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WWE Elimination Chamber kicked off with controversy. According to a report by Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful, WWE was indecisive about the main event. Before the show began wrestlers were told backstage that the women would have their well-deserved spotlight and close the show; however, as so often happens in the WWE, plans changed. Word came directly from the top. According to Sean Ross Sapp, WWE CEO Vince McMahon relegated the Women's Tag Team Elimination Chamber Match to show opener and the show closer would now be the Men's WWE Championship Elimination Chamber Match. McMahon was apparently concerned with a lack of crowd reaction for the Women's Match.
Neither match disappointed. The Women's Elimination Chamber Match featured the crowning of the inaugural WWE Women's Tag Team Champions, as Bayley & Sasha Banks' redemption story has come to its culmination. The Men's Elimination Chamber Match was equally as impressive and this time it was Kofi Banks, who received his redemption. Kingston, always known as a tag team wrestler and for his unique Royal Rumble spots stood toe to toe with WWE's very best in Daniel Bryan and despite coming up just short, received a standing ovation from the Houston, Texas crowd.
It wasn't all good, however. The evening featured lacklustre matches between Braun Strowman and Baron Corbin, as well as the forgettable RAW Women's Championship match between Ronda Rousey and Ruby Riott. Plus, there was the whole Usos debacle.
We examine all that and more in this special Elimination Chamber edition of The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly.
The Good - Redemption For Bayley & Sasha Banks
It isn't enough to simply say Bayley and Sasha Banks made history last evening at Elimination Chamber. They certainly did; however, the statement falls short of telling their entire story and the adversity the duo overcame on the way to becoming the inaugural Women's Tag Team Champions.
Bayley and Banks were tied to the hip at NXT. Akin to WWE Developmental's version of Batman and Joker, the two woman performed in a pair of matches that have become known as two of the greatest bouts in women's wrestling history. When they each received the call up to the main roster, expectations were high. Banks was expected to be the best female wrestler of her generation and Bayley received lofty comparisons to John Cena. Both climbed the ranks and had world championship runs, but those runs were less than memorable. Most wrestling fans may not even remember that Banks is a 4 time RAW Women's Champion and that is likely due to her longest run being a mere 27 days.
It didn't take long for the two women, once thought of as WWE's brightest future stars, to fall to the mid-card and become an afterthought on the main roster. No one was talking about a future in women's wrestling with Bayley & Banks as the company's main stars. The two had given way to Charlotte Flair, Ronda Rousey, Alexa Bliss, and Becky Lynch.
Despite lacklustre creative, they tried and they tried and they tried. The two women were friends. Then they weren't. Then they were friends. Then they weren't. WWE teased a WrestleMania match that never came to fruition and suddenly Bayley & Banks were friends again. The two began to talk openly about the possibility of WWE introducing women's tag team titles, seemingly pushing the company to find a place for them.
Then it happened. Last night at Elimination Chamber, Bayley and Banks were the first women to enter the Chamber and the last to leave, making history and becoming the inaugural WWE Women's Tag Team Champions.
An emotional Sasha Banks summed it up best with her post-match victory speech,
"I’m at a loss for words. Nobody knows how hard we fought to get these. If you guys legit only knew. We don’t just do this for us, we don’t just do this for you, we do this for everybody in the back: this Women’s Division."
The Good - Kofi Kingston Gets His Moment
A month ago nobody expected Kofi Kingston to be a part of the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match. It wasn't that Kofi was a bad wrestler. He's always been superbly talented. It's just that he was never thought of as a legitimate world championship contender. Instead, Kingston became known as a tag team specialist, having held tag titles with several of WWE's top Superstars throughout the years, including his current trio The New Day.
We remember Kingston for his cleverly contrived Royal Rumble spots, in which The New Day veteran avoids elimination by performing jaw-dropping stunts that leave us all amazed. These are all wonderful and Kingston is already arguably a WWE Hall of Famer, but is he a world championship contender?
Kingston fought his way into this spot winning a SmackDown Live Gauntlet Match for the opportunity to replace the injured Mustafa Ali in the Elimination Chamber. He entered the bout third but outlasted every other competitor to stand alone in the ring with WWE Champion Daniel Bryan. Kingston showed poise and heart. He was able to stand toe to toe and blow for blow with WWE's very best in Daniel Bryan. He also captured the emotions of the Houston faithful in attendance, who were solidly behind Kingston seemingly willing him to make history and bring home WWE gold in the process.
While Kingston may have ultimately come up short in his efforts, he proved that he is deserving and capable of a world championship spot in the WWE. Few moments have been as heartwarming as the ovation received at the conclusion of the WWE Elimination Chamber Match. As his closest friends (Big E & Xavier Woods) came to his aid, Kingston confirmed what we all should have known in the first place: he is one of WWE's very best.
