The 2012 Elimination Chamber (known as No Way Out in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

) was the third

Elimination Chamber The Elimination Chamber is a professional wrestling elimination-based match held in the WWE. The match was founded by Chris Jericho , created and introduced by Eric Bischoff in November 2002. It features a large chain-linked circular steel ...

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

pay-per-view (PPV)

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of e ...

produced by

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vari ...

. It took place on February 19, 2012, at the Bradley Center in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. Six matches were contested at the event, five of which were broadcast on the pay-per-view while the other was a

dark match Professional wrestling has accrued a considerable amount of jargon throughout its existence. Much of it stems from the industry's origins in the days of carnivals and circuses. In the past, professional wrestlers used such terms in the presence o ...

. In the main event,

John Cena John Felix Anthony Cena ( ; born April 23, 1977) is an American part-time professional wrestler, actor, and former rapper. He is currently signed to WWE. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he is tied ...

defeated Kane in an

Ambulance match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

. There were two matches contested inside the

. In the first, which opened the show, CM Punk defeated

The Miz Michael Gregory Mizanin (born October 8, 1980) is an American professional wrestler, actor, and television personality. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name The Miz. Mizanin first gained fa ...

Chris Jericho Christopher Keith Irvine (born November 9, 1970), better known by the ring name Chris Jericho, is an American-Canadian professional wrestler and singer. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is the leader of the Jerich ...

Kofi Kingston Kofi Nahaje Sarkodie-Mensah (born August 14, 1981) is a Ghanaian-born American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Kofi Kingston. He appeared on WWE's NXT brand as one-ha ...

Dolph Ziggler Nicholas Theodore Nemeth (born July 27, 1980) is an American professional wrestler and stand-up comedian. He is currently signed to WWE under the ring name Dolph Ziggler, where he performs on the Raw brand. After a prolific career in amateur ...

, and

R-Truth Ronnie Aaron Killings (born January 19, 1972) is an American professional wrestler and rapper. He is currently signed to WWE, performing on the Raw brand under the ring name R-Truth. Killings worked for World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now ...

to retain the

WWE Championship The WWE Championship is a world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, representing the Raw brand division. It is one of two world titles on WWE's main roster, alongside SmackDow ...

, while in the second, Daniel Bryan defeated

Santino Marella Anthony Carelli (born March 14, 1974) is a Canadian judoka and semi-retired professional wrestler. He is known for his 11-year tenure with WWE where he wrestled under the ring name Santino Marella. He is the founder of and instructor at Battle Ar ...

Wade Barrett Stuart Alexander Bennett (born 10 August 1980) is an English-American professional wrestling commentator, actor, and former professional wrestler who holds both British and American citizenship. He is currently signed to WWE, where he is a col ...

Cody Rhodes Cody Garrett Runnels Rhodes (''né'' Runnels; born June 30, 1985) is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. Rhodes is also known for his time in All Elite Wrestling (AE ...

Big Show Paul Donald Wight II (born February 8, 1972) is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as an in-ring performer, and as a commentator for its web television show, '' AEW Dark: Elevation,'' under ...

, and

The Great Khali Dalip Singh Rana (born 27 August 1972) is an Indian professional wrestler and wrestling promoter better known by his ring name The Great Khali. He is best known for his tenure in WWE where he became the first Indian-born WWE World Heavywe ...

to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. The event garnered 178,000 pay-per-view buys, down from 199,000 buys the previous year's event received.

Production

Background

is a gimmick pay-per-view, produced every February by

since 2010—in April 2011, the promotion ceased going by its full name of World Wrestling Entertainment, with "WWE" becoming an

orphaned initialism An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

. The concept of the show is that one or two main event matches are contested inside the

, either with championships or future opportunities at championships at stake. The 2012 event was the third event under the Elimination Chamber chronology and the first to be held since the end of the first brand split in August 2011. The event was scheduled to be held on February 19, 2012, at the Bradley Center in

. The previous year, the show was promoted as "No Escape" in

as it was feared that the name "Elimination Chamber" may remind people of the

gas chamber A gas chamber is an apparatus for killing humans or other animals with gas, consisting of a sealed chamber into which a poisonous or asphyxiant gas is introduced. Poisonous agents used include hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide. History ...

s used during the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

. For the 2012 event, the show was promoted as "No Way Out."

