Rangers financial meltdown and subsequent re-emergence in the bottom tier had robbed Scottish football of its biggest fixture for nearly three years.
Since then the Ibrox club have risen back to the Championship and the League Cup finally brought the fierce rivals together again at Hampden Park.
Played in a typically white-hot atmosphere, it was Ronny Deila's side who prevailed as their top-flight quality showed through in a hard-fought battle to set up a meeting with Dundee United in the final.
Griffiths gave Celtic the lead after 10 minutes with a close-range header, and Commons added a second before half-time with powerful effort from the edge of the penalty area.
They were unable to add to their tally in the second half, with a heavily worn surface at the national stadium doing little to help, but it mattered little as Celtic booked a meeting with Dundee United in the final.
"I'm happy, very happy," Deila said.
"I Think we played well first half and scored two good goals. We maybe could've score a few more.
"I'm proud of the boys and it's a very good achievement.
"The pitch was so poor today that it was hard for passing; it's not good for Scottish football. To try to entertain our fans and be creative... that's way below the standard we should be playing on."
Rangers will now turn their attention to trying to get back into the Premiership at the first time if asking - the play-offs will be their likely route with Hearts enjoying a dominant 16-point advantage in the Championship.
"We just couldn't get anything on target and had a lot of play," Rangers caretaker boss Kenny McDowall said. "It would've been nice to give them [the fans] a goal.
"This was an opportunity to get to a cup final but it's gone."
