A – Excellent
B – Good
C – Mediocre
D – Avoid
Release Date: May 12th 2014
Available From: www.wwedvd.co.uk
Price:
DVD £ 12.99
Blu-ray £ 13.99
(Prices from www.wwedvd.co.uk: high street prices will vary)
Format Reviewed:
DVD
(Also Available on Blu-ray)
What It’s About:
WWE’s
2014 Elimination Chamber event from the Target Centre in Minneapolis, Minnesota
on February 23rd 2014, featuring the Elimination Chamber Match for the WWE
World Heavyweight Championship, Batista vs Alberto Del Rio and the much
anticipated bout which sees The Shield vs The Wyatt Family.
Strengths:
Beginning
with the best match on the entire card, The Wyatt Family vs The Shield is an
excellent match which gives one hope for the future of the industry. Beginning
with a great clip of Roman Reigns powering out of John Cena’s STF, which is
sold beautifully by Cena I must add, it sets the tone for what turns out to be
a stunning six man encounter given the red carpet treatment by the audience who
wheel out the ‘This is Awesome’ chants before a punch has been thrown. The
reason is simple. This is what we want from WWE. More young talent who we’re
willing to pay to see and who can enthral us with their characters and their
wrestling; it’s not hard to get right. The one tiny blip however is the
commentary who crash he whole illusion The Wyatt’s have going of inbred,
backward folk who stray from society when it’s announced by JBL that the clan
tweet regularly. We may know this but once it’s been announced on air to a worldwide
audience, it kind of takes away the realism from their characters. Forgetting
that though, the bout is one of the finest you’ll see this year. The
performances from each individual are spot on, especially Roman Reigns and Bray
Wyatt whilst Seth Rollins kicks things off with a brilliant Dropkick out of
Eric Rowan’s hangman choke hold. There is a tense and big fight atmosphere
about this and it only serves the match well, never detracting from it.
Thankfully this is one that lives up to the hype. Luke Harper’s German suplex
from the top rope is just outstanding especially when recipient Rollins
counters and lands on his feet immediately hitting a suicide dive, with the
same outcome occurring after Harper attempts to pull Rollins off the ropes with
a slam attempt which is countered into an Enzuigiri leaving the fans
breathless. Roman Reigns’ flying kick to Harper on the apron is sumptuous as
are the flurry of dives to the outside which begin a very long and
unforgettable end sequence, it’s inspiring. The double chokeslam from Harper
and Rowan to Rollins from one announce table through the other is brilliant and
the end sequence which sees a 3 on 1 assault is apt as this is what The Shield
did for over a year to their opponents. Roman Reigns’ comeback will leave you
on the edge of your seat whilst the final Sister Abigail is just the perfect
ending to a thrilling brawl.
The
Elimination Chamber Match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship is another
highlight of the release, but then it had to be seeing as now both titles are
unified it’s the only match of its kind on the card. Daniel Bryan’s ‘Yes
Movement’ has outfoxed WWE for once and he has proven that anyone can make it
if they put in the effort to get the audience on their side. There’s an impressive
amount of work rate here from everyone but the stars of the contest are
inevitably Cesaro and Daniel Bryan, that’s not to say the rest don’t put on a
memorable show because they do. Of the many highlights: the opening five
minutes fought between Cesaro and Sheamus really set the tone for the bout as
its all go with very little rest period for the pair and boasts a fine
Shoulderblock over the top rope by Sheamus, who is heavily booed in this match.
Isn’t it about time WWE turned him heel again? Cesaro looks a force to be
reckoned with as he outwits and sells like a pro for his fellow opponents
including a wicked mid-rope stomp onto Sheamus which in turn drives the
Irishman into the steel deck. On the subject of Cesaro, JBL has to cheek to
comment that Zeb Coulter has made him both the man and wrestler he is today.
News flash for WWE, you didn’t make Cesaro the great wrestler, he was excellent
long before he reached WWE shores though that won’t stop them trying to take
credit. Daniel Bryan lights up the encounter entering third and is impressive
in his fluidity which is accompanied by a chorus of ‘Yes’ from the audience.
