WWE Elimination Chamber 2015: Full Grades for Each Superstar at PPV
WWE Elimination Chamber saw a number of WWE Superstars score high marks. Then, there were those who might need to stay after class.
Two Elimination Chamber matches for WWE gold, a Divas title Triple Threat match and a grudge match for the biggest prize—the WWE World Heavyweight Championship—had given this pay-per-view plenty of buzz in the two-week buildup to Sunday's event.
We saw some familiar faces return to the WWE, an NXT rivalry renewed and, for good measure, we were also treated to the front-runner for Match of the Year.
So who went to the head of the class at WWE Elimination Chamber, and who got left behind? Click through to see which Superstars received high marks.
WWE Elimination Chamber Kickoff Show
1 of 7
Zack Ryder vs. Stardust
How far Stardust has fallen. A legitimate contender for the Intercontinental Championship just two months ago, he's now become pre-show fodder for Zack Ryder.
If you weren't convinced before, this match should have made it abundantly clear that WWE Creative has no idea in which direction to take the Stardust character. Unless Goldust is on his way back, there's nothing left here.
And while he plays that character well, it just seems the artist formerly known as Cody Rhodes isn't the same. He looked out of sorts in the ring and genuinely disinterested.
Even so, these two actually had some decent chemistry together in the ring.
Like last Monday on Raw, Ryder showed he still has some gas left in him. The suplex into a neckbreaker and his dropkick from the apron were two good-looking moves.
Even though Stardust grabbed the pin using the Queen's Crossbow, Ryder still came out on top in this one.
Ryder: B-
Stardust: C-
Miz TV with Daniel Bryan
Let's start with the positives: The Miz is back, which really is a good thing.
He's a great heel who generates plenty of heat and works a mic better than most of the roster. Sunday night showed he's still got it, with comments such as, "When my hand goes up, your mouth goes shut" to the crowd.
Now, the negatives. Settle in—this is long.
Daniel Bryan was little more than a cardboard cutout of himself, except to reiterate to everyone that his career is not over, which might have been the only thing in the first hour-and-a-half of WWE Elimination Chamber to get a reaction from the crowd.
Summer Rae is tiring. Her adulation of the Miz was overblown and unbelievable.
The Mega Powers were terrible. Their placement here was nothing but an attempt at eliciting a cheap pop, and with a crowd such as the one in Corpus Christi, even that didn't play.
Bryan: C
The Mega Powers: F
Summer Rae: F
The Miz: B
WWE Tag Team Championship Elimination Chamber Match
2 of 7
The one prerequisite for this match was that each of the six teams participating needed to look strong.
WWE Creative accomplished that feat for only three-and-a-half teams.
First, the bad.
While no one expected much from Los Matadores, they were quite useless in this match. For those of you who asked for Rowan and Harper to attack them and take their place in the chamber, your complaints have now been fully justified.
The other two poor grades were surprising.
Tyson Kidd did little more than take a couple bumps and hit his signature moves. Other than that, he stayed on the sidelines in this one.
The Lucha Dragons might well be receiving the most disappointing grade of the entire pay-per-view. While Sin Cara did as much—or as little, depending on your perspective—as Kidd, it's Kalisto who torpedoed his team's grade.
Between his antics on the cage to eating every single big move from other teams, Kalisto was just overpowered in the moment. Despite starting the match against the Ascension, who they've fought numerous times in NXT, the Lucha Dragons never seemed comfortable.
And speaking of Konnor and Victor, they might have been the most pleasant surprise. After a slow start, which might have been thanks to the Lucha Dragons, the Ascension showed the promise that everyone originally saw in NXT. Hopefully this is the start of something better than tanking to teams such as the Mega Powers.
The Prime Time Players, a dark-horse team heading into this match, were given plenty of time to shine and did not disappoint. Darren Young looked really good, even after being dropped on his head three times, while Titus O'Neil was a powerhouse. WWE would be wise to keep them in the title picture for a while.
Kidd's partner, Cesaro, was great. He single-handedly kept this match interesting for much of the first half with huge spots—his drop kick to Young, who sat on the top turnbuckle, was remarkable. Unfortunately, one man does not make a team.
Finally, what more can we say about the New Day? To a man, Big E Langston, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods are truly the best team available to wear the belts right now. Holding Kalisto while inside the pod, their walk into the chamber, taunting of every team and putting O'Neil's head through the chains—the New Day was spot on tonight.
The New Day: A
The Prime Time Players: B+
Cesaro & Tyson Kidd: B (Cesaro: A, Kidd: C)
The Ascension: B
The Lucha Dragons: D (Sin Cara: C, Kalisto: F)
Los Matadores: F
Divas Championship Triple Threat Match
3 of 7
Where to begin with this one.
First, the stipulation that Tamina and Brie Bella be banned from ringside was terrible. The idea, it seemed, was to give the three women in the match—Nikki Bella, Naomi and Paige—a chance to shine without outside interference.
It's almost as if WWE was saying to its fans, "Look, we can wrestle on the main roster like they do on NXT!"
And the result was this match. Ugh.
Paige seemed to be knocked backward after a spot early on, which seemingly left her fuzzy the whole match. That left Naomi and Nikki to carry a Triple Threat match, something neither woman is suited to do.
