WWE Championship — Elimination Chamber
CM Punk def. Chris Jericho, the Miz, Kofi Kingston, Dolph Ziggler, & R-Truth
I don’t understand the logic behind having CM Punk “knock out” Chris Jericho at the tail end of this match. Jericho can now say “you never beat me” and instantly set up their match at WrestleMania, but at what cost? A lackluster return preceded a loss at the Royal Rumble, which preceded a loss at the Elimination Chamber, and somehow we’re supposed to put stock in his come-back and believe he can capture the title from CM Punk at WrestleMania? Yes, he’s Chris Jericho: the guy who beat Steve Austin and the Rock in the same night to become the first ever Undisputed WWE Champion. But when you’re running a feud over the title of “Best in the World” it helps to make both men look credible – or at least not terrible…
Removing the backwards booking decision, the action was fun! R-Truth didn’t last nearly as long as I wanted him to, but to expect anything more is just silly. Same for Kofi Kingston, but I was pleasantly surprised that they gave him a good position in the match and allowed him to be more than a simple “spot monkey”. I was a little disappointed by Dolph Ziggler’s showing in the Chamber, but I loved the little details – doing pull-ups in his pod and using the walls to taunt Punk was great and spot-on to Ziggler’s character.
Punk retains, as expected, but I can’t help but feel that the story was somewhat de-railed by the way they handled Jericho. For a guy that supposedly has a lot of creative control and contract leverage, I’m surprised at where he is right now… Rating: B-
WWE Divas Championship
Beth Phoenix def. Tamina Snuka
No Eve. No Kelly Kelly. No Belle Twins. Just two great female athletes going head-to-head in a battle over the WWE Divas Championship. Great match between the two; Tamina looked great as the challenger, and Phoenix looked dominant and succesful being able to kick out of the Superfly Splash and come back for the victory. You could build a division around the two of these fem-fatales, with Natalya, Layla, and Kharma in the folds upon their return. This is what I look for in women’s wrestling, and while it wasn’t the greatest single match of their style I’ve seen, it was about ten huge steps in the right direction. Rating: A-
Alberto del Rio returns! Christian returns!
Between matches John Laurinaitis and his always faithful man-slave David Otunga graced us with their presence. Their task: to get Laurinaitis a vote of confidence to take over the General Manager position of Raw and Smackdown on a permanent basis. Enter Alberto del Rio, Mark Henry, and Christian to throw their support behind Mr. Excitement, as a good heel should. I didn’t mind this, and it was awesome to see two returns in one segment. It looks like they’re going to build some sort of feud between Teddy Long and John Laurinatis at WrestleMania. At the moment…I have no real thoughts on the matter.
