By Chris Shore

Prowrestling.net Members can look forward to their exclusive Elimination Chamber audio review with Chris Shore and Zack Zimmerman later tonight. Join us on Monday nights for Prowrestling.net Live at 10:30 p.m. CT (11:30 ET). Jason Powell and Chris Shore will be co-hosting this week's live show and your calls are welcome during Monday's Prowrestling.net Live..

WWE Elimination Chamber 2014
Aired live on pay-per-view
Minneapolis, Minnesota at Target Center

Pre Show

Josh Matthews opened the show with Mark Henry, The Miz, and Rey Mysterio. They had a new set with the WWE Network logo on it. I would expect to see this set in the post-shows for Raw and Smackdown. They ran through the show and Henry struggled mightily. They tossed it back to Renee Young in the social media lounge who read some tweets about the Chamber...

Backstage, Zeb Colter talked up the Real Americans and said it was going to be their night. He cracked a few jokes and they did the We the People gimmick... JBL made his ring entrance to a pretty big pop. A video recapped Batista beating up Del Rio on Raw two weeks ago. Jerry "The King" Lawler got a good reaction too. The WWE Network video aired...

Michael Cole had joined the announce team and they hyped the WWE Network. Cody Rhodes and Goldust made their entrance. Curtis Axel and Ryback were out next with Axel's grandfather Larry "The Axe" Hennig managing them tonight...

Cody Rhodes and Goldust vs. Rybaxel (w/Larry Hennig). "Goldberg" chants started quickly for Ryback. Cody and Goldust dumped both heels to the floor and then did a coordinated dive on the floor...[C]

Shore's Slant: Jason Powell is at the arena and said their were two loud CM Punk chants already. That and Goldberg chants? Minneapolis has come to play, apparently.

Goldust hit a head scissor on Ryback that Ryback took well. Both men got hot tags and Cody ran his comeback. He hit the standing moonsault and the Alabama Slam. Ryback pulled Cody to the floor, but Cody hit the Disaster kick on off the stairs. Back in the ring, Cody reversed Axel's finisher into Cross Rhodes for the win...

Cody Rhodes and Goldust defeated Rybaxel in 8:42.

Byron Saxton interviewed the Usos backstage. They put over their uncle and father holding the tag titles and say they would hold them after tonight. The said they had two words for the Outlaws concerning their title reign: it's over.

The panel gave their predictions. Rey picked Cesaro, Henry picked Sheamus, Miz picked Cesaro but hedged with Daniel Bryan. Josh Matthews signed off...

Shore's Slant: Jason Powell says there are three half sections taped off but the building is almost full and certainly loud. Sounds like we have a good crowd.

Elimination Chamber

The opening video hyped the chamber match. Pyro popped on the stage and Cole, JBL, and Lawler welcomed us to the PPV proper. Cole claimed 14,100 fans in attendance. Lilian Garcia handled ring introductions for the opening match. Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter made their entrance. Zeb cut a promo and said the "E" in Big E was for "enough," as in enough of him being the champion. Zeb asked what Big E had done for America since he was champion and answered "nothing." He cracked wise about the polar vortex and closed with his catchphrase. Big E was out next...

1. Big E vs. Jack Swagger (w/Zeb Colter) for the Intercontinental Championship. They ran the ropes and Big E hit a shoulder tackle. Swagger took to the floor and checked with Zeb, but Big E hit several belly to belly throws. Swagger went to the floor again, but Big E followed. Zeb distracted E and Swagger tried to attack from behind. Big E blocked it and hit a spear into the stairs. Langston tried to get Ziggler in the ring and Swagger threw him down and hit a sick clothesline to take control.

Swagger hit a big boot as Lawler cracked about the Mexican border. Big E shoved Swagger away and they hit simultaneous clotheslines. Swagger stood in the corner and moved when Big E ran in. He rolled E up for two. A "We the people" chant broke out. Big E started his comeback with a belly to belly suplex, but Swagger came right back with a spine buster. Swagger wet for a Swagger Bomb, but Big E caught him in a big ending setup. Swagger held the ropes, so Big E dropped him on the apron and speared him to the floor. A "Holy shit" chant broke out.

Big E hit the big splash for two. E went to the top rope and Swagger caught him there and hit his super throw for two. Swagger clipped the leg and hooked in the Patriot Lock. Big E kicked away and went for his clubbing clothesline. Swagger blocked it, but E came right back with it. Big E tried to make Swagger stand, but Swagger gabbed the ankle and went back to the Patriot Lock. E made his foot and hit an enziguri. He followed with the Big Ending for the win...

