WWE ELIMINATION CHAMBER

Sunday, February 20th, 2011 from Oakland, California

ALBERTO DEL RIO vs. KOFI KINGSTON: I missed this non-title match, but Del Rio won. Remember when this ppv used to have the first Elimination Chamber match go on first?

EDGE vs. REY MYSTERIO vs. THE BIG SHOW vs. DREW MCINTYRE vs. WADE BARRET vs. KANE: Epic and awesome. This was the best WWE match since the Smackdown TLC match in December. It was fast paced and was pretty brutal. Barret and Mysterio both got tossed through the plastic pod door causing a loud crash that the audience loved. Mysterio also got tossed head first into one of the pod walls. The ending had Mysterio and Edge left and both kicked out of a ton of finishing moves before Edge speared Mysterio in mid-air and won. Smackdown is a terrible show, but this was a masterpiece. **** (out of ****)

BOOKER T. & TRISH STRATUS: These two, along with 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin, are hosting the new Tough Enough show. They more or less talked to the audience and it was awful. What's up with all the filler on this show?

SATINO MARELLA & VLADIMIR KOSLOV vs. HEATH SLATER & JUSTIN GABRIEL: The Tag titles changed hands...but are there any other tag teams on RAW? Gabriel's finisher is great. When he stood on the top rope ready to deliver is double flip maneuver the crowd was oohing and aahing. That's about it. *1/2

VICKI GUERRERO & KELLY KELLY & LAYCOOL: Dolph Ziggler was fired on Smackdown. That was the reason The Big Show was in the first chamber match. Teddy Long re-hired Kelly Kelly, who beat down Vicki. Then Laycool came out and Trish Stratus and it was a sloppy mess.

THE MIZ vs. JERRY 'THE KING' LAWLER: Very dull. There wasn't one surprise on this show which was kind of sad. *1/2

JOHN CENA vs. RANDY ORTON vs. JOHN MORRISON vs. KING SEAMUS vs. CM PUNK vs. R. TRUTH: A little too slow compared to the terrific first chamber match. CM Punk got stuck getting out of his pod and was thus beat down and pinned so the RAW GM let him re-enter the match. Morrison climbed up the ceiling and dropped down onto Seamus. That was the highlight. Cena won after pinning CM Punk. The crowd was pretty dead for this match. It was good but nothing special. **1/2

TNA AGAINST ALL ODDS

Sunday, February 13th, 2011, from Orlando, Florida

KAZARIAN vs. ROBBIE E: I only caught the tail end of this match, but Kazarian won the X-Division title.

BEER MONEY & SCOTT STEINER vs. GUNNER & MURPHY & ROB TERRY: Steiner is still wrestling? That's a surprise. Kind of sad ppv with The Motor City Machine Guns and AJ Styles absent. This was average stuff really. **

SOMOA JOE vs. POPE: The Pope stalled early and kept leaving the ring. Ooooh...psychological mind games! The stalling probably is the reason I thought that this match was kind of short, because when they started wrestling it didn't seem to last long enough. Pope tapped out and Joe won. Nothing special, but Joe looked good. **

MADISON RAYNE vs. MICKIE JAMES: A wild brawl more than a match. **

MATT MORGAN/HERNANDEZ: So Hernandez hates Morgan because of the tension between Mexicans and Americans? Huh? Weird. Hernandez came out and beat up Morgan to set up a feud that makes absolutely no sense.

RVD vs. MATT HARDY: It was entertaining, but both guys are shells of their former selves and it's kind of sad. **

BULLY RAY vs. DEVON: So Devon's two sons came out and obviously got beat up by Bubba Ray Dudley...or Bully Ray...or whatever he's called now. Bully handcuffed Devon to the ring post and then put one of his kids through a table. It was a super slow, super mediocre match. 1/2*

JEFF JARRETT vs. KURT ANGLE: Good but not great, although Angle was incredible, fast, and almost at his best. These two had a spectacular match a few years ago in TNA and this one wasn't as good but still the best of the night. The hilarious stipulation is that if Angle lost he would have to walk Karen down the aisle to renew JJ and Karen's wedding vows. Who writes this shit? Oh, wait...I think Vince Russo still does. **1/2

JEFF HARDY vs. MR. ANDERSON “Ladder Match”: Remember the epic ladder matches Jeff Hardy was in in the WWE? Well forget those because they're gone. This was slow and really sloppy. Jeff did a lot of suicidal stuff but even the ending was botched when he fell from the top without the belt and then had to go scramble back up and get it. Anderson did take a ton of punishment, and even delivered his Fireman's Carry finisher onto a ladder which was awesome. Why did Jeff lose last month only to win here? A one month title reign for Anderson? Kind of lame. **1/2

WWE Royal Rumble

Sunday, January 30th, 2011, from Boston

EDGE vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER: I loved that both title matches went on first. Usually at a ppv you have to slog through an hour and a half waiting to see the main event matches. The problem was that there were no title changes and both matches ended in controversy. In this match, Edge's Spear was deemed illegal by Vickie Guerrero...so of course he used it to win when the ref wasn't looking. Not great, but the best match of the night. **1/2

THE MIZ vs. RANDY ORTON: CM Punk and Nexus helped The Miz win for no other reason than to set up Orton vs. Punk at Wrestlemania. As much as I like The Miz as champ, he's never been in a great match. The Nexus showing up helped alleviate this match from a total bore. **

EVE vs. NATALYA vs. LAYLA vs. MICHELLE McCOOL: A Fatal Four Way Women's Title match. What's worse? Probably nothing. 1/2*

THE ROYAL RUMBLE (ALBERTO DEL RIO): I picked John Morrison, but when he was knocked off the ring early and clung to the barrier like a cat I knew he wasn't winning. He eventually climbed up and lept onto the stairs and back into the ring, but if he was supposed to win than he never would have been given the chance to do something like that. With forty wrestlers, this was the biggest Rumble ever. It was also very boring. The Nexus took control early until The Great Khali showed up. Diesel and Booker T. were surprise entrants that got thrown out super fast even though the crowd loved them. The Miz, doing commentary, ran into the ring and threw John Cena out. Santino got KO'd and fell to the floor under the ropes and didn't return until Alberto Del Rio was the only one left. Would Santino actually win this thing? Flashbacks of David Arquette as the WCW Champ swirled in my head...but Del Rio tossed Santino out and Alberto Del Rio won. Not the best show but a good choice to have Del Rio win. **