Since it’s inception in 2002, the
Elimination Chamber has always been a spectacle and one which is looked forward
to each year. Adding to the WWE’s schedule of themed pay-per views, this year
looks like we’ll only be given one Elimination Chamber Match to the usual two.
That will either make the event special again or, after being spoilt with two
for so long, it’ll make the undercard seem inferior to where the first
Elimination Chamber bout would usually be.
Last year, the main attraction was The
Rock vs C.M Punk for the WWE Championship, so this year the company are going
to have to go some way to topping that hype, especially with WrestleMania XXX
relying largely on Elimination Chamber to keep fans interested.
From the Target Centre in Minneapolis,
Minnesota on February 23rd 2014, this is Elimination Chamber 2014.
WWE World Heavyweight
Championship Match
Elimination Chamber Match
(c) Randy Orton vs John Cena vs
Christian vs Antonio Cesaro vs Sheamus vs Daniel Bryan
The first point I wish to touch upon in
this months pay-per view preview isn’t the actual WWF World Heavyweight
Championship picture, but two of the competitors in it. Recently returning to
the company, can someone please tell me how the hell Christian and Sheamus
become joint number one contenders to the top title when they’ve both been out
so long? Sheamus’ Royal Rumble return may have been a success depending on
which side of the fence you’re sitting on but does he really deserve the
immediate push over other wrestlers like Dolph Ziggler or Alberto Del Rio who
have actually earned their place in a match such as this?
Sheamus should have been eased back in
carefully following the injury which kept him out for a huge chunk of 2013. A
main event run such as this demands its competitors take on a stressful
schedule in the run up and fall out to the bout as well as the Road to
WrestleMania. Is Sheamus ready for that kind of strain on an already dodgy body
part? I guess only time will tell but if he isn’t prepared then he could find
himself back on the injury list again and at a time when the company will need
him to relieve some of that pressure at the top of the card.
If anyone has been watching Raw and
Smackdown recently then you’ll have realised that Sheamus’ challenges to Ryback
are designed to lead the pair to a WrestleMania XXX clash – that should be...a
laugh if nothing else – which means the Irishman has no chance of winning the
Elimination Chamber Match so why insert someone back into this spot when its
clear they have no chance of winning and are taking the place of the more
deserving which I will get onto in a minute.
Sheamus’ upcoming feud with Ryback would
have been the ideal slow build in which to carefully push him towards the main
event. The pair who will clash at WrestleMania XXX and Extreme Rules in May –
maybe Sheamus can pull something decent out of Ryback – aren’t going anywhere
soon and as hard as it to believe that Ryback will be a WWE wrestler for
another year, it’s not a stretch of the imagination to believe Sheamus could be
an effective part of the company as a heel around August. The only thing
putting him in a main event match is going to do is rile the audience and get
them on his back even more so then they were when he went down injured.
What can one say for Christian? An
accomplished member of the roster no doubt, but it was made clear after his
2011 World Heavyweight Championship reign that he was no longer considered main
event material by Vince McMahon. So why the hell is he here when he could
actually be doing something for the Intercontinental Championship down the
card? If anyone has any logical answers as to why Christian has effectively
stolen a spot away from someone like Roman Reigns then I would really love to
hear them, because as far as I can see, there isn’t one.
‘Captain Charisma’ has been out so long
most forgot he was still employed by the company. At his age and current
status, Christian should be volunteering to lose to wrestlers such as Curtis
Axel and Big E. Langston in order to get them over, not hogging the glory at a
level he clearly no longer belongs at. Christian is still a valuable name at
the right level which means he could do business for the company if they were
to once again turn him heel and furnish him with the I.C strap in order for the
more popular Langston to re-acquire it in say a Fatal Four Way Ladder Match at
Extreme Rules.
Christian should take a leaf out of
Goldust’s book. Better than he has ever been, Dustin Rhodes / Runnels has
continuously served a purpose in the company since his return in 2013. His
stint as the WWE Tag Team Champion with brother Cody – which is leading to a
heel turn by Goldust, did you notice it at the Royal Rumble? – elevated the tag
team gold before they bizarrely lost it to the over the hill New Age Outlaws.
