Hello Folks, how are y’all doing this week? I thought Raw was pretty disappointing. There were far too many video packages, which I had the privilege of skipping through. There wasn’t enough wrasslin’ but stats show that there is a declining amount of wrestling taking place on Raw now. There was 27 minutes 29 seconds of in-ring action which was down from last week. Maybe creative got tired and forgot to book some matches OR maybe it’s the fact that Triple H spent the opening of Raw showing two Undertaker video packages and trying to heavily enforce the fact that he “carried” the Undertaker at last year’s WrestleMania and to think people thought HHH had a big ego?! PFFT!

This week and next week I will be looking at the Elimination Chamber! This takes place on the 19th of February and personally is one of my favourite speciality matches the WWE has to offer. The Rumble as we all know from my mark out story is my favourite speciality match. I would probably consider the Elimination Chamber somewhat better than the Hell In A Cell match, simply because I feel that WWE have watered the HIAC down too much. You might say the same thing about the Elimination Chamber, but for me I feel the EC offers more excitement. I’m not gonna spend this article telling you the rules of the EC because I’m sure all you smarks know already and I’m sure Michael Cole will do a bad job at explaining the rules in the next week. I won’t know how bad he will do at that because I’ve took to switching my ears off whenever Cole talks… Believe me, it’s a useful trait! :p

Today I’m going to be looking at 5 of the greatest Elimination Chamber photos to ever grace your eyes; let’s start.

Survivor Series 2002
In Madison Square Garden; one of the greatest arenas in the world and the one that WWE that is most fond of. The match took place between Triple H (who was champion) vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho vs. RVD vs. Booker T vs. Kane for the World Heavyweight Championship. Eric Bischoff was credited as the Elimination Chamber creator therefore it only seemed fitting that the then Raw GM came out to explain the match rules and structure. I hated Bischoff but he was a heel for the most part of his career (maybe all of it, I’m unsure about that one) therefore hating him was only normal. Now that I think about him I remember that he was better than some (maybe most) of the wrestlers backstage at gaining heat with the crowds. I wonder what he’s up to these days? Anyways, the match was a spectacle because it looked so foreign but worked so well. One of the things many remember about this match was Shawn Michaels’ hideous hair cut and his awkward colour of tights. Shawn said in his book how his dressmaker (not an actually dress but damnit I don’t know what else to describe it as) had failed to complete the tights in time therefore he had no other option but to wear these manure coloured tights. I know I have had this photo in one of my articles before but it’s just too damn good a picture to leave out when talking about the EC. Shawn won the match after 39 minutes by giving Hunter a Sweet Chin Music and covering him for the win.

Elimination Chamber 2010

The Elimination Chamber 2010 PPV marked the start of the PPV gimmick for the EC match. The WWE no longer wanted to use No Way Out as the PPV name therefore like Money in the Bank & TLC PPV they changed the name of the PPV to that of the match speciality. Sheamus went into this match as champion, defending his title (as Vince McMahon only likes it referred to as) against Triple H, Randy Orton, John Cena, Ted DiBiase and Kofi Kingston. This photo has a lot of irony about it because John Cena actually won it (surprise surprise) therefore the roles of this photo were completely reversed at the end of the match. But fear not, John Cena needn’t get suited to his reign because moments later Mr McMahon would order a new championship match to take place and soon after Batista’s music erupted. The new champion Cena was forced to compete in a match after only winning the belt… I mean title! Batista won in 31 seconds crowning him the new champion. Hooray! Batista would then defend his title against Cena at WrestleMania the following month and I’m sure you can all guess who won that one… no seriously, guess now. After my emotional mark out story last week and my Wrestling Rambles comment picture you should know that Sheamus is my favourite therefore any photo like this will have me smiling from ear to ear. SHEAMUS > cena.

