Elimination Chamber is that little awkward spot between the Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania. For my money, the Rumble and Mania are always the two events I anticipate the most and thus the Chamber PPV goes a little un-noticed. It takes place 6 weeks before the Granddaddy of them all and is usually a place to develop or help further along existing feuds for Wrestlemania, which sometimes results in a disappointing event. Was this the case in 2012? Lets take a look!
Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship featuring – CM Punk (C), Kofi Kingston, Dolph Ziggler, R-Truth, The Miz and Chris Jericho
While I thought this match should have been the main event (the PPV is called Elimination Chamber after all) it served as the 'hot opener' and did so in unrelenting fashion. The Raw Chamber match had solid star power in comparison to the Smackdown counterpart and each unique superstar was utilised to maximise the amount of action that occurred throughout the match. Kofi Kingston and CM Punk kicked things off with some nice back and forth trading of pinfalls. The chamber structure allowed Kofi Kingston to shine and execute some nice variations to his high flying arsenal. R Truth took part for a brief moment and was the first to be eliminated after a quick flurry of offense. Dolph Ziggler bumped like a champion and had an opportunity to 'show off' by implementing the chamber into his shtick. The Miz, who has been floundering for weeks with his promo's and in ring technique, took a step on the road to redemption with a strong and convincing showing in the chamber match. Of course the big story is between CM Punk and Chris Jericho. When the two squared off, the crowd popped in anticipation of the two finally going one on one. However, WWE are saving this one till Wrestlemania as Punk eliminated Jericho in controversial fashion. A knockout kick sent Jericho tumbling to the floor, into a camera man and some sort of box, rendering him unable to compete. This was a nice way of getting Jericho out of the match and means that Punk doesn't hold a clean victory over Jericho heading into Wrestlemania. It is also a source of frustration for Jericho as he never lost the match and can be held over Punks head as a feud between the two heats up. A really good action packed chamber match.
****
Winner and STILL WWE Champion – CM Punk
Beth Phoenix (C) vs Tamina Snuka for the Divas Championship
Without a doubt, the playing up of Tamina as the daughter of Jimmy Snuka and the perception that she has become a legitimate threat in recent weeks helped this match. Hell, the fact that Kelly Kelly, Eve, Alicia Fox or The Bella Twins weren't involved helped this match. While not the greatest women's match ever, it was certainly better than any recent Divas ppv bout. Honestly, a decent match and the story of Beth avoiding Tamina's big blockbuster finish time after time before actually kicking out of the Superfly Splash was a nice touch. Sweet Dragon Sleeper by Phoenix too. I don't know where we go from here with the divas division because we've got to be getting Kharma vs Beth Phoenix at Wrestlemania. That's the best thing that can happen right now. Won't that render all this build for Tamina pointless though?
*3/4
Winner and STILL Divas Champion – Beth Phoenix
Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship featuring – The Big Show, Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes, Santino Marella, The Great Khali and Daniel Bryan (C)
Again, a really entertaining chamber match. The star power wasn’t as strong as the Raw chamber, but everyone involved made the absolute best of the situation and delivered a thoroughly enjoyable story. The Big Show looked like the monster he is and the ongoing feud with Daniel Bryan was furthered in the chamber. The unique moment went Show broke into Bryan’s pod from the top was a nice touch. Speaking of Bryan, he took some nasty looking bumps. Going through the (what Michael Cole was all too eager to tell us) ‘bullet proof’ Lexan, the powerbomb into the chamber and the door being rammed shut on his neck were particular highlights. The real star of the match, however, was someone no one even considered to be anywhere near the Elimination Chamber PPV, never mind a chamber match in itself. I have to give credit where its due and Santino was booked to look like an absolute fighter last night. Gone was the comedy jobber and instead we saw an underdog who absolutely refused to give up, despite being beaten down time after time. Sure, it’s a classic story but its classic for a reason… it works. The crowd were molten crazy for Santino the entire time match and reached fever pitch following his pinfall eliminations of both Cody Rhodes and Wade Barrett. The final moments between Daniel Bryan and Santino are worth a re-watch. When Santino hit the Cobra on Daniel Bryan EVERYONE thought the impossible had been achieved. Moments later when Santino temporarily broke the Lebell Lock, that same thought crossed peoples minds once again. Eventually Santino tapped and Daniel Bryan heads to Wrestlemania as World Heavyweight Champion. Sit back and think a minute, though. A superstar who has become nothing more than a comedy jobber was booked to eliminate two men who are considered the future of the company. On top of that, Santino was one of the last two survivors and almost fought out of a deadly submission. That’s quite the push. Judging by crowd reaction last night, WWE would be foolish not to capitalise on Santino as he proved he could hang with upper level talent.
As for the post match, if this was indeed WWE signalling Sheamus vs Daniel Bryan is happening at Wrestlemania, I’d more than welcome it. A match between the two was bumped off last years card, this year they’d be co-headlining for the World Heavyweight Championship. Quite the story.
*** ¾
Winner and STILL World Heavyweight Champion – Daniel Bryan
Jack Swagger (C) vs Justin Gabriel for the United States Championship
A throwaway match. Honestly, what is with not advertising matches anymore? Swagger and Gabriel are currently struggling to get on Raw and Smackdown and the United States Championship has once again become worthless. A three minute match has no business being on a Pay Per View.
½ a *
Winner and STILL United States Champion – Jack Swagger
John Cena vs Kane in an Ambulance Match
Apparently, WWE feels the need to cheapen their ‘Elimination Chamber’ PPV by having anything but a Chamber match as the main event. Honestly, when the feud started I was all for it. Cena and Kane had never really had a high profile one on one feud and there was a refreshing feeling about the whole thing. The fact that Kane was once again donning his mask was a bonus. However, WWE felt the need to turn one of their fastest rising stars in Zack Ryder into a human punching bag. Ryder has been saddled with a romance storyline with Eve and been made to look like a complete idiot. Racking up approximately 500 injuries in the process. I can’t help but feel WWE is playing a sick joke on Ryder. They’re sending the message that if they didn’t make him, he isn’t going to be the star he could potentially be. Ryder's involvement initially added something to the story, but has since become more comedic than anything else. Meh. Anyway, the match. It was a rather timid affair but one can blame that on the nature of a PG environment on a hardcore style match. There was no doubt who was going to win heading into Wrestlemania but, both men went out there, hit a few impact moves, told their story and ended it. Cena was never going to take part in anything too brutal considering the risk of injury and the disastrous consequences that would have for the yearlong hyped match with The Rock.
I’m still hoping Zack Ryder gets his Wrestlemania moment in a one on one match with Kane, hopefully minus half a storm trooper outfit.
** ½
Winner – John Cena
So there we have it, two very good chamber matches, a decent Divas match and an OK ambulance match. All in all, an enjoyable pay per view that looked less than friendly on paper. It also helped set up the two potential championship matches at Wrestlemania between CM Punk and Jericho and Sheamus and Daniel Bryan. Sweet. Two live shows to look forward to this week, Raw as usual and Smackdown on Tuesday night.
