Elimination Chamber 2018 Review

   WWE made their first stop on the Road To WrestleMania with last night's Elimination Chamber event.  It was historic in that the main event featured for the first time a seven-man Elimination Chamber match.  Not only that, there was the first ever Women's Elimination Chamber match as well.  I'm here to share my thoughts about last night's show.  We have one more stop and that is next month's Smackdown exclusive show, Fastlane.

Kick-Off Match - Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. The Miztourage

   Before the main show began, fans were treated to a tag team match.  It was the Good Brothers of the Balor Club taking on the Miztourage.  The Miz himself did not get involved, nor did Finn Balor, as I'm sure their participation in the Elimination  Chamber was more pressing.  As I predicted, Gallows and Anderson prevailed. Tonight on Raw, we'll probably get more insight on how Raw's side of things will shape up for WrestleMania.  The match was fine, it did what it was supposed to do.  

Raw Women's Championship Elimination Chamber Match - Alexa Bliss vs. Mickie James vs. Mandy Rose vs. Sonya DeVille vs. Sasha Banks vs. Bayley

   The first official match on the card was the first ever Women's Elimination Chamber match. Alexa Bliss was in for the fight of her life, defending her Title against five others in this ominous structure.  Absolution's Sonya DeVille and Bayley started things off, which each other woman in her respective pod.  The first pod opened and it was another member of Absolution, Mandy Rose.  As expected, the two stable mates double teamed Bayley.  Bayley didn't back down and took the fight to both as best she could.  Sasha Banks then entered the match and now Bayley had some help.  The next pod opened up and it was Mickie James, leaving Alexa Bliss last to enter.  Mickie climbed one of the pods and leaped from the top onto her opponents.  The first one eliminated was Mandy Rose, which Alexa loved because it was one less person she had to deal with.  Mandy Rose now has the distinction of being the third woman to enter and first woman eliminated from both the Women's Royal Rumble and Women's Elimination Chamber matches.

   Next eliminated was Sonya DeVille, right after Alexa finally entered the match.  Much to the chagrin of Alexa, her on-again off-again friend Mickie James was eliminated next.  It was every woman for herself, however, as it wasn't long before Sasha attacked Bayley.  Bayley attacked back and the two fought, while Alexa smiled.  Alexa tried to escape by scaling the cage but she was corned by Sasha and Bayley.  At one point, all three women were on top of a pod.  Sasha viciously threw Bayley off the pod.  Alexa performed an amazing Twisted Bliss of the top of a pod.  Alexa soon eliminated Bayley, followed by Sasha, to retain the Raw Women's Championship.  Alexa's night of worrying wasn't over yet, as later on Royal Rumble winner Asuka would take on Nia Jax.  One thing that became clear to me out of this match was the tension between Sasha and Bayley, which will hopefully lead to a one on one match at WrestleMania and a full-on Sasha heel turn.

Raw Tag Team Titles - The Bar vs. Titus Worldwide

   In the last two years, Sheamus and Cesaro have become one of the best tag teams in WWE today.  I mean no disrespect to Titus or Apollo but this match was pretty easy to predict, with the Champs coming out the victors.  It was a pretty entertaining match, though!  Sheamus and Cesaro did in fact win this contest but there's a big question mark as to the next contenders.  I'm sure tonight on Raw, we'll get some answers.  As far is Raw is concerned, these two don't just set the bar, they are the bar!

Asuka vs, Nia Jax

   Asuka won the Royal Rumble last month and she's going to WrestleMania regardless to face the Raw Women's Title.  The stipulation for this match was that if Nia wins, she would join the Championship match and it would become a Triple Threat.  With WWE building up Asuka's undefeated streak, I had a hard time buying she may lose before WrestleMania.  However, if there was ever a woman to make fans doubt Asuka's chances, it's Nia Jax!  She gave Asuka the fight of her life last night.  In the end, Asuka came out victorious.  Unfortunately for Asuka, Nia is quite the sore loser.  Nia battered Asuka continuously after the match.  Backstage, Alexa Bliss was seen smiling, as her future opponent was just weakened.  Asuka could possibly challenge for the Smackdown Women's Title but I feel like there's too many loose ends to tie on Raw.  I'm pretty sure Asuka is going to defeat Alexa to become the new Raw Women's Champion.  Not only that, I imagine WWE doesn't want their first female Money In the Bank winner Carmella to not cash in successfully and there's no way they would end Asuka's streak with a cheap cash in.