His northern lights suplex to Cesaro whilst having Sheamus trapped in a reverse
leg lock is to die for. Going through the Chamber pod isn’t anything
spectacular anymore since it happens with regularity in every math of this type
and Cesaro proves the notion of bullet proof glass rubbish when picks up a pane
only for it flex and bend like plastic, which it is, in his hands. WWE do a
great job of hyping a John Cena victory only for it go awry in the end by
stating that more people have won the match entering fifth, the number Cena
appears at, than anyone else. A common theme in wrestling now is to do the Cena
chant, unfortunately that usually takes away from the exciting action as people
are only focused on him and ignore the rest, thankfully Daniel Bryan takes away
from that quickly before it can escalate. There’s a wonderful mid-air uppercut
by Cesaro to Cena who also participates in an excellent three way exchange with
Cena and Bryan which has to be seen to be savoured. Once again, Cesaro strikes
with a stupendous suplex on Sheamus from the top rope. What makes this suplex
so good however is that Sheamus is standing on the chamber floor when it
happens which means Cesaro has to lift his full body weight from the floor to
in the air and back to the canvas. Just brilliant. Randy Orton gets the
‘boring’ chants as he enters but to his credit he deals with them well, surely
he knows he’s become dull in the ring? Trapping himself in his pod when
targeted by every man in the match brings a ‘pussy’ chant from the audience
which he deals with very well and his barter with the crowd is amusing but not
as impressive as Sheamus’ Brogue kick through the flexi-glass to get to the WWE
World Heavyweight Champion. Determined not to allow himself to slip from
thought, Cesaro nails a brilliant 30 rotation spin on Orton which is followed
by a breathtaking roll through German suplex by Daniel Bryan and a splash from the
top of the pod by Christian to Sheamus. Eliminations are given a greater
meaning this year as EMT’s come to collect the fallen making the match seem
more dangerous and no one goes down without a hell of fight adding that touch
of legitimacy which has been missed over recent years. Cesaro’s German suplex
on John Cena whilst the leader of the Cenation has Bryan on his shoulders looks
divine and Cena pulls out a top drawer counter to Cesaro’s Gutwrench which is
matched by a brilliant Attitude Adjustment from the ring onto the steel. The
Wyatt Family get a rousing ovation when they appear to complete Bray Wyatt’s
targeting of Cena though they are jeered when they level Daniel Bryan. As Bray
Wyatt drops John Cena with Sister Abigail and Randy Orton pins Cena to
eliminate him, a wonderful chorus of ‘Thank You Wyatt’s’ rings out around the
arena. When a crowd is this brilliant, WWE need do nothing more than provide
them with the ammunition. It also goes to prove we can think on our own and we
know what we want. Orton and Bryan contest a gripping finale which involves
Kane and Orton’s reaction to Bryan kicking out of the RKO couldn’t have been
better. Michael Cole’s support of Daniel Bryan with the impassioned line ‘Go on
Daniel’ is a heart-warming turnaround from what Cole used to call him and
almost a full circle feeling. Bryan being screwed out of the gold by Kane is a
necessary step to make the journey at WrestleMania XXX complete.
Big
E vs Jack Swagger for the WWE Intercontinental Championship is a decent bout
which has its moment of brilliance despite the usual Zeb Coulter rant which
holds nothing but racist meaning though the crown in Minnesota are firmly
behind Swagger and Coulter with loud pledges of ‘We The People’. Big E gets a
semi-hostile reception which speaks volumes about how people now view his
Intercontinental Championship reign, in other words its time it came to an end
which may have happened at the hands of Bad News Barrett at Extreme Rules by
the time you read this, but his contribution to the bout is nothing less than
admirable. The match keeps pace well after the normal back and forth action and
then sets alight with a stunning spear into the ringpost and steps by Langston
which is followed by another wonderful spear from the ring, through the ropes
and to the outside as Swagger is placed on the apron. That has to be seen to be
believed. The final few moments of the bout really wring out every inch of
tension as Swagger and Langston exchange reversals before ‘The Big Ending’ puts
Swagger to bed.
The
New Age Outlaws vs The Usos is a watchable bout even if it does fail to present
anything spectacular from two teams who could have done better. The Outlaws can
still go though at a slower pace than before and they looked completely knackered
towards the conclusion of the bout to the point it takes them at least a minute
and a half to regain their footing when the match is over. Apart from the
obvious back and forth action, there are amusing moments such as Jay Uso out
dancing Road Dogg and the hurl into the corner is brutal as it turns Uso upside
down. JBL says the Outlaws once beat The Road Warriors but that was at a time
when Legion of Doom were well past their best and had it been in the eighties,
Gunn and Dogg would have been soup. The match boasts a weak ending and The Usos
should have won the doubles gold here, it would have had a bigger impact than
on Raw.
As
for the extras, the pre-show match which puts Cody Rhodes and Goldust against
Rybaxel is a very good match which holds together well thanks to all involved
for once. Ryback pulls his weight and maybe we have finally found a calling for
him whilst Curtis Axel, accompanied to ring by Grandfather Larry ‘The Axe’
Henning, shows a lot of promise. Cody Rhodes and Goldust are the stars of the
bout and execute some very fines moves which include a Goldust hurricanrana
onto Ryback and a double suicide dive which is flawless in its execution. To
put the cherry on top of the cake, the announcers hark back to the glory days
of Mr. Perfect when talking about the launch of the WWE Network.
‘The
Wyatt Family Dedicate Their Match to Sister Abigail’ is a suitable dark and
unnerving promo by Bray Wyatt which is delivered with excellence. The far away
stare in his eye as he talks to the absent member of the group is ever so
unsettling and his final ‘Follow the Buzzards’ line is delivered with a spine
chilling whisper. WWE could introduce Sister Abigail to The Wyatt Family stable
now; they’re solid enough that a run with the group could do a young female
talent a lot of good.