The Bad - WWE Reward The Usos
The Usos are very much deserving of any in-ring accolades they receive. One of the greatest tag teams in wrestling history, The Usos are now six-time WWE Tag Team Champions.
The duo bested Shane McMahon and The Miz to once again capture the SmackDown Tag Team Championships, but the timing of the move is questionable, at best.
Last week, TMZ reported that Jimmy Uso was arrested after attempting to 'square up' with a Detroit police officer, who had pulled Usos's real-life wife Naomi over for driving down the wrong way of a one-way street. When police discovered the vehicle reeked of alcohol, they asked the Total Divas stars to get out of the car. That's when Jimmy Uso showed such a lapse in judgment that he ended up tased and arrested by Detroit police officers.
WWE released a vague statement in response to the incident, "Jonathan Fatu is responsible for his own personal actions."
This isn't the first time The Usos have had an encounter with law enforcement. Jimmy's real-life brother and tag team partner, Jey, was arrested in Hidalgo, Texas last year for driving under the influence.
Furthermore, according to a report by Fox News, a source within the WWE informed them that Jimmy Uso and Naomi are trying their best to get terminated by the WWE. There are also rumours that AEW would be interested in The Usos, once their WWE contract is up.
So, Jey Uso embarrassed the WWE last year and Jimmy Uso embarrassed the company this week and the message the company sends to the roster and all the young people watching at home is that it does not matter. You can drive drunk, you can fight with police officers, and the company will still reward you, so long as you can move merchandise and sell tickets. This isn't an argument against The Usos as an in-ring talent. In-ring, they are superb. It is; however, a condemnation of WWE's current moral compass.
The Bad - The Braun Strowman/Baron Corbin Debacle
No one wants to see this match. Instead, wrestling fans beg the wrestling gods, "Please show us mercy. Please end this. Please, wrestling gods, may we never have to watch another Braun Strowman/Baron Corbin match ever again." The gods must be angry because the WWE Universe received a Corbin/Strowman match at the important Elimination Chamber pay-per-view.
WWE knows the pairing is unpopular, so this time they made the match a No DQ Match to entice interest. It didn't work.
Everyone knows Corbin doesn't have a chance against Strowman, so he must do something to even the odds. Apparently, this fact was lost on Strowman, who was woefully unprepared for the prospect of interference.
Drew McIntyre was getting over organically, so WWE Creative decided to derail that ship by tying his proverbial flag to Baron Corbin's sinking ship. Inexplicably, McIntyre came to Corbin's defence and to make matters worse, Bobby Lashley joined in on the fun. This was the same Bobby Lashley, who earlier in the evening lost the Intercontinental Championship to Finn Balor. No one came to his aid, but for some reason unbeknownst to the rest of us, Lashley is out here with the assist.
In the end, the three men dispose of Strowman and stand over him in a fitting picture, as these may be the four most disappointing Superstars currently on the main roster.
The Ugly - Ronda Rousey vs Ruby Riott
Where should we start? Things were weird from the beginning. Charlotte Flair made her way to the ring to ensure she would be the focal point of the evening, despite not even being booked for a match. Eventually, Rousey would make her way to the ring, decked from head to toe in Mortal Kombat 11 Sonya Blade inspired garb. Only the WWE announce team hardly mentioned it. Rousey's fashion choice was awkward, as Renee Young only said, "Ronda's in fight mode."
Then there was the match itself. Ruby Riott was once thought of as one of the best female wrestlers in the indies, but other than being the leader of a useless gang of Police Academy inspired punk rockers, has done virtually nothing on the main roster. In another letdown, she was easily dominated by Rousey, who ended the squash match in short order with an armbar.
Of course, Charlotte Flair made her way to the ring and engaged in a post-match staredown with Rousey. In predictable fashion, a limping Becky Lynch followed, on crutches. Lynch was able to get over organically and became one of the biggest stars in professional wrestling, but that won't stop bad creative from getting involved. Inexplicably, she has now been pulled from the main event of WrestleMania despite winning the Royal Rumble. Becky Lynch is also 'injured', but still on the attack in an effort to gain fans she already earned on her own. Lynch began to hack at Flair with her crutches and when Rousey made the mistake of turning her back on Lynch, she also found herself on the receiving end of Lynch's wrath. It all ended with Lynch being escorted out of Houston by WWE security and Rousey nursing a nasty cut to her head.
Poor Ruby Riott. She was just used as enhancement tonight on a major pay-per-view. The entire match was set up to feature Rousey, Flair, and Lynch and while one conventional logic may lead one to believe that WWE Creative owes Riott a huge favour heading forward, we are talking about WWE Creative. It's likely she never rebounds from any of this and will join the long line of wasted talent on the mid-card.
