Fantasy Booking: WWE Elimination Chamber 2019

NOTE: This isn't a prediction article of what I think will happen, but simply a fun write up of how I would book the PPV if the pencil were in my hands. Based on when you are reading this, let me know who does it better, Brayden Charles John Fanti or Vincent Kennedy McMahon? I hope you enjoy!

Akira Tozawa vs Buddy Murphy(c)*: Kickoff Match: Cruiserweight Championship (15 min)

Regardless of how you feel about this match being on the pre-show, it's all on the same network right? These two are gonna go out there and put on a show stealer regardless. This is the first time these two men are meeting one on one on PPV, and with Akira Tozawa being one of the best on the 205 roster, and Buddy Murphy being the absolute best cruiserweights going right now, this match is destined for gold. Every Cruiserweight Title match since Murphy has been involved in the picture has been a classic and this will be no different. I feel that fifteen minutes should be no problem as it gives these men enough time to lay it all out there with still more than enough time for WWE's "all star" panel to discuss the whole card. This isn't Tozawa's first time being the underdog in this situation as we saw him go up against Neville's dominant reign two years ago, and with all the love of the fans he overcame the odds then as well. Let Tozawa generate love in this match up as well. Let Murphy keep underestimating him and toying with him and let Tozawa strike back with all the force in the world. The bell rings and Murphy just laughs and smacks Tozawa across the face, and the challenger responds by absolutely laying out the champion with a stiff headbut. Towards the end the champion connects with his dominant Murphy's Law, which I believe has never been kicked out of; that is until Akira Tozawa. He kicks out at two and Houston goes wild. Murphy stunned as all hell starts getting straight laid into with strikes from Tozawa who sends him retreating out of the ring. Tozawa follows suit with his beautiful suicide dive and tosses him right back into the ring. With Houston on their feet, Tozawa connects with his Senton Bomb just like when he beat Neville, but at the count of two, the ref is tugged out of the ring. The camera pans to Murphy's pal suddenly at ringside, Tony Nese with a smug smile on his face. Tozawa with rage now takes down Nese with a suicide dive but reenters the ring right into another Murphy's Law, and The Juggernaut retains the title. The segment closes with Nese raising his partner's arm as Nese glances at the 'Mania sign; some nice foreshadowing. Let this friendship grow stronger through FastLane, and then the 205 Live afterward, allow Nese's betrayal to be felt. And we see Murphy/Nese for the title at WrestleMania.

Baron Corbin vs Braun Strowman*: No Disqualification Match (10 min)

Now I understand nobody really has any invested interest in this match, but I also understand why it's happening. We had this match announced as a Tables, Ladders, & Chairs match at TLC last year, but with Braun Strowman's elbow injury, it was turned into a tad of a joke. WWE is just giving us what we were promised and I can't argue with that, so let's just get it out of the way. Ten minutes is a proper amount of time for these two to just go out there and have a car wreck and destroy things and get the crowd popping, because that's all this is meant to really be, just some pure fun. Strowman just beats the holy hell out of Baron Corbin for minutes on end, leveling him with a steel chair, shoulder tackling him through the barricade, hitting the Monster Powerslam through the Spanish announce table. This match is used to just simply reintroduce The Monster Among Men to the WWE Universe and remind them why they used to love him so much. In the end have Strowman lay the steel steps in the center of the ring, which has been a very consistent element of this feud, and Strowman hoists Corbin on his shoulder signaling for his finishing maneuver. But right before he connects, the theme of one Drew McIntyre hits and he storms out with a purpose. Strowman drops Corbin and attempts to lift up his invader for the same maneuver, but McIntyre escapes and proceeds with a beautiful Claymore Kick. McIntyre helps up his buddy Corbin and they start laying into Strowman with steel chairs to the back and his bad elbow. They set up for a double chokeslam onto the steps as they've done before, but now the theme of a certain WWE Hall of Famer, Kurt Angle, hits and he sprints to the ring. Angle starts firing off German suplexes like nothing on both of these men and Houston is losing it's mind. He hits the Angle Slam on McIntyre onto the steps and then helps up the downed Strowman. Angle now locks in the Ankle Lock and makes McIntyre tap out as revenge for their match on Raw last year, but this doesn't necessarily hurt McIntyre's character because they're not actually competing. Meanwhile, Strowman finally connects on Corbin with his Monster Powerslam onto the steps and picks up the victory. Just some solid fun and baby face action to get the crowd going to open up the main card, and think about it we'll probably never have to see this match again. We can now proceed to McIntyre/Angle at FastLane so The Scottish Psychopath can get his revenge, and then hopefully leads us to McIntyre/Cena at WrestleMania.

