By Will Pruett

- I was fairly surprised to see the Raw Elimination Chamber match kicking off the show, but then again I feel like I get surprised like this at every Elimination Chamber show. The match I tend to believe will finish the show always kicks it off. You can take the opposite of my prediction to the bank on that one.

- The production team finally came up with a new Elimination Chamber entryway! I loved the look of it.

- Kofi Kingston played the role I expected him to and he played it far better than John Morrison and Rob Van Dam have in the past. I would much rather watch him. Kofi also has quite a bit of upside, even this far into his career.

- It seems like C.M. Punk always leaves the Elimination Chamber having been cut up on the grate. This match does not seem like it is any fun to be in. Between being slammed into chains, slammed onto a steel grate and put through plastic-ish pods this cannot be any WWE superstar’s favorite day on the calendar.

- Dolph Ziggler took some hard bumps on the steel quite a few times in this match as well. His show-off gimmick did not serve him well in the match, nor did his Billy Gunn-esque tights.

- Chris Jericho losing the match due to injury makes sense. He had to lose in a way other than being pinned or submitting in order to retain the credibility he already has. I cannot fault the decision not to give him the WWE Championship either, since that gives a long-term Champion heading into WrestleMania.

- The Miz lasting until the very end surprised me. Given all of the talk about him being in WWE’s doghouse, I figured he would be out pretty quickly and Ziggler would be given the chance to shine at the end of the match.

- The show started with the match of the night, which is not a bad thing. Nothing on the show really topped what the Raw wrestlers did together in the Chamber. The next two hours had some very long and unexciting stretches.

- The Santino “Rocky” vignettes made me chuckle a couple of times. They also played well into the finish of the Smackdown Elimination Chamber. These short moments were a solid use of pay-per-view time.

- I don’t understand the outrage I saw over the John Cena video package. It was a well done piece showing him training for the biggest match of his life. Sure, it is on pay-per-view, but don’t these packages belong everywhere considering Rock vs. Cena is being hyped as the biggest match of all time?

- John Cena actually took a shot at The Rock and his ability to win their WrestleMania match. That is what this feud should be based on.

- They sure did give Beth Phoenix and Tamina a long time (by Diva’s standards) on this show. I cannot say that the match justified it. Tamina just does not impress me in the ring and playing off of Jimmy Snuka’s legacy does not enhance her act.

- Hopefully with Tamina now out of the way for Beth Phoenix we can get to the big match between Beth and Kharma. I’m sure every fan is wanting that, which cannot be said about most woman’s matches in WWE.

- Stop bullying people. Seriously, those videos are annoying, so I would ask that you stop it so we don’t have to see them again.

- The in-ring segment between John Laurinaitis, David Otunga, Alberto Del Rio, Christian and Mark Henry was very entertaining. Laurinaitis is still doing great work in his role. It would be a shame to see him taken off of television (although as a manager instead of an authority figure, I’d enjoy the act more).

- Christian’s jacket needs to have a love child with Chris Jericho’s jacket. I’d love to wear that.

- I could see the three (or four if we’re counting Otunga) Laurinaitis supporting heels forming a team for WrestleMania, but I would rather see them in a Money in the Bank match. This match really does need to come back to WrestleMania.

- When the pay-per-view is named after a particular match concept, I would tend to think that match should close out the show.

- I can’t be the only person who was surprised when Santino actually got locked in his pod. I had my money on an attack as he came down the aisle. More surprising was the fact that I was happy Santino was in this match at the end of it.

- The first half of the Smackdown Elimination Chamber was exceptionally boring. I really wanted it to be good, but kicking things off with Big Show (who lacks exciting athleticism) and Wade Barrett (a heel no one cares about or responds to) was a very poor booking choice.

- Cody Rhodes and Wade Barrett had a nice string of double team moments in this match. They could make a legitimate tag team that would lend some upper-card credibility to the tag titles, in a similar way that Air Boom was supposed to.

- Great Khali was placed into this match to be speared and eliminated. Why not give that slot to someone who could actually make something out of it? Santino turned straw into gold with his slot. Khali just served no purpose.

- Big Show breaking into Daniel Bryan’s pod from the top was a neat spot to get the crowd involved in the match again. From this point on, the match was actually really exciting. This was a nicely played segment from both Show and Bryan.

- Daniel Bryan showed in this match that he is really locking into some fantastic main event heel mannerisms. From his gloating to his fear of the Big Show attack and his quick change from mocking to intensity in the final sequence with Santino, Bryan is showing a ton of personality.

- Why doesn’t WWE just say that they are very hard plastic pods that can occasionally break? At this point announce tables are just as unbreakable as Elimination Chamber pod doors.

- For the first time tonight we saw the Elimination Chamber pod doors actually used as weapons to slam on people (in both matches too). I am very much in support of this (as long as the blows to the head are being well protected by a hand or leg being hit with the door first) and am surprised it took this long to figure this out.

- The crowd went absolutely crazy for Santino and they made it easier for me to suspend my disbelief. Daniel Bryan played this segment perfectly, as did Santino. This was a moment where it actually seemed like Bryan could slip on a banana peel and give Santino that win. I’m glad he didn’t but the idea that he could have made the end of the match that much more exciting.

-Natalya’s current gimmick is obnoxious and tasteless.

- It sure is lucky Jack Swagger and Justin Gabriel happened to be hanging out and almost arguing in their tights.

- Justin Gabriel needs to watch out for the Hornswoggle curse. He’s one of the first steps towards “Future Endeavored Island” if Finlay and Chavo Guerrero are any indication.

- No matter what happened in the Ambulance Match, I just could not get into it. There was never a moment where it felt like John Cena was in jeopardy. I understand why they wouldn’t want him to look weak, but Kane looked like he was outmatched.

- It is so hard to overcome the odds when you are the odds.

- After seeing the hard hitting and violent Elimination Chamber matches earlier in the night, nothing in the Ambulance Match seemed all that eventful. This is one of the many issues with attempting to have a hardcore-style match on this show.

- The closing spot with John Cena throwing Kane off of the ambulance was exciting, but not seeing the impact made it disappointing as well. I know that crash pads are used, but why make it seem s obvious that one is being used.

- Finally, placing someone gingerly into an ambulance does not exactly scream out “Victory!” to me the way a pin or submission does.

- The show went off the air with Rock vs. Cena in mind. I’m interested to see what happens in the next few weeks to build to Rock’s first appearance. I hope the last year of disappointment in their program can be erased in this final push to ‘Mania.

This was a show where match order could have changed everything. Open with that Smackdown Chamber, follow it up with the U.S. Championship bonus match, place the Ambulance Match in the middle, followed by the Diva’s Championship and close the show with the Raw Chamber. This would have made sense and sent the fans home happy.

Sadly, that match order was not executed and we were left feeling downtrodden in the end over a pay-per-view that actually consisted of two really good matches that were well worth watching. This was not a bad show, but much like the Royal Rumble, it was not as exciting as it needed to be.

Let's do some good old fashioned talking about this show! Feel free to email me at itswilltime@gmail.com or to follow me on twitter at twitter.com/itswilltime.

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