REVIEW CORNER: BEST PAY PER VIEW MATCHES OF 2012

   A - Excellent

   B – Good

   C – Mediocre

   D – Avoid

Release Date: 4^th March 2013

Available From: www.wwedvd.co.uk

Price:

DVD £ 19.99

Blu-ray £ 22.99

(Prices from www.wwedvd.co.uk: high street prices will vary)

Format Reviewed: DVD (3 Discs)

(Also Available on Blu-ray (2 Discs)

What It’s About:

Collecting the very best pay per view matches from 2012, waving goodbye to the’ End of an Era’, experiencing the ‘Once in a Lifetime’ match that no one ever thought they’d see, weathering the ‘Perfect Strom’ and riding the rollercoaster of C.M Punk’s meteoric WWE Championship reign.

Strengths:

Beginning at the Royal Rumble, C.M Punk vs Dolph Ziggler for the WWE Championship lacks the main event spectacle and feel that most other matches on this release have, nonetheless though it is a very good match which showcases Dolph Ziggler’s readiness to perform at the very top of the card and also what a great Champion he will be. C.M Punk is as excellent as usual, selflessly helping to get Ziggler over and John Laurinaitis as the second special guest referee is wonderfully smug at times, adding to the sense that had this match been a year later and a different time in both wrestler’s careers, it would have really felt like a must see main event.

Wrestlemania 28 is represented twice on the release, first off with the epic Hell in a Cell, ‘End of an Era’ match between The Undertaker and Triple H, with Shawn Michaels serving as the special guest referee. The whole match is an exceptional piece of storytelling with all three men playing their parts to perfection. Triple H as the obsessive challenger exudes an inspirational never say die attitude continuously coming back at the ‘Dead Man’; The Undertaker as the proud defending warrior who will do whatever it takes to win and Shawn Michaels as the torn referee bring a delightfully emotional tone to the whole outing and one which leaves the viewer as exhausted as the three men in the ring, before the bell rings for the final time. What Triple H and the Undertaker put into the match is evident by the sore bodies and the sickening bruises which display themselves on the Undertaker’s back during the match. The Undertaker’s shaved head which gets a superb reaction from the audience, Jim Ross on commentary – even though it’s clear by Michael Cole’s snide looks he doesn’t want him there and the sight of the three men at the top of the aisle together in one final embrace, tops off a match which should be shown to every developmental wrestler as a lesson in how to sell and how to get the crowd sentimentally involved in a match. The Undertaker vs Triple H really is the end of an era. The last time the attitude era will be in the same ring, at the same time, on the same show. For that reason amongst many, this match is the highlight of the release.

The second Wrestlemania 28 offering comes from the match billed as ‘Once in a Lifetime’. The Rock vs John Cena may have been mostly a mess in the ring but does warrant it inclusion in this section for the sheer spectacle that it brought to the grandest stage of them all. The video package shown before the match is superb and even though the musicians that sing a number before each man enters the arena are distracting, they’re worth sitting through for the sheer animosity that the crowd in the Sun Life Centre throw at MGK when he says about John Cena “We’re here to see one of the biggest egos get beat by one of the biggest underdogs.” Someone really should have told him that 1) John Cena is never going to be the underdog again as everyone expects him to win every match he’s in – that’s how WWE have trained its modern audience and 2) Florida is the Rock’s hometown. What kind of reaction did MGK think he was going to get after that outburst? As stated the match is mostly a mess but it does have a few highlights. The crowd are heavily involved from the beginning and had the stadium had a roof then you can’t help but think the audience would have brought it down its chants of “Rocky” and “Let’s Go Cena; Cena Sucks”; the reaction when the bell rings is unlike anything heard before in a wrestling ring; the final moments are handled very well and there’s a thunderous reaction when the Rock pins Cena; John Cena shows more than one moment of his potential as a heel during the match, the pinnacle of this comes when he goes to deliver the People’s Elbow to the Rock. The possibilities are there for all to see; there are downsides as well, such as Cena taking several of the Rock’s moves wrong and hitting the Rock with a leg drop from the top rope which we now know snapped a ligament in the Rock’s leg. Michael Cole on commentary also provides the dumbest quote of the night when he says “I don’t even think there was a loser tonight!” yes there was Michael, it was Cena. However, none of these things can blunt what was an absolute display of grandeur. Yes the match was weak but the atmosphere, the opulence, the crowd, the competitors and the fact that the whole thing takes place at Wrestlemania makes sure the Rock vs John Cena will go down in history.

Cody Rhodes vs Christian for the WWE Intercontinental Championship at No Way Out is extremely well handled by both men. Any fears that WWE may have had that Rhodes isn’t on par with the best singles competitors in WWE should have been quelled here. The whole match does a hell of a lot for Cody Rhodes as a singles star and WWE should have had the guts to capitalise on it. The impressive ariel and technical bout is capped off by a perfectly timed finish, ensuring both men come out smelling of roses. Interestingly enough, Michael Cole on commentary exclaims that the reason Christian chosen to alter his heelish ways is because he wants to be remembered like Edge. This is despite the fact that Edge was a heel for most of his main event career and the people loved him even more for it. It’s obvious that Christian is more comfortable in the heel role and WWE should make the most of they can of it. Anyone in doubt only needs to go back to 2003 to see what a superior job ‘Captain Charisma’ did as a loathsome jerk and his fine work in 2002 when he tagged with Chris Jericho.

Yet another highlight is brought to us from Money in the Bank and thankfully whilst it is the No Disqualification Match for the WWE Championship, fought between C.M Punk and Daniel Bryan, sadly it is the only C.M Punk vs Daniel Bryan match on the release. More on that later. The whole contest is near perfect and you’ll find it hard to spot a move which doesn’t look good or is out of place. Both Daniel Bryan’s flying knee off of the apron onto a standing Punk and Punk’s boarder clothesline from barrier to barrier look terrific. Bryan’s ‘Yes / No’ lock applied with a Kendo stick which would seem awkwardly done anywhere else seems to a piece of executed perfection. A tremendous match with countless first rate counters is set off nicely by A.J Lee as the special referee and her ability to portray the mentally unbalanced with such exactness.

‘The Perfect Storm’ pitting Triple H vs Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam divided audiences when it took place. I read numerous letters and opinions of people who said it was boring and uneventful. That of course is there opinion. I would like however to know how many of them either know what to look for in a great wrestling match or took into account the stages and effort it takes to tell a flawless story. Either way, this match can be looked upon as nothing but a success on every level. No, there wasn’t a whole lot of actual wrestling contained in the thirty minutes; however that can be forgiven when you see how well both men tell the story that needed to be gotten across. Delectably, WWE gave Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler permission to mention Lesnar’s UFC career and achievements as UFC Champion. An approach that should be taken with every wrestler who comes to WWE from another promotion, be it wrestling or other; The lights being turned down for the in ring announcements that are only usually present in a Championship bout cast a darker and more intense feeling over the whole fight; The idiots at ringside who shouted “You can’t wrestle!” at Lesnar need to learnt heir wrestling history before they attend another event. It doesn’t ruin the match any but it really does annoy me when people attend events not knowing enough about wrestler’s history and then proceed to vocally share their limited knowledge with the whole world; Paul Heyman is as wonderful as ever as the scheming and despairing mouthpiece and coupled with consent from WWE to mention Lesnar’s history of stomach problems – one of which nearly ended his career and killed him – gave the whole match another level of realism; even though Brock Lesnar takes a leaf from ‘the John Cena handbook of selling’ and no sells the pedigree right at the death, instantly applying the Kimura Lock for the tap out victory, the match isn’t tarnished and builds itself to a pitch perfect conclusion; Triple H doesn’t instantly get the desired reaction from the audience having to listen to chants of “You tapped out!” but if you keep milking something long enough the you get what you want in the end and the crowd surrender the chants for those of “Triple H!” SummerSlam has set the stage for one final match between the two and it promises to be excellent.

Night of Champions gives us a sickeningly brilliant match between Randy Orton and Dolph Ziggler and is yet another strong argument as to why WWE needs to stop burying its future World Heavyweight Champion and start getting the WWE machine behind him. Even though the outcome of the match is the wrong decision and Dolph Ziggler should have defeated Orton to set him up for Survivor Series and his ultimate push towards Wrestlemania 29, that minor gripe can’t put a flaw in a well fought technical encounter which boasts several admirable moves and a killer RKO finish. If you have just purchased Night of Champions 2012 on DVD or Blu-ray, then this match is worth sitting through again and again.