The Best Tag Team in the World(c)* vs The Usos: SmackDown Tag Team Championship (20 min)

I don't know how everybody feels about our current champions as a team, and I don't know how everybody feels about the controversial altercation with police Jimmy Uso had with police earlier this week, but you can't deny that this is going to be a fun damn match. We saw our champions go to battle with The Bar last month, and I don't know about you, but I had the time of my life watching that match. And I personally put The Usos a level above The Bar on the tag team scale, so you can only imagine how much better this match could be. The Revival over on Raw have been clamoring for a tag team revolution on the main roster, and although they're not on the card which is quite strange, giving these four, twenty minutes to go to war, sign me up. Towards the end, Shane McMahon flies for his classic Coast to Coast on Jey Uso, but Jey strikes him out of the air with a Day One Kick to bring the entire arena on their feet. Before he can claim the titles though, The Miz breaks the pin at two. Jey hits Miz with a right hand to send him out of the ring, and tags in his brother Jimmy. Jey levels McMahon with a Day One Kick sending him to a knee, Jimmy follows with his own Day One Kick to lay him out. They proceed with a double Day One Kick to send Miz right off the apron and Houston starts rumbling as these men seemed prime for victory in the city they trained in. They go to the top across from each other and connect with double Samoan Splashes on McMahon, but when Jimmy goes for the cover, Miz dives from out of nowhere to save the match once again. Jey tosses Miz back out of the ring and proceeds with his suicide dive over the top to eliminate him from the equation. With Jimmy distracted by the outside action, McMahon pounces with a schoolboy roll up with a fist full of tights, and the champions retain with a bit of a fluke victory, but they celebrate as if they won the Super Bowl. The Usos had the performance of a lifetime and weren't made to look weak either. Now keep having McMahon picking up these victories for the team as if he's carrying it even though he's really not, allowing him to grow more and more frustrated with Miz. Then at 'Mania when they defend their titles against the new alliance of Rusev and Shinsuke Nakamura, we witness our greatest wrestling heartbreak of 2019.

Bobby Lashley(c) and Lio Rush vs Finn Balor*: Intercontinental Championship (5 min)

I know this match sounds odd on paper, so let's make it fun shall we. Now the promotions for this match are advertising The Extraordinary Finn Balor, and not his dark alter ego, but when does he normally channel that character? When he feels the odds are stacked against him. Now Balor claimed in an interview ahead of the Royal Rumble, that he wouldn't be channeling The Demon against Brock Lesnar because he felt he could get it done on his own, but clearly he could not. But of course Balor is going into this bout with the same mindset, that is until they force his hand. Before the match we get what in reality is a prerecorded segment, but is played off as live because it's just more bad ass that way. Balor is walking down the hall in his cool leather jacket as commentary talks about his match being next, and then Bobby Lashley and Lio Rush strike. They beat Balor down backstage until officials have to pull them off as Houston is irate. The evil duo make their way to the ring with smug grins on their face and Rush grabs the mic and demands the ref ring the bell and count to ten because there's zero chance Balor is competing tonight. The ref reluctantly does just that, but at the count of nine, the lights go out and the heartbeat begins. Houston loses it's mind as The Demon hits the stage for the first time since last year's SummerSlam. He performs his phenomenal artistry of an entrance, and you can see the fear on his opponent's faces. The bell rings and Lashley tries to play off his fear with some nervous laughter, and he mistakenly shoves Balor's face. Balor responds with a demonic roar and then rapidly teeing off on the champion with strikes backing him into the corner. He then hits his Shotgun Dropkick with force and lays him out with a slingblade. Lashley quickly retreats to his corner, forces Rush to tag in, and immediately starts retreating up the ramp. Rush absolutely terrified, leaps off the apron and goes running for it, but Balor meets him on the outside with a slingblade on the concrete floor. He tosses him back in to hit him with a 1916 as the crowd goes wild. He throws him into the corner for his Shotgun Dropkick, proceeds with his usual Coup de Grace, but he's not done yet; The Demon is having fun now. Just to send an impactful message to Lashley, Balor picks up Rush one more time to connect with the Bloody Sunday, and we have a new Intercontinental Champion. Winning his first championship in three years in damn dominant fashion, Balor is ready to put this title on another level. We get a proper one on one title match with Lashley/Balor at FastLane, and then it's onto the grandest stage for The Demon, and for the first time as champion.

