Views from the Hawke’s Nest: Free WWE Matches Part 1

I know what you must be thinking. “I can watch every match in the history of the WWE/WWF/WWWF for free. Why should I watch only select matches on the official WWE Youtube channel?” Well, I can’t argue with that logic. With the way WWE overcharges for most of their products, I really can’t even muster up the will to speak ill of those who steal from them. With that said though, I still do encourage people to only watch wrestling legally. As such, here are some matches that the WWE has posted to their Youtube channel.

The Rock vs. Eddie Guerrero from WWE’s Raw TV 2002

Rock was the Undisputed WWE Champion at the time, but this was a non-title match.  The stipulation was that Eddie would get a title shot if he won this match.

These are two of my favorite performers of all time. In fact, Rock is probably my favorite.  Rock was mostly in control early until Eddie was able to cut him off with a back suplex.  Eddie worked him over after that.  Eddie was in control for a while.  Rock eventually came back with some punches and a DDT: 1…2…NO!  Rock went for a Rock Bottom, but Eddie reversed it into a pinning combination: 1…2…NO!  One of the best reversals of all time.  The crowd was stunned into silence by that reversal.  Eddie went for a frog splash, but Rock avoided it.  Rock then hit the spinebuster and the People’s Elbow: 1…2…3!

Brock Lesnar showed up after the match and picked up the Undisputed Championship.  These two were meeting at the next PPV (Summerslam 2002).  Brock eventually threw the title at the feet of the Rock.  Rock had a super serial facial expression for this. Paul Heyman made a brief cameo as Brock walked to the back.

Two of the most entertaining men in WWE history. Watch this match right now.  It’s super basic for these two, but it’s incredibly cool to watch because of how unique it was.  I wish these two had a PPV match at some point.
Match Rating: ***

Rey Mysterio vs. Chavo Guerrero from WWE’s Smackdown TV 2002

This was Rey’s WWE debut. He was cosmetically in far better shape.  Rey runs through some of his offense to start the match.  Chavo eventually was able to cut him off with an end over end German suplex. Chavo got the heat for a bit.  Chavo hit a gutbuster for a nearfall.  Rey managed to send Chavo to the floor, and he then hit a slingshot corkscrew plancha.  Back in the ring, Rey hit a seated senton.  Chavo came back with a Gory Bomb: 1…2…NO!  Rey managed to hit the 619 and the Springboard Hurricanrana: 1…2…3!

This was a pretty darn good debut for Mysterio in the WWE.  The match itself was pretty basic for these two, but the WWE didn’t have too many guys like Rey at the time, so his offense really stood out as something special.
Match Rating: **3/4

John Cena vs. Triple H vs. Randy Orton vs. Sheamus vs. Ted DiBiase Jr. vs. Kofi Kingston from WWE’s Elimination Chamber 2010

This match was for the WWE Championship. Sheamus was the champion coming into the match.

The entrances took about ten minutes, which I mention in case you’re interested in saving yourself some time. Myself, I like to see how the crowds respond to the wrestlers’ entrances.  You’re welcome for that information.  Sheamus and Kofi started the match. Not much of note happened until Kofi hit a roundhouse kick and a springboard crossbody: 1…2…NO!  Sheamus came back and hit a backbreaker for a nearfall. Triple H entered the ring. HHH ran through Sheamus early on. Jerry Lawler discussed that pinfalls and submissions can only happen in the ring, as opposed to on the cage. I did not know that. It certainly wasn’t true in some of the video games.  HHH hit a DDT for a nearfall.  Kofi finally recovered and came back on Sheamus and HHH. Kofi sent HHH onto the metal and then hit a slingshot Boom Drop. Sheamus worked over Kofi.  Randy Orton was the next wrestler to enter the match. He got a babyface pop. Orton ran through everyone for a bit.  Orton was beating Sheamus and HHH down in the cage. Kofi wiped them out with a plancha. Kofi went for a springboard move, but Orton hit him with a dropkick in midair.  Orton hit HHH with a snap powerslam. Orton called for the RKO, but HHH avoided. HHH went for the pedigree, but Orton backdropped him onto the cage. Orton sent Kofi onto the cage. Ted DiBiase entered the match. He considered attacking Orton, but he extended a hand instead. The crowd booed.  Orton and DiBiase teamed up for a while. DiBiase hung Kofi up in the cage and locked in a Boston Crab. Orton then kicked him.  Orton gave HHH the elevated DDT onto the steel cage. That should have been a pinfall. For some terribly stupid reason that I cannot even imagine, they didn’t try to pin HHH after that. John Cena entered the match and made a comeback on Legacy.  Cena gave DiBiase a FU onto the steel.  Cena locked DiBiase into the STF, but Orton made the save. Cody Rhodes ran in and put in a steel pipe.  DiBiase accidentally hit Orton with the pipe. Cena FUed Orton. DiBiase then hit Cena with the pipe. DiBiase pinned Orton: 1…2…3! Big pop for the that.
Randy Orton was eliminated.

