From The Network- WWE Elimination Chamber 2014

WWE Elimination Chamber 2014
2-23-14
Minneapolis, MN

Your hosts are Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, and JBL.

WWE Intercontinental Championship- Big E © vs. Jack Swagger w/Zeb Colter
Swagger overpowers Big E to start and Big E comes back with a flying shoulderblock forcing Swagger to bail. Back in, rights by Swagger and Big E comes back with an overhead belly to belly suplex. He hits a second one and he hits a running shoulder to the gut in the corner. Swagger bails again and Big E follows out, where he slams Swagger’s face off the steps. Colter distracts Big E and Swagger tries to attack but Big E prevents that. He hits a running shoulder to the gut against the steps and back in, he gets 2. Swagger bails once more and Swagger pulls Big E off the apron as he tried to go after him. Clothesline on the floor by Swagger and back in, Swagger gets 2. Knees in the corner by Swagger and he hits a short arm clothesline for 2. Rear chickenwing by Swagger but Big E backs him into the corner to break. Swagger hits a big boot and a leg drop for 2. Front facelock by Swagger but Big E presses him to the mat to break. They clothesline each other and both men are down. Big E charges in the corner but misses and hits the post shoulder first. Swagger rolls him up for 2. Swagger charges but eats elbow and Big E begins to clean house. Belly to belly suplex by Big E and Swagger comes back with a spinebuster for 2. He goes for the Swagger Bomb but Big E catches him and goes for the Big Ending but Swagger blocks. Big E SPEARS SWAGGER OFF THE APRON AND TO THE FLOOR!!! Back in, Big E covers for 2. Big Splash by Big E gets 2. Big E goes up but Swagger stops him and follows up. Big E fights him up so Swagger runs the ropes and hits a belly to belly superplex for 2!!! Swagger shoulder tackles the leg of Big E and he grabs the Patriot Lock. Big E breaks the hold and he hits some rights. Swagger clips the leg and goes for the Swagger Bomb but Big E blocks. Big boot by Swagger and Big E comes back with a chest bump. Swagger catches Big E in the Patriot Lock again but Big E breaks with an enzuigiri. Big Ending by Big E gets 3.
Winner and Still WWE Intercontinental Champion- Big E ***1/2 ( I don’t think anyone expected this to be as good as it was. They threw caution to the wind and had an excellent contest that had the crowd’s interest the entire way. Great stuff and Big E is really starting to develop as a wrestler.)

Bad News Barrett’s podium emerges and mocks the US for not having more gold medals than Russia. He says Europe will show their sporting supremacy.

Daniel Bryan raises some questions about the Elimination Chamber and each reply ends with “Yes”.

WWE Tag Team Championship- New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg and Billy Gunn) © vs. The Usos (Jimmy and Jey Uso)
Jimmy and Gunn start. Gunn overpowers Jimmy to start and hits a back elbow. Drop toe hold by Jimmy and he hits some arm drags. Hip toss by Jimmy and Gunn bails. Jimmy catches Dogg coming in with a hip toss and he bails as well. The Usos look to dive but the Outlaws move out of the way before the Usos could take off. Back in, Jey and Dogg officially tag in. Head butts by Dogg have no effect and he charges in the corner but eats boot. Jey charges but Dogg HIPTOSSES JEY INTO THE CORNER!!! Dogg jumps on Jey in the ropes and he dumps Jey to the floor. Gunn catches him with a clothesline on the floor and back in, he covers for 2. Gunn knocks Jey down and Dogg tags in. Jey tries to fight back but Dogg blocks a hip toss and he kicks Jey in the back for 2. Chinlock by Dogg but Jey fights out. Enzuigiri by Jey and Jimmy gets the tag along with Gunn. Back elbow by Jimmy and he cleans house. Bubba Bomb by Jimmy and he dumps Dogg to the floor. Samoan Drop by Jimmy and he charges in the corner but Dogg pulls Gunn to the floor to save him. Suicide plancha by Jimmy to Dogg on the floor. Gunn clotheslines Jimmy to the floor and back in, he goes for the Fameasser but Jimmy blocks. Superkick by Jimmy gets 2. Jimmy goes up and leaps but Gunn moves out of the way. Jimmy superkicks Dogg off the apron, allowing Gunn to roll him up for 3!!!
Winners and Still WWE Tag Team Champions- New Age Outlaws ** ( Nothing special here. The Usos tried to bring some excitement but they had to slow their pace down due to the age of the Outlaws so it was sloppy at times and there were dull points as well.)

