WWE Satan’s Prison – The Anthology Of The WWE’s Toughest Match
So I’ve just finished by review of the 3 disc, 9 hour PWG Sells Out Best Of set, and I’m feeling a little fatigued after spending a few days on a review which ended up being nearly 20 pages long. What am I choosing to follow that with? Another 3 disc, 9 hour set apparently. Remember, I’m spending the rest of 2010 on a mass of stuff I’ve got sitting on my shelves but never watched. In the pipeline I’ve got 5 TNA compilation DVD’s, every Dragon Gate USA release to date, the 10 disc Top 25 NOAH matches IVP Videos set, more PWG…and then we come to WWE, a promotion I haven’t really watched at all since 2005, but really turned started leaving behind in the winter of 2003/4 when I went to university. Top of the pile from Vince-land…would be this DVD set – which despite the weird title, apparently chronicles every Elimination Chamber Match to date, including the absolutely slaughtered ECW one from their 2006 ppv. I picked it up at an absolute bargain price whilst browsing eBay the other day…and since I still remember the excitement I felt in November 2002 whilst tuning in to the live Survivor Series broadcast to see the first ever Elimination Chamber Match, I thought I’d bump this one right up the list. From Survivor Series 2002 right through to, what I guess would be the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view event this year…this 3-disc set has every one. Admittedly I’ve only seen the first two so, I really don’t know what to expect, but I’m sure this represents great value for money. Say what you want about McMahon’s current PG product, but if they keep putting together swank compilation sets from their colossal back catalogue, they’ll still get at least SOME money from me. Your host for this one is Todd Grisham.
SIDENOTE – This is actually the UK release of this DVD. For some reason the ‘Satan’s Prison’ name was deemed inappropriate over here and the set was re-titled ‘Iron Will’. Hopefully that’s the only thing that’s different. Not sure what would be wrong with calling it the ‘Elimination Chamber Anthology’ or something. In fact, nowhere on the front of this DVD, amongst pictures of the likes of Undertaker, John Cena, Rey Mysterio, Triple H or Big Show gurning like they have some form of facial defect, does it even MENTION the fact that this is an Elimination Chamber compilation.
Rather cleverly they include Eric Bischoff’s promo ahead of the Survivor Series ’02 match, since he pretty much explains all the rules. The first four men go into the mini-chambers with “bullet-proof” glass panels etc, with a chamber opening every 5 minutes. The last two men introduced will start off. Eliminations can happen at any time – via pinfall or submission.
Triple H vs Shawn Michaels vs Chris Jericho vs Booker T vs Kane vs Rob Van Dam
Survivor Series 2002 (17th November 2002) – This was the very first EC match. It was the brainchild of RAW General Manager Eric Bischoff. Triple H comes in with the belt, in the middle of his infamous ‘Katie Vick’ run as World Champion, having been ‘given’ the World Championship by Eric Bischoff in September 2002. I think this was Shawn’s first match SINCE his first match back in that classic Street Fight with HHH at Summerslam. Kane and RVD had both fallen to HHH on ppv in the run in to this pay-per-view too. We’re in Madison Square Garden – commentary from JR and Jerry Lawler
Jericho comes in as one half of the RAW Tag Champions. Kane is still in a mask (but does have the terrific version of his theme music performed by Finger Eleven). Michaels has a girls haircut and ugly brown tights…and is in his first Survivor Series appearance since the infamous Montreal incident. HHH (who has Ric Flair in his corner) and Van Dam will start. There is a bit of an awkward hush as the bell rings, with the crowd not really knowing what to expect. HHH goes for an early Pedigree and gets backdropped onto the steel grating outside the ring. Van Dam throws him into the chains so hard that HHH almost busts through the door, busting the defending champion open. Rolling Thunder OVER the ropes, to HHH on the steel outside. He climbs up the chains onto the roof of Jericho’s chamber…but Y2J decides to grab his leg and preoccupy him. SOMERSAULT SENTON to the steel floor again! Next into the action is Jericho, who walks into a spinning heel kick from Van Dam who has been dominant thus far. RVD jumps at him…AND LANDS ON THE SIDE OF THE CHAMBER LIKE SPIDERMAN! He dives backwards into a plancha onto Jericho and gets a huge round of applause for that. In the end Triple H and Jericho decide it’s best to team up on a mutual enemy. Van Dam gets driven back-first into the chains repeatedly.
Ten minutes in, the next entrant is Booker. He clears the ring, which obviously means it’s time for an Elimination Chamber Spinaroonie. RVD and Booker trade heel kicks and nearfalls whilst Jericho and the bleeding HHH have some lying around time. Axe Kick on Triple H, but Y2J saves before Booker can pin. RVD capitalises…and climbs another chamber. FIVE STAR FROG SPLASH OFF THE CHAMBER! He ended up drilling a knee into HHH’s throat and gave him a legit injury there. Cool spot, but it ended up being another moment of career suicide for RVD. The move took so much out of Van Dam that he turns into a missile dropkick from Booker and is eliminated at 13:41. The New York fans HATE that. Booker avoids the Lionsault from Jericho and drops him with a spinebuster for 2. Kane is in now, with his first act being to throw Jericho THROUGH some of that ‘bullet-proof’ glass. Chokeslam on Booker, and the now-bleeding Jericho sneaks in to hit the Lionsault and eliminate him at 17:40. 20 minutes have now passed, and about ten seconds late, the clock counts down…in comes Shawn Michaels. Flying forearm for Kane, who retaliates by whipping Michaels into the turnbuckles. Chokeslam on HBK! Chokeslam on HHH! Chokeslam on Y2J! He tries to hoist HHH up for the Tombstone, but Hunter manages to shove him into a superkick from Michaels. PEDIGREE! LIONSAULT BY JERICHO! Kane is eliminated at 22:53. Just as they did with Van Dam earlier, Triple H and Jericho start double-teaming Michaels. Pretty soon Shawn is bleeding too.
He tries to piledrive Jericho on the steel, but ends up taking a back drop, his notoriously injured back crashing into the grating. Forearm on HHH, but just as Michaels looks like he’s getting some momentum going, Jericho wipes him out with a bulldog. LIONSAULT! But HBK kicks out. MOONSAULT PRESS FOR 2! WALLS OF JERICHO ON Y2J! But HHH takes the opportunity to DDT his nemesis for 2. Jericho and HHH come to blows over who gets to beat up Michaels as we approach 30 minutes. Pedigree countered to the Walls Of Jericho! SUPERKICK BY MICHAELS! Jericho is eliminated at 30:42, and it’s down to Triple H and Shawn Michaels for the World Championship. HHH goes straight to the spinebuster on the bad back for 2. Back body drop on the steel next! HBK tries a desperate Pedigree on the steel, but he ends up getting CATAPULTED through another one of those chambers! Michaels tries to swing some right hands, but takes a facebuster then another clothesline over the ropes to the steel floor. He still manages to block the Pedigree and sent Hunter into the chains again. Shawn to the top rope…then to the top of the chamber! ELBOW DROP OFF THE CHAMBER! He goes to the corner…SWEET CHIN MUSIC BLOCKED! PEDIGREE! But Triple H, who has been in since the very start, is too tired to cover. He finally does pin HBK but it took too long and Shawn gets a shoulder up. A second Pedigree is blocked. SWEET CHIN MUSIC! SHAWN WINS! NEW WORLD CHAMPION AT 39:20!
Rating - **** - Sure there were some moments were the wrestlers were visibly stalling, and some other times where we saw very apparent lulls in the action. But this is a fine example of what the WWE does very well. Whatever you think about the actual wrestling abilities of some of these men, you can’t deny that the WWE machine makes their fans CARE about what is going on in the ring. A lot of what Hunter and Shawn did in the last ten minutes there was very basic, but people hated HHH, and were so DESPERATE to see Michaels win the World Title again that they were literally on the edge of their seats. The pop when he finally won was amazing. It’s a shame more wasn’t done with the unique environment that the Elimination Chamber provides. Outside some generic bumping on the steel, and a few whips through the plexi-glass…it was basically left to Rob Van Dam to innovate some cool stuff to do with the new structure. He clearly went out there intent on stealing the show since he was first out, and credit to him, that Spiderman spot is still, as far as I can tell, one of the signature Elimination Chamber moments. I liked Jericho in here too. He was obviously in a hard place in that he wasn’t a babyface like everyone else, and wasn’t the top heel because that was HHH. But from a workrate perspective it was him that carried large portions of this match, particularly after Van Dam injured HHH with the Frog Splash. The negatives were obviously that this was a LONG match, with several dead-weight moments of generic brawling that could have been culled. I’m an RVD mark so I could’ve done with his elimination coming later and being handled better too. I’m sure there are better EC matches on this DVD, but this was a great way to debut the new match – and Shawn regaining the World Title at the end of it obviously goes down as a historic moment.
