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Welcome to my ongoing WWE Elimination Chamber 2019 blog here at PWInsider.com!
The Kickoff Show featured a good promo from Mustafa Ali talking about how he’ll be coming back but knows that this isn’t the last time he would be hurt. He said that he hoped Kofi Kingston would win. He had a great line at the end where he said life isn’t easy for those who dare to dream. That would be a great catch phrase for his t-shirt.
They also aired a solid promo from Braun Strowman recapping the history of his issues with Baron Corbin. The serious presentation mixed in with the clips reminded me of the type of promo packages Paul Heyman would produce for the original ECW and it worked for the same reasons, it gave you a reason to care about Braun as a personality while also providing a primer for the story.
They did a nice recap of the Becky Lynch story. I’ve seen some push back against Lynch from readers pointing out how Lynch hasn’t spiked the ratings or live attendance yet. Let’s not forget that Steve Austin didn’t do that for WWE in 1996 coming out of his Austin 3:16 promo at the King of the Ring. It took WWE until March 1997 for him to really, truly take off as a draw. I’m not saying Becky will get to that level, but you need to give WWE time to try and get her there. Nothing happens overnight, no matter how much today’s audience wants it NOW NOW NOW.
They noted Charlotte Flair would be ringside for Ronda Rousey vs. Ruby Riott. Angle alert for Becky Lynch! Flair interrupted a Riott Squad promo and told Ruby to make history and take all her anger out on Rousey and face her at Mania. Yeah, I don’t see that one happening, but I do expect a fun match.
Beth Phoenix, by the way, is a great analyst on the Kickoff Show. She does a great job of breaking things down.
Another good Mojo Rawley promo. He said it's time to show "they" what he can do. He's right. I hope he gets a true chance.
Time for Cruiserweight Champion Buddy Murphy defending against Akira Tozawa. There was some really nice back and forth wrestling early with Murphy working on Tozawa’s arm with authority. Murphy shows a lot of confidence in the ring and you can see he’s really comfortable in his role. The look on his face when he absorbed a chop from Tozawa was great. He caught Tozawa in mid-air during a dive and nailed a suplex. That is one strong SOB. Tozawa came back locking on a great headscissor submission before being drilled down into a backbreaker.
Tozawa drilled him with a hell of a superkick. Tozawa has always been a great wrestling machine. It was nice to see him have that spotlight. I just wish this was actually on the PPV as opposed to once again stamping these guys as “not good enough” for the big show. I am sure someone in WWE will argue that more fans will see the Kickoff show because of the social media and YouTube platforms, but at the end of the day, it’s not the big show and these guys deserve to have that distinction for a match this good.
In the middle of this, The New Day did a promo putting over Kofi Kingston as being a living legend and that he reminded everyone during the Smackdown Gauntlet how good he really is. Kingston was great this past week and would win the WWE title tonight. I liked that it was his partners putting him over, leaving the audience to have to pay to see Kofi.
Tozawa hit an insane rana counter coming out of Murphy pressing him upwards while on the top rope. That was GREAT! The crowd started to come alive for them after that spot. Murphy rolled through on a bodypress and drilled the challenger with series of big moves but Tozawa somehow kicked up! Tozawa came back with a nice lariat that flipped the champ upside down. Murphy was wiped out with a nice German suplex into a bridge but kicked up. Tozawa stomped away but was caught. He kicked Murphy and nailed an inverted rana, then hit a big tope to the outside. He scored another.
Tozawa came off the top with a back senton splash on Murphy, who was draped through the ropes. That was brutual. Murphy still kicked up! They went back and forth until Murphy scored the win. Another week, another really strong Cruiser bout! Tozawa looked good and Murphy continued carving his legacy.
They showed Kevin Owens, who said he's about a month away from returning. He played babyface and said he was going to go home and enjoy a pizza with his family and watch the PPV. He did a funny bit where he didn't understand why his kids wanted pineapple on their pizza and was disgusted by the taste of it.
Charly Caruso interviewed Mark Henry on the stage of the PPV. He was asked why the Chamber was unique. Mark put over the Cruiserweight bout and put over the danger of the Chamber. Yes! He pegged the IIconics as the first Women’s Tag Titles. He joked that he got some boos for that. He said that it would be hard not to pick Kofi Kingston after last week. The crowd began chanting for Kofi. Henry said that if he was in the match, there would be a lot of men introduced to the Hall of Pain. Good interview. Mark looked like he dropped some more weight and looked really happy to be there. Class act.
