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While many weren't expecting the show to deliver, Monday Night RAW delivered in a big way. Some great storyline progression and effective matches saw the red brand continue to build momentum on the road to WrestleMania
John Cena renews an old rivalry
By far the most notable thing about Cena's promo was the fact that it didn't take him long to not-so-subtly reference The Undertaker. He was interrupted by his old rival The Miz(with The Miztourage), who plugged his upcoming live event match against Brock Lesnar.
Miz referenced the fact that he had beaten Cena in the main event of WrestleMania 27 seven years ago. Cena challenged The Miz to a rematch but Miz laughed it off, as did he laugh off Cena's chances against Lesnar.
The A-Lister and The Miztourage would then assault Cena before Kurt Angle came out and made the match. However, he banned The Miztourage from ringside and added that the loser of the match would enter the Chamber match first.
John Cena vs The Miz
Cena was still flat out when the bell rang and The Miz tried to pin him right away, but the 16-time world champion kicked out. Miz would continue to hold the advantage over Cena.
Cena would manage to make a comeback and neutralise the Intercontinental Champion. The match would continue to go on back and forth, with Cena even landing the AA, but The Miz surprisingly managed to kick out.
The Miz almost hit a skull-crushing finale from the second turnbuckle, but Cena outpowered him and hit an avalanche AA for the win.
John Cena defeated The Miz; Miz will enter the Elimination Chamber first
Gallows & Anderson vs The Revival
Backstage before the match, Gallows & Anderson said that Revival crossed the Nerd-o-meter by calling themselves tag team specialists.
Right as they made their entrance, Gallows & Anderson were attacked from behind by The Revival. They entered the ring and were ready for the match-up.
Gallows & Anderson outpowered and dominated the Revival, but Gallows momentarily looking away to take out Dash Wilder saw Scott Dawson attacking the knee that they attacked before the match.
Despite getting the better of the Revival for the most part, the tag team specialists finished things by pinning Anderson with a shatter machine for the win.
The Revival defeated Gallows & Anderson
Kurt Angle makes some important announcements
Kurt Angle announced that Ronda Rousey would be signing her RAW contract at Elimination Chamber. He also confirmed Jason Jordan underwent surgery and will be missing WrestleMania.
Seth Rollins came out and said that he knew how it felt to miss WrestleMania. Rollins said that he didn't have a match at Elimination Chamber or WrestleMania. Kurt told him he can find another partner and go for tag team gold again, but Rollins refused. He wanted Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania.
Kurt Angle initially refused to add him to the second-chance Fatal-4-Way, but Kurt used the voice of the WWE Universe, all of whom wanted Rollins into the match, making it a Fatal-5-way.
Bray Wyatt cut a promo backstage about how Seth Rollins nor any of the other three deserved a second chance. He was hungry for victory and vowed to win.
Sasha Banks vs Bayley
In the friend-vs-friend match-up, Bayley was the clear fan favourite in her hometown crowd of San Jose. Sasha Banks had control of Bayley in the early going. Sasha had no problem playing the heel, mocking her friend openly.
Thankfully, she received her receipt right away with a clothesline. She started to show a bit more of that killer instinct, taking the fight to The Boss. She hit a wicked knee to Sasha's head but The Boss would quickly lock in the Bank Statement, but Bayley managed to reach the ropes after quite the struggle.
After a big struggle on the second turnbuckle, Bayley hit an avalanche Bayley-to-Belly from the second turnbuckle for the win.
Bayley defeated Sasha Banks
After the match, Bayley celebrated in front of her hometown crowd, with a tense moment between her and Sasha. As she was about to hug her, Nia Jax came out of nowhere and bulldozed the duo, hitting them with two consecutive Samoan drops.
Charly Caruso asked Nia why she involved herself in a situation that had nothing to do with her. She said that both women took Asuka to her limit and she destroyed them in seconds. She vowed to end Asuka's streak.
Backstage, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins had a little fun banter between them, with Roman saying that he hoped Seth was going to win the Fatal-5-Way. They had a run-in with the tag team champions Cesaro & Sheamus.
The champions provoked Rollins over what happened to Jordan and Roman held Rollins back to prevent him from losing his cool. Roman then asked Cesaro what happened to his teeth, and told Sheamus he'd meet him later in the night.
