WWE ELIMINATION CHAMBER 2017 (SDL PPV)

[Craig H]

I thought the PPV was good for what it was. I would say that the tag gauntlet seems to setup the Revival to come in to challenge since American Alpha has gone over every SDL tag team, something Meltzer pointed out too, but the Revival are likely facing the AoP and #DIY at the WM Takeover show. I guess they could face the Usos and get some good matches out of them.

I was happy that Orton vs Harper turned out as good as it did because it hopefully means that Harper continues to be a part of the angle with Bray and Orton. I could see Harper eventually turning into a Daniel Bryan type figure as someone who absolutely doesn't have the look WWE wants, but the fans go nuts for him anyway.

It is beyond weird to see how horribly booked Dolph Ziggler is on SDL while so much of everything else is booked so well. What in the fuck. Like, you joke that WWE creative would be dumb enough to have Dolph lose to the two babyfaces because they were already dumb enough to book a heel in a handicap match, but you don't think they'll actually do that. And then they did. If I'm Dolph, I'm calling up Christian to ask how he dealt with his losing streak gimmick, but if he does that, I'm guessing Christian laughs and tells Dolph to leave. So dumb. Alvarez brought this up about Neville and his heel turn when talking about how incompetent Dolph is. With Neville, he goes to do that dive and then stops at the last minute because fuck the fans. With Dolph, he goes and does the chairshot anyway, which pops the crowd, because he doesn't know better. Can we please just trade Ziggler to Raw in exchange for Sami Zayn?

Main event was good. Nothing great. I agree with the person earlier about making the EC safer by padding the outside. It also looked like the made the EC way taller, which I wonder if it was to make it easier to see inside the cage for those in the cheap seats. I liked Bray winning, but that was the obvious direction. I really hope Bray retains at WM. Weirder things have happened, like the Miz retaining against Cena.

[jaedmc]

I only caught a little bit of the show. My son watched the whole thing. 

At one point I walked in and he said "Good we're booing Dolph Ziggler now."

I said "Why"

"Because he just beat up Kalisto before the match. He's a cheater."

So Dolph Ziggler has joined Xavier Woods on my son's "Don't fuck with Kalisto Shit List"

I caught the finish of Naomi and Bliss. I can't remember really watching either of them ever, but that finish was dangerously sloppy and looked like it almost broke Bliss's arm. 

Watched the Chamber. I like bits with the guys on the pods. AJ Styles, who I'm not a big fan of, was certainly the all-star. I mean he about killed himself three or four times. John Cena was the worst. Can't believed he followed up a good performance at Rumble with all that dopey cartoon mugging. It was awful. Loved Corbin dominating everyone, and trying to make Dean Ambrose look like Glenn from Walking Dead.  My son was totally pro Bray Wyatt and we both popped when he drilled Cena and pinned him.  AJ Styles also makes that move look insanely devastating. I think out of everyone he was the only one that acted like he was dealing with accumulated damage from a hellacious match. Several other guys just laid down until it was their turn to do something and then they were okay.

 

[Just Dave]

1 hour ago, OSJ said:

Smart fans certainly were, most casuals were still enamored of a certain orange goblin.

That's Mr. President to you. 

 

Also, I really dug the new pods themselves. Looked much more..idk..complete...

[Overly Critical Man]

Hot take: Naomi is the Dolph Ziggler of the women's division.

[Rev Ray]

Just now, Overly Critical Man said:

Hot take: Naomi is the Dolph Ziggler of the women's division.

nah, I like Naomi. 

[jaedmc]

Did she beat up Kalisto too? I'm asking for someone else.

[ChrisM]

Only match I didn't get into was Becky/Mickie, but that's only because Mickie sucks.

Naomi with the genuine feel-good moment of the night. She definitely deserves it. And Alexa is probably my favorite heel on SD. Her facial expressions are just perfect.

 

That was the best Chamber match in a long time. I think Orton is definitely the heel(at least judging from the crowd reaction to Bray winning), going into Mania. 

 

 

[RIPPA]

So you are saying I shouldn't tell your son that Kalisto needs to learn how to sell his fucking back

[jaedmc]

He'll learn. He just now discovered that wrestling was pre-determined and oh my god was that a dark day.

"You mean no matter how good you are or how hard you try you can't become champion unless someone let's you? This is terrible. I'm calling the Network to complain." -My 9 year old, the day he got smartened up.

