They start with a recap of the lame promo that ended last week's Raw, going right into Kane stating that Cena will embrace the hate tonight and someone will take a ride in an ambulance. So... does that mean the feud is over tonight? I enjoyed it at first, but it's dragged on for too long.
Then we're having an Elimination Chamber... debate? This seems like it could be fun, but it gets interrupted by Mr. Personality himself, John Laurinitis (the EVP of TR and IGM of MNR). All he does is say that he's happy to still be all of those acronyms. Punk gets the first question, insulting Johnny Ace a little bit and says that he's going to win the Elimination Chamber because he's the best wrestler in the world. Jericho gives him an amazing death glare. Ziggler makes a statement, but R-Truth has the best rebuttal of all. It's hard to explain what he says, but he treats this is as an actual election and has a hilarious rant including spider stew. Miz goes on a rant that goes over the time limit and gets buzzed, but Kofi is the one to stop him from talking. Kofi has a decent speech, saying that while he may be an afterthought and unappreciated, but he still could win the Elimination Chamber. Jericho starts using SAT words, claiming that he's been in the most Elimination Chamber matches of anyone in the world, and has eliminated more in those matches than anyone else in the world. He calls CM Punk a boy, which gets him his first big boo since his return. We finally get a taste of what a Punk vs. Jericho promo would be like, and it's exciting. It looks like R-Truth and Ziggler might be feuding soon, which could be good. They announce Kofi vs. Jericho, but Jericho throws a little tantrum, letting Kofi hit a Trouble in Paradise to knock him down.
There's a promo for Kane vs. Cena at Elimination Chamber, which basically summarizes the feud: Kane is crazy and can't stand all the support that Cena gets and wants to bring him down to his level. The basic monster that can't stand anyone being better than him.
They jump right into the match on the return from the commercial break, and Kofi is acting more aggressive than I've seen him, and takes control of the match. Jericho turns it around with a powerbomb from the turnbuckle. As Jericho holds Kofi in a submission hold, the cheers from the crowd are very muddled – it's difficult to hear who they're cheering for. Jericho counters a splash into the Walls of Jericho, which Kofi barely manages to break by grabbing the rope. Jericho thinks he won and argues with the ref, distracting himself and getting hit with another Trouble in Paradise, leading to a near-fall that Jericho breaks by grabbing the rope. Jericho jabs Kofi in the eye, then lands a Codebreaker for the three-count. A good match, they could wrestle a match-of-the-year contender if they were given the time.
We get a recap of what happened between Kane, Cena and Ryder at Royal Rumble. There's a brief promo between John Cena and Zack Ryder, who's still in a wheelchair. The switch between the cheers for Ryder and the boos for Laurinitis is startling. Otunga tries to give Laurinitis some perspective, and it looks like they're planning on getting Laurinitis to replace Teddy Long as GM of Smackdown in addition to becoming the permanent GM of Raw. Then we have a recap of the Big Show and Randy Orton brawling after Smackdown.
Daniel Bryan is going to watch the Orton vs. Big Show match sitting next to the announce table, and it seems like Michael Cole is going to start complimenting Bryan. As a sidenote, I love that they keep showing a notice that the Westminster Dog Show is being shown on CNBC. Back to the match, Big Show and Randy Orton go back and forth until the commercial. When they come back, Orton has Big Show in a sleeper hold, yet it isn't broken up despite Big Show holding the rope. What? Orton gets his huge DDT on the Big Show, this time from the top rope. After two RKOs, Orton looks like he's going to get the win, but Bryan interferes and knocks out both Orton and Big Show with the championship belt. This is a better heel move than anything he's done so far. It looks like they might be building him to be a sort of chessmaster, pitting his foes against each other.
After the break: the Heartbreak Kid, Mister Wrestlemania, Shawn Michaels! The crowd reacts appropriately, and it's always nice to see him. He talks about Triple H and the Undertaker, and how he wanted Triple H to accept the challenge from the Undertaker. HBK claims that he thinks Triple H not accepting the challenge is him playing mind games with the Undertaker, and then brings out Triple H to get him to accept 'Taker's challenge. There's a brief photo op where they make the DX pose, and Triple H makes some good jokes. He then restates the fact that he does not want to face the Undertaker at Wrestlemania. He says that he doesn't want to end the Undertaker, while Shawn Michaels tries to push him into it. Michaels starts insulting Triple H, calling him a sellout and a coward. This is heartbreaking to watch, two people who love each other fighting. Shawn Michaels seems to be losing his voice as the promo goes on.
Triple H goes on an interesting rant about how he has responsibilities to the business now, and the fact that he can't beat the Undertaker because it would be bad for business. This is an amazing promo, and shows why Triple H and Shawn Michaels are two of the best talkers that have ever been in professional wrestling. After Shawn Michaels leaves, the gong hits. Another promo with the Undertaker in the same setting as last week. This one focuses more on what Triple H said last week, and this remains one of the best promos they've done in a long time. In this one, 'Taker... cuts his hair, though he uses a straight razor and somehow manages to make it look intimidating.
After the break we have R-Truth vs. Dolph Ziggler. Both are good at showing their personality in the ring, and this is a great match. It ends when R-Truth takes advantage of Ziggler showing off with situps to roll him up. There's a nice promo between Santino and Zack Ryder. Santino's always enjoyable.
Next we have a divas match, along with the announcement of Tamina vs. Beth Phoenix at Elimination Chamber for the title. The current match is Tamina vs. Brie Bella, and it's surprisingly good for a Divas match, though it's still short. Tamina actually has some skills, and manages to make Brie look good.
After the break there's a promo about the Rock's movie and the press tour he's on for it. First thing that comes to mind is that I'm disappointed that everyone just calls him Dwayne Johnson instead of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. It's a thoroughly boring promo. Sadly, Cena doesn't get to respond to it, as he's interrupted by the sound of Eve screaming as Kane shoves her into the ambulance. Kane almost drives off with her in the back, but she manages to open the door... and then they start making out. And Zack Ryder is right there. Smooth. And then, after the commercial break, Eve puts Zack directly into the friend zone.
That leaves us with the final match of the night, CM Punk vs. the Miz. I have a feeling Miz is going to get crushed here, considering the backstage heat he's been getting. Punk seems to have hurt his left arm at some point during the match, which lets the Miz launch a decent offensive. CM Punk turns it back around to land a Macho elbow, then going for a GTS, which is countered into a Skullcrushing Finale, which is in turn countered into an Anaconda Vise for the win.
After the match, they show Kane's ambulance return. Following the commercial break, John Cena comes out, looking very unsure of himself. He apologizes to Zack, and talks about Kane's plan coming to fruition. The crowd starts a “We all hate you” chant, which is shameful. Cena finally fires back at the haters without being mean or nasty at all. He's about to say something to the Rock, but Ryder comes out and makes his way to the ring. He smacks the mic out of Cena's hand, and then slaps him. Cena takes off his pendant and chain, and almost punches Zack. I kind of wish he had actually attacked Zack, because that would have been a good way to turn Cena heel. Kane comes onto the titantron for an uninspiring speech, where he seems to slip into a southern accent. Kane then pushes Zack off the stage in his wheelchair, and they show the impact, which looks extremely painful. Eve comes out to check on Zack, and gets some nasty heat.
Overall: Despite a weak ending, this was a good episode. Kofi vs Jericho, Punk vs Miz and (surprisingly) Tamina vs Brie Bella were enjoyable, and the Elimination Chamber and HBK promos were good.
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