WWE Elimination Chamber 2012 Review
February 21, 2012
By Nigel Doughty
Raw Elimination Chamber Match
This was surprisingly the opening match of the night, but also probably the match of the night. Every wrestler in the chamber gave their all. Only downside was having R Truth eliminated so early in the match, but the match itself was handled well. Jericho’s beatdown of Kofi Kingston, and subsequent ‘elimination’ were highlights – adding fuel to the Punk/Jericho rivalry as Jericho can now claim he was never actually eliminated. Nice setup for their Wrestlemania match.
4.5/5
Beth Phoenix vs Tamina Snuka
Hallelujah! Finally a decent women’s match. Beth and Tamina really have great chemistry together, and were able to put together a decent match. Each came out looking very strong from this one. It was great to see the women being given some decent air time, but also showing what they can do with their time if allowed. One of the best women’s matches in years.
4/5
John Laurinaitis Segment
A pointless segment that could have been saved for Raw or Smackdown. Obviously a time filler – although this time could have been used to extend other matches (see below). Waste of time.
0.5/5
Santino Segments
Special mention to the vignettes showing Santino training for the Chamber match. Great riff on Rocky which saw Santino drinking raw eggs, and using the cobra against a slab of meat. Very entertaining.
4/5
Smackdown Elimination Chamber
This match was better than expected. Slow to start though with Barrett and Big Show starting the match. I expected this to be quite boring, but once Cody Rhodes entered the match, business picked up. Big Show breaking into Daniel Bryan’s chamber and Santino being the last man eliminated were certainly highlighted – especially Cody Rhodes’ reaction to being eliminated by Santino. This may even be the start of a push for Santino. WWE did what they could with this match (given Smackdown injuries) and it was a decent match. Sheamus beating down Daniel Bryan to declare his intention to go for the WHC not really surprising, but did not diminish the match in anyway.
3.5/5
Jack Swagger vs Justin Gabriel – US Title
This was a filler match which was added after words were exchanged backstage. These guys were not given enough time to work a decent match, but did what they could. Like the Laurinaitis segment, this could have been saved for Smackdown where they may have had more time.
2/5
John Cena vs Kane – Ambulance Match
Unlike their Rumble match, it just did not seem to click for these two. Nothing seemed to flow well at all, and some of the moves seemed forced. Hard to pick out any decent parts from this match – Cena was smiling throughout this match – not the reaction you expect from someone who’s best friend was thrown off a ramp a few days prior, and Kane’s chokeslam through the announce table was weak at best. Very bad way to finish of the PPV.
1/5
Overall
The PPV started off the right way by having a chamber match, and for the first half, maybe two-thirds, this was a decent PPV, but was dragged down by the last two matches, and the John Laurinaitis segment. Might have been better to finish with the Smackdown chamber match – with Sheamus standing tall to close the night.
3/5