In singles action, Goldust has put over men who needed a push and done so
without complaint. Goldust knows his place in the WWE in 2014 and so should
Christian. Because it’s certainly not at the top of the card.
Apart from not being in the Royal Rumble
match there isn’t a whole lot more one can say about Daniel Bryan and the same
goes for Randy Orton and John Cena. It was given that all of them would be in
this match so that’s no great surprise, so instead we are going to focus on the
one nice surprise in this bout, Antonio Cesaro.
The former Ring of Honor star has had
his ups and downs in the company. The yodelling gimmick was thankfully
instantly forgettable, had it hung around then it endangered effecting his
career and the same goes for his semi competent / semi disastrous United States
Championship reign which was hindered by WWE management. Cesaro excelled in the
ring when given enough time and the right opponent. Since joining The Real
Americans, he’s been held back Jack Swagger and association with the bigoted
Zeb Coulter not to mention his constant tag team losses which could have been
turned into positives had the pair lost convincingly and not in short, useless
matches.
For everything the company have put
Cesaro through thanks to McMahon’s hatred of independent circuit talent, Cesaro
has come through it almost unscathed which is an impressive feat considering
some of the jobs he’s had to do just to get here. Of course he can’t be
credited for it all. The fans have stuck behind him all the way. We recognised
the talent and the dedication and we backed it until McMahon had no choice but
to act upon it. Where Cesaro goes now is anyone’s guess. He can’t stay a tag
team player he’s way more talented than that but also he won’t win the
Elimination Chamber Match.
With Randy Orton set defend his
Championship – or John Cena if the company change their minds at the last
moment – against Batista or Brock Lesnar or both at WrestleMania XXX, it may
even be a Fatal Four Way including John Cena, then there’s feasibly no room for
Daniel Bryan in the main event of the biggest show of the year, which means he
could be pitted against Cesaro in what would be a stunning showing of that I am
sure after seeing the pair clash in ROH.
In Antonio Cesaro, WWE have lightening
in a bottle. They would be stupid to let it go just as it began to strike hard.
I was disappointed to see that this
year’s elimination chamber included all former championship except Cesaro. Had
the company removed John Cena, Christian and Sheamus, inserted Dolph Ziggler,
Alberto Del Rio and Roman Reigns in their place, just think how much better the
bout would have been with all but Orton and Daniel Bryan as promising new
talent. Because frankly, I can’t see this match being a classic, it’ll be good
for sure but for what the company have planned these next 6 months, there can
only be one winner.
Winners Prediction: Randy Orton
The Shield vs The Wyatt Family
I was mistaken in the belief that this
match would happen at WrestleMania XXX as first suggested. Though it would have
been a gap the company wouldn’t have had to fill, they’ve decided they have
ample choices to do with the six man combo at the event so they’re giving it us
a month early. Of course, if it turns out they don’t have anything else to
occupy the teams with at WrestleMania XXX, we’ll all be throwing this back in
their faces in April.
Whilst The Wyatt Family need the boost
and therefore should win the bout, no one can get away from the fact this will
be used to further the split of The Shield which began when Roman Reigns cost
the trio matches by mistakenly nailing his teammates with Spears and then
continued at the Royal Rumble when he eliminated them from the bout. It’s all
in the grand plan for the company to turn him face and then push him as a
killer main event player. The big question is, is Roman Reigns ready for what
he’s about to undertaker?
From what we’ve been shown so far, I
would say he’s on his way. I don’t believe he’s fully there yet though. His
ability is limitless and he reminds me of a young Randy Orton. Unfortunately,
he’s also picked up some of the old Randy Orton’s bad habits in the ring. The
biggest one being the mind numbing rest holds. Does everyone reading this
remember the enthusiasm zapping five minute Chin locks Orton used to apply when
he couldn’t think of anything to do? Well Reigns is doing the same thing.
Whilst every other aspect of his game is almost up to scratch, it’s those moves
which will turn an audience against him over time.
