'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Elimination Chamber took over Philadelphia last night as the main roster looked to finalize their trip to WrestleMania. The Chamber was the final pay-per-view stop on The Road to WrestleMania and would secure at least one match for the show.
It was obvious that WWE saw this as just a filler pay-per-view since none of the main men or women's Championships were on the line, with the likes of Brock Lesnar, Goldberg, Bayley, and Becky Lynch not scheduled to defend at the show.
Lynch was seen in a backstage segment but wasn't part of the main show, instead, the women were able to main event in her absence and Shayna Baszler became the number one contender for her Championship. Sami Zayn also managed to pick up his first Championship in his main roster career when he defeated Braun Strowman, and The Undertaker continued to tease a match with AJ Styles.
The Chamber obviously opens up a number of issues for many stars, which makes it the perfect place for botches.
#5 Curt Hawkins missed the kick
Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder took on The Viking Raiders in an obvious filler match on the pre-show last night, since this wasn't announced before the show. It was a match that Hawkins and Ryder were obviously going to lose since The Viking Raiders needed to get back to winning ways after their loss to The O.C. back at Super ShowDown.
Erik and Ivar have been underutilized recently on WWE TV, but this win was shaded somewhat by the fact that there were some interesting botches throughout.
The main one came when Hawkins looked to deliver a kick to Erik. It isn't all that obvious from the camera angle, but if you look carefully you can see that Erik holds his head when the kick actually hits him on the leg.
#4 Braun Strowman comes out too early
Braun Strowman defended his Intercontinental Championship against Sami Zayn, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Cesaro last night at Elimination Chamber in a three-on-one handicap match, a match that The Monster Among Men agreed to as part of the contract signing a few weeks ago on SmackDown.
Strowman was at an obvious disadvantage, which allowed Zayn to deliver a Helluva Kick whilst he was in a Stalling Suplex and picked up the win. Strowman's night started just as rough as it ended because Greg Hamilton was going through all of the rules of the match when Strowman's music came on and scared him midway through.
The botch meant that the commentary team then had to specify that whoever pinned Strowman would become the Champion. It was the rule that WWE went with for the handicap match, and it allowed Zayn to pick up his first main roster championship after several years outside of NXT.
Many fans now believe that this will lead to a fatal four-way match for the Championship at WrestleMania in less than four weeks.
#3 Montez Ford botches his landing
Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins were able to retain their RAW Tag Team Championships last night in their match against Seth Rollins and Buddy Murphy, which now almost guarantees them a match at WrestleMania since they will be walking in with the titles.
The Street Profits were in fantastic form heading into their first title defense after only winning the Championships a week ago on RAW, but there were some shaky moments throughout the match, the most obvious coming when Ford was back body dropped by Murphy and he attempted to land on his feet.
The Champion usually lands on his feet but last night he fell backward onto the canvas and then tripped again as he was heading into the corner before Murphy caught back up with him and was able to deliver the next move.
This was the only real big botch in the match and it meant that Ford's night only got better since he was later able to retain the Tag Tea Championships alongside Dawkins.
#2 Sarah Logan forgets about Natalya
Sarah Logan was the third woman added to the Chamber match last night after Ruby Riott and Natalya, which led to some brutal offense from the former Riott Squad member. Logan seemed to target Natalya when she was finally released from her pod and hit a shocking knee to the face which floored the former Champion.
She then set her sights on Ruby Riott and dived from the top of Liv Morgan's pod to take out Riott, but whilst she had her eye on her former teammate, she completely forgot about Natalya and hit her clean in the face.
Riott was waiting for Logan to jump so that she could catch her, but she took Natalya by surprise and delivered a knee to the side of the head. The slow-motion effect only serves to show just how brutal that knee was for Nattie. The Queen of Harts took a lot of offense from the women in last night's match before she was finally eliminated by the eventual winner, Shayna Baszler.
#1 Men's Elimination Chamber match
The men's Elimination Chamber match kicked off the main show last night as The Miz and John Morrison looked to retain their Tag Team Championships as part of their first title defense.
The New Day, Dolph Ziggler and Bobby Roode, Heavy Machinery, The Usos, and The Lucha House Party made up the field inside the Chamber but neither of these teams was able to dethrone Miz and Morrison after the controversial finish to the match.
It was a match that proved that the Chamber causes a lot of botches since there was a long list of issues for the men throughout. Gran Metalik slipped on the ropes and almost took out Big E, Kofi Kingston tripped over Jey Uso's leg following a Double Superkick, and the ropes then became Morrison's enemy as he slipped but was able to recover enough to take a Superkick before he once again completely botched Starship Pain.
Morrison's finisher has been one of his biggest issues since his return, it's a roll of the dice every time he tries to deliver it and it's been botched more times than he's been able to do it correctly. Despite the botch, Miz and Morrison still managed to retain their Championships.
