All Rise...

Judge Franck Tabouring prefers spending time inside the Chamber of Secrets.

Editor's Note

Our reviews of WWE: Elimination Chamber 2010 (published April 15th, 2010) and WWE: Satan's Prison (published September 10th, 2010) are also available.

The Charge

Two miles of chain, 10 tons of steel, 16 feet in height and 36 feet in diameter…

The Case

The road to WrestleMania continues, and one of the challenges WWE's biggest stars have to face for a shot to compete at the biggest wrestling event of the year is to survive the Elimination Chamber, a diabolical steel structure that pits six athletes against each other. Welcome to WWE: Elimination Chamber 2011. Here's your lineup:

• Kofi Kingston vs. Alberto Del Rio
Kofi Kingston and Alberto Del Rio get to open the 2011 edition of WWE: Elimination Chamber, and even though they both deliver decent performances in this 10-minute battle, they could've stepped it up a bit and offer fans a better show. That said, even though the match takes a while to get interesting, both athletes offer a variety of powerful, risky moves triggering quite the fast-paced finale. This may not be a memorable opener, but for a PPV, it certainly does the trick.

• Edge vs. Big Show vs. Kane vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Wade Barrett in a World Heavyweight Championship Elimination Chamber Match
The first of two Elimination Chamber matches is a blast! Trapped inside the massive steel structure, Edge and Rey Mysterio get to start this superbly entertaining 30-minute match, with a new competitor joining in on the fun one at a time at regular intervals. Needless to say, mayhem breaks out pretty quickly, and before you know it, you're watching one fast-paced wrestling battle filled with impressive moves, high-risk dives, and powerful kicks and slaps. Standing out in this one are Edge, Kane, and Rey Mysterio, who bring along enough energy and momentum to keep the crowd on their feet for the entire duration of the matchup. Easily one of the best matches of the night.

• Santino Marella & Vladimir Kozlov vs. The Corre in a WWE Tag Team Championship Match
Champions Marella and Kozlov take on Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater in this title match, but sadly enough, neither team delivers what it takes to put on a decent job. Clocking in at only five minutes, this matchup is more of a joke than a wrestling battle, leaving fans wondering why Gabriel and Slater even got a chance to be part of this event. Kozlov delivers a few powerful hits and Marella performs some of his usual fast-paced moves, but other than that, you won't find anything remotely compelling to get excited about in this one.

• The Miz vs. Jerry Lawler in a WWE Championship Match
The Miz trigged a pretty ridiculous feud with Lawler a while back, and as a result, the WWE has decided to have the new star face the legend in a match for gold. At 11 minutes, this is not the longest title match, and even though both The Miz and Lawler try their best to keep the action moving at a steady pace, their matchup still feels a little off. Lawler definitely proves he's still got what it takes to deliver some solid moves, but he does slow things down a bit overall. That said, this is not the worst match of this event, and that's something.

• John Cena vs. Randy Orton vs. John Morrison vs. R-Truth vs. CM Punk vs. King Sheamus in a #1 Contender Elimination Chamber Match
What a main event! The second Elimination Chamber match of the night is just as entertaining as the previous one, and each of the contestants largely contributes to the high energy and large variety of high-risk wrestling action surrounding this big 30-minute battle. Sheamus and Morrison are first up, but the real winners in this fight are Randy Orton and John Cena. Orton especially keeps thing moving at a fantastic pace, delivering one powerful slam, kick or slap after another. This showdown easily goes down as one of the more memorable WWE pay-per-view main events.

Ever since the WWE went HD, the picture and sound of their televised events have improved as well. As a result, the picture looks great and the audio sounds good. As usual, the bonus section falls flat; this time, the disc only carries a segment featuring The Rock and Cena engaging in a war of words. Nothing memorable here.

Thanks to two fantastic Elimination Chamber matches, this WWE event will go down as one of the franchise's better recent pay-per-views. Despite a botched Tag Team match and a so-so WWE Championship battle, there's plenty of wrestling goodness to enjoy in WWE: Elimination Chamber 2011.

The Verdict

Not guilty.

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