Should Roman Reigns find himself
competing in a twenty minute Intercontinental Championship Match later this
year, with no help for him to turn to and interrupts the flow of what could be
a great match with a dull rest move, then he’ll find the audience turn on him
quicker than the company planned for. It can be a career killer not to have all
the tools in your arsenal when the company has, to everyone watching, marked
you out as a future star.
It’s going to be interesting to see what
Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins do without Roman Reigns. Will The Shield continue?
Like the NWO will they recruit a new star from NXT to replace Reigns? That
would be a great idea. Rollins and Ambrose do have the skill to go their
separate ways but would the company push them as stars if they did? From
previous evidence, then the answer is no. As United States Champion, Ambrose
had been treated shockingly in singles action by the company when he could have
made a difference to the belt. For now, it’s best the company keep them
together and add a replacement for Reigns otherwise the pair could find
themselves lost in the WWE shuffle like so many before them.
The Wyatt Family are beginning to cause
the company a lot of problems. Without a stone wall idea for the group, the WWE
are becoming increasingly frustrated about how the trio are ever going to
become stars. I think here, we all have good reason to worry. No one can deny
that the three have something even though Bray Wyatt isn’t the best wrestler in
world. However, thanks to the company routinely canning storylines for the
three oddballs, they’re in danger of the company losing interest in them and we
all know how quickly Vince goes off talent if they’re not working well for the
company.
The list of failed names are as long as
the company’s history and more recently include Tensai – who was earmarked for
a main event run against John Cena which never transpired – and Fandango, who
the company originally marked out to be a main upper-card player and have a
lengthily run with the Intercontinental Championship. The company should do
everything within their power to make sure The Wyatt Family are not the next
three names heaped onto that list. Special things can be done with the trio;
all it takes is a little imagination.
We’ve been through the kidnap storyline
time and time again until it bores me to even consider it further, so instead,
whilst doing other projects, I have been giving The Wyatt’s future in the WWE
some ample thought. There are always the usual storylines in which the trio can
be involved in but because they’re a different type of character to say, Kofi
Kingston, then they have to be given suitably unnerving tales in which to tell.
The first thing which went through my head was to do something with Kane –
anything to get him out from under The Authority’s feet – and seeing as we were
never told where Kane was supposedly taken whilst Glen Jacobs went to film See
No Evil 2, then the company could do something with that.
Once I quickly moved on from thought,
picturing a WWE studio somewhere, where they’d dressed a set to resemble a very
bad Hills Have Eyes underground dungeon instead of a backwater cottage which
was featured in their vignettes, dressed with all the clichés from every horror
film you’ve ever seen, I came up with something which has partly been done
before and partly been mentioned here before.
Assuming we go with the whole kidnap
angle once more but WWE didn’t, until after WrestleMania, want to dedicate any
of their main players such as Punk or Bryan to the story, then what we’re left
with is former stars. Namely, the WWE legends! Anyone who has tuned into Raw,
Smackdown, WWE.Com or any other WWE related programming lately won’t have
failed to see the adverts for what promises to be one of the most bizarre
television shows ever ‘Legends House’, which is basically Big Brother with former
WWE Legends – which I imagine will be scripted to stop them referring to
wrestlers they don’t like, drugs they once took or kayfabe storylines the
company don’t want getting out which could disillusion younger fans.
Without knowing it, the company have
given themselves a great start to what could be a running theme in the WWE for
the next few months and which could tie in past Wyatt Family foes at its
conclusion. We all know Legends House is going to be full of rubbish
considering which legends they’re putting in, so why not add it to a storyline
and make it the hottest topic in wrestling? Imagine this:
The WWE legends – who are obviously in
on what’s going to happen – are sitting around the house for a week before
something happens, giving the impression its going to be another run of the
mill television show. However when they arrive there are mysterious notes –
left by The Wyatt Family – around the house, piquing the viewers interest. Then
after a suitable amount of time has passed strange things begin to happen. The
lights keep going off, when they come back on haunting messages are left around
the house, a buzzard appears in the garden until we’re given a shock when the
footage cuts away to a specially recorded – on a handheld camera – piece of footage
which is meant to be shot by The Wyatt Family, hiding in the bushes watching a
WWE legend.