Bad News Barrett returns and says Daniel Bryan will not win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship tonight. He claims when he loses, the Yes movement will cease to exist. He starts a Yes chant in response.

Darren Young vs. Titus O’Neil
O’Neil knocks Young down to start as the crowd chants for Lesnar. He tosses Young across the ring and continues to overpower Young. Rolling elbow by Young and he clotheslines O’Neil to the floor. Back in, Young goes up and hits a flying clothesline for 2. O’Neil sends Young hard into the corner and the momentum takes Young to the floor. O’Neil rams Young against the post a few times and back in, he covers for 2. Bear hug by O’Neil but Young fights out. Young goes for a crossbody off the second rope but O’Neil catches him and hits a backbreaker. He tosses Young down and goes to the abdominal stretch. Young fights out again so O’Neil gives him an avalanche in the corner. He charges again but eats boot and both men are down. Clothesline by Young and he hits a back drop. He hammers O’Neil on the mat and they go to the apron. Neckbreaker on the apron by Young gets 2. Forearm to the back by O’Neil and he hits Clash of the Titus for 3.
Winner- Titus O’Neil *1/4 ( Man, the crowd could not have cared less about this match. The match had no heat, the wrestling was subpar, and it didn’t do much for either guy.)

Bad New Barrett appears again and mocks the Minnesota Vikings. He mentions Hulk Hogan returning as host of Wrestlemania and says his spotlight has been taken over by him. Yeah, OK.

The panel tonight is Mark Henry, The Miz, and Rey Mysterio and they discuss the events of the evening so far.

Video package for Wyatt Family/Shield airs.

The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns) vs. The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, and Erick Rowan)
Crowd chants “This is Awesome” before the match begins, so they’re pumped for the match. The Shield attack to start and they clear the ring of the Wyatt Family. Rowan officially starts with Rollins. Dropkick by Rollins and he hammers away on Rowan in the corner. Tag to Reigns and he stomps away in the corner. Tag to Rollins and Rowan overpowers him. Tag to Harper and he works over Rollins. He rakes the face of Rollins and Wyatt tags in. Wyatt works over Rollins in the corner and Reigns tags in. He hammers away on Wyatt in the corner and he overpowers Wyatt for 1. Harper tags in and he goes for a suplex but Reigns counters into his own. Tag to Ambrose and he hammers away on Harper in the corner. Tag to Rollins and he leaps off Ambrose’s back into a corner forearm on Harper. Reigns knocks Harper down for 2 and Ambrose tags in. He rakes Harper’s face off the ropes and he hits a dropkick for 2. Rollins and Ambrose work over Harper and Harper charges in the corner but eats boot. Second rope back elbow by Ambrose and the Wyatt Family distracts him, allowing Harper to catch him with a dropkick. Tag to Wyatt and he hammers Ambrose on the mat. Wyatt works him over in the corner and he hits the Avalanche in the corner. Tag to Rowan and he slams Ambrose. Knee drop to the midsection by Rowan and he boxes the ears of Ambrose. Ambrose fights out so Rowan hits a sidewalk slam for 2. Tag to Harper and he steps on head of Ambrose. Suplex by Harper gets 2. Ambrose catches Harper with a swinging neckbreaker and Rollins tags in. Dropkick by Rollins and he throws some kicks. He hammers away on Harper in the corner and he hits a corner forearm. Rollins goes up but Harper stops him and follows up. Harper goes for a super German suplex but ROLLINS LANDS ON HIS FEET!!! He clotheslines Harper to the floor and follows up with a suicide dive. Back in, Rollins hits a springboard knee strike and Harper comes back with the Truck Stop for 2. Tag to Wyatt and he works Rollins over on the floor. Back senton on the floor by Wyatt and back in, Wyatt gets 2. Tag to Rowan and he knocks Rollins down with a head butt. Slam by Rowan and he hits a basement forearm to the back for 2. Tag to Harper and he hits a corner clothesline in the corner. Harper slingshots Rollins in the ropes and Wyatt tags in. Chinlock by Wyatt but Rollins fights out. Wyatt charges in the corner but eats boot and Rollins leaps off the second rope. Wyatt catches him and hits the Urinage for 2 as Ambrose saves. Harper KILLS Ambrose with a big boot in retaliation and Harper tags in. He stomps away on Rollins and he pulls Rollins out of the ropes but Rollins catches him with an enzuigiri. Tag to Reigns and he cleans house. Samoan drop to Rowan and he hammers Rowan on the mat. Harper dumps him to the floor and Reigns catches Rowan from the floor with a knee strike. Back in, Reigns hits a back suplex for 2 as Wyatt saves. Ambrose attacks Wyatt but Harper saves him. Ambrose dropkicks Wyatt off the apron and follows but Harper catches him with a suicide dive. Summersault plancha by Rollins to Harper. Rowan chargers in the corner but misses and Reigns rolls him up for 2!!! They clothesline each other and both men are down. Rollins takes apart the announce table but Wyatt attacks from behind to stop that. Ambrose saves Rollins and he brawls with Wyatt in the crowd. In the ring, Rowan and Reigns slug it out. Rowan breaks that up by sending Reigns shoulder first into the post. Leaping clothesline by Reigns gets 2. Wyatt returns and he breaks apart the other announce table. Rowan hits a fall-a-way slam to Reigns sending Reigns to the floor. The Wyatt Family DOUBLE CHOKESLAM ROLLINS THROUGH THE ANNOUNCE TABLE!!!! In the ring, Reigns is alone and the Wyatt Family double team him in the corner as Bray Wyatt watches. Big boot by Harper and Wyatt tags in. He goes for Sister Abigail but Reigns powers out and Wyatt hits some head butts with no effect. Samoan drop by Reigns and he dumps Harper to the floor. SUPERMAN PUNCH TO ROWAN~!!! SUPERMAN PUNCH TO WYATT~!!! Spear to Harper but Reigns walks into a back elbow from Wyatt. Sister Abigail gets 3!!!
Winners- The Wyatt Family ****1/4 ( When you put two groups together that the crowd is in love and you let them do their thing, you get magic. This was a phenomenal brawl with all six guys fighting with something to prove and they all had a chance to shine. Reigns is going to be a mega star if he keeps it up, he has something special. )

