WWE PPV Review: Elimination Chamber 2012

This year's Elimination Chamber PPV was a mixed bag.  Still, we got a lot of closure with past story lines, cleaning things up for the build to Wrestlemania. 


Alright marks.....


IT"S SHOWTIME!


*NOTE: All WWE related photos courtesy of WWE.com






Match 1:: Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship: CM Punk(c) vs. Chris Jericho vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Kofi Kingston vs. The Miz vs. R Truth

• A great opener with lots of incredible action! 
• Star making performance tonight from Kofi Kingston.  He stole the show with a variety of amazing spots. 
• CM Punk took the most damage tonight.  Say what you want about the WWE Champion, but there is no denying that he is a tough son of a bitch.

Ouch....He is going to feel that tomorrow for sure

• Dolph Ziggler, never to be outdone, brought his unique style of awesome to this match with some very clever offense as well.

First I shred the abs, then I shred your face!

• The final two competitors were CM Punk and The Miz (who really didn't add much to the match, other then a few botches).  After some back and forth, Punk levels Miz with the GTS and earns the victory in what was a very physical and hard fought match.  GREAT OPENER!!!!!

Winner and STILL WWE Champion: CM Punk


Match Rating: ****

Winner, and Still the Best In The World

After the match, we get the first of many Rocky inspired training videos from Santino Marella. They were all pretty funny and they did a great job of getting him over even more.





Match 2:: Divas Championship match: Beth Phoenix(c) vs. Tamina Snuka

• A very good match that lived up to my expectations.  It was easily one of the best WWE women's matches in the last 5 years. 
• A bit disappointed that the crowd was pretty quiet during this match, but that's the nature of the beast when you only give women 2 minutes to get over in a 2 hour show every week.
• Overall, I'm just glad that Beth Phoenix finally was given some real competition as Kharma's full return is looming.  A dream match at Wrestlemania needs to happen next.  BOOK IT VINCE!

Winner and STILL Divas Champion: Beth Phoenix


Match Rating: ***1/4

Divas Champion Forever

John Laurinaitis ever the politician, came out and campaigned for Teddy Long's job as Smackdown General manager.  Alberto Del Rio, Christian and Mark Henry, all returned to show their support for Johnny.  Nothing too special here, but David Otunga flashing a Carlton-esque smile, made my night with this moment

VOTE DAVID OTUNGA!  For the most entertaining moment of the night!

Match 3:: Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship: Daniel Bryan(c) vs. The Big Show vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Wade Barrett vs. The Great Khali vs. Santino Marella

• After the brilliant opener, I was baffled that they even try to let these guys follow it, especially given the lack of major talents involved.  For this, I blame Santino.  His massive momentum, however entertaining he may be, is the reason this match is so high on the card.  At least he did his best, stealing the match from all of the other competitors.  He would also be the last man eliminated, far surpassing my expectations, and all opinions aside, earning my respect.  Still, his 15 minutes were up, as Daniel Bryan made sure that if Santino was going to Wrestlemania, it would not be with the World title around his waist. 
• Memorable spots of the match include; Daniel Bryan taking a VICIOUS power bomb into the chamber wall from Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes hitting two beautiful disasters on The Big Show, and Big Show breaking into Daniel Bryan's pod.

As a 500lb giant entered his pod, a 500lb shit entered his trunks

Winner and STILL World heavyweight Champion: Daniel Bryan


Match Rating: ***1/4

Guess those Vegan powers worked after all

Post match, Sheamus arrives and hits Bryan with his new finisher, effectively choosing him as his opponent for Wrestlemania.  There was also an impromptu match between Justin Gabriel and Jack Swagger.  There was really no purpose of this match at all other then to kill time.  I could care less to watch it, and even less to write about it.  Winner and STILL United States Champion, Jack Swagger. 

**MAIN EVENT**

The second ever Ambulance match: John Cena vs. Kane

• This match was pretty anti-climatic.  It's the usual shit you would expect from any stipulation match involving either superstar.  Going into the match we all thought we were going to leave the night seeing this

And what we were left with was more of this

yippeee....


Winner: John Cena


Match Rating: **3/4

Out of my way Kane, I've got bigger fish to fry

Final Thoughts: The structure of the card might have looked good on paper, but it was the show's ultimate downfall.  The show just kinda went from good to bad to worse over the course of the night.  In a parallel universe, this card would have appeared upside down, and maybe those fans might have went home happy.


Overall PPV Score: 5/10





PPV Awards


Match of the night: The Raw Elimination Chamber
Performer of the night: Kofi Kingston
Moment of the night: Kofi Kingston's springboard tornado DDT off the chamber wall
Promo of the night: The John Laurinitis GM campaign
Surprise of the night: The returns of Alberto Del Rio, Mark Henry and Christian