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Here's my thoughts on the show, as it happened.
Hornswoggle showing up in Carl Edwards' car was a nice opening. It also might be a sign as to Hornswoggle's future, since he's pretty much been written out of the DX angle. Edwards' seemed to be having a lot of fun coming out, and he plugged the big race on Sunday, and also got in a cheap pop by mentioning the Saints. I wonder if WWE considered throwing a ton of cash at one of the Saints to show up? Anyway, Sheamus interrupts Edwards to demand that he be the last entrant in the Elimination Chamber match. I didn't know a guest host had that kind of power. Christian then comes out, and we had some nice banter between the two, explaining the fate of ECW stars in a few weeks. I thought it was funny that Sheamus called Christian a "lame duck" champion, and even funnier when Christian mentioned how neither of them have last names. Nice little angle, and it led to our first match of the evening.
Christian vs. Sheamus saw the (WWE) champion do some nice armwork, while Christian hit some high spots. There were nice exchanges with Sheamus avoiding Christian's sunset flip and Christian dodging the pump kick. The match got better as it went along, with Christian getting the near fall with the tornado DDT before Sheamus threw Christian into the ringpost and hit the pump kick and crucifix bomb for the pin. This was a good match, and a big win for Sheamus. Just because he's the champion doesn't mean he's firmly established in the eyes of fans as being a top guy. Getting a pinfall win over someone like Christian definitely makes him look more "legit" as champion.
Backstage, Shawn Michaels, seemingly accepting that he won't get a match with Undertaker, tells Triple H he wants DX to work at Wrestlemania. Triple H reminds Shawn that he still has his title opportunity with the Elimination Chamber. Shawn complains and deliver the unintentional/intentional funny line that Triple H is making it "all about him" when Shawn has been doing just that for weeks. If they aren't think Triple H vs. Shawn at Wrestlemania, I'd say we are definitely getting it by Summerslam at the latest.
Cody Rhodes whines to Ted DiBiase about how Ted had an easier opponent in his Elimination Chamber match. Yep, they praised John Cena and buried Mark Henry at the same time. Way to go! Randy Orton enters the discussion, and reveals that DiBiase will be facing John Cena tonight, while Orton has requested a match with Cody Rhodes in thanks for his "help" at the Rumble. Unfortunately, they cut away from this segment so we never got to see Cody's reaction.
I like that they had Theodore R. Long there for the Tag Title match, since Smackdown talent was involved. Punk did some good mic work, although I'm sure the line about people feeling their area was "unsaveable" probably hit a little close to home for some in the building. I'm amazed the whole Jared segment didn't contain any jokes about "six-inch or a footlongs", but then again, DX wasn't out yet. I really liked the change in rules for the match, making it elimination style and having a member of each team in the ring. It just makes more sense, rather than a one-fall match where, in theory, one team would be watching from the apron when the finish happens.
The new rules gave us a different dynamic for the match, and it worked. Everyone got some spots in, and I really liked Shawn not doing the kip up after the way it cost him a bout last week. Michaels pins Punk, which I was a little disappointed in, as I think Punk & Gallows as tag champions would make sense, given there are more actual tag teams on their brand. Big Show then pounded on Michaels, including the back suplex which I'd like to see him sue more, until HBK lands the superkick and Triple H gets the hot tag, only to have Shawn tag himself back in as Miz was ready to be beat. Triple H and Shawn argue, Miz forces them to collide and rolls up Michaels for the pin. New tag champions, and an angry Shawn stomps off. Nice finish, although I think the collision part could have looked better.
Having a post-match interview with Big Show & The Miz was great. I wish WWE would do more post-match interviews, it seems to be a lost art in wrestling now. They're celebrating, coming up with a new name (ShowMiz does make more sense) and not-so-subtly dropping hints that Big Show and Chris Jericho will have issues when the new tag champs come to Friday nights on occasion to defend their belts.