Triple H vs Shawn Michaels vs Randy Orton vs Kevin Nash vs Chris Jericho vs Goldberg
Summerslam 2003 (24th August 2003) – HHH would end up winning the World Title back from Michaels at Armageddon 2002 in an unbelievably mediocre 3 Stages Of Hell Match and comes in as defending champion here. He has Evolution stable-mate Randy Orton in with him, with the obvious question being whether Orton will have his back or go for the belt himself. Hunter is also carrying a semi-serious groin injury in with him so is wrestling in longer tights. This is during Nash’s underrated 2003 run where he got to feud with his old friend HHH for the World Title and actually wasn’t as awful as everyone expected. Jericho also comes in after getting a semi-decent match out of Goldberg at a recent ppv too. Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler on commentary again.
I forgot how much I disliked Motorhead’s Evolution theme. Jericho and Michaels will get us underway, which is a rematch of their Wrestlemania match from that year. HBK hits a springboard crossbody, but Jericho rolls through and gets a nearfall. Really nice mat wrestling exchange between those two, but large portions of the crowd no-sell that to chant ‘Goldberg’. Michaels counters the Walls Of Jericho to an inside cradle for 2. Lionsault misses, but Jericho lands on his feet. Entrants are clearly coming in every 3 minutes this time around, so after 3 minutes Orton comes in with a top rope crossbody. Chinlock backbreaker on Jericho for 2. Michaels blocks the RKO and watches Jericho back drops Randy onto the steel. Walls Of Jericho on Michaels…as Nash makes his way in. He hurls Orton into the chains then marches over to manhandle Y2J, busting him open against the chains. Sidewalk slam on Orton for 2. JR actually puts over the fact that Michaels and Nash are friends…as HBK hits the Superkick on him. Jericho eliminates Kevin Nash at 08:05. Triple H is in less than a minute later, but he gets so distracted shouting at Goldberg that he EATS a superkick from Michaels before he can even get out of his chamber. Nash is still in the ring, and dishes out JACKNIFE POWERBOMBS for Jericho and Orton on his way out. Orton, Michaels and Jericho stand in the middle of the ring swinging punches at each other…and here comes Goldberg! Crowd goes nuts as the former WCW Champion storms in and decimates everyone in the ring. PRESS FRONT SLAM on Orton. SPEAR! Orton eliminated at 13:04. Then he effortlessly press slams Jericho into the chain. HHH is hiding in his chamber by the way. Goldberg has Jericho in his sights…SPEAR THROUGH A CHAMBER DOOR! HBK manages to knock him down for the top rope elbow drop. Sweet Chin Music ducked. SPEAR AGAIN! JACKHAMMER! Michaels eliminated at 15:20. Goldberg ducks down again…SPEAR ON JERICHO! JACKHAMMER AGAIN! Jericho eliminated at 16:05! It’s down to two…and as Goldberg stares down HHH…Ric Flair holds the door shut so Hunter is safe. Triple H starts taunting Goldberg. WHO KICKS THROUGH THE F*CKING GLASS! Within seconds Goldberg has busted HHH open by throwing him into the chains. He goes for the Spear…COUNTERED WITH A SLEDGEHAMMER TO THE HEAD! Flair slipped Hunter the sledgehammer…and Hunter wins it at 19:15.
Rating - **** - I’m probably massively overrating this…but I really love this Elimination Chamber. This was the ONLY time during his run in the WWE that Goldberg was booked to his strength. After being made to look like a tool by The Rock, then treading water with Jericho WWE tanked on his initial momentum. But he was an absolute monster in here, giving us a brief glimpse of the animal we saw set the world on fire in WCW. Having him tear through the entire field, the chambers and everything else put in front of him was an awesome ten minutes of fun. Plus the crowd were so into him, with HHH injured, in hindsight maybe the belt should have gone to Goldberg here. The opening of this match was actually better than I remember too. Obviously the fun antics of RVD were missing this time around, but we got some sweet little exchanges between Michaels and Jericho, Orton didn’t really do anything, and Nash’s contributions were suitably brief. Obviously Hunter suffered a bad injury in the week going into this so he had to be well protected…but that actually CONTRIBUTED as the fans were desperate to see Goldberg get their hands on him. Undoubtedly the highlight of Goldberg’s WWE run…
Ric Flair and Randy Orton join HHH in the ring to assist him in bludgeoning Goldberg with the sledgehammer. Evolution do a post-match beatdown on Goldberg which leaves him a bleeding mess. They could have done that to keep HHH’s heat even if Goldberg had been put over here.
In the studio (which is on the entrance of the set for 2010’s Elimination Chamber ppv), Todd Grisham talk to Batista about his experience in the January 2005 Elimination Chamber we’re about to see. He says he was excited to be involved as this was at the start of his big push and the start of the build to him against Triple H at Wrestlemania. Rather annoyingly (considering I’ve not seen any of the remaining matches on this DVD) they give away the ending…
SIDENOTE – Since it would be an elephant in the review if I didn’t mention it – this is the first WWE compilation set I’ve watched since the unfortunate Benoit family tragedy. I’m glad WWE have included this match on the set. I didn’t agree with his records basically being wiped out. It’s right they don’t actively advertise or feature him in any material, but denying all knowledge of his existence and phenomenal wrestling career is only further contributing to a horrific black mark on the history of professional wrestling. He was genuinely one of the best workers ever, and was one of those guys that ended up loving this business WAY too much. I understand if people don’t wish to see him ever again. That’s perfectly understandable given his shocking and unforgivable crimes. Personally, I see it not just as the shocking taking of two innocent lives, but also a tragic indictment on just how salacious and depraved the sleazy underbelly of pro-wrestling can be. Chris Benoit’s twisted love for wrestling ultimately cost him his sanity, and drove him to unspeakable acts. His actions are unforgivable and I’m sure, if there is some form of higher power, he has had to face judgement for those crimes. However, the seedy, drug-addled landscape of pro-wrestling, and the demanding relationship between fan and wrestler is also a huge factor here. In my opinion, denying all knowledge of Benoit’s contributions to a sport he loved so much he lost his mind and took the lives of himself and those closest to him, is the icing on top of a big sh*tty, terrible situation. That’s my take. I can’t forgive him. I can’t look at him in the same way ever again. Thinking about those events makes me feel sickened and numb. My heart breaks for the family of the innocent lives Benoit took. Seeing Chris wrestle, and reminding myself that when he stepped between those ropes, away from the drugs, the lifestyle, the depression, the heartache of losing friends like Eddie Guerrero for 10, 15, 20 minutes or whatever…Benoit was doing something he loved to do, and was so exceptionally skilled at that he entertained people. He brought joy to so many with his unbelievable skills. His back catalogue of exceptional matches is in NO WAY any kind of justification for what he did. But the body of work he left behind is now the only little glimmer of light we have left to cling to in one of wrestling’s darkest hours. If people don’t feel comfortable watching Benoit matches anymore, that’s completely understandable and is their choice. Skip over this and be on your way. Me personally, the only way I can even think about the Benoit situation without feeling sick to my stomach is to watch an old Benoit match. To forget those twisted crimes he would commit before taking his own life, and see that painful memory temporarily fade into the background of watching a master of his craft at work in the ring. I would feel a whole lot worse if the choice to watch Benoit matches was taken away from me.