A video package was shown, showcasing Asuka's impressive undefeated streak. 860 days, 240-0. 34 women, 4 different continent.
Mickie James ran into Alexa Bliss and asked her what she was scheming, not buying into calling her "partner". She asked Alexa why she was going to team up with her to face Mandy Rose & Sonya DeVille.
While Alexa tried to justify herself, Mickie wasn't buying any of it. She called her out and told Alexa that while they could team up for the night, Alexa was "buttering the wrong biscuit".
Absolution(Mandy Rose & Sonya DeVille) vs Alexa Bliss & Mickie James
The veteran Mickie James started the match off against Mandy Rose. Sonya was quick to tag in and Alexa Bliss seemed eager to tag in. A momentary distraction saw Sonya get the advantage back on Mickie James, who was tagged in.
A distraction by Paige saw Sonya DeVille pull Alexa's legs from underneath, with Mandy Rose finishing Mickie James.
Absolution defeated Alexa Bliss & Mickie James
After the match, Paige signalled DeVille & Rose to attack Mickie, and they did until Alexa came in and elbowed Sonya and drove Mandy out of the ring. Paige and the other two just laughed at them outside the ring.
Elias debuts the Elimination Chamber blues
Elias came out and insulted San Jose and California in general. He claimed to be the odds-on favourite. Jojo would then announce Braun Strowman, who imitated Elias by playing an upright bass, breaking the strings right away. He entered the ring and while Elias tried to call it even by putting down his guitar, he decimated Elias.
Elias was crawling away from the ring, and the crowd was chanting "One more time" for another powerslam. Strowman took his bass towards Elias and smashed it on his back.
Sheamus vs Roman Reigns
Sheamus had the fight taken to him by The Big Dog, and Cesaro tried to cheer Sheamus on at ringside. The crowd didn't seem fully into it as they started chanting "Rusev Day", only for Cesaro to tell them off and Sheamus screaming something along the lines of "Respect the Hawk".
Sheamus got the advantage thanks to a momentary distraction by Cesaro, but Reigns would come back until his superman punch attempt was countered into a White Noise. Sheamus' attempt at a Brogue Kick saw Reigns hit an impeccably timed Superman Punch.
Cesaro would continue to try and distract Reigns, eventually going into the crowd. He'd end up hitting a superman punch on Cesaro and even drove Sheamus into the post. Sheamus avoided a drive-by and he attempted to strike Reigns from the top turnbuckle, only to be met with a vicious spear.
Roman Reigns defeated Sheamus
A video was played announcing Ivory's induction into the WWE Hall Of Fame
Second Chance Fatal-5-Way match to qualify for Elimination Chamber
Apollo Crews surprisingly started the match off the hottest. Balor would eventually get the better of him but it was Bray Wyatt who would dominate the next sequence, breaking up a potential tower of doom.
Matt Hardy confronted Bray Wyatt and he started randomly applauding, trying to get in the head of Bray Wyatt. It was Rollins' turn next to take control, as he hit suicide dives on all four sides of the ring. His focus shifted to Apollo Crews in the ring
Balor would be the one to halt Rollins' rapid momentum, and as he was going for the coupe-de-grace on Bray Wyatt, but Rollins caught him on time. Rollins missed a phoenix on splash and almost got trapped into a Sister Abigail, but he pushed him away for Matt Hardy to land a twist of fate on Wyatt. Balor would hit the coupe-de-grace on Hardy'sback when he tried to pin Bray, and Rollins hit a curb stomp onto Balor, only for Crews to break it up.
Apollo Crews landed a great moonsault on Rollins, but it wasn't enough. Apollo hit a step-up enziguri and then a standing moonsault, again for a near-fall.
Matt Hardy and Apollo Crews battled on the top turnbuckle, but Bray Wyatt dragged him down and hit a Sister Abigail onto him outside. Wyatt was in the driver's seat. Balor and Rollins hit the double powerbomb on Wyatt and they both pinned Wyatt at the same time!
The match ended in a no contest
Both Rollins & Balor seemed to think that they won, and the referee brought them together to make them aware of the situation. The show ended with the two competitors, the referee and WWE Universe utterly confused as to who actually won the match
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