WWE Elimination Chamber General Discussion- Keep it All in Here!!!

[Harthan]

The Elimination Chamber is looming as we near the beginning of the Road to WrestleMania at this year's Royal Rumble. Over the last couple of years, this event has centered two Elimination Chamber matches, one from Raw, one from SmackDown. An interesting advertisement has popped up on indemand.com (you can read it here: http://indemand.com/product/view/266322). What interests me is this little tidbit:

Trapped by 11,000 feet of chain and 16 tons of cold steel, six WWE Superstars will have to endure one night of pure punishment to prove they are worthy of championship gold. Who will survive the Chamber? Don't miss John Cena, Triple H, Randy Orton, Sheamus, CM Punk, and all your favorite Superstars at WWE Elimination Chamber, Sunday, February 19, 8PM ET/5PM PT, live on Pay-Per-View.

(Emphasis mine)

If you read it the way I'm reading it, "Six WWE superstars" implies that there's only one Elimination Chamber match this year, since two matches would necessitate twelve. Could this be a sign that the WWE is only running one chamber match this year?

It would be an interesting decision, to be sure, when for years now the WWE has insisted on two chambers. Scaling it back now would seem to be a change in their philosophy toward gimmick matches - one that favored reducing their frequency, rather than increasing it, as we've seen the trend go. If this were to happen, I'd have mixed feelings on it. On the one hand, I do like the minimalistic approach to gimmick matches. On the other hand, I don't think that the Elimination Chamber is a gimmick match that's been hurt by this concept. Unlike the HIAC match or the TLC match which is trotted out routinely at the end of every year now for no good reason, the Elimination Chamber serves its purpose twice a year quite nicely, usually producing some of the best matches the WWE will put on the entire year, and the concept has never felt overplayed to me. With that in mind, I think, of all the gimmick matches the WWE has, I'd feel a little bit disappointed if they were to drop the Elimination Chamber down to only one.

Now, it's entirely possible I've read too much into this. The advertisement is utterly generic and also advertises Randy Orton, which is obviously inaccurate. It may be that the WWE just passed along some trite slogans to have written into an advertisement and this is the result. Or they may simply be referencing the individual matches, not the whole. Nevertheless, it does raise the interesting questions - will there be only one chamber match this year? Should there be?

 

[Pay Per Ghost]

This past year with every show being dubbed a supershow, I have no idea who belongs on what roster. And WWE is taking full illegal advantage of such confusion. I will be writing a letter to Stanford shortly.

I like this idea of ONE EC. Putting in all the big superstars in one cage does appeal to me more, however, we have TWO titles. The title that isn't on the line or whose No.1 contendership isn't the goal, is a little neglected.

If the RR winner chooses his champion then the other title can have this match and determine their ME for 'Mania and in that scenario only then it all makes sense, but I'm sure one of you will come along, quote this and succeed in confusing my simple booking life.

 

[JWGunslinger]

I wouldn't say you've read into it too much, I would have thought the same thing had I stumbled upon it, if that is the case then I will be very interested in what happens. The Elimination Chamber match has been one of my favorite gimmick matches ever since it's creation and was extremely happy when it got it's own PPV as it's become a big part of the road to Wrestlemania and has given us so many unforgettable memories. That being said I think it wouldn't be great to cut it back to one, it would be nice to have one and really make that single chamber match seem more important but as long as it has it's own show I think it needs to have both. Having been to last year's myself I cant imagine what it would have been like to just have one since the whole night none of the other matches really seemed to matter/nobody cared.

I think the best thing to do realistically is two matches that are both for a title, seeing a Smackdown Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship and then a Raw #1 Contender Chamber match was a bit anticlimactic even though the match itself was excellent. Not only would this make them seem more important but it could do wonders for building the reputation of both World Champions depending on WWE's plans for the titles, especially Bryan who is a new world champion and has never been in a chamber match. There needs to be two and they both need to be for the titles, if they have no plans for putting one on the line then heres an interesting idea, what if they did one for a midcard title? It would not be my first choice but I personally enjoyed the ones for a title more, atleast we'd get that out of it.

