Elimination Chamber (2010)

**Elimination Chamber (2010)** was a pay-per-view event which took place on February 21, 2010 at the Scottrade Centre in St. Louis, Missouri. This was a SmackDown brand exclusive pay-per-view event, and the second Elimination Chamber pay-per-view event.

Including one match on the *Countdown* broadcast, there were nine matches on the event's card, though only eight were advertised.

Two of the matches on the card were promoted as main events. In the first of these, Randy Orton defeated CM Punk to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. In the second main event, Batista defeated Carlito, Edge, Kofi Kingston, Rey Mysterio and Umaga in an Elimination Chamber match to determine the challenger for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XXVI.

In the featured undercard matches, The Gatecrashers (The Miz and Dolph Ziggler) retained the WWE Tag Team Championship (formerly the Unified Tag Team Championship) in the first ever tag team Elimination Chamber match; Natalya defeated Alicia Fox in the final of a tournament to determine the first ever Divas Champion; and The Hart Dynasty (Tyson Kidd and David Hart Smith) defeated Big Show via disqualification in a Handicap match. The event also featured an impromptu interpromotional match in which Raw wrestler Bobby Lashley defeated SmackDown wrestler Kane.

## Background

#### World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton vs. CM Punk

On the February 5 episode of *SmackDown*, SmackDown General Manager Bret Hart announced a Fatal 5-Way match to determine who would challenge for Batista's World Heavyweight Championship at Elimination Chamber. CM Punk defeated Edge, Umaga, Carlito and Kane to win the match and receive the title match. On the February 12 episode of *SmackDown*, Randy Orton received his contractual rematch for the World Heavyweight title and defeated Batista to regain the title. As a result, the main event of Elimination Chamber was changed to Orton versus CM Punk. On the February 19 episode of *SmackDown*, Orton made disparaging comments towards CM Punk. Hart then forced Orton and CM Punk to team up in a losing effort to The Hart Dynasty. Post-match, Orton would attempt to assault CM Punk but retreated backstage when the assault failed.

#### No. 1 Contender's Elimination Chamber match

On the February 5 episode of *SmackDown*, Bret Hart announced that the challenger for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania would be determined in an Elimination Chamber match at the namesake event. The following week, Hart announced that Edge, United States Champion Kofi Kingston, Carlito, Rey Mysterio, Umaga and the loser of the Batista versus Randy Orton match that night would compete in the match (Orton defeated Batista to regain the World Heavyweight title). On the February 19 episode of *SmackDown*, "beat the clock" matches were held to determine which wrestler would enter the Elimination Chamber match last.

 **1** | Kofi Kingston defeated Edge
 **2** | Batista defeated Carlito
 **3** | Rey Mysterio defeated Umaga via disqualification

As a result of Rey Mysterio winning his match in the shortest time, he was designated the final entrant in the Elimination Chamber match.

#### WWE Tag Team Championship Elimination Chamber match

Following The Gatecrashers' successful title defence against Finlay and Hornswoggle at Royal Rumble, their feud with Rob Van Dam and Daniel Bryan reignited the following night on *Raw*. Over the next few weeks, the teams would trade tag team and singles victories against each other. On the February 12 episode of *SmackDown*, General Manager Bret Hart announced that for the first time ever there would be a tag team Elimination Chamber match at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. Hart had issued an invitation to Bryan and RVD, Cryme Tyme, Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder, Brian Kendrick and Ezekiel Jackson, and The Hart Dynasty to compete in the match. However, Mr McMahon rescinded the offer to The Hart Dynasty as he booked them in a handicap match against The Big Show at Elimination Chamber. Hart then offered the final place in the match to Raw wrestlers Jesse and Festus. The following week on *SmackDown*, RVD and Bryan defeated The Gatecrashers in a non-title match, and Kendrick, Jackson, Hawkins and Ryder defeated Jesse, Festus and Cryme Tyme in an eight-man tag team match. Later that night, Hart announced that the winning team would be the recipients of the new WWE Tag Team Championship belts.

#### Big Show vs. The Hart Dynasty

On the February 15 episode of *Raw*, Mr McMahon announced that he had issued a counter challenge to Donald Trump for the confrontation at WrestleMania XXVI which had been titled "The Battle of the Billionaires", where both McMahon and Trump would select a wrestler from any brand to represent them in the match. McMahon then introduced his representative, a "new and improved" Big Show, who had been missing since the night after Royal Rumble, when he was talked down to by McMahon. McMahon announced later that night that due to discovering SmackDown General Manager Bret Hart had been talking with Trump, removed The Hart Dynasty (David Hart Smith and Tyson Kidd) from the WWE Tag Team Championship Elimination Chamber match and put them in a handicap match against The Big Show, with Hart banned from ringside. On the February 19 episode of *SmackDown*, The Hart Dynasty defeated Randy Orton and CM Punk.

#### Divas Championship

On the December 28 episode of *SmackDown*, General Manager Bret Hart announced that he was commissioning a women's title, the Divas Championship, for the SmackDown brand. He felt that, with the exception of a brief period when Michelle McCool held the Women's Championship on the SmackDown brand, the Divas on the division were being overlooked. He announced an eight-Diva tournament, including two Divas from the ECW brand.

Alicia Fox and Natalya emerged as the two finalists to compete for the new championship at Elimination Chamber. In a backstage interview, Natalya was concerned about the upcoming match as Alicia Fox had relied on The Gatecrashers' help throughout the tournament. On the February 19 episode of *SmackDown*, with The Gatecrashers' assistance, Alicia Fox, Victoria and Jillian Hall defeated Natalya, Kelly Kelly and Eve Torres.