[Overly Critical Man]

9 minutes ago, Rev Ray said:

nah, I like Naomi. 

People liked Dolph, once upon a time. As crazy as that sounds.

[Craig H]

No way is Naomi the Dolph Ziggler of the women's division. I don't even think there's any of the women booked that badly. Even Carmella is given better shit to work with.

Also, James Ellsworth was really channeling Fred Durst something fierce last night.

[Lawful Metal]

Loved Becky / Mickie. I felt they had really good chemistry and I was really impressed with Mickie. Wasn't the biggest fan of her back in the day bar that awesome Wrestlemania match with Trish. Dare I say better than ever? This match and vs. Asuka > anything she's done prior in the WWE.

American Alpha needs jobbers they can obliterate like the Steiners had back in the day. Have Jordan invent suplexes and Gable do some chaos theories and or frankensteiners to some hapless jobbers and they'll get over. Problem is they're selling more often than showing their awesomeness and the thinness of the tag team roster doesn't let them breathe.

i thought Nikki and Naty should have been a falls count anywhere brawl. I'm guessing they're saving that for a Smackdown main event. A waste here.

Harper and Orton was a blast. Orton worked boring at the outset to get boos with the chin lock and they both turned it up at the end. I was happy to hear the cheers and chants for Harper once things got going. No problem with Orton winning, but I think Harper needs to string together some wins. Again, jobbers. Maybe Breezango can ding him for his fashion and he can murder them.

Shocked that Alexa lost. I like Naomi fine, but Alexa has been the best call up from the brand split NXT wave. Not sure where they go from here.

And while I am thrilled that Wyatt finally won a big one (although I guess Survivor Series counts), I'm not exactly thrilled about Wyatt / Orton at Wrestlemania. I'm not even sure what story they're trying to tell. I feel like it would be a better story if Wyatt won the Rumble and Orton won the championship here.

 

 

[Craig H]

2 minutes ago, Overly Critical Man said:

People liked Dolph, once upon a time. As crazy as that sounds.

Think of how much they've fucked with Dolph and he just keeps sticking around to take more. They changed his look from the bleached blonde hair to the short, brown hair crew cut, so he looked like just another guy. Gave him the World title and then took it off of him because of fuckery with Edge using his finisher. So many start/stop pushes. He cashes in the MitB briefcase, wins the title, gets concussed, comes back, and is booked like shit. People really like him at this point and just want him to get booked well. Then he has his babyface run, which is primarily garbage, but it has a couple hope spots, like being the sole survivor at Survivor Series. Other than that, he either looks like a loser (jean jacket with band patches on it) or just loses like a loser, but goes on and on about how he's the show stealer, or something.

So basically, he's the world's greatest jobber and he loves to brag about it. And he keeps being written this way.

Dude seriously needs to go to Japan or Mexico or something. His stand-up material is downright embarrassing so wrestling is pretty much all he has to go off of and being in WWE is killing that.

[Eivion]

Pretty sure Ziggler's looks are his own fault.

[Infinit]

Ziggler needs an Iizuka-like character remodel. Something to totally distance himself from the past few years. 

[Ramsey]

1 hour ago, Victator said:

Its not like Savage and Steamboat were Mike Jackson and George South. Savage and Steamboat were the number two match on one of the biggest shows of all time.  In the lead up Steamboat was teaming with Hogan on house shows. 

By the exchange rate I just made up, Steamboat in 87 was a main eventer by modern standards. 

Steamboat's 1989 wasn't bad either. He had two or three good matches...

[Raziel]

20 minutes ago, Infinit said:

Ziggler needs an Iizuka-like character remodel. Something to totally distance himself from the past few years. 

I can get behind a heel turned Kalisto using a leash to hold crazy, bald Ziggler from wanting to humiliate Otunga every week as he comes through the crowd.

[Fallacy!]

10 hours ago, RIPPA said:

I was pondering this last night but was that the first EC were it wasn't Falls Count Anywhere? (Since JBL specifically said you had to be pinned in the ring)

It quasi explains Miz not trying to pin Bray (yes - he could have still rolled him in) and it gave them an out constantly roll to the outside 

I mean it is a stupid rule but... yeah

 

OK, because I was thinking during the match, that I could have SWORN in the past you could pin/submit anywhere inside the Chamber, so I wasn't just dreaming that right?

