John Cena vs. Sheamus vs. Ted DiBiase vs. Randy Orton vs. Triple H vs. Kofi Kingston (Elimination Chamber Match; for WWE Title): Sheamus starting was a clever move because it finally gave the viewers a chance to see if he has any endurance. I still would have had Orton and Kingston start, though, just my opinion. HHH was out third, which I liked because he and Sheamus got to face off. I thought it was a smart move to have Legacy team up to establish who would take over for the next few minutes; it helped make DiBiase (inexperienced in the Chamber) look strong without having to have the entire spotlight on him. We had a few nice sick spots (Kingston's head in the chains and then a Boston Crab by DiBiase; hangman's DDT on the steel by Orton to HHH). Rhodes came with the steel pipe, so DiBiase nailed both Orton and Cena. That was awesome for DiBiase to stall, pick who to pin, and eliminate Orton. This should set up Orton vs. Legacy or Orton vs. Rhodes vs. DiBiase at WM 26. Nice move to have HHH and Cena at the end. I really didn't see Cena winning, honestly. However, HHH eliminating Sheamus may still give us HHH/Sheamus at WM 26.
The match itself, to me, was not as good as last year's. First, we had a stronger cast last year (in terms of abilities and fan reaction). Second, the finish wasn't as good. The last two guys gotta battle longer than that! But then again, it's Cena and HHH, so what did you expect? Third, I thought the flow of the match was only average. It was still 45 good minutes overall, but the action seemed stretched out and, all of a sudden, the eliminations pretty much came one after the other. ***1/2
Batista vs. John Cena (WWE Title): OK, the picture just got much clearer. This was a decent way to further this storyline (which involves Vince and Bret). Now Vince can say he screwed not just Bret, but Cena as well. And who knows, maybe Vince can come out on RAW to say it was planned for the blonde woman to back the car into Bret. Just a thought. No rating for this because it was so simple and short (less than 30 seconds). N/A
Since Smackdown technically has the WWE Title, does this mean Shawn Michaels will come into the Smackdown chamber match later to win the World Heavyweight Title (possibly pinning Undertaker last)? We'll see.
Drew McIntyre vs. Kane (IC Title): This was a decent showing, probably as good as I think a Kane one-on-one match will be nowadays. McIntyre looked like the resilient champion, fighting off a valiant effort from Kane. However, I did not like the dirty finish (basically the same way McIntyre won the title in the first place). If McIntyre is to impress me more, he needs to win much cleaner and show me he belongs. He's already proven to me that he can cheat to win; show me something else. **1/4
Layla & Michelle McCool vs. Maryse & Gail Kim (Divas Title): I guess we again must wait for the Divas Title match. Could it be on RAW tomorrow night? I have no idea why they keep putting it off. I also have no idea how Vickie Guerrero can all of a sudden make matches with RAW divas. In a nutshell, the tag match made zero sense and the delaying of the Divas Title match made zero sense. DUD
The Miz vs. MVP (U.S. Title): You know it's been a bad few months for Tiger Woods when both King and Cole take shots at him. Not a surprise that Daniel Bryan (Bryan Danielson) has gotten more mention than any other NXT "rookie." Good moves by Miz; he has really learned how to control the pace of the match. Miz got busted open in the match (inadvertent). Nice spot by Henry to pretty much take out the barricade. Big Show's KTFO punch was awesome (now even Striker calls it KFTO, yay). Overall, a nice match; much better than their Royal Rumble encounter -- which was also booked at the PPV with no hype. ***
Chris Jericho vs. The Undertaker vs. R-Truth vs. John Morrison vs. Rey Mysterio vs. CM Punk (Elimination Chamber Match; for World Heavyweight Title): Now this is how you work an Elimination Chamber match. Punk and Truth started, which I did like (after all, they did have a confrontation many weeks ago). Punk's mic work was awesome, and I loved it that WWE made R-Truth have a respectable showing, but also letting Punk get some time to do more mic work and take verbal shots at the other participants -- similar to what he did at the Royal Rumble. Mysterio and Punk = greatness. Rey + Jericho + Morrison = excellent. Jericho cowering inside the pod to stay away from Taker was classic. Morrison had an impressive showing and I loved that he sold the ankle at least once in the match. Jericho and Taker had a great duel. And in what was another predictable moment, HBK came out to cost Taker the title. I thought it was cool that HBK came from a compartment under the chamber. This match was outstanding overall, clearly better than the RAW chamber. Definitely more action and better use of the steel and plexiglass pods. ****1/4
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So now we are set for WM 26. This should be the lineup:
(1) Chris Jericho vs. Edge for the World Heavyweight Title.
(2) Batista vs. John Cena for the WWE Title (Bret Hart will either come out in Cena's corner or make a "surprise" appearance to help Cena)
(3) Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels, part II
(4) CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio (likely Mask vs. Hair)
(5) Triple H vs. Sheamus (appears likely)
(6) Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Ted DiBiase
(7) A divas match for either the Women's Title or Divas Title
(8) IC Title match(?)
(9) MVP & Henry vs. Big Show & Miz (Unified Tag Title match?)
(10) Money in the Bank may be off the card, but I hope it's still there
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MVP: Chris Jericho and the rest of the Smackdown Chamber crew deliver the match of the night!
Overall Rating: ***1/4
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