Edge vs Triple H vs Randy Orton vs Batista vs Chris Jericho vs Chris Benoit
New Year’s Revolution 2005 (9th January 2005) – Shawn Michaels is guest referee here. To give you some history, the World Heavyweight Championship is currently vacant. Since the last EC Match at Summerslam 2003, Goldberg would go on to become World Champion by defeating HHH at Unforgiven 2003. HHH would later win it back…then lose it to Chris Benoit in that epic triple threat match (which also involved Michaels) at Wrestlemania 20. He’d hold it until Summerslam 2004 when he would be defeated by Randy Orton, who became the youngest ever World Champion with that win. HHH beat Orton for the big gold belt the following month…and the title would then be vacated after a double pin in a RAW 3-way match also involving Benoit and Edge. At this point, Orton had already been booted out of Evolution, and this was the point where Batista’s popularity was really starting to take off. His orders here are to help Hunter win the World Title back, but obviously the mystery is whether he’ll follow those orders…or his own desire to win the World Title for the first time. Edge is another guy vying for his first World Title reign at this stage. This is San Juan, Puerto Rico. Since they don’t get ppv’s too often, every wrestler gets MASSIVE ovations. Jonathan Coachman has joined JR and The King on the commentary here.
Benoit and Jericho, storied rivals across the world, are the guys who kick us off this time. We’re back to five minute intervals between entrants. Super intense lock up between those two, before going to the mat for a ferocious exchange of holds. There’s lots of periods of silence on commentary here, I imagine these are periods with the announce team talking about Benoit which, after the incident, and with the benefit of hindsight, probably sound pretty bad and have thus been removed. They trade some massive chops next, before Benoit goes for the Sharpshooter. Jericho tries to counter to the Walls Of Jericho. Benoit blocks and hits a German suplex. Crossface countered…Walls Of Jericho countered! Can we just have 40 minutes of these two wrestling? More chops from Benoit, then a superplex which leaves both men down. The fans count down in Spanish…next in is Triple H. He takes Benoit to the outside to pitch him into the chains, busting him wide open. Coach and Lawler play up the value of HHH’s Elimination Chamber experience. JR mentions that Jericho has the same experience…as Y2J counters the Pedigree into a back body drop onto the steel. He then gets chopped in the THROAT by Benoit.
About 20 seconds late, Edge is the next in. He spears Y2J and HHH in the corners, then hits the Edgecution DDT on Hunter for 2. Belly to belly suplex on Benoit, but he turns into a missile dropkick from Jericho. Springboard dropkick next, which sends Edge’s back into the steel, but he recovers quickly to catapult Y2J into the chains. HHH gets the same treatment seconds later. I think that has busted both of those guys. Hunter hits a spinebuster on Y2J for 2, as across the ring Benoit gets his own nearfall with a northern lights on Edge. PEDIGREE ON JERICHO! But he’s too beaten up to pin him. Randy Orton is in next (Batista won the right to enter last) and goes right after Triple H. RKO ON JERICHO! Benoit blocks it…CRIPPLER CROSSFACE! HHH encourages Randy to tap out…so BENOIT PUTS HIM IN THE SHARPSHOOTER! RKO ON BENOIT! Now Edge is ready to strike. SPEAR ON SHAWN MICHAELS! Orton ducked it first time…but Edge nails him with it second time. Obviously HBK is still down and doesn’t count it. Edge berates HBK…SUPERKICK ON EDGE! JERICHO WITH THE LIONSAULT! Edge is eliminated at 19:26. Benoit has HHH…ROLLING GERMANS! He climbs one of those chambers. WOLVERINE HEADBUTT OFF THE CHAMBER! WALLS OF JERICHO/CRIPPLER CROSSFACE COMBO ON HHH! BATISTA IS IN…BUT HIS CHAMBER DOOR IS STUCK!
Finally he does get in the ring to save his stablemate! Spinebuster on Orton! HHH and Batista staredown…but get attacked before they can decide whether they’re on the same page or not. Batista KILLS a camera man by throwing Jericho at him! How does Jericho recover? By BULLDOGGING HHH on the steel, causing blood to pour from his head. In the ring Batista spinebusters Benoit…then drops Jericho on top of him. Benoit is eliminated at 26:16. Next he grabs Y2J for the Batista Bomb! Jericho is gone at 27:38. That means Orton has been left by himself with his former Evolution friends. Pretty soon the youngest champion in WWE history is busted open too. But he won’t allow himself to be pinned. RKO ON BATISTA! HHH DOESN’T HELP! BATISTA ELIMINATED AT 32:34! The Hispanic fans absolutely HATE that. RKO ON HHH! But Michaels is distracted trying to get Batista out of the ring. Ric Flair manages to get in the Chamber…and now HE distracts HBK whilst Batista and HHH do a number on Randy again. Pedigree on Orton. HHH win the World Title back at 34:56
Rating - ****1/2 – That absolutely RULED. I mean, granted it went a little south once the workers had been eliminated and we were left with Batista, Orton and HHH clobbering about the ring…but even then, from a story telling point of view this was superb. You had Edge, who had issues with HBK coming into the match, letting his feud with Michaels get him elimination. You had Jericho, for the third Chamber in a row, proving what an awesome worker he is, this time joined by Benoit who was coming off the back of his IMMENSE 2004, where for all he was a bust as World Champion, he put on some amazing matches. Then you had the whole 2 year long Evolution storyline playing out before us. Orton now positioned as babyface after gaining success and being booted out of the group. And against that backdrop you have the will they/wont they Batista/HHH slow-burner. That’s the WrestleMania main event so they were never going to really let it get out of control here, but they did enough to keep that feud going too. The first Chamber had some great wrestling, but also a few lulls in the action and FELT very long. The second one was done well from a storyline point of view, but was much shorter and lacked the in-ring quality of the first one. Here you saw both those aspects together. I’ll be surprised if there’s a better match on the whole compilation. I’m SO glad they didn’t let the Benoit issue leave this one on the cutting room floor.
After the match HHH orders Batista to carry him around the ring to celebrate. That’s it for DVD 1.
John Cena vs Kane vs Chris Masters vs Carlito vs Kurt Angle vs Shawn Michaels
New Year’s Revolution 2006 (8th January 2006) – Lillian Garcia announces that superstars will be coming in every FOUR minutes this time. Cena is the defending WWE champion (the World Title was drafted to Smackdown with Batista after WrestleMania) and gets the notorious mixed reaction. Baring in mind I didn’t want WWE at all during this time, I have no idea why Shawn Daivari is in Angle’s corner. Bringing guys like Masters and Carlito in obviously massively decreases the talent pool in the wrestlers for this match (although adding Angle and bringing Michaels back helps!). Incidentally, this is Masters’ 23rd birthday. He appears to have celebrated by polishing his steroid veins and sewing pieces of silver foil onto his cape. Jerry Lawler is with Jonathan Coachman and Joey Styles on commentary.
Michaels has been ordered to start the match thanks to an issue he has with Mr McMahon, and is joined by Cena (who is now being roundly jeered). HBK slaps him in the face, then makes him the first guy to crash into the metal grating with a back drop. Cena whips Michaels chest-first into the turnbuckles then starts punting him in the ribs. Carlito is the next entrant, and gets a huge pop for attacking Cena. RUNNING SOMERSAULT SENTON TO THE METAL FLOOR! Flatliner on Cena for 2. After that initial burst from Carlito the pace is noticeably slower than last year’s instalment of this match. There’s a lot more aimless brawling and clobbering this time too. Michaels and Cena, fed up of getting pummelled, team up to drop Carlito with a double flapjack. Kurt Angle is in next. GERMAN SUPLEXES ON EVERYONE! He grabs HBK…BELLY TO BELLY ON THE STEEL. GERMAN SUPLEX ON THE STEEL FOR CARLITO! Michaels is bleeding now, and leaves a bloody imprint on the glass panel on one of those chambers that Kurt whips him into. Carlito blocks the Olympic Slam…ANKLE LOCK INSTEAD! Carlito hangs on, and his tag partner Chris Masters is allowed into the match in the nick of time to save him. Angle rolls away from the Masterlock and COUNTERS to the Anklelock. Cena looks for the F-U, so Angle counters THAT to the Anklelock.