Christian says he hasn’t been on a roll lately but people will forget about that when he walks out of the Elimination Chamber as champion. He’s desperate and that makes him dangerous. He dares everyone to underestimate him.

WWE Diva’s Champion- AJ Lee w/Tamina © vs. Cameron
AJ brags about the length of her title reign and mocks Naomi injuring her face. Roll-up by Cameron gets 1 and she sweeps the leg of Lee. Split by Cameron gets 2 and AJ comes back with a spin kick to the midsection for 2. Neckbreaker by Lee gets 2. Dragon sleeper by Lee and she takes Cameron down by the hair when she starts to fight out. Lee charges in the corner but misses and Cameron rolls her up for 2. She takes AJ down by the hair and cleans house. Basement dropkick by Cameron gets 2. Thesz press by Cameron and Lee pulls her to the floor to stop the momentum. “CM Punk” chants as Lee follows out and mocks Cameron by dancing with her pom-pom. Tamina goes for a superkick but misses Cameron and KILLS AJ. Back in, Cameron covers for 2 as Tamina puts AJ’s foot on the ropes. Cameron goes after Tamina on the floor but Tamina clotheslines her for the DQ.
Winner by DQ- Cameron * ( The crowd was deader than dead for the match and the finish was absolute garbage. It served as the buffer after the six man tag and nothing else. )

Bad News Barrett returns and says that adults will be fired from their jobs and kids will be absent from school because they’re spending time watching the WWE Network. He claims the final result will be homelessness.

Santino Marella is playing with toys backstage and Emma, Great Khali, and Los Matadores show up to play as well. Yep.

Batista vs. Alberto Del Rio
Del Rio comes out in a neck brace and crutches and claims because of Batista’s brutal attacks he won’t be able to compete. Del Rio attacks with his crutch and he takes off his neck brace. The match officially begins and Batista hits some rights. He charges in the corner but eats boot and Del Rio sends him into the post shoulder first. “Bootista” chants start and they don’t like Batista at all. Cross Arm Breaker in the ropes by Del Rio and he stomps away. Arm bar by Del Rio but Batista fights out so Del Rio drives Batista’s arm against his knees. Del Rio charges in the corner but misses and hits the post shoulder first. Batista goes for the shoulders to the gut in the corner but Del Rio blocks and hits a second rope double stomp. Corner enzuigiri by Del Rio gets 2 as Batista grabs the ropes to break. Baseball slide by Del Rio knocks Batista to the floor and back in, Batista catches him with a Spear for 2. Short arm clotheslines by Batista and he goes for a powerslam but Del Rio counters into the Backstabber for 2. Del Rio goes up and misses a back senton off the top. Spinebuster by Batista and he goes for the Batista Bomb but Del Rio escapes. He clips the leg and hits a basement superkick for 2. He goes for the Cross Armbreaker but Batista blocks and hits the Batista Bomb for 3.
Winner- Batista **1/2 ( The match was fine and it served its purpose of giving Batista a good win heading into Wrestlemania and he gave Del Rio a ton of offense. But the crowd has completely turned against Batista since his return and it was a sign that they needed to change their plans for Wrestlemania. )

