Reported by Mike Klubnik of WrestleView.com
On Monday, March 10, 2008 at 1:59 AM EST

Stylin' & Profiling
March 10, 2008
Reported By: Mike Klubnik of WrestleView.com



The Road To Wrestlemania traditionally starts at the Royal Rumble Pay Per View in January. The winner of the Rumble match unequivocally headlines Wrestlemania and can be penciled in as the next World Champion on their respective brand. This year’s Rumble match started us down a path we’ve seen before with a little bit of a twist. Triple H and Batista were arguably the two favorites heading into the match, and as expected, they were two of the last three men in the match. It was, however, the third man standing in the ring with them that had the wrestling world up in arms (for better or for worse).

As the clock counted down, fans at Madison Square Garden and across the world sat with bated breath, waiting to see who the final entrant in the 2008 Royal Rumble would be. When the clock hit zero, “My Time Is Now” roared across the Garden and TV sets all over the world. I did a double take and had to rewind my DVR to make sure that it really was John Cena standing near the ring entrance, and not some WWE trick, like Big Dick Johnson in a Cena t-shirt. It really was John Cena. Fans cheered and Cena made his way to the ring. Vince smiled, but not because his biggest draw was getting cheered on his way to the ring. No, Vince McMahon is smarter than that. He was smiling because he knew Cena’s arrival in the Rumble meant that he could count on some more buys for Wrestlemania, which might vault him back to billionaire status. Fantasy bookers were beginning to map out what was about to happen over the next two months now that Cena was back. What’s next for Randy Orton? What happens at No Way Out? Does Triple H have a shot at winning the Rumble?

Perhaps the most over the top reaction to Cena’s return was staring me right in the face. Six feet to my left sat my old college roommate, with a blank look on his face. His eyes bugged out of his sockets, and his mouth just hung open. His left eye, slowly but surely, developed a twitch as he saw Cena toss his shirt into the stands. That twitch became a full body convulsion that was followed by an onslaught of profane words that even I have never heard of. I knew at that time that my old roommate’s reaction was being replicated in households all over the country (mostly in the basement of parents from the baby boomer generation where the majority of the internet wrestling community resides). John Cena was back, and the wrestling sites around the web were overloaded with threads, posts, and countless garble complaining about how awful Wrestlemania was going to be this year with Cena back in the picture.

Sure, Cena’s return makes a fairly unpredictable Wrestlemania, rather predictable, but in a good way. Cena returns, re-visits his feud with Randy Orton, and we get the pay-off match that we got cheated out of back in October when Cena tore his pectoral. But wait, the WWE throws us another curve ball by having Cena use his Royal Rumble title shot against Randy Orton at No Way Out. Would the WWE really take John Cena out of the main event at Wrestlemania? Is the WWE ready to take the title off of Randy Orton yet? What about the Elimination Chamber matches scheduled to determine the number one contender’s for Wrestlemania? The Undertaker looks like a shoo-in on Smackdown, but what about RAW? You can’t deny Jeff Hardy’s popularity is through the roof right now, but Triple H is the tested and true draw. Who’s going to wrestle the winner of the match between John Cena and Randy Orton? Well, let’s take a look back at this year’s No Way Out Pay Per View through the eyes of one fan as some of these questions are answered:


8:01pm – After the typical WWE introduction, the promo leading off the Pay Per View is pimping the Elimination Chamber as a terribly sadistic structure that eats souls (note: doesn’t the Undertaker do that too?).

8:07pm – The show starts off with CM Punk and Chavo Guerrero. This is only further proof that the ECW title is a mid-card title. We’re also treated to highlights of the TNA-like Gulf of Mexico match. Let’s give credit to both Punk and Chavo for making that match watchable. If TNA had booked that match I’m willing to bet AJ Styles, Christian Cage, Kurt Angle, Scott Steiner, Petey Williams, Abyss, James Mitchell, Awesome Kong, Jim Cornette, Rhino, Gail Kim, Team 3D, Robert Roode, ODB, Mike Tenay, Samoa Joe, Kevin Nash, Sting, and Eric Young would all have been involved in the match before all was said and done.

