Photos courtesy: Fetch, Fremantle Media
Although anyone with a knowledge of the WWE (and how much the Chamber cost to build/produce) would have known that the Elimination Chamber was not consigned to the history books forever, it was still something of an “out of nowhere” surprise when its return as an event was announced at relatively short notice.
The two “Main events” of the evening were not held within the chamber, but in an ironic twist were perhaps the two matches that shone out the most. If you’d said, even a few months prior to this event, that Kevin Owens would “graduate” from NXT, face John Cena on a “named” event and defeat him in a match of the year candidate, most people would have laughed you out of the building. Not because Owens doesn’t have the skills (far from it) but because that’s just not the way the WWE works. Or maybe that should say “worked”. Although the bookies had Cena odds on favourite, many fans saw the storyline, the way Owens had been booked and hoped it would be his night. I had the foresight to put my money where my mouth was and backed Owens at the price of 7/4 and picked up a cool £110. For once the WWE did the right thing.
If you’re one of the feverous Anti-Cena brigade then your mind will never be changed but in 2015 he has put on a ton of great matches and this was no exception. That he did everything within his power to put Owens over the right way was another positive. No scrappy, controversial loss here. This was clean as a whistle. The match had that big match feel that is rare in the WWE (given that virtually anyone with a “name” has fought every one else with a “name” numerous times in numerous situations) and will be, rightly, up there on a lot of Match of the Year lists come December.
The WWE World Title match couldn’t really hold a candle to that one, despite pitting Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose against each other. It was a solid effort but never felt like anything other than one part of a storyline (which interestingly, Owens/Cena avoided, despite it only being stage one of the feud) that was never going to finish here. The Dusty Finish, which was passé two decades ago, didn’t really help matters either. Rollins retained as a sneaky heel, which seemingly all new heel WWE champions have to be these days, but it didn’t really do anything for him nor his challenger. A decent match that was ultimately disappointing.
The two Elimination Chamber matches were a mixed bag. The opener for the WWE Tag Team Titles was perhaps too busy but was a good effort from all concerned and you can’t fault the participants. It didn’t really hang together as a cohesive match but that was never likely to be any different anyway. The Intercontinental Title Chamber match on the other hand was a complete mess. It dragged on way too long and had little drama or excitement outside of a handful of cool looking spots.
The rest of the undercard offered little too. The three way Divas Title match between Nikki Bella, Naomi and Paige was awful. The problem here seemed to be that they tried to make more of it than they could actually manage and ended up mistiming a lot of moves and spots. Neville against Bo Dallas had the unenviable task of following Owens/Cena so whilst it was clear that this was the match to cool the crowd down, it did nothing for Neville, who was pushed far too hard for the victory against an opponent who hasn’t made it, has never shown anything to suggest he will make it and will never make it. Still at least the “right man” won. That’s something. A MizTV segment with Daniel Bryan is just plain boring, but then anything hosted by The Miz usually is.
DVD extras are limited to the kickoff match between Stardust and Zack Ryder, which is decent enough despite the lack of crowd interest, and some exclusive backstage promos with The Bella Twins and Ryback.
The show is pretty much a one-match show, but when that match was as good as it was then you can allow for some slack on the undercard. Overall it’s not destined to be remembered as the best thing the WWE gave us in 2015, but Owens/Cena is must see and when the rest of the card clicks it does offer some entertainment and excitement outside of the Match of the Year candidate.
Format reviewed: DVD
Thank you to our partners, WWEDVD.co.uk and Fetch for providing our review copy of WWE Elimination Chamber 2015 which is available on DVD exclusively in the UK from Monday, July 27th 2015. You can pre-order your copy from WWEDVD.co.uk now by clicking here.
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