Viking Raiders defeated Hawkins & Ryder
5.25/10
- This match is much better than expected.
- Hawkins and Ryder get some good offense, with the highlight being Ryder using Erik to hit an assisted Rough Ryder on Ivar.
- Viking Experience. That's a wrap.
Daniel Bryan defeated Drew Gulak via technical submission
8.25/10
- The build to this has been a lot of fun. WWE has so much talent on their roster that they're able to pick a guy that hasn't wrestled on TV in months, do a three week build to a pape and throw it on there and it has a good portion of the audience pumped.
- Bryan is surprised by Gulak getting the better of him early.
- Bryan gets frustrated and throws kicks, but Gulak catches them. He's abusing Bryan.
- A spinning rack neckbreaker hits for Gulak. A modified head scissors piledriver. An Inoki/Robinson suplex spot. This rules.
- HOLY SHOOTING BUTTS BRYAN GOT SUPLEXED ON HIS HEAD.
- Inverted Superplex into the GuLock!! Bryan transitions into the Yes Lock.
- Gulak passes out and the ref calls for the bell.
WWE United States Championship
Andrade (c) (w/ Zelina) defeated Humberto Carrillo
6.25/10
- I sure hope they're moving towards something else at WrestleMania cause I never wanna see these two work together again.
- Andrade gets a big elbow out of the gate.
- Carrillo has a nice flying standing headbutt.
- They modified Carrillo's springboard arm drag a while back to where it makes more sense.
- After some back and forth, Carrillo does a great super Frankensteiner.
- Andrade almost gets the win after double knees.
- Carrillo is effortlessly athletic on a tope con hilo over the ref. They'd teased the concrete spot before, and pulling up the padding allowed for extra to cushion their fall here.
- Andrade pins Humberto Carrillo the same way we've seen many times.
WWE Smackdown Tag Team Championships
Elimination Chamber
Miz & Morrison (c) win to retain the titles
5/10
- Usos and New Day start off first, and it is not good. A rare Kofi Kingston botch.
- Lucha House party are in next, and it doesn't get much better.
- LHP's shoulders are down but New Day go for a weird double team move that doesn't work instead.
- Lince Dorado is supposed to spider the cage, but his legs get stuck inside and it looks way cooler. But they abandon it. This is a MESS.
- A couple of nice dives hit off the chamber for LHP
- Miz & Morrison are next, and do a double Alabamaslam on Dorado.
- A super Frankensteiner off the chamber! Wow! Metalik is getting to show some stuff.
- Heavy Machinery is in.
- Lince scales the cage and does a shooting star press swinging from the top. That spot didn't make a bit of sense, but it looked cool.
- Compactor on Metalik pins him.
- Tucker chases Dolph on to of the Chamber. He throws Dolph off and Otis catches him.
- Otis got his hands on Dolph ........and that? He hotshotted Dolph on the ropes?
- Tucker does a psycho dive off the top, though.
- Otis breaks through the pod to the outside! Very great reaction to this.
- This match has done a 180, but it is very much a mindless action movie without a lot of sense to it.
- Heavy Machinery get beaten as Tucker loses to Ziggler and Roode.
- Usos eliminate them.
- New Day eliminated in lame fashion.
- Starship Pain/Figure Four combo. So good.
- Skull Crushing Finale on Usos, superkicks on the heels.
- Miz and Morrison use the ropes to pin.
- Those teams could have let a rough first ten minutes define the match, but they came back and had a banger.
No DQ Match
Aleister Black defeated AJ Styles (w/ The OC)
6/10
- AJ Styles is dominating this slow paced match. A nice dragon screw attack, kendo stick, chair shot.
- Black gets violent in his own way with a kendo stick, but eats a Pele kick.
- Later on, we see Black apply a Calf Crusher.
- Black kicks Styles off the top rope. This has been slow paced and a tough one to follow the Chamber.
- Styles catches Black midair and tries to Tombstone him, but it's reversed. Styles tries to do a throat slash, but it looks like a butt slash.
- Black kicks Styles into a chair!
- You gotta give them tables in Philly! Very cool spot off the Meteora from Black.
- The OC help out with a Magic Killer after Black was setting up for his finisher.
- DONG.
- Undertaker is here. Chokeslam. Undertaker looked so, so much better in this spot than he did in Saudi Arabia.
- Black hits his finish.
WWE Raw Tag Team Championship
Street Profits (c) defeated Seth Rollins & Buddy Murphy (w/ AOP)
5.75/10
- Early on, this match is what I would call "not lit."
- AOP teases running in, but Viking Raiders run them off.
- Murphy does a nice standing Meteora.
- The crowd is acting like this is the third time they've seen this in eleven days or something.
- Superkick party goes around, and the pace picks up.
- Montez goes for a frog splash, but Rollins gets the knees up.
- Tower of Doom. These guys are too good for that.
- Kevin Owens comes through the crowd and throws popcorn on Rollins.
- Dawkins takes him out, and Ford hits a frog splash to win.
- Owens hits a Stunner and pours popcorn on Murphy before leaving.
WWE Intercontinental Championship
Handicap Match
The Artists defeat Braun Strowman (c), Sami Zayn becomes champion
5/10
- Zayn brags backstage about Braun never getting to him.
- Sami avoids Strowman until he's down. Nakamura slides and knees Braun in the leg.
- Braun takes over a little, but is cut off.
- Kinshasa doesn't get it done. Another one is done into the ring post.
- Sami Zayn wins the Intercontinental Title with a Helluva Kick during a double suplex.
- I wanted a super long, dominant Braun Strowman title run, but every bit of that made sense, and I'm stoked Sami Zayn is IC champ.
Top Contender Match
Elimination Chamber
Shayna Baszler wins
5.75/10
- Natalya and Ruby start off. There's a nasty Electric Chair that hits.
- Logan comes in and knees Natalya HARD.
- Sarah Logan is determined to break Natalya's face with her knee I swear. She does a body press off the chamber that catches Nattie in the face.
- Shayna is in. She beats the shit out of Sarah.
- LMAO they built part of this around the Riott Squad all being in there. Ruby and Sarah get choked out quickly. Nattie is next.
- Shayna had some good knees, Yokosuka Cutter and tiltaplex.
- If you're getting Shayna ready for Mania, eliminating people rapid fire was good to help interest I'd say. Maybe not. Who knows. Not me
- Liv is out next and gets powerbombed into the cage and slung into the pod. She's choked out
- Asuka is in and fights back. Asuka Lock is on and countered, but Baszler still rolls to the outside.
- Kirafuda Clutch, Yokosuka Cutter, kick, Kirafuda Clutch. Shayna Baszler runs the table.
Rating Guide
10- Perfect, 9- MOTY Territory, 8- Excellent, 7- Great, 6- Good, 5- Average to above average, 4- Slightly below average, 3 or below: Poor
Each match starts at a 5 and slides up and down based on entertainment, execution, time, environment, reaction and stakes. The ratings are in no way an indication of a "star rating," which is a completely different system. A standard, non-offensive "TV match" lands at a 5. The gap between 5.75-6 is generally the largest, with anything reaching 6 being recommended viewing.
These are opinions, and incredibly inconsistent ones that may change upon a second viewing, or sitting on the match for a period of time. Don't take them too seriously, and have (and share) your own!
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