8:11pm – CM Punk attempts to pay homage to the late, great, Eddie Guerrero with his “Three Amigo’s” suplexes. He subsequently gets booed by the Las Vegas crowd. Apparently it’s not okay for someone to honor Eddie when in the ring with another Guerrero, even if he is a heel.

8:12pm – Joey Styles makes reference to Punk lifting Chavo back in the ring and compares him to a “lifting a dead fish out of the Gulf of Mexico”. That comment was almost Michael Cole-esque, which brings me to a burning question. What in the world is the WWE going to go when JR finally retires? They better have cloned him in some lab in the McMahon mansion up in Connecticut, because there is no way either Styles of Michael Cole deserve to take JR’s when he steps down.

8:13pm - Chavo pins Punk cleanly after holding on to the top rope when Punk goes for the Hurricanrana. Chavo follows up with a Frog Splash. That might be the first “clean” win for Chavo in the past couple of years. Either way, a strong opening bout for the Pay Per View. ECW needs more of that, and a champion that someone cares about. Has anyone genuinely cared about the ECW championship since Big Show held it?

8:15pm – Michael Cole is talking up the World Heavyweight Championship match and we get a look back at Friday Night Smackdown when Rey Mysterio nailed Vickie Guerrero with a West Coast Pop and knocked her out of her wheel chair.

A couple of things. First and foremost, I’m forced to listen to Michael Cole talk (where’s my mute button?). Second of all, ten bucks says Vickie Guerrero comes out next week in a full body cast post-West Coast Pop. Third of all, who is Mike Adamle? Wrestling fans don’t like to watch guys give interviews (which is ironic since we watch men in tights roll around in a wrestling ring for 15-20 minutes at a time). It looks like the Smackdown Elimination Chamber is up next.

8:26pm – Finlay is headed to the ring and there is only one thing I can think of at this point. Why is Finlay coming out to Hornswoggle’s music? I can’t help but think that in the coming weeks Finlay is going to cut a promo that ends with “they’re after me lucky charms!”

On a serious note, I am surprised Finlay is not starting this match off. A veteran like Fit is perfect to start off a chamber match. Especially when you consider that the early part of the match is so important in establishing momentum and creating a tempo for the guys that enter later.

8:28pm – The Undertaker is starting his entrance. I think that they should diversify it a little bit more than the standard druids with torches(noticeably absent tonight by the way). Let’s mix in some Lord of The Rings references. You know, hobbits, unicorns, Gandalf and the like. Maybe they’ll even sacrifice a goat, you know, just for show.

8:32pm – Taker’s entrance took four minutes. I’m pretty surprised Taker and Batista are starting this one out. Side bar- the worst part about this match isn’t the The Great Khali is in this match, it’s that the next 30 to 45 minutes of my life will involve listening to Michael Cole.

8:34pm – I’m sitting here watching No Way Out with one of my co-workers. We just decided to play a game – How many times does Michael Cole say the word “steel” during this match. Why would I waste my time with something so trivial? Well Cole tends to pick out certain phrases and words, and completely overuse and overemphasize them more than Barack Obama overuses the word “hope”. I’m predicting that “steel” will be that word during this match.

8:38pm – You know the worst thing about Coach and Cole on commentary? They completely blend in together. You can’t tell them apart. They have the same inflection in their voices and it makes commentary painful. It probably doesn’t help the Coach repeats every single word Cole says like he’s adding something prolific.

On a side note, Big Daddy V is in the match now with Batista and Taker. Sadly the only thing I can think of is what his man boobs would look like in HD.

8:42pm – Khali is in the match next (Big Daddy V just got pinned by Batista after a spinebuster on the steel around the ring), and immediately a “you can’t wrestle” chant starts. Truthfully, I think Khali’s fall from grace is kind of glorious. The smarks are going nuts and blogging how it’s a disgrace he is even in a match like this, but yet Vince is kind of just throwing it in their face. Personally, I have no problem with the guy. If he ends up getting pinned by Hornswoggle at some point down the road, I can safely say that my life will be complete.

