Kevin’s WWE Elimination Chamber 2021 Review

WWE Elimination Chamber
February 21st, 2021 | Tropicana Field in Tampa, Florida

WWE US Title Qualifying Match: Elias vs. John Morrison vs. Mustafa Ali vs. Ricochet
Keith Lee was out with an injury so this match was added to determine who joins the US Title match later with Bobby Lashley and Riddle. Honestly, this was your standard fatal-four-way rush job. The whole thing lasted 6:56 and while it moved along quickly and had some decent spots, it was rushed. There was no need to do that considering there was still 15 or so minutes on the Kickoff Show. Morrison snuck in and stole the pin, which was certainly a bad move to me when compared to Mustafa Ali. [**½]

Elimination Chamber: Cesaro vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Jey Uso vs. Kevin Owens vs. King Corbin vs. Sami Zayn
The winner of this faces Roman Reigns for the Universal Title later tonight. This started with Cesaro and Daniel Bryan, which is about as good as a fan could ask for. Their back and forth was, as you’d expect, pretty great. Corbin was next in to beat up on the already worn down guys. He got to do his thing, getting in his offense and talking trash a ton. Sami Zayn was next but he held his pod shut to avoid attack from Corbin. Sami eventually got in on the action and it didn’t go well for him. It was worse for Corbin, who tapped to a Sharpshooter before the next pod opened. That was Owens and Sami asked him to partner up due to their history only to get beat up for it. Jey Uso came in and got targeted by KO. Owens eliminated Zayn soon after and then Jey slammed the chamber door shut on his shoulder, setting up his elimination of KO. Cesaro and Bryan put on a show before Jey Uso snuck in and hit a splash to eliminate Cesaro. It came down to Jey and Bryan. Jey hit another splash but only got two. Bryan got his knees up on one of the top of a pod and Bryan hit the Busaiku Knee to win in 34:10. A hell of a chamber though that was expected given how good the six men involved are. Cesaro was arguably the MVP. [****]

WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns [c] vs. Daniel Bryan
Roman charged at the bell and Bryan trapped him in a submission, which was a brilliant start. Of course, Roman weathered that storm. He put on the guillotine choke and Bryan passed out after 1:36. Great booking. Now have Edge/Drew at Mania and do a proper Roan/Bryan match. [NR]

Never mind, as Edge shocked Roman with a post-match spear, seemingly picking his WrestleMania opponent.

WWE United States Championship: Bobby Lashley [c] vs. John Morrison vs. Riddle
I came into this with no expectations. It was booked on short notice, Lashley/Riddle hasn’t been any good so far, and I don’t care for two of three guys in this (Lashley is cool though). However, they made it work better than expected. Sure, they followed some expected tropes from this match type but they put on a fast paced showing that made the most of its short timeframe. The finish saw Morrison get in MVP’s face and take his crutch from him. Lashley applied the Hurt Lock, only for Riddle to hit him with the crutch. Riddle then planted Morrison with Bro Derek to win in 8:38 because wrestling apparently likes to reward bad people. Anyway, a good match but not one that did anything special. [***¼]

WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship: Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler [c] vs. Bianca Belair and Sasha Banks
I really wish they’d stop booking the women’s tag division as a way to promote singles feuds. Also, give the Riott Squad or Dakota and Raquel the titles so Shayna can work Asuka at Mania. Sasha was the face in peril in the early stages which worked since she’s better at garnering sympathy right now than Bianca. Plus, Bianca is a fantastic hot tag because she’s a powerhouse with impressive offense. She and Sasha worked well as a team with a few tandem moves and everything. Reginald came out and handed Sasha a bottle of champagne to use as a weapon. She decided not to and got pinned after a Nia Samoan Drop in 9:36. It was going fine until the cheap finish. I’ve enjoyed Reginald so far but I’m not sure why he’s still involved in this storyline. [**½]

WWE Championship Elimination Chamber: Drew McIntyre [c] vs. AJ Styles vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Randy Orton vs. Sheamus
Jeff Hardy and Randy Orton started this, reigniting their 2018 feud. They had a good exchange though it was certainly not on par with what we got earlier between Cesaro and Daniel Bryan. Drew entered third and changed the game. He went off with some great offense. Koi Kingston, who had some hilarious moments in the chamber where you could hear him say some funny things, entered fourth. He quickly eliminated Randy Orton. A pissed Orton hit both Kofi and Jeff with RKOs, so AJ had Omos break his pod and get him out early to try and steal pins but both guys kicked out. Drew got back involved and dominated, leaving him all alone to stare down Sheamus as he entered the ring. Kofi had a great showing overall but was eliminated by a Brogue Kick. Jeff hit a Swanton only to immediately eat a Claymore and get eliminated. Sheamus hit Drew with a Brogue Kick and might’ve had him eliminated but AJ Styles delivered the Phenomenal Forearm to surprisingly get rid of him. AJ went for another but Drew hit him with a midair Claymore to retain after 31:21. Another really good chamber with some strong action and unexpected drama. [***¾]

Post-match, Bobby Lashley speared Drew McIntyre and destroyed him all over ringside. The Miz then came down to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase. Earlier in the night, he talked with MVP and they apparently set this up.

WWE Championship: Drew McIntyre [c] vs. The Miz
Drew kicked out of a DDT. Miz hit Skull Crushing Finale and won the gold. [NR]

I’ve seen the same tired wrestling accounts dunking on this move but of course they would. I was surprised by it since Miz had been stale for a while but he deserves another WWE Title reign, especially after his outstanding work over the years.

6.5

The final score: review Average

The 411

What a strange show to rate. The two Chamber matches were very good and The Miz cashing in was a nice little moment. The other matches were fine but unspectacular. Also, things ran about 2.5 hours and I am down for events that don’t go long.