WWE Elimination Chamber 2018 Review

WWE Elimination Chamber 2018
February 25, 2018
Paradise, Nevada

The road to WrestleMania stops in Las Vegas for the annual Elimination Chamber PPV. Two Elimination Chamber matches headline the night with huge WrestleMania implications on the line. Who will walk in to WrestleMania as the Raw Women's Champion and who will challenge Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship?

Match 1: WWE Raw Women's Championship - Elimination Chamber - Alexa Bliss (c) vs. Sasha Banks vs. Mickie James vs. Mandy Rose vs. Sonya Deville vs. Bayley
For the first time ever, the women grace the Elimination Chamber as Alexa Bliss must defend her Raw Women's Championship against five other competitors if she has any desire to enter WrestleMania with the gold around her waist. They built the match around Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville of Absolution working together, Sasha Banks and Mickie James working together, Mickie James fighting for her own self and Alexa Bliss trying not to lose the match rather than trying to actually win it. The structure worked and it kept the match flowing nicely throughout with things really picking up when it finally came down to Banks, Bayley and Bliss. Bliss tried to escape the two before Banks turns on Bayley which then shifted their focus onto each other instead of focusing on the champ. This little opening gives Bliss enough room for her to take advantage of things before last eliminating Banks with an elevated DDT to secure the win and escape the chamber as the champion. Solid opening match, nothing that will blow you away but certainly a nicely constructed and nicely executed match that makes sense as Bliss walks into WrestleMania as the champ with this big win.
Winner: Alexa Bliss
Rating: ***3/4

Match 2: WWE Raw Tag Team Championship - The Bar (c) vs. Titus Worldwide
Titus O'Neil and his partner in Apollo Crews get their biggest opportunity as a team by facing Sheamus and Cesaro here for the Raw Tag Team Championship. Good match for what it was, basic tag action here with Crews really getting the chance to showcase his amazing athleticism. However, a sneaky tag from Sheamus led to a very costly mistake as The Bar hit their finisher on a surprised Crews to pick up the win. We really don't give The Bar enough credit as champions, their chemistry together is phenomenal and at this point, they have really etched themselves as one of the most legitimate tag teams of the past few years.
Winners: The Bar
Rating: *3/4

Match 3: Nia Jax vs. Asuka
With Alexa Bliss keeping a close eye on this one from the backstage area, she watches her potential WrestleMania opponent in Asuka take on Nia Jax. Sometimes we tend to forget just how good Asuka can be in the ring and this is a great example of that fact. Doesn't matter the size of her opponent, she's great in adjusting her style to make the match both believable and fun to watch. Fun exchanges from the two with Jax being able to show off her strength and quickness at the same time throughout. However, Asuka is able to score a fairly quick win out of nowhere with a roll up. However, Asuka isn't able to celebrate for long as Jax attacks her from behind before ramming her through the barricade outside the ring. Solid match here as Asuka is able to gain a big win heading into WrestleMania while Jax still looks like a monster after all this.
Winner: Asuka
Rating: **3/4

Match 4: Matt Hardy vs. Bray Wyatt
The two had their wars on episodes of Monday Night Raw as they continue their war here before the Ronda Rousey appearance as well as the main event. Matt Hardy plays mind games with Bray Wyatt before the match by disappearing from the ring during Wyatt's entrance and attacking him from behind. Basic match for what it was with Hardy hitting a Twist of Fate to score the win and basically complete the burial of Bray Wyatt. Weird this was even on the card but considering there's only four other matches, I guess they needed something to fill the card.
Winner: Matt Hardy
Rating: **1/4

Match 5: Elimination Chamber - Elias vs. Braun Strowman vs. John Cena vs. Roman Reigns vs. The Miz vs. Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor
Love the different approach to this Elimination Chamber match with having three guys begin the match, makes things a little more exciting and it's a solid way to get all the top guys on the brand featured in the match. Eliminations don't occur until all seven men enter the ring with Braun Strowman absolutely wrecking havoc throughout the entire match along with kicking out of just about everybody's finisher. There's no doubting that Strowman was red hot at this point and the crowd was simply eating up everything he gave them. He was certainly the biggest shining star of the match and no matter what his opponents fed him, he would not give in... until it was down to him and Roman Reigns. The two had a great exchange with Strowman nearly hitting his Running Powerslam before getting hit with a quick Spear by Reigns. Reigns is now headed back to WrestleMania with another opportunity to take down Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship. After the match, Strowman attacks Reigns and hits him with a couple Running Powerslams before tossing him through one of the pods. Two things that really came out of this here with WWE solidifying Reigns as their top guy and the company also has huge stock in Strowman. They wanted Reigns to get he win but also wanted to protect Strowman at all costs which is why he eliminated everybody else. Looking back at this now, it's a shame they didn't continue to roll the ball on Strowman and pull the trigger on him because he was over big time with the audience. Could they not have just inserted him into the main event match at WrestleMania? That would have been a much better option and he would have a solid argument to be added to the mix.
Winner: Roman Reigns
Rating: ***3/4

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
This is supposed to be one of Raw's biggest headliners going into the biggest show of the year and it felt very underwhelming. The Chamber matches were fun but certainly nothing that blew me away while the middle of the card was also nothing to write home about. They really put all their chips on the two Chamber matches along with the Ronda Rousey contract signing except they all didn't deliver too hard on their promises.
Rating: 5.75/10