Chris Jericho vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. R-Truth vs. The Miz vs. Kofi Kingston vs. CM Punk (c) – Elimination Chamber Match for the WWE Championship – February 19th, 2012

A now sixteen year tradition in the WWE, The Elimination Chamber has become an iconic match stipulation. I mean, I’m not sure there is even another promotion in the world that could create such a structure and successfully execute the match. Furthermore, The Chamber itself became a symbol of Raw in the early days of the first roster split, the first four matches being contested for Raw‘s top belt. Eventually, the format would be utilized by WWE’s ECW and Smackdown!, fully establishing the match as an important weapon in the promotion’s narrative arsenal. The match has always held weight and carried a title opportunity with it, whether the belt was to be on the line in the match, or granting the winner their ticket to Wrestlemania. Tonight, we will see the first Women’s iteration of the match and a Raw Number-One contendership handed out, as Smackdown! superstar Shinsuke Nakamura won the Royal Rumble. The Elimination Chamber continues as a key pit-stop on the road to Wrestlemania.

For this week’s column, I wanted to choose my favorite of these matches, but that wasn’t as easy as I had thought. Sure, I had flashes of moments in my head, but finding the one match with the most weight was a daunting task. They all had pretty decent levels of importance, so I had to look at the matches on multiple levels. After some consideration, I narrowed it down to two, both of which took place on the same show.

In the summer of 2011, the WWE went through a distinct era shift, largely caused by CM Punk’s defeat of John Cena in July. A long period of stagnation finally cracked, and both Raw and Smackdown‘s rosters had renewed vigor.  In 2012, both shows had Chambers for their top titles.  Over on the blue brand, Daniel Bryan would defend his title against a slew of monsters and the red-hot Santino Marella. He would win, and the match would be a great deal of fun, but it isn’t all that defining for the future leader of the YES movement. On the other hand, CM Punk faced a tougher crowd, with veterans and upstarts alike gunning for his belt. While Smackdown might have had a diverse cast, Raw‘s contenders felt like legitimate threats across the board. The veteran Chris Jericho. The last Wrestlemania’s Main Eventer, The Miz. The endlessly inventive and Athletic, Dolph Ziggler. The high-flying former U.S. and Intercontinental Champ, Kofi Kingston. Even R-Truth’s wacky persona seemed viable in the new era. I’m going to spoil this one, but it is the reason that I picked it. Punk’s victory in the chamber is an important moment in his four hundered- thirty four day reign as champion. Having started the match in the ring, it showed that it would take someone of an almost unobtainable caliber to beat him. Yeah, they’d decide that someone had those attributes eventually (if you smell what I’m cooking), but Punk would hold on to that belt for nearly a full year after this match. Bryan’s time would come after that.

The entirety of the 2012 Elimination Chamber is available on the WWE Network.