Storylines

Elimination Chamber featured

professional wrestling matches Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing

scripted ''Scripted'' is the debut studio album by American rock band Icon for Hire. It was released on Tooth & Nail Records on August 23, 2011, and went on to break the label's new artist record for albums sold during the first week of release. Back ...

feuds, plots, and storylines that were played out on ''

Raw Raw is an adjective usually describing: * Raw materials, basic materials from which products are manufactured or made * Raw food, uncooked food Raw or RAW may also refer to: Computing and electronics * .RAW, a proprietary mass spectrometry dat ...

'', ''

SmackDown ''WWE SmackDown'', also known as ''Friday Night SmackDown'' or simply ''SmackDown'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that as of currently airs live every Friday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox. Fox Deportes sim ...

'', and ''

WWE Superstars ''WWE Superstars'', or simply ''Superstars'', is an American professional wrestling television program that was produced by WWE that originally aired on WGN America in the United States and later broadcast on the WWE Network. It debuted on and ...

''—WWE's television programs. Wrestlers portrayed

heroes Heroes or Héroes may refer to: * Hero, one who displays courage and self-sacrifice for the greater good Film * ''Heroes'' (1977 film), an American drama * ''Heroes'' (2008 film), an Indian Hindi film Gaming * ''Heroes of Might and Magic'' ...

villains A villain (also known as a "black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character a ...

as they followed a series of events that built tension, and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. The first match was announced by Interim

General Manager

John Laurinaitis John Hodger Laurinaitis (born July 31, 1962), also known by his former ringname Johnny Ace, is an American retired professional wrestler and business executive. He has wrestled for such promotions as World Championship Wrestling (WCW), All Japan ...

on January 30, 2012, on WWE's website. The announcement stated that there would be an

match for the

. In the match, CM Punk would defend his championship against

, and

. The following week on ''Raw'', Jericho won a Six-Pack Challenge featuring all six Elimination Chamber participants to earn the right to enter the match last. On February 3, 2012, it was announced that there would also be an Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship. In the match, Daniel Bryan would defend his championship against

, and

. Originally,

Mark Henry Mark Jerrold Henry (born June 12, 1971) is an American former powerlifter, Olympic weightlifter, strongman, and professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a commentator/analyst, coach, and talent scout. He is b ...

was named as a participant in the match, but was removed from the contest and suspended indefinitely by SmackDown General Manager

Theodore Long Theodore Robert Rufus Long (born September 15, 1947) is an American former professional referee and manager known for his work for WWE and WCW serving as an on-screen authority figure. Long began his career in the National Wrestling Alliance ...

for threatening him. Khali replaced him in the match. Randy Orton was also originally a participant in the match, but suffered a concussion after Bryan hit him over the head with the title belt on the February 13, 2012 episode of ''Raw''. His replacement would be Marella, who won a battle royal on the February 17, 2012 episode of ''SmackDown''.

and Kane began feuding in December 2011, with Kane targeting Cena due to his T-shirt slogan, "Rise Above Hate". To play psychological games with Cena, Kane began targeting Cena's friend

Zack Ryder Matthew Brett Cardona (born May 14, 1985) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to Impact Wrestling and the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). He is best known for his time in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Zack Ryd ...

and his on-screen girlfriend,

Eve Torres Eve Torres Gracie (born Eve Marie Torres on August 21, 1984) is an American actress, dancer, model, martial arts instructor, and former professional wrestler. She is best known for her time with WWE, where she was the first ever three-time WWE ...

, attacking Ryder and cornering Eve in a variety of situations, all in an effort to make Cena "embrace the hate." On the February 6 episode of ''Raw'', an

was announced for Elimination Chamber between Kane and Cena.

