-- 2/19 WWE Elimination Chamber PPV Reax

Meredith Wittmann of New York City, VIP member (6.5): Best Match: Smackdown EC. Worst Match: John Cena vs. Kane. You know, I get the logic of Cena having to look dominant against Kane to make him seem like he belongs in the same ring as Rock, but the blow-off to this feud was utterly pointless. Did Cena "embrace the hate?" Well, no, he didn't. He whipped Kane from pillar to post with a smile on his face. Did Cena have to "go through hell" for the win? Nope, he managed to have a conversation with Booker half-way through and looked like he just stepped out of the shower after the match. Ridiculous. As Cena showed in Chicago, he can work contrary to a lot of people's opinion, but booking like this is the reason he's booed. From the narrative visible during the show, it's clear that management injected Cena into Ryder's program in hopes that it would quell some of the booing...The Smackdown Chamber match was fun - Wade Barrett came across like a star and Rhodes as a legitimate threat. Bryan looked liked he belonged in the Main Event for the first time in his run and Santino was a good choice in a bad situation... The Raw Chamber was good until the Jericho angle killed some of the momentum the match was building to that point. Punk looked great, Ziggler sold like his life depended on it, Truth and Kofi played their roles well, and Miz looked good in the final stretch. Overall the match lacked that certain something to push it over the top, but it was a good effort. Overall, a decent PPV barring the main event. Looking forward to WrestleMania after this, and I guess that was the point.

Dave C. of Long Island, N.Y., grad student (6.0): Best Match: Smackdown Chamber. Worst Match: Swagger vs. Gabriel. As is the case with the bulk of WWE events lately, I was left a lot of times wondering what Creative/McMahon was thinking. I was okay with both champions retaining. There really was no way for Bryan not to once Orton got concussed and Shaq confirmed he would be at WM28... The Jericho knockout angle felt like a bit of a cop-out. The "Best in the World" moniker was enough to build the Jericho-Punk WM match... Despite having Santino and Khali in the SD Chamber, I thought it blew away the Raw Chamber. Bryan showed acting chops he never has before (that look when he realized it was down to him and Santino was priceless). And, although I would've prefered Christian, Del Rio, or even DiBiase in his spot, Santino delivered, and the weak crowd came alive in a big way for him... Swagger and Gabriel have the ability to tear down the building, but not in three minutes and out of the blue... Kane-Cena was okay and better than I expected, actually, and a good write-off to this feud, although it did nothing to really change Cena's character... Beth and Tamina delivered the best Divas match in months. Tamina was the perfect choice to advance Phoenix toward an eventual showdown with Kharma or Natalya.

Joe Upleger of Warren, Mich. (7.0): Best Match: Raw Chamber. Worst Match: Swagger-Gabriel. To me, this PPV was more worth the money than the Rumble was. It started off very well with the Raw Chamber match. I thought Ziggler took some real tough bumps and showed his level of comittment to being a top heel. I also thought Kofi made a statement to be in the top tier. Jericho looks like he is saving his best stuff for Mania by only being in the Chamber 5-10 minutes before his "injury." They sold the injury angle well with Punk doing the X with his arms and looking truly concerned that Jericho was injured. Great set-up for Mania... I thought the Cena-Kane match was pointless and like a recycle of Cena's feud with Batista. This should have been in the middle of the card, but I understand it in the main event with Cena being the moneymaker... The Smackdown Chamber was predictable with Bryan retaining, but it still delivered the action and I really liked Big Show breaking into the pod and beating down Bryan. As much as Santino was a fan favorite and the sympathetic pick to win, I was still hoping that WWE would pull an Edge from a few years back and have Henry, Alberto, or Christian take his spot by force. For my money, I would have put this match last so that Sheamus would be the final guy standing tall, just like he was for the Rumble... I'm looking forward to going to Mania with my wife. Good line-up with Rock-Cena, Punk-Jericho, Bryan vs. Sheamus, Taker-Hunter in Hell in a Cell, and possibly Phoenix vs. Kharma and the return of Money in the Bank match.

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