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[2018-02-19-WWE-Raw] Seth Rollins vs Roman Reigns vs John Cena vs Elias vs Finn Balor vs The Miz vs Braun Strowman (Gauntlet)


SmartMark15

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So the WWE decided that this week, they're gonna put together close to two hours of just real good solid wrestling and what a shock, it was awesome!

 

Seth and Roman start the match, getting some good exchanges going with Roman really bringing the tightness and stiffness to the match. Roman's timing and character work really is something else. Something as simple as standing up to a charging Rollins says so much and really creates a very heated moment that ups the intensity of the match. Exciting and hot finishing stretch that protects both guys but does a lot to help out Seth Rollins.

 

Seth takes on John Cena next. Seth jumps Cena to start forcing Cena to work the opening minutes in his neon green shirt. Cena comes with methodical heel-esque Cena. I like this iteration of Cena personally. The guy's been on top for over a decade and he shows it. He saves energy by really picking his spots against Rollins and even taunting Rollins, giving Rollins a good heel character to play off of. They show a lot of chemistry in the finishing stretch as they exchange big moves and let Rollins get a clean win on Cena. The crowd is all the way behind Rollins at this point.

 

Elias rushes in to charge Rollins and goes after the bad leg allowing him to pick up the pretty quick win over Rollins. At around this point, the match starts to dip as we get some in picture simultaneous promos to the competitors who've just finished. I didn't mind it so much as it was a nice way to fill the time as the highlights of the match were pretty much done.

 

Balor comes in and him and Elias have some decent exhanges. Elias is just a very good wrestler with his basics. Snug strikes and good energy. Here's hoping he goes a long way. Balor able to get to the win until Miz comes out and picks the bones and uses The Miztourage to get the win.

 

Miz with some amazing facial reactions when he realizes Strowman is last and then we get the Braun Strowman Murder Hour. Always a good time. That standing dropkick is ridiculous.

 

This was just very good television all the way through with two incredibly great matches to open and an all-time performance by Seth Rollins.

 

****1/2

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Loved the first match of the thing - Rollins & Reigns delivered what I think is their best singles meeting yet. Very good back & forth that lead to Reigns working on top & Rollins fighting from underneath. Then it's time for Cena vs. Rollins, and oh man was that amazing. I did not like any of their 2015 matches, but goddamn they killed it here. Reminded me of Cena's Rumble '17 match vs. Styles a bit - loved his little trashtalk throughout the match to Rollins, who was fighting from underneath in brilliant fashion; LOVED his selling. He showed good fire & that finishing stretch was superb.

... Aaand then Elias comes out & the match dies. Super meh segment w/ him & Rollins, which then leads to the most boring segment of the match between Elias & Bálor. It's shit & so is the rest of the match. Really no idea how I'd rate it overall, but if these were stand alone singles matches, Rollins vs. Reigns would be ***3/4 & Rollins vs. Cena would be ****1/4.

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Elias is a breath of fresh air for me. He wrestles pretty 80's WWF in my mind, and I love that. Cena needs to stop doing the AA right? It's about as effective as a bodyslam at this point. I liked the presentation of this gauntlet. I didn't mind the interviews. It was different. I enjoyed it.

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This match was brilliant, in a way. They managed to put all seven competitors over in a big way.

 

  • Roman is the big dog. He's strong, fast, can hit his big moves from out of nowhere, and him being by Rollins was treated almost as a fluke, this time. He's the new ace, sorta.
  • Rollins in this 'never say die' role is working surprisingly well. It was the performance of his career. He was shown to be as resilient as it could get, even if he was outgunned in many point of his encounters against Roman and Cena.
  • Cena is the old, hardened dog. While not at his prime, he's been way too long at the top to not know how to deal with any other wrestler in the Chamber. He knows his career is at its final moment, but he's not going down easily.
  • Elias is ruthless. While the least experienced, he is willing to throw out the flashy offense and just beat down the opponents to a pulp. Nothing pretty about him, and that is good.
  • Balor is the flashiest of the competitors. He, much like Seth, is resilient, but relies more on his quick feet and strikes than power moves and indierrific slams.
  • Miz is cunning and he is going to use every possible breach in the book to get the upper hand. He managed to SCF Braun Strowman, making it remotely plausible that he could get a win over Braun.
  • Braun is just a monster. The reason he is going in strong into the EC is self-explanatory.

 

Loved this so much.

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This match was brilliant, in a way. They managed to put all seven competitors over in a big way.

 

 

  • Roman is the big dog. He's strong, fast, can hit his big moves from out of nowhere, and him being by Rollins was treated almost as a fluke, this time. He's the new ace, sorta.
  • Rollins in this 'never say die' role is working surprisingly well. It was the performance of his career. He was shown to be as resilient as it could get, even if he was outgunned in many point of his encounters against Roman and Cena.
  • Cena is the old, hardened dog. While not at his prime, he's been way too long at the top to not know how to deal with any other wrestler in the Chamber. He knows his career is at its final moment, but he's not going down easily.
  • Elias is ruthless. While the least experienced, he is willing to throw out the flashy offense and just beat down the opponents to a pulp. Nothing pretty about him, and that is good.
  • Balor is the flashiest of the competitors. He, much like Seth, is resilient, but relies more on his quick feet and strikes than power moves and indierrific slams.
  • Miz is cunning and he is going to use every possible breach in the book to get the upper hand. He managed to SCF Braun Strowman, making it remotely plausible that he could get a win over Braun.
  • Braun is just a monster. The reason he is going in strong into the EC is self-explanatory.

Loved this so much.

This was what struck me watching it. Everyone looked better at the end. Fantastic stuff.
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  • GSR changed the title to [2018-02-19-WWE-Raw] Seth Rollins vs Roman Reigns vs John Cena vs Elias vs Finn Balor vs The Miz vs Braun Strowman (Gauntlet)

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