From Madison Square Garden in New York City; November 17, 2002
Commentators: Raw Jim Ross & Jerry Lawler SmackDown Michael Cole & Tazz
Championship’s roll call: WWE Champion: Brock Lesnar… World Champion: Triple H… WWE Tag Team Champions: Edge & Rey Mysterio… World Tag Team Champions Chris Jericho & Christian… Cruiserweight Champion: Jamie Noble… Women’s Champion: Trish Stratus
Goldust & The Hurricane vs. William Regal & Lance Storm: This match was on MTV’s Sunday Night Heat. Hurricane and Storm start off and Helms gets a leaping clothesline and neckbreaker for a quick one count. He mounts the buckles, but Goldust has the referee distracted, so Regal clotheslines Hurricane off the top rope. Storm hits a leg lariat for a nearfall; Regal tags in and hits an exploder suplex for two. The foreigners exchange again and Storm tries a vertical suplex but Hurricane slips over the back and tries an O’Connor roll but a blind tag is made. Regal breaks up the non-pinfall and knees Helms. Storm returns and he hits a corner clothesline. Hurricane comes back with the Over Castle and tags in Goldust. He levels all the heels and backdrops Storm and atomic drops Regal; a powerslam to Storm triggers a huge brawl and the heels try to counter a whip together. Regal gets hit with Goldust’s butt-butt and Storm takes the Hurricane’s chokeslam. Goldust looks for the Curtain Call but Regal runs interference whilst the referee is busy with Helms. Storm cradles Goldust for the pinfall. Post-match, Tommy Dreamer shows up and beats up Storm and Regal with a Singapore Cain. 4/10 Standard Raw or SmackDown five minute tag match; Storm and Regal were on the fast track to the tag titles so they get the clean win here versus team oddball.
The pay-per-view opens with a shot of the debuting Elimination Chamber created by Raw GM Eric Bishoff.
Dudley Boyz & Jeff Hardy vs. 3-Minute Warning & Rico elimination table match: Okay, the Brand Extension was in still in its infancy here and broke up a number of tag teams; the Hardy Boyz and the traditional Dudley Boyz are two examples. The Dudleyz represented here are Bubba Ray and Spike Dudley. 3-Minute Warning was a hip-hop style Samoan team which Raw GM Eric Bishoff used for his dirty work. They consist of Rosey and Jamal (Umaga). Rico became their managers after the infamous gay marriage angle involving Billy [Gunn] and Chuck [Palumbo]. 3MW put Jeff and Spike through a table together. A huge brawl starts the match off and the heels all get sent to the floor. Bubba press-slams Spike out onto 3MW, but they catch him, so Jeff leaps off Bubba’s back and sentons out onto them. Bubba pulls Rico into the ring and beats on him in the corner. Spike returns and hits a climb-up hurracanrana on Jamal and then Bubba clotheslines him. The Dudleyz hit the Wazzup spot on Jamal; Jeff and Bubba then team up for a Wazzup spot with a Hardy twist. Bubba requires tables. Bubba sets up a table in the corner but Rosey clotheslines him. He then slams Spike and backdrops Jeff to the floor. Rosey smashes Spike’s head against the table and looks for an avalanche but Spike moves and Rosey goes headfirst through the table. That does not constitute elimination because he was not put through with an offensive move from the opponents; he also no-sells the head shot because he’s Samoan. Bubba returns but runs into a spinebuster. Jeff flies off the top with a crossbody and Rosey was supposed to catch him but can’t quite do it so he just bounces off him, which looks funny. Rosey improvises and splashes him. Jamal gets another table and Rico sets it up; he tries to suplex Spike through it but it is blocked. Spike looks for the Dudley Dog but 3MW show up and double whiplash Spike face-first through it, ELIMINATING Spike.