 

[Khalifa]

Hopefully there is just the one Elimination Chamber. The Royal Rumble isn't as prestigious since there has been 2 elimination chambers. Lets say if HHH was to win the Rumble this year it would make the Royal Rumble more meaningful if the title he wanted to challenge for was not defended at the PPV before hand because then it doesn't really solidfy the feud. A simple tag team match with HHH and the champion being on different teams could set up the feud plus another instead having another elimination chamber. So I hope WWE go with just the 1.

Plus if you have two the WWE have to come up with 10 main eventers to challenge for the titles making the other matches far less spectacular. Actually to be honest I think they should leave the Elimination Chamber until Hell in the Cell or something. That would make HITC fresh and also make the feuds leading into WrestleMania more meaningful and well planned.

 

[Richard Blonoff]

It could just mean 6 at a time, it could mean just 6 total.

That said I kinda like the idea of just one EC. Each year you take 12 guys and throw them in. There usually aren't 12 guys in title contention and every year there are guys thrown in just for the spots and crazy bumps. Don't get me wrong, watching JoMo land that cross body off the top of the EC on Sheamus was spectacular but JoMo wasn't really in world title contention at that point.

If they go ahead and do one for each show it would probably look like this for each show, and I'm going off the brand roster on the WWE website

Raw: Punk, Ziggler, Cena, Miz, R-Truth, Kane
At this point Kane and Truth aren't really in title contention as they just came back(and they actually haven't returned to in ring action), but they have about 6-7 weeks to get there. They are also involved in storylines with main event guys.
Other options:
Del Rio and Rey will probably still be out injured and I really hope they don't throw Triple H in just because of his status in the company. They may throw Jericho in but he just got back as well. Swagger, Kingston and Ryder are all upper midcarders who they could throw in to fill space and provide some spots, could you imagine a Swagger Bomb from the top of one of the cells, but arent world title worthy yet.

Smackdown: Bryan, Big Show, Sheamus, Barrett, Rhodes, Henry
Rhodes isn't really in main event push status yet but with Christian and Orton both out they need someone with title credibility in. I also fear that Henry won't be available for much due to his injury which has really limited him in ring lately.

Other Options: The only other real main event guy they have on the roster is Taker and even though its Taker its been 8ish months since we last saw him and its probably too soon for him to back his(probably final) pre Mania come back. The only other guy I can see being in, and it would probably require a heel turn and a major push is Big Zik. He was technically ECW champion, and he did score a big victory over the summer over Barret to win the IC title, and held it for a couple months before dropping it to Rhodes so he has some name value but sadly he has been making more appearances on Superstars then Smackdown lately

 

[Spuddogg]

I believe there will be two chamber matches, i think that is just an ad for the Chamber PPV, and there will be two chamber matches

I see both champions holding onto their titles until Mania that being Punk and Bryan, But who knows they still make Cena v Rock for the WWE Title.

 

[RoadhogJ]

Spuddog, If they make Cena vs Rock a WWE title match it wont be difficult to guess who is gonna win! CENA! Rock will probably be away making another movie soon after WM so whats the point if he wins it then drops it to someeone after 2-4 weeks???

 

[Brahma Bull]

It probably just means six at a time. They will probably do one for both shows. If they said 12, that would also be confusing because 12 wouldnt fight at 1 time. My guess:

Raw: Cena, Punk, Miz, Kane, Jericho, Truth
I know kane, jericho, and truth just came back, but they are star power that the wwe needs. If del rio is back in time, i could see him possibly taking truth's spot, they they will probably want 3 faces and 3 heels.
Winner: Jericho to set up feud at mania with CM Punk over the title

Smackdown: Orton (i think he'll be back), Bryan, Sheamus, Barrett, Rhodes, Bigshow
Winner: Probably Orton (no way db makes it to mania with the title)

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I'd say that too much has been read into this. It's possible that there could be only one match but the "six" wrestlers mentioned could also mean there'll still be two matches with six participants each. The WWE has always done two EC matches at the EC ppv and didn't bother to go into greater detail with the format because the format is already so well known.

