Kickoff Match: Mojo Rawley def. Curt Hawkins by pinfall
This match was announced earlier in the week after an encounter on YouTube. Now, Kickoff matches are difficult for me to invest time and energy into and this one was frankly no exception. The match as a whole went exactly as I thought it would. Long story short, Mojo won in convincing fashion.
Becky Lynch def. Mickie James by pinfall
This was a good match to start the show off on. The storytelling in the match overall was fantastic. It was a match that basically sold itself and it was a classic story of revenge. Mickie has been fantastic in her matches at NXT Takeover against Asuka, the Royal Rumble PPV, and tonight was no exception. There is definitely a lot of good to come from having Mickie on the SmackDown roster, as she will be able to help out over up and coming faces of the SmackDown Women's Division. With Eva Marie seemingly done with WWE and Nikki Bella potentially retiring, others will be brought in or called up and they will need to be built up like anyone else.
Apollo Crews & Kalisto def. Dolph Ziggler
I've said that this was a match that just felt really thrown together and consequently there isn't much that I can really say about it. Kalisto definitely knows how to sell an injury (take notes Roman Reigns). I was surprised that Crews and Kalisto went over, but what is the most interesting about this match was the aftermath. Dolph proceeded to go after Apollo Crews, taking a steel chair to Crews' ankle not once...but TWICE. What is really troubling to me is this proved how little of a contribution Apollo Crews makes. After this huge beat-down, the fans were chanting "Thank you Ziggler". Your Superstar is trash in that event. And why that is troubling to me: I really feel like this is just a low-key way to release Crews from the company. If that is indeed the case though, Crews would have it made in the Indies. He has all of the talent in the world and he has the look, but where he has always lacked is in terms of personality. Maybe I'm wrong and this is just some time to repackage Crews (I'd hope), but only time will tell.
American Alpha retains the SmackDown Tag Team Championship
Entrant Order: Heath Slater & Rhyno, Breezango, The Vaudevillains, American Alpha, The Usos, The Ascension
Jason Jordan and Chad Gable are easily the Kings of the Tag Team Turmoil match. What I love most about these two is that they are the definition of fighting champions. They have taken on the entire tag team division and came out clean. Now these two gave me a scare after eliminating The Usos. Jimmy and Jey tried to make sure American Alpha would be softened up for The Ascension; however, it would be all for naught. American Alpha was able to stop The Ascension and hold on to their titles.
Thinking forward to WrestleMania: they will likely have another title defense. What I think would be just incredible would be if they were accompanied to the ring by Hall of Famer Kurt Angle. That would be a markout moment for myself as well as many in the WWE fandom.
Nikki Bella vs. Natalya ends in a double count out
Originally sparked after Carmella revealed that Natalya was behind the attack on Nikki at Survivor Series, but in more recent times, the focus has shifted to Nikki's personal life as a motivation for the story. For lack of a better word, this is problematic to me in that John Cena should be a non-starter. To me, John Cena should be completely irrelevant. In recent episodes of SmackDown though, Natalya has brought up Nikki's relationship with John and how he is fairly non-committal in terms of marriage. Rivalries that get personal are great; however, the Cena portion of the angle seems to be the only reason that this feud is even still going. Now the double count out means that this feud is far from over. Hopefully this will culminate at WrestleMania. There have been rumors of a mixed tag team match featuring John Cena and Nikki Bella going against The Miz and Maryse. Frankly, this is beneath all four of these entertainers. To bring Natalya and Nikki's feud to a close, their next match needs to be on the Grandest Stage of Them All and have something big attached to it. Especially considering there are also whispers of Nikki Bella retiring in the near future.
Randy Orton def. Luke Harper
Apart from the Elimination Chamber match, this was easily the match of the night. Of course Randy Orton was going to look strong at the end of the night here, but Harper and Orton provided an excellent match all the same. Luke Harper is easily one of my favorite Superstars. He weighs in at 275, but wrestles like a Cruiserweight. Seeing Harper do his thing truly makes me fall in love with the art form that is professional wrestling. At the end of Elimination Chamber, the Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, and Randy Orton) stood unified. What will be interesting to see from here will be the fallout from Elimination Chamber. How will Bray interact with Randy, knowing that (as of now) they have a WrestleMania match? Have the tensions between Randy Orton and Luke Harper at least healed even slightly?
Naomi def. Alexa Bliss by pinfall to win the SmackDown Women's Championship
This was a decision that was a bit surprising to me, as I thought that Naomi would win the title in her home city of Orlando. Either way this match was great. Post match, Naomi was the ever humble babyface, thanking her fans and the like. On Talking Smack, Alexa took it a step further in her direction as well, making the typical heel excuses. In her case, she cited the Arizona sun, not sleeping well, etc. etc. Of course, Alexa has a rematch though. Will this happen at WrestleMania or will it happen at some time between now and then? There are several weeks until The Showcase of Immortals and a lot can happen.
Bray Wyatt wins the Elimination Chamber match to win the WWE Championship
It's about damn time that Bray Wyatt gets the first WWE Championship! There is so much that can be said about this Elimination Chamber match. In my original predictions I noted that it would be interesting to see how guys like Baron Corbin, Bray Wyatt, and Dean Ambrose would use the environment to their advantage and suffice it to say: I was NOT disappointed. Between Dean Ambrose hitting John Cena with an elbow coming from the top of the pod, Dean Ambrose and A.J. Styles fighting on top of a pod, John Cena and A.J. Styles fighting on the chain link of the Chamber. I was disappointed that Baron Corbin was the first one to be eliminated, but he followed up by making sure it was not going to be Dean Ambrose to go on any further. Corbin proceeded to beat the bejesus out of Ambrose, which led to Ambrose getting pinned by The Miz. The biggest moment of the night was Bray Wyatt pinning John Cena. Not only did it cement that Cena was no longer going to be WWE Champion, but it was a measure of sweet revenge from their previous feud. What to watch going forward: 1) John Cena has a rematch, though I think Randy Orton and/or Luke Harper will interfere to help Bray retain (or you know, Bray could beat Cena clean again) and 2) Will Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton face off at WrestleMania?
Entrant Order: A.J. Styles, John Cena, Dean Ambrose, Bray Wyatt, Baron Corbin, The Miz
Elimination Order: Baron Corbin, Dean Ambrose, The Miz, John Cena, A.J. Styles