Weaknesses:
Titus
O’Neil vs Darren Young is abysmal even by WWE standards. The stark truth is
that no one wanted to see these two fight and certainly not on pay-per view so
why did WWE book it? The answer is a scary one. Simply put, the company believe
that O’Neil possesses the height to be a star in the company and this is
fortified by JBL’s comment that he has the talent to be WWE World Heavyweight
Champion. Ridiculous, he doesn’t and he never will. Neither man does anything
worth watching and this resembles a dark match and is a complete time filler
which could have been dedicated to something else.
A.J
Lee vs Cameron is tragically bad. A.J has run out of opponents by this point
and without anyone new to oppose her, it is high time she lost the gold which
she didn’t for another month and a half. This is so bad that if a non wrestling
fan saw this, they’d think the whole division is trash which right here apart
from A.J, it was. Cameron is a feeble stand-in for Naomi who suffered and
injury a month before, and they presumably couldn’t find anyone else because
that would have been too difficult, and offers nothing for A.J to work with.
The pair stumble about doing weak and feeble moves until the bout ends in a
lousy disqualification which is just about right for this. The announcers still
want people to believe that Tamina and only Tamina is responsible for A.J’s
reign. That’s a disservice to the woman who put the effort in.
Batista
vs Alberto Del Rio is another bad outing which will put you to sleep. Fans
almost boo Batista out of the building and the commentators cannot work out why
the fans are cheering for Del Rio, have they not been listening to us at all?
Del Rio tries his best with what he’s left with but it’s not much and he
therefore can’t pull a miracle out of the hat, not that we ever expected him
to. It’s dreary, boring and though boasts some life when Del Rio is in control
no one ever expected him to come out the winner here. And to think WWE were
actually going to put the WWE World Heavyweight Championship on him at
WrestleMania XXX.
Bad
News Barrett is a constant source of frustration popping up after matches on
his podium which breaks after the first use, delivering news which isn’t
particularly bad or worth listening to. Comparing himself to Hulk Hogan is bad
enough, but it’s his marking out for the WWE Network which really shows how
desperate WWE were to get people to subscribe and to find Barrett something to
do. Constantly calling the programming ‘incredible’, you’ll need a bucket to
get to the end of this segment which pops up after A.J’s Lee bout.
As
for the extras: ‘Zeb Coulter Gives The Real Americans A Pep Talk’ is basically
a racist rant at everyone and anyone WWE’s creative team could think of to put
in his script. Though ably delivered there’s nothing here of note and those who
are infuriated by Coulter should give this a wide birth.
‘Randy
Orton Looks Towards WrestleMania XXX’ is, like his other interviews on extras,
pointless. Stating the obvious, Orton informs us that he’ll now fight Batista
and the pair have a long history together. Really? Is that it? Because it’s not
like we didn’t get that when he won the Elimination Chamber and the announcers
screaming it at the top of their voices. Randy Orton has really gone off the
boil since SummerSlam 2013 and he really needs to find his spark quickly before
it’s too late. Right now, Randy Orton resembles his 2004 – 2005 self and that’s
not the way he needs to go.
DVD and Blu-ray Special
Features
Elimination Chamber
Pre-Show Match
Cody
Rhodes and Goldust vs Rybaxel
The
Wyatt Family Dedicate Their Match to Sister Abigail
Randy
Orton Looks to WrestleMania XXX
Zeb
Coulter Gives The Real Americans a Pep Talk
Blu-ray
Exclusive Extras:
Raw – January 27th 2014
Elimination Chamber
Qualifying Match
John
Cena, Daniel Bryan and Sheamus vs The Shield
Smackdown – January 31st
2014
The
Shield Challenge The Wyatt Family
Raw
– February 3rd 2014
Batista and Alberto Del Rio Discuss Their Unfinished
Business
Smackdown – February 14th
2014
Fatal 4 Way Match
WWE Intercontinental
Championship Number One Contenders Match
Mark Henry vs Kofi Kingston vs Rey Mysterio vs Jack
Swagger
Raw – February 17th 2014
Randy
Orton Thanks Triple H For His Support
Randy
Orton vs Sheamus
Smackdown – February 21st
2014
Jimmy
Uso vs Road Dogg
Conclusion:
Elimination
Chamber 2014 is better than the Royal Rumble one month previous but still needs
work by WWE thanks to the amount of bad matches on show. If you’re watching
this for the complete picture then it’s going to be a bleak one but if you’re
purchasing this for the best of the best then The Wyatt Family vs The Shield
and The Elimination Chamber Match are more than worth watching but you may
think twice about paying the full asking price.
This
has been a common problem with WWE pay-per view so far in 2014 and even towards
the end of 2013. Too many bad matches only interspersed by the odd worthwhile
one giving fans an option to spend their money on something more worthwhile.
Fortunately for WWE, the amazing six man and the fact this is a part of Daniel
Bryan’s journey to stardom only just edges the necessity stakes in purchasing
this as it’s a long time to wait and see it on 2014’s best pay-per view matches
release. WWE though need to begin making their events spectacular and making
sure each and every match on them has something to offer otherwise what will be
our incentive to purchase them on WWE Network or DVD and Blu-ray?
Rating: B
Next Time in Review
Corner:
WWE
The John Cena Experience 1 Disc DVD (Documentary Only)
Onwards
and upwards...