Then people begin to go missing until
the WWE puts out an edict that they are going to have to stop the show. Then
one night, the lights in the house go off only to come back on as we see Eric
Rowan and Luke Harper in their masks standing behind a WWE legend who they then
kidnap. It would be the perfect unsettling act to get people talking. Then
after WrestleMania has passed the company have a ready made story as The Wyatt
Family would come out on television each week and brag about what they’d done
and who they had taken.
With no television sponsors to keep
happy, the company would be able to do what they wanted. There would be no
rules to stick to and no directors or boards to keep happy. If Vince passes it,
it happens. Then at WrestleMania the unthinkable happens. After he wins his
match, The Undertaker is ambushed in the ring and kidnapped by The Wyatt Family
who add him to their list of victims. Now the hunt is on involving current WWE
stars to find the missing legends as promos air teasing The Undertaker’s
paranormal influence, stating he is coming for the Wyatt Family. They could
even shoot a scene where they apparently bury him alive but no one knows where.
After WrestleMania, the company band
together stars who need exposure led by a main event calibre talent to hunt
down The Wyatt’s and find the missing legends. Kane would leave The Authority
in search of his brother and we would have the ending to an angle which was
never explained.
All that though is just a suggestion.
The WWE need to do something unforgettable with The Wyatt Family and soon,
before they become just another trio in the company, who mean nothing,
As far as the match goes, I expect The Wyatt
Family to get the victory after Roman Reigns spears Rollins or Ambrose to set
up their split at WrestleMania XXX. These could be great days the company if
handled correctly or they could be just another victim of WWE’s inadequacy to do
what’s best for business.
Winners Prediction: The Wyatt
Family
Batista vs Alberto Del Rio
‘The Animal’ Batista, is an enigma in
wrestling. He always has been and I suppose he always will be. In reality, he
was only ever pushed to the main event because of his friendship with Triple H
and the lucky which fell over his career in 2005 when the fans decided to get
behind him because it was that or John Cena. Everyone reading this knows that
Batista doesn’t possess any real wrestling ability and his best matches have
come against those of better quality. It’s never been Batista who’s been solely
responsible for a stunning bout.
Many have speculated the importance of
Batista’s return to the WWE so soon after completing the filming of the
Guardian of the Galaxy movie. Whether he was needed, whether he was taking away
the spotlight from other talent who needed it more, we’ve been through all of
this before. The truth is, yes. The WWE do need Batista despite his lack of
finesse in the ring because they have no other surprise main draw to bring in
the WrestleMania XXX buy rate. The Rock isn’t going to return as far as I know,
Randy Orton has been treated shockingly since TLC and John Cena
is...well...John Cena. Something needed to be done in WWE’s eyes to guarantee a
huge number for the thirtieth year of their biggest event.
The question of whether Batista is
taking away the spotlight from younger stars is irrelevant, seeing as there are
no other wrestlers in the company at a lower level who could even think about
being the headline for WrestleMania. There would have been had the company
began Antonio Cesaro’s push earlier in 2013. Reasonably, Cesaro could have
challenged Randy Orton for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and drawn a
huge number in doing so as people would have tuned in to see a new star born.
That is what wrestling is about. As it is, Batista, like The Rock in the two
years previous isn’t stealing anyone’s spot as Big Show has done because
there’s no one even close to the buzz he can create for a huge show.
Now, I fear I’ll have to explain that
Big Show remark before I get letters from the dimmer of our community. When I
say that Batista isn’t stealing anyone’s spotlight like Big Show did, I
actually do mean it and no, it’s not just because I believe Show has had his
day in the industry. You see, the amount of spotlight Big Show absorbed in the
main event in the latter stages of 2013 could have been used to create a new
star to challenge at WrestleMania. The story, the angle, the character could
have gone to the next big thing which may have negated Batista’s inclusion in
2014. By the time Batista returned, it was already too late to create someone
new when there was time when Big Show was willingly ruining other people’s
chances of future success. Batista has picked up the pieces of WWE’s failure to
create any new threats. Big Show could have chosen to step aside before it was
too late and suggest someone under him to management for his spot. A spot that
no one even brought into.