To make matter worse, Paige was the only one saving the match from itself. It really says something when the woman who's either concussed or playing like she's concussed is better in the ring than the two other women who have all their faculties.
The only reason there are passing grades at all? They had the bad luck of following what was not only the best women's match of 2015 but possibly a candidate for Match of the Year between Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch.
Otherwise, this would be just another ho-hum outing for the Divas of the main roster.
Nikki Bella: D
Naomi: D
Paige: C-
Champion vs. Champion Match
4 of 7
Match of the Night. Hands down.
John Cena and Kevin Owens put on a match that we'll be talking about for the rest of the year, if not for a long time thereafter.
It wasn't just the result that made this bout special; Cena could have taken the win in this one and no one would have blinked.
It was the characters, the pacing and the spots. The men in this match performed so well for so long. For almost 20 minutes, Cena and Owens gave the fans a complete story. A master heel versus the ultimate babyface.
And they each played their roles to perfection.
For a time during this match, there was a worry WWE Creative was making John Cena look too weak. But as Cena does, he kept coming back, looking strong with his moves and kicking out of everything that Owens tossed his way.
And boy, did Kevin Owens hit some moves.
If there were any doubts about Owens' ability to succeed on the main roster, this match put them to rest. From the sentons to the Pop-Up Powerbombs to a reverse moonsault from the top rope, Kevin Owens brought it.
A star was made at WWE Elimination Chamber. And the most surprising part about it was who made the star.
Take a bow, gentlemen. You've earned your spot at the head of the class.
Owens: A+
Cena: A+
Neville vs. Bo Dallas
5 of 7
It's tough to BO-lieve that these two guys were both NXT champions and put on some of the best matches that promotion has ever seen.
It's not just that Neville and Dallas followed the Cena-Owens match—it's that they couldn't even make an interesting feud play well in the ring.
The natural story of Dallas and Neville both being ex-champions trying to one-up each other was replaced with an uneasy narrative of how Dallas was always helping Neville along. It just didn't make sense.
Add that to uncoordinated ring action and you've got a recipe for disaster. Instead of featuring fast-paced action of which both men are capable, this was a slow, plodding affair that seemed rushed to finish. Neither man seemed comfortable, and it showed.
Yet Dallas did do something that no other man has yet to do in the WWE: He made a match with Neville boring.
Dallas: D
Neville: C
Intercontinental Championship Elimination Chamber Match
6 of 7
For the hype about this being an Elimination Chamber match, there really wasn't much special about it once King Barrett was eliminated.
Starting the match, he was in control for a lot of the time. He paced the match perfectly and acted like the braggart he plays so well.
Barrett would have been the highest-graded Superstar in this match if it were not for the inexplicable disappearing act he performed immediately after Mark Henry—yes, we'll get there in a moment—entered the chamber.
The Ryback-Sheamus story looks like one that will continue, which makes sense. These two worked well together once it came down to them in the chamber, and they were the only other competitors outside of Barrett who actually used the structure to advance their respective causes.
Ziggler actually shouldn't be graded this high; this was not his best work. However, no one in the business takes a bump better than Ziggler right now, and he took a couple of good ones in this match.
R-Truth was given some offense, but it was short-lived. As everyone expected, he was fodder for the rest of the competitors.
And then there's Henry.
Once WWE announced that Rusev would not wrestle at Elimination Chamber, the speculation began: Who would take Rusev's place? Bray Wyatt was the odds-on favorite, but WWE Creative had another idea.
And it was a bad one.
Henry was never a threat. He was slow and took up space. He added nothing to the narrative except for a couple mean looks and the moment of the match: a stunned "Do I or Don't I?" look when the plexiglass of his pod was burst open.
If WWE wanted to create drama, they could've had Kane announce that Big Show was going to be in the chamber match. That would have at least kept fans on their toes.
Instead, Henry was nothing more than a larger version of Truth in this match, which was truly disappointing.
Ryback: B+
Sheamus: B
Barrett: B-
Ziggler: B-
Truth: C-
Henry: F
WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match
7 of 7
Any other pay-per-view, we'd be talking about how Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins turned in the Match of the Night.
They'll have to settle for the second-best match at Elimination Chamber.
These two have worked with each other in so many matches, both as partners and opponents, that it's unlikely they could put on a bad match. They know each other's moves so well, there's bound to be multiple counters and innovative ways to make old moves seem new.
Plus, their story is rich, and they tell it so well in the ring. The passion that Ambrose brings to the ring is unequaled, as he cranks it up to 10 in every match. But it seems that when he gets in the ring with Rollins, the dial get turned up to 11.
Rollins truly is the future of this company, as his blend of speed, power and athleticism is unmatched right now. He's performing on a different level, and that only brings the best out of every opponent he faces.
One of the best parts about this match was the minimal interference, a hallmark of any Rollins match. The times it did happen, it was meaningful. Plus, it was great to watch Ambrose taunt J&J Security and Kane throughout, winking and smiling at them as he was gaining the upper hand.
The disqualification at the end was perfect, and it sets up more great matches between these two. Ambrose running out of the building with the belt seemed a little played out, considering he used the same trick with the Intercontinental Championship a few months ago.
Overall, though, they put on definitely praiseworthy performances.
Rollins: A
Ambrose: A
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