A Terrific Chamber!

So last night was Elimination Chamber, the final stop on the road to Wrestlemania and man did it in impress in my opinion!

It all started with the WWE Championship Chamber. My support was on Ziggler throughout.

Unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be, but while in the match he performed brilliantly as well as taking some great hits to the steel grating being thrown over the ropes multiple times throughout.

Punk and Kofi started the match off in a great opener, Dolph was first to join in showing off his skills, Truth next who didn’t really leave a great impact on the match, and he was eliminated first by CM Punk.

Miz entered next and soon found himself in the Anaconda Vice. It looked to be all over for the Awesome Superstar when Jericho entered and Punk and Jericho came face to face.

The two men became the focus fighting hard and giving us a preview of what may come at Mania.

Ziggler came back into the fray to receive a Code Breaker from Jericho, Eliminating him from the match.

A beaten down Kofi who may have bleeding, (ref stuck some medical gloves on, either someone was bleeding or he was about to give someone a rectal exam.) came back into play flying off the top of a pod onto Miz and Punk, but was soon wrapped up in a painful looking Walls of Jericho. With Jericho’s knee in the back of his head Kofi had no choice but to tap.

The punishment didn’t end there though as Jericho continued to punish the man until he finally chucked him out the Chamber.

Just as the door was closing Jericho received a kick to the head from Punk, sending him out of the Chamber and knocking a camera man down with the door.

At first this all looked like part of the act but then as it dragged out it seemed more real. EMT’s came down to check on Jericho as the replays where repeated from various angles. It was then that you can see that Jericho did hit his head pretty hard on his way down. He was obviously meant to fall out but maybe not land in the way he did.

A slightly lost Punk contemplated how to play this out until things finally moved on.

Jericho was ruled out of the match leaving Miz and Punk to fight it out and after a few close calls it was Punk that walked away victorious.

Later we saw Josh Matthews back stage with Jericho in the background being still attended to by the medics.

So the main thing on my mind is, was this a legit injury or a very well performed piece in the match? If it is a real injury I don’t think it was overly serious as Jericho wasn’t taken to any nearby medical facilities or Hospital and was attended to at the arena.

Hopefully it will turn out to be a minor concussion, weather real or scripted, and therefore won’t affect the storyline too badly and leaving our hopes for Jericho vs. Punk at Mania intact.

Next up came a quite impressive and long Divas match between two of the top Women in WWE today.

Beth Phoenix and Tamina put together a great filler match, best Divas match of recent years. Unfortunately the crowd didn’t hold it up being there usual quiet and boring selves and it made this impressive contest seem lacklustre.

The match saw some solid wrestling, some out of ring action as well as a Tamina flying off the turnbuckle and a Glam Slam from Beth.

Tamina’s flight from the top landed flush but Beth kicked out, a Glam Slam later and Beth retains her Divas title hopefully lining up a Kharma vs. Beth Mania match.

Before the second Chamber match we had a special announcement from John Laurinaitis. It wasn’t an announcement though it was a group of Heel Wrestlers appealing for John to be both Raw and Smackdown GM. Superstars that appeared to support John were Alberto Del Rio, Mark Henry and Christian.

With David Otunga already present the men spoke about how they would want Teddy out and John in as SmackDown GM as well as Raw. Otunga then used his phone snap a picture of the group that soon appeared on Twitter and wwe.com.

Then we entered the oddest Chamber matches we have ever seen yet an exciting one. Throughout the event back stage clips have been shown promoting Santino Marella in a Rocky Balboa style to the music of former Superstar Eugene. That being said it didn’t really promote him well as it was quite silly but once we got to the match all that was forgotten.

The match started with Wade Barrett and Big Show, first to join them was Cody Rhodes turning things into a Triple Threat giving us all high hopes for any of these guys to win.

Next in was the underdog, the shocker entry from a SmackDown Battle Royal, Santino Marella.

He didn’t get eliminated but he didn’t do much else as he was quickly squashed and put on the side line for most of the match.

Khali was next in and was first out as Big Show took the Punjabi Playboy out with a well-placed spear.

By now Show had enough of waiting and wanted Daniel Bryan and wasn’t waiting till his pod opened.