Is there life in Batista as WWE World
Heavyweight Champion? Yes, I believe there is sufficient mileage in the product
as long as it leads to a one on one series between Brock Lesnar and ‘The
Animal’ in the post WrestleMania season. Though saying that, one fears that no
matter what the main event is at WrestleMania XXX; Randy Orton vs Brock Lesnar
vs Batista vs John Cena vs Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton vs Batista vs John Cena,
Randy Orton vs Batista vs Brock Lesnar or simply Randy Orton vs Batista, that
by the time we get to SummerSlam John Cena will be WWE WH Champion once again.
It’s inevitable as is the rematch between Cena and Lesnar which everyone said
would never happen.
To freshen up a dated and stale main
event scene, I doubt many would hold anything against Batista for taking a huge
pay day and returning. After all, since he left the company he hasn’t been able
to live like a king as he did on WWE’s wages before his departure in 2010 and
whilst I suspect he’ll depart again when the almost guaranteed Guardians of the
Galaxy II gets green lit, he’s going to be a mainstay again for a long time to
come. What we do have a problem with, is the same reason that some had a
problem with The Rock returning last year and that’s just rolling over an
established talent who plies his trade for the company all year round.
Since being as good as ruined by John
Cena at Hell in a Cell and Survivor Series, Alberto Del Rio was never going to
worry the main event scene on the Road to WrestleMania, but he still had some
credibility left with which the company could rebuild him as the star he needs
to be. The signs were there when he was World Heavyweight Champion. Del Rio was
sparkling in the role and despite what John Cena’s stated reasons were for
coming back, it was the Mexican who brought more respect and prestige back to
the gold than the walking merchandise machine ever could have. Only he didn’t
do it with cartoon faces, millions of dollars in merchandise sales and grins
which made you want to reach through the screen and slap his stupid face; Alberto
Del Rio did it with solid wrestling and flawless storytelling. You know, the
way it should be done.
Everyone knew that once John Cena
returned, Alberto Del Rio would be forced to step aside; though being asked if
he minded wouldn’t have gone amiss. To have him play the down on his luck
character he currently portrays though is a sign of disrespect from the company
to the star that carried their secondary top tier Championship with aplomb and
better than anyone has for at least a year. Alberto Del Rio could make a
difference elsewhere on the card and as soon as he lost the World Heavyweight
Championship to John Cena then the company should have immediately booked him
to win the WWE Intercontinental Championship to give him back some of that aura
took away by John Cena’s treatment of him in the ring. If anyone wants to
debate that Alberto Del Rio brought it on himself like Dolph Ziggler supposedly
did and John Cena should be absolved then you don’t know what you’re talking
about.
Just look at the way Cena treated the
Cross Arm Breaker weeks after he’s returned from arm surgery. Simply standing
up with your injured arm was a selfish act which gave no thought to the man and
the move he was fighting, just to himself and restoring that aura of
invincibility. Sadly, the ‘I Love Cena Morons’ actually do believe that he’s
not to blame for anything and that its his opponents who should have put in a
better effort if they didn’t want him to ruin their careers. What they fail to
realise is that if they deviate from the usual Cena routine for just a moment
then demotion awaits them and their career may never get back on track. It’s
about time these small minded idiots actually looked at who is to blame for
these situations and took responsibility, unlike John Cena himself.
The fact remains that even though
Alberto Del Rio has been treated identically by Batista to hoe he was by John
Cena, the Mexican still has something to give lower down the card. Let him
carry the Intercontinental Championship for a whole year and rebuild it. Keep
him clear of John Cena and everyone else who is necessity to the main event
scene so he doesn’t have to job to them and he’ll be a main event talent again.
