Elimination Chamber

[drave]

So this happened.


There was a pretty huge, unexpected turn at the end.

Cody told Rock to go fuck himself and instead, Cena turned and we get Heel Cena for his final run

[Mr. Nerfect]

The heel turn is pretty surreal. I haven’t seen any updates since EC, but is it still a given Cena is retiring? Could this whole thing have been a trap to lure in Cody? You see lots of internet gossip about Rock throwing spanners into the works, but it seems illogical to me that they don’t have a plan for Rock and know what dates he’s going to work. I don’t think it’s coincidence that Cena announced his retirement tour in Toronto and the Chamber in Toronto is where he turns it on its head.

The show itself was pretty average, in my opinion. The pacing of their PLEs is very set piece-to-set piece now. I am nostalgic for classic PPV structure. TNA is there for that, I guess. A few people at EC were exposed as being less over than the company thinks, in my opinion. I’m not sure they expected Jade to be cheered for killing Naomi. Logan Paul outshone half the men’s Chamber field.

Curious about the WM direction.

[drave]

Yeah, he's still retiring. Nothing has been mentioned otherwise, kayfabe or not.

[Big Vic]

I liked the Sami/KO match but I feel like it went on a little long.

[Lock Jaw]

Sami/KO was great, but feels weird to blow off that highly emotional moment/match in favour of Orton/KO at Wrestlemania. Does Sami even make the show now or does he stay out selling injuries?

Once again, Sami in a hot angle/story that is blown off the month before WM when it should have culminated at the event.

Speaking of things that were blown off....

lol @ them blowing off Liv/Rhea on the first Netflix RAW instead of holding out for WM. Was like "Ok, I guess they really want Charlotte/Rhea".... but then they have Charlotte pick Tiffy.

Then Bianca wins the chamber. Which is like.... "ok... Bianca has lost a lot of stock in the recent couple of years, not quite the big deal or star that she used to be... but they can easily build it up to be something"

But then they have Rhea lose the title a few weeks before WM to Iyo Sky, whose stock is pretty low in any regard. I'm sure somehow Rhea will get in there and it'll be a triple threat or something.... but if anyone deserved to have that WM spotlight it is Liv Morgan and not Iyo Sky.

Legit feel bad for Liv Morgan after all the work she put in.

[Lock Jaw]

I am also against Cena turning heel. When he was an active regular, sure... go for it. But now in his final retirement run, I feel like it is "too little too late", and they should have just let him finish off his run as the face.

Yeah, it's a big moment and it got big media attention... but at the cost of a great role model and tarnishing that legacy... and in the end it actually makes the match less dramatic because yeah, the good guy is gonna win. When they were both good guys and one has the penchant for "always winning", the result would have actually been less unknown.

[Lock Jaw]

At the very least if Cena was going to "sell his soul" and turn heel, they should have had Punk win.

Punk gets to finally be in his WM main event... but Cena "sells out" to The Rock and gets put into the match.

Seth can fight Roman one on one instead of the triple threat they are probably gonna do there.

[Big Vic]

At the very least if Cena was going to "sell his soul" and turn heel, they should have had Punk win.

Punk gets to finally be in his WM main event... but Cena "sells out" to The Rock and gets put into the match.

Yeah especially since Cena pretty much won clean.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I’m not going to be shocked if Cena comes out and says he’s not going anywhere. Of course it could just be heel desperation in his final run, but he’s the only dude who put a time on himself.

WWE’s dropping lots of cool little Easter eggs in their stories, having themes match up, etc. Their localization has been excellent. Smackdown in Philly — first US capital, where Cody finished the story — and having LA Knight get a big babyface moment to balance out the dastardly heel acts.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Punk’s too distracting for the Cena/Cody stuff. I think he’s either going to join the World Title program — parallels to Iyo Sky and what’s going on there — or face Jacob Fatu. It’ll all become clear after the cage. I’m not that into the three-way with Seth and Roman idea.