Still on the Elimination Chamber 2010 PPV as we now look at events that were soon to influence how much we love WrestleMania 26. The SmackDown elimination chamber included champion The Undertaker defending his title against CM Punk (who may I remind you all is the best in the world), Chris Jericho (who may I remind you all is the best in the world at everything he does but really is best in the world at everything EXCEPT rock music), Rey Mysterio, John Morrison and R-Truth. Jericho would win the match but it would only be because of The Heartbreak Kid who kindly gave The Undertaker a Sweet Chin Music that would cost The Undertaker his championship belt which allowed Taker to change his mind and give the WrestleMania rematch from the year before go ahead. I loved this storyline because the first encounter between these two at the 25th WrestleMania was amazing and everyone wanted a rematch, but when Taker turned down Shawn’s request it was up to Shawn to take out all the stops in order for Undie to change his mind and we all thank Taker for accepting. Triple H could only wish his matches with Undertaker at WrestleMania could be half as good as HBK/Undertaker.

Elimination Chamber 2011

The Elimination Chamber 2011 PPV was one of my favourites last year simply because of the two EC matches. Both matches were great to watch. The first one I will look at will be the RAW EC match because I don’t think it was as good as the SmackDown one which is somewhat surprising but also a pleasing opinion. The 2011 RAW Elimination Chamber match was for an opportunity to headline WrestleMania against WWE Champion The Miz. The superstars included in this match were: John Morrison, Sheamus, R-Truth, CM Punk, Randy Orton and John Cena. Unsurprisingly John Cena was booked to win this chamber match. The match lasted 33 minutes and the last two superstars were John Cena and CM Punk who would also go on that year to claim one of the best matches of the year at MiTB. The best spot in this match was when the human Spiderman John Morrison scaled the side of the chamber and continued his way up to the centre of the roof. From there John Morrison landed a crossbody on Sheamus to eliminate him. In the photo you can see John Morrison perched at the top of the chamber looking down at Sheamus moments before he launched himself down onto the Irish Warrior Sheamoose. John Morrison’s moment of fame ended when CM Punk gave him a GTS and eliminated him shortly after the Sheamus elimination and Punk’s time was up shortly after that when Cena gave him an Attitude Adjustment.

The SmackDown Elimination Chamber was better or more exciting for me personally. For this chamber match the World Heavyweight Championship was on the line as Edge the current champion successfully defended his championship against Rey Mysterio, Wade Barrett, Kane, Drew McIntyre and Big Show. Edge and Mysterio started the match of in great style; I always thought these two had great chemistry together and I wasn’t wrong either.  Wade Barrett would enter next, followed by Kane, who would then be followed by Drew McIntyre and then Big Show. The Big Show would first eliminate Wade Barrett but would then find himself targeted by the other chamber participants and would then be eliminated by a Kane chokeslam. Drew McIntyre wouldn’t progress much further than the Big Show as Kane replicated the chokeslam this time on McIntyre eliminating him in the process. Kane would then find himself next to be eliminated as he received a spear from Edge, despite Mysterio being on Kane’s shoulder. This then left Mysterio and Edge in the ring together. When you start something you have to be sure you can end it and these two certainly ended what they started, and in great fashion too! Edge would first hit a spear on Rey which Rey kicked out off; Rey then hit Edge with a 619 which Edge kicked out off. Rey followed up with another 619, climbing the top rope Rey jumped and was met with a mid-air spear which allowed Edge to successfully retain the title.

Let’s hope that the Elimination Chamber next Sunday can top these Elimination Chambers that I have looked at today. Although, with the Great Khali being in the SmackDown EC I’m not pinning my hopes on the SD EC. The line-up for the RAW EC looks better to me and let’s hope that Kofi Kingston can do one better than John Morrison in the 2011 RAW EC.

—————————————————————————————————————–

EXTRAS:

——————————————————————————————————————-

EXTRAS:

That’s all from me this week, hope you had fun looking at the photos and watching the videos. Make sure to vote on the two polls about Kofi Kingston, let’s get discussion discussing.

Thanks,
-Ry
Continue the discussion by sharing your opinions about my views, my articles or anything wrestling related at @Razor_WWE94