 World Heavyweight Champion Gunther Attacked Jey UsoThe Nashville crowd was just as loud for Uso's entrance as the crowds were for Raw and SmackDown last week. I loved the shot of Uso celebrating on the commentary table when Gunther attacked him out of nowhere. Uso announcing that he'll challenge Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 41 confirms that the men's Elimination Chamber will be for a Undisputed WWE Championship opportunity at 'Mania. This was a quality angle and I'm glad they're not wasting any time making that match official. Hopefully they can keep this feud interesting for the next two-plus months. Damage CTRL (IYO SKY and Dakota Kai) def. Liv Morgan and Raquel RodriguezKai was sidelined with a concussion a few weeks match in a match with Pure Fusion Collective, so I'm very happy she's already back in action. This was very good stuff and the crowd was into it. SKY lost to Morgan in an Elimination Chamber qualifier last week, so it was logical that she bounced back with a win here. Rhea Ripley informed her later on that they'll face each other for the Women's World Championship on the Raw after Elimination Chamber. As much as I'm looking forward to that, I'm disappointed we won't be getting it at WrestleMania. Bayley def. Women's Intercontinental Champion Lyra Valkyria to Qualify for the Women's Elimination Chamber Match (Non-Title)The babyface vs. babyface dynamic made it difficult for fans to rally behind one woman over the other, but Bayley's obviously far more established, so she was the clear fan favorite here. They had an enjoyable outing and made the most of the time they had. I thought Ivy Nile might cost Valkyria the win since she's headed for a championship clash with Valkyria, so the clean finish was a pleasant surprise. More needs to be done to make the Women's Intercontinental title feel less like a prop. The Judgment Day Confronted AJ Styles Before Styles Attacked CarlitoStyles' last return was spoiled by that unfortunate injury he suffered the same night he came back in October, so fingers crossed he can stay healthy going forward. The crowd was hot for Styles and even hotter for Dominik, so this was an enjoyable exchange that successfully set up Styles vs. Dominik one-on-one for next week. Styles belongs in a significant singles match at 'Mania. Logan Paul, perhaps? Finn Balor Confronted Seth "Freakin" RollinsSimilar to CM Punk's interview with Jackie Redmond last month, this also took place in the crowd, so that was a cool change of pace. Rollins talked about needing to win his Chamber qualifier against Balor next week before Balor interrupted him. They had a simple segment, but it was effective. I don't think there's anyone who actually believes Balor will beat Rollins, but I appreciate the attempt to convince viewers Balor has a chance. World Tag Team Champions The War Raiders def. The Creed Brothers by DisqualificationFor those wondering, this marked the first televised match The Creed Brothers have had since November (where they defeated Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee), so it's not as if they did anything to earn this opportunity other than announcing their intentions last week to win gold in Chad Gable's absence. Hey, at least it looks like we're getting an actual feud over the tag titles. The crowd was mostly quiet, but they had a solid hoss fight. I had no issue with the disqualification finish since it basically guarantees we're getting a rematch at some point. Logan Paul Confronted CM Punk; Paul def. Rey Mysterio to Qualify for the Men's Elimination Chamber MatchPunk's promo was along the same lines as Rollins' from earlier, but he does such a great job of captivating the crowd no matter what he says. He addressed his opponents inside the Chamber but forgot about Paul, who he had a quick back-and-forth on the mic with when he came out. I sure as hell hope that isn't the planned WrestleMania match, even though the promos would be must-see. Paul vs. Mysterio was a blast with both guys delivering and having an even better bout than they did at Crown Jewel 2023. Paul's new finisher is awesome as well. The show cut off just as The New Day showed up to attack Mysterio, so I assume we'll get the follow-up on that next week. Overall ShowRaw has put out a strong string of shows since the move to Netflix and this was no exception. The build for Elimination Chamber was excellent, there was an ample amount of above-average wrestling, multiple matches were advertised for next week and the storyline progression was well done per usual. This was yet another entertaining edition of Raw and the two-and-a-half-hour runtime has been the perfect length.
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