The Boss & Hug Connection* vs Fabulous Glow vs Fire & Desire vs The IIconics vs The Riott Squad vs The Samoan Slaughterhouse: Elimination Chamber Match: Women's Tag Team Championship (45 min)

This is just going to be a fun damn match isn't it. While it isn't quite literally for the first ever Women's Tag Team Titles, as we did have this championship in the '80s, this is still history making right here. A title we never thought we'd see in the modern era and here it is, so let's make it damn fun shall we. Now Chamber matches are long damn matches, so I won't bore you with every excruciating detail, so I'll just handle what I feel is most important. The beginning, who eliminates who, and the ending. We learned on the go home episodes of Raw and SmackDown that Bayley and Sasha Banks of Raw and Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville of SmackDown will be starting this match, so let's add some spice to it. We all know Banks is coming off of a shoulder injury after her title fight with Ronda Rousey last month, and because of that Bayley has had to carry the team the past few weeks, so the heel Fire & Desire takes advantage of that. Right before the bell they cheap shot Boss & Hug from behind and begin focusing on Banks. They toss her shoulder first onto the chamber floor, and then again into the cage, and then again right into a pod. And Banks is hurting. The whole match is Bayley and Banks fighting from underneath and it just gets Houston even more invested in them than they probably already were. Later on in the match we will see Fabulous Glow eliminated first by the Riotts, as Carmella and Naomi of course aren't a formal team and the Riotts could use a good pinfall. The Riotts are eliminated next later on however by Slaughterhouse. We also see Bayley and Banks manage to hit their tag finish on Rose to eliminate the duo that attacked them earlier on for some nice revenge. The IIconics will actually enter the last match after spending the entire bout bragging and boasting in their pod, and now they have to pay for it. They suffer the wrath of Slaughterhouse as well, and now we are at our final two teams. Bayley and Banks vs Nia Jax and Tamina. It's all about the underdog story and the two baby faces are just fighting for their lives. In an absolute epic finish with Bayley and Tamina battling in one corner and Jax and Banks across the ring, Jax has Banks up looking for an avalanche Samoan Drop, but Banks manages to send Jax flying off the top rope. In unison, Bayley hits a Bayley to Belly on Tamina from the top of the pod while Banks soars off the opposite pod for a Frog Splash on Jax. With Houston going wild, Banks has to prove herself to her best friend as she locks in the Bank Statement on the downed Jax, as Bayley keeps Tamina at bay, and with a faint submission, we have new champions. No two women are more suited to make history and hold these championships together, going all the way back to their iconic match at Takeover: Brooklyn. Let's go on from here and see them face all comers. Maybe we see generations collide at WrestleMania? Maybe a certain Hall of Fame bestie duo of Lita and Trish Stratus team up one more time for a shot at the gold?

Ronda Rousey(c)* vs Ruby Riott: Raw Women's Championship (15 min)

It seems as if everybody is writing off this match because of it's sheer predictability, but damn are you all mistaken. Predictable? Sure. But this has the makings of a damn classic. The match contains two phenomenal talents and also the huge surprise element of what if we do actually see a new champion here, that would change the whole program. Now of course I won't be doing that here, but I am making sure to have Ruby Riott look like a million bucks. We also have the element of Charlotte Flair sitting in the front row as a spectator and believe me I'll get to that later. But for all you fellow Becky Lynch lovers out there I must warn you now, she will not be making an appearance here as having this whole angle be a simple rerun of the CM Punk hiatus where the man legit returned the next week, that would kill the whole story; give it time to breathe. Now I felt fifteen minutes was a great time frame for these two for many reasons: it gives them enough time to tell a good story, it's not too long of a match coming off of the classic we just saw, and it's also not too long to kill the crowd for the main event. But once that bell rings, Riott finally arrives. As the Rousey/Banks match at Royal Rumble reestablished Banks as a bad ass, this match will establish Riott as a bad ass. Towards the end Riott looks to fly with her flying senton, but Rousey actually catches her in position for the Rowdy Armbar. As she struggles to lock it in, Riott manages to power out and just start teeing off on Rousey with right hands and Houston starts coming alive. With the crowd reeling, Riott connects with her Riott Kick and the arena explodes, but Riott wisely knows who she's messing with so she lifts her for one more. Once she connects again she knocks the champion towards the ropes where her foot lays under the bottom rope. Riott goes for the cover hooking the inside leg, the ref counts to three and Houston loses it's mind, but he realizes at the last millisecond that Rousey had the rope break and he waves it off. As Riott celebrates thinking she's the new champion, Rousey takes advantage with the Piper's Pit, followed by the Rowdy Armbar for the submission victory. The action isn't done though. As Rousey celebrates and goes to check on Riott, the daughter of the Dirtiest Player in the Game jumps the rail and enters the ring with a brutal chop block to the knee of Rousey. Flair strikes her down with Natural Selection, and then goes to retrieve her old friend Kenny the kendo stick. She beats the holy hell out of the champ targeting the knee, and finishes her off with the Figure Eight to a shower of boos. The segment closes with Flair holding the Raw Women's Title up high, pointing to the WrestleMania sign, and looking as proud as ever over the fallen champion. Boy is Flair gonna be pissed when The Man comes back around. One way or another, this triple threat is coming to New York.

