SAN JOSE, Calif. — John Cena is back in San Jose, and fittingly enough, the sharks are in the water. As Cena discussed what he deemed a must-win bout in the Men’s Elimination Chamber Match and his ambition to topple the “unbeatable” Universal Champion Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania, The Miz surfaced with a proclamation of his own: The A-Lister would win the Chamber and outsmart The Beast to become the first Superstar to hold the Intercontinental and Universal Titles simultaneously. The idea wasn’t so far-fetched, as there is precedent for Miz using his wits to defeat a more powerful opponent at the big dance — after all, he did it to Cena himself.
He wasn’t so lucky this time around. The ensuing match was decided in The Cenation Leader’s favor, despite a brutal pre-match assault from The Miztourage that left Cena splayed out in the ring. Raw General Manager Kurt Angle banned Miz’s cronies from ringside as a result, but between the ambush and a near-endless sleeper hold from the Intercontinental Champion, it looked like the damage was done. Even when The Cenation Leader began to claw back, Miz managed to escape most of Cena’s big moves, including a kickout of the Attitude Adjustment and a rope-break of the STF and what appeared to be a “Yes!” Lock from the 16-time champion.
Cena proved resilient enough to counter Miz’s own big swings as well, breaking out of two Figure-Four Leglocks and kicking out of the Skull-Crushing Finale. The A-Lister took a page out of Cena’s book by trying to set up a Skull-Crushing Finale off the second rope, but Cena quickly hoisted Miz on his shoulders for an avalanche AA. And, on top of that, Cena managed to finagle a solid stipulation, wherein the loser of the match would enter the Elimination Chamber first. In other words, The Miz had better hope he’s half as smart as he thinks he is because he’s got a long way to go to New Orleans.