In three hundred and sixty five days the company can come up with a foolproof
plan as to how to keep Del Rio at the level he’s at. And if they can’t then the
kindest thing to do would be to allow him to return to Mexico where he’s loved
and wanted. There’s no sensible reason to purposely ruin a talented wrestlers
career simply because you cannot think of anything to do with him.
Winners Prediction: Batista
WWE Intercontinental Championship
Match
(c) Big E. Langston vs Jack
Swagger
There was a massive amount of hope put
forth by the WWE booking committee when Big E. Langston defeated Curtis Axel to
lift the WWE Intercontinental Championship. For months, Axel had failed to
fulfil his potential with the gold his father once held so proudly around his
waist and a change was desperately needed. There were mutterings whether
Langston was the correct person for the job seeing as he’d never had a
respectably solid match except his SummerSlam tag team bout when he had Dolph
Ziggler to carry him, and it certainly was a risk by the company to push his in
what is still considered by the company as an upper-mid card position even
though the gold lost that distinction a long time ago.
Questions were rife about whether
Langston could improve on what Axel did. He had the look and size the company
preferred but his skills to produce a thrilling match severely lacked. When one
holds a WWE title, be it at the top or bottom of the card then it’s almost a
necessity that said chosen one can at least carry his opponent, usually a lower
ranked talent, and make him a star. Something akin to a pretender to the throne.
So far, for all his commendable efforts, Langston hasn’t been able to do that.
Yes, he’s had some decent matches but like Dean Ambrose who carries the United
States Championship, he should be capable of much better than what’s been on
display so far.
I’ve mentioned here before, that
Langston resembles a new age Ahmed Johnson in the ring. All the looks, all the
muscles but none of the personality to truly grab the audience and pull them in
hook, line and sinker to make the Intercontinental Championship the piece of
stature enhancing gold it used to be. Whilst Johnson was an un-driven slob in
the ring, he barely did anything to make himself or anyone else look good,
Langston has had the necessary training to afford him a better beginning. So
where does the problem lie?
Half of the problem the company have
with Big E. Langston is that his push has come way too soon. Barely was he out
of A.J’s clutches and the shadow of Dolph Ziggler before we were thrown a face
turn and expected to believe that this strapping, mildly handsome to some
enforcer was now Championship material. It just didn’t work and that was
reflected in the lack of interest in his pay-per view bouts towards the end of
2013. No one cared and with good reason. We’d been given nothing to believe in
with Langston. Had he received a push which made us feel for him and hurt with
him? No. For all tense and purposes, Big E. Langston had been handed the
Intercontinental Championship because of his looks.
Had he tried and come close before
failing on several occasions then we could have gotten behind him despite his
lack of charisma. He’d have been a martyr. Someone the fans would have wanted
to succeed. Now he’s just someone the fans want to drop the gold. The problem
is that when he does, there’s nowhere left for him to turn. Certainly, he’s
proved he’s not WWE World Heavyweight Championship material which means being
demoted to Superstars whilst someone else tries to fill his spot. Is it
Langston’s fault? Partly. Wrestlers can be given all the training they need but
on the night it’s up to them how they perform. Is it WWE’s fault? Again,
partly. They haven’t given him the push or opponents needed to succeed.
Can Jack Swagger be the man to bring the
best out of Langston? Possibly. At this point in time there’re no more
guarantees as to what can and cannot happen. The Intercontinental Championship
is going to take some major investment to reignite its worth so would changing
hands to a man who couldn’t have been buried deeper had he upset Jack ‘The Hat’
– an old East End gangster for the American minions amongst us – help? There’s
a chance it could if the company actually get behind Swagger and stop making
him and Antonio Cesaro – or just Cesaro – lose to anyone and everyone.
The difference between Langston and
Swagger is that the former ‘All American-American’ has the skills and amazingly
the backing of at least most of the fans to make a success of the I.C division.