The final match on the release is the rewarding Sheamus vs Big Show from Hell in a Cell for the World Heavyweight Championship. I still stand by the fact that this should have been a Hell in a Cell match, nevertheless, both men sparkle like they never have before. The winner here is the Big Show of course, who puts in a performance he’s been missing since he left WCW. Sheamus copes tremendously with Show’s size and the ‘White Noise’ on Big Show has to be seen to be believed. Every perfectly timed near fall helps advance the contest to its blistering finale and signals great things for Big Show going forward.

Weaknesses:

The World Heavyweight Championship Elimination Chamber Match from Elimination Chamber; fails to live up to previous Elimination Chamber matches and suffers because of it. The inclusion of both Big Show and the Great Khali is one big man too many. The Great Khali is as good as redundant here as he is in most of his matches. When he does exit his chamber he lasts mere minutes. Chants of “Boring” can be heard less than five minutes into the match and when you consider there’s still twenty five minutes to go before every man is released from their chamber let alone the time it takes to get to the conclusion of the encounter, you can see how desperate fans were to get the whole thing over with. Once again the commentary is less than favourable as Michael Cole comes out with such outlandish comments as “Santino is the sentimental favourite to win this match!” To be a sentimental favourite you need to have been around at least ten years and have an act that has touched the fans’ hearts. Santino has neither done or had either. It’s not all bad though as Cody Rhodes cements himself yet again as a solid, dependable worker even if he doesn’t get a fair crack at the spotlight and the exchanges between Santino and Daniel Bryan in the final few seconds are dynamite which the crowd lap up. For a few seconds you really do believe that Santino could be the next World Heavyweight Champion. Don’t get the wrong impression that this match should be avoided because it shouldn’t. It’s still a fairly decent match, it’s just that on this release it’s one of the weaker ones.

The WWE Divas Championship Match between Layla and Beth Phoenix from Over the Limit has its moments and maintains a few very good moves from both women. However thanks to its limited action mostly down to Layla who seems to cut a pathetic figure, most will find it a waste of time and considering the state of the Divas Division in 2012 and 2013, it’s unthinkable that WWE would even consider including a Divas match on a release such as this.

C.M Punk’s WWE Championship defence against John Cena at Night of Champions is held together entirely by C.M Punk and is a match, if already seen, really doesn’t need to be viewed again. If you haven’t seen it already then you will need to be warned that it takes a lot of dedication to sit through. Those seeking the very best, technical and ariel action will not find it with this addition. Patchy, inconsistent and necessitating Punk drops his game down a level to match Cena’s woeful style; WWE should have left this match off of its release in favour of replacing it with one of a host of others.

Scott Stanford provides the links between matches and whilst he handles it better than most hosts of past WWE releases (the memory of Matt striker and Maria hosting and providing links for the ‘Macho Madness’ DVD and Blu-ray is still horrifyingly fresh in our minds) for some reason he sounds like he’s either providing the voice over for a documentary or auditioning for a major motion picture. It’s not enough to ruin the links between matches but it does become distracting.

Blu-ray Exclusive Extras:

Elimination Chamber: February 19^th 2012

Ambulance Match

John Cena vs Kane

Extreme Rules: April 29^th 2012

2 out of 3 Falls Match

World Heavyweight Championship Match

Sheamus vs Daniel Bryan

Money in the Bank: July 15^th 2012

Smackdown Money In the Bank Ladder Match

Christian vs Tensai vs Cody Rhodes vs Sin Cara vs Dolph Ziggler vs Santino Marella vs Damien Sandow vs Tyson Kidd

Hell in a Cell: October 28^th 2012

Hell in a Cell Match

WWE Championship Match

C.M Punk vs Ryback

Backstage Pay-Per View Access

C.M Punk discusses his match at the Royal Rumble

Sheamus discusses his involvement at Elimination Chamber

Layla discusses her match at Extreme Rules

Christian discusses his match at Over the Limit

Paul Heyman discusses Brock Lesnar’s match at SummerSlam

The Miz discusses his match at SummerSlam

John Cena discusses his match at SummerSlam

C.M Punk his match at SummerSlam

Conclusion:

2012 was the year for sub names in wrestling. The Prefect Storm, Once in a Lifetime, the End of an Era all leant a credible edge to the best matches on this release. Incredibly, WWE have neglected some matches which did deserve an inclusion here and they’re suspicious by their absence seeing as there really aren’t enough pay per view encounters to satisfy ones craving once you get hooked into the set. Even after you’ve sat through the marathon matches you’ll be eager to see the likes of C.M Punk vs Daniel Bryan (Over the Limit), John Cena vs Brock Lesnar (Extreme Rules), Randy Orton vs Alberto Del Rio (Hell in a Cell), C.M Punk vs Chris Jericho (Extreme Rules), The Shield vs Ryback and Team Hell No (TLC) which are all inexplicably missing. The Blu-ray release includes only one match which should have been featured on the main body, the Money in the Bank Ladder Match ultimately won by Dolph Ziggler. Had they all been present either in the main section or at all, this would have been an unbeatable set of matches.

In truth though, this box set is rendered a little pointless should you own every pay per view event of 2012. Apart from the Blu-ray extras there’s nothing to tempt those who already own either every 2012 event or these particular matches on DVD or Blu-ray. The DVD release has no extras at all and I can’t imagine the Blu-ray exclusive extras will last very long by the looks of them. It’s strange that WWE decided to produce this DVD before they released Survivor Series 2012 and TLC 2012 as without the two events it can’t boast the title ‘Best of 2012’ and as a result is somewhat incomplete. Maybe it would have been more sensible to put back the release date and include at least one match from each pay per view event.

Glaring omissions aside and one or two questionable inclusions that have obviously been highlighted just to get said wrestler on the release, ‘The Best Pay-Per View Matches of 2012’ really is just that. An impressive array of the greatest matches 2012 produced and if you don’t own every pay per view event of last year, I highly recommend you get you hands on this.

Rating: A

Onwards and upwards...

DUI'S AND NEW CHAMPIONSHIPS

After an action packed Road to Wrestlemania, two major situations have arisen in WWE this week. One of them good, one of them completely dumb for the perpetrator of said situation. You probably know what and whom I’m talking about right now so let’s start off with what transpired mere days after Elimination Chamber 2013.

Jack Swagger had been given a renewed sense of purpose in WWE since his comeback on the Smackdown after Royal Rumble. Before he left WWE in 2012 he was continuously buried and used as a jobber for wrestlers with no future like the deplorable Brodus Clay. Defeats to men like Clay served only to diminish Jack Swagger in both the companies eyes and the valuation of the WWE Universe. There was no way that we could take Swagger seriously after the debacle that was his World Heavyweight Championship run in 2010 and his continuous losses to no manes on Raw and Smackdown.

The finger of blame can be pointed wherever you like, but in the end it’s WWE that finger must settle on. Many times has Swagger been compared with Kurt Angle and for good reason. He has the build, the athleticism, the talent and the ring presence. Jack Swagger has proven beyond reasonable doubt that he can go with the very best of WWE’s talent which begs the question why WWE made such a balls up and spectacle of his first ever World Heavyweight Championship reign. A question only WWE and Vince McMahon can answer and one I feel, they never will.

Behind the scenes, Jack Swagger was a running joke that the WWE staff and creative could have a good laugh at. Whenever someone in WWE needed a laugh they would turn to Jack Swagger and book him to lose to some overweight blob or a wrestler who couldn’t pin a paper bag that had been nailed to the floor, in ten seconds. You can’t blame Swagger for losing his patience with WWE and even though he didn’t take the approach that C.M Punk took when WWE thought it was a laugh to bury him, Swagger can blame himself a little because he didn’t take the bull by the horn and demand to be used in a more effective way. For anyone who has seen ‘C.M Punk: Best in the World’ DVD or Blu-ray, they’ll know the lengths Punk went to, to get WWE to take him seriously. From re-writing his television angles and taking them to Vince himself, to refusing to be someone’s television programme just to get them over. Jack Swagger did none of this and instead sat idly by whilst WWE tore his image apart.