SUPERKICK BY MICHAELS! Angle is eliminated at 13:58. The young team of Masters and Carlito dominate the next few minutes, until the clock counts down to Kane’s arrival. He beats up the pair of them. Chokeslams on Shawn and Cena. Masters tries to put him in the Masterlock, but Kane is just too big. Lungblower from Carlito, but the young team barely have to celebrate before Kane is up again. Double DDT…and Kane sits up again! In the end Carlito and Masters both pile on top of Kane to eliminate him at 19:25. Carlito and Masters continue to team up to control the match until Michaels rallies and clears them from the ring. Top rope elbow drop on Cena, but now HBK is so bloody and exhausted that he struggles to move after hitting it. SWEET CHIN MUSIC! Carlito and Masters in again before he can cover! Carlito hits a swinging neckbreaker on Michaels to eliminate him at 23:38. There is a vocal portion of the crowd who now genuinely seem to be cheering for Chris f*cking Masters to beat Cena. Five Knuckle Shuffle on Carlito…but Masters saves before Cena can hit the F-U. DDT ON THE STEEL! That leaves the champion a bleeding. Double back superplex (from the bottom rope) scores, then Carlito instructs his partner to but Cena in the Masterlock. The inevitable happens and Carlito turns on his partner to roll him up at 28:16…and Cena reacts quickest of all to pin Carlito to win the match at 28:24.
Rating - *** - The problem here is that as the field of wrestlers thinned down, we were left with ALL the less talented wrestlers, which definitely hurt the quality of the match. I loved Angle’s contribution, using all his WRESTLING ability to be an absolute destroyer within the confines of the Chamber. I actually liked the storyline of the two youngest, most inexperienced guys working together to outsmart the champion and all the veterans…the problem was, I wished the young team were BETTER than Masters and Carlito. Unfortunately, with Carlito, Cena and Masters left in there we got long periods of punch punch kick kick basic move tedium, making portions seem like gameplay from a late-90’s Playstation 1 game. It also didn’t help that the crowd just wouldn’t cheer for Cena, even when he was being destroyed by two heels at the same time. Amazingly, he spent the whole half an hour match in the ring, and barely did anything more than lie around on the deck and swing a few punches. Not bad at all, but the gulf in quality between this one and the previous three was noticeable.
Out comes Vince McMahon, who promises the night isn’t over and orders the Chamber be lifted. He congratulates John Cena on surviving the Elimination Chamber…then announces that Edge has decided he’ll now cash in the title shot he earned by winning the Money In The Bank match at WrestleMania. He walks out (with Lita) and presents the briefcase to Vince.
John Cena vs Edge – WWE Title Match
New Year’s Revolution 2006 (8th January 2006) – I seem to remember that Edge won the MITB Ladder Match, then had everyone guessing for the rest of the year. I think the belief was (Coach actually touches upon this) that he was going to wait until the NEXT WrestleMania to use his guaranteed Championship Match.
Bell rings, and poor Cena is STILL getting jeered despite being covered in blood, having survived the Elimination Chamber and now having to face a fresh challenger. At ringside, I’m noticing that Lita had a real hotness resurgence after I stopped watching WWE. Edge hits the Spear…and Cena kicks out! Edge looks furious…and Spears him again to win the WWE Championship for the first time at 01:47.
Rating – N/A – I’m glad this was included since, for all my criticisms of the January ’06 Chamber Match itself, this angle was RED HOT and had the internet buzzing. I think those few minutes were every bit as exciting and memorable as the preceding EC Match, so I’m glad they kept it on the DVD.
In the studio Todd Grisham talks to John Cena who puts over how unpleasant wrestling an Elimination Chamber Match is. He remains in character so obviously isn’t happy about the MITB ending.
It’s time for the Extreme Elimination Chamber, and we get a pre-match promo by Paul Heyman which is just superb. Turning him heel within his own company was stupid, but even saddled with that, he’s so good. He announces that Sabu is pulled (which sucks, he would have done some crazy sh*t in the Chamber), and declares that the era of Sabu, the Sandman, Dreamer and RVD is over. He says it’s the era of the “Global Phenomenon” ECW, lead by Big Show.
SIDENOTE – I did a little research on this match. They worked a backstage assault angle to take Sabu out of the match since he’d pissed higher ups off with his attitude and the fact that they didn’t like his inability to work a regular match. Given that Sabu hadn’t been able to work a regular match for nearly a decade before they even SIGNED him, I’m not sure why WWE were surprised with that. Heyman was reportedly furious at that decision, not just out of loyalty, but because he felt Sabu’s antics in the cage would’ve been some of the best parts of the match. Vince wanted Bob Holly brought in to add to the number of heels in the match. In the event the writing of this event was amended so much, and taken so far from Paul E.’s original concept that he was reportedly extremely demotivated cutting this promo (his body language would concur with that). After the horrific ratings came in for this show, he would be held up as the scapegoat for the disaster (a move which has been pretty much castigated as ridiculously unfair on all sides) and was subsequently unceremoniously removed from ECW and fired.
Big Show vs CM Punk vs Test vs Bobby Lashley vs Hardcore Holly vs Rob Van Dam
December To Dismember 2006 (3rd December 2006) – I believe this was ECW’s only brand-exclusive ppv event. I’m not going to get into why it was a notorious disaster. I had high hopes for the rejuvenated ECW brand within the WWE, and thought it could’ve been a cool concept if they’d have kept it separate, let them tape in “ECW scale” arenas and use it as a unique way to breed future stars or freshen up older ones. Instead it was nothing more than a glorified Heat/Velocity, and fans ended up treating it as such. This is an “Extreme” Elimination Chamber Match, meaning everyone is bringing in weapons as well as the simple brutality of the Chamber itself. Big Show defends the ECW Heavyweight Championship. Joey Styles and former ECW Champion Tazz are on commentary.
RVD and Hardcore Bob start. I’ll try not to make it too evident in my play by play, but I f*cking hate Hardcore Holly. Van Dam does the Spiderman spot again…but this time Holly DUCKS the rebound plancha and lets RVD fly into the ropes. Fans are chanting for CM Punk, which is awesome. Hardcore goes to the top rope, but jumps off into the boot of Van Dam. OVER THE ROPES Rolling Thunder on the steel! Bob retaliates by suplexing him over the ropes and back into the ring for 2. Next in is CM Punk, who gets a huge pop. He springboards in with a clothesline on RVD. He looks for a Van Daminator ON Van Dam, but RVD knows his own sh*t, catches the chair and flings it back into Punk’s face. Awesome sequence next with Punk evading RVD’s kick attempts and leg dropping him into the chair, cutting his eye open. He looks for a flying headscissors to Holly on the outside…but Hardcore catches him and swings him into the chain! ‘Test’s a faggot’ – crowd. That’s not very Christmassy! The countdown hits zero again, and in comes Test with a crowbar. He starts using the weapon to scrape and scratch at RVD’s lacerated face. The bloody Van Dam manages to pick up a chair and smash Test and Hardcore in the head. CHAIR SURF DROPKICK on Punk! FIVE STAR FROG SPLASH! Punk is eliminated at 12:23.
Test boots Holly in the face…and he’s eliminated at 12:44. RVD boots Test down…then climbs on top of one of the chambers. Big Show stops him hitting the mega Five Star by grabbing his leg, giving Test time to recover and drag him down. TEST WITH AN ELBOW DROP OFF THE CHAMBER! Van Dam is eliminated at 14:00 leaving Test by himself, until Bobby Lashley’s time comes to enter. Paul Heyman’s security team (the Bashams in riot gear) act quickly to lock him in his chamber. Lashley uses a table to break open the roof of his chamber and clamber out that way. He lands a wild flying clothesline, then starts throwing Test through the plexi-glass panels on the chamber doors. Crowbar to the ribs, then the spear. Test is eliminated at 19:39, leaving Bobby to wait by himself for Big Show to enter. Show grabs his barbed wire bat and nervously steps into the Elimination Chamber. Lashley is armed with a chair, and uses it to sheidl himself from baseball bat shots (as fans chant ‘TNA’). Fans are booing Lashley now, even as he drills a bleeding Show through the doors of another pod. He counters Show’s chokeslam attempt into an ugly DDT. He runs into a Spear to win the ECW Title at 24:44.
