WWE Elimination Chamber Kickoff Show
The Kickoff Show opens with Josh Mathews welcoming us to a “frigid” Minneapolis, Minnesota. We see a shot of fans filing into the arena and then the camera swings from inside the arena over to the Kickoff Show expert panel. The panel for tonight’s event consists of Mark Henry, The Miz and Rey Mysterio. Miz jokes about the new Kickoff Show set being a nice wedding gift.
All three guys talk about which matches excite them most on tonight’s card. A small “Sexual Chocolate” chant breaks out as Henry runs down his thoughts on some of the matches on tonight’s card. The guys also talk about the tag-team division and how strong it is. Henry stumbles over his words pretty badly when running down his thoughts.
We shoot over to the social media lounge, where Renee Young informs us how to interact via Twitter, etc. She reads some tweets from the “WWE Universe.” She mentions that we should use the hashtag “#WWEChamber” to chat about the show on Twitter.
Now we’re back to the expert panel where Josh Mathews runs down the rules of the actual Elimination Chamber match itself. He then introduces some video packages highlighting the story lines surrounding Randy Orton and his WWE World Heavyweight Championship leading into the Chamber matchup tonight.
The gang talks about how dangerous the Elimination Chamber match is. Once again, Henry is having an awful time trying to put coherent sentences together. The guys talk about who they feel the favorites are in tonight’s Chamber match.
We shoot backstage and Zeb Colter is giving The Real Americans a pep-talk. He tells them that tomorrow night they’ll be able to say the Cesaro is the WWE World Heavyweight Champion and that Jack Swagger is the new WWE Intercontinental Champion. He finishes with the usual hand-over-your-heart speech.
After that segment concludes, JBL’s theme music hits and he makes his way out to the commentary table. The fans in Minneapolis give JBL a nice reception. As JBL makes his way to the announce booth, we see some video highlights detailing the history of the Batista and Alberto Del Rio feud.
Another light “Sexual Chocolate” chant breaks out as the Batista-Del Rio video wraps up. Out next is Jerry Lawler. “The King” makes his way to the commentary table to a great reaction and a smattering of “Jerry, Jerry” chants. As he makes his way to ringside, a WWE Network video package airs.
Once the WWE Network video finishes up, we shoot back live into the arena. At the commentary table at ringside, Michael Cole talks about how historic tomorrow night is with the official launch of the WWE Network. JBL and Jerry Lawler talk about how great a deal it is to purchase a WWE Network subscription. We get a closeup shot of Lawler on his iPad pointing out how easy it is to navigate through the WWE Network. He plays a clip of an old SummerSlam pay-per-view.
Goldust & Cody Rhodes vs. Ryback & Curtis Axel (with Larry “The Axe” Hennig)
Now that the WWE Network plugging is done, it’s time for our Kickoff Show match of the evening. Goldust’s theme music hits and out he comes with Cody Rhodes. They make their way to the ring as we get ready for the first match of the evening. After Goldust and Rhodes finish their entrance, Ryback’s music hits and out he comes with Curtis Axel and Axel’s grandfather, Larry “The Axe” Hennig, who is from the Minneapolis area. Hennig gets a nice pop and a decent “Larry, Larry” chant from the Minneapolis fans.
The bell sounds and our first match is officially underway. The action is insanely fast-paced early on. Goldust ends up hitting a crazy dive out to the floor on Ryback and Axel. On that note, we head to a mid-match commercial.
When we return from commercial, Ryback is pounding away on Goldust in the corner of the ring. Ryback stomps away at Goldust on the mat a bit and then tags Axel in. Axel picks up where Ryback left off. We see a shot of Larry Hennig watching on from outside the ring. Hennig has a big smile on his face as his grandson Curtis Axel continues to work over Goldust.
Axel tags Ryback back into the ring. The two hit a double-team move on Goldust in their corner and then Axel heads back out to the apron. Ryback hoists Goldust up for a suplex and holds him up in the air for several seconds before slamming him down to the mat. He tags Axel back in. Goldust starts fighting back now as the crowd rallies behind him. Both guys double-clothesline each other down. Axel is able to get to his feet first and he makes the tag to Ryback.
Ryback beats up Goldust a bit, but Goldust still has some fire left in him. He hits a huricanrana on Ryback and then sends Ryback over-the-top and out to the floor. Both guys make the tag to their respective partners. Rhodes takes the hot tag and is flying all over the place, beating Axel from one side of the ring to the other. Rhodes hits a big moonsault off-the-top on Axel. Rhodes hits an Alabama Slam on Axel. Ryback yanks Rhodes out to the floor but Rhodes hits his disaster kick.
Rhodes jumps off the top-rope to come back into the ring. He was looking to connect on Axel with a missile dropkick but Axel caught him coming in and powerbombs him. All four guys get involved briefly, ending with Rhodes hitting the Cross Rhodes for the 1-2-3. The Rhodes Brothers get the win.
Winners: Goldust & Cody Rhodes
Byron Saxton Interviews The Usos
Backstage, Byron Saxton introduces The Usos. The Usos talk about how their relatives have held the same exact WWE Tag-Team Championships that they are going to compete for tonight. They talk about how they respect The New Age Outlaws and everything they’ve accomplished, but tonight is a new era. They say they have two words for them, “it’s over.”
Renee Young In The Social Media Lounge
We go back to the social media lounge where Renee Young reads off some more tweets from the WWE Universe.
Final Check-In With The Expert Panel
We shoot back to the expert panel where Josh Mathews asks the guys for their predictions on tonight’s Elimination Chamber match. Henry, Miz and Mysterio talk about some of the guys they think has the chance to win tonight before Mathews wraps up the Kickoff Show. We fade away and we’re now just moments away from the start of the WWE Elimination Chamber pay-per-view!