It was best for Swagger to take an extended leave of absence in 2012. We could all see he was going nowhere fast and had he remained in WWE in 2012, then maybe he’d already have been released. A leave of absence isn’t always the best course of action for a wrestler to take. When you’re out of sight then you really are out of mind in wrestling and you run the risk of people either not caring or not remembering you when you return from your little vacation. On the flip side though, starving the company of your talent can have a positive effect if they can see what they’re missing. Not being around allows WWE to come up with something fresher for your character and a storyline that can lead to a main event push.

This is exactly what happened with Jack Swagger and upon his return to WWE he was immediately inserted into the World Heavyweight Championship picture, winning the Elimination Chamber match to book his spot in the World Heavyweight Championship match at Wrestlemania 29. That was the theory at least. And now we come to the real point of this little piece. Jack Swagger had everything he wanted when he returned to WWE, so the last thing you thought he’d do was jeopardise it so close to what would have been the biggest match of his career in the MetLife Centre on April 7^th. I mean, who would be stupid enough to ask for a chance and then when given that chance, completely blow it? The answer is Jack Swagger.

For those who haven’t already heard the news, then days after Elimination Chamber 2013 and the resultant Smackdown taping forty eight hours later, Jack Swagger was pulled up in Biloxi, Missippi by police and arrested for speeding, drinking whilst under the influence (pissed out of his face for the British readers) and possession of marijuana. What an idiot. Swagger is expected in court on March 12^th when he will find out his punishment. Knowing WWE’s stance on drugs and drink and Vince McMahon’s hatred of the pair, one can only imagine that Jack Swagger has blown his chance at stardom at his spot at Wrestlemania for good. After wanting a chance, and being granted his wish, WWE can only be apoplectic at Swagger’s blatant idiotic behaviour.   

His punishment will be severe and rightly so. I don’t know what sentence these crimes carry in the United States but in the U.K speeding and drink driving combined are a prison sentence. One gets the feeling whatever punishment is dealt out to him court it won’t be as harsh the one that will come from Vince McMahon himself. Other wrestlers have fallen into the same trap as Swagger and been caught, punished and fired for less whilst other wrestlers were merely punished and then reinstated in their spot on the roster. Sadly, for Jack Swagger he’s not as big as some of those names. Randy Orton only escaped having his contract terminated last year for his wellness policy violation and possession and usage of marijuana because his name sells a hell of a lot of tickets. Jack Swagger isn’t as big as Randy Orton and now, never will be.

WWE will use Swagger as the lesson to all WWE Superstars. I don’t know if he’ll be fired but I certainly believe he’ll lose his Wrestlemania spot to either Randy Orton or Sheamus and serve a mammoth suspension for his actions. If Jack was to return to WWE after his suspension then it will be at the bottom of the card and possibly in a worse position than when he left in 2012. The worst thing is, Swagger doesn’t have cause to complain. He was given everything he wanted and blew it. The All American-American only has himself to blame now. He could have killed someone and that’s something WWE can’t and won’t overlook when considering what to do with the supposed next elect World Heavyweight Champion. What a waste.

A Brand New Championship

Cries of “At last” emanated from the WWE Universe when the Rock unveiled the new WWE Championship title the night after Elimination Chamber 2013. For years now, WWE have been parading the ghastly spinner Championship first introduced by John Cena after he defeated JBL at Wrestlemania 21 and it’s about time, nearly eight years after the debut of the monstrosity of the spinner Championship that WWE have done away with the design that sold literally millions of replica copies around the world and replaced it with something a lot more fetching.

The WWE Championship has had numerous designs over the years and many imitations. Edge’s ‘Rated R WWE Championship’, The Rock’s ‘Brahma Bull WWE Championship’, Stone Cold Steve Austin’s ‘Texas Rattlesnake WWE Championship’ all unique in design and looked much better then Cena’s gaudy piece of trash. Now though, its replacement has a lot more finesse about it and can be taken a lot more seriously that its predecessor. In the unlikely event you haven’t yet seen the new WWE Championship then a picture accompanies this blog at the end. If you have then you can already see the difference in how much more professional it looks.

Calls for the spinner Championship to be abolished followed rather hastily after it was unveiled. To look at it you could tell the Championship was created to sell replica copies. Those who plug millions into the John Cena machine were guaranteed to buy it whilst those who reviled Cena were guaranteed to hate it. Not many people know this, but I used to be a John Cena fanatic. I brought the t-shirts and the belts and the hats and the stupid little arm bands, hell, I even went the whole hog and brought a replica pair of shorts that Cena fights in. I used to believe in everything John Cena spouted but in the end I saw the light. My judgment of John Cena isn’t done out of hatred for him, but out of a dissolution sense of disappointment. After a while, John Cena began to wear on me. As a fan, when you see his true inability in the ring then you do begin to question what else about him is false. It’s something I went through and it’s something every Cena fan will go through at some point in their life.

I tell you this not out of background for your Wrestling God but because it has a lot to do with the subject at hand. For those wrestling fans who have only jumped on the bandwagon in the last five or six years, the WWE Championship has a different meaning. It’s become just another Championship that is defended by the top man of the company and during the last 6 years, John Cena has been that man for a good percentage of the time. For older fans like myself though, those who have been through the early 1990’s nostalgia fest and the attitude era and whose roots are planted firmly in the late 1980’s, the WWE Championship means so much more. It’s tradition, a ritual and no matter how many times the design changed over the years it always remained something which could be looked upon as vital and respected. When John Cena introduced the spinner Championship in 2005, it seemed to devaluate the history of the Championship, especially when it became clear that WWE had done away with the traditional design just for the sake of its bank balance.

Don’t get me wrong, sometimes, change is good and it can be a breath of fresh air to get away from tradition. WWE though too it to a whole new level. The spinner Championship was vile to look at and even though it kept up with Cena’s image and his popularity it really did cast a shadow over the history of the Championship and those who had held it in the past. What’s even more frightening is that WWE were going pimp the World Heavyweight Championship and make that into a spinner Championship when Cena won that belt as well. But the reaction WWE got towards the spinner WWE Championship put them off of that idea. Thank god.

Now though, WWE have seen sense and regained their senses. Of course, the unveiling comes at a perfect time, as the Rock and John Cena will meet at Wrestlemania 29 for the WWE Championship and having something new replace what Cena introduced into the company eight years ago will serve as a basis to re-ignite the feud between the Rock and John Cena. Now the Rock has more ammunition to fire at Cena and all WWE have to do is find the ammo to reload Cena’s gun. The build up I’m sure will be phenomenal even if the match won’t be.

Before we wrap this up and go along with our lives, I’d just like to point out the man who is sitting in the shadows, probably foaming at the mouth at this very moment. C.M Punk. Word of the new WWE Championship design was first put our by the then WWE Champion, Punk at a comic con event he attended. Punk revealed that he had input in the new design even though WWE refused to divulge to him when the new Championship would be unveiled. I do believe that Punk thought he’d be the man to unveil the gold and rid the world of that hideous eyesore, how it must have stung when WWE informed him that not only would he drop the WWE Championship to the Rock at Royal Rumble but also the Rock would be the man to unveil the Championship that Punk helped design. In his defence, you can see why C.M Punk has such a grudge against Dwayne Johnson. A grudge that warrants a third match between the duo and one which would have been a lot more fascinating that the main event we’re getting at Wrestlemania 29.

Onward and upwards...

REVIEW CORNER: WWE LIVE IN THE U.K - NOVEMBER 2012

    A – Excellent

    B – Good

    C – Mediocre

    D – Avoid       

Release Date: 25^th February 2012

Available From: www.wwedvd.co.uk

Price: DVD £12.99

(Prices from www.wwedvd.co.uk: high street prices will vary)

Format Reviewed: DVD (2 Discs)

What It’s About:

WWE’s U.K tour recorded in Birmingham, England in November 2012. Featuring Raw, Smackdown, Superstars and for the first time ever on DVD an episode of The Main Event.

Strengths:

From Raw:

The show begins with a confrontation between the Miz and Paul Heyman, in which the Miz quits Team Punk at Survivor Series. The confrontation is done with great ease, is very well handled and is quite intense for the short time it lasts. It’s also the beginning of the Miz’s hasty face turn.

Rey Mysterio, Sin Cara and R-Truth vs The Prime Time Players and Antonio Cesaro is worth a look, despite the usual Sin Cara blown spots and the patchy areas. Considering the Prime Time Players are the worst tag team in WWE today, or at least up to the point of this recording, the match can be seen as a success. The most amusing part comes before and after the bell has sounded and at the hand of Sin Cara and Rey Mysterio mocking the Prime Time Players dance. That does raise a smile.

