John: Welcome to the Elimination Chamber PPV preview. I’m here with David Kay to talk about it. Is The Rock on it? Haha. We don’t think so. We’ll talk about the PPV below, but we have a couple of additions. At the bottom of this preview we’ve got an audio preview (via youtube) as an addition to the written part and also an audio discussion talking about the return of The Rock. It’s all a part of the brand spanking new thejohnreport.net youtube channel that was just launched a couple of days ago. You can scroll down to them, click on play and read at the same time. We make it so easy for you! Oh, the preview. Let’s do that huh?
David: Welcome Cantonia to the middle of Wrestlemania season. Can you smell it in the air? The warm air finally coming back, the 17 tons of steel, and 4 pods that will hold 8 wrestlers … you guessed it, it’s time for the Elimination Chamber Preview with me, David Kay, and the Main Eventer John Canton. The Chamber matches have always been a fave of mine, even though some would say they’re too gimmicky in a world full of stipulation heavy pay-per-views, but I say nay to those … nay-sayers. I love knowing what’s going to happen between the Rumble and Wrestlemania … the problem with this year’s however, is we don’t really know what’s going on. Only three announced matches, and one of them we don’t even know all the competitors yet. Guess the Rock just hit the WWE Universe so hard, that it’s forgetting what’s happening Sunday.
NOTE: There’s some spoiler info in the Smackdown Elimination Chamber match part, so if you haven’t seen Smackdown and you hate spoilers you might want to turn away. You’ve been warned! It’s not our fault they change things “two days before” a PPV is supposed to happen.
Alberto Del Rio vs. Kofi Kingston
David: In a match that was not heavily publicized, we have Kofi Kingston taking on the 2011 Royal Rumble winner Alberto Del Rio. The two guys know how to work, so it could be a fun match. Does Creative kill the momentum of Del Rio here and have him lose to Kofi? Or is this a jobber-squash match that I’m supposed to pay for?
John: I should add that this is NOT for the Intercontinental Title. Do you watch Smackdown? Because if you do you know they set this up on Smackdown and then the next week they had Del Rio beat him clean with the cross armbreaker. When that happened I wondered why do that? Why waste the match one week after the angle is set up? The winner of this match is obviously Del Rio, but they already rushed it on TV, which kills some of its momentum for me.
David: By not heavily publicized, I mean that it wasn’t on the card until this Friday. I understand they tried to quick build it, and it was extremely rushed, but there’s no denying that this is one or the other as far as upset or squash in the eyes of a pay-per-view watcher. As much build as they tried to get this, the average fan won’t care when, why and how … they just want to see who Del Rio will take on at Wrestlemania
John: As a match it’s good, though. Give these two 15 minutes and you’ve got a potential four star match. I think this would have been a good post WrestleMania feud if they put the belt on Del Rio. They had good chemistry in the match I saw too. It’s just that it’s a predictable finish on what will turn out to be a very predictable PPV.
David: I think this is the big problem with Creative at the moment. They are spinning in circles trying to find a matchup that people are willing to pay for. In the right circumstances, they hit it right with these two. Unfortunately, with the way the cards are falling, this is wasted, and not a reason to buy the pay-per-view. Great match, Del Rio wins, wasted in the grand scheme of things.
John: There’s not that special feel anymore, nor are there really fresh matches although I guess for WrestleMania there is freshness with Del Rio-Edge, Punk-Orton and Cena-Miz. I just don’t like wasting matches on TV a few weeks before the guys are going to have a PPV match. Know what I mean?
David: It’s a double-edged sword unfortunately that they haven’t quite figured out how to wield. People get pissed if there’s just a bunch of storyline promo’s on television yet there will be people pissed if they see these guys wrestle 3-4 times a month and expect them to pay for it a 4th-5th time.
John: At least it’s a good match. I’m always so positive. But you already knew that.
David’s Pick: Del Rio
John’s Pick: Del Rio
EC: Del Rio vs. KingstonMarket Research
WWE Championship: The Miz vs. Jerry Lawler
John: The WWE Title will be defended by The Miz against Jerry Lawler. Honestly I’m not that thrilled about it. I think it was fine as a small TV feud to end the year, but do we really need it on PPV? The ladder match they had was cool. They should have had Miz beat him clean on TV to end it. Not a PPV title match. I know the fans like Lawler and he is over, but does anybody think he’s going to win? And if he does win, only to lose it the next night, that only hurts The Miz. So why even do this on PPV?
