Yesterday I was still recovering from DICE and having visitors over the weekend, which made me completely forget about the WWE Elimination Chamer pay-per-view. Thankfully, N8R reminded me about it. Let’s take a look at the booking and talk about it.
WWE Championship — John Cena Wins: I hate saying this because John Cena is a really nice guy and he works extremely hard, but I hate watching him wrestle. He is my second-least favorite “top guy” in WWE. I was extremely annoyed that he was booked to win the WWE strap at this PPV. I couldn’t think of anything worse until….
Batista Beats Cena for the WWE Championship: Mr. McMahon made Cena defend the belt right after the first elimination chamber match ended. Batista beat him for it. Ugh. Batista is awful. I want to like him because he’s half Filipino and his book was a 9.5 on the unintentional comedy scale, but he just sucks. He can’t wrestle. He gasses on the way to the ring because he suffers from asthma and his second wind lasts about 90 seconds. Unlike Cena, “Big Dave” doesn’t work hard and is, by most accounts, a dick. I was hoping it would be Batista/McMahon vs. Cena/Hart at WrestleMania, with no championships on the line, but it doesn’t look that way.
Chris Jericho Wins the World Championship: This was great booking. The world championship match came down to Jericho and The Undertaker. ‘Taker was about to win when Shawn Michaels appeared and gave him “sweet chin music”. This sets up Jericho vs. Edge and HBK vs. ‘Taker at WrestleMania. The mic work leading up to Jericho/Edge will be fantastic, while HBK and Taker will probably steal the show again.
And the Rest: That was a Gilligan’s Island reference. It worked (really). The rest of the PPV looked crappy on paper. The one highlight was The Miz talking about mentoring Bryan Danielson (now Daniel Bryan in WWE) on NXT. The Miz said something like, “Bryan may be an Internet legend, but when I look at him I see the first guy in line at a Star Wars convention.” Danielson is a damn genius in the ring, but he definitely needs help on the mic. The Miz should help him get over in a big way.
It's funny that we share the same opinion on this PPV. The raw ending has me confused and has me thinking that if they do the tag match Vince/Batista v. Cena/Hart, it will be a waste of time. I really think Vince and Bret should go on their own, even if its a 5 minute match and nothing but "street fighting". If Cena challenges Batista one more time for the belt and wins at wrestlemania i will boycott Raw. I'm tired of Cena as a champion. I'm not sure if you saw the PPV but i thought i heard Cena sucks chants when he finally came out of his chamber. Also, do you think they're going to try to change Orton to a face, i keep hearing a big oviation and i think a Randy chant when he came out of the chamber as well.
It looks like Smackdown will have the main event again at Wrestlemania. I can't remember the last time a Raw match headlined WM. The Smackdown chamber match was the best and Morrison seemed to steal a little bit of the show for me. I was ecstatic that Jericho won to give the WM main event a great push. I expect great smack talk on the road to WM.
@rpad
Yeah i don't see Bret wrestling without a partner either, to be honest i would rather not have him wrestle at all. The window has closed for me when i wanted to see Bret back and i think people are either too young and don't care who Bret is and has done or you have people who think WWE is too kiddie for them and wont watch it no matter who comes back.
as for Orton being a face. it will probably last until his next title run and when he backstabs someone like cena, triple h or Kofi (if he gets his push soon enough)
@Raymond Padilla
I agree that Cena and Batista can't wrestle but these guys are both big draws for the WWE so they are both worthy of holding the strap at any time. I'd much rather see one of these two with the title than the mid carders like Punk and Hardy. I just hope they don't let some mid carder who wins the money in the bank match cash it in after the title match for another cheap title win.
@RRODisHere Man, you really don't like Hardy and Punk. Ha! At one point, Hardy was the most over guy on SmackDown. I can see your argument about Punk, but I always favor guys with Ring of Honor backgrounds.
I totally understand why Cena is over. I don't understand why Batista is over. Cena is an average wrestler with a huge personality. Batista can't wrestle and he sucks on the mic. I don't get it.
@Raymond Padilla
No, no, no. I don't dislike those guys, I just hate seeing the world title on those two guys because you and I both know that neither are world championship material. I love watching Hardy and Mysterio wrestle but seeing these guys with the world title was a complete joke. As far as Batista goes, I don't think he sucks on the mic. He's descent on the mic, not great, but descent. Batista IS a big draw for the WWE and a main eventer/headliner. By the way, reading your reason for not liking Cena I have to ask how did you feel about Hogan? Cena is a newer, lesser version of Hogan.
@RRODisHere Hogan was excusable for his era because he was SO different at the time. I haven't liked Hogan since the early '90s when I started watching people that could perform at a much higher level in the ring and on the mic.
To some extent, I agree that Cena is a modern version of Hogan, though he's much better in the ring than Hogan ever was. I guess the big difference is that Hogan was universally popular back in the day. Kids and women love Cena. Older fans — especially "smarks" — hate him.
@tokz_21 I’m not sure if Hart can go one-on-one. He might need a partner for safety. You never know what can happen to a stroke victim in a high-pressure situation that requires some kind of athleticism — even if it’s just for five minutes.
I do think they’re trying to make an Orton a face, but I don’t know how long it can work for. He’s much better as heel because he’s a dick.
Bret and Cena vs McMahon and Batista with the title on the line at Mania.
Also, How about Antonio Inkoki!