn't care. Chanting Boo-Tista, Daniel Bryan, and even Chris Jericho... there's even a little Si chant going on, but it doesn't last.
And to the surprise of absolutely nobody, Randy Orton retains the WWE World title in the Elimination Chamber main event via a Kane screwjob finish on Daniel Bryan Danielson. For the most part, however, the main event was actually pretty decent fare and was an almost good way to end the show. There's a couple noteworthy moments here;
1) Despite being the least popular of the six participants, Christian was only the second person eliminated. The unlucky first was Sheamus and this was once all six participants were in the ring.
2) Cesaro doing the airplane spin on Randy Orton and the crowd's counting the number of spins and continuing to do so after twenty spins or so. I had to question Cesaro's inclusion in the match initially because of his being part of that Weed The People group, but watching his performance here and especially THAT moment sold me on the goods he was selling. I actually enjoyed watching Cesaro wrestling on occasion and making a silly looking move look good is just the icing on the cake. Here's hoping that Cesaro eventually gets that much needed push to be a bigger star than he is now, because he truly deserves the chance.
3) For the second PPV in a row, the crowd thanks the Wyatts for taking out John Cena and eliminating him from the match. If they're going for that Bray Wyatt/John Cena match at Wrestlemania XXX, the WWE is going to have to work HARD in trying to convince people that Cena is the GOOD GUY and Bray's the VILLAIN, not the other way around... unfortunately, WWE's efforts to condition the crowd to their way of thinking have been lackluster and really ineffective.
4) Yes, Randy Orton retains in the biggest non-surprise of all and yes, you're getting that Batista vs Randy Orton match that is seemingly a "big match" and worthy of main event status for a Wrestlemania, while Daniel Bryan Danielson, the guy people REALLY want to see get that Wrestlemania main event moment, is stuck in a worthless go-nowhere match with former partner Kane. Sorry, but when I think a big Wrestlemania match, being stuck with Kane (or even Triple H, for that matter) is the farthest thing from a Wrestlemania-worthy match... but then again, the name Wrestlemania has been so diluted over the years that that's all it really is; a name with significant market value and an enduring legacy, but not much else.
Overall, a pretty lackluster show with a couple decent matches and a crowd that revolted for a couple moments, but nowhere near as bad as the crowd in Royal Rumble. One way or another, WWE has some major tinkering to do in the weeks ahead, because if Wrestlemania XXX gets the same kind of crowd in revolt... it'll turn ugly.
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