The WWE's traditional brand extension is, for all practical purposes, dead as it is. Wrestlers can "show up" on other brands occassionally but, usually, those same wrestlers don't appear on opposite brands regularly. For instance, Miz was on SD! last Friday and might not make another appearance on the blue brand for months at a time. There's far more crossover activity now than there was under the old brand extension format but, technically I guess, it's still in place. Because there are technically still two brands, and still two World Championships for that matter, it seems unlikely that each brand won't get an EC match. Besides, the EC match is a good way of WWE possibly taking the title off of a wrestler without making them look bad. After all, it's a match where the champ has a total of 5 opponents.

Besides, having just a single EC match probably wouldn't warrant having an entire ppv devoted to the concept. It isn't as though the match will contain most of the current main WWE roster like the Royal Rumble match does. That's not to say that they couldn't have an EC ppv with just one EC match and really work to stretch out the time involved. It could still work I think, but I also think it's just unlikely to take place.

 

[WWEvsJosh]

I think one chamber would make it mean more. I think WWE needs to just get rid of the brand spilt and just have one show so matches like these can have bigger starts in them. I also think that the ppv should be before the RR(I think no ppv should be before WM)

I think it would be cool to see CM Punk vs Orton vs Cena vs Sheamus vs Rey vs Christian. Now i know not everyone likes those guys but the point is its better to have bigger names in one match then to have two matches with some big names and mid carders

 

[Smartie]

I really hope that's the case.

I've never been against PPVs with themes like EC or HIAC, even though I firmly believe they'd be much more exciting if we didn't see the same gimmick twice in one night.

The reason is that wrestlers never go on all cylinders and always try to save some of the cool stuff for other matches of the night, and this prevents them to be classics.

I really see nothing wrong with calling a PPV HIAC and not having more than one HIAC match. Same goes to EC too.

Just imagine if there was another EC in Summerslam 2002 with less popular stars, I'm sure the main event wouldn't be what it is the to the fans now.

 

[Tyler44]

God I hope that is the case.

WWE set a great example for what the Chamber should be so many years ago. It was hyped up to death and the superstars in the match were all capable of winning. The star power was unreal (Triple H, Goldberg, Kane, Shawn Michaels, etc.). It was once maybe every year.

Nowadays, the star power has drastically fell beyond a new low, and I honestly do not think you can have 6 credible guys for the match if the ppv was next week. Let's see: Cena, Kane, Cm Punk, Jericho, Orton...? Maybe Triple H if he was back.

How can you even have 2 of these matches? Do you really need to add in the "future of WWE" misfit group of Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, Alberto Del Rio, and the Miz? They'd throw in Big Show and Mark Henry of course, but what does that add other than slow and boring entertainment?

Pretty much, I think they need to only have the 1 chamber. It sucks we have a ppv now dedicated to these matches because it really ruins the hype for the gimmick matches, and instead of 6 guys wanting to beat the hell out of each other, it's a forced trainwreck to begin and the end the show. Not a fan.

 

[Sparky]

I seem to be with everyone else here. I would much prefer it if it was only one at the end of the night. It leaves it open to more Shock and awe. the odds are higher to have an OMG moment right before the PPV ends then what they are if with the Elimination chamber they have in the middle of the card. I also prefer the idea of having six people, three from Smackdown three from Raw competing for the final shot to challenge for the remaining Big championship.

 

[Juvenal]

If its simply one elimination chamber match, then I'm satisfied! Idk where WWE got the idea of having 2 EC matches. It just over exposes the match & loses it touch. Hopefully the match is to determine the #1 contender for the other championship that the royal rumble winner did not choose. I always like the idea where the challenger has to fight for a championship match, hence its called "The Road to Wrestlemania"

 

[Sicc Nick]

I hope that they do not go this route but to be quite honest, it really doesn't matter as all it does is build up multiple feuds. It has worked quite well over the last few years because it gives the main event spot to people who have to crawl their way to it, and would not get that spot, so close to Wrestlemania had it not been for the Chamber match, and it also builds three, or even more angles in just one bout. It's damn good. It's filler, and it is of importance.

Having just one match is fine, however you'd have to depend on the creative team to actually come up with something half-way intriguing and entertaining for the rest of the card, which I could assume that the WZ Universe would probably consider to be incapable.

