Theme
song(s) "Ignition" by TobyMac Brand(s) Raw
SmackDown Attendance 11,500 | Promotion WWE Date February 20, 2011 | |
Sponsor(s) National Guard of the United States | ||
Elimination Chamber (2011) (also known as No Escape (2011) in Germany) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE and presented by the National Guard, which took place on February 20, 2011 at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California.
Contents
It was the second annual Elimination Chamber event. The event received 212,000 buys, lower than the 287,000 buys that the previous year's event received.
Background
The professional wrestling matches at Elimination Chamber featured professional wrestlers performing as characters in scripted events pre-determined by the hosting promotion, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Storylines between the characters were produced on WWE's weekly television shows Raw and SmackDown with the Raw and SmackDown brands—storyline divisions in which WWE assigned its employees to different programs.
After The Miz won the WWE Championship in November 2010, Raw commentator Jerry Lawler was given what was billed as his first WWE Championship match, after criticizing Miz's win by using his Money in the Bank briefcase while former champion Randy Orton was injured. He lost to Miz in a TLC match after his fellow commentator Michael Cole stopped Lawler from climbing the ladder. On the January 31 episode of Raw, the Raw general manager announced a Raw Rumble match, to determine the WWE Championship contender at Elimination Chamber, while the losing participants would be entered into an Elimination Chamber match to determine who will face the WWE Champion at WrestleMania XXVII. The participants were CM Punk, Randy Orton, King Sheamus, John Morrison, John Cena, Jerry Lawler, and R-Truth. Lawler last eliminated Sheamus to win the battle royal to earn himself the title match, while the other six contestants went on to participate in the Raw Elimination Chamber match.
At the Royal Rumble, Alberto Del Rio won the eponymous match to earn himself a World Championship match at WrestleMania. He subsequently announced he would wrestle for the World Heavyweight Championship, held at the time by Edge. Edge was then embroiled in a feud with Dolph Ziggler and his on-screen ex-wife Vickie Guerrero, who was also scripted to be dating Ziggler. The week before the Elimination Chamber Edge and Kelly Kelly defeated Ziggler and LayCool, causing Guerrero to fire Kelly Kelly. Kelly Kelly was rehired by Teddy Long, Vickie was attacked by Kelly, who was only to be stopped by Laycool, in turn was stopped by Trish Stratus. On the final episode of SmackDown before the pay-per-view, acting general manager Guerrero stripped Edge of the championship and awarded it to Ziggler, only for Theodore Long, the real general manager, to give Edge a return match which he won. After this, Long fired Ziggler leaving an open spot in the Elimination Chamber match (which was subsequently filled by Big Show). The other participants were Kane, Rey Mysterio, Wade Barrett and Drew McIntyre. After that event, Edge and Kelly Kelly defeated Drew McIntyre and Vickie Guerrero thus making Theodore Long fire Vickie Guerrero as the official consultant of SmackDown.
Preliminary matches
The event opened with Alberto Del Rio facing Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston. Del Rio forced Kingston to submit to the Cross Armbreaker to win the match.
Next was the Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship involving Edge, Rey Mysterio, Kane, Drew McIntyre, Big Show and Wade Barrett. Edge and Mysterio started the match. Barrett entered at #3, Kane entered at #4, McIntyre entered at #5 and Big Show enteredat #6. Barrett was eliminated by Big Show after a KO Punch. Big Show was eliminated by Kane after a Chokeslam. McIntyre was eliminated by Kane after a Chokeslam. Kane was eliminated by Edge after a Spear. Edge executed a Spear on Mysterio for a near-fall. Mysterio executed a 619 and a Slingshot Splash on Edge for a near-fall. Mysterio executed another 619 and leapt off the top rope but Edge performed a Spear on Mysterio in mid-air to eliminate him and retain the title. After the match, Alberto Del Rio attacked Edge but Christian returned and attacked Del Rio, ending the attack with a Killswitch.
After that, Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov defended the WWE Tag Team Championship against The Corre (Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel). Gabriel performed a 450 Splash on Kozlov to win the title.
In the fourth match, The Miz faced Jerry Lawler for the WWE Championship. During the match, Lawler performed a Diving Fist Drop on Miz but Miz placed his foot on the bottom rope to void the pinfall. The Miz performed a Skull Crushing Finale on Lawler to retain the title.
Main event
The main event was an Elimination Chamber match for a WWE Championship match at Wrestlemania XXVII between CM Punk, Randy Orton, King Sheamus, John Morrison, John Cena and R-Truth. Sheamus and Morrison started the match while the other four men were locked inside pods. Orton entered at #3 and Punk entered at #4 but Punk's pod would not open, allowing Orton to attack Punk. Punk was eliminated by Orton after an RKO but the Anonymous Raw General Manager announced that Punk would re-enter the match. Cena entered at #4 and R-Truth entered at #5. R-Truth was eliminated by Sheamus after a Brogue Kick. Punk entered at #6 and eliminated Orton after a GTS. Sheamus was eliminated by Morrison after a Crossbody from the top of the chamber. Morrison was eliminated by Punk after a GTS. Cena eliminated Punk after an Attitude Adjustment onto the chamber floor to win a WWE Championship match at Wrestlemania XXVII.
Aftermath
After becoming #1 Contender to the WWE Championship, John Cena faced The Miz for the title at WrestleMania XXVII. The match ended in a double count-out but The Rock used his power as WrestleMania host to restart the match under no disqualifications and no count-outs. The Miz defeated Cena to retain the WWE Championship after The Rock hit Cena with a Rock Bottom. This would lead both Cena and The Rock to challenge each other to a match at WrestleMania XXVIII.
After Elimination Chamber, Edge defended the World Heavyweight Championship against Alberto Del Rio at WrestleMania XXVII where Edge retained. On April 11, Edge retired from wrestling due to a legit neck injury and relinquished the World Heavyweight Championship on April 15 episode of Smackdown!, thus retiring as World Champion. Edge's best friend Christian would go on to win the vacant title against Del Rio at Extreme Rules.
Reception
Elimination Chamber garnered positive reviews, with The Sun stating "... it became obvious that the winners on the night would be Alberto Del Rio, The Corre, The Miz, Edge and John Cena — with Cena versus Miz and Edge versus Del Rio set to headline Mania. But a paint-by-numbers set of results should not take anything away from a terrifically put together PPV with at least one outstanding match, several good ones and a couple of extra surprises thrown in." They praised both of the chamber matches, giving the SmackDown chamber a 9.5 out of 10 and the Raw chamber an 8.5 out of 10 and stated that the Lawler/Miz Match was "... hardly a classic, but it was more than passable, and gave it a 7.5 out of 10. However, they stated, "However, during the first match, one of the most negative aspects of the show reared its ugly head — the downright annoying commentary trio of Michael Cole, Booker T and Josh Matthews. The addition of Booker ahead of Matt Striker and the lack of Jerry Lawler — since he was wrestling on the show — meant it was not an easy night on the ears for the viewer." The event received an 8.5 out of 10 rating.