Pushed as a serious singles star, Jack Swagger still has something to offer the
WWE Universe. He’s young, hungry and angry at how he’s been treated. I’m not
saying he could feasibly hold the WWE World Heavyweight Championship again
without us expecting a repeat of last time but a run with the Intercontinental
Championship could do wonders for his career. He’s gotten wrestlers over before
and can do so again as long as he’s not used as cannon fodder which would
devaluate him and the gold even more than they have been.
The problem with Jack Swagger winning
the gold though is that WWE have already picked their next Champion elect. And
it’s Roman Reigns. It’s the only reason Big E. Langston has held the gold for
what seems like an eternity because Reigns is the man the company are backing
to catapult into the stratosphere and take the gold with him. Reasonably, by
the time Roman Reigns has dropped the title he’ll supposedly win at
WrestleMania XXX he’ll be primed for a run as WWE World Heavyweight Champion.
Though there’s no real intrigue for this
match, the company would have been better using this to further The Shield
split. How you ask? Let me enlighten you. Had the WWE bowed to public demand to
unify the United States and Intercontinental Championship’s they could have
booked an Elimination Chamber match to do it. The winner would unify both
titles and only carry the Intercontinental gold. Dean Ambrose could have won
the match thus building tension between him and Roman Reigns with Seth Rollins
in the middle. When everything came crashing down around them, the company could
have booked a triple threat match at WrestleMania between The Shield for the
gold.
It’s something people would have been
interested in seeing and a great way for Reigns to begin his singles run,
rather than just defeating Langston in what is destined to be a lifeless bout
we’ll all strive to forget.
As for Elimination Chamber, just for the
title’s future I hope that Jack Swagger walks away as Champion even thought
it’s almost destined Langston will. It won’t be a classic; it won’t be a ‘talk
about the next day on the bus’ bout. But it’ll do what it sets out to and
that’s set up Langston’s involvement at WrestleMania.
Winners Prediction: Jack Swagger
WWE Tag Team Championship Match
(c) The New Age Outlaws vs The
Usos
I was flabbergasted when the aged Outlaws
defeated Cody Rhodes and Goldust on the Kick-Off Match at the Royal Rumble. The
Rhodes Brothers were doing so well with the doubles gold that nothing needed to
be done to change the status quo. Goldust was on his best run ever in the WWE
and Cody Rhodes was flourishing into an eventual main event player, so why cut
their reigns short? The answer is simple. There’s only one reason Vince wanted
to make Road Dogg and Billy Gunn the WWE Tag Team Champions.
With WrestleMania XXX on the horizon, I’m
convinced that the WWE are planning an Attitude Era reunion, maybe a battle
royal to entice fans in with all the favourites from eras past. To hype
interest in such a match, what better way than to have two of the era’s favourites
hold current WWE gold? That and the fact people still love the Outlaws so the
train of thought to saddle them with doubles gold was to try and elevate the
Championships. Whether it’ll work or not, who knows?
As I write this it’s Wednesday morning
and I am snowed under with a project I’m currently working on. So in order not
to waste your time or mine, the following matches which were announced as a
fallout of Monday’s Raw will be swiftly covered. Seeing as they’re not going to
make any sort of an impact on the company or post-WrestleMania season I can’t
imagine too many people being bothered about the briefness of the segments. Not
only am I working on my own project but I have been approached to write a
foreword to an upcoming wrestling book and the review of it which I envisage
will appear in a future Review Corner later in the year. Also, I have two long
Review Corners to write up on ‘The Best of Raw and Smackdown 2013’ and ‘Shawn
Michaels: Mr. WrestleMania’ which I watched feverishly over the weekend. So as
you can see, I’m up to my eyeballs in it at the moment and don’t have time
trifle over little things like whether Gunn and Dogg will be prosperous in the
tag team division over the WrestleMania period or not.
Before I wrap this little segment up
though, I will not that The Usos should be treated as more than just another
set of opponents. The Sons of Rikishi have so much potential that should WWE
place the Tag Team Championships around their wastes and then turn them heel
can you imagine the quality of matches they could have against The Rhodes
Brothers, before one turns on the other? With a feud of that quality the
company could put the division back on track in no time.
