WrestlingNerd Presents: WWE Elimination Chamber 2013 Review

What up wrestling fans, I'm the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today, we take a look at WWE Elimination Chamber 2013. Did this PPV do anything to help WrestleMania 29? Let's find out and start the review. 

Match #1: Alberto Del Rio vs Big Show; WHC

We open up the show with the WHC match. Why do I get the feeling I'm gonna be opening up the WM 29 review with that same sentence? What you get here is pretty much the same match you got at the Royal Rumble….Minus the duct tape. Screw Undertaker's WM streak, nobody can defeat the power that is the duct tape. The finish comes when Del Rio goes for the Enzuigiri….

Wow, he wasn't even close with that kick. Pro wrestling can really make you laugh. I'm being entertained for all the wrong reasons. I think Del Rio is going for take two annnnnnnd…..There he goes!!! Took you long enough. Once he connects with the second kick, he proves his awesomeness by hitting it a second time. Hey, 2 out of 3 isn't bad, right? Del Rio finally gets Show to tap out to the Cross Armbreaker for the clean victory. In case you're wondering, there is no Money in the Bank cash-in. I guess Dolph Ziggler will wait a while longer. Either that or Dolph isn't allowed to cash it in under AJ has slept with the briefcase. I was a little surprised that Del Rio won, but I understand why they did this move. You have to watch the rest of the PPV to really understand the purpose of this decision. We'll talk about this a little more after the EC match. 

Winner via submission and still WHC: Alberto Del Rio

Match #2: Antonio Cesaro vs Miz; US Championship

I'm surprised that Miz was able to make this PPV. After all, he just went through the best amusement park ride last Monday night. The finish to this match occurs when Miz accidentally falls on Cesaro's pants party to end this match in a DQ. After the match, Miz vents his frustrations by kicking him in the balls. You don't need five languages to express THAT. With the finish, it continues the rivalry. This isn't the worst rivalry WWE has going on right now, but it really isn't one of their best. If you enjoy the rivalry, that's perfectly fine. There's nothing wrong with it, but it just doesn't spark my interest for some reason. It just feels like the rivalry is missing something. I'm not exactly sure what it's missing, but I feel they are close to this rivalry meaning something. Does anybody else feel the same way? 

Winner via roshambo and still US Champion: Antonio Cesaro

Match #3: Elimination Chamber match

What is that music Jack Swagger is coming out to? This is Jack Tshwagger reporting for CNN. Our top story, my faceless expressions. Zeb Coulter starts talking how they took his job or whatever. I wonder how this guy would react to a plate of french fries? Does he gorge on them to increase his belly fat or try to find a way to 'Americanize' it? In that case, he would probably pour a bucket of Crisco on it. What the hell am I talking about? Chris Jericho and Daniel Bryan start off the match, but Swagger, Kane, Randy Orton and Mark Henry each get in the match. Team Hell No continue to have communication problems. I don't want to think the break up of this team is gonna happen, but it sure seems that way. Come on man, I thought what Team Hell No had was special? No goat-face for you tonight. This s*** got out of hand when Henry got into the equation. He takes Team Hell No with the WSS and sends Orton through a pod. Finally, all three guys work together to take out Henry. So, Henry's return seems kinda pointless. I didn't feel like he was gonna win, but it makes you wonder what you do with him now with WM season approaching. I think they are setting something up for him, but I really have no idea what that would be. After Henry's reign of terror, Randy takes out Jericho with the RKO, but immediately gets rolled up by Swagger. That's right folks, Jack Swagger wins the EC match and will face Del Rio at WM 29. While I understand why WWE went in this direction, say it out loud to yourself. Del Rio vs Swagger for the WHC at WM? It just doesn't sound like something you would expect at the big event. It's not the sexiest matchup that can occur for the big event. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure Zeb and Del Rio can come up with some great promos to make this storyline pop out, but I still stand by my first thoughts on the possible match. I guess we need to prep for more anti-immigration talk for the next few months. I was also a little surprised that Dolph didn't attack Jericho during this match. It just makes that storyline feel empty and forgotten. The wrestling match was good, but I think the storyline development from this match falls flat. 