 

[Straightedge Jericoholic]

Maybe there will be 1 elimination chamber but that depends.
If there is no brand extension, then Superstars from both the brands can be in a single elimination chamber match.
The question is for which championship.
WZ updated about Punk/Laurinaitis situation. It was reported that a match at the PPV can be announced after the Royal Rumble PPV.
Then maybe if Punk is champion by then, the elimination chamber will take place for the World Heavyweight Championship.

 

[Nate DaMac]

I guess I'm in the minority here. I really dug the way they did it last year. Alberto won the Rumble and opted to challenge the World Champion, leaving the Raw brand without a number 1 contender going into Mania. Meanwhile, the champion on Smackdown still has to defend his strap in a Chamber match.

Gives the Rumble winner a step up with the champion having to go through hell to get to WM, just like he did in the Rumble, while giving the opposite brand a legit way to decide a number 1 contender. Getting to Wrestlemania shouldn't be handled in a Beat the Clock Challenge or some sort of tournament with a bunch of 4 minute matches. The Elimination Chamber provides a way for someone to undoubtedly earn the right to go to the big show.

 

[Larry]

I like the idea of only have 1 EC match, 2 is overkill if you ask me and takes away a lot of the importance of the match itself. A good example can be drawn from EC 2009 where Edge was eliminated in one as the champion, injured Kofi Kingston, and then got himself put into the second one and went on to win it. It made the first utterly irrelevant because there was a second opportunity where there shouldn't have been showing that it didn't matter if you lost one, you could just do what Edge did and get in anyways. That's one angle of having 2 EC matches that I have had issues with since that happened.

I like the idea of making the EC match much more exclusive, allowing there to be better competitors in there, and more room on the card for other matches that may be as entertaining or important as a result. There have been too many where there were a number of guys that you knew clearly had no chance of winning and were just in there to fill a spot, while in the mean time there were only a couple guys you knew DID have a shot and you were just waiting for one of them to win it which took a lot of the majesty away from it.

Because it has been like 10 years since the first one and due to having 2 at a time there have been more than 10(1 a year) maybe it would be a good idea to make an innovation to the Elimination Chamber as well if you want more people in the match to make it a bigger deal, more unpredictable and out of control. I think it would be cool to add 4 more chambers where there is just open space, and start the match with 4 men. Basically combine the 2 matches into one, with one Chamber that's been modified and is bigger to house more competitors with more chambers, and a little less open space to create more mayhem and force more action. You take all the elements that make it awesome and double down on them. What do you think of that?

 

[Dagger Dias]

I highly doubt that they will only do one Elimination Chamber match. They need to do two. Even though the Brand Extention barely matters anymore, the Elimination Chamber matches have become an important part of how the two world title matches at Wrestlemania get set up. The Royal Rumble only tells us who one of the 4 or more world title contenders at Wrestlemania will be. We need two Elimination Chamber matches to help figure out who the others will be.

Let's say Sheamus wins the Royal Rumble and picks the World Heavyweight Championship to go after. Now who will he face for it? Sheamus needs a champion to challenge and the Elimination Chamber needs two world title matches. The Smackdown Elimination Chamber can solve both problems while the Raw Elimination Chamber can determine the contender for the WWE Championship, which could still have its own separate title match in the main event.

 

[bigron570]

I feel that it would be great if WWE utilized the elimination chamber as having it determine the other number one contender for either the World Heavyweight Champion or WWE Championship after the Royal Rumble winner.

I would incorpoate however both Raw and Smackdown superstars in this match and the winner would face off against the Champion who is vacant an opponent and the brand would not matter to whom the Champion fights does not have to be from there own brand.

I also would add more to match and would start it with four opponents in the ring and have four opponents in the chamber. This way can incorporate more competitiors in match and have itself the match a longer drawnm atch then splitting time between two Elimination Chamber matches.

My superstars for 2012 that are presently within compnay today to whom I would place in Elimination Chamber are there four Raw and four Smackdown competitors.

