WWE Elimination Chamber 2011: Ranking the 6 Smackdown Participants

Last year, WWE was in a very interesting situation. A lot of veterans were on their way out of the company, while a new crop of talent was ready to make a name for themselves.

Doing all of this while having Undertaker, Triple H and The Rock back for WrestleMania was going to prove to be a difficult task. The Elimination Chamber event pulled it off masterfully. First up was the Smackdown World Title match.

6. Wade Barrett

Wade Barrett was in the middle of his "Corre" run last year.

Yes, it was a terrible time to be a member of the Barrett Barrage. Thankfully, I have patience and can ride out the good and bad times.

He eventually got back on track, but the beginning to 2011 was not pretty for Wade. He was the first man eliminated in this match, and it felt like nothing was missed.

5. Big Show

Big Show was feuding with Wade Barrett at the time. Their feud would eventually lead to a WrestleMania tag-team match. It was awfully short, but I enjoyed it.

On this night, Big Show did his usual power moves and was sent to the back early.

4. Kane

Kane made it to the final three here. He also had a few pinfalls to his name. Kane had a nice performance. Sadly, his character was damaged at this point.

He was a dominant heel to end 2010. Remember him defeating Undertaker three straight shows in 2010? Well, he dropped the title to Edge in December and did nothing of note afterwards.

This added on top of his transition from heel to face for the millionth time. It all just made for a very uninteresting time for the character.

Again, he had a great night. I just didn't care for him at this point in time.

3. Drew McIntyre

Drew McIntyre had a very impressive showing one year ago. He does not have much experience in the Chamber, but he looked at home here.

I don't know what it was.

His aggression? His attitude? The crowd being fired up? The wrestlers with him?

I have no idea. On this show, Drew looked like a star. One chokeslam from Kane later, and he was gone. It didn't matter. He had made his mark on the viewing audience!

2. Rey Mysterio

Rey Mysterio showed off his skills to the world once again.

He has had a very impressive career for over a decade now. His WWE run is about to his the ten year milestone. I don't think many fans realize just how great Rey is in the ring.

He had yet another great showing in an Elimination Chamber match. Mysterio started the match with Edge and made it to the end.

With Alberto Del Rio (Royal Rumble winner) waiting for the winner of this match, it was very easy to see Rey leave this match as World Champion. It was not my first choice, but it would have made sense.

In the end, WWE made the right move (as usual).

1. Edge

Edge won the match. He walked in as World Champion, started the match and he left still wearing the gold. After a huge spear on Mr. 619, the Rated-R Superstar was heading to yet another WrestleMania main event.

After the match, Del Rio attacked him to officially begin their feud. As the video shows, this brought out the returning Christian.

Fans loved this moment. It was sure to be a great time to be a member of the WWE Universe, but very few knew just how much time Edge had left in his career.

Just a few short weeks later, Edge would be retiring, while Christian and Del Rio feuded over the vacant World title.

Follow Justin Watry on Twitter!