Which Brand has the Stronger Elimination Chamber Match?
February 19, 2012
By Nigel Doughty
The Elimination Chamber PPV is just around the corner, and both Raw and Smackdown have announced their line ups for this match. In the red corner we have C M Punk defending against Chris Jericho, The Miz, R Truth, Kofi Kingston and Dolph Ziggler. In the blue corner we have Daniel Bryan defending against The Big Show, The Great Khali, Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes and Wade Barrett. Each of these have weak links, but which has the stronger match?
If we look at the Raw participants – C M Punk is a proven quantity, as is Chris Jericho, and their feud has started developing in preparation for their rumoured match at Wrestlemania. However, the remaining participants as it stands at the moment are mid to upper card at best. That is not to say that they will never be main event, but they are not quite ready for that.
Ziggler, although has proved that he can carry almost anyone to a good match, is not quite at the level he needs to be, but he will be very soon, with many people predicting him to be champion by the end of the year.
The Miz has already been champ, but his reign was not a convincing one, and many blame him for the slump in ratings. R Truth and Kingston have not had the correct tv time, nor the right character, to be able to develop into main star status. They may be good as ‘filler’ stars for the time being, but they are not ready for the big time just yet.
For the Smackdown chamber, we have Orton and Big Show who are proven quantities, although Show tends to only be used to put over other stars. Cody Rhodes and Wade Barratt are certainly on their way to being main event players in the very near future, and they are getting the backing of WWE management to enable their respective pushes.
The Great Khali is a star who, like the Big Show, tends to only be brought forward to push other stars. Unlike Big Show though, Khali has very little in terms of in ring or microphone skills.
This leaves the current World Heavyweight Champion, Daniel Bryan. Like the Miz, his reign has not been convincing – but this has been done purposely as Bryan has been developed onto the heel that keeps the title regardless of the odds, and many fans seem to be liking the run he is having.
So which is the stronger match? On paper, the Raw Elimination Chamber has the wrestlers to give an exciting match – and contains 2 feuds that are in progress (CM Punk and Jericho, Miz and R Truth), however anything can happen on the night, and you can be sure that both brands will pull out all stops to have the best match.