WWE Satan's Prison - The Anthology of the Elimination Chamber DVD (Disc 2) Review

Match 1: New Year's Revolution 2006 - WWE Championship - Elimination Chamber - John Cena (c) vs. Kane vs. Chris Masters vs. Carlito vs. Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels
The road to WrestleMania 22 stops at New Year's Revolution where John Cena must defend his WWE Championship in his first Elimination Chamber match. Unlike the past three Chamber matches, this one felt a bit rushed and almost as if the mystique of the match had gone away. Either way, Cena and Shawn Michaels nicely opened up the match before the other competitors came in with Kane being the last one. Kurt Angle probably got the biggest pop of the night yet was so quickly eliminated from a surprise Sweet Chin Music. A bit of a bummer considering how much fun he was to watch at the time and would have loved to see more of his crazy intensity inside the chamber. Carlito and Chris Masters looked to team up in the match which certainly created a nice spice to the match. They were relentless in their ways and would eventually eliminate both Kane and Michaels before facing off against Cena. Masters turned his back to Carlito as he locked in a Master Lock on Cena which would lead to his downfall. Carlito low blows Masters and quickly rolls him up for the elimination. However, Cena rolls Carlito up immediately for the pin and to win his first Elimination Chamber match. While this was still a strong Chamber match, it didn't have that drama like the previous ones. It was almost so predictable that Cena was going to win that it kind of killed some of the momentum going into it. However, it all made sense when a certain someone would cash in right after this match...
Winner: John Cena
Rating: ****

Match 2: ECW December to Dismember 2006 - ECW Championship - Extreme Elimination Chamber - The Big Show (c) vs. CM Punk vs. Test vs. Bobby Lashley vs. Hardcore Holly vs. Rob Van Dam
Welp, this Elimination Chamber match looks to not only continue the streak of phenomenal Elimination Chamber matches, but also save a lackluster PPV in December to Dismember. Prior to the match, Paul Heyman came out and cut a somewhat eerie promo before later revealing after the event that he basically knew his stint with the company had come to a complete halt at that point. Of course, this match was billed as an Extreme Elimination Chamber in which each entrant inside a pod would be armed with a weapon from a steel chair to a crowbar to a table and to a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire. I honestly didn't think this was a bad idea. They certainly revolved the match around Bobby Lashley and unfortunately for him, he was so green at the time and had been pushed hard to the top, much to the frustration of the crowd. This was evident when they booed heavily after both CM Punk and Rob Van Dam were eliminated. This was definitely to shift the focus onto Lashley trying to overcome the odds as Test was the lone competitor in the ring as he waited for Lashley to enter. Lashley would break through his pod and eliminate Test before finally getting his chance to get his hands on The Big Show. The clock finally winded down as the two went at it in a pretty solid fight before Lashley hit a Spear to seal the win in a pretty underwhelming moment. Lashley celebrates as the pyro goes off behind him. I don't know where to begin with this match, it was certainly a letdown and not having Sabu in the match was a bummer. But mainly... poor Bobby Lashley. He's a great wrestler and all but the dude just had little to no charisma at the time and him being propelled to the top of ECW was basically a way to piss off the fans. Another head scratching spot was having Test eliminate RVD with a couple minutes left on the clock before Lashley did the same against Test just minutes later. I get that they wanted to shift the focus away from the fan favorites onto Lashley but it definitely didn't do any favors for the match itself. However, I will say that I enjoyed the brief exchange between Lashley and Show at the end. But unfortunately, this match was easily the weakest of all Chamber matches and nowhere near enough to save the awful show.
Winner: Bobby Lashley
Rating: ***1/2

Match 3: No Way Out 2008 - Elimination Chamber - MVP vs. Big Daddy V vs. The Great Khali vs. Finlay vs. Batista vs. The Undertaker (Taken from WWE No Way Out 2008 Review)
I can clearly remember people groaning over this when the participants were made for this. Just makes you realize to never come to a full assessment of something before it actually happens because they blew all expectations out of the water. They started the match off with the two big stars in Batista and The Undertaker as both Big Daddy V and The Great Khali were unloaded next. However, Big Daddy V and Khali were both quickly eliminated as the final four came down to best four guys in the match. I like how they had both Big Daddy V and Khali in the match to create some sort of ambiance to differ from the Raw Elimination Chamber and I like how their eliminations came fast. Allows us to really place our emphasis on the guys who could really kick this match up a notch. One thing I will also say about this match, the eliminations were perfect. The Undertaker hitting a Chokeslam to MVP off the top of the pod and delivering another one to Finlay on the steel grate made me cringe. Finally, Undertaker delivering a Tombstone to Batista after flipping it from the outside into the ring was a great ending. Fantastic Chamber match to set up Undertaker's match against Edge at WrestleMania. While it started a bit slow in the beginning, it definitely picked up and quickly became an intense match that had me on the edge. No pun intended.
Winner: The Undertaker
Rating: ****1/2

Match 4: No Way Out 2008 - Elimination Chamber - Triple H vs. Umaga vs. JBL vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels (Taken from WWE No Way Out 2008 Review)
This may be one of the most stacked Elimination Chambers of all time. Good call to have Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels start the match, set the pace early on with Umaga coming in afterwards to wreck havoc. As brutal as the first Chamber match was, they really did bring out all the stops for this one. The eliminations were nicely done and all made sense. Loved how Jericho eliminated his rival in JBL before JBL came back into the ring and smashed everyone's brains in with a steel chair. And don't forget about Umaga running through Jericho and breaking a pod in the process. The crowd was eating this up. Jeff Hardy, who entered in last, eliminated Umaga with a sweet Swanton Bomb off one of the pods. Michaels was eventually eliminated by Triple H and it came down to Hardy and The Game. They had an incredible exchange to close out the match with Hardy desperately doing everything in his power to win, that includes a low blow. However, Triple H countered a Twist of Fate onto a steel chair and drilled Hardy with a Pedigree for the win. In a perfect world, Hardy wins this match and wins the championship at WrestleMania since he was white hot. Or plan b, have Hardy win the Money in the Bank match and cash in the same night. Of course, that's barring his suspension and again, that's in a perfect world. Regardless, Triple H was also hot during this time and a spot in the main event at WrestleMania wasn't a bad choice. Incredible match with a heart-racing finish. Besides, Hardy would eventually get his moment later in the year.
Winner: Triple H
Rating: ****3/4