By Ryan Kester

World Heavyweight Championship Elimination Chamber

This first two-thirds of this match dragged on quite a bit, and they spent most of the match trying to set up the two stories of Big Show's compulsion to tear Daniel Bryan apart and Santino Marella's underdog triumph. Once the pieces were in place, the stories were told well, but they almost lost the live crowd in the process.

Cody Rhodes and Wade Barrett did a good job of selling for the bigger names while they each got a moment to shine. Barrett hit Bryan with one of the most brutal spots of the evening when he slammed his head in one of the pod doors, and Rhodes actually got the pin on Big Show. Khali's presence was pretty much a waste as he entered the match only to eat a spear from Big Show before departing.

Daniel Bryan shined in this match to a pretty significant degree. He's obviously getting some more flexibility with what he can do in the ring, and he showed a great range with his body language throughout this match. He went from being cocky while in his pod to terrified when Show was ripping into said pod, and later he looked absolutely sadistic when attempting to finish Santino. Daniel Bryan was in need of a main event standout performance, and he delivered in a big way last night.

Sheamus picking Daniel Bryan to face at WrestleMania was logical, and it is nice to see Sheamus break out a new finisher to mark the next stage in his career. While I still believe that a third party will be added to the Seamus vs. Bryan match at WrestleMania, it is nice to see two guys rise so quickly from dark match to one of the marquee matches in just a year's time.

WWE Championship Elimination Chamber

This was the more athletic of the two chamber matches, and it seemed to operate from the opposite end of the spectrum. There was plenty of flash and excitement in this match, but not a lot of storyline substance.

Dolph Ziggler and R-Truth served as the dedicated sellers of the match. Kofi Kingston did plenty of innovative spots including a DDT off of the cage; he deserves a strong push after the work he put into this match. The Miz, despite rumblings of him being in the doghouse, was treated like a threat and managed to have a good final series with CM Punk.

Ultimately, the match served to be an entertaining spectacle that told one of the least interesting stories imaginable. Punk knocked Jericho out with a kick that caused Jericho to fall into a lighting fixture, so he was removed from the match via training staff discretion, which I imagine will be used as the impetus for their showdown at WrestleMania. This interests me very little, as this will have Jericho approach the match from a place of obnoxious whining when the stronger build would include CM Punk determined to chase down Jericho to recapture his WWE Championship.

Still, despite my misgivings, this was the first time I can recall both heavyweight champions entering and exiting the Elimination Chamber with their reigns intact. That's a good long-term seed to plant for WWE, and I can respect that it gives the titles a bit of added prestige to be retained in this environment. This simply happens to be a time when a title change would have been the best call.

John Cena vs. Kane

I was high on this storyline the first night Kane appeared, kept his mouth shut, and just walked through John Cena. The next week Kane used a similar approach, but this time he stole Cena's shirt, and things just went downhill from there. This entire storyline has been cartoonish and, aside from a few fun moments, did more harm than good to Cena's character.

People are ready for a change from Cena, not just in his character but in how he approaches a feud. He is never serious, never treats an opponent like a threat, and that kills a lot of fun that goes into wrestling. WWE had a chance to do something different last night, and instead we were treated to another round of cartoonish Cena.

At this point, I am simply glad that this storyline is over. I worry that WWE has really taken the heat out of John Cena heading into one of the biggest matches of his career, but there is over a month before 'Mania for that to change. WWE has to get serious now, however, and so does Cena.

Beth Phoenix vs. Tamina Snuka

This was a good match compared to what we normally get from the Divas' division, but there was little to really get excited over. That's not the fault of the women involved here, that blame rests with the booking for the entire division over the past year. We simply haven't been given enough of a reason to invest in WWE's women's division.

Hopefully, that will change soon with Kharma's inevitable return. Creative showed a real fire last year with Kharma before her unexpected pregnancy put things on ice. Even with Kharma's presence, WWE has a lot of damage to repair before they will really be able to garner their fans' attention.

Overall Show

Last night's show gave two good chamber matches without a lot of undercard excellence. WWE was obviously hindered by having several big names on the injured reserve list and the normal midcard in the chamber matches, but some of that filler could have easily been spent giving the Uso Brothers and Epico/Primo time to impress. Still, the end result was a show that delivered in the show's main gimmick matches, but the rest of the card failed to leave a lasting impression.

If you have any questions or comments or just wish to chat with a fellow wrestling fan about whatever, then feel free to email me at ryan.kester@gmail.com, or follow me on Twitter at @TheRyanKester.

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