John Cena admitting his flaws during the Cena / A.J Lee scandal spot is very refreshing and could be seen as a brave move from the leader of the ‘Cenation’. Taking into consideration the amount of hostility he currently receives from audiences this may be the biggest leap Cena has made in years. It also gets a huge reaction from the attending audience as does A.J.

The spot involving Vince McMahon and Vickie Guerrero, where Guerrero has to name a third man for the triple threat Survivor Series WWE Championship Match is witty thanks to Vince. “If you say Dolph Ziggler again, I’ll fire you on the spot” line from Vince to Vickie is made all the more humorous by Vince’s look. However, this angle should have been used to hype Ziggler and not bury him.

Kofi Kingston vs Alberto Del Rio takes a very long time to get going, but when it does hit its stride it’s a commendable effort. Considering the extensive talent of both Kingston and Del Rio, this match should have been much better. The crowd are never louder during this clash than when Randy Orton’s music hits. Yes, Orton is more over than both Kingston and Del Rio.

Surprisingly, Team CoBro vs Primo and Epico is respectable for a match involving Santino Marella. This generations Doink the Clown. Zack Ryder and Santino both display an impressive amount of athleticism. You get the feeling by the end of this match that if WWE book all of their tag team matches to be like this then maybe the division wouldn’t be in such disarray as it is now.

C.M Punk’s promo before the tag team main event is hot. Especially when he gets onto the subject of Vince McMahon and states “Vince McMahon continues his favourite tradition, at Survivor Series, of screwing his most talented performer!” It’s a great promo by Punk but one that does yet again bring up the Montreal Screw job from Survivor Series 1997. A subject that we’ve heard so much on it’s time to cast it into the past and never bring it up again.

Raw’s tag team main event pitting C.M Punk and Dolph Ziggler vs John Cena and Ryback is unexpectedly watchable for a John Cena offering. Whilst most of the credit has to go to Punk and Ziggler for a tremendous effort, it’s John Cena who pulls off a very fine sell job. No, it’s not a typo; I did just say John Cena sold well – mostly. The ending of the match is very rushed though and Ryback ends Punk far too easily.

From Smackdown:

The Miz vs Kofi Kingston for the WWE Intercontinental Championship is fast, technical and very involved. Even though the match serves the Miz with another loss to Kingston, the WWE Intercontinental Champion neglects to sell an injured leg in places and the announcers seem to have been given the edict to do everything they can not to put Miz over, this match comes very much recommended.

Another outing which sees Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara take on the Prime Time Players, this time in tag team competition is only interesting when Mysterio gets involved towards the very rear of the match. The Prime Time Players are so inactive they look like mere bystanders until Mysterio gets the tag. Still, the match is laudable for Mysterio’s contribution.

The Falls Count Anywhere Match between Randy Orton and Alberto Del Rio is the highlight of this release. Exciting, the match spills all over the building and both Orton and Del Rio put in a hell of a shift. It’s a match worth watching again even if you’ve seen it already and highlights Randy Orton’s strengths in helping evolve talent which needs a guiding hand getting on the right side of the audience. Alberto Del Rio is the man who gets the better share of the match though, thanks to Orton’s selfless performance.

From The Main Event:

Sheamus vs Wade Barrett is another hard hitting encounter if a little disappointing for what both men are capable of. Equally, Sheamus and Wade Barrett are adept at delivering much more than this. To give it away on a show like The Main Event is an injustice to both men’s talents and standing in WWE. This would have been better had it been part of Raw.

The extras are worth their inclusion on the release, comprising two previously seen and available on DVD matches from two WWE events in the U.K. Randy Savage vs the Ultimate Warrior from SummerSlam 1992 is very good indeed even though it fails to top their Wrestlemania 7 encounter. It is evident that Savage carries the Warrior through the thirty five minutes and apparent is the Warrior’s poor physical condition thanks to years of steroid and other drug abuse, when he’s badly blown up by the end of the match. He really does look a hell of a state. Ric Flair and Mr. Perfect’s involvement at ringside helps the match to keep its edge even though the count out finish is very poor.

The Rock vs X-Pac from WWE’s Capital Carnage event in 1998 is top class all the way and was the best match from a disappointing night. Those who own it on DVD or saw it will be able to testify to that. The Rock and Pac both were in their prime here and this match showcases how much further Sean Waltman could have gone in WWE had the company invested in him as a headline player.

Weaknesses:

From Raw:

The reality television beginning in which WWE get their voice over guy to recap what happened last week and what’s to come on the edition you’re watching, is now getting old. This is meant to be wrestling, not a reality television show and certainly not a cheesy American drama which is what this gives WWE the feeling of. It’s time to cut the ‘Previously’ and ‘To Come’ moments and just get on with what we’ve all come to see. ‘Wrestling’.

The whole four episodes come on DVD as they were broadcast. Which means every link to every ad break is left in and dips in an out of the action even when there’s a match going on. There’s no plausible reason WWE could have left this in when they possess all of the footage of what happened between breaks, the cameras have to keep rolling. It would have made much more sense for WWE to cut the links to the ad breaks and give us the show in full without any interruptions. Let’s face it, otherwise we could have recorded all four shows when they were on and saved ourselves money buying this release.

The John Cena and A.J Lee love story angle in which Vickie Guerrero tries to present footage of the pair romantically entwined goes on and on and on and on. What makes it worse is that Guerrero’s footage is meaningless and adds nothing to the angle seeing as her presented footage could have been taken at two different times. John Cena gets through this angle yet again with that conceited grin on his face and I can’t begin to tell you how exasperating Vickie is. Her voice could cut glass.

Daniel Bryan vs Cody Rhodes is maddeningly short and gets nothing accomplished. In fact it’s just a shoo in for Kane vs Damien Sandow which is yet another waste of time. Yet again Sandow is used as a punch bag and comes across not as a serious contender to the WWE Tag Team Championship but a mere coward. Both matches have been done to death now and it’s time for some new material. WWE should have cut the Cena / Guerrero angle by half and allocated the time to Bryan and Rhodes.

Introducing Brad Maddox in preparation for his explanation of why he screwed Ryback eight days earlier at Hell in a Cell, Michael Cole bizarrely announces that the Hell in a Cell Match at Hell in a Cell 2012 between C.M Punk and Ryback was “One of the most controversial matches in WWE history!” I know WWE like to hype their matches so people will buy the DVD’s and Blu-ray’s but overstated comments like this do them more harm than good. People who watched the match know what a lie it is and people who have purchased Hell in a Cell 2012 on DVD and Blu-ray will also know by the time this is released, the match was short, dull and had it not been for Punk it would have been a washout.

Brad Maddox’s explanation of why he screwed Ryback at Hell in a Cell 2012 should have either been rewritten before WWE allowed him out to the ring or cut completely for another format of explanation. Maddox articulates that he was unfairly treated and lost in the pack so to speak. The whole explanation doesn’t paint WWE or its developmental leagues in good light about how the future generations of this business are treated. Even though everything Maddox said was true, to save themselves the embarrassment, WWE shouldn’t have given him the material to shout about. The only thing it can achieve is driving away potential stars in the making when they’re offered a WWE developmental contract. However, I can sympathise with Maddox and the rest of the guys who are being treated that way because it’s how I feel when I’m trying to get someone to look at my work.

Vince McMahon single handedly manages to kill off all and any heat Dolph Ziggler had in his spot with Vickie Guerrero. When discussing the main event of Survivor Series and the triple threat match for the WWE Championship, Guerrero mentions the shot should go to Ziggler. Bare in mind that Ziggler is the future World Heavyweight Champion and WWE should be doing everything it can to push him, it’s then absolutely absurd that the head of the company, the man that has made so many stars in his time responds to Vickie’s comments that Ziggler should have the WWE Championship shot at Survivor Series with “I thought you were going to say someone who deserves it!” Worse, McMahon goes on to pronounce that Ryback deserves it more than Ziggler. Utter absurdity!

Sheamus vs The Miz is hampered by constant camera cuts to Big Show on commentary. It happens so often that it’s an unremitting distraction from what’s happening in the ring, one which stops us from getting involved in the match. Whilst on commentary, Big Show and those sitting at the gorilla position deem it fit to verbally trash the Miz and make him seem all but insignificant. At one point Big Show even suggests that Sheamus would be ruined if he lost to the Miz. I wonder how many brain cells are being used in Titan Towers these days. Judging by this, not many.