8:43pm – Khali literally almost loses his balance and falls on Batista after a clothesline. I think that might mean Hornswoggle could pin him. I mean Hornswoggle is clearly the superior worker.

8:45pm – Khali taps out in three minutes to Taker’s Reverse Triangle Choke submission. This brings a question to mind. I wonder who gets released first: Hornswoggle or The Great Khali?

8:46pm – Cole has said “steel” twice now. Needless to say I’m disappointed since the match is roughly 14 minutes in. Then again, I may have gotten Coach and Cole confused so my count may be off.

Finlay is in the match next and all I can think of is, “ They’re after me Lucky Charms!” (note: I love Finlay, but I’m still trying to digest the fact that he came out to Hornswoggle’s music instead of his own)

8:50pm – Michael Cole has used the word “Lexon” at least half a dozen times. What is Lexon? I think he made the word up. It’s times like this that the Smackdown broadcast desperately misses JBL. Instead of JBL putting Cole in his place and reminding us how absolutely terrible Cole is, we get Coach who repeats what Cole says and makes up his own new words (to go along with Cole’s).

8:51pm – MVP is the last to join the match and Taker has him cornered in his chamber. As one would expect, MVP is playing the cowardly heel trying to keep his pod shut. I can’t tell you how much I love MVP and his cowardly antics. I’m not afraid to admit that he is better than me.

8:53pm – MVP is using his “bling” as a weapon to fell all of his adversaries (I sounded like JR there). Unfortunately he now realizes that his “bling” isn’t enough to save him from The Undertaker as several direct shots to the face have not even phased The Deadman. Logically he does what anyone would do: he’s trying to hide on top of one of the chambers. For his efforts, he gets a chokeslam off the top of the chamber from Taker (and his subsequent elimination from the match).

8:55pm – Hornswoggle pokes his head out in the corner of the chamber and hands Finlay the Shillelagh. He must have found Finlay’s Lucky Charms.

8:56pm – Taker just chokeslammed Finlay to the steel on the outside, and Michael Cole subsequently refers to it as “concrete”,(Just something I felt was worth noting) to eliminate Finlay via pinfall.

9:01pm – Taker gets the pinfall on Batista with the Tombstone off of a great counter. Batista tried to slam Taker face first into the steel chain around the ring, but Taker used his weight to reverse the hold and put Batista in position for the Tombstone.

On to more important matters: Michael Cole only used the word “steel” 9 times. I’m a little disappointed to say the least. I figured in a match like this, he would have the opportunity to overuse his pet phrase at least 15 times. However, I am going to increase the count to 11, simply because he referred to “steel” as concrete on two separate occasions.

9:05pm – Edge and the “Edge Heads” (I still don’t know their new names now that they aren’t the Major Brothers anymore) are in the back cutting a promo, but truthfully I don’t even know what they’re talking about. What’s more important is the ridiculous portrait above the couch of Edge and Vickie holding each other in some meadow with gumdrop rivers. I can only hope that Edge looks into the camera and starts to sing Bryan Adams to his “Vickie-kins” who is sitting at home recovering from her injuries.

9:07pm – JR has just informed us that Maria and Ashley are going to show us some behind the scenes look at the Playboy mansion. Is it me, or has Ashley turned into some sort of mutant alien freak (or perhaps the monster from the movie “Cloverfield”)?

9:09pm – Kennedy vs. Flair is up next. While the outcome to this is fairly predictable, I like the work Kennedy has done in building this match. Quite simply, he’s just looked heartless. He’s playing off of his strengths and getting back to the point he was at this time last year.