Matt Hardy vs. Bray Wyatt

   One of the most anticipated characters in a long time has been Matt Hardy's "Broken" character he used in TNA.  Between his brother Jeff's injury and latest feud with Bray Wyatt, Matt has become "Woken!"  Bray's often been known to laugh maniacally and up until now, no one has been able to match Bray's psychoses. Matt has clearly matched Bray's craziness on every level.  I figured since Bray won the last match, Matt would win this one.  Matt won but it's unclear what either man does from now until WrestleMania.  Is the feud over and will they go their separate ways?  Will it continue?  Are we expecting the return of "Brother Nero?"  

Elimination Chamber Match - Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman vs. Elias vs. John Cena vs. The Miz vs. Finn Balor vs. Seth Rollins

   Fortunately, the predictability of the outcome of this match didn't take away from the enjoyment it brought to the fans, myself included.  Elias was in the ring, entertaining the audience with a little mini concert.  He was stopped dead in his tracks when the "Monster Among Men" came out to enter his pod.  I'm a little disappointed that Elias didn't take the guitar into his pod and play while the match went on. However, Elias had the distinction of being the last to enter.  John Cena and Roman Reigns made their way into their pods.  With seven men in this match, three would start, and those men were The Miz, Finn Balor, and Seth Rollins, who was the MVP of last Monday's gauntlet match, lasting over an hour himself.  The Miz tried to strike deals with both men early on but neither would go for it.  John Cena's pod opened and he came out fighting.  Reigns entered next, followed by Braun and then lastly, Elias.  

   At one point, all of the men turned their attention to Braun Strowman but no one was able to topple the big man.  In an amazing performance, Braun eliminated five men.  He eliminated The Miz first,  followed by Elias, and then took down "Big Match John," to the surprise of many.  Braun then set his sights on Finn Balor and eliminated him.  The Shield brothers, Seth and Roman, teamed up to try and take Braun down.  Braun eliminated Seth and then stood one on one with Roman Reigns.  The matches these two men had in 2017 were awesome and now we were in for another war.  Even though I predicted Roman to win, deep down I hoped Braun would pull it off.  Roman won the match in the end and I predicted every match correctly.  Now we know Roman will take on Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania but I'm more concerned with what the remaining men do.

   I expected Roman to win and his upcoming match with Brock has been on the table since last year's WrestleMania.  However, I don't think it should close the show for two reasons.  First of all, I would like tradition to continue with the Royal Rumble winner, this being Shinsuke Nakamura, taking on the Champion, this being AJ Styles, in the main event.  Secondly, there is no way another match will be able to top the Shinsuke/AJ match.  Any other match going on last would not be a fitting end to WrestleMania in my opinion.  A distraught Cena went all melancholy on Raw Talk after the show and hinted towards either a heel turn or a possible match with  the Undertaker.  With the way WrestleMania ended last year, I don't see the point in another Undertaker match.  I'm curious as to what Braun Strowman does, especially after his dominating performance in the Elimination Chamber.  Braun brutalized Reigns after the match so maybe they add him to the match?  Before I forget, there was also the contract signing of Ronda Rousey.  Raw General Manager Kurt Angle instigated tension between Ronda and Stephanie/Triple H.  Ronda put Triple H through a table and Stephanie slapped her, only for fear to overcome Stephanie by doing that.  It leads me to believe the four involved will face off at WrestleMania in a Mixed Tag Team Match.  Next stop is Fastlane on the Road To WrestleMania!

If you have any further thoughts on this topic, let me know in comments.  Heck, let us all know on The WAR Report podcast, every Tuesday at 7PM EST on YouTube, brought to you by tagmeadate.com, the first and only dating site for wrestling fans.  Go to askthewarreport@gmail.com or #askthewarreport.  For TagMeADate members, our Android and Apple apps are vastly approaching so stay tuned!
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