Kofi hit DiBiase with a Trouble in Paradise: 1…2…3
Ted DiBiase Jr. was eliminated.

Sheamus hit Kofi with the Brogue Kick and the Razor’s Edge: 1…2…3.
Kofi Kingston was eliminated.

Sheamus hit Cena with a backbreaker and a Michinoku Driver variation for a nearfall.  Sheamus went for the Razor’s Edge on Cena, but HHH hit Sheamus with a low blow. HHH then hit Sheamus with a Pedigree: 1…2…3!
Sheamus was eliminated.

Cena vs. HHH for the belt in 2010. Sigh. Cena locked HHH into the STF.  HHH struggled for a while, but he eventually weakly tapped out.
John Cena wins the WWE Championship.

After the match, Vince McMahon said Cena had to defend the belt right now against “this man.” Batista came out. Batista hit a spear and a Big Dave Bomb to take the WWE Championship. Lol.

This match was fine. I cannot imagine a genuinely bad Elimination Chamber match since WWE agents are pretty reliable for laying out these types of matches to always be entertaining. That being said, this was a rather uninspired effort. This wasn’t an exciting mix of wrestlers, and they didn’t do anything to exceed my mild expectations. On top of that, the eliminated all felt rushed despite the fact that no eliminations happened until the last contestant entered the match.  I wouldn’t call this match a waste of time, but rather, it was a wasted opportunity by the WWE. This match felt ordinary and all Eliminated Chamber matches should feel extraordinary (the Batista title win after the match the cherry on the uninspired cake that was the booking of this match).
Match Rating: ***

CM Punk vs. John Cena vs. Randy Orton vs. John Morrison vs. Sheamus vs. R-Truth from WWE’s Elimination Chamber 2011

The winner of this match got to challenge The Miz for the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania.

Morrison and Sheamus started the match. Was Sheamus a face here? No, I don’t think he turned for a few more months.  They ended in the cage area. Morrison went for a Flying Chuck, but Sheamus avoided it. Morrison managed to catch himself on the cage, and he hit the Flying Chuck from there. Back in the ring, Sheamus took over the match. Randy Orton entered the match and ran through everyone. Orton hit Sheamus with an elevated DDT on the metal.  Orton gave a superplex to Morrison and then another one to Sheamus.  CM Punk was suppose to enter the match, but pod got jammed. Punk and Orton were feuding at the time.  Orton then used this as an opportunity to beat down a helpless Punk. Hastag Babyface.  Orton tossed Punk into the ring and hit a RKO: 1…2…3…lame.
CM Punk is eliminated.

The Anonymous Raw GM sent an email. Michael Cole read out that the GM thought Punk was not given a fair chance and that he was reinstated into the match. Punk went back into his pod.  Sheamus gave Orton a backbreaker. Orton avoided a Brogue Kick, but he ate a Flying Chuck from Morrison.  John Cena entered the match.  Sheamus beat him down right away. Morrison took out Orton and Sheamus with a springboard move. Cena tossed Morrison onto the cage.  Sheamus took out Morrison and Cena with a slingshot shoulder tackle.  R-Truth entered the match and gave Sheamus a hip toss onto the cage.  R-Truth ran throught everyone. I’m sure he’ll be eliminated soon. Right on cue, Sheamus hit Truth with a Brogue Kick: 1…2…3
R-Truth was eliminated.

Orton sent Morrison through one of the glass pods.  CM Punk entered the match again. Cena tried to give Orton a FU, but Orton escaped and hit a RKO onto the cage. Orton was hurt as well. Punk hit Sheamus with a roundhouse and pinned Orton: 1…2…NO! Punk hit the GTS: 1…2…3!
Randy Orton was eliminated.

Sheamus sent Punk into a pod and then hit a Polish Hammer.  Sheamus somehow got Morrison onto the top of the pod. Morrison knocked Sheamus to the mat. Morrison climbed to the center of the dome. Morrison then hit a diving crossbody: 1…2…3. That was cool.
Sheamus was eliminated.