9:16pm – I know a lot of people think Kennedy is over the top with some of his heel tactics, but he just got into Flair’s face after giving him a figure four on the outside of the ring and mocked him by screaming into his face (mocking Flair’s screams of pain) and then slapped him. I think this is absolutely perfectly in line with “the brash” Mr. Kennedy. He’s not supposed to respect authority or his elder’s. In a lot of ways Kennedy is like the youth of today. He’s talented, and he knows it. He’s got a bright future ahead of him, and he knows it. He doesn’t need to pay his dues. He deserves to be at the top, and there’s nothing he can learn from someone like Flair that will help get him there.

9:19pm – Kennedy tries to pull the tights on Flair to get the pinfall. Instead, Flair almost ends up completely naked in the ring. Dear lord, there are certain precautions that should be taken during a wrestling match to protect both fans and the talent. In the case of Flair, at his age, I think it is absolutely vital to make sure that no one ever sees any more of his body exposed than necessary.

Moments later, Flair gets the tap out win over Kennedy with the Figure Four Leglock. I just had a thought on the Flair retirement angle. What if Flair keeps this streak up and ends up winning his 17th World Title and has a three or four month reign before finally losing to someone like Triple H or Shawn Michael? In a lot of ways I almost have to wonder if that is what is in store for Flair. He is, hands down, the greatest of all time. What better way to pay tribute to his career by having him dominate the mid-card, only to get one more title run, and essentially go out a champion? It would be the perfect ending to a legendary career.

9:23pm – Edge and Mysterio is next. I hope Edge was wrong when he said that Vickie Guerrero was not at the arena. I hope she “guts it out” and makes an appearance, full body cast and all. I’d pay a month’s salary to see that.

9:28pm – I’m not quite sure what in the world Rey Mysterio’s ring attire is. My buddy’s girlfriend thinks he looks like a “gender confused” transformer (trying to be politically correct here). I also got a text message that said, “Mysterio, Warrior Princess.” I can’t decide which is better (or more accurate for that matter).

9:30pm – Edge rules. I can’t say enough about his heel work. I’m starting to think that he deflowered Lita’s backside simply for the push.

9:32pm – Much in the same way I counted how many times Michael Cole used the word “Steel” in the first Elimination Chamber, I’ve decided to count how many times he refers to Edge as “The Ultimate Opportunist”.

9:35pm – Mysterio was just caught in the Tree of Woe and countered Edge’s attempted Spear. But what’s worth noting is that Coach and Cole were almost silent for about 10-15 seconds. Dead air is not a good thing during a Pay Per View wrestling broadcast (or any broadcast for that matter).This strikes me as a problem because dead air during a show does not help create drama or build tension for the match. Most of this is on Coach’s shoulders because as the color guy, he should be adding depth to Michael Cole’s commentary. Instead, he repeats what Cole says, or has nothing to say at all.

9:36pm – Edge pins Mysterio in 5 minutes by spearing him during an attempted springboard off the second rope. Cole only uses the phrase “Ultimate Opportunist” twice. I’ll chalk that up to the fact that this was only a five minute match. Either way, Cole was not the “Ultimate Opportunist” (see what I did there?) in calling this match-up.

9:38pm – Big Show’s music hits and I’m having a mark out moment right now. Good lord does Show look like he’s in good shape. I am willing to bet he has dropped at least 50 pounds since he last appeared on WWE programming. Although, again, I hate to rag on Cole and Coach, but there is almost no emotion to his return. We get some very generic statements, but no emotion. This is what makes JR and King so incredible. Yes JR, at times, sounds a bit over the top, but he always sounds genuine. King always sounds genuine and plays off of JR well. Together they don’t just focus on the match. They focus on the storylines in matches. If JR were calling this right now, he’d likely reference Show’s loss in the Elimination Chamber in 2006, and talk about some of his career highlights, and then put Show over by talking about how his return is going to uproot the landscape of the WWE.

Now we all know that that isn’t the case, but JR will at least make us think that it is a possibility. JR will make us believe that Big Show is in line to be the next WWE, World Heavyweight, and ECW Champion (all at the same time no less). JR will also likely go off on a tangent and inform us how Big Show is really, in all probability, the mother of his children.