To Start off Elimination Chamber Match 2012

In Ring I have

Zack Ryder vs R-Truth vs Dolph Ziggler vs Jack Swagger

In Elimination Chamber

Sheamus Alberto Del Rio Chris Jericho and Wade Barrett

Order Of Entry into match @5min Chris Jericho @10minWade Barrett @15min Sheamus and last @20min Alberto Del Rio

Order of Elimination
1. Jack Swagger eliminated at 9 minutes pinned by R-Truth
2. Zack Ryder eliminated at 13 minutes pinned by Wade Barrett
3. Wade Barrett eliminated at 23 minutes pinned by Sheamus
4. R-Truth submitted at 26 minutes by armbar to Alberto Del Rio
5. Alberto Del Rio eliminated at 29 minutes pinned by Dolph Ziggler
6. Dolph Ziggler eliminated at 31 minutes pinned by Sheamus
7. Chris Jericho winner by eliminating Sheamus via Pinfall at 36minutes

 

[bigron570]

I feel that it would be great if WWE utilized the elimination chamber as having it determine the other number one contender for either the World Heavyweight Champion or WWE Championship after the Royal Rumble winner.

I would incorpoate however both Raw and Smackdown superstars in this match and the winner would face off against the Champion who is vacant an opponent and the brand would not matter to whom the Champion fights does not have to be from there own brand.

I also would add more to match and would start it with four opponents in the ring and have four opponents in the chamber. This way can incorporate more competitiors in match and have itself the match a longer drawnm atch then splitting time between two Elimination Chamber matches.

My superstars for 2012 that are presently within compnay today to whom I would place in Elimination Chamber are there Raw and Smackdown competitors.

In Ring Competitors To Start Match

Dolph Ziggler R-Truth Alberto Del Rio and Randy Orton

In the Pods To Start Match

Chris Jericho Wade Barrett The Miz and Christian (returns as face for Edge induction into HOF)

Order of the Pods Released The Miz @5mins Wade Barrett @10mins Chris Jericho @15Mins Christian @20mins

Oder of Elimination in Match
1. @ 11 Minutes R-Truth via Submission to Alberto Del Rio via Cross Armbar
2. @ 18 Minutes The Miz via Submission to Chris Jericho via Walls Of Jericho
3. @ 23 Minutes Alberto Del Rio via Pinfall to Christian via Killswitch Engage
4. @ 28 Minutes Christian via Pinfall to Dolph Ziggler via Zig Zag on Steel Grade Floor
5. @ 31 Minutes Dolph Ziggler via RKO by Randy Orton then Moonsault and pin by Chris Jericho
6. @ 33 Minutes Wade Barrett via RKO by Randy Orton on Steel Grade Floor
7. @ 41 Minutes Randy Orton via pinfall by Chris Jericho via Codebreaker

Your New #1 Contender for WWE Championship Chris Jericho

 

[FlexAmerican Dynamite]

Let's think about this now. Would you rather go through having to outlast 29 other men in a over the top rope battle or try your luck in a chamber match against five other men? The elimination chamber PPV in my opinion makes the Rumble look really useless.

After the Rumble PPV there's most likely two chamber matches in which are either giving two title shots to mania(just incase the rumble winner wanted to jump the gun like cena did back in 08) or either two title matches. I know it's WWE's way to set up more Mania feuds but it just makes winning the Rumble look useless and uneeded when you can just try to qualify for this chamber match and either win the title or get a guaranteed title shot at mania. What does everyone else think?

 

[juggalotus]

Its not entirely useless. Yeah, it does devalue the Rumble a little bit, but its the last PPV before Wrestlemania, and the last big stage on which to start or further a feud heading into the biggest stage of them all.

 

[thebarber]

well seems as there are 30 in the Rumble, storyline wise it gives more guys the chance of headlining Wrestlemania, where the E.C has only 6 guys in a title match or no.1 contender match. Rumble is certainly not useless, EC sets up more storylines for Wrestlemania. Each match and both ppvs serve a definitive purpose leading to the biggest show of the year.

 

[prush80]

The Rumble winner gets a shot at a Championship Title, not a person at WM. IMO the Chamber helps build towards WM. 6 people in one match, you can easliy buildon/start a feud going towards WM