WWE Elimination Chamber 2010 Review

From April 10, 2010.

Both the WWE Championship & the World Heavyweight Championship were defended inside the Elimination Chamber as both Sheamus & The Undertaker step into these structures with other hungry competitors who were seeking their gold.

Match 1: Elimination Chamber - WWE Championship - Sheamus (c) vs. John Cena vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Randy Orton vs. Triple H vs. Ted DiBiase
Just like last year, the opening match of the night was an Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship but unlike last year, the man entering as champion was Sheamus. The two men to start off the match were the WWE Champion and Kofi Kingston. However, the first elimination of the match came after all six men in the match entered and that man was Randy Orton who was shot over the head with a led pipe by Ted DiBiase who retrieved the pipe from Legacy partner Cody Rhodes who slipped it in. Shortly after Orton was eliminated, the remaining competitors were all eliminated within 6 minutes. John Cena became the winner after making Triple H tap out to the STF in a very uninspiring way as both men didn't even wrestle each other before it was just down to both men. This was the first time that all six superstars of the match were in the Chamber simultaneously and in my opinion, it just didn't work and it really made things very hectic. The match had some decent spots like Orton locking Kofi's head through the chains and DiBiase hitting Orton with the led pipe. Ultimately, the lazy finish and the forgettable moments in the match really make this one a very underwhelming match because it just had so much potential. There isn't a whole lot to say about this match because it was simply a very forgettable affair.
Winner: John Cena
Rating: ***1/2

Match 2: WWE Championship - John Cena (c) vs. Batista
After Cena captured the WWE Championship, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon came out and announced that Cena would be defending the title against Batista. Batista hit the Batista Bomb on Cena to win the WWE Championship. I understand that this match was booked to throw us a swerve going into WrestleMania but at the price of reducing the value of the WWE Championship, I despise this move. The title switches are absolutely killing the prestige of their titles and this one here was no different.
Winner: Batista
Rating: n/a

Match 3: Intercontinental Championship - Drew McIntyre (c) vs. Kane
Going into this match, McIntyre had a lot to prove to everyone because he really hasn't done a whole lot to become the Intercontinental Champion. McIntyre quickly put those worries to rest in this match against the veteran Kane as he proved to us that he definitely can hang with the big boys. Everything about this match I liked, whether it was the masterful storytelling or the even flow of the match, I just really enjoyed it. Their styles seemed to just click with both men having very similar wrestling styles. Also, the match gave a chance for both men to showcase their talents on national PPV. McIntyre retains his title by hitting the nasty DDT on Kane after raking his eyes. McIntyre has a very bright future as his win over Kane here is somewhat very symbolic as it displays that the WWE is having more faith in their younger stars than in their older stars. This might be a little faint but it seems that way to me.
Winner: Drew McIntyre
Rating: ***

Match 4: Gail Kim & Maryse vs. Michelle McCool & Layla
Originally scheduled to be a Diva's Championship match against Gail Kim & Maryse, Vickie Guerrero came out and announced that that match would be postponed in order to set way for this tag match. This was just your basic Divas style wrestling match that lasted a couple minutes with some decent in ring action. McCool got the win for her team after landing the Faithbreaker on Gail Kim after Maryse refused to tag in.
Winners: Michelle McCool & Layla
Rating: 3/4*

Match 5: United States Championship - The Miz (c) vs. MVP
In another impromptu match, The Miz defends his United States Championship once again against MVP. After coming off a forgettable match at the Royal Rumble a month earlier, both men really stepped up their game here. Unlike last time, both men gave us the impression that this match actually meant something and that they were truly fighting for a purpose. Their match felt very fresh as they blended their technical abilities with their hard hitting wrestling abilities by mixing their submission holds with their regular wrestling moves. With The Big Show & Mark Henry cheering on their partners in the match, chaos ensued outside to add even more fire to the pot when Henry tried to run through Big Show but instead, missed and tore down an entire barricade. This allowed The Big Show to knock out MVP with a nasty punch to the head to which The Miz then pinned him to retain the title.
Winner: The Miz
Rating: ***

Match 6: Elimination Chamber - World Heavyweight Championship - The Undertaker (c) vs. John Morrison vs. Chris Jericho vs. Rey Mysterio vs. R-Truth vs. CM Punk
After a very disappointed Chamber match earlier in the evening, it was down to the SmackDown team to pull off a Chamber match that would justify a good reason to watch this show. Things started off hot when CM Punk pinned R-Truth in the first few opening moments of the match after landing a GTS on him. After Punk, got on the mic where he preceded to preach to us his Straightedge lifestyle. Rey Mysterio was the next person to exit the pod and there, he eliminated Punk to which the next elimination would occur over 10 minutes later where Mysterio was eliminated by John Morrison who hit the Starship Pain. Already, the match is having a much better showing than the opening bout with a lot more unexpected pins and entries. Scared by The Undertaker, Chris Jericho displays to us why he is one of the greatest wrestlers in the world by doing everything in his power to avoid him, that includes trying to lock himself in one of the pods. Unlike Jericho, Morrison was not afraid to get in on the action as Morrison went right at The Undertaker only to get a Chokeslam on the steel floor. After, it was down to Jericho & The Undertaker who wrestled one another for nearly 10 minutes unlike Triple H & John Cena who both just finished up the match right after Sheamus was eliminated. As The Undertaker reached over to Chris Jericho to inflict more punishment, Shawn Michaels appears by uncovering one of the steel floor pieces. There, he landed a Sweet Chin Music on The Undertaker for Chris Jericho to pick up the pieces and the World Heavyweight Championship. While this was a great Chamber match and a bit better than the earlier one, it still pails in comparison to last year's phenomenon. The dull commentary and the bored crowd really killed this match because the in ring action was definitely there.
Winner: Chris Jericho
Rating: ***3/4

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
Coming off last year's amazing event, it wasn't an easy task to top that show and they definitely did not do anything that came close to last year's. The Chambers were very underwhelming matches and the undercard was pretty good. The perfect word to sum up this show would definitely have to be underwhelming. The potential was so there but the execution wasn't. Even still, this was still a damn good show and an important one because it's the final PPV on the road to WrestleMania.
Rating: 7.5/10