WWE Elimination Chamber 2012: WWE '12 Xbox 360 Preview and Predictions

Seeing all of the Elimination Chamber prediction articles really got me thinking. "Man, it's too bad there is no way to actually see this play out before it happens!" Then I thought back to something we've all seen numerous times on ESPN.

Any time there is a big game coming up, usually the Super Bowl, they fire up the latest game in the Madden franchise and watch the two teams virtually duke it out before the game even happens!

So I thought to myself, why not? I popped WWE '12 into my Xbox 360, and away I went. 
I downloaded Chris Jericho, Tamina and The Great Khali from Xbox Live and set up the matches.

Here is how virtual reality thinks this Sunday will end up. Enjoy!  

Beth vs Tamina Snuka for the Divas Championship

The first match I simulated was Beth Phoenix and Tamina Snuka. These two strong, not-so-silent types have shaken up the Diva division in the WWE and will meet in the flesh on Sunday. But in the virtual run through, it was hardly a fair fight. 

Beth came right out of the gate dominating. The Glamazon put together a string of big moves, hitting an electric chair drop followed by a tilt-a-whirl slam, and a big German suplex to the daughter of WWE Hall of Famer, Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka. Tamina finally started putting up a fight, hitting Beth with Snake Eyes onto the turnbuckle. Tamina's luck would run out quickly. Beth hit a slingshot suplex off the ropes followed by her finisher The Glam Slam. 

This match went pretty much how everyone expects it to go on Sunday, but with the WWE, you never know, and a Kharma interference would certainly have a big impact as well.  

John Cena vs Kane

So this one was a little tough to simulate, since WWE '12 doesn't have ambulance matches. But fear not! I was discouraged at first, but then thought, "Well the ambulance match is all about laying the beats with foreign objects—in an extreme matter!" So I made it an extreme rules match, so it essentially has the same rules, minus the whole ambulance thing. 

This match simulation was actually pretty believable.  Cena looked like a superhero early, hitting Kane with a bunch of punches and superman flying shoulder blocks. The Big Red Monster took a few minutes to wake up but when he did, he wasn't messing around. Kane came back with all of his signature moves, including a two handed choke slam and a pile driver.

In true Kane fashion, the devil's favorite son didn't try to end it. Perhaps he virtually wanted to make Cena embrace the hate! Kane left the ring, and he grabbed a sledgehammer. After a few well-placed hammer strikes to the back and ribcage of Cena, it looked like the match was over—or was it?

Cena got up, countered a hammer strike and hit his Five Moves of Death. Cena (possibly embracing the hate) didn't go for a pin after the Attitude Adjustment. Cena picked up the hammer and started hitting Kane while he was down! Kane eventually got up, hit a few moves and headed back to the apron for one of the most dastardly WWE weapons of all time: A MOP (apparently the game creators felt it was popular enough to make the cut). Kane brings the mop and starts mounting a glorious macabre comeback. Until Cena again turned into a superhero, stole the mop, beat Kane senseless with it, and hit another Attitude Adjustment to seal the win. 

So was Cena using the sledgehammer and the always dangerous mop a sign? Does that mean that Cena is going to "embrace the hate" and lose his Fruity Pebbles all over Kane? Will Ryder and Eve play a part in the actual match?  We'll have to wait for the real match on Sunday to see.  

Smackdown Elimination Chamber Match

The Smackdown Elimination Chamber match is a hot topic in the WWE universe right now. Will it be the worst match in history? Will Daniel Bryan be able to carry a match? Why are the Great Khali and Santino in the match? WWE '12 actually made it look not too bad. 

The match started with Wade Barrett and Daniel Bryan in the ring. Bryan was in control early, hitting a lot of kicks and fast moves on the bigger Barrett. Just when Barrett was starting to look worn down, Santino's pod opened up and the Milan Miracle made a bee-line for the current champ. After a few seconds to catch his virtual breath, Barrett breaks up the fight, and Santino and Bryan joined forces to take on the leader of the Barrett Barrage.