Big Show climbed the turnbuckle in front of Bryans pod then attempted to reach inside but of course was stopped by the chains. So what was the simple solution? Well obviously to rip them chains and climb inside anyway, which Big Show did. Big Show climbed into Bryans pod and pounded on the Champ as the countdown played and the pod door opened giving the men some room to fight.

It didn’t take long though for Bryan to end up back in the pod he came from as Show throws the man through the now closed door breaking the glass and landing back inside.

Bryan was then saved for now by Barrett who with the help of Cody was able to remove the big man from the match. It was then that Marella jumped in and with a sneak roll up took out Rhodes to leaving Bryan, Barrett and Marella.

Barrett removed Santino back to the side lines and turned his focus to Bryan who received an awkward Power Bomb into the chained wall and then sat on a turnbuckle and his head bashed into the glass of the pod behind him.

Marella suddenly returned to life taking Wade’s attention away from the champ, once the two men were down Bryan flue from the top turnbuckle with a Chris Benoit style head-butt to Wade and Marella crawled in for the cover eliminating the Brit.

So it was down to the most unlikely of all people Santino Marella and Daniel Bryan in what was an amazing ending to the match.

The crowd was on fire as all support was on Santino and I was on the edge of my seat wanting the impossible to happen.

It was a close one as the two men put on a great show filled with Santinos flair and style and the appearance of the Cobra.

The Cobra actually hit Bryan making it look like it was all over, the crowd were going wild as the Ref counted but it wasn’t meant to be as Bryan kicked out at the last minute.

Santino was in shock and before he knew it Bryan had twisted him, Cobra and all, into the LeBell lock. Santino put up a hell of a fight and the crowd was going wild as he struggled to escape and almost did but on this night it just wasn’t meant to be, Santino was forced to tap.

Even though he didn’t win Santino showed that his in ring skills were up to par with those top superstars, if it wasn’t for his silly gimmicks he would be there more often. I hope he continues heading up the ladder to success.

It wasn’t over for Bryan though as Sheamus came to the ring laid out Bryan with a Celtic Cross, signalling his opponent for April 1^st.

After an impromptu and pointless, crowd killing US Title match between Justin Gabriel and Jack Swagger we headed into the main event.

The Ambulance match between Kane and John Cena, a match with an absolutely obvious ending that if you didn’t see coming you are blinded by what you want to happen, instead of thinking of what will happen.

Even though we all knew Cena would win the road to that moment was an entertaining one. The two men fought from the ring to the ambulance, through the crowd, around the announcers table and back again.

Key moments were a monitor to Kane’s head followed by the steel steps, John Cena receiving a Choke Slam through the Spanish Announcers table, (is it ever there for anything else?) and Kane being thrown from the top of the Ambulance via an Attitude Adjustment. Obviously from the way he flew and sound on his landing said that Kane landed on either a crash mat or a load of Card board boxes which the fans on the nearby stands should of got a good look of so I am keeping my eyes out for pictures on the web.

It was the Attitude Adjustment that took the monster down, dragging his body back Cena threw the Big Red Machine in the back of the Ambulance closed the doors and sent it away.

The final image of the night being Cena pointing at the Wrestlemania sign as we should now start the build-up for Rock vs. Cena.

I rate this PPV 4 out of 5 stars, it was a great show and entertained throughout but whenever a Chamber, Cell, or Cage is involved I feel that there should some R rated content which of course we don’t get, that will always cost them at least half a star in my books.

Undertaker on Raw

Word is that Undertaker will be on tonight’s Raw and most probably sporting his new look, from what I’m told the man is completely bald. How will this affect the fans though? Can we relate to it? I am hoping we will be greeting the more Human side of the Undertaker character as he hopefully turns back into Bad Ass Undertaker or at least something close to it.

Questions for you.

What did you think of the event?

Do you think Jericho is or was Injured?

Predictions for Mania?

What will be the result of Undertakers new look?

That’s all for now Matty.D signing off.

Elimination Chamber This Sunday!

So the last PPV stop on the Road to Wrestlemania is creeping upon us as Elimination Chamber is just under one week away.

So with that let’s have a look at the matches announced so far.

Divas Championship

Beth Phoenix vs. Tamina Snuka

For once this is a Divas match that actually includes two women who can actually perform and wrestle well.

We should be in for a pretty decent contest for once as both of them are among the top Divas in the WWE alongside, Natalya and Kharma.