Rico directs traffic and commands the Samoans to hit top-rope moves but Bubba and Jeff recover to crotch both of them; Bubba tosses Rico to the floor and wipes out a cameraman in the process. They hit Poetry in Motion on Rosie but Jeff gets too close to him when they try it to Jamal and gets wiped out. Rico returns and spinning roundhouse kicks Bubba. Rosey and Jeff brawl out into the crowd; Rico and Jamal double team Bubba in the ring. Rico sets up a Jamal avalanche with a spin kick but Bubba pulls Rico into the line of fire and hits the Bubba Bomb on Jamal. Bubba runs out into the crowd to rescue Jeff from Rosey; they team up to put him through a table via balcony Swanton Bomb. Rosey is ELIMINATED.
Jeff is out on the floor so Jamal retrieves Bubba and they try to double team him into a table; Rico looks for a moonsault but Jeff recovers and shakes the ropes to crotch him. Bubba recovers and back superplexes him. It would have been through a table but Jamal moved it. Jeff hits the Whisper in the Wind to Jamal; he hits him with a table on the floor. He tries to run the rail but falls off and Jamal tosses the table at his head. It breaks but apparently does not count as elimination. Jamal sets a table up on the floor and then splashes Jeff through it from the top rope. Impressive spot. That is an ELIMINATION and Bubba is left two-on-one.
Bubba hits the Flip, Flop and Fly on Rico and quickly sets him up on a table but Jamal recovers and cuts him off. Bubba is left on the top and I think Jamal wants to superplex him but Bubba counters and powerbombs him through to ELIMINATE Jamal.
Rosey returns and double teams Bubba with Rico; Jamal returns as well and they three-on-one Bubba until D-Von Dudley (in Dudley Boyz garb) runs out to reunite the original Dudley Boyz. He tosses all of 3MW and he and Bubba 3-D Rico through the table to ELIMINATE him making Bubba is the survivor. 3.5/10 Very sloppy match that was a big mess. The Dudley reunion was the end of the “Reverend D-Von” character on SmackDown and the end of the failed singles pushes for both Dudleyz. Jeff Hardy would go on to turn heel in a weird bizarre angle in January but then the WWE realized how stupid that was. Jeff’s out-of-the-ring issues would finally overwhelm him and he was released mid-2003. Rosey would go on to be The Hurricane’s Robin and Jamal would become Umaga.
Stacy Keibler introduces Saliva from The World in Times Square (formerly WWF: New York) to play the Survivor Series theme song, Always. They use the time wisely and splice clips from all of the current storylines in between shots of the band.
In the back Rob Van Dam is doing his odd stretching in the back.
WWE Cruiserweight Championship Jamie Noble (w/Nidia) vs. Billy Kidman: Noble and Nidia are doing the trailer park characters; Nidia won the original Tough Enough along with Maven (the male winner). Kidman debuts You Can Run by Lorddikim Allah, as his theme here and is riding a two match win streak over Noble. Kidman starts off on fire and hits a pair of sneaky nearfalls. Noble tries to backdrop him but Kidman counters into a hurracanrana. Noble retreats to the floor but Kidman pulls him back in; Noble takes over when the reenter. Kidman reverses but Noble fires back countering with a swinging neckbreaker. He rams him into the buckles and works the back. Noble applies a bow-and-arrow hold. Kidman fires back but Noble uses his momentum to toss him to the floor; he follows up with a topé. Noble heads to the top but Kidman dropkicks him in midair. Kidman fires back and hits a spinning reverse elbow; he clotheslines him and hits a dropkick. Noble tries to slide through his legs into a pump-handle but Kidman reverses into a fireman’s carry neckbreaker. Noble comes back with a Falcon Arrow for two. Kidman hits a sit-out face crusher and heads to the top; Nidia realizes what’s next, pulls Noble to the floor. Kidman leaps off the top to the floor and wipes Noble out with a crossbody. Kidman reenters the ring via slingshot legdrop. The crowd is dead because Kidman is not over like he used to be in WCW. Kidman tries a lifting move but Noble flips out and tries the Tiger Bomb but Kidman backdrops free. Nidia distracts and slaps Kidman; Noble charges, Kidman sidesteps, and Noble and Nidia collide. Kidman uses the distraction to hit the BK Bomb… for two. Kidman tries a powerbomb but Noble uses the Kidman Kounter and tries the Tiger Bomb again; Kidman reverses into a backslide but Noble then reverses and finally hits the Tiger Bomb… for two! Noble is amazed. He charges but meets a boot; Noble cuts off a top-rope move and they battle there. Kidman manages a Super X-Factor FOR TWO! Nidia is beginning to recover on the floor but Noble stets Kidman atop the buckle and SPIKES him with a DDT for another nearfall. Kidman comes back with an enziguri and sets Noble up again for the finish; Nidia runs more interference but it eventually fails and Kidman lands the Shooting Star Press and wins the match and title. Post-match, Kidman leaves through the crowd. 