More Like Chamber of Bulls**t
I actually liked this year's Elimination Chamber PPV, for the most part.
The matches were OK, with some nice surprises. What I thought would deliver did, what I knew would flop also did.
The only real disappointment for me was the tag title match. I like the Usos, and I've always liked the Outlaws. I think the titles were much better around Goldust and Cody Rhodes, but I can't always have everything I want in life. Their match just really didn't intrigue me. I felt like we've seen it a dozen times before, when in reality it should have been fresh. After months and months of great Rhodes Brothers matches in the tag team division, with the Shield and Team Hell No before them, I just feel like they've take a step back. It's just not that interesting, and as a result I don't care for Road Dogg and Billy Gun at this point.
Titus and Darren fell on its face. I really liked the Prime Time Players, and for a minute they were hot, but the fans predictably didn't care about this match. It felt like exactly what it was – two undercard splitting up, hoping to be relevant. Titus cut a great promo on Raw two weeks ago, and is the obvious break-out star of the two, but WWE buried PTP so far down this match just didn't matter.
Batista and Alberto del Rio might have been an OK match, if fans gave them a chance. Del Rio can work, but people have never really been hot for him. I still blame the terrible booking of his 2011. He was really hot at debut, had a ton of momentum, and then WWE lost him in wanting to put over Edge, then Christian, then CM Punk, then trying to kill CM Punk, and having it backfire on del Rio in the process. Too bad – he's a great talent. I honestly don't want to talk about Batista anymore. Good luck booking him for the next two years.
The Wyatt Family and Shield stole the show. That was honestly the only reason to watch, since everyone knew how the main event would play out. Interesting that the Wyatt Family got the win. I didn't expect that, but it was a good call. They had to prep Bray for a match with John Cena, and a major loss gives fuel to the Shield's break-up. Really good stuff all around. An easy early MOTY candidate.
The Chamber match was good. Some people said the best they've ever seen, some said the worst. There's a really polarized fanbase right now, and it's more interesting to watch Twitter than the product at the moment. I didn't enjoy all the interference. The Chamber was built as a structure for main event wrestlers – future legends – to absolutely destroy each other. It was meant to lock them in, and lock everyone else out. The ultimate cage match. Way too many people got involved for my taste. Don't sacrifice one story for the next; don't sacrifice one match for the next. Elimination Chamber doesn't have to suffer for WrestleMania to do well. That's what Raw and Smackdown are for.
Overall an enjoyable PPV. With dozens of hours of WWE content on my computer every week now, I pretty much tune out anything I assume will be forgettable. It makes the whole process easier to digest. I can't do it any other way. There's just too damn much.