Rating - ** - If I was going on match quality, this definitely goes into 3* territory, but the booking here is just SO bad, I’ve got to downgrade the match as a result. It’s easy to side with Paul Heyman in hindsight, because this match was a mess. He rightly pointed out that Lashley wasn’t over, and the fans would HATE their favourites RVD and Punk going out early at the expense of Bobby’s push. He rightly pointed out that Van Dam was the face of ECW, whilst Punk was the new star and came in red hot after being put over by D-X at Survivor Series. It wasn’t putting the belt on Lashley he objected to, it was the fact that dumping the guys people wanted to see (RVD and Punk) out early then leaving a green, unpopular babyface act in there with two heels that nobody cares about (Holly and Test) and the champion that everyone KNEW was leaving was just obviously a horrible idea. The opening portion of this match, with Holly, RVD and Punk were actually REALLY good. I loved Van Dam and Bob sending up RVD’s spots from the first EC Match in 2002, whilst the back and forth stuff Punk and RVD did was so entertaining. Unfortunately Vince’s obsession with big meat heads kicked in, so as soon as Test entered and cleared out all the talent, the quality died, the fan interest died…ultimately so did the match. The sad part is, Bobby Lashley left WWE having barely amounted to anything. If Vince had gotten over his fetish of big muscle-bound, too-green-for-TV goons and given the Lashley push in this match to CM Punk, the crowd would have gone NUTS for it. Given that CM Punk is still in the WWE, and is one of their top guys now…I’m pretty sure it would’ve been the right decision. Like I said, it’s easy to pick the bones of this car crash now, years removed. But the booking is just SO flawed, you can’t help but feel sorry for poor Paul Heyman…essentially getting himself fired trying desperately to save a ppv for a company which he doesn’t even own, all out of love of the ECW brand.
Lashley gets a ridiculous, WrestleMania-esque pyro display to commemorate his title win, which is greeted by the raucous sound of people not giving a crap. Poor guy…
MVP vs Big Daddy V vs Great Khali vs Finlay vs Batista vs Undertaker
No Way Out 2008 (17th February 2008) – Winner of this gets a title shot at WrestleMania 24. The quality of the talent involved in this match is just an absolute nose dive compared to some of the previous bouts we’ve seen on this compilation. Since when is Viscera considered a credible contender? He comes to the ring having clearly made a conscious decision to oil up his side-boob. Obviously I’ve got no idea where we’re at with storylines by this stage. Batista and Undertaker are obviously the big stars and favourites for the match. In the absence of Big Show, I think Khali got a big push as the new massive monster…even though, as far as I can tell, guy is so awkward and clumsy he can barely move in a wrestling ring. Finlay and MVP are solid midcard hands but clearly nowhere near Mania headlining material. Commentary from Michael Cole and Jonathan Coachman.
Batista and Undertaker are very clearly the impact players in this one, and contested a critically acclaimed match at the previous WrestleMania. They start the match, and spend the next few minutes punching and clobbering back and forth. Michael Cole points out that the combined weight of this Elimination Chamber field of entrants is more than a ton. That fact is more interesting than Undertaker stomping on Big Dave in the corner. Wrestlers seem to be entering every four and a half minutes this time around. Next in is Big Daddy V, glistening side boobs and all. He drops Taker with a Samoan drop then stands his 500lbs on the Phenom’s throat. He headbutts Undertaker so hard that he topples backwards into the door, which gives way and causes Undertaker to fall out of the Chamber. I bet someone got FIRED for that! SLOW MOTION FATTY AVALANCHE on Batista. Dave manages to duck under the massive man tits and drop Viscera with a spinebuster. Taker DDT’s BDV into the steel floor, allowing Batista to pin and eliminate him at 09:08.
Apparently it’s Falls Count Anywhere too. Great Khali is in next. ‘You can’t wrestle’ – fans at Khali. He uses his size to dominate the ailing, fatiguing Batista and Undertaker. Skull Vice on Batista…but Undertaker punts Khali’s manager off the edge of the Chamber then locks in the Hells Gate submission to eliminate Khali at 12:38. Finlay is in next, right into a big boot from the Deadman. Celtic Cross on Undertaker for 2. Michael Cole tries to reason that the conflict and political troubles in Northern Ireland helped prepare Finlay for the Elimination Chamber. That cant be allowable! Batista drives Finlay’s shoulder into the ringpost then pulls him off the ropes into a fisherman buster for 2. MVP’s time comes…but with Undertaker outside his pod, Porter tries to hold the door shut and stay inside. Taker eventually gets in and lays him out before he can even enter the match. Eventually MVP does get in, and uses his tacky novelty medallion to choke out Fit. Next he uses the medallion to repeatedly punch Undertaker in the head, busting him open in doing so. But Undertaker won’t go down…so Porter flees to the top of one of the pods for sanctuary. Taker CHOKE THROWS him off the pod! Finlay eliminates MVP at 22:30.
Undertaker then goes completely out of character to attempt a top rope elbow drop on Finlay, missing completely. All of a sudden Hornswoggle pops up in the corner of the ring to hand Finlay the stereotypical Irish stick of death. Dave grabs Finlay…Batista Bomb BLOCKED WITH THE STEREOTYPICAL IRISH STICK OF DEATH TO THE FACE! Batista still kicks out at 2. Undertaker grabs Fit for a CHOKESLAM ON THE STEEL! Finlay is eliminated at 24:11…so now, at the final ppv before WrestleMania, it’s down to the two men who started this match, and headlined last year. The Irish Death Stick has left Big Dave bleeding on the mat as well. Crowd totally behind Undertaker, who falls victim to the Batista Bomb but kicks out at 2. Undertaker stands up…LAST RIDE! But Taker takes too long in covering, allowing Batista to get a shoulder up. Tombstone blocked and Dave manages to launch Undertaker over the ropes. Batista tries to hoist Undertaker up to drive him into the chain. BUT UNDERTAKER COUNTERS BACKWARDS, OVER THE ROPES…FOR THE TOMBSTONE! Undertaker is going to WrestleMania and gets the victory at 29:26.
Rating - ** - In terms of the actual wrestling, that absolutely sucked. It was the worst Elimination Chamber by a mile (and yes, I include the December To Dismember one in that). The story of Batista and Undertaker outlasting everyone was PAINFULLY predictable, and absolute agony to watch, but at least the last few minutes with those two finally left alone to fight were decent. That counter into the Tombstone at the end was amazing – one of the most memorable things EVER to have happened in the Elimination Chamber to date. Unfortunately, this match never managed to overcome the fact the fact that it was packed full of sh*t wrestlers. Finlay was way out of his element, Big Daddy V and Khali are just awful, whilst MVP, the only semi-mobile athlete in the match, was limited to about 90 seconds in the ring. I’m sure Vince had a real erection over, as Michael Cole pointed out, over a ton of humanity going at it in the Elimination Chamber, but it was a tough watch. Worst EC match thus far…
Triple H vs Umaga vs John Layfield vs Jeff Hardy vs Chris Jericho vs Shawn Michaels
No Way Out 2008 (17th February 2008) – No Way Out ’08 would mark the first time that WWE started to overuse and bastardise this format of match. They created a really innovative concept that, to be frank, no other wrestling company on the planet could pull off…so naturally they decided to destroy all it’s unique charm, aura and mystique by repeatedly using it twice per night, once a year. This one takes place the same night as the previous match. That was the Smackdown/ECW match, this is the RAW Elimination Chamber match to determine the #1 Contender at WrestleMania. On the bright side, this is arguably the strongest field of any Elimination Chamber thus far. You’ve got Chamber stalwarts Y2J, HBK and HHH. Umaga, who was nothing short of incredible, during his main event push around this time, even if he was saddled with another horrifically cartoonish gimmick. You’ve also got JBL who got a lot of hate, but can certainly work a match with decent opposition, and finally, stepping into the Chamber for the first time, is Jeff Hardy. Obviously he’d left the WWE for a time, but was back and unbelievably popular at this time. This match seems made for a lunatic like him. Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler are back on commentary now.
Michaels and Jericho start so naturally the basics are really nice. Lots of nearfalls traded with neither man able to secure the elimination. HBK looks in REALLY good shape by the way. He looks for the top rope elbow drop, but Jericho counters by lifting his knees into the arm. He looks for the Lionsault, and when Michaels tries to use the knees to counter…Jericho stops and goes for the Walls Of Jericho! Awesome stuff, and it’s not over as Shawn almost counters that into a Sharpshooter. Mid-air collision leaves both of them down, as Umaga is introduced to proceedings. DOUBLE SAMOAN DROP on Michaels and Jericho! He then kicks Shawn so hard he sends him flying over the top rope. ASS SPLASH off the side of the chamber! Umaga misses a flying headbutt from the second rope, and Michaels capitalises by dropping his elbow drop second time of asking. Walls Of Jericho locked in. CRIPPLER CROSSFACE BY MICHAELS! Umaga doesn’t tap out, and Bradshaw enters the match to take out both of them. Shawn is covered in blood by the way, not sure when that happened. Things don’t get better for him as Umaga body slams him onto the steel floor. Triple H is in now, and he goes right after JBL and Umaga.
