Read on for my thoughts on WWE's last Pay-Per-View before WrestleMania. Jerry Lawler gets his chance to become WWE Champion while 6 men battle to become #1 Contender. Also, Edge defends his 11th World Title. Did I mention that these last two matches are inside the Elimination Chamber? Who's going to headline in Atlanta?
Really good opener between Del Rio and Kingston. It wouldn't shock me to see this as a World Title match on PPV by year's end.
I was really into the first Chamber match, then Big Show ran roughshod over Barrett. Show should be putting people like this over at this stage of his career, not beating up-and-coming main eventers. They should have structured the match differently so that this didn't happen.
Fantastic match other than that, though. Especially when it got back down to Edge and Mysterio. That was awesome.
Nice way to bring Christian back. I would have held off on it, but that was a pretty good comeback. I guess maybe they'll use him in Money In The Bank after he faces Del Rio on Smackdown?
I'm liking Trish Stratus being on Tough Enough. She went from being mostly "eye candy" to one of, if not the best female wrestlers of her era. Men and women can learn from her.
Awesome Miz promo after a so-so tag match. Then again, about anything would seem so-so after the first two matches.
Wow, Kelly Kelly was sure fired up here. Trish and Kelly vs. Laycool would be a nice surprise for WrestleMania.
Pretty cool entrance for Lawler. It's crazy on one level seeing this match being plugged as big as it is. It looks like something from WWE All-Stars. Lawler might not be as good as he once was, but he's as good once as he ever was. (I'm not really a Toby Keith fan, but that saying is perfect for this kind of situation)
The opening showed that, to use another favorite cliché of mine, Lawler's forgotten more about wrestling than Miz knows. I wonder if they can get Lawler coaching Tough Enough too? They've set the bar pretty high for future coaches, and he'd be a heck of a fit despite being mostly popular in an earlier era.
Hell of a match here. Miz didn't need to cheat (though Lawler got in more of a fight than I would have liked). Still a great match, and they didn't even need Cole interfering!
Cena's promo was stupid and entertaining at the same time.
I've probably said this before, but I really don't like it when the crowd cheers a heel. I'm glad that they appreciate them, but it really takes people out of the moment. It's like you're watching a play and people start cheering for Captain Hook to beat Peter Pan. Not to mention that it sends conflicting messages to the bookers since you're not turned away by their heelish actions. If you appreciate a heel, boo them. Boo the ever-loving crap out of them. That gets them over better and means they're more likely to be booked as a heel further on. Cheering them either makes them want to turn him face (see Mr. Anderson), or go to your city less because you're not giving them the reaction they want. This is likely one of the reasons they don't run Madison Square Garden that much.
I'm not saying you should buy in to WWE's storylines full-on, because sometimes a heel needs to turn face and vice versa. But the best way to show that you appreciate the product is to go along with it. If you don't like a face or heel, don't respond. They'll pay more attention to the diminished reaction than to the "smart marks" chanting.
Anyway, back to the show. The "malfunctioning pod" thing was kind of dumb, mainly because Orton beat Punk up and pinned him quickly, so Punk isn't as much of a threat as he should be going into Mania. Imagine if Luke Skywalker beat Darth Vader fairly and convincingly midway through the movie and you were expected to take him as a serious threat later on. It just doesn't have the same effect. And was that really the best idea they could come up with?
At least Punk (sort of) evened it up with his quick win.
AWESOME ending sequence with Morrison, Punk, and Cena. Overall this PPV did a good job building everything and everyone up for WrestleMania. If only more wrestling shows did that.
Cena vs. Miz and Edge vs. Del Rio is a nice start to the big event. Two mostly fresh matches with up-and-coming stars getting the spotlight. Let's hope that's a trend for the card.
Also, I'm happy they didn't try to do TOO much tonight and have Triple H return as well.
That's it for the thoughts on this PPV. I'll be back for Raw tomorrow night.
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