David: I think they were fresh out of guys for the match after the Chamber was filled … at least in Vince’s eyes. I think the smarter thing to have done here was to make some sort of Del Rio/Miz match, or some sort of tag match with Riley and Daniel Bryan involved. However, Vince loves his WWE Title matches … and this one was added to hurt the credibility of both the title and the Miz. Nothing good can come from this, and I dare one person to say that Lawler can get Miz over in this match. He’s a Hall of Famer announcer who never held a major WWE title in his life, and hasn’t had a feud in years unless you call punching Santino at Wrestlemania a feud.
John: Come on fans, say it with me. DANIEL BRYAN DANIEL BRYAN DANIEL BRYAN He should be in the match. I understand his role on Monday was to make Miz look good going into Sunday (and he did just that), but there has to be a better use of a guy of his talent especially when there’s a lot of history to the feud. All due respect to The King, but I just don’t care.
David: I think somebody in Creative wants us to feel for the King, like this is his last shot at something big. My problem with that thinking is that the King hasn’t been the King for years. PG killed his character, and not just because of content, but because they make him sound dumber and dumber each week. He’s there to be the guy Cole can play off of, and it was a dumb move from the WWE. I see this match being very close, and Miz winning in a non-dominant fashion. It’s unfortunate that it had to go down like this, but hey, apparently they can’t all be winners.
John: The problem is that WWE has done a shitty job of building fresh, new babyfaces. They have somebody in Bryan and also John Morrison who could be in this match. Both of them had great matches with Miz. Instead they go with the “old veteran” angle because they don’t have Michaels around or HHH back to do it. It’s the angle Vince always does when he can’t think of anything fresh to do. I’m sure they’ll have a few hope spots for Lawler, but if they put the belt on him even for a day it will do more long term damage to the Miz than provide fans with a feel good moment. Don’t do it, Vince. Keep the belt on Miz.
David: Paid for by the Committee for a Little Bit of Logic in Wrestling.
John: So the official pick is The Miz for me. I assume you pick the same.
John: If the poll results have more than 10% of the people voting for Lawler I’ll be shocked. Now that I say that watch him get a lot of votes. Reverse psychology, fella!
David: Of course I pick the Miz. It’s not even 7pm here, so no drinking involved in that selection.
John: And your last name isn’t Hardy, so no drugs yet. What?
David: No John, I woke up. If I was a Hardy, that’s as good of a time as any.
John: Vintage honesty.
David’s Pick: The Miz
John’s Pick: Miz
Who wins? EC: Miz vs Lawlercustomer surveys
Elimination Chamber Match for the World Championship: Edge vs. Wade Barrett vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Kane vs. Rey Mysterio vs. ????
David: Next we have the Elimination Chamber Match for the World Heavyweight Title between current (I think) champion Edge, Kane, Drew McIntrye, Rey Mysterio, Wade Barrett, and a yet to be disclosed competitor. Spoiler alert for Friday, apparently Dolph Ziggler was fired and kicked out of this match. First he loses his “title”, then his “job” … what next?? His “girlfriend”??
John: I think Ziggler will be back in the match. I dunno what they are doing with the firing stuff. What is this, TNA? They had Edge “win” the belt again on Smackdown after he “lost” it. I’m all confused. I don’t know how any of it will attract the viewer. Match wise it should be okay as all Eliminatoin Chamber matches are. The only winners can be Edge and Mysterio, though, since Del Rio’s waiting for the winner at WrestleMania. I guess a triple threat is possible too.
David: I firmly believe in a Triple Threat match … something I’ll go into greater detail at the end of the preview in our brand spankin’ new YouTube Channel (youtube.com/thejohnreportnet). I’d love to see something weird happen here and have Rey walk out as champ, but it looks like it’s going to be edge all the way. Here’s my question, why are Wade Barrett and Drew McIntrye in this match? Does anybody think they can really walk away with the belt?
John: They are in the match because you need six. The same can be said about Kane. His title reign ended with a whimper and you know he’s not winning either. Some people think maybe Christian will get that 6th spot. I think that’s a reach although I would mark out huge. I don’t think he’s ready to return yet.