AJ Styles vs Daniel Bryan(c)* vs Jeff Hardy vs Kofi Kingston vs Randy Orton vs Samoa Joe: Elimination Chamber Match: WWE Championship (65 min)

I don't even know what you want me to say to start this off other than, this is the most excited I've been for a Chamber match in I don't know how long. This is a stacked damn line up of men and this is gonna be a freaking classic. Why do I have it set at sixty five minutes? Kofi freaking Kingston. The man wrestled for more than an hour on SmackDown in the best match of his life, so let's see him up the ante just five days later. We have The Phenomenal AJ Styles start this match off with Kingston himself. Styles was the man to eliminate Kingston on SmackDown, but that was after an hour of competition; we get a fresh Kingston here. This is gonna be a classic. Now as we know after that very gauntlet match, Randy Orton will be entering the chamber last after simply competing for five seconds. Well Randy, you know what they say about payback don't you? The moment the buzzer strikes and his pod opens, Orton storms into the ring and walks immediately into a Phenomenal Forearm from, well, out of no where. And immediately The Legend of Orton has been eliminated. Now we all know Orton's history with anger management so of course he doesn't go quietly into the night. Right before he goes to exit, he turns right back around and reaches into the ring to drag Styles by the hair right into his Draping DDT onto the chamber floor. He then lifts up the unconscious Styles and connects with his famous RKO again on the dangerous floor, but the veteran is still not done. He then hurls Styles limp body right through the pod to a chorus of boos, and then sends him into the ring so the remaining men can pick up the pieces. Samoa Joe of course with great interest in Styles, immediately lifts him up for the Uranage and a successful pinfall. A pinfall over AJ Styles in a WWE Championship match, this is like Christmas for The Destroyer. Later on in the contest of course we see good old Jeff Hardy have to defy the odds. He goes for the Swanton Bomb off the top of a pod onto Joe, which we've seen in the past, but this time isn't so successful. Joe rolls out of the way and proceeds to lock in the Coquina Clutch on Hardy, knocking him out for yet another elimination. In the final three, we see an unlikely alliance between Daniel Bryan and Kingston as they set their sights on the dominant Joe. Kingston strikes with Trouble in Paradise sending him into the Solid Knee Plus from Bryan, but Joe still freaking kicks out. With Houston going crazy chanting for Joe, Bryan proceeds by locking in the Lebell Lock for the submission, and The Destroyer is gone. After a career of a lot of rough losses, Joe needs a performance like this one. We're now at our final two of Daniel Bryan and Kofi Kingston as the gauntlet match started on SmackDown, and the crowd absolutely electric for the Veteran of Positivity. Bryan eventually locks in the Lebell Lock, but Kingston, powers out and hits the S.O.S. as Houston explodes, but Bryan kicks out. Joe still unconscious outside the ring through it all just finally gets up to exit, and with the chamber door open, Bryan's new friend Rowan takes advantage and rushes the ring and shuts the door. He hits Kingston with his facepalm slam, but the man actually kicks out. Rowan now locks Kingston in a full nelson as Bryan just lays into him, smacking him in the face and berating him. A limp Kingston fires back with a roundhouse to Bryan, and an elbow to Rowan, and then a Trouble in Paradise sending him out of the ring. With Houston rumbling Kingston connects with a Trouble in Paradise to Bryan, and when he goes for the cover, at the count of two, the lights go out. When they return we have the official return of yet another former Wyatt Family member; Harper. He lays out Kingston with his Discus Clothesline from Hell, places Bryan on top, and The Planet's Champion retains the title to massive heat. This sets us up for a beautiful six man tag between The New Day and this new dangerous trio not called The Wyatt Family. And then an amazing WWE Championship match up at WrestleMania: Daniel Bryan vs Kofi Kingston. About that first ever 100% African American WWE Champion...

And that's my PPV! I hope you enjoyed it as much or maybe more than the show itself. Thank you so much for reading, let me hear your thoughts down below or you can follow me on my Twitter: @braydog27.