Big E retained the Intercontinental Championship at 11:41.

Shore's Slant: Very entertaining match. Both guys looked very good here and it gave the title a little lift in the process. Well done.

Bad News Barrett rose up to crack about Russia having more medals than the US in the Olympics. It drew crickets... A video hyped the return of Hulk Hogan tomorrow night. Jason Powell said the Hogan video got a good reaction, not overwhelming, but good... A video recapped Daniel Bryan's beatings over the past week. Backstage, Saxton asked Daniel Bryan about his mindset since he wasn't 100 percent. Bryan said his mindset is always 100 percent. He asked questions until it descended into "Yes" chants...

The Outlaws came out and did their shtick. The Usos were out next...

2. The New Age Outlaws vs. The Usos for the WWE Tag Team Championships. The Outlaws went to the floor quickly and the Usos teased diving, but the Outlaws moved. The Usos held up and the Outlaws played to the crowd. Road Dogg tagged in and went for his Shake, Rattle, and Roll punch, but the Uso reversed it and did his own version of the punch. The announcers laughter was so bad my wife, who was in the room getting something, asked if they just used canned laughter. No sweetie. That's the state of WWE announcing in 2014.

The Outlaws took over for about a minute and then the Usos got the hot tag. Jimmy tossed both guys to the floor and dove on Road Dogg. Gunn managed to dodge the dive and hit Jimmy from behind. Back in the ring, Jimmy hit a big kick on Gunn and went to the top rope. He jumped over Gunn and hit a superkick on Road Dogg. Gunn rolled Jimmy up from there for the win...

The New Age Outlaws retained the WWE Tag Team Championships at 8:52.

Bad New Barrett rose up again. I must have had a network hiccup because my stream from WWE.com froze for a second and then skipped ahead to where the announce team was pitching the WWE Network again. This is the big concern WWE Network has to have. I'm fairly sure it was a problem on my end, but not everyone is going to see it that way. I hope for their sake the technology is ready.

Darren Young made his entrance, followed by Titus O'Neal...

3. Darren Young vs. Titus O'Neal Young clotheslined O'Neal over the top rope and the crowd went mild. Titus reversed a whip to the corner that cause Young to fly over the top rope and no one seemed to care. Ouch. Titus hit Clash of the Titus for the win...

Titus O'Neal defeated Darren Young at 6:18.

Bad News Barrett was back again. This is going to get old fast. He only rose a little way and said Minnesotan electricians were as good as the football team and he was stuck. He said Hulk Hogan was returning Monday and it was a big deal, but Hogan would be overshadowed by Barrett.

Josh Matthews and the panel recapped the pre-show match and talked about the Brotherhood and The Outlaws... A video recapped the Shield vs. Wyatt Family feud...

Shore's Slant: I am having network issues. My apologies. I had to reset my modem so I do not know if there was anything after the video and before the match because the bell rang as soon as I got my feed back.

4. The Shield vs. The Wyatt Family. Several quick tags led to Reigns and Wyatt in the ring. Wyatt got the best and tagged in Harper. Harper tried to suplex Reigns, bur Reigns reversed. My network crashed again and six minutes later, the Wyatts were working over Seth Rollins. Harper hit a slingshot under the top rope and tagged in Bray. Bray hit a slam and covered. Ambrose broke the count and Harper nearly took Ambrose's head off with a big boot. Good grief.

Reigns got the hot tag to a big reaction. He set Rowan in the bottom rope and ran around to hit a dropkick when Harper tossed him to the floor. Harper hit a dive on the floor, followed by Rowan. The match broke down and there were people everywhere. Rollins cleared the Spanish announce table but Bray stopped him from doing more. Ambrose attacked and he and Bray fought out into the crowd.

Back in the ring, Reigns hit a huge clothesline on Rowan for two. Bray came back and he and Harper picked apart Rollins. Rowan hit a fallaway slam on Reigns. He went to the floor and he and Harper double tossed Rollins through the Spanish announce table. Reigns climbed back in the ring. The Wyatts surrounded him like the Shield has surrounded people. Harper and Rowan destroyed Reigns while Bray watched.

Bray climbed in an hooked for Sister Abigail's Kiss. Reigns powered out and hit a Samoa Drop on Bray. He took out all three Wyatt members and setup for a spear on Ambrose. Harper slid in and took the spear instead. That allowed Bray to slam into Reigns and hit Sister Abigail's Kiss for the win...

The Wyatt Family defeated The Shield at 22:28.

