Elimination Chamber 2012 Results

The Elimination Chamber pay per view is over and the Road to Wrestlemania 28 is in full swing.  The Chamber PPV gave us a pretty clear view of what WrestleMania card will look like, as both major champions kept their belts and Sheamus made it clear which one he will challenge for.  Here are the results:

CM Punk won the RAW Elimination Chamber - They ran an angle during the match where Chris Jericho was knocked out of the Chamber and took a bad bump that took him out of the match (maybe in bad taste after the legit Jesse Sorensen injury at TNA last week?) Punk went on to defeat The Miz to win the match, but this will obviously lead to Jericho claiming he was never eliminated and challenging Punk for the title at WrestleMania.

Beth Phoenix defeated Tamina Snuka - Pretty predictable here.  Not a horrible match but Tamina is a bit sloppy.  Beth wins with the Glam Slam.  Hopefully we're looking at Kharma returning and challenging Beth for the Divas title at Wrestlemania, as that seems like the only Divas title match that would have interest.

John Laurinaitis came out to make his case as to why he should run RAW and Smackdown.  This segment saw the return of Alberto Del Rio and Christian, as they joined Mark Henry to agree that Laurinatis should be running both brands.

Daniel Bryan won the Smackdown Elimination Chamber - Santino Marella actually lasted until the end, and the crowd was rumbling the arena in support of him. In the end Bryan caught Marella in the Lebell Lock for the submission win.  After the match, Sheamus beat down Bryan, making it clear that Sheamus has chosen to face Bryan at Wrestlemania 28.

Jack Swagger defeated Justin Gabriel -  This match was literally set up in seconds, obviously to kill some time.  Backstage Hornswoggle was eating cheese, ended up pissing off Vickie Guerrero, Gabriel backs up Swoggle, and a match is made.  Typical match, pretty pointless.

John Cena defeated Kane in an Ambulance Match - This match was a good brawl.  The finish saw Cena give Kane an Attitude Adjustment off the ambulance which looked good visually.  Cena puts Kane in the Ambulance after for the win.  The ending was flat considering the hot angle from Monday involving Eve and Ryder, so it looks like they are holding off on the next big step in the story until RAW tomorrow night.

Overall, not a horrible show, but did feel just like another step towards WrestleMania.  Judging from tonight's results we will be seeing Cena vs. Rock, Triple H vs. Undertaker, Sheamus vs. Bryan, and Jericho vs. Punk as the top matches for Wrestlemania 28 in 6 weeks.

TNA Star Jesse Sorensen Seriously Injured at Against All Odds

Last night in the opening match at TNA's "Against All Odds" pay per view, Jesse Sorensen was seriously injured after taking a dive to the outside of the ring from Zema Ion.  Sorensen appeared to take Ion's knees to his head and immediately fell limp.  At first the referee checked Sorensen and gave the "he's OK" sign.....but after a few minutes of not moving, the referee checked again and gave the "X" sign that Sorensen was legitimately hurt and the match was cut short as TNA personnel rushed to the scene.

Dixie Carter tweeted soon after that Sorensen was being transported to the hospital for evaluation.  Throughout the night many TNA stars took to Twitter to ask fans to pray for Sorensen as the situation was serious.  Today the news is that last night Sorensen lost feeling in his extremities, but has regained feeling in his arms and hands, with only tingling in his legs.  This of course is a very serious situation any time any type of paralysis is involved. 

Sorensen is still a relative newcomer to TNA and to the wrestling business, so it makes it even worse to see something like this happen.  Here's to hoping Sorensen has a speedy recovery and no long term damage after sustaining this very serious injury.  You can send your thoughts and prayers to Jesse directly via Twitter @TNASorensen

DVD Review: The Very Best of WCW Monday Nitro

On June 5, 2011 the WWE released the DVD set "The Very Best of WCW Monday Nitro", it was the third WCW DVD set released by the WWE. And after watching this DVD set I was left a little more satisfied than with the first two releases.

