SHOWN IN CLUB 69 FLIRTS
08 MARCH 2020
FROM 10PM
CONFIRMED MATCHES
Natalya vs. Liv Morgan vs. Shayna Baszler vs. Asuka vs. Ruby Riott vs. Sarah Logan (Elimination Chamber): The winner of the match, the first announced for the card by WWE, will earn a shot at Becky Lynch and the Raw women's championship at WrestleMania. Riott recently returned following a long absence due to injury and took down former Riott Squad teammate Morgan on Raw. Asuka has been a longtime thorn in Lynch's side but has come up on the losing end twice recently while challenging for the top title on Raw. Meanwhile, the inclusion of former dominant NXT champion Baszler is certainly intriguing after her near win in the women's Royal Rumble match as well as he vicious attack on Lynch in what likely served as he debut as a member of the Raw brand.
SmackDown Tag Team Championship -- The Miz & John Morrison (c) vs. The New Day vs. Heavy Machinery vs. Robert Roode & Dolph Ziggler vs. The Usos (Elimination Chamber): What was originally supposed to be a men's Elimination Chamber match was upturned and became a tag chamber match announced on the Feb. 28 edition of SmackDown. This is largely a product of the decision to put the universal championship on Goldberg and instantly book him to face Roman Reigns, while Brock Lesnar is already set to defend the WWE title against Drew McIntyre, eliminating a need for a men's chamber match.
Intercontinental Championship -- Braun Strowman (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Cesaro & Sami Zayn: Strowman won the title from Nakamura, the first singles title the big man has held in his WWE career. Nakamura required nine staples in his head in a follow-up of the Symphony of Destruction match when Strowman slammed him on a piano. On the Feb. 28 edition of SmackDown, the two men took part in a contract signing for a match at Elimination Chamber. Strowman said he didn't care what was in the contract, leading to Zayn flipping the match to three-on-one.
Raw Tag Team Championship -- The Street Profits (c) vs. Seth Rollins & Murphy: After Rollins & Murphy beat the Profits at Super ShowDown, the challengers were given a "do or die" last chance match on the March 2 edition of Raw. The Street Profits came up big -- with an assist from Kevin Owens -- to become tag champs, leading Rollins to demand a rematch at Elimination Chamber.
AJ Styles vs. Aleister Black (No disqualification): Black fell victim to an O.C. beatdown simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time and attempted to get revenge on the March 2 episode of Raw in a scheduled match with Styles. Styles got one over on Black by saying the contract said he had to beat Karl Anderson first (which he did) and then beat Luke Gallows (which he did). Black was out of it by the time Styles got his hands on him, allowing the "Phenomenal One" to score the win. Now, they rematch in a No DQ match that would seem to favor Styles with Black's loner tendencies. Though there is a certain dead man who has been riled up by Styles as of late.
United States Championship -- Andrade (c) vs. Humberto Carrillo: The rivalry between these two was halted for a month while Andrade served a Wellness Policy suspension. Andrade returned at Super ShowDown before he and Carrillo were once again on opposite sides of the ring on the March 2 Raw where Carrillo and Rey Mysterio Jr. scored a tag team win over Andrade and Angel Garza.
Daniel Bryan vs. Drew Gulak: After Bryan blew off Gulak's offer to help him shore up "holes in his game," Gulak began trying to help Heath Slater and Curtis Axel in matches with the founder of "The Yes Movement." On the March 6 edition of SmackDown, Bryan challenged Gulak for the card, a challenge Gulak accepted on Twitter.
HIGHLIGHTS
RESULTS
The Viking Raiders def. Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder via pinfall (Kickoff show): This was a short match and completely out of nowhere. But the Raiders get a win on the kickoff show to keep some momentum ahead of WrestleMania. Hawkins and Ryder looked solid despite almost never being on TV, but Ryder got caught in a two-on-one leading to the Viking Experience for the finish.
Daniel Bryan def. Drew Gulak via submission: A pitch-perfect match that was executed beautifully by both men. Gulak did have an answer for everything Bryan had to offer until the very end. From hard-hitting strikes to brutal suplexes to classic Bryan and Gulak mat work, this could not have gone much better. Bryan took a very scary German Suplex at one point, landing high on his neck, but was able to come back and lock in the Yes Lock for the submission after a series of elbows and hammerfists.