WWE pays tribute to Black History Month by highlighting Tony Atlas and Rocky Johnson.

The panel predicts the winner of the Elimination Chamber. Miz picks Daniel Bryan, Mark Henry picks Sheamus, and Rey Mysterio picks Cesaro. Henry pulls a Charles Barkley by mocking the fact Randy Orton hasn’t won a match in a month, which is awesome.

Video package for the Elimination Chamber airs.

Elimination Chamber Match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship- Randy Orton © vs. John Cena vs. Christian vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Cesaro w/Zeb Colter vs. Sheamus
Cesaro and Sheamus start. Dropkick by Cesaro and he stomps away, forcing Sheamus to bail. Cesaro goes to send Cesaro into the cage but Sheamus blocks and clotheslines him back in. Cesaro backdrops him back to the floor and Sheamus comes back with a slingshot shoulder block for 1. Neckbreaker by Sheamus gets 1. Knee lift by Sheamus and he clotheslines Cesaro to the floor. Sheamus clubs the chest of Cesaro and he hits a clothesline. Sheamus looks to suplex Cesaro back in but he blocks and brings Sheamus to the floor where he sends Sheamus into the post. Second rope double stomp by Cesaro and back in, he gets 2. Uppercuts in the corner by Cesaro and Sheamus goes up. Cesaro catches him with an uppercut and he follows up. Sheamus fights him off and hits a shoulderblock off the top. Daniel Bryan enters the match and goes up. Double missile dropkick by Bryan and he hits a knee to the gut of Cesaro. He throws some kicks at Sheamus in the corner and he hits a flying elbow. He throws kicks at the chest of both men and he hits a high kick to Cesaro. Drop toe hold and Bryan hits a Northern Lights suplex to Cesaro for 2 as he applies pressure to the leg of Sheamus!!! Cesaro charges in the corner but eats elbow and he goes to the second rope. Bryan leaps but Cesaro catches him and hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for 2. Uppercuts by Sheamus and he hits a clothesline. Knees by Cesaro and he clotheslines Sheamus to the floor. Cesaro follows and Bryan sends him into the cage. Cesaro SENDS BRYAN THROUGH THE POD!!! Sheamus and Cesaro trade uppercuts and Sheamus ends that with the rolling Fireman’s Carry on the steel!!! Back in, Sheamus gets 2. Sheamus stomps away on Bryan and he goes up. Bryan stops him and he follows up but Sheamus fights him off. Christian enters next and he shoves Sheamus off the top and to the floor. He stomps away on the bad shoulder of Bryan and he dumps Bryan to the floor. He slams Bryan’s arm off the ropes and he drives Bryan’s shoulder into the cage a few times. Christian slams the pod door off the shoulder and back in, Christian goes up. Tornado DDT by Christian gets 2. Bryan throws some kicks to the leg and he hits an enzuigiri. Corner dropkick by Bryan misses and Sheamus rams Christian against the cage a few times. He goes to battery ram Christian but Christian counters with a reverse DDT on the steel. Cesaro goes for the Giant Swing but Christian blocks. He goes for the Killswitch but Cesaro blocks and presses Christian who lands on the cage. He goes for a hurricarnana but Cesaro blocks an powerbombs Christian into the pod!!! Uppercut by Cesaro and back in, he gets 2. Cesaro UPPERCUTS THE GLASS AGAINST SHEAMUS!!! Gutwrench suplex on the steel by Cesaro and John Cena enters the match. Christian goes for a crossbody but Cena catches him and HITS THE ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT SENDING CHRISTIAN INTO CESARO!!! Cena goes up but Bryan stops him and follows up. Frankensteiner off the top by Bryan and he throws some kicks to the chest of Cena. Christian catches Bryan with the Killswitch for 2. Cesaro goes for the Giant Swing again but Cena clotheslines Cesaro causing Christian to get catapulted into the corner. Cena hits the protobomb on Christian but Sheamus catches him with White Noise for 2. Uppercuts by Sheamus to Cesaro and Christian catches him with a slingshot kick. Cesaro goes for the Neutralizer but Sheamus backdrops out. Christian dumps him to the floor and he hits a Tornado DDT on Cesaro for 2. Cena back suplexes Christian against the cage and back in, Cesaro presses Cena into the uppercut for 2. Cesaro, Cena, and Bryan exchange strikes and Sheamus rams Bryan into the cage. Cesaro hits the Brian Cage suplex sending Sheamus back into the ring for 2. Randy Orton enters the match with no one eliminated yet. Orton misses the Punt on Bryan and everyone corners Orton. Orton locks himself in the pod to escape and a “Pussy” chant starts. He taunts Sheamus so Sheamus BROGUE KICKS THROUGH THE POD ONTO ORTON!!!! He sends Orton into the cage a few times and he clotheslines Orton back on. Protobomb by Cena to Orton and he hits the Five Knuckle Shuffle. Cesaro dumps Cena to the floor and Cesaro gives Orton the Giant Swing. 30 Rotations for Cesaro!!! Chaos Theory by Bryan to Cesaro. Clothesline by Sheamus to Bryan and he hits a tilt-a-whirl powerslam on Christian. He goes for the Brogue Kick on Christian but misses and hits Cena. Christian rolls him up for 2 and he covers Cena for 2. Sheamus stalks Christian on the floor and he goes for the Celtic Cross but Christian blocks and climbs to the top of the pod. Sheamus goes after him but Orton follows and hits a superplex to Sheamus. FROG SPLASH OFF THE POD BY CHRISTIAN GETS 3!!! Sheamus is eliminated.