While these statements are outlandish, if JR were saying these things, I’d believe him. I’d probably e-mail JR and ask him how Big Show could possibly be the mother of his children. It wouldn’t matter what he e-mailed me back. I’d still believe him and ask him if Big Show could be the mother of my children too.

Counter that with this exchange:

Cole: What in the world?
*30 seconds of silence*
Cole: What a surprise! The world’s largest athlete, The Big Show!
*30 seconds of silence*
Coach: It looks like the Big Show is happy to be back Michael (dynamite drop in by the way).
*15 seconds of silence*
Cole: It appears the Big Show has lost a ton of weight. He is in great shape.

*dead commentary*

9:42pm –Show taunts Mysterio while he’s selling the biceps injury. Floyd Maryweather (who is apparently one of Rey Mysterio’s homey’s in attendance tonight) jumps in the ring with his posse. This a great way to bring Show back as a heel, but I want to see him pummel Maryweather’s crew. I’m hoping that we get a handful of Show headbutts to Maryweather’s posse in the next few minutes.

9:44pm –They just showed a close up of Show, and he’s spitting blood. Maryweather actually ended up pummeling Big Show. It looks like he nailed him with some jabs and a left hook. His nose might even be broken. If I were Show, and the WWE, I’d be pissed (even if this whole thing is a work). On replay, Maryweather’s jabs nailed him right in the face. Maryweather took off into the crowd after jabbing Show, and Show went right after him. I have to wonder if Show got caught up in the moment and was really going after him.

9:47pm – Still no commentary, going on ten minutes.

9:49pm – Mike Adamle is talking again, this time to build up the WWE title match between John Cena and Randy Orton that’s up next . I still do not know who this guy is, and furthermore, I think that if you are going to have someone push a title match, at least give me some T&A. That’s been the strategy (the effective strategy I might add) used in the past.

It looks like Orton/Cena is before the second Elimination Chamber. I’m calling it now: There isn’t going to be a title change tonight. That means we are either getting Hardy/Orton at ‘mania or a Triple Threat Match with Orton/Cena and Trips or Hardy.

9:53pm – Cena heads to the ring first, and appears to be wearing a t-shirt that resembles Mike Tyson’s Punch Out from your good old fashioned Nintendo Entertainment System. That’s either incredibly awesome, or incredibly retarded. John Cena typically has the worst t-shirts of the active WWE roster, but that is pretty freaking sweet.

9:55pm – I was just asked by my buddy’s girlfriend if wrestler’s stuff their ring tights. Now I can’t stop looking at Randy Orton below the belt.

10:05pm – The first eight minutes or so of this match have been very well paced. Again, both Orton and Cena do a great job selling the big fight feel in this match. They start out in their respective corner’s, and as soon as the bell rings they circle the ring then have a quick exchange that leads to a near fall for Cena. That sequence repeats itself until Orton takes control with a few strikes. It’s interesting to watch Orton when he takes control in a match up. His offense is always vicious and looks very contrived. In a lot of ways, I think that his maturity in the ring is a direct reflection of his maturity as a professional. His out of the ring issues the past few years have been well documented over the internet (his passion for pooping in purses, his penchant for unwinding with a doobie, and his desire to party like a rock star in the UK). While his out of the ring problems seem to be a thing of the past (hopefully) he has seemingly become more focused in the ring. Like I just said, his moves are more calculated, vicious and contrived. He is no longer just going through his moveset. He is using each move to build his character and the storyline behind the match. For example, Orton just took several right hands at Cena’s chest, where he had surgery to repair his pectoral muscle.

As one of Orton’s critics early in his career, it has been a pleasant surprise to see him morph from his days of Ephram the Retarded Rabbit as a babyface in 2004, to the sadistic, (in the words of JR) viper-like Orton of 2008.

10:08pm – Orton and Cena were just on the verge of a double count out and at 9. Cena and Orton both ducked back into the ring just before the count of 10. What is kind of interesting about this exchange is that both Orton and Cena jump back in the ring at the last minute, almost simultaneously. Usually the heel would take the easy way out and go for the count out, but not Orton. He heads back to the ring because he has come into this match with the mentality that he is by far the superior wrestler. He is vicious, he is confident, and in his mind, he is better than Cena. Too bad the WWE bookers (and Vince McMahon) are just chomping at the bit to prove otherwise.

