Strowman shines but Reigns prevails at Elimination Chamber

Seven men entered the Elimination Chamber with a chance to face Brock Lesnar for the Universal Title at WrestleMania, but only one would emerge victorious.

The Elimination Chamber wasn’t exactly the best pay-per-view event, but fans were still excited to see the main event of the evening. Roman Reigns, Finn Balor, Seth Rollins, the Miz, Elias, John Cena and Braun Strowman all had a chance to main event WrestleMania. The match started up with the typical excellence from WWE production. They laid out the stakes of the match and why each man was fighting in a great way, and the match was set to go.

Cena, Elias, Strowman and Reigns started the match in the pods, which left Balor, Miz and Rollins to carry the early part of the match. Miz immediately tried to form an alliance with Rollins to take out Balor and was rebuffed.

He then tried to recruit Balor, throwing up the “Too Sweet” and was rebuffed again.

All three men traded some falls while waiting for the first man to come out of the pods. There was also a nice spot from Rollins to take down Miz and Balor, although it would have been shocking if anyone was eliminated so early.

Cena was the fourth man in, and he and Rollins had a confrontation in the middle of the ring. This was nice to see given these men have a lengthy history together. Cena got in a double Five Knuckle Shuffle to Rollins and Miz, and the four men continued to trade near falls.

The Big Dog Roman Reigns entered at number five to his normal mixed reaction. Miz played to the crowd to see who would get the “It” kicks, and the crowd seemed to want Cena and Reigns eat the kicks more than anyone. The action continued to be back and forth with every superstar getting their spotlight while the crowd impatiently awaited Braun Strowman to enter at number six. To the surprise of nobody, Strowman came in and started giving everyone these hands. Attempts at a double team were crushed by the Monster Among Men.

One of the best spots of the match to this point was The Miz trying  to escape to the top of a pod. He was thwarted by Strowman as he smashed the Miz against the Plexiglas and chucked him off the top of the pod.  Miz was eliminated by Stowman not long after that.

Elias was the last man in, but he elected to stay in his pod as Strowman was wreaking havoc. All four men gave Strowman the SHIELD powerbomb, but he kicked out.

He then took the finishing move from all four men and still wasn’t eliminated.  This led to all five men being down and out, and Elias tried to sneak in a pinfall but couldn’t get the job done. The pace of the match really started to flow at this point after a relatively slow start.

It was around this time that Strowman made his way back into the match, and Elias was quickly bounced by Strowman. This was a bit disappointing considering the momentum Elias had coming into the match. He made virtually no impact on the match whatsoever. John Cena was eliminated right after by Strowman, and everyone was getting these hands for the second time of this match. Cena is now left without a match at WrestleMania … until tomorrow on Monday Night Raw.

Balor had Strowman on the run for a brief time and got him out of the match for a bit. Rollins and Balor went at it for a bit and Strowman came back to life just in time to eliminate Balor. This was a bit puzzling because Balor had just given Reigns a Coup de Gras and had Reigns ready to pin. If Strowman had been smart, he would have let Balor pin Reigns and then take out Balor. The three men left were Strowman, Reigns and Rollins.

The two former SHIELD members tried to get Strowman out of the match but Rollins turned on Reigns as soon as he could. They had each other down and out, letting Strowman get back into the match. Rollins was able to give Strowman a frog splash from the top of the pod, and still, Strowman would not go home.

Shortly after, Strowman was able to eliminate his fifth man of the match, Seth Rollins. That left just the Monster and the Big Dog left for one spot at WrestleMania. The crowd started chanting “get these hands,” firmly behind Strowman at this point. The action spilled out to the outside of the ring where Strowman went crashing through the pod, an Elimination Chamber staple. Reigns gave multiple Superman punches to a chorus of boos. It then took two Spears for Reigns to finish off Strowman and win the match. Strowman popped up after the finish to give Reigns multiple running powerslams and throw him through a pod before he was on his way.

This match was pretty fun, especially if you’re a Braun Strowman fan. Still, it just felt so predictable that it had to elicit quite a few eye rolls among a heavy portion of fans. From a storytelling angle, it does make sense to have Reigns face Lesnar. Rollins cashed in on that match three years ago and they can finally finish their feud (Hell in a Cell?). At some point, it’s not enough for Strowman to smash everyone and everything if he can’t get these big wins. We’re not at that point yet, but we’re getting there.

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As far as Balor, Rollins, Miz, Elias, and Cena go, they all need storylines for WrestleMania that need to get going on Monday Night Raw tomorrow night. The Miz can defend the Intercontinental Title, but the other men seem to have nothing going right now. The 2018 Elimination Chamber delivered even if the ending was predictable. Braun Strowman is officially a star in the WWE.