Continuing the post-match activity line of thinking, we had Shawn Michaels, showing he was still obsessed with the Undertaker, confronting Teddy Long about being traded to Smackdown. While Long explained that the Elimination Chamber match would not be changed, I was wondering who Long would talk to about getting Michaels traded. Does the guest host handle that? I thought it was a nice touch to have Carlito watching in the background, sort of gave it a more "real" feel to it. Hunter gets in Shawn's face, and Michaels responds by saying his career is over and superkicks Long before stomping off. I'm pretty interested in seeing what happens with Shawn next now.
We finally find out that the tournament final with Maryse and Gail Kim for the Divas Title will take place at the PPV. Gail Kim vs. Jillian, I wonder who will win? Jillian gets a bit of offense, then Gail hits the jawbreaker and it is over. About as quick as it gets. Maryse insults Gail Kim in French (not that Gail understood) while being nice to her in English, and we have a handshake. I think it would be hilarious if Gail reveals at the PPV that she understands French.
Ted DiBiase in the WWE Hall Of Fame? ABOUT DAMN TIME! When they were showing the old Million Dollar Man vignettes, I was hoping they would show the one with Rob Van Dam kissing his feet (back when RVD was a teenager). Maybe they are saving that for the induction. No mention of DiBiase's pre-WWF past, which I would hope gets covered when he is inducted.
The only real pure comedy bit was next, with Jared, Carl Edwards and Santino promoting Subway sandwiches (keep the sponsors happy) and Santino getting a match with Jack Swagger on Superstars this week. I'm always a fan of cross promoting the shows. Kofi Kingston gets a cameo, and suggests singles matches with Elimination Chamber participants. This opens the door to plug Jerry Springer being the guest host this week, and then Carl Edwards decides he will put together the matches for next week, rather than let Springer. Nice plugfest, all done in one neat package, save the the audio problems at the end of the segment.
Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton was next, which consisted of Cody going for quick pins after every move, while Orton mostly did a lot of punching, then avoiding a flying bodypress and seemed all set for a win. Sheamus distracts Orton, and Cody takes advantage to get the pin with Crossroads. Sheamus then pump kicks Orton, but Rhodes grabs a chair and runs him off. So, I guess the story is that Cody was willing to use the distraction to get a win (and maybe earn Orton's respect somehow) but at the same time wasn't going to let Sheamus beat up on his Legacy teammate. Will be interesting to see what kind of fallout there is from this next week.
Carl Edwards announces that next week we will see Sheamus vs. Randy Orton (which makes sense given what we had just seen), Ted DiBiase vs. Kofi Kingston and Triple H vs. John Cena. Nice lineup for the "go home" show before the PPV, although if anyone thinks we're going to get a clean finish in HHH vs. Cena, they're insane.
Our main event match saw John Cena beat the crap out of Ted DiBiase. Was this really necessary? I get that they wanted to establish that Cena was angry, but to have DiBiase get beat down, then just fade into the scenery afterwards, did nothing to help Ted. He's supposed to be in a PPV main event in two weeks, can't WWE give him a break? At least let Ted try to get back at Cena or something.
The closing angle, however, was very strong. Cena cut a good promo on Batista, and deducted the obvious for those that couldn't figure it out (Batista is working for Vince). McMahon was his usual arrogant self, admitting to screwing Bret Hart again, but stating he wasn't responsible for Batista beating up Cena. Oh, and did Vince really mention Clutch Cargo? That's about as dated a reference as you will ever hear! Cena cuts a promo about Vince being all about money, and other than him throwing in an unnecessary Superbowl cheap pop, I thought he did really well. Cena then reveals that Bret Hart wants Vince McMahon at Wrestlemania, and goads Vince into saying he'll agree to the match. Bret Hart then shows up and Vince runs off, changing his answer to "no" and then yelling that he screwed Bret again before escaping. Bret gets frustrated and trashes some equipment, and I actually like that Bret fell as he pulled down the rack system. It seemed more "real" that way, even with the fake looking explosions. The crowd was eating it up, and it was good television. The only thing I would have changed here was the way they ended it. I would have gone off the air with Bret still trashing things, not him in the ring with his music playing.
What To Make Sure And Watch If You DVR'd The
Show: The opening match, closing angle and the Triple Threat match are at
the top of the list, but really, this is a perfectly fine show to watch all the
way through. If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section,
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