WWE Elimination Chamber 2012 Review and Thoughts

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.

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Thoughts on the return of Chris Jericho

The first Raw of 2012 had been hyped for weeks. Since the ‘It Begins’ videos began airing, rumours were rife as to who would be returning or debuting. Everyone from The Undertaker, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Brock Lesnar, Shane McMahon, Stephanie McMahon as well as Skip Sheffield and Brodus Clay were mentioned as possible candidates behind the hype videos. One name stuck however, that name was none other than my second all time favourite wrestler (behind HBK) Chris Jericho.

Jericho had been playing the Internet for a while, denying rumours, laughing off accusations and claiming that he’d never wrestle for WWE again. Perhaps in retrospect, Jericho overplayed it a little too far as there were a fair few fans absolutely certain that Y2J would return. Well, he did and despite what some detractors would say, he did so in genius fashion.

Firstly, I’ve seen people complain that the videos were ‘too epic’ or ‘too dark’ to be placed as a platform for the return of a Chris Jericho type character. Really? I mean, his initial debut featured a mysterious countdown clock that counted down for weeks until his famous ‘Raw is Jericho’ appearance. His second re-debut featured another puzzling series of videos that featured a code to be cracked. So when you think about it, why wouldn’t they use another series of mystifying videos for Jericho? On Y2J’s DVD (highly recommended) he says that if he was to make another debut, he would have to do something completely different and come back with a new character… this is an opportunity to do so. Think about it, before Jericho started wearing suits, talking slowly and using long, brash words, who else did it? No one, really. Now all the heels in the WWE use that formula. A character change is a necessity for Jericho.

As for the televised return, it was nothing short of genius. The crowd were pumped and popped for everything Jericho did… initially. Y2J had the Memphis crowd and the audience at home in the palm of his hand. The more and more adulation Jericho sought from the crowd, the more he got. Until, some of the cheering turned to boos and Jericho’s wry smile appeared. One of the best talkers in the business returns without saying a word and plays everyone like a fiddle. Everyone would have expected Jericho to cut some sort of amazing welcome back promo but he didn’t. He simply asked the crowd to cheer for him, chant for him and then simply walked away. Genius.

Why genius? Well, if you follow Chris Jericho on Twitter you’ll notice that he takes exception to the fact that WWE took his heel formula and copy and pasted it on to anyone and everyone on the current roster. He takes exception to people stealing his moves. However, he especially takes exception to CM Punk calling himself ‘the best in the world’ and claims Punk stole that moniker from him. Of course, this is Jericho we’re talking about and he is a master at storytelling and playing his character thus he is most likely playing the Internet with these claims. However, I think it goes deeper than that. What if his comments have been designed to set up his return all along? Think back to the videos. Phrases like ‘take back what is rightfully his’ and ‘end of the world as we know it’ stand out to me. What if these two phrases are referring to CM Punk and the moniker of ‘best in the world?’ It WILL be the end of the world as we know it, because Jericho will once again become best in the world. His return segment showed a change in the Jericho character that left the WWE in 2010 to one more reminiscent of his old ‘Y2J’ arrogant bastard character. Without saying a word, Chris Jericho managed to piss off the IWC and confuse the hell out of everyone. He effectively managed to turn heel immediately. Genius.

On top of everything else, it extends the intrigue for the videos into another week. Who is the woman that is mentioned in the videos? What is Jericho taking back? Just what the hell is going on? Additionally, viewers will tune in next week for an explanation from Jericho as well as the next chapter in the storyline. Honestly, people need to think the whole thing through before criticising it. When WWE creative get it wrong, they damn sure get it wrong. However, creative as well as Jericho got this right on the money. If it leads to Punk vs Jericho at Wrestlemania, then bring it the hell on.

Thanks for reading, assclowns.

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