7/10 The match was good but, for those psychology buffs, was a spotfest; I enjoyed it, though. The problems that the cruiserweights had with the WWE up-and-ups was that they were performing moves that would end 95% of the heavyweight matches… and kicking out. This must have soured a lot of the main eventers as well and unfortunately it led to the downfall of the cruiser division; anytime a cruiserweight (sans Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero) had a match with anyone above midcard status it was a squash, which hurt the division in the long run because no one saw them going anywhere so they were eventually met with indifference.
In the back Kurt Angle talks to Chris Benoit about winning the tag titles; Angle declares himself the team captain and Benoit gets in his face about it. Kurt calms him down and says no one can beat them; to that Benoit agrees. Benoit offers his hand to shake it but Kurt wants a hug. Elsewhere, Chris Jericho and his beard warms up for the Elimination Chamber. In her locker room, “F-View” (I totally forgot about that and what it led to) catches crazy Victoria yelling at her reflection and a cardboard cutout.
WWE Women’s Championship Trish Stratus vs. Victoria hardcore rules: Victoria entered the WWE as a former modeling friend of Trish Stratus’; she played a psychopath that wanted to be Trish and destroyed a bunch of divas en route to this match with Trish. Victoria attacks before the bell (which makes sense in regards to her character) and she chokes Trish with her ring jacket. There are four trashcans bungeed to the ringposts with various plunder in them; Victoria grabs a broom and swings and misses for strike one. She swings again, this time at Trish’s legs, and whiffs for strike two. Stratus doesn’t allow a third swing, booting her in the gut, and monkey flipping her with it; Victoria holds on and rolls back atop Trish and chokes her with the broomstick. Victoria choke-lifts her in the corner by sitting atop the buckles; Trish eventually counters and tosses her off. Trish acquires a trashcan lid but Victoria finally hits the home run with the broomstick and it involved a trashcan and Trish’s face. She nails Stratus with the lid a few times and she tumbles to the floor where Victoria launches her into one of the bungeed trashcans. Victoria reenters the ring via slingshot senton splash for a nearfall. Victoria gets a trashcan and wedges it between the ropes; Trish counters and catapults her into the can from underneath. Trish gets an ironing board, which I’m wondering if the two women in the match found insulting; she tries to set it up but it won’t stay open, she isn’t domesticated! Trish improvises setting it against the buckles and launches Victoria into it; Kendo stick time, Victoria takes some shots until she counters a charge in the corner; Victoria grabs a trashcan lid and NAILS Trish with it. Trish tries to comeback with the Stratusphere but Victoria blocks; Stratus comes back with a trashcan lid, knocking Victoria to the floor for a wicked bump. She gets sent into the steps but comes back with a powerbomb in the ring. Victoria finds a MIRROR under the ring; Trish kicks her in the throat and then whips her into the Chick Kick for a nearfall. Trish goes for a cookie sheet but Victoria slaps her with a Kendo stick in the ass. Trish comes back with an awkward looking second-rope bulldog for a nearfall. Victoria is bleeding from the nose and drop-toeholds a charging Trish. The fire extinguisher spot makes its appearance. Victoria hits a snap-suplex and gets three out of nowhere. 6/10 Not a bad hardcore match; they really kicked the crap out of each other there. The ending was REALLY out of nowhere and with an odd move for a finish; I guess Victoria hadn’t debuted the Widow’s Peak yet.