Unfortunately the result is predictable, over recent weeks Beth has been saying how she is the most dominant Diva in WWE and that she will never lose the Divas Title. All this is an obvious build up to a Wrestlemania match between Beth and recently returned Diva, Kharma (Awesome Kong).

For once we are in a period of Divas wrestling that may be half way decent.

With that being said though the other top Diva in the Company, Natalya, has been knocked in to a fart joke storyline.

It’s terrible to see such great talent, a 2^nd Generation Diva, pull down to a fart gag.

I don’t know what WWE are thinking with this but it’s absolutely terrible.

Kane vs. John Cena

Ambulance Match

This will be the final encounter between these two in this storyline that really has resulted in nothing. John Cena will not lose, and will not embrace the hate, no matter how much we want him to.

It’s obvious that they are going to pack this story in and start to focus on the John Cena, Rock build up.

The story has basically fallen apart anyway, and the whole Kane messing around with Zack and Eve has become too much and just needs to come to an end.

Last night on Raw, Kane tried to kidnap Eve in an Ambulance, failed and Eve kissed Cena in front of Zack.

Zack then obviously blamed Cena and faced him in the ring later, (watching Zack “Hobble” down the ramp on his crunches was painful.) Zack slapped Cena and it looked like Cena was going to retaliate, but all he did though was push him to the ground. Zack then returned to his wheel chair at the top of the ramp to then have Kane appear and shove Zack and chair off the staging.

Cena then ran to his aide and called in the EMT’s who just so happen to be standing behind the Titantron about 2 feet away.

They were followed by Eve who once again knelt down next to the downed Zack with forced tears.

Same shit different day, and it’s about time it came to an end.

SmackDown Elimination Chamber

World Heavyweight Chamionship

Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton, Big Show, Cody Rhodes, The Great Khali and Wade Barrett.

Daniel Bryan continues his slow turn to the Heel side, trying to dodge matches and escape by the skin of his teeth by using excuses or pitching other members of the Elimination Chamber match  against each other.

Really Bryan shouldn’t be able to walk out of the Chamber with the belt but in all likelihood he will escape still holding the gold.

Not that I would complain as it would be good to see the match that was removed last year’s Mania of Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan.

On the other hand I wouldn’t have a problem with Sheamus vs. Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes or Randy Orton epically if Cody gets to hold both Intercontinental and World Titles at the same time.

There is no chance that Khali will win, he is filler for the injured Mark Henry, and Big Show just isn’t a favoured Superstar.

Raw Elimination Chamber

WWE Championship

CM Punk, Chris Jericho, R-Truth, Kofi Kingston, The Miz and Dolph Ziggler

On the Raw side of things the big focus is on CM Punk and Chris Jericho. Yes the big build up to the end of the world as we know it did end up leading to nothing and the world as we know it still exesits, but it doesn’t mean we aren’t going to get the match we deserve.

Chris Jericho vs. CM Punk, Best in the World vs. Best in the World at Wrestlemania is where all this should be leading. I guess the question is whether there will be a Championship between them?

Either Jericho or Punk will win at Elimination Chamber making the obvious co-main event for Mania, or on the other hand someone else could take the WWE Title, and after a rematch on Raw which Punk would lose, maybe due to inference from Jericho, the rivalry between Punk and Jericho could really kick off with the main aspect being who is the Best in the World?

I think I would prefer that as it would make a more personal rivalry. So if that is to happen who would be the perfect person to take the WWE Title? My money would be on Miz or Ziggler. But then who would they face, who is big enough to make a main event match? Maybe Truth vs. Ziggler, or Miz? Maybe if he gets pushed Kofi Kingston?

I guess only time will tell.

So those are all the announced matches, for some fillers we should see some back stage promos and maybe an impromptu Tag team bout with Champs Primo and Epico or Jack Swagger may come along to defend his US Title.

Undertaker Message.

Last night on Raw Shawn Michaels made his return to try and convince Triple H to accept the Mania match against Undertaker.

The promo was brilliant but it did all lead to the eventual refusal once again but with great reasoning. Triple H pointed out that him and Undertaker is all that’s left of their era, and if he takes Taker out that would signal the end of that great time. If you didn’t see the promo go watch it, it was a great segment between the two Legends and its making the build-up to Mania quite interesting.