Wade Barrett vs Brodus Clay and Kaitlyn and Layla vs Eve and Aksana are dull and play out to mostly silence. When the top divas walked out of the company, it should have been the wake u call Vince needed to do something. As for Barrett and Clay, it’s a mess. Even the heroes homecoming welcome that Wade Barrett gets and the odd good move isn’t enough to offset a rotten match in which Clay proves himself to be nothing but an embarrassment.

The commentary isn’t great even though Jim Ross is at the table with Michael Cole, in the absence of Jerry Lawler. Sadly, Ross can’t do any better than his colleague for the evening in the ‘dumb shit to say’ department. There’s a lot of it to go around all four shows, Ross’ worst moment comes when he says “I’m sure everyone in the back is excited about John Cena and Ryback teaming tonight!” No one ever bothers to question J.R about why everyone else would be excited about the team of Cena and Ryback, when the truth is if the rest of the locker room gave a damn about their careers or were remotely competitive they’d be annoyed the spot in the main event of the show didn’t go to them.

J.R’s final dumb comment of the evening comes during the mind-numbing Heath Slater vs Jay Uso match. Ross announces to the entire watching world that wrestlers are only in the industry for the money. When talking about the money rewards for winning a match, which is an old legend, everyone knows in 2013 that wrestlers are signed to fixed contracts and get paid a fixed amount per month / annum. The only exceptions to this are pay per view events like Wrestlemania and Royal Rumble when wrestlers get paid more or less depending on their involvement. Anyway, back to the point. J.R exclaims “Why else would you be here?” Idiot. After years of being told by wrestlers like Triple H and Ric Flair that if you’re not in this business to be the WWE Champion then you don’t need to be here at all, J.R and those who gave him the order to say it should have thought twice. What everyone involved were basically telling impressionable young people watching, people who don’t yet know better is that you don’t do things because you love them, you do them just for the money. I believe that’s pretty much the same philosophy that hookers live by.

From Smackdown:

Big Show and Wade Barrett vs Sheamus and William Regal is slow and uninteresting until the match reaches it’s final few seconds. When you think of the roll Big Show was on, Sheamus, Wade Barrett and William Regal’s talents, there’s no excuse for a match as un-lively as this one.

From The Main Event:

For a show that is promoted here as being available for the first time on DVD, WWE never took this into account when booking the show. Two matches are all we get and the rest of the time is just packed with unnecessary and repeated video packages from Raw and Smackdown. WWE knew that they’d be releasing this as a DVD and therefore should have made a special effort this once to make it worth owning.

Once again, the Big Show provides guest commentary on the Sheamus vs Wade Barrett match. Miserably, Big Show repeats and goes over almost everything he said during his commentary on Raw, during Sheamus vs the Miz. Nothing new is added to the Sheamus vs Big Show feud and just as it did on Raw, the camera constantly cuts to Big Show taking away from the action.

R-Truth vs Heath Slater is a bore and round out everything The Main Event has to offer. Full of rest holds and stalling, these type of matches are what the fast forward buttons were created for. Interestingly though, in his 3MB gear, Heath Slater looks almost the spitting image of British comedian and song writer, Tim Minchin.

From Superstars:

This is completely forgettable and a waste of time. The two matches encompass Jimmy Uso vs Jinder Mahal and Tensai vs Justin Gabriel. The first is totally worthless. The Uso’s could have been the next Headshrinkers. Had this been 1994 they would have been big. The latter encounter exists solely to ruin Tensai more than he already has been. The match consists of a demolition job on Gabriel on for him to spring to life and take the victory. Sheer rubbish. I don’t know why WWE bother putting Superstars out anymore.

Special Features:

SummerSlam 1992 – 29^th August 1992

WWE Championship Match

‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage vs The Ultimate Warrior

Capital Carnage – 6^th December 1998

WWE Championship Match

The Rock vs X Pac

Conclusion:

WWE have been giving us the ‘Live in the U.K’ DVD’s for years now and still the format hasn’t changed. It’s about time WWE gave it a rethink. A reinvention wouldn’t go amiss as just the four events on their own aren’t enough for the people who watched them live to go and purchase them, especially if they’re as bad as those on this release. The pay per view DVD’s are a different argument because people buy them for prosperity. WWE has to add an extras incentive to these releases because they’re just not worth the money. One option WWE could look at is following in the footsteps of TNA, in producing a thirty minute documentary following the WWE superstars as they travel to and from shows, doing fan interaction events and really get behind the scenes. This would warrant purchasing a title such as this.

Smackdown is the best show out of all four and the only one really worth watching. Raw, The Main Event and Superstars are all mediocre or worse in the ring and too much time is spent going over old facts, all which you will have seen before Raw and Smackdown draw to a close. By the time you get to the end of ‘Superstars’ you’ll be so fed up with seeing footage from Raw and Smackdown, Big Show’s bar attack on Sheamus and William Regal and Brad Maddox’s explanation that you’ll want to put your fist through the screen.

‘WWE Live in the U.K – November 2012’ takes a huge amount of dedication to watch, even in three sittings you’ll struggle to get through it all without either getting bored or losing concentration somewhere down the line. Great wrestling DVD’s should hold the attention of the viewer until the whole thing is finished. Half way through this one, you’ll be wondering what else you could have done with the time. If you collect WWE DVD’s occasionally, looking for the very best wrestling possibly then you won’t find it on this release. This is for completists only.

If it wasn’t for the Randy Orton vs Alberto Del Rio Falls Count Anywhere match, this DVD would be getting a ‘D’ rating. It’s only because of these two that it’s spared. If you want to see or own the match and aren’t a WWE DVD / Blu-ray completist, then you’re best off waiting until the release of ‘Best of Raw and Smackdown 2012’. It’s time WWE stopped being so inhibited with these type of releases and let it all hang out.

Rating: C

Onwards and upwards...

ELIMINATION CHAMBER 2013 - NEXT STOP, WRESTLEMANIA

WWE Elimination Chamber had the potential to be the night before Wrestlemania where everything started again. A brand new beginning for WWE before it hit its stride on the Road to Wrestlemania. Did WWE take its chances where it failed to spot them before, or did it simple do what it’s now become famous for, and ignore all and sunder and carry on regardless of what had to be done?

From the New Orleans Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana this was Elimination Chamber 2013.

WWE Championship Match

(c) The Rock defeated C.M Punk

Perhaps it was too much to ask of WWE after all. The Rock vs John Cena at Wrestlemania 29 was always going to be too much of a money earner for WWE to scrap its plans and put the title back on Punk. A clear message was sent to the man who carried the company during the entire course of 2012 and that message was that you may be good enough to carry the company when we need you to do it, but you’re not good enough to carry the company when the Rock and John Cena can earn us more money. If I was C.M Punk I know what I’d be telling WWE right now but then again I’ve never had a great tolerance for people who didn’t appreciate the efforts of others.

Seeing as WWE already had the graphic of the Rock and John Cena ready made for Wrestlemania, then it always a forgone conclusion who was going to win this match, just as it was who was going to win the Royal Rumble last month. It’s a real shame because Punk has worked so hard and a triple threat match pitting the Rock vs C.M Punk vs John Cena at Wrestlemania 29 has so much more potential than another Rock vs Cena match, that whilst it will have the full backing of the company and that special feeling again because it’s at Wrestlemania, will most probably be a let down in the ring once again.

The Rock doesn’t have the capability anymore to carry another man in a match. That’s not to say that he’s a bad wrestler after so long in Hollywood because the Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber have proven that statement to be utter rubbish. But there comes a certain time when a wrestler has been away from the spotlight for long than needed where he loses the knack to carry a wrestler. The Rock used to be able to carry anyone he was asked to, this was never more evident than at Survivor Series 2000 when the Rock carried his cousin Rikishi to a damn fine effort. Now though, that certain talent has all but left the Rock and he needs an opponent of equal quality to be able to have a good match. I think we can all agree that John Cena isn’t that man, especially after last year’s match was such a mess.

