NEW ORLEANS — Justice, as prophesied by Dean Ambrose, was ultimately delivered at WWE Elimination Chamber. In a six-man collision between WWE’s top Superstars and its most menacing alliance, The Shield withstood the dream team of John Cena, Ryback and Sheamus, live at the New Orleans Arena.
Neither the NBA’s Eastern nor Western All-Star squads could rival the veritable “super team” of Cena, Sheamus and Ryback — the 12-time World Champion heading to the main event of WrestleMania 29, the powerhouse Celtic Warrior who held the World Heavyweight Title for much of 2012, and the white-hot rookie who’s ravenously dined upon competition. But on the grim stage of WWE’s Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, the Superstar trio stood an endangered species while in the sights of their jackal-like opposition, The Shield.
Cena, Sheamus and Ryback employed powerhouse plays like synchronized suplexes and more to wear down their rebel rivals across all four corners of the ring and beyond. Resilient as ever, The Shield countered with ruthlessness and their signature “divide and conquer” technique to decimate Sheamus (who was speared through the barricade), and then outnumber their opponents. The sum total of their scheme: Ryback took the crushing final hit and losing pinfall … and he wasn’t at all happy about it.
Impressive and chillingly vicious, the riot gear–garbed Shield aimed to exact a mission of reparation for a supposed “decade of injustice.” Prime targeted, Cena’s assembled force combatted a group that has torn through an entire roster of competitors, from Team Hell No to Brodus Clay and Tensai, since its debut in November.
Perhaps no two men were more so wronged by The Shield’s brand of righteousness than Cena and Ryback, who both were deprived of the WWE Championship following the intervention of Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns in their first appearance at Survivor Series 2012.
That night, Shield secretly served CM Punk; at WWE Elimination Chamber, the horde’s plot came full circle as they devastated Cena and Ryback (along with Sheamus) most definitively. The extent to which the Superstar constantly wanting to be fed more may have consumed more than even he can swallow from the triumvirate of insurgents.