Booker T shadowboxes in the back prepping for the Elimination Chamber. Elsewhere, Jonathan Coachman talks to Raw GM Eric Bishoff; he asks him what to expect from the Elimination Chamber. He gloats about outdoing SmackDown GM Stephanie McMahon when he is interrupted by the Big Show. Show says “hi, stranger”. He tells Bishoff that he made a huge mistake trading him to SmackDown. In his locker room, Paul Heyman (clutching the WWE title) tells Brock Lesnar that he is nervous about his match with Big Show. Heyman tells him he will do everything possible to make sure his client has the WWE title.
WWE Heavyweight Championship Brock Lesnar (w/Paul Heyman) vs. Big Show: Show broke one of Lesnar’s ribs, throwing him off the stage, in the lead-in to this pay-per-view; drawing concerns from Heyman. Lesnar has his ribs tapes going into the match. The fans started cheering for Brock because he was so dominant. They lock up a few times and no one moves. Show starts to dominate and hiptosses Lesnar across the ring; he avalanches the injured ribs but Lesnar fires out of the corner with a spear like takedown. They brawl on the floor but Show grabs Lesnar and posts his back. In the ring, Show goozles Lesnar but he counters with a huge back suplex. Lesnar avoids another avalanche and German suplexes Show. This is impressive. Lesnar looks for the F-5 but Show counters and sends Lesnar into the referee. Show whiffs with a big boot and OVERHEAD belly-to-belly suplexes Show. Heyman tosses a chair into the ring and he clocks Show in the head with it; Lesnar delivers the F-5 to Big Show, impressing everyone on the planet, Heyman is in shock. A second referee runs down but Heyman pulls him out screwing Lesnar over. Brock realizes what Heyman did and stares him down; Heyman nearly shits himself and the chase is on. Heyman leads him right into a chairshot from Show and then a chokeslam onto the chair and Lesnar suffers his first defeat in the WWE, plus he lost the title. Post-match, Show and Heyman escape in a limo. 6/10 The high score was strictly for Lesnar’s impressive feats of strength tossing the 500 pounder around like he was Rey Mysterio. Heyman used the Mr. Fuji excuse for turning on the invincible champion; but just like Fuji, the guy he turned on won multiple titles.
WWE Tag Team Championship Edge & Rey Mysterio vs. Chris Benoit & Kurt Angle vs. Eddie Guerrero & Chavo Guerrero triple threat elimination tag match: The storyline here is that Benoit and Angle don’t get along and it cost them the titles to Edge and Mysterio in a great two-out-of-three falls match. The Guerreros caused all sorts of problems for both teams. Here is a match featuring Paul Heyman’s (head booker of SmackDown) “SmackDown Six”, so it’s guaranteed to be awesome. The Guerreros haven’t become Los Guerreros yet. Eddie and Chavo act like douches and try to get the other teams to fight; Kurt gets another hug in and Benoit’s reaction is great. He starts with Mysterio, whose ring gear can read your mind; Benoit opens with some Canadian violence but Mysterio slides through his legs and hits a hurracanrana. Mysterio runs around and hits a legdrop and then he and Edge hit a double hiptoss. Benoit fires back with chops and tags in Angle; he eats a backdrop and quickly tag in Chavo. Guerrero takes a shoulderblock but nips up; a dropkick floors him. Mysterio tags in and hits a springboard falling splash for a nearfall. Chavo comes back and tries a powerbomb but Mysterio arm drags out of it; he flapjacks Rey and tags in Eddie. Eddie hammers away on Mysterio until Rey hits a reverse tilt-a-whirl hurracanrana. Eddie tags in Angle; Mysterio nearly decapitates himself bouncing off the ropes but recovers and hits another head scissors. Rey counters a corner charge spidering onto the top rope and Angle posts his shoulder. Kurt backdrops Rey onto the