10:12pm – Orton is selling his knee outside of the ring and tells the ref to count him out. Cena is heard in the background telling the ref “I know he isn’t hurt.” For his efforts Orton gives Cena an RKO outside the ring. Cena manages to pull himself back into the ring, foiling Orton’s well plotted attempt at winning by countout. When Cena gets back in the ring Orton slaps the ref to get DQed. I’m sitting here kind of amazed at this thinking to myself, “did he seriously just slap the ref to get DQed?” I mean usually a heel with go for a blatant low blow, or blatantly use a weapon in front of the ref. Orton’s decision to slap Mike Chioda in the face is so slimy, so underhanded that I can’t help but laugh because you rarely see someone get disqualified for attacking a referee. That might be better then he kicked Jeff Hardy below the belt as soon as the bell rang during their match on RAW several weeks back.

10:20pm – The RAW Elimination Chamber is next. To be fair, I’m going to have to count how many times JR says “steel” during this match. On another note, Lillian’s been tripping over her words a lot tonight. I have to wonder if she had a few cocktails tonight. Her slurred speech reminds me of Eric Bischoff’s drunken stumble at the Elimination Chamber match at New Year’s Revolution 2005 (which I still, to this day, believe to be the worst PPV in WWE history). Don’t believe me? Check out the PPV again. He was totally hammered by the time he came out to build up the Chamber match. And really, with the way that PPV went, who could blame him? If you recall that was the PPV where Eugene blew his knee out, Lita blew her knee out, Maven got pinned by Shelton Benjamin a handful of times in about four minutes, and Snitsky vs. Kane was the best match of the undercard.

When Snitsky/Kane is your best non-main event match of the night, you’ve got problems. It’s kind of like going to a single’s bar and your best choices are the four hundred pound woman at the end of the bar, the single mom with four kids (all of whom are sitting with her at the bar and cheering her on while she does Jell-o Shots), and the sixty-five year old grandmother who still thinks she’s in her mid-twenties. No one is a winner in that situation, and the only thing you can do to numb the pain is leave or drink until you can’t feel feelings anymore. But you paid that ridiculous cover charge to get in (or $35 for a terrible PPV in this case), and you can’t validate leaving just yet.

10:28pm - Shawn Michaels and Y2J start off the second Elimination Chamber. No shocker here. HBK and Jericho have tons experience in the Chamber (3 each), and can get the crowd going. I think it’s worth noting that this match is going to be under a time crunch (since the show ends at 11pm), which is relatively disappointing.

10:32pm – A really nice chain wrestling segment between Jericho and Michaels. Michaels counters the Lionsault, but Jericho lands on his feet, and goes for the Walls of Jericho. Michaels counters and goes for The Sharpshooter, which is countered into a small package. I’d really like to see the WWE re-visit this feud at some point in the future. They tore the house down at Wrestlemania 19, and Jericho is far more motivated now than he was the last year and a half before he took his hiatus. These two have good chemistry, and I think it would be an easy feud to re-visit. Just go back to the old formula that worked in 2003: Jericho always looked up to Michaels, and wants to dethrone his hero. I think it might light a spark in HBK to work with a guy like Jericho.

10:33pm – The first chamber opens and You-manga (in the words of William Regal) joins the match. Within moments we are treated to a double Samoan drop of Jericho and Michaels. It’s also worth noting the crowd seems to be completely gassed at this point. There’s virtually no reaction for anyone. They have been pretty good all night, so it is not terribly surprising they don’t have much left.

10:39pm –JBL is next to join the match. Umaga just withstood about 90 seconds of the Walls of Jericho and Crossface (implemented by Shawn Michaels). I have no problem with Umaga taking both of those moves for an extended period of time because it makes him look incredibly strong, which is good for his character (especially when he spent a large part in late 2007 as a pseudo-main-event jobber). At the same time it makes the Crossface and Walls of Jericho look incredibly weak. I have never been a fan of make a submission move that is considered a finisher look weak.