The first two DVD sets released by the WWE was "The Rise and Fall of WCW" and "Starrcade: The Essential Collection". Both of those releases were well done but sadly had alot of WWE bias in the commentary by Jim Ross and other current WWE employees. But on "The Very Best of WCW Monday Nitro" the bias was gone as all the commentary was provided by the 3-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion Diamond Dallas Page. And although DDP is currently under contract with the WWE, he still an honest recap about what happened on WCW Monday Nitro.

So, I highly recommend that you go pickup "The Very Best of WCW Monday Nitro", it doesn't matter if you're a WCW fan or just a pro wrestling fan period.

Brodus Clay's "Funkasaurus" Debut: Superstar or Superfail?

One of the most unexpected and most talked about stories of the week is the re-debut of Brodus Clay as a dancing, fun loving, "Funkasaurus."  For weeks there has been build up and hype for Clay who was being pushed as getting angrier and angrier every week that John Laurinaitis held off his debut.  There was even rumor that Clay would be the guy to come out in the Royal Rumble this year and clear the ring, making a huge impact.  When Clay finally debuted this past Monday, he was the exact opposite of everything that was expected.

As soon as the name "Funkasaurus" was announced and the music hit (which was the same music used by Ernest "The Cat" Miller in WWE for anyone that didn't catch that) it was clear that this new character was going to get some strong reactions.  In Run DMC-esque gear, smiling, dancing, it was an all new Brodus Clay.  My first thought was....."Wow, they have totally ruined this monster and given him a corny goofy character."  But after talking to some of our other writers and seeing the reaction its garnered, maybe a crazy over the top gimmick is a change that WWE needs.  As one of my fellow writers put it: "What else was he going to be?  Another Mark Henry?"

He's "funky," he's got dancers, he's got some Dusty Rhodes like lingo, but he's still a big man that can move in the ring.  Should Clay have been a monster that destroyed everyone?  Or is this crazy Funkasaurus gimmick going to make him a hugely popular star?  It's really to early to tell, but it seems WWE is happy with all the reactions it has brought so far.  What are your opinions on the new and funky Brodus Clay?

Chris Jericho Returns to WWE...and Says Nothing

Well the big "1-2-12" promos had sparked some interest the past few weeks, but most everyone was predicting either the return of Chris Jericho or The Undertaker.  If you saw RAW, you know that the promos were for the return of Chris Jericho.  As the final promo played with the little girl and the little boy, I was trying to figure out what it could all mean and what the significance of the girl was....but little did I know that the promos with the kids were only the BEGINNING of the night's confusion.

As the final promo ended, the screen started to shake and the lights went out, which definitely felt like The Undertaker was on his way out.  The crowd started a "Y2J" chant, and sure enough there was Jericho in his trademark pose while wearing an LED lit jacket.  The place went crazy and it looked like the over the top good guy Jericho was back.  He got in the ring smiling, and seemed to be ecstatic to be in front of the WWE Universe again.  The celebration continued, as Jericho got out of the ring and made the rounds high fiving fans.  Jericho got back in the ring, grabbed the mic, but then decided to work the crowd even more and keep the celebration going.  I think it was about 5 minutes into this when I started to feel like Jericho might be overdoing it, and he needed to go ahead and say whatever he was going to say....but that didn't happen.

When Jericho finally did grab the mic and ALMOST started to talk.......he dropped the mic in the ring, and for a second i expected a complete heel turn on the crowd as if he suckered them all in.  But then, Jericho started smiling and celebrating all over, and things just got more and more odd.  Jericho then proceeded to hop out of the ring, slap some more hands, and then he left.  The crowd didn't know what to think, but some boos could be heard and there was a definite vibe that there was more to this story.  We were expecting a "I'm back and I'm entering the Royal Rumble" type of promo, but it was almost like Jericho was making a mockery of wrestling returns. 

As odd as all of this was, I can at least say it was different.  The idea of Jericho returning didn't really interest me all that much since it doesn't feel like he's been gone all that long.  The way things were handled at least got people talking because it was so odd and different, but it will be interesting to see where it goes from here.  I have a feeling it was Jericho himself that came up with this, since he's talked in the past about reinventing himself and keeping things interesting.  One thing is for sure, Chris Jericho is back even though we don't know why or where he stands.  What did you think of Chris Jericho's return?  Was it stupid?  Or did it make you wonder where this story is going?