## Event

#### *Countdown*

During *Countdown*, Kelly Kelly and Eve Torres faced Victoria and Jillian Hall. Kelly performed a K2 on Victoria to win the match.

*Countdown* ended with the unexpected arrival of Raw wrestler Bobby Lashley to the arena.

#### Preliminary matches

The pay-per-view began with the first ever tag team Elimination Chamber match for the renamed WWE Tag Team Championship. Rob Van Dam and Daniel Bryan entered at #1 whilst Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder entered at #2. The Gatecrashers entered at #3 and Cryme Tyme entered at #4. Hawkins and Ryder were the first team eliminated via Bryan forcing Ryder submit. Jesse and Festus entered at #5. They were soon eliminated via Shad of Cryme Tyme. Moments later, RVD performed a Five Star Frog Splash on Shad to eliminate Cryme Tyme. Brian Kendrick and Ezekiel Jackson entered at #6. For several minutes, Jackson dominated the match. However, after a sneak attack and a double pin on Jackson by The Gatecrashers, he and Kendrick were eliminated. RVD and Bryan were eliminated when RVD was pinned by The Miz after a Skull Crushing Finale, resulting in The Gatecrashers retaining the title and being awarded the new championship belts.

The second match on the pay-per-view was Finlay versus Martin in a Belfast Brawl. After several minutes of back and forth action, Martin performed a TKO on Finlay, with Finlay's face landing on a sheet of metal, to win the match. Post-match, Martin performed another TKO on Hornswoggle.

Next, The Big Show, accompanied by Mr McMahon, faced The Hart Dynasty's David Hart Smith and Tyson Kidd in a handicap match. The Big Show dominated Kidd for a large part of the match, with Kidd unable to reach Smith for a tag. Once he reached Smith, the match became more even. As The Hart Dynasty were preparing to perform a modified version of their Hart Attack finishing move, McMahon pulled Kidd's leg, causing the referee to disqualify The Big Show. After the bell, The Big Show and McMahon assaulted Kidd and Smith until Raw wrestler Bobby Lashley ran to the ring to save them. Lashley shoulder tackled The Big Show out of the ring. McMahon, furious with Lashley's interference, announced an impromptu match between him and Kane. Lashley overpowered Kane and defeated him via the Dominator.

Following that was the tournament final to determine the first ever Divas Champion. With The Hart Dynasty incapacitated, Natalya made her way to the ring alone against Alicia Fox, accompanied by The Gatecrashers. The Gatecrashers tried numerous times to distract Natalya, however Natalya gained the advantage by diving off the top rope onto the three wrestlers outside the ring. In the closing moments of the match, Fox had Natalya in position for the Scissors Kick, but Natalya countered and performed a Sharpshooter on Natalya. When The Gatecrashers tried once more to interfere, Tyson Kidd and David Hart Smith arrived at ringside to thwart their efforts. Natalya defeated Fox via submission to win the title. Post-match, Natalya celebrated her title victory with Kidd, Smith, Kelly Kelly, Eve Torres and Bret Hart.

The next match was the second Elimination Chamber match of the event, to determine the challenger for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XXVI. Kofi Kingston entered at #1, and Carlito entered at #2. Minutes later, Umaga entered at #3 and quickly eliminated Kingston with the Samoan Spike. Carlito climbed on top of one of the chamber pods to avoid Umaga. Batista then entered at #4. Carlito was next eliminated via a Batista Bomb. Batista and Umaga fought until Edge entered at #5. Edge and Umaga worked together to try and eliminate Batista. Batista was then saved by the #6 entrant Rey Mysterio. Mysterio was eliminated by Umaga via a Samoan Drop on the steel chamber floor. Umaga later charged at Batista, who was leaning on a pod wall. Batista moved and Umaga crashed through the glass wall. Edge then pinned Umaga to eliminate him. In the closing moments of the match, Batista countered Edge's Spear by kicking him in the head and performing a Batista Bomb to win the match. Post-match, Edge argued with the referee that his shoulder was off the mat before the three-count was made.

Following that, Vladimir Kozlov faced Jimmy Wang Yang. In a short match, Yang managed to get in some offence against Kozlov, however Kozlov was too strong, overpowering Yang and defeating him via the Iron Curtain.

#### Main event

The main event of the pay-per-view was for the World Heavyweight Championship between Randy Orton and CM Punk. Orton was met with a mixture of reactions in his hometown of St Louis, however CM Punk was met with almost unanimous praise. After back-and-forth action, CM Punk performed two Suicide Dives on Orton but missed a third and collided with the announce table. CM Punk performed a GTS for a near-fall. Orton performed a Superplex on CM Punk for a near-fall. Orton went for an RKO but CM Punk countered, knocking Orton into the referee. Orton attempted to use his championship belt as a weapon, and struggled as CM Punk tried to grab it off him. Orton then kicked CM Punk below the belt and performed an RKO to retain the title. Orton's celebration was interrupted as Batista appeared on stage, pointing at the title, as the pay-per-view came to an end.

## Results

 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
 ✝ - indicates the match took place during the *Countdown* broadcast

**Notes**

(\*) Post match, The Gatecrashers were awarded the new WWE Tag Team Championship belts. The World Tag Team Championship was subsequently retired.

## Broadcast team

 Todd Grisham

## Match graphics

 Former