The Great Khali was the next superstar to enter the match and (very accurately) started lumbering around handing out big overhand chops and slaps to anyone who would stay still long enough to take one. Next the Big Show would enter the match and go toe to toe with the Punjabi Giant.

Meanwhile, Daniel Bryan hit a DDT from the top rope on Santino, and he followed it up with a label lock. Santino was able to escape the hold, but not for long. Santino hits one arm drag on the champ, and then Daniel Bryan did his own Five Moves of Death to Marella and forced Santino to tap, at the exact same time as the Great Khali held Wade Barrett down for the three count. After the double elimination, Rhodes came into the match and immediately hit an Alabama Slam on Bryan. Rhodes for some reason decided to go after the Great Khali instead of pin the champion, and hit Khali with Cross Rhodes to eliminate the huge superstar.

So we were down to three: Rhodes, Big Show, and the current champion Daniel Bryan. Big Show went for a choke slam on Bryan, but it was countered. After the counter, Rhodes and Bryan worked together to take on the world's largest athlete, but couldn't contain him very long. Big Show threw a knock-out punch and caught the virtual jaw of Cody Rhodes.

Rhodes was eliminated and it was down to The Big Show and Daniel Bryan. The two who were involved in a big feud on Smackdown involving Bryan's "girlfriend," A.J. Show made quick work of the champion, hit a backbreaker and pinned Bryan to win the title. 

It was interesting that the match came down to two superstars who have a bit of history together. Again though the game couldn't possibly know about the circulating rumors saying that Big Show is going to be in a match with Shaq at Wrestlemania. Maybe Shaq will get a shot at the title? We'll see on Sunday.  

Raw Elimination Chamber Match

The Raw Elimination Chamber match is slated to be the best match of the night. Many have said that the whole pay-per-view relies heavily on this match. Virtually, it wasn't too shabby. 

The match started with Dolph Ziggler taking on The Miz. They had a pretty even one-on-one matchup going, until the Miz hit a few big moves, including his signature back breaker, neck breaker combo. Right as the Miz was picking up momentum, R-Truth was released from his pod and came right at the faux hawked former reality star. Ziggler broke it up and started taking both of the former "Awesome Truth" teammates on at once.

CM Punk's pod then opened up and the champ came out guns-a-blazin'. Punk ran right through Ziggler, Truth, and Miz, not thinking to pin any of them. Punk climbed on top of one of the pods, ready to put his elbow right through the heart of any of his three opponents, until Kofi Kingston's pod opened. Kofi ran up and threw CM Punk from the top of the pod, which cause Punk to be down for a while.

Kingston fought Miz and R-Truth on the steel grates outside of the ring, while Punk and Ziggler took time to recover, and then started a fight of their own. Jericho entered the match next, but made a quick exit after catching a skull-crushing finale right out of the gate. Before the Miz could even celebrate his pin, he caught a Trouble in Paradise from the educated feet of Kofi Kingston. The Miz was eliminated after the kick, and the match was down to Ziggler, Kingston, the champ CM Punk and R-Truth.

While Ziggler found himself superplexing CM Punk from the top rope, Kingston scored another elimination, this time utilizing S.O.S to remove R-Truth from the match. Ziggler took this opportunity to eliminate Kofi using a backslide pin. Now it was down to Dolph Ziggler and CM Punk, the current champ. Ziggler targeted the champ's left arm with arm breakers, arm bars and other high impact moves. CM Punk was forced to tap out and hand the title to Dolph Ziggler.

Will the Raw Elimination Chamber match end with neither "the best at what he does" or "the best in the world" holding gold? Can Ziggler possibly win the title? If he does who will he face at Mania? Again, we'll have to wait and see how accurate the simulation was on Sunday night.  

Will the Simulation Ring True on Sunday?

We'll have to wait for Sunday to see just how accurate these simulations are. Was the virtual simulation right? Will Kharma continue to confuse fans without an appearance, or will she come in and establish her spot at the top of the Diva division? Will the Kane-Cena match end without any interference by Ryder or his girlfriend Eve? We'll have to see. 

Hopefully you all enjoyed this simulation, if not accurate it made for some interesting situations.

Thanks for reading!