He throws the Samoan OVER the turnbuckles and through the panels of one of those pods. Jericho misses the Lionsault…but as Hunter lines up the Pedigree he gets taken out by Layfield and the Clothesline From Hell. CODEBREAKER on JBL, and Jericho eliminates him at 13:46. Layfield has a temper tantrum and decides to lay out Michaels, Jericho and Umaga with a steel chair before leaving. Y2J is bleeding, whilst Shawn looks a real mess. The crowd are on their feet as Jeff Hardy makes his debut in the Chamber with all four of his opponents down. Poetry In Motion dropkick on Umaga, then the Whisper In The Wind on HHH and Michaels. Umaga drops Jericho with a swinging front slam before absolutely DOMINATING both the D-X guys. HIP ATTACK DRIVES JERICHO THROUGH THE GLASS! He lines up the Samoan Spike only to turn into a SUPERKICK by Michaels! CODEBREAKER! PEDIGREE! HARDY WITH A SWANTON FROM THE TOP OF THE CHAMBER! Umaga is eliminated at 19:45! Jericho gets tagged with a Superkick by Michael and is eliminated at 19:59. PEDIGREE ON MICHAELS! The Game eliminates his friend at 20:21, meaning it’s down to Jeff Hardy and Triple H. Hardy DDT’s him on the steel to facilitate the inevitable HHH blade job. He goes for a top rope plancha to the outside and nearly takes a Pedigree. Countered with a back drop…SWANTON BOMB MISSES! PEDIGREE! BUT JEFF KICKS OUT! Hunter finds one of that chair JBL used earlier…PEDIGREE ON THE CHAIR! HHH wins at 23:55.
Rating - **** - This one was all action. From Michaels and Jericho’s phenomenal wrestling exchange to start with (which was very similar to the Jericho/Benoit opening from the 2005 Chamber) to Jeff Hardy’s coming out party in the last five minutes. In between that, you had Umaga holding the match together with a sensational performance. He’s such a rugged, in your face wrestler anyway, but his brutal style really worked well in this environment. He looked like a monster, a reputation only enhanced by his spectacular elimination. Jericho, Michaels and Hunter all played their roles well too. They’ve been in their fair share of these matches, so they knew their roles. Shawn bled everywhere and got the crowd behind him, whilst Jericho wasn’t there to be the star of the show, but just to keep things ticking over with his crisp execution and amazing ability to work hot exchanges with everyone…and HHH was there to win his third Elimination Chamber and help elevate Jeff to potential main eventer.
And with that we move onto Disc 3. By this point I’m sick of the ‘Don’t Try This At Home’ video (especially Rey Mysterio’s annoying, perky voice) and the annoying, theme park-esque intro video to the Elimination Chamber which have been on all three DVD’s.
Edge vs Undertaker vs Big Show vs Vladimir Kozlov vs Triple H vs Jeff Hardy
No Way Out 2009 (15th February 2009) – No Way Out became the unofficial Elimination Chamber ppv, until they went ahead and renamed the event ‘Elimination Chamber’ this year. Edge is defending the WWE Championship here, having won it from Jeff Hardy the previous month. Kozlov is the only Elimination Chamber debutant here, but he’s also the only undefeated entrant. JR and Tazz call it.
Hardy starts with Edge, and is clearly still deeply upset about the manner in which he lost the WWE Championship. TWIST OF FATE scores, but Jeff decides to do more damage, and goes upstairs to miss the Swanton Bomb. Spear countered to a roll-up…EDGE IS ELIMINATED! At 03:04 the reigning champion is eliminated, so we’re guaranteed a new title holder at the conclusion of the match. Kozlov is next in, to an audible gasp of disappointment from the crowd. The Russian uses his size to impose himself on Hardy, repeatedly introducing him to the chain walls of the chamber. Headbutts to the spine next, followed by a running punt to the stomach and a fallaway slam for 2. Ribbreaker, then a bear hug as he continues to work the midsection. Whisper In The Wind nailed, leaving both men down as the clock ticks down for the next participant. It’s Big Show who throws Jeff around ringside, before tossing him to a trapping flurry of headbutts from Kozlov. Show and Kozlov seem to take it turn turns in a game of beat Jeff up one upsmanship.
Eventually Vladimir runs through Show with a heabutt to the chest, so we eventually do get to see the two big men go at it. HHH comes in and goes right after Big Show. Spinebuster nailed on Show, and Hunter has to act quickly to take Hardy out as he tries to hit the Twist Of Fate from nowhere. There’s an awesome spot on the outside where Kozlov tries to headbutt HHH, only to miss and NAIL the glass in one the pods. Show cuts off Triple H’s momentum with a casual military press slam. He goes for an avalance but wins up wiping himself out against the chain walls of the Chamber. Jeff drops HHH with the Whisper In The Wind…but it’s Undertaker time now. He has a double Chokeslam lined up on Hardy and Helmsley until Big Show attacks from behind. Tumbling clothesline on Show, then the Old School rope walk on Hunter…INTO A DDT THAT SENDS SHOW INTO THE STEEL! LAST RIDE ON KOZLOV! He’s gone at 22:59. Big Show has recovered enough to hit a Chokeslam on Taker, then a huge back drop into the steel for Triple H. He grabs Jeff…WHO DOES THE SPIDERMAN CLIMB ON THE WALLS OF THE CHAMBER!
He actually starts climbing onto one of those pods, but Show catches him…and climbs the turnbuckles trying to chase him! MEGA-ULTRA-F*CKING COLOSSAL SUPERPLEX by Undertaker! PEDIGREE! And Hardy is still upstairs! SWANTON OFF THE POD! HHH eliminates Big Show at 26:12. Hardy goes for a third Whisper In The Wind, but Taker, who saw the first two, steps out of the way. He looks for more Old School tightrope walking, but this time gets crotched by HHH. POETRY IN MOTION OVER THE ROPES AT HHH! But before Jeff can celebrate he gets pulled back inside for the TOMBSTONE! Hardy is eliminated at 28:31. We’re down to the marquee names of HHH and Undertaker for the WWE Title. Chokeslam on HHH gets 2. Taker tries to go for that tumbling clothesline again, but HHH knows that spot and counters it with a spinebuster. They go to the outside, where HHH tries to use the over the ropes counter that Taker defeated Batista with last year. BUT UNDERTAKER COUNTERS THAT! TOMBSTONE PILEDRIVER! TRIPLE H GETS A FOOT ON THE ROPES! DESPERATION PEDIGREE! You know it’s coming…Undertaker kicks out! Both men can barely stand and start swinging for the fences. Undertaker goes for the Last Ride – the move he used to beat HHH at WrestleMania 17 I believe. COUNTERED! PEDIGREE! HHH WINS! At 35:58, Triple H wins his fourth Elimination Chamber and becomes WWE Champion for a 13th time.
Rating - **** - When I saw the list of talent in this one, my hopes weren’t high, but that was really good. The Edge elimination gave us a red hot start. The action then slowed, but was always FOCUSED thanks to the popularity of Jeff Hardy and the somewhat merciless beating he got from Kozlov (who did a good job in the Umaga-style ugly brutality role here) before Undertaker’s arrival kicked things into a higher gear. There were some amazing spots that lead to Show’s elimination, and I loved the fact that Jeff went the RVD route and actually started using the Chamber’s unique environment to actually do some cool stuff you don’t normally get to see. The last five minutes with HHH and Taker were, undeniably, very cheap. They played off the fact that they’re basically the two biggest names in the WWE now, and essentially milked the crowd with finisher kick outs. HOWEVER, there were some awesome moments of subtlety like Hunter using Undertaker’s Batista counter, or evading the move that beat him at WrestleMania 17. I have to be honest, I’m not sure either HHH or Taker really need the win at this point (and a FOURTH Elimination Chamber win for HHH is frankly ridiculous) and the younger main event guys like Jeff or Edge could’ve done with more exposure…but seeing two of the franchise players go at it hammer and tongs for the (effectively vacant) WWE Championship inside the Elimination Chamber was definitely a memorable moment. And believe it or not, that was the OPENING MATCH on the No Way Out ’09 card.