top rope but Mysterio can’t balance himself properly and falls onto his head. Angle works the neck with a clothesline; Benoit tags and hits a neckbreaker and backdrop suplex. Kurt returns and also hits a back suplex and knocks Edge off the apron. Rey counters an Olympic Slam with an arm drag but Angle clotheslines him and brings Benoit back in. He hits a nice snap-suplex getting a pair of nearfalls. They quick tag on Mysterio and Angle applies a front facelock for a little while. Rey tries to fight out and finally succeeds and tries the wheelbarrow bulldog but Kurt blocks and tries a belly-to-belly suplex; Mysterio lands on his feet and hits a spinning wheel kick. Angle crawls to the Guerreros to tag but they both drop off the apron. Kurt tags in Benoit as Edge gets one as well. Edge cleans house on everyone; he hits the inverted Side Effect on Benoit and a belly-to-belly to Angle. Chavo and Eddie run in but they get taken out; Mysterio hurracanranas Eddie to the floor. Edge looks for the spear but Angle drop-toeholds him into an ankle lock and Benoit adds the Crippler Crossface; Mysterio takes out Angle with a springboard senton and then dropkicks Benoit. Chavo pulls Angle to the floor so Mysterio hits a corkscrew plancha onto them. In the ring, Benoit hits the rolling Germans; Eddie sunset flips Benoit but he maintains his wastelock and still German suplexes Edge. Someone gets a nearfall. Eddie looks to suplex Benoit but he reverses and suplexes Eddie to the floor. Benoit grabs Edge and hits three more rolling Germans. Benoit heads to the top but Eddie tries to steal the pinfall with a frogsplash; Benoit breaks it up for some reason with the swandive head-butt. Angle hits an Olympic Slam and the ankle lock to Eddie as Benoit applies the Crossface to Edge. Referee Brian Hebner, busy with Eddie and Angle, doesn’t see Chavo sneak attack Benoit with the title belt; Chavo then lunges at Angle with the belt but tosses it to Angle whence the referee notices. Benoit recovers and sees Angle holding the belt and they argue about it. Mysterio dropkicks both of them and Edge finishes Benoit with a spear to ELIMINATE Benoit and Angle.
Angle and Benoit take out their anger on the other four opponents hitting a series of German suplexes and Olympic Slams; they argue all of the way to the locker room. Eddie tries to sneak a pinfall on Edge and then suplexes him. The Guerreros work over Edge in their corner and Eddie hits a Hilo and slaps on a sleeper hold. Chavo tags and he hits a dropkick; the Guerreros add some illegal double teams when Mysterio charges into the ring. Eddie hits a backdrop suplex into a front facelock. Chavo comes back in and they quick tag on Edge until he hits a double flapjack. Mysterio gets the tag and hits a springboard crossbody. He tries a headlock takeover/head scissors takedown on both Guerreros but Eddie flings him off but Chavo still takes the head scissors; Rey hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker to Eddie. Chavo and Eddie mistime a move and Chavo splashes Eddie in the corner; Edge then spears the two of them in the corner. Mysterio hits a basement dropkick in the corner and then Edge props Eddie on the top and then backdrops Rey into a hurracanrana. Chavo breaks up the pinfall. Edge sets up Guerrero for the 619 and Rey hits it. The referee finally drags Edge back to the corner and misses Chavo waffling Rey’s back with the title belt. Eddie applies the El Paso Lasso and gets Rey to tap out and the Guerreros win the tag titles. 8/10 Very good fast paced action in that one. Heyman hitched his midcard wagons to these six and featured them prominently on SmackDown for months; they provided awesome match after awesome match. Los Guerreros were born here and shortly after shot those silly vignettes and got super-over.
Kane is warming up in the back.