Cena went to do the five moves of doom on Punk. Cena went to give Punk the FU on the cage, but Morrison took them out with a plancha.  Morrison went for the running knee on Cena, but Cena dodged it and Morrison crashed through a pod.  Cena got Punk up on his shoulders, and Morrison hit a springboard lariat to take both out. Cena hit Morrison with a FU. Punk took Cena out with a roundhouse kick.  Cena ended up on the cage. Punk hit a springboard lariat, and he then sent Cena into a pod. Punk went to send Morrison into a pod, but Morrison caught himself and hit a Flying Chuck. It was awesome. Morrison went for Starship Pain, but Punk dodged it. Morrison landed on his injured leg. Punk Morrison with a GTS: 1…2…3!
John Morrison was eliminated.

Cena hit Punk with a FU onto the cage: 1…2…3. Lame.
John Cena wins the Elimination Chamber match.

This match ended up being a ton of fun. The fun was mostly a result of the booking of the Punk/Orton feud and the stuff at the end with Cena, Punk, and Morrison. Actually, Morrison provided a lot of fun throughout the match. In fact, they really seemed to be trying to portray Morrison as a main eventer on this show, and I’m not sure why they lost faith in him shortly after this. I don’t think he could have ever been the guy in the WWE, but he should be a valuable member of their roster. Anyway, I enjoyed this match a great deal, and I think you should all definitely watch it.
Match Rating: ***3/4

Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus from WWE’s Wrestlemania 2012

Bell rings. Bryan decides to kiss AJ Lee first. Bryan turns around. Brogue Kick: 1…2…3.

This was bullshit when it happened and it’s bullshit now. That being said, Daniel Bryan’s popularity skyrocketed after this bullshit. So, some good definitely came of it. WWE needs to stop doing this bullshit on PPV. I hate this bullshit. Bullshit. (What an awful writeup this was. Sorry.)
Match Rating: DUD

CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho from WWE Raw TV 2013

The fans voted Jericho into this match over Randy Orton and Rey Mysterio. Punk was eights days off his loss of the WWE Championship to The Rock.

Neither man could get a decisive advantage early on. Jericho managed to send Punk to the floor, and he then hit a baseball slide. Jericho went for a Silverking Dropkick, but Punk managed to send Y2J into the turnbuckle. Commercial.

Back from commercial, Punk was getting the heat. They actually went to another commercial at some point. Back from commercial, Punk was still getting the heat. At one point, Punk went for a springboard clothesline, but Jericho avoided it. Jericho made a comeback. Jericho went for the Lionsault, but Punk got his knees up. Jericho reversed that and tried for the Walls, but Punk escaped.  Jericho then hit a super hurricanrana: 1…2…no.  Jericho went for another Lionsault, but Punk got him on his shoulders. Jericho avoided the GTS, and went for the Walls. Punk avoided it. Punk got a nearfall on a neckbreaker.  Punk went for the diving elbow, but Jericho avoided it. Jericho went for the Lionsault: 1…2…NO!  Punk came back with a roundhouse to the head: 1…2…NO! Punk got the Anaconda Vice, but Jericho made the ropes. Jericho was going to the top rope, but Punk kicked his legs out and went for a GTS. Jericho reversed it into a Walls of Jericho! Punk made the ropes.  Punk sent Jericho into the turnbuckles a couple of times, and he then hit a GTS: 1…2…3

This was a good television match. They didn’t do anything too crazy, but they kept it simple, yet smart. This was Jericho’s first extended singles match in his fourth WWE run, and he looked pretty sharp even if he maybe lost a step here and there. Punk is on point, as he has arguably never been better.
Match Rating: ***1/4

Thanks everybody for reading! You can send feedback to my Twitter or to my email address: [email protected]. Also, feel free to check out my own wrestling website, FreeProWrestling.com. Also, check out my Best of Chikara blog and an archive of all my 411 video reviews.

The 411: The 2011 Chamber match is definitely worth watching. Rock/Eddie isn't great, but it's such a cool matchup that it's automatically a Thumbs Up. The 2010 Chamber match is fine, but it's probably one of the weaker Chamber matches in history. Rey vs. Chavo and Punk vs. Jericho are both fine, but those sets of opponents have had such better matches that it's hard to get enthusiastic about recommending them. All in all, this is a solid set of matches. The WWE Youtube channel has a lot of cool stuff, and I definitely recommend that you subscribe to their channel.

Final Score:  7.0   [ Good ]