Orton goes for the hanging DDT on Christian but Christian blocks by backdropping Orton onto the steel. Flying knee strike by Bryan to Christian gets 3. Christian is eliminated.

Bryan and Cena clear the ring of Cesaro and Orton, leaving the two of them. They slug it out and Bryan goes for the Yes Lock but Cena blocks. Cena goes for the Attitude Adjustment but Cesaro catches him with a German suplex for 2. Cena goes for the STF but Cesaro blocks and goes for the gutwrench suplex but Cena counters with a hurricanrana. Cena hits the Attitude Adjustment onto the steel floor!!! Back in, Cena grabs the STF and Cesaro taps. Cesaro is eliminated.

Cena blocks an RKO attempt and he grabs the STF on Orton. Orton looks to tap but the lights go out. They Wyatt Family is in the ring and Bryan charges but Harper hits a big boot. The Wyatt Family triple team Cena and Wyatt hits Sister Abigail on Cena. Orton covers Cena for 3. John Cena is eliminated.

Corporate Kane comes out and sends the Wyatt Family to the back. Kane enters the chamber to check on Cena and Bryan leaps off the top onto Kane!!! Orton sends him into the pod and they go up but Bryan escapes and puts Orton in the tree of woe. Kicks to the chest by Bryan and he hits some baseball slides in the corner. Bryan follows up and hits a back superplex off the top for 2. Bryan goes up but Orton crotches him and hits the hanging DDT. Bryan blocks the RKO and he hits the flying knee strike for 2 as Kane pulls the ref out of the ring!!! High kick by Bryan to Kane but he walks into the RKO for 2!!! Small package by Bryan gets 2 and he hits a high kick. Kane nails Bryan and Orton hits the RKO for 3.
Winner and Still WWE World Heavyweight Champion- Randy Orton ***3/4 ( There were some great moments and spots throughout the match to make this yet another excellent Chamber match. The overbooking at the end with everyone and their mother entering the Chamber, despite being impossible to enter, to interfere kept this from being up there as one of the best chambers. )

The 411: For the most part, this was a very entertaining show. You had an opening match that blew away peoples' expectations, the Wyatt/Shield match was outstanding, and the Elimination Chamber match was pretty damn good. The rest of the card felt like it belonged on TV rather than PPV, but the main matches delivered and in some cases over delivered, so we ended up with a pretty good PPV that set the stage for Wrestlemania XXX.

Final Score:  8.0   [ Very Good ]