Back in the arena, Ten Thousand Men of Harvard starts playing signifying the entrance of Christopher Nowinski, who heads to the ring. He rips on the New Yorkers for being “street smart” and not being “intelligent”. He complains about the New York Yankees buying World Series titles and then says New York is number one in stupidity. This brings out Matt Hardy, Version 1. Matt yells at Nowinski and says New Yorkers aren’t stupid, they’re losers. He is disappointed there is no Mattitude in the building and complains the Garden is sucking the Mattitude out of him. He says he is choking worse than the Knicks. He calls New York like every other city a bunch of losers. They argue over whether New Yorkers are losers or are stupid. Matt looks for a compromise and calls them “Lupid”, stupid and losers, sounds like something that’d be argues on Seinfeld. Scott Steiner comes out and makes his WWE debut; he destroys both of them with belly-to-belly suplexes. The fans are SOLIDLY behind him; too bad they’d turn on him as soon as he began wrestling. Steiner hits his tagline, “holla if you hear me”.
The Elimination Chamber begins to lower; in the back Terri Runnels catches up to Shawn Michaels and asks him why he believes he will win the title. He begins to answer when he is interrupted by RNN (the Randy News Network); Randy Orton is here to inform us that he will be back soon. Elsewhere, Triple H addresses his critics for having the World title handed to him and promises that he will retain tonight.
Raw GM and Elimination Chamber creator Eric Bishoff comes out to gloat about his creation. He shills its size and mass and explains the rules.
World Heavyweight Championship Triple H (w/Ric Flair) vs. Kane vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Booker T Elimination Chamber match: This is the Chamber’s debut. Saliva plays Jericho to the ring from The World in Times Square. Triple H and RVD start the match; he kicks away on HHH until he hits a facebuster. Hunter tries the Pedigree right next to the ropes and gets backdropped onto the steel floor. Van Dam stomps away on the platform floor and tosses him into the chains a few times; he almost puts him through the side of the Chamber. RVD monkey flips HHH on the platform floor; he hits Rolling Thunder over the top; HHH is bleeding. He slams HHH and climbs to the top of Jericho’s chamber but Jericho grabs him from within the pod and allows HHH a breather. Van Dam hits a senton off the top rope to the floor. They fight back into the ring and Van Dam stomps in the corner as the countdown begins and Chris Jericho is released. He attacks Van Dam but gets nailed with a spinning leg lariat; they reverse a whip and RVD springboards into a spin kick. Van Dam clotheslines Jericho to the floor and leaps off the top but Jericho ducks; Van Dam hangs on to the cage like Spiderman (in the first cool spot of the match) and then leaps onto Y2J with a crossbody. HHH has recovered and clotheslines Van Dam; Jericho hits a backdrop suplex. RVD fights back against the two heels but gets wiped by the high knee of Hunter’s. Y2J and HHH team up on RVD then Y2J taunts HBK in front of his POD. They whip RVD backwards into the chains a few times; Van Dam counters a double team corner whip rolling over Jericho and clotheslining Helmsley. Triple H spikes Van Dam with a DDT as the countdown starts to release Booker T! He runs in and takes everyone out; he clotheslines HHH out of the ring and gives us a Spin-a-Roonie. Former Alliance running buddies (and future tag champions) Van Dam and Booker T battle and Booker hits a roundhouse kick. Booker tries another kick but RVD catches it and hits the feint-wheel kick. Booker comes back with a leg lariat as HHH and Jericho recover; Booker scores with the axe kick but Jericho interrupts. Triple H gets wiped out in the fracas and Van Dam comes off the top of one of the pods for a HUGE Five-Star Frogsplash. RVD looks like he hurt his leg on the landing; Booker nails him with a missile dropkick and pins him to ELIMINATE Rob Van Dam.
