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<h3>Elimination Chamber 2018:</h3>
<h3><strong>A Good First Impression. </strong>[First Ever Women&#8217;s Chamber Match]</h3>
<p>So WWE decided to add paddings to the area that is right outside of the ring, instead of the exposing the usual steel grids. Even though the pads nullified what is probably the most painful element of the Chamber, adding them was a sensible move, protecting the women from unnecessary pain.</p>
<p>The match was surprisingly well-built. The entrances were in a sensible order, allowing for some very interesting interactions, such as the 2-on-1 assault from Absolution to Bayley, then Banks coming out to even the odds, and the dream-match-calibre final three of Bliss, Bayley, and Banks. There were some cool spots, like the Twisted Bliss off the top of the pod, and Mickie James’ Lou Thesz press off the pod. Oh and BANKS STOMPED BAYLEY OFF THE POD WHEN THE LATTER WAS TRYING TO JOIN THE FORMER IN ATTACKING BLISS! Heel turn! (Or was it?)</p>
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<p>In the end, Bliss successfully retained the championship. What was note-worthy was she did not cheat at all and she eliminated the two strongest contenders on her way to victory. This was the right call – she really needed a strong title defense to legitimize her position as champion heading into WrestleMania. After she fought like a babyface, and cut half a babyface promo, she spent the remaining half sh*tting on everyone’s hopes and dreams, reestablishing her position as a heel before people could have a chance to like her too much. Perfect character work.</p>
<p>Overall, another great first-time match for the women of WWE. They should have received a better build-up. But the quality of the PPV affair made up for the scriptwriters’ sins this time.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3><strong>When It Actually Mattered. </strong>[Tag Team Championship Match | The Bar vs Titus WorldWide]</h3>
<p>Damn, so getting three wins over the champions was really the only reason behind this affair. Geez, the writers need to be more creative, yo.</p>
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<p>The match was not anything too exciting, either. It was better than their usual RAW affair, but it was not excellent in any way. Titus Worldwide put on a strong fight, but The Bar proved to prevail when it really mattered. All in all, a pretty dull championship match after that great show-opener.</p>
<p>But hey, at least we got to see Dana in her secretary outfit. Even better, SHE GOT RID OF THE POLKA-DOT TIE!</p>
<p></p>
<h3><strong>By The Skin of Her Teeth. </strong>[Asuka vs Nia Jax]</h3>
<p>Asuka defeated Nia Jax, keeping her streak (barely) intact, and now we know Asuka vs Alexa Bliss is a lock for WrestleMania. The match was short, but sweet, with fast-paced and impactful action throughout. Even though Nia lost, she looked very strong, dominating Asuka in the vast majority of the match, and reversing The Empress of Tomorrow’s many attempts at putting her in a submission hold. Asuka only won by the skin of her teeth with a roll-up, and she of course was at the receiving end of a post-match beat-down from Nia Jax, complete with a pounce that sent Asuka through THAT portion of the barricade.</p>
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<p>Asuka held on to her undefeated streak for another day and Nia came out of the loss looking stronger – that aftermath left us happy.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3><strong>Are We On RAW? </strong>[Matt Hardy vs Bray Wyatt]</h3>
<p>Yet another mundane match from Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt. The few shenanigans before and during the early portions of the match did not save the match from being a lackluster affair. Bray Wyatt looked like a complete idiot, especially when Matt Hardy applauded Bray’s taunt. We get it that WWE was trying to show the world that Matt was so bizarre that even Bray Wyatt – a weird cult leader who likes to ramble on for minutes at a time – would flinch, but there was a problem.</p>
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<p>Bray Wyatt’s aura had been so damaged by the time of his 1439<sup>th</sup> time standing opposite of Matt Hardy in a ring that every time Bray Wyatt’s antics was outdone by Matt’s, the Eater of Worlds became more of a fool, and Matt Hardy did not actually increase on the unorthodox-o-meter. Mediocre match, and neither competitors benefitted from it.</p>
<p>Deities in the sky, please let this feud die…</p>
<p></p>
<h3><strong>The REAL Broken Entity. </strong>[Ronda Rousey&#8217;s Contract Signing]</h3>
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<p>It was appalling to see WWE handle a single contract-signing segment better than a feud that had been given three months or so of build-up. Ronda Rousey’s signing was exciting – the fans were screaming relevant chants and Triple H ended up being put through a table. It also carried implications – after the segment, we knew that another WrestleMania match was officially set in motion: Ronda Rousey and Kurt Angle vs Stephanie McMahon and Triple H.</p>
<p>Now that is something we can all get excited about.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3><strong>Yes, That Guy Won. </strong>[First Ever 7- Man Chamber Match]</h3>
<p>Oh and they decided to put the paddings in the men’s match as well. Welp, there goes our favorite landing for a back body drop. We did not like this extra protection in the men’s seven-way. We understand the move in the women’s match, but why did that to their counterparts as well? Sure sure, it was for safety and injury purposes, but can you just not let wrestlers fight for fewer than 250 matches a year and spoil the ECW marks in all of us once in a while, WWE?</p>
<p>So yeah, what we all predicted became a reality: Roman Reigns won the Elimination Chamber 2018, and he will be facing Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 34 for the WWE Universal Championship. But the real star of the match was Braun Strowman: He eliminated EVERYONE ELSE. He was an absolute monster for 95% of the match. In fact, most of the fun spots involved him: The double-suplex on Cena and Rollins, Miz being hurled off the top of a pod onto Cena, Balor, and Reigns, QUADRUPLE SHIELD-STYLE POWERBOMB on Strowman, Cena delivering an Attitude Adjustment on The Monster Among Men, and STROWMAN KICKING OUT OF CENA’S AND THEN REIGNS’ FINISHER.</p>
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<p>Keep in mind that had this been a standard Elimination Chamber affair (6-man), Strowman would have made enough eliminations to win the whole thing on his own. His performance was undoubtedly the best in the entire history of Elimination Chamber matches, so he surely had another feat to be proud of.</p>
<p>But that entire paragraph lauding Braun Strowman was not to undermine the efforts of the other competitors. Specifically, Reigns, Rollins, and Balor did very good jobs to keep the match flowing; Miz and Elias also handled their parts well. All seven competitors were on their night tonight and pieced together an excellent main event to close out the evening. It would not be an overstatement to say that this was the best Elimination Chamber match ever.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3><strong>Overall Review:</strong></h3>
<p>Most of the show was good to excellent, so it was definitely not a bad PPV by any means. There were definitely things that could have been improved, though, such as the WWE RAW Tag Team Championship match and the Hardy – Wyatt affair. The first women’s Elimination Chamber went well enough for us to look forward to a second installment; however, the highlight of the show was undoubtedly the men’s. Reigns emerged victorious, but there was more than one winner in the match. Damn it WWE, we are going to say this again: Braun Strowman is a fricking star.</p>

WWE Elimination Chamber 2018 Review & Results

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