10:40pm –JR has said the word steel 5 times at this point. Triple H has just entered the match at this point to a marginal reaction from the crowd.

10:42pm – JBL gets pinned by Jericho after he hits him the Codebreaker. JBL has gone nuts. He just nailed Jericho, HBK, and Umaga with a chair. He finally leaves, but the chair he used stays in the Chamber. All four wrestlers (Michaels, Umaga, Jericho, and Triple H) are laying motionless in the ring.

10:45pm – Jeff Hardy is the last to get released from his chamber, and Jeff, of all people, gets almost no pop coming out of his chamber. Hardy runs through and gives everyone in the chamber a little bit off offense until Triple H and Shawn Michaels team up on him, only to get hit by a Whisper In The Wind for their efforts.

Umaga has basically controlled the pace of this match since he came in from his pod. Everything is being worked around his dominance. In a lot of ways this was needed when you consider the way he was booked in the second half of 2007. The entire pace of this match is being dictated by his offense.

10:48pm – Jericho was sitting up next to one of the Chambers on the outside of the ring. Umaga just crushed Y2J through the Chamber after hitting him with his backside after a running start, shattering the glass. While it is quite obvious that he never really touched Jericho based on the camera angle, it was still a cool mark out moment here tonight.

Umaga just dragged Jericho back to the ring and sets him up for the Samoan Spike, but HBK stops the Spike from happening by knocking Umaga out with Sweet Chin Music. Jericho then hits Umaga with the Codebreaker, and Triple H hits Umaga with the pedigree.

Jeff Hardy just provided us with our super-crazy-OMG! moment of this Chamber match. He made his way to the top of one of the chambers and hit a Swanton off the top of one of the chambers onto Umaga. Umaga gets pinned by Jericho who then gets immediately nailed by Sweet Chin Music, and gets pinned by Hardy.

10:49pm – Triple H throws Jeff Hardy to the outside of the ring and hits HBK with a pedigree, and eliminates HBK. We’re down to Hardy and Triple H. We went from five in the match, to two in less than two minutes. I’m calling it now, Trips puts Hardy over, and Hardy heads to the Wrestlemania main event.

10:52pm – Triple H pins Jeff Hardy after a pedigree on a steel chair. Apparently he’s not putting Hardy over tonight. The three minute exchange before that was pretty intense between these two. Hardy and Triple H spent about half the time outside the ring using the steel grating on the floor, and the chain link surround the ring as a weapon against each other. Hardy kicked out of a pedigree, and Triple H blocked an attempted Twist of Fate on a steel chair. JR only used the word “steel” 10 times during this match.

Triple H winning the Elimination Chamber for RAW leaves a bit of a sour taste in my mouth, it means that we are essentially going to revisit the Triple H/John Cena/Edge triangle from 2006, except Randy Orton will be playing the role of Edge. I like the possibilities this presents, but I can’t help but feel that Orton is going to be the odd man out. Either way, The Road To Wrestlemania went from murky, to relatively clear in a span of three hours tonight.

While I can’t say that I am terribly excited at the outcome of the RAW Elimination Chamber, overall No Way Out was a very good Pay Per View. I have always been very skeptical of even having this show, because in a lot of ways it almost seems like a roadblock to Wrestlemania. Tonight’s show was anything but a roadblock. Flair keeps his streak alive. Big Show makes his return. Cena and Orton built more tension between themselves. Smackdown delivered an Elimination Chamber match that I am sure will be underrated by many. RAW delivered a solid Elimination Chamber match that could potentially further existing storylines, and even open up some new ones. While I originally questioned the decision to book two Elimination Chamber matches in one night, the WWE came through for me tonight. The Road To Wrestlemania looks substantially more clear after tonight. So now it’s time to sit back, relax, and enjoy the rest of the trip. Before you know it, Wrestlemania will be right under our noses.