Event

Before the event aired live on pay-per-view, Hunico defeated

Alex Riley Kevin Robert Kiley Jr. (born April 28, 1981) is an American professional wrestler and commentator best known for his time with WWE under the ring name Alex Riley. He was a participant in the second season of ''NXT''. Professional wrestling ...

in a

Preliminary matches

The first match to air on pay-per-view was the Elimination Chamber match between reigning champion CM Punk,

and

for the

. Punk started off the match with Kingston. Punk sent Kingston into a pod and performed a Suplex on Kingston onto the chamber floor. Ziggler entered at #3, targeting Punk. R-Truth entered at #4, being eliminated by Punk after a diving elbow drop. Next was Miz followed by Jericho, who won the right to enter last after winning a Six-Pack Challenge on ''Raw''. Jericho eliminated Ziggler after a Codebreaker and eliminated Kingston after forcing Kingston to submit to the Liontamer. Jericho was then knocked out after a

roundhouse kick A roundhouse kick (also known as round kick or turning kick) is a kick in which the practitioner lifts the knee while turning the supporting foot and body in a semicircular motion, extending the leg striking with the lower part of the shin and/ ...

by Punk, leading to him falling out of the chamber (which had been opened to let Kingston out after he was eliminated) and accidentally landed on a camera man, thus being deemed unable to continue by the ringside trainers. Punk and Miz were the final two, after Punk kicked out of the Skull Crushing Finale, Punk performed a G.T.S. on Miz to score the final fall and retain his championship. Next was the

Divas Championship The WWE Divas Championship was a women's professional wrestling championship in WWE. The championship was created by WWE in 2008, and was introduced as part of the WWE brand extension via a storyline by then SmackDown General Manager Vickie Gu ...

match between reigning champion

Beth Phoenix Elizabeth Copeland ( Kociański; born November 24, 1980), known professionally as Beth Phoenix, is an American professional wrestler. She is a former WWE Divas Champion and a three-time WWE Women's Champion. Kociański had a successful amateur ...

and

Tamina Snuka Sarona Moana Marie Reiher Snuka-Polamalu (born January 10, 1978) is an American professional wrestler. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Tamina. She is a one-time WWE Women's Tag Team Cha ...

. After a back-and forth-contest, Snuka would performed a

Samoan drop Samoan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Samoan Islands, an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean ** Something of, from, or related to Samoa, a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands ** Something of, from, ...

to set up the

Superfly Splash Aerial techniques, also known as "high-flying moves" are maneuvers in professional wrestling using the ring's posts and ropes as aids, in many cases to demonstrate the speed and agility of smaller, nimble and acrobatically inclined wrestlers prefer ...

. Phoenix countered by superplexing Snuka from the top rope. Snuka then scored a

superkick Strikes are offensive moves in professional wrestling, that can sometimes be used to set up an opponent for a hold or for a throw. There are a wide variety of strikes in pro wrestling, and many are known by several different names. Professional wre ...

-Superfly Splash combination to Phoenix, leading to a close near-fall. Phoenix performed a Glam

Slam Slam, SLAM or SLAMS may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional elements * S.L.A.M. (Strategic Long-Range Artillery Machine), a fictional weapon in the ''G.I. Joe'' universe * SLAMS (Space-Land-Air Missile Shield), a fictional anti-ball ...

on Snuka to score the pinfall and retain her title. Punk Bryan staredown

Next was the Elimination Chamber match between reigning champion Daniel Bryan,

and

for the World Heavyweight Championship. Barrett and Big Show were the first two in the ring, attacking one another. Rhodes entered at #3, who worked with Barrett for much of the match, attempting to slow down Big Show. Marella entered at #4, who immediately got attacked by Big Show. Khali entered at #5 and managed to dominate for a while but soon got

speared A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fastene ...

by Show straight away and pinned. Show climbed Bryan's pod, ripping off the chains and attacking him. When Bryan got out, Rhodes and Barrett immediately attacked Show. After a