David: I think he returns post-Chamber to fight Del Rio in a match before Wrestlemania, and he gets destroyed in front of Edge, making the match slightly personal. I love Christian, but like you said, I don’t think he’s ready for the match yet. I will say this in his favor though, there aren’t enough babyfaces in this match. Two? If Dolph isn’t added in, it’s gotta be a good guy. The imbalance will make it hard to believe some spots. Then again, if Edge goes out early, it builds that little engine that could story with Mysterio.
David: My official pick is gonna be Edge … but a weird sixth spot could change that. The Chamber has been known to have weird things happen. Edge inserting himself in the match, Batista winning over a broken John Cena.
John: I think Edge has to win, though, so they’re doing all this stuff even though it could have been simple to have Edge retain. Edge is the pick.
David’s Pick: Edge
John’s Pick: Edge
Who wins? EC: Smackdown Elimination Chamberonline survey
Elimination Chamber Match to determine the #1 Contender for the WWE Title: John Cena vs. John Morrison vs. R-Truth vs. Randy Orton vs. Sheamus vs. CM Punk
John: The main event, I assume, is the Raw Elimination Chamber where the winner of the match gets to headline WrestleMania against the WWE Champion. These are guys who all lost in the Rumble, the Raw Rumble and Randy Orton lost a title match too. But they all get multiple chances because this is WWE where losing gets rewarded. What a message to send to the kids! The winner is obvious here, right? R-Truth!
David: Haha, I don’t like this match for a myriad of reasons. However thinking about all the Rock stuff has me in a dizzy of “mark-ness” (state of being a massive mark). I think Cena doesn’t walk about with the title shot here. Call me weird, but I think all this stuff has been some sort of massive swerve to get us to think it’s Cena and go elsewhere. But as you said, everybody else is a massive loser. In a match that could use something fresh, I see Orton walking away as the number one contender after luring Cena into thinking he was a teammate of sorts. Cena gets added to the match, or they fight another time on a Raw for the spot and Cena wins. I think we need to expect the unexpected in this match, because the build towards the obvious … has been wayyyyyy too obvious.
John: I’m sure Morrison will have a few athletic spots in there, but nobody will believe he has a chance to win. Cena will win of course. I think Punk will pin Orton although I’d do another spot for Punk that I talked about on the youtube discussion about this match. Then Punk walks into the AA to lose the match. Rock already talked about Cena and Miz. They gave away the result by doing that. They also did it by having Miz cost Cena the Rumble too. It’s the most obvious Elimination Chamber win I can ever remember, really.
David: If so, then they deserve to get the low amount of buys they’re going to get. I understand the Rock promo’s shifted the momentum heavily towards Wrestlemania at the expense of this pay-per-view, but I think somebody’s got to tell Vince that the fans need a reason to believe in this PPV. If you tell people the outcome, then give it to them, why the hell will they buy it again? This could be the worst-booked pay-per-view since … (wait, when was the last TNA PPV? Last week?) … since last week!
John: I agree. The booking is way too obvious. I’m sure they’ll try to swerve us, but in the end it will be a bad attempt at being creative. It’s not like they’re going to shift the belt onto the Punk/Orton story. Morrison’s good, but they don’t believe in him to carry the Rumble title match or the Elim Chamber title match so obviously he has no shot. And why is R-Truth there? At least Daniel Bryan could boost the workrate of the match.
David: R-Truth isn’t a bad worker, he’s just stuck with a bad gimmick. He was a solid worker during his NWA Champion days. It’s too bad the first thing Vince sees when he sees a black man is a rapper … kinda like the first thing he gets when he sees a giant man is an erection.
John: What do I say to that? It’s true, but it’s awkward to move on from it, ya know?
David: Now you know how the giant men feel. Anyways, your pick?
John: I pick Cena of course. Just like I picked Cena last month at the Rumble. Who’d you pick for that by the way?
David: To win the Rumble? Alberto del fucking Rio. But you knew that already. Haha. I’m going with Orton here. Only cause I’ll look like a creative genius if I’m right. I think if we agree on everything, the world will implode, and I’ll never get my shot with Nattie.
John: You have a better shot with your Fruity Pebbles, fella.
