WWE Elimination Chamber: Chris Jericho vs. CM Punk Failed to Deliver

The Elimination Chamber has been the bridge that was placed right in the middle of the Road to WrestleMania since 2008 when it became exclusive to the February pay-per-view. The chamber match(es) and the undercard are used to start the build towards the WWE’s biggest event of the year.

In comparison, I often think of the Elimination Chamber as the Wild Card Round of the NFL playoffs. In no way does it completely mold the Super Bowl, but it does give you a good idea of what to expect for weeks to come.

Just in the past two years, football fans who’ve watched the Wild Card Round saw the Packers and Giants, respectfully, start their road to capturing the Lombardi trophy. It wasn’t hard to watch them in the NFL’s opening playoff round and predict that they could win it all.

But the WWE failed to do that. Sure, we now know three of the matches—both heavyweight championship bouts and of course The Rock versus John Cena. But any fan who has access to an AOL dial-up knew this going into the event.

I challenge you to find a 10-year-old who couldn’t have figured that out Saturday morning.

But WWE fans watched the chamber for the story. After all, this is why we love wrestling.

We knew who was going to win, but we want to know how they did it. We want the story to progress more and more each and every week until it hits a climax where all fans get their money worth.

And that’s where the WWE failed. It didn’t progress the storylines that we wanted. Especially between two of the best in the world (at everything they do).

With CM Punk versus Chris Jericho being inevitable, the WWE was tasked with furthering their story. What we got was Punk literally kicking Y2J out of the chamber which rendered him physically unable to complete the match. Y2J would do a post-match interview that explained his frustration. He eliminated Dolph Ziggler and Kofi Kingston, but notes that he was never actually eliminated.

I understand what the WWE is trying to do here, but let’s face it; this is a storyline for a lesser pay-per-view, not WrestleMania.

Before that match, I felt that this could possibly be the best feud we’ve ever seen. Hell, I even wanted Jericho to win it to only further the feud and have Punk chase Jericho going into WrestleMania. But instead, the story moved one inch forwards rather than giving the fans a memorable moment that would make them want to buy WM tickets.

What the WWE should’ve done was have the two go back and forth in the ring as the last two standing, showing that the two can easily carry a match with each other. It would’ve been a nice sneak peek into what to expect at WM. Instead, the two had about two minutes of exchanges before being interrupted by the other competitors.

Sorry WWE, that wasn’t enough to quench my thirst.

There is a full six weeks before WrestleMania 28, so there is plenty of time to further this rivalry. But what the WWE doesn’t want to do is have it overshadowed by The Rock and Cena as they’re the actual main event for the card.

With Rock mainly appearing via satellite, WWE should be leaning on Y2J and Punk in the coming weeks. The two don’t have a long history with each other, and the WWE isn’t going out of their way to make one thus far.

Some of the best feuds we’ve seen in the past all had a long-standing history. Whether you take it all the way to Stone Cold’s clash with the Rock after lengthy feuds in years past or as recent as Shawn Michaels coming from beneath the chamber floors to surprise the Undertaker—these are the moments that we remember and have us dying to see how the feuds conclude.

So far the only moment I think of between the two is when Jericho delivered a Codebreaker on Raw the night after the Royal Rumble.

Tonight’s Raw will be critical to the feud between two of the best in the world. It was around this time when Batista turned on Triple H before they clashed at WrestleMania 21. It was also this time when Randy Orton delivered a DDT to Stephanie McMahon-Helmsely, setting up a great feud leading into the 25th anniversary of WrestleMania.

So not ALL hope is lost.

But whatever happens tonight, it better be good.