The week before the Elimination Chamber, this show should have fired on all cylinders. While the matches were solid, but not amazing, the promo was weak and it didn’t help that there was a seemingly constant reminder that the dog show was on another channel.
It was almost inviting you to change the channel.
There was this feeling of anticipation throughout the program, but ultimately it wasn’t able to deliver.
Aside from the antics of CM Punk, R-Truth and the exchange between Triple H and Shawn Michaels, RAW was a bore.
It all started to fall apart from the start. Talk about a flaccid beginning to a show supposed to be exciting. After Kane rambled for a few minutes, the WWE figured it would be a great to squander 15 minutes and have all six Elimination Chamber participants have a debate. Aside from the random hilarity of R-Truth, there were no pipe bombs or magical moments. It was a bore. Ziggler called it a joke towards the end. Isn’t it terrible that he was right for a change?
Sadly, Ziggler’s comments could be directed towards most of the show. Later developments between Kane, John Cena, Eve and Zack Ryder were lukewarm and do nothing to keep any of them prominent. It was more poorly developed Soap Opera than a WWE storyline involving women. Sure, it’s PG now, but WWE fans deserve better.
Matches:
Kofi Kingston vs. Chris Jericho: A decent opening match that was essentially by the numbers. Kingston hit the Trouble in Paradise before the match started and was on the offensive throughout. A diving powerbomb from Jericho changed the tide however. Kingston tried to battle back, but got himself in the Walls of Jericho. After he made the ropes, Kingston caught Jericho with the Trouble in Paradise again, but Jericho got his leg on the ropes before the three count. Ever the veteran, Jericho caught Kingston with a finger to the eye before nailing the Code Breaker for the win.
Randy Orton vs. The Big Show: Standard match that saw both competitors hit their spots in a good back and forth battle. Orton’s use of his signature DDT made the match interesting, but a botched RKO ruined it. With Daniel Bryan ringside, you expected something else to happen and it did. After the RKO, Bryan hit the ring and nailed Orton and Show with the World Title.
R-Truth vs. Dolph Ziggler w/ Vicki Guerrero: High-energy, yet short contest with two good workers with a fun ending. Playing to the crowd, Ziggler was doing sit-ups with Truth unintentionally spotting. All of a sudden, R-Truth hooked in the inside cradle for the win.
Tamina Snuka vs. Brie Bella: A quick encounter that ended after a Super Fly splash from Snuka.
CM Punk vs. The Miz: Nothing special, but far from terrible. It wasn’t much different from any of the other matches over the past year between these two. Both went through their signature offense before Punk latched on the Anaconda Vice for the win.
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