DDT Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, commonly known as DDT, is a colorless, tasteless, and almost odorless crystalline chemical compound, an organochloride. Originally developed as an insecticide, it became infamous for its environmental impacts. ...

by Rhodes and a driving elbow drop from Barrett, Rhodes pinned and eliminated Big Show. Rhodes was eliminated by Marella after a roll-up. Barrett was eliminated by Marella, following a diving headbutt by Bryan. The final two were Bryan and Marella, who scored a close near-fall after performing The Cobra. Marella was shocked that Bryan had kicked out and while he was in shock, Bryan forced Marella to submit to the LeBell

Lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

, retaining his championship. After the match,

Sheamus Stephen Farrelly (born 28 January 1978) is an Irish professional wrestler and actor. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Sheamus. Prior to joining WWE, he wrestled on the European i ...

ran in and attacked Bryan in retaliation for Bryan spitting on him on the previous episode of ''SmackDown''. This indicated that Sheamus had selected to challenge Bryan for the World Heavyweight Championship at

WrestleMania XXVIII WrestleMania XXVIII (also written as WrestleMania 28) was the 28th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE. It took place on April 1, 2012, at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. It is the hig ...

, which Sheamus won the right to do after his victory in the Royal Rumble match. Next was an impromptu United States Championship match between

Justin Gabriel Phillip Paul Lloyd (born 3 March 1981) is a South African-American professional wrestler. He is best known for his time in WWE, under the ring name Justin Gabriel. He is currently wrestling under the ring name P. J. Black. A second-generation ...

(with Hornswoggle) and champion

Jack Swagger Donald Jacob Hager Jr. (born March 24, 1982) is an American professional wrestler and mixed martial artist, currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under the ring name Jake Hager, where he is a member of the Jericho Appreciation Society ...

(with

Vickie Guerrero Vickie Lynn Benson (formerly Guerrero, née Lara;Guerrero, Eddie. ''Cheating Death, Stealing Life: The Eddie Guerrero Story'', p. 53. born April 16, 1968) is an American professional wrestling personality and manager. She is best known for her t ...

). Gabriel gave Swagger an intense challenge but Swagger eventually applied the

Ankle lock A leglock is a joint lock that is directed at joints of the leg such as the ankle, knee or hip joint. A leglock which is directed at joints in the foot, is sometimes referred to as a foot lock and a lock at the hip as a hip lock. Leglocks are fe ...

and made Gabriel submit to retain the championship.

Main event

The main event was the Ambulance match between

and Kane. They fought out of the ring for most of the match where Cena attacked Kane repeatedly with the steel ring steps. As he attempted to give Kane an Attitude Adjustment off the ring steps through the announce table, Kane countered and

chokeslam A chokeslam is a type of body slam in professional wrestling, in which a wrestler grasps an opponent's neck, lifts them up, and slams them to the mat. It is common in televised wrestling because it is simple and relatively safe, yet looks power ...

med Cena through the table instead. With Cena down, Kane placed him onto a gurney and loaded him into the ambulance. Before Kane could shut the door, though, Cena fought his way out of the ambulance and took the fight to the top of the vehicle, where he finally finished off Kane with an Attitude Adjustment off the ambulance onto the equipment area. Cena then loaded Kane into the ambulance to score the victory.

Reception

The Canadian Online Explorer gave the event a mixed review with an overall rating of 5 out of 10. The Elimination Chamber matches were particularly praised, with the WWE Championship match given an 8 out of 10 rating and the World Heavyweight Championship match a 9 out of 10. In contrast, the United States Championship match was criticized as it "seemed to be shoehorned into the card" and was given a 2 out of 10. The Divas Championship match and the Ambulance match were given a 4 out of 10.

Results

Elimination Chamber entrances and eliminations (WWE Championship)

Elimination Chamber entrances and eliminations (World Heavyweight Championship)

References

External links

Official website
{{WWEPPV, Elimination Chamber Events in Milwaukee

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

2012 in Wisconsin Professional wrestling in Milwaukee 2012 WWE pay-per-view events February 2012 events in the United States es:WWE Elimination Chamber#2012