Shore's Slant: Believe me, I'm far more irritated by the missing minutes than any of you might be. What I saw was a very entertaining match, especially when the match broke down near the end. I am very surprised Reigns took the pin here. I had Rollins absolutely going under here, but I'm willing to bet where Ambrose went will be used as the catalyst to split the team.

Backstage, Renee Young as Christian about his attitude change and Christian said people needed to listen to him, he was desperate. He said he was going to win tonight one way or another...

AJ made her ring entrance and Lilian's mic broke just after she announced that there would be a Divas Championship match. AJ said she had been the longest reigning Diva's Champion of all time. She said she has no competition but she had to compete anyway. She said Naomi would have been a nice change of pace, but Naomi had to go and break her face. She rhymed that, not me. Cameron was out next...

5. AJ Lee (w/Tamina) vs. Cameron for the WWE Divas Championship. The fight spilled to the floor and Tamina accidentally super kicked AJ. Cameron rolled her in the ring and covered. Tamina put AJ's leg on the rope in an obvious manner and the ref yelled at her. Cameron went to attack Tanina and Tamina hit her for the DQ...

AJ Lee retained the WWE Divas Championship at 3:57.

Barrett appeared again and hyped the WWE Network. He said adults would lose their jobs and kids would be expelled for lack of attendance. He said people will be so enthralled that people won;t take out their garbage so their homes would be condemned and they would be homeless because of the Network. That's a hell of a sale pitch...

Backstage, Santino, Great Khali, El Torito, Los Matadores, and Emma all sold a WWE action figure set. Santino tried to act cool around Emma and left. She said she liked toys... Batista made his ring entrance to serious heel heat. A video recapped his beating of Del Rio. You know, in case any of you had a single thought about Del Rio winning. Del Ri entered to very little reaction, but mostly heat. He was in a track suit, on a crutch, and had on a soft neck collar.

Del Rio said because of Batista's brutal attack he wouldn't be able to compete tonight. Batista looked confused and Del Rio beat the hell out of him with the crutch. He pulled the track suit off and had his gear on. He continued to beat the hell out of Batista with the crutch. Batista fought to his feet and the ref called for the bell...

6. Batista vs. Alberto Del Rio. Batista hit the first punch and the crowd instantly rained hate on him. A "Bootista" chant broke out, followed by a Punk chant. It wasn't the first but it was the most organized one I heard so far. The crowd decided this was the match they would take over. They chanted for Y2J as Del Rio hit the ring post on a missed spear. Batista started his offense and the crowd booed.

Something got bleeped and then Del Rio regained control so the crowd went back to chanting for everyone else. They chanted for Lesnar next. Batista hit a spear and...well, you can guess how this went. Del Rio exposed a turnbuckle, allowing Batsita to recover. Batista hit the spine buster and lifted for the power bomb, but Del Rio slid out and clipped the leg. Del Rio teased the arm breaker to a great response. Batista shoved Del Rio into a corner with the exposed buckle and followed with the Batista Bomb for the win and more hate from the crowd.

Batista defeated Alberto Del Rio at 7:11.

Shore's Slant: A seven-minute match for your WrestleMania headliner? Ouch. The match was as good as it could be, but with Batista tossing Del Rio around so many times like a rag doll there just wasn't any sizzle to it. The crowd absolutely hated Batista. I'm very interested to see what happens in the Chamber because Orton vs. Batista will get murdered by that Mania crowd.

The announce team repeated their picks and then the Chamber video played as the crew setup for the Chamber match. John Cena made his entrance and gave his shirt to a challenged fan at ringside in a nice moment. He got in a pod and Christian was next out to a pod. Randy Orton was the third pod member. The announce team pointed out he is 0-5 in chamber matches. Daniel Bryan was the final pod entrant. He had the arm wrapped up. Cesaro was out next. Sheamus was next. All six men made it to the Chamber...

7. Randy Orton vs. John Cena vs. Christian vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Cesaro vs. Sheamus in and Elimination Chamber match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Both guys took clotheslines over the top rope onto the steel early. Sheamus hit his forearm shots over the rope and tried to suplex Cesaro back into the ring. Cesaro fought back and Sheamus took a double stomp on the steel. Cesaro beat up Sheamus in the corner and mocked Cena with "You can't see me." Cesaro hit several uppercuts in the corner, but Sheamus hit his diving clothesline for two.