Shawn left after the refusal followed by Triple H. Just as he was about to leave the ring though the Gong sounded and a promo video played.

The video showed clips form Undertakers last match 1 year ago, then Taker sitting in a throne watching it projected onto a wall in front of him.

Undertaker then stands and approaches a wall covered in pictures and newspaper clippings related to last year.

Taker then removes his hat and his voice sounds saying, “This is not over, Vengeance, I will get what I want.”

He then begins to cut his hair, we see the hair fall to the ground and a close up of his eye.

The video cuts there and we see Triple H staring up at the screen, a stern look on his face.

The promo ends and we cut to an ad break.

What does this mean then? Cutting the hair? Getting what he wants? Vengeance? Is he reverting back to a more human character such as the days of Bad Ass Undertaker, Dead Man Inc.?

In my opinion that does make some sense. Something I’ve said for the last 3 or 4 years when questioning whether or not Undertaker will end it is the fact that it would be best done in a more human state, a state that allows him to acknowledge and thank his fans without having to act like death.

Hopefully he will revile his new or maybe old look next week on Raw when hopefully he will confront Triple H again.

This has got me very interested and I am looking forward to seeing how this all plays out.

Questions for you.

Looking forward to Elimination Chamber, or is it looking to predictable?

What are your thoughts on the Undertaker promo?

Well that’s all for now Matty.D signing off.

Daniel Bryan is the World Heavyweight Champion!

That’s right last night at the conclusion of Big Show vs. Mark Henry, Bryan cashed in his Money in the Bank and stole the world title away, not from Mark but from Big Show.

Show had finally won the world title for the first time in about 9 years to be knocked out by Mark and then have his gold snatched away by Daniel Bryan.

The event itself was good but it did seem to miss some chaos that we are used to on this sort of PPV.

The event kicked off with Zack Ryder taking on US Champion Dolph Ziggler in what was a great opening contest.

The Long Island Ice Z finally got his shot and finally walked away with the US Title his first singles championship in WWE. Zack’s future is looking bright but let’s hope he doesn’t burn out like John Cena did.

After that match we cut back stage to Booker talking to Alicia Fox and getting attacked by Cody.

Cody obviously trying to avoid the match later in the night or just making sure Booker is not at 100%.

Next was a Tag Team match for the WWE Tag Titles finally seeing AirBoom back in action after Evan’s suspension.

On screen it looks like it would be any normal match but a lot may have been hanging in the balance other than the titles.

As Evan had been recently suspended for failing the drug test WWE may not have wanted to keep him with a title and push him down the cards, this could of lead to the removal of AirBoom and also Kofi suffering as well. If AirBoom were to lose at TLC all of that could have happened. Luckily AirBoom did win and retain the Tag Titles.

With their new T-Shirts and other merchandise the future of AirBoom may be bright.

Their opponents, Primo and Epico also looked to have a future in the Tag division performing well and showing classic style and personality. Rosa Mendez is also a welcome addition to the team. Looks like Hunico or Sin Cara Negro has been dropped from this story and pushed down the cards to Superstars as his main rival is out on injury.

Next was a pretty good Tables match between Wade Barrett and The Viper Randy Orton.

It was a good back and forth contest but it was Randy who took the win with a surprise RKO as Wade jumped from the turnbuckle to slam Randy through a table below him. Randy’s Snake like reflexes came into play as he sprang from the table catching Barrett and coming down in an RKO causing Barrett’s legs to go through table.

Not the most brilliant of endings but acceptable.

Beth Phoenix emerged next to take on former Divas Champ Kelly Kelly.

A much better Divas contest again seeing another longer than usual match up and both Kelly and Beth shone through out.

The ending was a bit messy but Beth came out the victor.

Booker T made his way to the ring next to once again in be jumped by Cody and be taken to the back by trainers. The match looked like it would never happen.

With that match once again on hold we move into the Sledgehammer Ladder match between Triple H and Kevin Nash which was a match that really did show its age.

Kevin Nash being in his early 50s and Triple H being early 40s neither are in their prime, this showed more on Kevin than it did Triple H. If this match was being fought just a few years prior the limits could have been pushed further and I would have found it more entertaining, but it just lacked that buzz that the two men used to bring back in the day.