David: Paid for by the Committee for a Little Bit of Logic in Wrestling
John: I prefer Trix anyway. Actually I retired from cereal, but Honey Nut Cheerios were the shit. I think I’m off topic huh?
David: Nah, Trix are for kids. I’m a smark. I only eat whatever the Rock tells me to eat … which last time was some pie. Mmm. Anyways, what? Topic?
John: John Cena wins. You think Orton wins. You are wrong. I am right. The usual. We’ll forget about your correct Rumble prediction. We’re not allowed to remember three weeks ago. Thanks for that, Vince.
David: I’ve got a mariachi band that says otherwise, but we’ll agree to disagree for now.
David’s Pick: Randy Orton
John’s Pick: John Cena
Who wins? EC: Raw Elimination ChamberMarket Research
Before we get to the big finish, here’s our audio preview of the Elimination Chamber preview. This was done on Tuesday night before we knew Del Rio-Kingston was officially on the card. Enjoy:
THE BIG FINISH
John: So we both really want Daniel Bryan to be in a PPV match on this card. Why not use the guy that’s holding a belt and is over with the crowd?
David: Probably HHH thinks this is a way for him to pay his dues. Too packed at the top with mediocre talent anyways. He should stick around and be a part of the next movement.
John: The fans like him. He is the best worker on the roster. Push him. Screw paying dues. You need to make people stars, not humble them. The guy was on the indies for ten years. He’s not going to have an ego.
David: The PPV will be on the 20th … are you at all excited about 2-21-11?
John: No. My enthusiasm has been curbed.
David: I’m interested to see why they have a Smackdown guy coming back on Raw. Syfy is hurting for ratings? Send him that way.
John: Do Undertaker’s returns equal ratings anymore? I don’t know. I doubt it.
John: Any chance that Big Show vs. Ezekiel Jackson gets added to this PPV since they’ve had a feud brewing? If so, who wins?
David: They should have gone old school and had a $15,000 Body Slam challenge. Everybody would have loved it. However, Zeke already slammed him, so Show wins if it happens. Doubt it though. They’ll add a Divas match before this one.
John: I have no idea. I just want some closeups on the back of Ezekiel Jackson’s head because that’s not normal. I can’t even describe it. Google it. Yes, I admit to only asking this question because Ezekiel’s grotesque head is interesting to me.
David: Then Google Carlos Boozer’s head, and examine. Discuss.
David: Hell in a Cell … Elimination Chamber … Which one gets your blood pumping more?
John: Hell in a Cell for sure. The EC matches are okay, but a good HIAC grudge match is on another level. I miss those days. Last one was Edge vs. Undertaker at Summerslam 2008. It meant something.
David: I think having a pay-per-view dedicated to the Cell hurt it too much, more than taking blood out of the equation. Make it disappear for a few years, and bring it back when HHH-Steph’s kids can play with it.
John: Top 3 feuds of The Rock?
David: Foley, Austin, then HHH. Halftime-Heat was dedicated to Mick and Rock, and for that, we thank the WWF>
John: I would go with Austin first, HHH second (both the 1998 and 2000 ones) and then a tie with Angle & Jericho, who are two guys that he put over for their first major titles.
David: NBA All-Star game is coming up … how many of your Raps are playing? Just kidding. You watching this PPV live? Or catching a replay?
John: I don’t know yet. NBA All-Star game is okay, but I’ll likely DVR it. It can get tedious to sit through the whole thing. I’m likely writing about the PPV live. We’ll see. I am looking forward to the Dunk Contest on Saturday night. Blake Griffin is nasty.
David: No Nattie = No live watching from me. I’ll catch the replay if I hear something interesting happened. Otherwise I’m sleeping on this PPV.
Now for more audio goodness here’s my discussion with Dave talking about the return of The Rock to WWE. Is he going to do more than be the guest host of the show? What can we expect from him?
John: Let us know what you think about the audio parts. We’re new to it, so it’ll only get better. We hope! I’ll see you Sunday at thejohnreport.net for live coverage of the Elimination Chamber. I think. If it’s not me writing I’ll find somebody else from the staff to do it! Enjoy it!
Thanks for reading,
John Canton [email protected] or Twitter.com/johnreport
David K. Twitter.com/DaveTheAwesome
