Kester's WWE Raw Rundown: The build towards Elimination Chamber begins with WWE attempting to stymie the backlash over the Royal Rumble results

By Ryan Kester

Elimination Chamber Announcement

There was a bit of mystery to how WWE would approach the Elimination Chamber PPV with the titles being unified, but the path they chose works. It gives WWE an opportunity to move the title if plans change, and the match they're building towards sounds like it could be one of the better chamber matches in years.

I would be shocked, however, if the disqualification in the main event leading to 3 members of the Chamber match qualifying sticks. If it does, it is the least interesting path WWE could take to build to the match, and it does nothing to make one expect that the participants will be willing to beat the heck out of one another, which you really need to sell the show on a chamber match.

Brock Lesnar

While Lesnar's reliance on chair shots to come across as a beast is becoming almost comical, the attacks on Big Show on Sunday and the former tag champions on Raw were well done. Lesnar is one of the few wild cards on WWE television, and I am excited to see where he lands come WrestleMania.

Paul Heyman deserves a ton of credit for making Lesnar appear threatening. His mic work for the man has been superb since Lesnar's latest returns, and his reactions to the assaults Lesnar doles out are what separates Lesnar's attacks from others in WWE.

Daniel Bryan

The work WWE did to stymie the backlash over Bryan not being in the Rumble was appreciated. I imagine it didn't do enough to silence some of Bryan's more ardent supporters, but the opening segment of Raw at least addressed the issue.

For my money, WWE is making a mistake by not giving someone fresh a breakout moment on the first PPV that will appear on their network. They really couldn't have planned a better chance to sell people with a feel good moment, and they're squandering it to hitch themselves to an old hand. It is simply something that makes no sense to me.

Overall Show

Overall, the follow up to the Royal Rumble left a lot to be desired. WWE decided to let things soak in from the Rumble rather than start the Road to WrestleMania off with a bang. While the approach is understandable, it is woefully underwhelming.

If you have any questions or comments or just wish to chat with a fellow wrestling fan about whatever, then feel free to email me at ryan.kester@gmail.com or follow me on Twitter.