Tossing Salt Presents:
Wrestling Fact or Fiction
WWE Elimination Chamber
February 18, 2022
DougMaynard.com

Are you ready for a long one? Mr. Jake Chambers, at 411mania.com, has prepared a 40-statement edition of the Fact or Fiction column. Forty statements? That’s a lot, but I’m up for it if you are. It should be fun. I must still be drunk to even attempt this. Oy vey. Let’s do this.

Statement #1: The Elimination Chamber gimmick is played out. 

FICTION: The idea and concept are still good ones and the match itself rarely fails to deliver. The way WWE tends to book this match and not use it to it’s full potential is getting kind of old sometimes, but the match itself and the gimmick are not the problems. It’s WWE Creative that sucks!

Statement #2: The 2003 Elimination Chamber, featuring Triple H and Goldberg, told the best story of any version of the match. 

FICTION: I can’t even remember this match, but if it involves Goldberg, I seriously doubt it’s the best story or best anything for that matter.

Statement #3: You like that they’ve padded the chain floor around the ring apron in the Elimination Chamber.

FACT: I hadn’t even paid attention or noticed really, but it’s got to be better for the wrestlers than working on a plate of metal.

Statement #4: More male wrestlers should wear shirts.

FICTION: I like seeing skin so no, take those shirts off.

Statement #5: Rampage is a better name for a pro-wrestling TV show than Dynamite.

FACT: I like Rampage better so yes.

Statement #6: You remembered that Daniel Bryan won 3 Elimination Chamber matches.

FICTION: I can barely remember why I walk into a room, or what I did twenty minutes ago, so remembering who won what and when that just doesn’t bide well for me. I’m just getting old and as Jimmy Garvin used to say, “It’s not my fault!”

Statement #7: The HHH/Jeff Hardy ending of the Elimination Chamber match at No Way Out 2008 is better than the ending of the original version of the match at the 2002 Survivor Series.

FACT: To be honest, I don’t really remember the details of either match, but Hardy & HHH were really hitting their stride and peak in 2008 so I’m sure that the match was damn good and off the charts, so I’ll just go with that.

Statement #8: You’d rather enter the Chamber match at #1 and lose but have a long, eventful run than enter at #6 and win after a few minutes.

FICTION: For the past several years, the winner of the Elimination Chamber has gone on to a main-event level match at Wrestlemania. I’d want that Wrestlemania moment, so I’ll take the coming in last and getting the win.

Statement #9: The Young Bucks should change their team name to be more reflective of their age.

FICTION: If Shawn Michaels can still be The Heartbreak Kid, then the Young Bucks can still be the Young Bucks. Age is but a number anyhow, and shouldn’t matter so long as the gimmick works.

Statement #10: Send Hook.

FACT: No explanation needed.

 Statement #11: At some point, someone should have tried to shoot through those bulletproof Elimination Chamber pods.

FICTION: Never bring a gun to a wrestling match. Don’t do dat!

 Statement #12: You don’t have enough time in the week to watch NXT UK.

FACT: I rarely watch any wrestling program in it’s entirety, except for the pay-per-views and Premium Live Events. I depend on recaps, Simon Miller, and YouTube for the action that catches my attention. 

Statement #13: Bad Bunny will one day be a WWE champion. 

FACT: Either a tag team champion or the 24/7 Champion. I can definitely see it happening. 

Statement #14: AEW needs Kenny Omega

FICTION: No one NEEDS Kenny Omega. Well, nobody except for Meltzer it seems. His obsession with Omega is… weird.

Statement #15: You prefer seeing big men in the Elimination Chamber over high flyers.

FICTION: I like a mix and variety of styles and wrestling in my matches. I want both big guys and the high flyers. 

Statement #16: Mick Foley’s best career promos are better than most literary poetry. 

FACT: Foley is a master of his craft and one of the best promo guys ever. 

Statement #17: NXT 2.NO!

FACT: It seems to have lost something that made it special in the transition. I much prefer the old NXT, with the HHH & William Regal influence to the stuff we’re watching now.

Statement #18: Tag Team Elimination Chamber matches are too crowded.

FACT: Yeah, too many people and too hard to keep up with everything going on. 

Statement #19: Andrade is basically in the same place in AEW that he was in WWE.

FICTION: So far, I’ve been far less impressed with the AEW stuff than the work he did in WWE. The AEW stories need to pick it up a bit because so far, it’s not working for me.

Statement #20: All the wrestlers who lose this week’s WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match should be excluded from challenging the current champion for the rest of their title reign.

FICTION: Too complicated to be practical and it would prevent a lot of possibly damn good matches. I hate those “can’t challenge for a title” storylines and they should never be used again.

Statement #21: Madcap Moss is funny.

FACT: He has his moments. 

Statement #22: Wrestlers must get bored waiting in those Elimination Chamber pods.

FICTION: I’m sure a million different feelings and emotions are going through their minds as they’re waiting for their spots, but I highly doubt that boredom is one of them.