Sadly though, there’s nothing we can do about it now. Destinies have been cast and ships have sailed and are on their way to Wrestlemania 29. Like it or not, the Rock and John Cena will clash again on the grandest stage of them all unless WWE see sense and insert Punk into the match between now and Wrestlemania, which I believe they have no intention of doing. When you think about it, Wrestlemania has proven the Royal Rumble to be a complete cop out and lie in the past few years. The winner of the Royal Rumble match is meant to go to the main event of Wrestlemania yet last years Royal Rumble winner had to take his shot down the card and make way for John Cena and the Rock in the main event. Notice only when John Cena wins the Royal Rumble does the winner of the thirty man over the top rope elimination match actually get the intended spot. But then we know WWE values John Cena more than anyone else on its roster.

We can only hope that after his epic WWE Championship victory C.M Punk is rewarded with a high profile match at Wrestlemania 29. With the Undertaker due to return to WWE to begin hyping his appearance at Mania then one can only cross his fingers and pray that WWE book Punk to fight the Undertaker. It is the next logical step for Punk to take and really the only one available to WWE. Over the course of the last year Punk has fought everyone that matters and none have but the Rock have managed to defeated him on pay per view at least. To have Punk fight someone he’s already battled on PPV in 2012 would diminish the spectacle of the match and the outcome would be all but telegraphed. Again.

C.M Punk and the Undertaker have done battle before, Hell in a Cell and Bragging Rights 2009 were both very good matches and you only have to wonder what the pair could pull out when it really matters. As stated before, the whole respect angle has to be brought into the fray now and if WWE are clever, they’ll play on it after C.M Punk’s double loss to the Rock. The prefect set up for a match would be for Punk to come out on Raw in the next few weeks and preach about respect. Drop another pipe bomb about how he carried the company for a year and didn’t get one morsel of respect for it. He could then turn the tables on the Rock and lambast the company for making him drop the Championship to a man who only wrestles part time and for no other reason than for Vince to line his pockets at Wrestlemania once again. That would be dynamite if scripted and executed properly.

After several weeks of going on about how he wants to be respected, the Undertaker would then ideally come out and tell Punk that if he wants respect then he’s going to have to earn it. The implication that he hasn’t earned it already would anger many, but it’s the only logical way WWE could progress. The statement would outrage Punk and he would then accept Undertakers proposal for a match at Wrestlemania. It's an easy transgression for Punk, from the WWE Championship picture to another feud. It won't be a seamless swap though, seeing as Punk has been in the WWE Championship picture continuously since November 20th 2011. Now he doesn't have the strap around his waist anymore, it's one that needs to happen so WWE can concentrate on the Rock and John Cena.

What happens to the WWE Championship after Wrestlemania 29 is something we shall cover after the event has taken place. It’s safe to say thought that the Rock will once again depart WWE which leaves John Cena without a credible challenger. WWE have once again failed to build a suitable challenger for the soon to be WWE Champion and you can only imagine that Punk will be inserted back into the WWE Championship picture during the Wrestlemania hangover.

The Rock vs John Cena is still to come. The Rock vs C.M Punk has been a hell of a feud and even though the hype was only hard and slick during the run up to the Royal Rumble, in the ring it hasn’t disappointed. In the grander scale of things, the Rock vs C.M Punk stands head and tails above the Rock vs Cena in 2012 and presumably 2013. It’s been a triumph for WWE where ratings and pay per view buys are concerned and has to rank as one of their better decisions of the entire year. A huge pat on the back goes the Rock and Punks way and I for one will remember it as one of the better moments of the entire year.

World Heavyweight Championship Match

(c) Alberto Del Rio defeated Big Show

Another predictable outcome from a rather predictable match. For some reason though WWE are trying to make the World Heavyweight Championship a card opener when it should be higher up the running order for a piece of gold WWE consider their number two Championship. You have to believe that Alberto Del Rio vs Jack Swagger will be the first match on the card at Wrestlemania 29 as well. It’s designed to make the card look bigger. The thinking behind it is that if the World Heavyweight Championship is defended first then it should get people watching, thinking the rest of the card is so huge the only place the World Championship could fit in was first. In reality, it doesn’t do anything for the Championship involved.

Big Show, undeniably have been better than I can ever remember him in WWE during the last few months. Hell in a Cell invigorated him as did his resultant World Heavyweight Championship reign. Before, Big Show seemed reluctant to put anyone over or put his body on the line to make the match seem like a real main event. Since October, Big Show has been selfless with the usage of his body and constantly put it on the line for the good of the match. I am betting that with two or three notable exceptions, Big Show has thrown his ample frame about the ring more in the last five months than he has during his entire WWE tenure. For that he deserves a massive amount of credit. If Paul Wight can keep this up, he may just be WWE’s most improve wrestler of the year.

Now Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio are done with, WWE need to have a fool proof plan for the Big Show going into Wrestlemania 29. The Ryback situation has been thrown around so much, one is beginning to think that it may not happen at all. He match has much more potential to be a disaster than it does a spectacle and I seriously doubt Big Show can carry Ryback to a decent effort. Another situation that has been hinted at during last year is a Wrestlemania 24 rematch between Big Show and Floyd Mayweather. Seeing as Mayweather hasn’t been near WWE in years all but puts that rumour to bed. WWE need to question if they can afford to ruin Big Show’s exception form by booking him against a man who struggles to execute even the easiest of moves. If the answer is yes, then WWE are serious about pushing Ryback despite his obvious limitations.

Big Show needs an opponent who can help him create a great match and a Wrestlemania moment. WWE seem to think that defeating Cody Rhodes for the Intercontinental Championship at Wrestlemania 28 is Big Show’s Wrestlemania moment, but I disagree. For a true Wrestlemania moment you either need to win one of the big two Championships at Wrestlemania or do something that will never be forgotten. Edge’s spear on Jeff Hardy from the top of the ladder as Hardy was hanging on to the belt hook at Wrestlemania 17 is a true Wrestlemania moment. If WWE and Big Show can think of something as big as that to do with Show, even if it’s in a match with Ryback then Wight will have his true Wrestlemania moment. Until then, all parties can keep looking.

Alberto Del Rio stands a good chance of leaving Wrestlemania 29 with the World Heavyweight Championship in tact after the outcome of the Elimination Chamber Match. The fact still remains, that as a face, Del Rio needs another edge to him. That edge should be revenge against Ricardo Rodriguez. Let me explain, again. Very rarely do faces have managers. That role is more suited to heels who utilise their outside valets to their own advantage when the referee’s back is turned. To have Rodriguez constantly by Del Rio’s side is countering everything WWE are trying to do with the current champion. It would be much more effective if Rodriguez turned on Del Rio and either cost him the World Heavyweight Championship or sided with the new Number One Contender, Jack Swagger.

This may happen at Wrestlemania 29 or before to give a match that currently has no incentive to get excited about an edge. Swagger has his own sort of manager at the moment, but Rodriguez could play another part in the match which ultimately decides the outcome. Of course if he cost Del Rio the Championship then it would necessitate a match between Rodriguez and Del Rio down the line. A match which would be all but a wash out. Rodriguez has proven he has some moves but none that could match Del Rio’s wealth of wrestling knowledge.

To his credit, Alberto Del Rio has done really well to make an interesting feud out of Big Show. Sheamus managed it because he possesses the ability to carry Big Show if he needed to, which he didn’t. Del Rio however, was coming into the feud from a spot on the card which he never thought he’d occupy in a million years. Namely, the card filler position which he occupied at TLC, before he defeated Big Show for the World Heavyweight Championship. Alberto wasn’t in a position to create a high profile feud with the then current World Champion, he hadn’t been riding high on any card as 2012 drew to a close and his constant defeats at the hands of Sheamus hadn’t done him any good whatsoever. It was a puzzling choice when Del Rio took the gold from Big Show, one which has proven to be the right one over the course of the last eight weeks.

Now, Del Rio and Big Show will part company and go their separate ways. Del Rio is on a collision course with Jack Swagger at Wrestlemania 29 whilst Big Show’s participation in the event is still up in the air. Even though we don’t yet know who the giant will oppose on the biggest night in WWE’s calendar, what is certain is that Big Show has earned his place on the grandest stage of them all.

Elimination Chamber Match

Number One Contenders Match

World Heavyweight Championship

Jack Swagger defeated Randy Orton, Mark Henry, Chris Jericho, Kane and Daniel Bryan

My hands are up in the air, because I really didn’t see this one coming. Jack Swagger was in a strong position I do not doubt. His return to WWE had been a success and WWE had handled it much better than they handled everything in the run up to Swagger’s departure from the company. His losses at the hands of Brodus Clay had made the All American – American a laughing stock with the WWE Universe and seemingly a running joke with the backstage crew in WWE.