[Niners Fan in CT]

I didn't care for the mat replacing the steel grating. It's safer but it doesn't do much for it being a DEMONIC STRUCTURE. That said, there are some positives with the new design. I like the view when two guys are fighting on top of a pod.

[JonnyLaw]

1 hour ago, jaedmc said:

He'll learn. He just now discovered that wrestling was pre-determined and oh my god was that a dark day.

"You mean no matter how good you are or how hard you try you can't become champion unless someone let's you? This is terrible. I'm calling the Network to complain." -My 9 year old, the day he got smartened up.

Your son seems to be coping with that better than Ryback did.

[Casey]

2 hours ago, Greggulator said:

I am so curious to see if Bray becomes a "change agent" face with the title or still remains an evil cult leader trying to sway the masses.

His last NXT promo was an amazing face promo -- the conquering sons return and he talks about how he wants the NXT audience to get off the couch and change the world. 

He has also had a lot of anti-corporate missives and the like in his promos. That could very much catch on in the wake of the current political climate. It worked for Daniel Bryan. I would love to see a darker edge in the "Man Vs. Machine" trope.

All of these things happened under a President that Vince didn't like.

[Nice Guy Eddie]

2 hours ago, Dolfan in NYC said:

I thought they were going for this

...and I thought they were going for Captain Stubing

[S.K.o.S.]

2 hours ago, jaedmc said:

"You mean no matter how good you are or how hard you try you can't become champion unless someone let's you? This is terrible.

And the worst part is, most of the rest of life is like this too.

[Rev Ray]

Random thoughts of the show:

- Oofa, was that pre-show overall bad.  Carmella added nothing too it and they spent a lot of time dedicated to a person who's crowd reactions could kill a circle of emperor penguins.

- Hawkins vs. Mojo was a blazing flashlight on the roster depth of Smackdown.  Mojo's a guy who's sort of growing on me from his Talking Smack appearances (chill Mojo is actually tolerable).  His running punch was pretty great, but feel like his finisher should be should be the Pounce that we've seen him murder people with.

- I thought Becky/Mickie was very good.  Mickie's a very good add to the roster as she can still go and is a veteran.

- Ziggler vs. Crews and Kalisto was a total waste.  Ziggler who should be a heel is getting face reaction for beating up faces.

- Tag Turmoil had some good segments.  I would like to see them finally pay off Usos/Alpha. It felt like the Ascension being last was trolling the internet to see how pissed people would be if the Ascension won the tag titles.  Sad that Alpha is sputtering, they felt like they should have been big players when the draft when down, but Slater and Rhyno taking off and then the Usos getting hurt derailing their feud and then the Wyatts win makes it really feel like they're still in a holding pattern even though the big tag title win should have been a big deal.  

- Nikki/Nattie having a non finish is dumb unless they are trying to build this up as a TV main event gimmick match before transitioning to the rumored Miz/Maryse vs. Nikki/Cena match.

- I liked Harper/Orton, I really hope this is a break out for Harper

- Bliss/Naomi had moments though it did seem like it fell apart in the end a little.  Bliss is someone who has a lot of strong character work, I'm really hoping that her work gets a little more consistant because she'll be very fun worker with more experience.  Happy for Naomi's win as on Total Divas, she seems like the nicest and most down to earth person on the show.

- I didn't mind them ditching the metal grates for the chamber.  At least it seems safer for some of the outside bumps.  AJ Styles must be tired of walking, because he wants to be in a wheelchair as soon as possible.  I thought Corbin looked strong before the distraction roll up.  I loved Miz being a chicken shit heel, his combo of ego and utter cowardice plays so well.  Cena and Styles have great chemistry.  I was actually intrigued to see where they were going to go once Cena was out because on paper, if AJ who, it would have been Orton/AJ and probably Bray/Harper for Mania, now I guess we have the pay off if Randy is playing Bray to get close to him to take him out by tricking Harper out of the fold or even if Randy is playing the long game is turning Harper to his side and they turn bray face as the pay off.
 

[BorneAgain]

Rewatching the match, props to Miz for basically being the only one to really sell how fearful the Chamber is. Guy is very nervous walking in, is horrified seeing the bumps guys are taking inside, and looks scared shitless when Corbin's telling him to get in the ring. For someone who took very few bumps, he really put over the implications of the gimmick.