Statement #23: You liked TNA’s Lockdown idea of a PPV with all steel cage matches.

FICTION: It was major overkill of a match that’s supposed to be special and have implications. 

Statement #24: Wrestling fans really hate tag team wrestling because the only stories they want to fantasy book for tag teams is the eventual break-up feud. 

FICTION: Some wrestling fans love tag team wrestling, myself being one of them. There is nothing better than watching two talented performers create teamwork and magic, working in precision, to have a stellar match. I’d rather see tag matches than most singles and believe me, it has nothing to do with booking a break-up. I just love tag team wrestling.

Statement #25: There’s nothing actually evil about Danhausen.

FICTION: He claims to be very evil and very nice. I don’t think Danhausen is a liarhausen. If he says that he’s evil, I must agree, or else he’ll curse me, and nobody wants that.

Statement #26: Sasha Banks will never main event another WWE PPV. 

FICTION: I’m not that impressed with her as of late, but it’s the WWE. Never say never. 

Statement #27: The 2015 Elimination Chamber for the vacated IC title (won by Ryback) was the worst version of the match ever.

FICTION: I can’t really remember much about this match, but if Ryback was the winner, it had to suck. 

Statement #28: Forget adding another hour, we need five hours of RAW every week, right?

FICTION: Three hours is too much and bad enough. Five hours? Hell to the no.

Statement #29: The traditional Wargames gimmick is better than the Elimination Chamber.

FACT: As much as I like the Elimination Chamber, and I do, there is still no comparison to the WarGames match. It was created by Dusty Rhodes and for The Horsemen. With a beginning like that, it will always be the top match, and should be.

Statement #30: Johnny Knoxville should come back for a match at Wrestlemania.

FICTION: I keep hearing that he most likely will for a program with Sami Zayn and the Intercontinental Championship. I like Knoxville and all the Jackass folks, but if Sami is wrestling, he should be facing a wrestler, not an actor/stuntman/Jackass dude.

Statement #31: In general, you believe professional wrestlers need to read more books.

FACT: I think that everybody should read more books. Get off the computer, put away the Game Controller, turn off the TV, and read a damn book. Reading is fundamental. It’s true. It’s damn true!

Statement #32: If a special Elimination Chamber match were to happen today featuring only former winners who have been recently active in the WWE – Lashley, Cena, Edge, Orton, Reigns, Big E (representing New Day) – John Cena would win.

FACT: It would either be Cena or Reigns, but since I just spent several hours last night finishing up watching Peacemaker on HBOMax, and I’ve got Cena on the mind, I’ll have to pull for him. 

Statement #33: This current run of AEW Dynamite is better TV than the Attitude Era run of RAW in the 1990s.

FICTION: AEW Dynamite is pretty decent most of the time, but the Attitude Era, and WCW too for that matter, was far better overall. The live crowds, the energy, the unpredictability, the chaos, etc. AEW is trying hard, but when compared to Stone Cold, The Rock, DX, etc., it’s not even close.

Statement #34: Santino should have won the 2012 Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship.

FICTION: Santino as the WWE Champion? I liked Santino and he often made me laugh out loud with his antics, but the WWE Championship? Nah, I don’t think so.

Statement #35: Even though the December to Dismember PPV was pretty terrible, having specific weapons in each pod in the ECW Title Elimination Chamber match was a pretty cool idea that they could have used again.

FICTION: The Chamber itself is a weapon and dangerous enough. They don’t need extra stipulations or gimmicks in this match.

Statement #36: Orange Cassidy should talk more.

FICTION: Cassidy talking more would destroy the mystique and character and one of the things that make him special. Less is more with Cassidy and if it’s not broken, don’t fix it. Let him stay as he is so when and if he does ever do a long-winded promo and starts talking a lot, there’s a purpose and reason behind it.

Statement #37: Austin Theory will win this year’s Men’s Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Title.

FICTION: I’d love to see it happen. That would be awesome swerve, but it’s not going to happen. Not this close to Mania anyhow. 

Statement #38: Goldberg must regain his Universal Championship at Elimination Chamber.

FACT: If he wins as a result of Brock interfering and costing Roman the title, a payback from the Royal Rumble event, I can see it happening and I’d be cool with it. Then Goldberg can defend the belt at Mania and be squashed by whoever the top contender turns out to be.

Statement #39: Bianca Belair should win this year’s Women’s Elimination Chamber match.

FICTION: She probably will, but I’d rather see Rhea Ripley win here and get that shot against Becky Lynch. I’m all Bianca’ed out.

Statement #40: You refuse to watch WWE premium live events from Saudi Arabia.

FICTION: It’s at noon on a Saturday afternoon. What else do I have to do?

And there you go. My thanks to Jake Chambers and 411mania.com for the use of their format and questions. And thanks to you, my loyal and faithful for reading. Comments, thoughts, and any questions are welcome and appreciated. Use the comment box or else shoot me a line at Doug28352@yahoo.com. Until the next time, take care and be good. I’ll see you at the matches.

Ubuntu!