Taking time out of the business was a clever decision by Swagger. Not only did it give WWE time to plan for his come back and push into the main event, but it gave them a chance to see what they were missing by having absent a man who could mix it up with anyone on the roster. Swagger’s wrestling ability has never been called into question. What was however was his integrity at allowing WWE to treat him as they did when it was clear he was so much better than it all. Now though, Jack Swagger is in a strong position to change the landscape of WWE as we know it. For a man who was the butt of many jokes in WWE prior to his departure in 2012 to lift the World Heavyweight Championship for a second time at Wrestlemania would signal an intent from the creative team which we have been waiting to see for a very long time. Namely, an intent to drop their gaze further down the card and at last push some new talent and make a few new names.

In preparation for his World Heavyweight Championship Match with Alberto Del Rio at Wrestlemania 29, Jack Swagger needs to distance himself from any and all outside interference, to make sure that WWE can’t label him a fluke champion as they did with his Championship run in 2010. Swagger needs to look a real threat to the gold and to do that a feud with Randy Orton in the run in to Wrestlemania looks almost set in stone to take place, after what transpired inside the Elimination Chamber. The feud won’t be able to run and run which means both men need to do everything they can to build Swagger before Orton’s heel turn. Done effectively, memory of Jack Swagger’s turn in WWE in 2011 and 2012 will be erased from memory. Is Jack Swagger ready for a high profile feud? Not yet. Can Jack Swagger get into that position in the month and a half we have left until Wrestlemania? Absolutely. If WWE can resists the urge to make him a laughing stock again, then you never know, we may have the next Kurt Angle on our hands.

I will resist the urge to go through every participant in this match as it will serve for material when we get to the Wrestlemania 29 preview. However, I will touch upon Randy Orton, because his participation in the run in to Wrestlemania could prove vital for all involved. Once again, WWE resisted the urge to pull the trigger on the Randy Orton heel turn and one now has to wonder where and when it will take place. It’s not rocket science to realise that a turn would have had much more impact had it happened on a pay per view than it will when it happens on Raw or Smackdown. Elimination Chamber would have brought WWE a lot more DVD / Blu-ray buys had it contained the Orton heel turn, that you can be sure of. More than that, Elimination Chamber 2013 would have been looked upon as a pivotal event that would have changed everything we thought we were sure about Mania.

I’m pretty sure that Randy Orton and Sheamus will meet on the grand stage, unfortunately though this will be the fourth Wrestlemania match in a row where Randy Orton has been booked in a normal match which doesn’t feature a major Championship. WWE need to rectify this and quickly. There’s a possibility that WWE could scrap plans for the Orton vs Sheamus match at Wrestlemania and add Orton the World Heavyweight Championship match at Wrestlemania 29. This would benefit Jack Swagger in that he would have two top class opponents to help elevate him further and Randy Orton could then turn heel on Del Rio after he didn’t win the Championship, yet again.

Either way, WWE have to decide what they’re going to do with Orton. The prefect opportunity has passed them by again to do the right thing. As stated in the preview for Elimination Chamber 2013, had the company capitalised on the fact that Orton is beginning to fall at every hurdle and turn that anger and frustration on Sheamus in the Six Man Tag Team match, it would have been dynamite. Now though, WWE have to come up with another plan for Orton and the execution needs to be soon if the full effects are to be felt before we reach April’s extravaganza. At the moment there are a number of options WWE could go with but very few of them will have the desired effect. Heel turns are usually done on beloved superstars to make the turn all the more effective and shocking. I don’t see anyone Orton could turn on that would have that kind of effect. Even a hell turn on John Cena would be greeted with applause and approval.

That is the major problem WWE face now. Their failings to create a beloved headline star has lumbered them with what will surely be a lukewarm reception when Orton does turn. Had the company had another Bret Hart or Stone Cold Steve Austin type character in their midst, then Randy Orton would have been on easy street and WWE would have had a sure fire hot feud on their hands. But they don’t. Too much investment in John Cena has seen everyone else suffer underneath him and now WWE will feel the effects of their own short-sightedness as we approach April. And let’s be honest, they only have themselves to blame. 

Six Man Tag Team Match

The Shield defeated John Cena, Ryback and Sheamus

The second surprise of the evening came in the six man tag team match. If I had a pound coin for everyone that expected John Cena, Ryback and Sheamus to come out victorious then I would be a rich man and maybe I could fund my own television series and not have to rely on production companies to help. It looked all but said and done even before the match went on. The Shield’s attacks on Cena, Ryback and Sheamus over the last few months almost necessitated that Cena, Ryback and ‘The Great White’ get their revenge before each is placed into their Wrestlemania feud. It would have made sense for WWE to make the trio the victors, but once again we have to credit the WWE booking team have to be given a huge amount of credit.

Too many times over the last few years, we’ve seen WWE take the easy route out and make things predictable, indeed almost all of last months Royal Rumble event was entirely predictable down to who would be eliminated by whom. Elsewhere at Elimination Chamber, other results followed in that suit and none were more predictable than both the WWE Championship and World Heavyweight Championship matches. I like to think that knowing what would have to happen in both top tier matches, WWE believed they couldn’t book yet another predictable result in what would have been another predictable encounter. It must have been a struggle for WWE to come to the decision they did, because after all, both teams had a reason to triumph on the penultimate pay per view event before Wrestlemania.

John Cena, Ryback and Sheamus are all heading into Mania facing potentially massive career enhancing feuds and victories. You have to think that John Cena at least will prevail this year against the Rock, even if Sheamus and Ryback don’t fare so well on the night. John Cena would have been boosted by a victory at Elimination Chamber and going into a feud with the Rock for the second year running, he needed it. Then again, WWE are most probably banking on us buying into Cena as the underdog again this year and losses at Night of Champions, TLC and Elimination Chamber are WWE’s way of trying to make us believe Cena is fallible. Maybe if Cena hadn’t won the Royal Rumble match is such convincing fashion and only won it by the skin of his teeth then it would have been a plausible plan. As it stands, no one expects the Rock to beat John Cena this year.

Whilst it’s true that John Cena has not been damaged in the slightest by all the losses over the past few months, it does beg the question as to why WWE don’t allow more up and coming wrestlers to beat him, if they really do have to fight him. There’s no sensible reason for WWE to give Cena permission to run over talent they need building, seeing as no loss, no matter how big or small can hurt him. Hopefully though, the loss to the Shield will herald a new era in WWE booking where Cena actually does put people over and help them get their name out there.

Ryback and Sheamus are a different matter. Losses can hurt their image, seeing as WWE hasn’t invested nearly as much in the pair as they have Cena, even though it looks like Ryback has been given the Cena treatment. Whilst Sheamus is headed for big things in 2013, I can’t say the same for Ryback. You have to believe that after WWE see his flaws, it’s unbelievable they haven’t already, he’ll be swiftly demoted to the mid card before dropping out of sight all together. The problem that will arise should this happen, is that Ryback can’t portray another wrestler. His face is now sealed in the Ryback gimmick and his flaws would only transfer from one character to the next.

The Shield have given hope to every NXT wrestler who currently comes through the WWE system. Reigns, Ambrose and Rollins have made a wonderful transition to the upper card in WWE in mere months and better still have yet to face demotion because interest in the trio is faltering. The sky really is the limit from the three young guns and I sincerely hope that WWE find a decent and sensible story to book for the three at Wrestlemania. The fact there are three of them put WWE in a difficult position because there isn’t another trio in WWE who they could wage a war with. I get the sinking feeling that WWE are book the three men in a nonsensical six man tag team match against the likes of Kofi Kingston and two other mid card superstars. This would be a mistake. Kingston lacks the star power to make a Shield victory momentous as do most other mid carders in WWE.

If WWE fail to find a good feud for the Shield at Wrestlemania then it may be best to leave them off of the card altogether, rather than diminish their star appeal by booking them again three men who lack the pizzazz to get noticed. Leaving off of the card doesn’t mean they can’t appear though and should either Randy Orton lay claim to being the real mastermind behind the faction or Punk take on the Undertaker then the Shield will of course feature somewhere during one of the pair’s matches in April. Can you imagine how momentous it would be should the Shield help Punk and be credited with ending the Undertaker’s streak? That won’t happen of course, the streak will live forever, but you can see the possibilities.