Winner and NEW #1 Contender to WHC: Jack Swagger

Match #4: The Shield vs John Cena's Breakfast Club

There was a lot of things going on with this match. It could be tough to keep track of everything that happened. Despite all of that, I thought it was a pretty good match. Shield ends up getting the victory after Roman Reigns hits Ryback with a Spear. Yeah, Ryback loses yet again at a PPV. This is what happens when you don't have that 'John Cena immunity'. Regardless, I thought it was very important for the Shield to get this victory. They are still the upstart group of renegades, so I think they needed this victory a lot more than Cena's crew. Still, it's a little shocking to see a group of people that didn't get completely destroyed by Mr. Breakfast Cereal. I think this shows that WWE wants Shield to really mean something. Hard to say how far Shield will go, but their rising stock keeps them interesting. One thing that seemed off about the ending was Cena clearly could've made the save for Ryback, but ends up falling on the ground. I can't really see it from the camera angle if one of the Shield members prevented Cena from making the save, but it's certainly possible. I'm guessing Cena's super powers gave out for a split second.  Maybe Cena is really a robot. No wonder he can't express pain. Ryback looked pissed after the match, so I think that was the idea. Still, it doesn't take away from the odd finish. 

Winner via pinfall: The Shield

Match #5 and #6 were filler matches that got thrown together at the last moment. Sigh….Do I really have to talk about these? They have nothing to do with anything. Shadow the Hedgehog, that's your cue…

If case you want to know, Dolph Ziggler beat Kofi Kingston with the Zig Zag and Kaitlyn defeated Tamina. It's almost sad to watch the commentators try to make Kaitlyn/Tamina mean something. After all, everybody can tell you this storyline in extreme detail, right? It appears Brodus does know how to wrestle, but too bad it's in action figure form. Those things look like they would break after one recess. Mommy!!! Cena's head is missing!!!

Match #7: Rock vs CM Punk; WWE Title

You know what I just realized? The Rock was pretty much Cena in this match. I know a lot of people will give me crap for that statement, but I noticed a lot of similarities. The crowd chants, the pace of the match, the commentary. It just felt very familiar to how a Cena match goes. Punk hits the GTS, but the referee is not able to make the count thanks to Paul Heyman's shenanigans. Since Punk doesn't seem to have a match set for WM, this could be his meal ticket to getting into the WWE title match at WM. I still think this isn't the likely scenario since 'Twice in a Lifetime' is the money-grabber, but it's an option. Punk can also get into a program with Brock Lesnar since he and Heyman were not on the same page tonight, but I highly doubt it. Heyman tries to help Punk yet again, but it fails when Rock is able to escape. Rocky hits the Rock Bottom and it manages to keep Punk down for the count. So, what was the point of the added stipulation? The DQ/countout deal didn't seem to be a factor in this match. There were a couple of moments where they commentators brought mention to it, but it just seemed like an excuse to make the match 'different'. I think this match was a little better than their Royal Rumble match. While this match contained some overbooking like the previous encounter, the ending just had a better flow to it. Other than that, this isn't a ton to talk about. Yeah, this is one of those PPVs that feels like filler. While we did get a clearer picture for WM, they could've done so much more tonight. That's why I feel disappointed with this event. 

Winner via pinfall and still WWE Champion: Rock

Overall Impression:

What more can I say about this PPV? At the end of the day, I really wasn't impressed with this PPV. While the wrestling quality for this evening was good, the storyline development seemed lacking. And I'm not talking about the preexisting storylines like Kane/Bryan or Antonio/Miz. I'm referring to new storylines as we get close towards WM. Outside of Swagger/Del Rio and maybe Punk/Heyman/Rock, you don't get a whole lot in this department. I also felt this PPV wasn't worth the asking price. This doesn't feel like a PPV showing. This really felt more like glorified episode of Raw or Smackdown. And don't take this the wrong way. I'm not saying this PPV was terrible. It really wasn't a bad PPV, but this is a PPV that falls in filler/average territory and it's because of that factor that I find this PPV to be disappointing. I wasn't totally blown away by this event and I felt this was not worth the $50 price tag. If I have to give this PPV a score between 1-10 and 5 considered average on here, I will give WWE Elimination Chamber 2013 a 5 out of 10. The show mostly falls in the 'below/above' average territory. I know a lot of people aren't gonna agree with the score, but that's honestly where it ranks with me. It wasn't a terrible show, but just a very generic show minus a spot or two. If you enjoyed the PPV, that's perfectly fine. There's nothing at all wrong with that, but I'm just sharing my honest opinions and I'm not gonna sugarcoat it because somebody will give me negativity. That s*** happens regardless of what I say or do. That's does it for the review and I hope you enjoyed it. Tell me what you thought of my review or tonight's show. I will see you guys and girls in the next one.