Knee-Jerk Reaction (Elimination Chamber 2012)

Is it wrong for me to be happy that Orton is injured and won’t compete tonight in the Elimination Chamber. I feel like that almost guarantees that Daniel Bryan will win the Smackdown Elimination Chamber match and walk into Wrestlemania as the WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION! YES! YES! YES! (I love that.) How awesome would that be if/when CM Punk and Daniel Bryan headlines Wrestlemania XXVIII and both as defending champions?

CM Punk wins the RAW Elimination Chamber match, retaining the WWE Championship:
WHAT I LIKED: It was sort of a strange decision to start the match off with two babyfaces in Punk & Kingston. I would’ve went with Punk & Ziggler because I think they have the most durability of all involved. Regardless, it turned out pretty well.
- Was it just me, or was Miz a little overaggressive tonight? I think he knows that he;s on thin ice after that R-Truth debacle. I like aggressive Miz. It’s the one thing I’ve been saying he’s been missing from his repertoire since Wrestlemania last year.
- Did Jericho just break out the Liontamer? No, it was just a modified Walls of Jericho, but it was pretty damn close. I miss the old Liontamer. That was one submission that really looked painful.
- Overall, a nice match. Elimination Chamber matches are never not entertaining. It’s a match inside a big freakin’ cage for heaven’s sake. I’m not too keen on how it ended, but if it means that it’ll be Punk vs Jericho at Wrestlemania, the I’m all for it.
WHAT I HATED: Really? The most important match on the card is the first out of the gate? The Smackdown Elimination Chamber lost some importance once Orton was ruled out. I think this means Santino Marella won’t actually be competing. Maybe Alberto Del Rio or Christian will return and take his place ala Edge a couple years back. If so, I hope it’s Christian.
- ‘Trouble in Paradise’ is just not a good finisher. Jericho kicked out of two of ‘em on RAW and CM Punk kicked out tonight. They tried to make it seem like it was because of Kofi & Dolph’s scuffle, but it wasn’t. It just sucks.
- Why did they even bother doing the ‘light shuffle’ when it was down to Jericho & Miz? Jericho won the six-pack challenge a couple weeks ago, guaranteeing him the be the final entrant. There was no need for that.
- Come on, WWE. How is being kicked from the ring apron and onto the floor any different from being tossed over the top rope and onto the floor? If anything, it should be worse to be tossed over the top rope because there’s a further height to fall from. That seemed like a pretty petty thing to base an ‘injury’ storyline around. I won’t knock it until I see where its going, but I don’t like it so far.

Beth Phoenix def. Tamina, retaining the Divas Championship:
WHAT I LIKED: Yes. Yes. Yes. This is a divas match that I can really get behind. Near-falls. Bumps. Technical wrestling. Actual competition. Is this really so hard to do on even a semi-consistent basis? Just every other PPV, if anything.
WHAT I HATED: Does anyone know who Tamina’s father is? I stopped watching for one minute and the announcers forgot to tell me… again… and again.
- Is Tamina tougher than Jericho? I mean, she took pretty much the same fall off the apron as Jericho did and she still returned to the match.

Daniel Bryan wins the Smackdown Elimination Chamber, retaining the World Heavyweight Championship:
WHAT I LIKED: Khali had no business being in this match from the start. I’m glad he wasn’t in the match for long. Now he can go back to his extended vacation.
- Well, not that’s the Big Show! What a sequence. I did not expect that. I can’t think of anyone else who has ever broken into one of the chamber pods.
- The MVP of this match was Wade Barrett. He showed the same intensity that The Miz showed in the RAW Elimination Chamber match. That shot to the head of Daniel Bryan was so devastating to see that the announcers and the audience didn’t know what to say or how to react.
- YES! YES! YES! WORLD CHAMPION! Daniel Bryan will not only enter Wrestlemania as the World Heavyweight Champion, but he also finally won a title match cleanly. Sure, it was against Santino Marella, but I’ll take what I can get.
- I was all ready to call this match boring (which 90% of it was), but then the sequence between Big Show & Daniel Bryan occurred. That and the final showdown between Bryan and Santino kept this match from entering the HATED category.
WHAT I HATED: Ugh. I guess Santino Marella will be a part of this match. I was hoping for a swerve of some kind, but I guess not. You mean to tell me neither Christian, Mark Henry or Alberto Del Rio was healthy enough to compete? They looked healthy to me.
- I don’t see how Big Show’s elimination via Cody Rhodes helps him at all. I thought for sure they were pushing him hard towards Wrestlemania, but that was sort of a weak elimination. It’s another one of those ‘wait and see’ moments, but I can’t see much good coming from this.
- As much as LIKED Sheamus coming out to attack Daniel Bryan after the match, I would much have rathered they waited until RAW tomorrow night for Sheamus to pick his Wrestlemania opponent. Not that it was any surprise whatsoever that he’d pick the World Title – what with the WWE Championship match pretty much already set in stone.

Jack Swagger def. Justin Gabriel, retaining the United States Championship:
WHAT I LIKED: I picked Justin Gabriel to be the breakout star of 2012 in the forum. So, this match is good for his exposure.
WHAT I HATED: Impromptu matches. I hate ‘em. Are you seriously telling me that nobody saw the fallacy of going into a PPV with only four matches on the card? Did they really think that would fill a three hour timeslot? BOOK. MORE. MATCHES. It’s that simple.
- What is this, an episode of Smackdown? A match born from a farting segment. That’s gotta be a new low.

John Cena def. Kane:
WHAT I LIKED: …
WHAT I HATED: This is not a main event match. I don’t know why they’re treating it like it is. No way both Elimination Chamber matches should’ve occurred before this match. WWE is pretty much burying both of their World Titles in favor of John Cena. He doesn’t even have to be in the championship match to be the main event.
- That’s it? After everything WWE put into this match, it was just a return of SUPERCENA and a squash. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

QUOTE OF THE NIGHT: “He’s gonna be jittering all over the place.” – Booker T (about David Otunga and his coffee thermos)
Oh, the connotations…
What was that whole segment for anyway? Aside from being a time-killer, of course. It was nice to see Christian and Alberto Del Rio make their returns but if it wasn’t to join the Elimination Chamber match, then I couldn’t really give a damn. And then the picture? It would’ve been nice if somebody made a reference to ‘those with flash photography,’ but nothing at all. What a waste.

I was not entertained during this PPV at all. There’s gotta be a problem when the most memorable match of the night is the Divas match. I don’t know who booked this PPV, but they should be reprimanded on the spot. You’d think that with all the talk about PPV buyrates on the decline that they’d do something to make a PPV watchable, but no. I can’t see many people rushing out to order Wrestlemania after seeing this. I’m not.

Stars Tagged In This Post:
Alberto Del Rio, Beth Phoenix, Big Show, Booker T, Christian, CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, Daniel Bryan, David Otunga, Edge, Elimination Chamber, Jack Swagger, John Cena, Justin Gabriel, Kane, Mark Henry, MVP, R-Truth, RAW, Santino Marella, Sheamus, SmackDown, The Miz, Wade Barrett, WrestleMania, WWE