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"Two men enter. One man leaves."
Alright,
alright...so technically, there are six men that enter. However, similar to
Thunderdome, the Elimination Chamber is just as harsh on bodies. And for the
third time since its creation, the WWE brings
back "the demonic structure" [J.R.'s words, not mine] to help ring in
the new year at
New Year's Revolution.
If you're not familiar with the Elimination Chamber, it works like this: The
first four men that enter are locked in compartments of the chamber in each
corner of the ring. The remaining two men wrestle as a random caged wrestler is
released in five minute intervals until all four are freed. The only way a
wrestler can be eliminated is by pinfall or submission.
New Year's Revolution took place on January 9th in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The
disc runs 2 hours and 37 minutes which, as with other WWE discs, considering the potential of the material
here is pretty short.
-
World Tag Team Championship Match [Eugene & William
Regal vs. Christian & Tyson Tomko] - While he might've been a better
"heel" than "face", I was really glad to see William
Regal make a comeback after getting severely ill during a WWE trip to India.
As Regal was regaining his health, Eric Bischoff put him in charge of his
"nephew", Eugene. Eventually, these guys teamed up to make a
pretty good tag team. Shame that Eugene suffered a ruptured patella tendon
[area near his kneecap].
-
Christian & Tyson Tomko meet up with Edge in Hallway
-
Women's Championship Match [Lita
vs. Trish Stratus] - It was bound to happen. After weeks of numerous
blown spots and moves that just plain seems as if she's going paralyze
herself or her opponent, Lita injures herself again. Personally, i've never
understood the attraction to Lita.
-
Edge & Christian in Eric Bischoff's Office
-
WWE Intercontinental Championship Match [Shelton Benjamin
vs. Maven] - Guess Shelton needed the night off. Actually, this was a
funny match.
-
Muhammad Hassan & Daivari Interview
-
Jerry "the King" Lawler vs. Muhammad Hassan
- I really don't understand the point of these types of matches. They dust
the cobwebs off of Lawler [or occasionally during the weekly show - Sgt.
Slaughter] and send 'em in to job against an "up 'n comer". Here,
the results are predictable. Not sure how I feel about Iron Shiek v2.
Though, he IS easier to understand than v1.
-
Batista Interview
-
Kane vs. Gene Snitsky - Can't these guys find someone
else to fight? Jeez.
-
Poolside Chicken Fight - Gotta fill the quota of
T&A to titillate the 'lil boys in the audience. A waste of time.
-
Batista, Triple H & Ric Flair in their Locker Room - I
found it interesting that the order they were listed on last year's
Survivor Series DVD was "Triple H, Batista & Ric Flair
in their locker room". Merely an observation.
-
Elimination Chamber Match for the World Heavyweight
Championship [Randy Orton vs. Chris Benoit vs. Chris Jericho vs. Triple H
vs. Edge vs. Batista] - Hand down, THE best match on the disc. This is
the third time they've set up the Elimination Chamber, and all of the
wrestlers inside, with, perhaps the exception of Edge, really sell it. Yes,
even Triple H. A couple of missed spots notwithstanding, this is definitely
a highlight.
They've also included three 30 second promos that were previously seen on the weekly
broadcasts to hype this event:
- Image
- Elimination Chamber
- Gene Snitsky vs. Kane
Listed as "Exclusive Extras" are:
- Edge Interview [1m 6s]
- Chris Benoit Interview [3m 28s] - The Nu-Metal song of the week that we're bombarded with
incessantly during this disc.
- Chris Jericho Interview [20m].
- Randy Orton Interview [].
- Triple H & Batista Interview [].
Video:
For the amount of content on the disc, this was an attractive transfer. It's
presented in the full frame 1.33:1 ratio and the picture is pretty sharp. Colors
are bright and there were only slight instances of compression artifacts.
Audio: The Dolby Digital 5.1 sound was crystal clear and enveloped my
living room while I was watching it. You're also given the option of watching
the disc in Spanish.
Conclusion: I gotta admit it. I enjoyed this disc. There were some
aspects I could care less about [Lawler, Snitsky & the "Chicken
Fight"], but for the most part there were some great matches on this disc.
Even if there weren't, the Elimination Chamber match alone would make this a Highly
Recommended
disc for wrestling fans. |