WWE Elimination Chamber Review - February 21, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Kickoff Show: John Morrison def. Mustafa Ali, Ricochet and Elias in a Fatal 4-Way Match to Advance to the United States Championship Match

It was announced earlier in the day that Keith Lee wouldn't be able to compete in the United States Championship Triple Threat because of "injuries" he sustained at the hands of Bobby Lashley a few weeks ago. I'm not sure of the actual reason why he had to miss the event, but I hope he's okay. This was a fun four-way, though I'm not sure why these were the guys selected to participate. Ricochet was my pick to win so you could replace one babyface with another, so Morrison picking up the victory instead was a bit of a surprise. Even more surprising was Ali taking the pinfall loss instead of Ricochet. I guess that tells you all you need to know about how WWE views Ali and the rest of RETRIBUTION.

Daniel Bryan def. Jey Uso, Cesaro, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn and King Corbin in a Universal Championship No. 1 Contender's Elimination Chamber Match

​Bryan and Cesaro kicking things off was a smart call as they carried this Chamber match. Zayn was entertaining while he was in there, but since there was no way he or Corbin were winning, it made sense for them to be eliminated early. This was a well-worked Chamber on the whole, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't bummer when Uso pinned Cesaro. Hopefully this isn't the end of his mini-push because I would still love to see Cesaro vs. Reigns one day. Although I was pulling for Cesaro to win, Bryan was a solid second choice and it was nice to see him pick up a meaningful victory on pay-per-view for a change.

Universal Champion Roman Reigns def. Daniel Bryan

I still say it was a waste to give away Reigns vs. Bryan without any prior build. It should have saved for down the line when they could have had a real rivalry heading into a big pay-per-view. That said, this was exactly what it needed to be: short and sweet. Bryan secured the "Yes!" Lock on Reigns for a few suspenseful moments, but that was about it. Post-match, Edge speared Reigns as retaliation for what went down on SmackDown two nights prior and made it known that he'll be challenging Reigns for the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 37. As I and many others have said before, that was the only 'Mania match that made sense for Edge. Sure, there were a few other options, but that's the biggest money matchup of them all at this point in my opinion.

​Riddle def. John Morrison and Bobby Lashley in a Triple Threat Match to Win the United States Championship

I knew there had to be a reason why Lee was replaced with someone else as opposed to doing Lashley vs. Riddle one-on-one, and it was because Lashley was getting pinned so he could be protected in defeat. That was the best booking call as Lashley (hopefully) moves on to bigger and better things. It was an enjoyable Triple Threat match with Lashley being dominant throughout and Riddle and Morrison having quality chemistry together. Riddle has been beaten up so much by The Hurt Business that it was only logical for him to take the title here, though I have a feeling it would have been Lee winning had he been involved as originally planned.

WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler def. SmackDown Women's Champion Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair

This was easily the least interesting match on the card, likely because it came together on Friday's SmackDown and there wasn't much of a reason for it to happen in the first place. Banks and Belair are (or at least should be) on track to face each other for the SmackDown Women's Championship at WrestleMania and I guess was this was WWE's way of moving the story along, but a majority of the focus seems to be on Carmella and Reginald at some point. I don't want to see Carmella added to the mix and instead, Belair should be beating Carmella on an upcoming episode of SmackDown or even at Fastlane. Additionally, Banks should be more of a heel heading into WrestleMania.

WWE Champion Drew McIntyre def. AJ Styles, Sheamus, Jeff Hardy, Kofi Kingston and Randy Orton in an Elimination Chamber Match; The Miz Cashed in His Money in the Bank Contract on McIntyre to Win the WWE Championship

Much like the SmackDown Elimination Chamber, this was very well executed and featured some strong wrestling. Orton being eliminated first by Kingston was a shocker, but I was happy with it because Orton was the last person I wanted to see win this thing. I expected Alexa Bliss or The Fiend to play into his elimination, but apparently not. Kingston and Hardy had solid showings before losing and Styles was the MVP. I figured Sheamus was winning, but McIntyre retaining set up what we saw afterward with Miz cashing in Money in the Bank to win the title. I'm as big of a Miz fan as anyone, but the guy has been booked like a complete loser for almost a year now. I've wanted him to win the WWE Championship again for years now, but not like this. That said, Lashley attacking McIntyre beforehand gives me hope he'll be line for a shot at the title on Monday's Raw or at Fastlane or Elimination Chamber. I assume Lashley wins it soon and defends against McIntyre (and possibly Sheamus) or another opponent at the event. If that's the endgame, then count me in because Lashley has been long overdue for that type of push.

Overall Show

First and foremost, it's ridiculous that WWE couldn't bother to announce a replacement for Lacey Evans in her Asuka's Raw Women's Championship match. In fact, unless I missed something, they never even acknowledged it was off the show. That's inexcusable. Otherwise, this was a slightly better-than-expected show and more newsworthy than I thought it might be with two titles changing hands. The two Chamber matches delivered, the Triple Threat was well-wrestled, and the women's tag title match was the weakest on the card but still decent. Needless to say, that ending is going to have a lot of fans talking/complaining, but give it time. I'm almost positive Miz isn't going into WrestleMania as WWE Champion and that the company has something else planned for Monday's Raw or Fastlane next month. Plus, at only two-and-a-half-hours long, how could I complain about this event? I'm all for shorter pay-per-views and it's been one of the few benefits of the pandemic era.