Bryan was the first guy in and he came in to a huge reaction from the crowd. He had Sheamus and Cesaro on their knees and did the Yes kicks on both. He hit a Northern Lights suplex on Cesaro as Bryan has Sheamus in an Indian Death lock. Cesaro recovered first and shut Bryan down with uppercuts. Cesaro went after Sheamus and ground his face into the steel floor. Bryan attacked from behind, but Cesaro whipped him into his own pod, trashing it. Sheamus hit a Finlay roll on Cesaro on the steel.

Christian was in next and went after Bryan's arm and took the wrapping off. Bryan tried to fight back with a corner dropkick, but Christian moved and Bryan crashed. Sheamus grabbed Christian for a lawn dart move, but Christian slid out and hit the reverse DDT. Cesaro recovered and tossed Christian in the air for the pop-up uppercut. Christian grabbed the fence instead. He jumped off onto Cesaro, but Cesaro caught him for a power bomb into the pod for two. Sheamus recovered and Cesaro hit the gut-wrench slam on the steel and both busy sold.

Cena was the next man in and he hit an AA on Christian onto Cesaro. Bryan hit a top rope ranna on Cena immediately. He started hitting Yes kicks, but Christian hit the Kill Switch for a near fall. Cesaro setup for the giant swing on Christian. Cena hit a cross body that sent Christian slingshotting into the buckle. Cool spot. Cena setup for the Five Knuckle Shuffle, but Sheamus hit White Noise on him for two.

Cesaro dumped Sheamus to the floor and took a tornado DDT from Christian. Cena hit a back suplex on Christian into the cage. Cena ran in to start the shoulder tackles. Cesaro popped him up and hit the uppercut in a sweet spot for two. The camera showed all five guys struggling to stand as Orton watched on in his pod. A brawl broke out with bodies flying everywhere.

Orton finally got in and went after everyone, but they all recovered and pinned him in a corner. He ran to a pod and closed the door. Sheamus hit a Brogue kick on the pod to get to Orton. Cesaro took out Sheamus and Cena hit the Five Knuckle Shuffle on Orton. Cesaro dumped Cena and did the Cesaro Swing on Orton. Sheamus hit a Brogue kick on Cena by mistake and went after Christian. Orton hit a superplex on Sheamus and Christian hit a splash from the top of the pod to eliminate Sheamus.

Sheamus was eliminated at 26:05.

Daniel Bryan hit the running one on Christian to eliminate him.

Christian was eliminated at 27:12.

The final four squared off in the ring and paired off as Orton vs. Bryan and Cena vs. Cesaro. Cena and Bryan knocked out the heels and went after each other. Bryan tried to hook the Yes Lock. Cena stood with him on his shoulders and tried for the AA. Bryan fought and Cesaro ran in to hit a combo German into a Samoa drop. Orton went after Cesaro and the distraction allowed Cena to hit an AA onto the steel from the ring. He dragged Cesaro back in and slapped on the STF for a Cesaro submission.

Cesaro was eliminated at 30:10.

The Wyatt noise popped and the lights went off for a long time. When they came back on, the Wyatt Family was in the ring. They took out Bryan, but Brya only hit Sister Abigail on Cena. They stepped away and Orton covered to get rid of Cena,

John Cena was eliminated at 32:38.

They Wyatts left the cage and stood just outside the doors. Kane came out and told them to get to the back. they laughed at him but left. Kane climbed in the ring to check on Cena and Bryan hit a top rope knee on Kane. Orton grabbed Bryan and puled him to the top, but Bryan reversed into kicks on the tree of woe. Orton came back with the hung DDT and setup for the RKO. Orton ducked him and hit the running knee. He covered, but Kane stopped the ref from making the count. Bryan kicked Kane and Orton hit an RKO for a near fall that the crowd exploded for. Bryan started to fight back again, but Kane hit him from behind. Orton hit another RKO and covered for the win...

Daniel Bryan was eliminated and Randy Orton retained the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at 37:33.

Shore's Slant: That was the best Elimination Chamber match in several years, at least that I remember. Everyone came out of this looking good. I'm perfectly OK with the finish too because it makes sense to have fans wait one more month to Mania, but they have to find a way to get Bryan in the title match at Mania. I don't think they can go another year with this, and he needs that win at Mania to solidify him as the rightful champion. As much as Bryan vs. Hunter would make sense, it isn;t going to sell like Bryan going after the title.

All in all a decent PPV that exceeded my expectations, though to be fair my expectations were pretty low except for the Chamber and Shield vs. Wyatt matches. Big E vs. Swagger was a nice surprise, everything else was about what I expected. Zack Zimmerman and I will have more later tonight in the Members' exclusive audio review. Thanks for watching along tonight.

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