The Chamber is coming down as the Kickoff Show ends! We will soon find out which match won the final decision to close the Kickoff!
The Women's Elimination Chamber match, crowning the first Tag Team Champions, will kick us off tonight.
Carmella and Naomi did Naomi's usual entrance together.
There's a fan sitting ringside dressed in full Consquistador attire. You gotta love it.
Sasha Banks and Bayley started out with Sonya Deville & Mandy Rose, who were being billed as Fire & Desire. They battled back and forth. Banks hit a bodypress to the outside on everyone. Just as Banks and Bayley gained control, The Riott Squad were released from their pod. They sent Banks into their pod, going after Banks’ shoulder.
The Squad faced off with Rose and Deville, then began brawling in the center of the ring. Liv Morgan dropped Deville with a hard right hand. Deville responded with a big kick toCarmelace and they both went down. Bayley returned to the scene, wiping everyone out with suplexes. The crowd in Houston loved it. No sign of Banks as they set up a Tower of Doom spot. Real entertaining stuff thus far.
The next team released from a pod are the IIconics. They tried to pin everyone but failed each time. The IIconics controlled the ring until Banks finally returned to save Bayley from a pinfall. The IIconics looked great as they worked over everyone.
Next out was Carmella and Naomi, so they are leaving Nia and Tamina for last to come out like monsters. Carmella hit a rana on Billie Kaye into the cage. Everyone battled. All sorts of big spots and near falls, way too much to recap. It ended up with everyone down and Naomi finally confronting Mandy in the middle of the ring. They battled. Naomi hit the Rear View on Mandy but was double-pinned by the IIonics and that was it for Naomi and Carmella. Five teams left.
Unfortunately for the IIconics, everyone surrounded them. They knew they were doomed so they tried to get everyone to align with them against Tamina and Nia, who were the last team released. Jax and Tamina destroyed everyone. The IIconics ran back into a pod and locked themselves in. Tamina and Nia forced themselves in, dragged them out by their hair and began flinging them into the cage. That was great! They killed the IIconics with double Samoan Drops and that was it for them, although the IIconics were great in their roles here.
The Riott Squad took out Nia and tried to pin Tamina but Nia broke it up. Deville and Mandy tried to take advantage but couldn't score a pinfall. Banks and Bayley took control but once Nia and Tamina recovered to their feet, they wiped them out with clotheslines. The Riott Squad went to the top of a pod and hit stereo bodypresses down on everyone, which popped the live house. Nia chased Morgan to the top rope and hit her with a Samoan Drop off the ropes. Tamina hit the Superfly Splash on both Morgan and Logan, eliminating the Riott Squad. Then, there were three.
Nia charged Bayley, who sidestepped her, and Nia exploded into the pod, knocking her out. It looked spectacular as hell. Everyone focused on working on Tamina, four to one. They all dove on Tamina and scored the pin, eliminating the team.
It’s down to the same teams that started the Chamber. The crowd began chanting Yes! Great booking. Lots of near falls and saves at the last second. Rose climbed to the top of one of the pods. Banks and Bayley followed, putting them in the same scenario where Banks turned on Bayley last year.
Deville followed up but was kicked down by Bayley. Bayley came down but was driven into the pod's support and was hurt. Banks checked on her but was attacked. Mandy smashed her bad shoulder into the post and then hit a Jay-Driller on Banks, who kicked up at the last second. Deville went to spear Banks but she moved and wiped out her own partner. Oops! Banks locked on the Bank Statement but the story was her injured shoulder made her too weak to lock it in. She used her foot to cinch the hold instead and Deville tapped!
Banks and Sasha win!
If there was a team who deserved the belts first, this was it. This was a hell of a story and hell of a match. There was a lot of talk this was going to close the PPV tonight and given the quality of the match and the ride they took the audience on, it deserved to do so. It was rough in a few moments but everyone really played their roles well. Deville and Rose had one of their best showings to date in the company.
Banks and Sasha were both crying as the crowd chanted for them after the match during an interview. Banks said that if the fans only knew how hard they fought to be here as champions. Banks said they were here for a purpose and said there would be more changes to come. If those changes bring more matches like this, bring it on.
More thoughts on Page 2!
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