Triple H was the man to grab the Sledge and use it on Kevin, after a pedigree and another hit from the hammer Triple H took the win.

Earlier in the night Jack and Sheamus had a promo resulting in the next match. It was nothing special but was entertaining, a good way of showcasing both men and put a push on Sheamus further up the ranks as he won with a boot to Jacks face.

Mark Henry went head to head with Big Show next which would be there third encounter.

Big Show “hurt” his hand early on being played out well by the big man and became Marks focus of the match.

The match was short and lacked buzz but Big Show took the win after still being able to knock Mark out with the injured hand.

During celebration Mark attacks Big Show and DDT’s show onto a pile of Chairs. The crowd saw it coming as chants for Daniel Bryan came from the front row. Daniel was down the ramp quick as lighting and cashed in on the downed Big Show, no work needed just a quick pin and Big Show’s title reign came to an end before it even began.

Big Show stayed in the ring stunned but didn’t seem angry, but Bryan may have just put himself between a rock and a hard place a Triple Threat for the World Title maybe in the foreseeable future maybe even a Fatal 4 Way depending on what happens with Kane.

Booker T was then shown backstage saying he will still go ahead with his match. So next up is the young vs. old, Cody vs. Booker T.

Even with the two attacks Bookers character didn’t show much of the effects and Bookers performance was just as good as it has ever been.

Booker did lose to the second generation star but let’s hope he stays in the ring and off the announcers table.

Lastly was an interesting Triple Threat TLC match for the WWE Title. In my opinion it did lack that buzz again but it was a good match that saw some rather unique moments.

During the match Ricardo tried to climb a ladder and retrieve the title on behalf of Alberto Del Rio. He was cut short by CM Punk, after being stopped though Ricardo handcuffed Punk to the Ladder, Alberto then attempted to climb the ladder and CM Punk was forced to break the ladder in a way of escape and stopped Del Rio in the process.

Now free from the ladder Punk spent the rest of the match wearing the handcuff which became a handy weapon.

Later Punk found himself handcuffed to the second turnbuckle of the ring by the Miz, while stuck in his predicament Alberto and Miz attempt to retrieve the Belt. CM Punk’s only way of freeing himself was to remove the turnbuckle altogether, which he did.

As Del Rio and Miz fought atop two ladders Punk undid the turnbuckle as quickly as possible, as soon as it was undone the second rope flopped to the mat and Punk made a dash up the ladders.

He stopped Miz and Alberto sending them back to the mat and then climbed down and gave Miz a GTS.

Quickly back up the ladder and the Title stays with CM Punk.

A great end to this PPV.

Overall I give this a 3.5 out of 5 stars, although it was a solid PPV it still lacked a buzz and chaos that we are used to for this style of PPV.

2012

Now 2012 is just round the corner and the date looms for the return of a Superstar, or someone else.

I have been doing some looking around seeing what people’s theories and predictions are and 3 in particular stand out.

The most obvious one is Chris Jericho, relating to the wording and his original entrance to the WWE as Y2J as 2000 was meant to be the end and everyone was on about Y2K. The (Y)ear 2012 (2)nd of (J)anuary in the video is claimed to be the end of the world as we know it, and he will come back and claim what is his. Other videos mention best in the world which is what he claimed to be. So maybe he will come to claim that name from CM Punk who is the current best in the world as well as the WWE title?

Theory number 2 is Batista. One of the passages read in the one of the clips is from what is called the Leviathan which was one of Batista’s early ring names.

The last theory, and most unlikely is Shane McMahon and the end of the PG era. The little girl that is in the latest video is meant to tell us when this person will arrive, who could that little girl be representing? Signs could point to Stephanie and there for the person being bought back maybe Shane. Claiming what is his could be in regards to him being the true heir to WWE and taking it back from Triple H and/or John Laurinaitis. Bringing the end to the world as we know it may refer to the end to the PG Era.

All of the above is theory and are rumours from across the web and nothing is of course confirmed.

That being said in my opinion I think it will be Chris Jericho as he is the most obvious even though he has said that he is in Hawaii on the date.

Questions for you.

So what did you think of TLC?

What are your theories on the 2012 return?

Well this will be my last blog of the year so I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New (Y)ear, we wait to see what (2)012 will bring and I will see you in (J)anuary.

Matty.D signing off for 2011!