John Cena vs Mike Knox vs Kane vs Kofi Kingston vs Rey Mysterio vs Chris Jericho
No Way Out 2009 (15th February 2009) – John Cena is defending the World Heavyweight Title here. It seems odd watching him carry around the big gold belt with all it’s history and prestige, whilst HHH and Undertaker fight over the gaudy, ugly, spinner belt that he introduced. I’ve never seen Knox before, but he is massive, and has a bushy beard, so I’m down with that. Jericho has ongoing issues with Cena (who beat him for the World Title at the previous Survivor Series). This time we have commentary from Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler.
Edge, still seething after losing the WWE Championship earlier, attacks Kofi during his entrance and delivers a CON-CHAIR-TO AGAINST THE STEPS! He then locks himself in Kofi’s pod, seemingly entering himself into the match instead. Jericho and Rey will start which is awesome. Is Edge actually in this match or not? Rey hits a satellite headscissors, but Jericho rolls away as he lines up the 619. SOMERSAULT PLANCHA OVER THE ROPES! Mysterio runs at Y2J again and ends up getting pitched through the ropes into the base of Kane’s pod. He starts climbing the wall…FLYING HEADSCISSORS FROM THE ROOF OF THE CHAMBER! Kane is in and has no problem tossing the two much smaller athletes around. He clotheslines Jericho over the ropes, forcing him to take a nasty bump, knees-first into the steel. Lionsault misses (doing more damage to the legs), and Mysterio COUNTERS the Chokeslam into a hurricanrana. 619! CODEBREAKER! Both guys hit finishers on Kane, and Mysterio climbs the cage again! WEST COAST POP OFF THE POD! Kane is eliminated at 09:38. Mike Knox is the next man in, throwing wild kicks to both Jericho and Mysterio, who are obviously starting to tire at this point. Y2J goes for a springboard crossbody but gets caught and slammed into the chains.
Next Knox grabs Rey and manages to hook him upside down in the wall of the Chamber. Cradle backbreaker scores, but Jericho pounces to hit the Codebreaker and eliminate Knox at 14:41. The clock counts down, and it’s Edge’s turn. Mysterio doesn’t even let him get out of his chamber before attacking him though. Apparently he and Kingston are friends so naturally he’ll be really pissed off with Edge taking him out of the match. Rey gets the knees up as Jericho goes for the Lionsault, causing Y2J to tumble backwards into the Edge-O-Matic for 2. Mysterio lines Edge up for the 619, but Jericho cuts him off with a spear as he’s in mid-sprint. All three men fight on the top rope, leading to a DOUBLE SUNSET FLIP BOMB BY JERICHO! John Cena comes in to the usual mixed reaction, and makes a beeline for Edge. Five Knuckle Shuffle scores, but as he lifts him for the F-U Jericho pounces again for the CODEBREAKER! 619 BY MYSTERIO! SPEAR BY EDGE! He eliminates the World Champion at 22:21! John Cena was in the match for about 70 seconds. Rey sends both his opponents into the ropes. 619 on Jericho…WEST COAST POP COUNTERED TO THE WALLS OF JERICHO! COUNTERED BACK TO A ROLL-UP! MYSTERIO ELIMINATES JERICHO AT 23:54! Edge is poised in the corner…but MISSES the Spear and nearly gets pinned. Mysterio goes for an Asai Moonsault…and manages to turn it into a swinging DDT as Edge attempts a counter. Edge looks for a powerbomb on the steel but Rey counters to a facebuster then hits a 619 to the back of the head. EDGE LEAPFROGS HIM THROUGH THE GLASS! SPEAR! Edge wins the World Championship at 29:46.
Rating - ****1/2 - Where on earth did that come from? That was genuinely up there with New Year’s Revolution 2005 for the best EC Match. In fairness, it was almost solely based on an astonishingly good performance from Rey Mysterio, who made better use of the Chamber to hit fresh and innovative high spots than anyone has ever done before…and proved that he is still one of the finest cruiserweight wrestlers in the world. Chris Jericho is always AMAZING in these matches, and is surely the MVP of this DVD by this point. He quietly goes about his business, almost always acting as the support act for the main heel (in this case Edge) whilst absolutely busting his ass. I dug Edge’s crazy, Wildman vibe too, and clearly the fans were eating it up as well. They were going apesh*t at the end when he and Rey were trading nearfalls. I didn’t hear much buzz about how good this one was at the time, which surprises me. I was honestly not expecting this to be anywhere near as good as it was.
Todd Grisham is in the studio and interviews Edge about his opportunistic streak surrounding the Elimination Chamber. His interview is as close to kayfabe breaking as possible, and speaks about how much it hurts to wrestle in the Chamber.
Sheamus vs John Cena vs Ted DiBiase vs Randy Orton vs Triple H vs Kofi Kingston
Elimination Chamber 2010 (21st February 2010) – Sheamus defends the WWE Championship here. I’ve seen more of him than anyone else out of the WWE this year, and I haven’t liked him all that much. But there’s enough talent to keep us interested here. Randy Orton and John Cena have an epic rivalry down the years in the WWE. They’re this generations Rock/Austin so it’s always an event when they come together. Of course, Orton also has history with HHH. Triple H enters his SIXTH elimination Chamber Match, and after losing the first, has gone on to win four in a row. Can the veteran (who looks more and more like Lemmy from Motorhead, and not in the good way he wants it to) use all his Chamber knowledge to win it. DiBiase Jr. and Kingston make their Chamber debuts alongside Sheamus. Ted is a stablemate of Orton in Legacy, whilst Kofi will be hoping to actually make into the match this year, after Edge assaulted him to steal his spot in 2009. Commentary is provided by Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler and Matt Striker.
I love the fact that Kofi sells what happened to him last year by repeatedly looking back over his shoulder during his ring entrance. He starts with Sheamus, who narrowly misses with his big Axe Kick in the first second of the match. Kingston lands some early kicks before Sheamus starts using his power to shove around the challenger. Urinage backbreaker gets 2. Triple H is in next, and the crowd sounds genuinely stoked to see him. He was assaulted by Sheamus on the preceding RAW so goes right after the champion. Hunter escapes the Splash Mountain and drops Sheamus with a DDT and Kingston still watching on at ringside. Is it me or do Sheamus’ arms not seem long enough for his body? There’s something not quite right about him. Kofi back with a springboard crossbody then athletic dropkicks all round. SLINGSHOT LEG DROP TO THE STEEL! He took HHH out with that, but gets straight up into a clothesline from the champion. Orton in next…he has history with all three of these men so gets to work in beating them all down. Sheamus gets thrown into the cage repeatedly, then Randy turns and dishes out the same treatment to Triple H. TOP ROPE PLANCHA ONTO EVERYONE from Kofi! He goes for another springboard manoeuvre but Orton meets him with a dropkick to the stomach. Randy starts to size HHH up…RKO blocked. Pedigree countered with a backdrop onto the steel! Kingston gets thrown out after Hunter too!
Ted DiBiase makes his Chamber debut, and looks across at his Legacy stable-mate Randy Orton. They form an alliance and use the superior numbers to run through everyone. They actually start STRANGLING Kofi with the chain walls of the chamber. BOSTON CRAB with Kofi’s head still lodged in the chains. We’re perilously close to an Elimination Chamber first now – all six competitors in the ring at once. Orton has HHH hung in the ropes…ELEVATED DDT TO THE STEEL! And with Kofi, HHH and Sheamus incapacitated, DiBiase and Orton wait right outside Cena’s pod for him to come out. But Cena powers through both of them! Five Knuckle Shuffle on Orton…TOP ROPE Rocker Dropper for DiBiase! F-U ON THE STEEL! STF-U! Orton saves his team-mate and drops Cena with a neckbreaker. Cody Rhodes (the other member of Legacy) is at ringside and throws a lead pipe into proceedings. DiBiase accidentally levels Orton with it! He then knocks out John Cena. DIBIASE ELIMINATES ORTON AT 24:04! Kingston, having freed his head from the chamber, hits the Trouble In Paradise kick on Ted to eliminate him at 25:32. SPLASH MOUNTAIN BOMB from Sheamus to Kingston. Kofi is eliminated at 26:13. The champion drops Cena with the urinage backbreaker. He goes for the Splash Mountain, but the returning HHH capitalises by hitting him in the nuts. Pedigree scores…Sheamus is eliminated at 28:38. Cena then pounces on Hunter to lock in the STF-U. HHH TAPS! Cena wins the WWE Championship at 30:23.