Whatever their participation at Wrestlemania 29, the Shield once again laid the foundations for those to follow, by standing up and showing the world that if you have enough talent and want to be successful in this business then you can make it and not even the companies top star will be able to stand in your way. The Shield’s biggest victory to date? In the ring, maybe! Morally, most definitely.

Dolph Ziggler defeated Kofi Kingston

This impromptu match tells you all you need to know about how WWE value Dolph Ziggler. Had they been truly behind him and his push into April, then they would have either found a better opponent to give him or included him in the Elimination Chamber Match. The fact they left him off of the advertised card completely and then threw him on as an afterthought doesn’t bode well for Ziggler’s eventual World Heavyweight Championship reign.

A reign that is about to commence, I will add. Yes, the time is almost upon us for Ziggler to cash in that Money in the Bank briefcase he’s been carrying around with him for too long and we can now only hope that WWE see fit to make something of the victory rather than have him cash it in and fail to capture the gold, just to amuse themselves. So when will Dolph cash in the contract? Where else, but Wrestlemania. This is what WWE have been waiting for which means that either Jack Swagger’s reign will but tragically short or Alberto Del Rio will defeat Jack Swagger at Wrestlemania 29 and then Ziggler will cash in on the injured and exhausted champion. Either way, I will put my prediction in early and say that Dolph Ziggler will leave Wrestlemania 29 as the World Heavyweight Champion for the first time. And no, before the stat people send me comments, I don’t count Ziggler’s fleeting reign which resembles that of the Million Dollar Man as a first Championship run.

Ziggler’s current situation in WWE does pose another question for WWE to answer. That of, will Dolph Ziggler be included on the Wrestlemania 29 card if the World Heavyweight Championship match goes on first as it did last year? Whoever Ziggler is scheduled to face would then surely have the right to demand the match be for the World Heavyweight Championship if Alberto Del Rio and Jack Swagger went on first and Dolph cashed in. It’s an easy problem to avoid, in that you put Dolph Ziggler’s match on first and the World Heavyweight Championship Match on later, however weather WWE have thought of that is another matter.

Kofi Kingston is the latest victim of WWE’s stop – start push system. After losing the Intercontinental Championship to Wade Barrett on Raw, Kingston’s stock has fallen. There’s very little interest in him anymore and when he’s not in the ring, I can’t imagine many people giving much thought to him. This could have been avoided had WWE got the machine behind Kingston, one of their brightest prospects and pushed him a mega dangerous Intercontinental Champion before losing it to Barrett at Wrestlemania. This course of action would then have naturally seen Kingston ease his way into the main event picture.

Maybe it’s got something to do with WWE’s vision of Kingston or something else which WWE don’t want to publically admit. Either way, there has to be a reason Kingston is being held under the glass ceiling. Whatever the reason is WWE need to get past it and push him like they never have before. A heel turn would be a great way to go for Kingston and possibly the only other alternative left if he’s to break away from the pack and assert himself as a serious player in the company.

The mud is sticking fast under both Ziggler and Kingston’s feet and for two men who could have been the Triple H and the Rock of the new generation, it’s a damn shame the company and the system have failed them so badly.

WWE United States Championship Match

(c) Antonio Cesaro defeated The Miz

At least it’s on pay per view this month, is what I believe I said about this match. It’s hard to comment here because Cesaro needs a Championship around his waist to keep him relevant until WWE can come up with something else for him to do and the Miz needs a gigantic push to get him anywhere near the top of the card. Both men have reason to look to the future but on the other side of the coin, both have reason to also worry about where WWE are taking them.

The Miz has now fallen to Cesaro twice on pay per view in two months. It’s not a great start for a man who WWE claim to be heading back to the top of the pile. There’s not a doubt in my mind that the Miz will defeat Cesaro for the United States Championship either at Wrestlemania 29 or before, but at what cost?

Some Championships now have a stigma attached to them. We are well past the days where WWE could put a Championship on someone they were backing to give him some extra credit. WWE have done so much damage to their mid card titles now that its inconceivable the United States Championship or even the once lauded Intercontinental Championship could help anyone on their journey to the top. Even when the Miz does defeat Cesaro for the gold, what then? The Championship won’t help the Miz elevate himself back into contention for the WWE Championship and neither will it give him a better standing with the WWE Universe.

If anything, winning the United States Championship can only hinder the Miz and be the albatross around his neck it was the first time he held the gold. There’s a small chance that Miz could relight the fire under the division but only if WWE get behind everyone in it and conjure some gripping feuds both for the Miz and underneath him. Should they fail to do that then Miz will be in the same position he is now, only he’ll have Championship around his waist that no one cares about and that he’ll have to lose somewhere along the line. Which means yet another loss for the Miz and more steps back. It would be kinder if he didn’t win.

As much as it would be kind for the Miz not to win the United States Championship, Antonio Cesaro desperately needs to shed the Championship in order to further his career. The next step up the ladder is the Intercontinental Championship, but even then he’s going to be stuck with a Championship that we have very little interest in. Would WWE be better taking a huge chance and allowing Cesaro to bypass the Intercontinental Championship? There’s not a definite yes or no answer here, but it couldn’t hurt trying. Cesaro fares just as well without the Championship as he does with it and putting in a few high profile feuds may be a better strategy than spending another six months failing to build him up as the Intercontinental Champion.

WWE Divas Championship Match

(c) Kaitlyn defeated Tamina

Oh god, must we go through this all again? The answer is no. Because Kaitlyn, whilst being the girl next door can’t carry the Divas Division on her own, Tamina has been so insignificant in WWE since her debut and WWE have seemingly washed their hands of the entire Divas roster. It might look lazy not bothering to put much here, but you know what? I don’t care. There’s nothing more for me to add to this and so we’ll leave it be for the time being.

Pre-Show

Brodus Clay and Tensai defeated Team Rhodes Scholars

Just when you think you’ve seen it all in wrestling, something comes along and slaps you around the face. Team Rhodes Scholars have now had all their dignity and hope stripped away from them. A victory against the blob and Tensai may have seen them reclaim what little heat they had left. The defeat on the pre-show of Elimination Chamber has just made sure that Team Rhodes Scholars cannot seriously challenge for the Tag Team Championships for the next six months.

I’ve given up trying to reason why WWE would deliberately try to ruin its own doubles division instead of putting everything they have behind it. But then why you try to understand the workings of a man who is seemingly without reason, you’re going to be wasting time you could spend doing something else. It still doesn’t change the fact, that Team Rhodes Scholars were the best chance WWE had of retaining the credibility Team Hell No have put into the division, once Kane and Daniel Bryan departed the doubles scene and now WWE have extinguished it.

Brodus Clay and Tensai have no future as a tag team and after his constant burial, Tensai needs to ask for his contract release and head back to Japan. The one place he shouldn’t have left. The sinking feeling that Clay and Tensai will be the next Tag Team Champions just won’t go away and should they eventually raise the Championships, the WWE Tag Team Division will be all but dead.

Whilst Elimination Chamber 2013 could have been used to give the face of WWE a complete make over, the company did at least manage to get it mostly right where it mattered. The Shield have come out smelling of roses yet again which can only be a good thing, WWE have shown a willingness to put new stars over the poster boy of the company if it helps the future advancement of the company, Jack Swagger is beginning to make waves in WWE upon his return and should it continue then we’ll have a fresh face in the main event scene for time to come and there signs of a willingness to change what before remained stoic.

Sadly there are some things which Elimination Chamber either couldn’t of failed to change. Dolph Ziggler should have been made the biggest threat to the World Heavyweight Championship, C.M Punk should have either been WWE Champion again or added to the Rock vs John Cena at Wrestlemania 29, the Miz and Antonio Cesaro needed a better push than they eventually received, Team Rhodes Scholars have been all but buried beyond repair and Wade Barrett was nowhere to be seen.

The positives coming out of the final stop on the Road to Wrestlemania only just outweigh the negatives, but at least point to better times to come in WWE. Whether you deem the in ring action to have been a success or not, no one can deny that the changes which happened elsewhere make sure Elimination Chamber 2013 can be viewed as nothing short of victorious.

Onwards and upwards...to Wrestlemania 29...