To waste The Usos talent would be a
crime. We all know the doubles division is suffering from a lack of quality at
the moment so it makes no sense to waste what little they do have by jobbing
them out to aged has-beens who may be popular but who ultimately will be gone
when WrestleMania XXX is over and done with. Utilise what talent you have now
to create a stable base for the future. It’s the only way to get a once
prosperous division back on track.
Winners Prediction: The New Age
Outlaws
Titus ‘O Neil vs Darren Young
I don’t see any point in this. The Prime
Time Players had a limited shelf life as a team, what chance do the
horrendously limited Titus ‘O Neil and just okay, Darren Young, have as separate
entities? O’Neil can never be considered a challenger to any Championship in
WWE because he’s simply not good enough on his own – though when did that ever
stop WWE pushing a wrestler? Darren Young may have the looks and athletic ability,
but can anyone reading this really see him as a contender to the
Intercontinental Championship.
So what was WWE’s incentive in breaking
up a team which was doing okay as a duo recently? God only knows. We’ve
established they have no appeal as singles stars and with the tag division in
the state it’s in, it seems like a rash decision to split one of the teams who
may have been able to provide a decent challenge even if they were never going
to set it alight as Champions. Maybe Vince got bored of the pair or it’s his
way of telling them that their names at the top of the post-WrestleMania
culling list. We all know if you don’t have value in the company then you’re an
expendable commodity.
Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe one of the two
will make it big in WWE and bring the house down every night they step into the
ring. Who knows, one year from now we could be hearing the words ‘Your winner,
and new WWE World Heavyweight Champion...Titus ‘O Neil’. You see that’s the
best thing about wrestling. You can imagine anything you like.
Winners Prediction: Titus ‘O Neil
Elimination Chamber Kick-Off
Match
Cody Rhodes and Goldust vs
Rybaxel
After all of their efforts and progress,
this is the thanks the Rhodes brothers get for carrying the doubles division
for the majority of the end of 2013. Surely, if anything, wouldn’t it have been
good business sense to either make an Elimination Chamber match for the doubles
gold which would have been an excellent outing considering all who could have
been involved, but it would have made the gold look important again. Either
that, or Cody and Goldust should have received a rematch at Elimination Chamber
on the proper card. That way WWE could have built The Usos up by having them
defeat Rybaxel on the Kick-Off.
Is it coincidence that Cody and Goldust
find themselves in the exact same position Team Rhodes Scholars found
themselves in one year ago? Certainly, I believe that the WWE have only booked
this bout in order to further the break up between the pair which means Rybaxel
may be in for a victory, though let’s be honest. A win over the former WWE Tag
Team Champions would means Ryback and Curtis Axel would be bumped up the
pecking order for a title shot. The last thing we need right now is those two
holding tag team gold. Axel, yes. He’s still salvageable. Ryback though, well I’d
like nothing more than to wish him well in his future endeavours.
As it is, this is the focus of the Rhodes
split which will supposedly see them battle at WrestleMania XXX in a match
which could be great or could be awful. Only time will tell, though I remain
stout on the fact that it was way too early to split the duo when you have no
one else to replace them.
Winners Prediction: Cody Rhodes
and Goldust
I don’t know about you, but Elimination
Chamber 2014, seems a little thin. For a pay-per view which will have a running
time of close to three hours, I can only see the Elimination Chamber match
proving any shocks when it comes to participants. The rest of the card doesn’t
seem to provide anything to shout about and with notable omissions such as
Dolph Ziggler, why aren’t the company striving to make these stars main
attractions? They can’t keep relying on nostalgia acts to sell their main event
of the year.
On the final road to WrestleMania,
Elimination Chamber could prove to be a stumbling block, a hurdle in the
company’s way. If John Cena wins the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, Roman
Reigns splits from The Shield and Cody Rhodes and Goldust end their union on
this night, the company have one a bit months to back these paths with a solid
storyline which will really give the hard sell to WrestleMania XXX. It’s not
enough time.
With the thirtieth annual WrestleMania
approaching, let’s hope Vince doesn’t stumble when he should be flying.
Onwards and upwards...
