[2010-02-21-WWE-Elimination Chamber] Rey Misterio vs Chris Jericho vs The Undertaker vs CM Punk vs R-Truth vs John Morrison (Elimination Chamber)

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[El-P]

Well, interesting if nothing else, but quite patchy.

 

First off, there's something odd about R-Truth being put in there. Especially after you had Kofi Kingston also start the match in the previous EC match. I mean... a black guy JTTS doing flips being thrown in to start the match in both occurences... someone just isn't very creative there, to stay polite. Well, R-Truth hasn't even the potential Kofi had. He's been doing the exact same shitty rap and four moves for ten years at this point. Easily of guy I'd be happy never to see again.

 

CM Punk on the other hand, looks like a star here, coming out with the Straight Edge Society and cutting a promo and being an asshole. R-Truth does his stuff, Punk makes sure it looks okay and makes the most of it. Truth is gone (thank God for that). Punk cuts another promo while waiting for a pod to open. Good shit here.

Rey is in. Damn, this next sequence is terrific, him and Punk pack in more interesting work and display more character than all the guys in the previous EC match combined during their 45 minutes. Rey takes some brutal bumps too, and it's not over. Punk is absolutely great at making nearfall look like actual false finishes. Sadly, he's gone. Wait, what ? Bad idea, as he's been the most over guy here, getting legit heat from a mostly dead crowd.

 

Jericho next. Traffic directing and pacing master of the EC match. Can't do without this guy it seems. Slows down a bit after some other sick Rey bumps into the fence. Really build into some nearfalls again. Nice job by Jericho, Rey is on fire.

 

Morrison gets in and he's the RVD of the match. Some flying stuff looks super cool, some basic stuff looks terrible. But it still mostly is really good. Rey puts him over. I guess they were trying to make him a single star as the last part will demonstrate, but Rey being gone is kinda disapointing. Morrison really isn't on the same level as the other three (even four, counting Punk).

 

Taker cleans shit up. The last part really is good this time, with some double team, Jericho hiding inside a pod, Taker intimidating him while blasting Morrison, an almost credible nearfall on Taker before the inevitable pinfall. Morrison still had a long way to go. SO it's Jericho vs Taker and it's quite good, although really it does seem Taker like these long one on one ending parts in those match, with finisher kick outs and counters but with Jericho it works quite well because it flows, they don't just switch spots and do kick outs. Still, ending with these two shows how far behind they were in term of making new stars. I mean, CM Punk was right there... Plus, the kind of slow dramatic selling doesn't work that well with a mostly dead crowd who only pop for spots here and there. The ending is ridiculous, as Michaels comes from under the cage to superkick Taker at the most opportune narrative time (as opposed to a logical time in the match) and stands above him, immobile as a statue and with that great terrible 00's Micheals "ILOVEYOU" acting pose, while Jericho gets the pin.

Well, it had its moment, Rey was great and the match was excellent when he was in, best part being his sequence with Punk. The last part was also quite good but the ending was goofy as shit. Punk came out as the real breakout star (as opposed to Morrison), Rey was the MVP, Jericho was Arn again, in a much different way this time though as Arn never wins Wargames. Still, Jericho, for the first ten years, has been the EC go-to guy and the MVP of the gimmick since the start. I'd say very good overall despite some odd booking.

 

(damn, the crowd was awful on this show)