Booker crawls to HHH for a cover but Hunter gets his foot on the ropes. Jericho returns and kicks on Booker T and drops the bulldog; Booker avoids the Lionsault and spinebusters Jericho. The countdown releases Kane who opens a can of the ass-whip on everyone. He tosses Jericho to the floor and clotheslines Booker in the corner. He press-javelins Jericho into the chains and then throws him through one of the Plexiglas pods. Kane heads into the ring and pummels Booker and HHH. Booker tries to hit the axe kick to Kane but Jericho low blows him from the floor and Kane chokeslams him. HHH attacks Kane allowing Jericho to hit the Lionsault on Booker and ELIMINATE him.
Jericho is bleeding as well and Kane attacks him; he tries to climb up the side of the Chamber to avoid Kane. He gets pulled off and brought back into the ring for a vertical suplex. Kane misses an elbow drop and tumbles to the floor. HHH, for some reason climbs to the top, so Kane tosses him off; Jericho missile dropkicks Kane as the buzzer sounds for Shawn Michaels’ entrance. He attacks Kane and Jericho until Kane catches him with a clothesline. Shawn hits the flying forearm but gets sent upside down into the corner. Kane choke lifts Jericho and then chokeslams HBK, HHH and Y2J all in succession. He looks for a Tombstone to Hunter but he pushes Kane right into Sweet Chin Music, Hunter scores with a Pedigree, and then Jericho finishes Kane off with a Lionsault. Kane is ELIMINATED.
Jericho and Shawn battle and HBK gets clotheslined onto the floor; he tosses Shawn into the chains. Jericho and Helmsley team up on HBK and punch his face, determined to make him bleed. HHH grinds his face into the chains and finally open him up. Michaels finally counters Jericho and tosses him into the chains and clotheslines HHH back into the ring. Shawn tries to piledrive Jericho onto the steel floor but Jericho backdrops him. Shawn begins to fire back and hits the flying forearm on HHH; he nips up but Jericho nails a bulldog from behind and hits the Lionsault… for two! Jericho is frustrated and charges in the corner right into Shawn’s boot; Michaels hits a moonsault press for two. Shawn applies a Boston Crab to Jericho but HHH breaks it up with a DDT. Jericho and Helmsley get into a fight over who is going to pin Shawn and get into a fight. HHH drops a facebuster on Jericho; he tries the Pedigree but Jericho reverses into the Walls of Jericho. Hunter struggles and almost makes the ropes, but Y2J pulls him back to the center; Shawn hits Sweet Chin Music out of nowhere to ELIMINATE Jericho.
So it comes down to HHH and HBK. Helmsley hits a spinebuster for a nearfall; he backdrops Shawn onto the steel floor again and they fight there. Shawn tries to hit a Pedigree but Hunter counters into a slingshot and Shawn goes through another Plexiglas pod. HHH tosses Shawn back into the ring and gets a nearfall. They get into a pugilistic battle which Shawn wins; he telegraphs a backdrop though and get planted by a facebuster and clotheslined back onto the platform. HHH looks for another Pedigree there but Shawn reverses and catapults Helmsley into the chains. Michaels clotheslines HHH back into the ring and heads to the top rope… no, the top of a pod and scores with the flying elbow drop. Shawn tunes up the band and Sweet Chin Music is blocked and countered into a Pedigree but Helmsley cannot cover immediately so Shawn is able to roll his shoulder for two. HHH tries another Pedigree but Shawn backdrops out and hits Sweet Chin Music for the three and gets the three count and the World title. The Garden EXPLODES as confetti shoots all over the arena. Jim Ross goes way over-the-top announcer and says “do you believe in miracles?” Shawn celebrates as the show ends. 7/10 Not an awful match but it had slow points in it. Shawn winning was a HUGE surprise since he has wrestled only one match since making his return to the WWE after a four-year absence and, at the time, we all thought it was for only one match. This was the beginning of the Elimination Chamber and was used sporadically, now it has its own PPV.
OVERALL 6.5/10 All of the matches were entertaining but nothing spectacular; the show was fun and the Elimination Chamber was a good concept but I think that Hell in a Cell is the best recent gimmick match created.
