By Jason Powell

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WWE Elimination Chamber Hits

John Cena vs. Kane: It felt out of place in the main event spot, but I assume WWE officials felt that Cena should headline this show since he's headlining WrestleMania 28. Cena and Kane took full advantage of being able to use shortcuts permitted by the Ambulance match gimmick. It wasn't a particularly memorable main event and I could have done without Cena taking time out to joke about Booker's Fave Five, but this was their best outing and I'm simply happy that the feud is over.

Raw Elimination Chamber: This was the more consistently entertaining match of the two. The Jericho elimination was a letdown, yet it's understandable from a booking standpoint as it protected him from being pinned heading into his likely WrestleMania 28 match with C.M. Punk, and gave his character something to needle Punk over. Plus, he had multiple eliminations and looked strong before the injury angle. Though I enjoyed this match more than the Smackdown version, it didn't stand out as one of the more memorable Chamber matches we've seen in recent years. Punk looked good and it was nice to see The Miz get some booking love by being the last man eliminated from the match. It was a good Chamber match but not a great one.

Smackdown Elimination Chamber: The match dragged too much for me to rate this as the more entertaining of the two Chamber matches. Granted, the closing minutes of the match was more entertaining than the Raw version, but that didn't make up for the plodding pace early. However, I enjoyed the Santino Marella tease, the Big Show frustration story, and the good heel performances of Cody Rhodes and Wade Barrett. The most impressive performance was delivered by Daniel Bryan, who showed great range as a character by acting cocky, cowardly, and vicious at various times during the match.

WWE Elimination Chamber Misses

Overall show: A minor miss. The top three matches earned Hits, yet the overall show still felt flat. This didn't feel like a company that was firing on all cylinders heading into their biggest annual event. Rather, it felt like the company has its direction mapped out for television and this pay-per-view wasn't a big part of their plans. While it prevented this from being a newsworthy event, I applaud the company for not changing the titles heading into WrestleMania. There's nothing more frustrating than title changes occurring at this pay-per-view because doing so leads to a short-term champion defending his title for the first time at WrestleMania. I'd rather take the hit at Elimination Chamber to have longer term champions defending their straps in more meaningful matches at the big show.

John Laurinaitis segment: I can't think of many less exciting ways to reintroduce the returning Alberto Del Rio and Christian than this repetitive segment. I assume this will lead to a six-man match with Del Rio, Christian, and Henry facing Team Teddy at WrestleMania with the general manager title for both brands on the line. That's all well and good, but this segment was repetitive and dull.

Jack Swagger vs. Justin Gabriel: A fart and bad cheese jokes set up this match between two guys who had no storyline issues. Gee, I can't imagine why the crowd sat on their hands. This was not a hot live crowd in general, but I blame the product more than the fans in this case.

Beth Phoenix vs. Tamina: A minor Hit based on Diva match standards, but still a Miss overall because the live crowd didn't care about the majority of the match. WWE hasn't done enough to make the monthly Divas pay-per-view matches feel important. It appears we have Beth vs. Kharma on the horizon and while that should be fun, there's no reason to believe we won't be right back to this same point once that feud runs its course. I can only hope that their matches are so entertaining and cause enough of a stir with the fans that WWE officials notice there is money in the division if it's presented in the right manner.

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