Rating - *** - Good match…but after three DVD’s of largely the same structure of match (with this one being slightly more sanitised to make way for WWE’s more family-friendly approach to wrestling), I think the Elimination Chamber format is starting to get a little over-used. There were some strong positives coming from this though. Kofi was extremely exciting, the Orton/DiBiase stuff was fantastic story-telling, and seeing Triple H actually SUBMIT to John Cena was memorable if nothing else. Sadly there were some negatives too. The opening was fairly tedious, and, I really didn’t care for how they rushed through all five eliminations in the space of five minutes. It made the ending feel extremely cluttered. Like I said, the main problem by this point, is over-exposure to this format of match. By giving fans TWO of these on a regular basis, it takes away all the special, unique charm that the Chamber was brought in to provide way back in 2002. Everything feels more predictable by now.
In a familiar scene…out comes Vince McMahon. John Cena’s face hits the floor. Just as Vince did after Cena’s Elimination Chamber win in 2006, he’s ordering him to defend his new WWE Title immediately…this time against Batista. Cena can’t even stand, and Batista becomes the newer WWE Champion in about 30 seconds.
John Morrison joins Todd Grisham to talk about his Elimination Chamber debut. He basically echoes what everyone else has said – that it hurts.
Undertaker vs Rey Mysterio vs John Morrison vs Chris Jericho vs CM Punk vs R-Truth
Elimination Chamber 2010 (21st February 2010) – This one surely takes the crown for most talented field of wrestlers for any of the Elimination Chamber matches. Mysterio’s only previous trip into the Chamber was one of the most memorable performances of any inside the structure. You have Undertaker defending the World Heavyweight Championship in a match he’s never lost. Chris Jericho, the man who I’ve dubbed the MVP of Elimination Chamber matches. Punk who is now well established as one of the WWE’s top stars with his ‘Straight Edge Saviour’ gimmick in full effect. Morrison and Ron Killings (R-Truth) make their Chamber bows, and both have a lot of exciting, explosive weapons in their arsenal which should contribute to making this an exciting instalment to the Elimination Chamber story. It’s the last match on this DVD too.
Punk and Truth start. I hate The Truth’s entrance…just saying. He back flips and does the splits under the charging Punk and pops up to hit a dropkick for 2. Killings to the top rope for a SOMERSAULT PLANCHA TO THE STEEL FLOOR! Stroke scores, but he misses the Bicycle Kick. Punk kicks him in the head and hits the GO 2 SLEEP! R-Truth is eliminated at 03:34. And with Killings eliminated, it means Punk gets more mic time…which he uses to run down Undertaker. Seeing Punk work the same gimmick that made him awesome in Ring Of Honor years ago to be a huge star in the big leagues is just amazing to watch. Mysterio is in next, with a springboard plancha for 2. He looks for the 619 but Punk counters with a powerslam. Go 2 Sleep COUNTERED into a hurricanrana for 2. To the outside where Punk SWINGS REY INTO THE CHAINS! He hits a knee strike in the corner, then throws Mysterio into another pod with horrific force. They fight on the top rope…FRANKENSTEINER TO THE STEEL! Springboard splash! Punk is eliminated at 09:59!
Jericho is in next, looking heavier than I’ve seen him before. Lionsault misses and Mysterio lines up the 619! Jericho rolls to the apron. SPIDERMAN BY REY…but Jericho uses all his Elimination Chamber experience and sweeps the legs to cause him to eat the steel. Mysterio lands an Asai moonsault press for 2 then tilta-whirls into a front choke. Jericho fights out and locks in the Walls Of Jericho. The buzzer sounds, and in comes Morrison. He boots Rey in the head and he looks for a springboard…but climbs to tries the ropes and gets shoved backwards into a pod by Mysterio. Rey and Jericho start fighting on the outside, with Morrison HURDLING the turnbuckles to wipe them both out with a clothesline. Standing SSP gets 2, but Rey hits a headscissors. SWINGING BACKBREAKER by Jericho to cut another 619 attempt off. STARSHIP PAIN! Morrison eliminates Rey at 20:07. He then gets distracted by watching Rey get escorted out, which allows Y2J to apply the Walls Of Jericho again. In comes Undertaker to make the save. Morrison takes a really nasty bump onto the steel after a back drop. Meanwhile Jericho tries to hide in a pod, only for Taker to literally BREAK the door to get at him. Out of nowhere Morrison hits a springboard enzi on Taker…but injures his own leg in the process. Starship Pain goes right into Undertaker’s knees.
Jericho is still hiding in a pod to avoid the Deadman by the way. Last Ride on the outside countered as Morrison clings to the side of the Chamber. Jericho runs in to throw Undertaker through a plexi-glass panel…and Morrison drops into a crossbody on him to leave all three down. Shining Wizard gets 2 for John. But he’d turned his back on Undertaker, who grabs him for a CHOKESLAM ONTO THE STEEL! Morrison is eliminated at 28:25, leaving Chris Jericho alone with the Phenom. He crotches Taker in the corner and lands a superplex with such force that both men take a while to recover. He COUNTERS THE CHOKESLAM TO THE WALLS OF JERICHO! TAKER COUNTERS TO THE TRIANGLE CHOKE! BACK TO THE WALLS OF JERICHO! COUNTERED TO HELLS GATE! Jericho escapes the ring to end an amazing sequence. He gets dragged back in, and rolls down Taker’s back into the CODEBREAKER! FOR 2! Mounted punches in the corner, which is always a mistake…LAST RIDE! But Undertaker is too beaten up to pin him! He lines up the Tombstone…but HBK comes in from under the ring with a SUPERKICK! JERICHO WINS! Chris Jericho ends the DVD as the World Champion at 35:41.
Rating - **** - Spot-tacular ending to a decent DVD compilation. This certainly wasn’t the best EC Match on the DVD, but it was one of the more exciting. It lacked a plot or any kind of story telling to keep it moving…and without that there were points where it became a bunch of guys hitting a spot, then lying down waiting for their next cue to hit another one. Had this one had the great story telling of guys like Orton from the RAW Elimination Chamber earlier in the evening, it could have been better. It’s a shame they pulled Punk out so early as he was generating some real heat by constantly getting on the mic to berate his opponents. Still, even with a few criticisms, it was undeniably exciting, and the last few minutes with Chris Jericho and Undertaker were REALLY good. It’s nice to see Jericho getting to end the set with a win, and the World Championship. Like I said earlier, he’s been outstanding on this compilation, more often than not carrying the bulk of the workload of his match, whilst playing second string to all the major plots/angles going on at the time. He’s been one of the outstanding workers in everyone of the Chamber matches he’s been in, and thoroughly deserves to win one at last.
Tape Rating - **** - Well worth getting if you can find it at a reasonable price. I’m not the BIGGEST fan of the Elimination Chamber because I find that the matches can get very repetitive. Certainly the last DVD became a bit of a slog to watch. By 2009/2010 WWE had really started to over-use the concept and I was a little burnt out. HOWEVER, lets be honest, you’re getting a LOT of good wrestling for your money here. Three DVD’s of WWE ppv main event level stuff is well worth picking up if you can. I preferred the early ones where the Elimination Chamber felt special…when it felt like an event to see the awe-inspiring structure. From the December To Dismember debacle, it does go a little downhill (save for Mysterio’s miracle performance in the RAW 2009 Chamber), but this represents undeniable value for money. For someone that hasn’t watched WWE properly in a long time, this certainly reminded me that, by not watching them, I am missing out on seeing some amazingly talented performers.
Top 5 Matches
5) HHH vs Shawn Michaels vs Randy Orton vs Kevin Nash vs Chris Jericho vs Goldberg (24/08/2003)
4) HHH vs Umaga vs John Layfield vs Jeff Hardy vs Chris Jericho vs Shawn Michaels (17/02/2008)
3) HHH vs Shawn Michaels vs Chris Jericho vs Booker T vs Kane vs Rob Van Dam (17/11/2002)
2) John Cena vs Mike Knox vs Kane vs Kofi Kingston vs Rey Mysterio vs Chris Jericho (15/02/2009)
1) Edge vs HHH vs Randy Orton vs Batista vs Chris Jericho vs Chris Benoit (09/01/2005)