United States Championship -- Andrade (c) def. Humberto Carrillo via pinfall to retain the title: A second consecutive outstanding match to open the pay-per-view. These two continue to have great chemistry in every outing. Andrade tried to hit the hammerlock DDT on the concrete but was countered, and the two then went back and forth in pinning combinations before Andrade grabbed Carrillo's tights to get the cheap win and retain his title.
SmackDown Tag Team Championship -- The Miz & John Morrison (c) def. The Usos, The New Day, Lucha House Party, Heavy Machinery and Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode (Elimination Chamber) to retain the titles: As is tradition, everyone was given a chance to shine in the Chamber. New Day and The Usos opened the match, battling until Lucha House Party entered to pick up the pace. From that point onward, the match was a quick-moving mix of big moves, near falls and high spots. Maybe the most notable early "big move" was Tucker of Heavy Machinery hitting a huge plancha from the top of one of the pods. Lince Dorado would one-up him a bit later in the match, hanging from the top of the Chamber before swinging himself into a Shooting Star Press onto the other competitors.
Heavy Machinery scored the first elimination of the match, taking out Lucha House Party before engaging with Ziggler and Roode as they were still locked in their pod. The tension between those two teams boiled over eventually, with Otis recklessly charging at Ziggler before crashing through a pod and to the outside of the ring. Tucker would get pinned shortly after for the second elimination of the match. Ziggler and Roode would then find their way out of the match at the hands of The Usos, leaving Miz and Morrison against The Usos and New Day.
New Day and the Usos couldn't stay on the same page for long in teaming up against Miz and Morrison, eventually allowing for the tag champs to get a quick pin to eliminate New Day after Kofi Kingston missed a top-rope dropkick. The Usos went hard after the titles, but Miz took advantage of the rules -- or lack thereof -- in the match, helping Morrison in a pin by hanging himself on the ropes for added pressure to retain their titles.
ORDER OF ENTRY ORDER OF ELIMINATION
The New Day Lucha House Party (Heavy Machinery)
The Usos Heavy Machinery (Roode & Ziggler)
Lucha House Party Roode & Ziggler (The Usos)
The Miz & John Morrison (c) The New Day (Miz & Morrison)
Heavy Machinery The Usos (Miz & Morrison)
Robert Roode & Dolph Ziggler Winners: Miz & Morrison (c)
Aleister Black def. AJ Styles via pinfall (No disqualification): After a decent, hard-hitting, back-and-forth bout between Styles and Black broke down into chaos with The O.C. finally jumping in the ring to turn the situation into three-on-one against Black, the lights went out and the gong sounded. When the lights came on, The Undertaker was in the ring, choking Gallows and Anderson. Styles attempted to hit a Phenomenal Forearm on Undertaker, but was caught and chokeslammed before the lights went out again and Undertaker disappeared. Black set up Styles for a Black Mass kick to get the victory, protecting him from taking a loss while also building further toward Styles vs. Undertaker at WrestleMania.
Raw Tag Team Championship -- The Street Profits (c) def. Seth Rollins & Murphy via pinfall to retain the titles: A fairly standard tag match between two teams that have been in featured matches frequently in recent weeks. The Viking Raiders ran in to brawl with AOP and remove them from the equation. Kevin Owens eventually came through the crowd eating popcorn, causing a distraction that would lead to Rollins being taken out before Murphy was hit with Montez Ford's frogsplash for the win. After the match, Owens hit Rollins with a Stunner and left the ring, dumping popcorn on Murphy on his way to the back.
Intercontinental Championship -- Sami Zayn, Cesaro & Shinsuke Nakamura def. Braun Strowman (c) via pinfall to win the title: This match would have been better placed either earlier in the show or on the kickoff. The entire focus here was Strowman wanting so desperately to get his hands on Zayn that he repeatedly placed himself in unnecessary danger. By the end of the match, Strowman had still failed to land a moment of offense on Zayn. A series of distractions led to Nakamura hitting Strowman with a Kinshasa against the ring post. Zayn was tagged in and hit a Helluva Kick during a Cesaro and Nakamura suplex to score the win and give Zayn a main roster singles title. While the match was poorly placed, Zayn winning the title was a slick, surprising moment.
Shayna Baszler def. Natalya, Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, Sarah Logan and Asuka to become No. 1 contender to Raw women's championship (Elimination Chamber): If the intention of the Elimination Chamber was to establish Baszler as a threat to Becky Lynch's Raw women's title reign, this match cleared that bar by a mile. It may not go down as the most memorable or action-packed Chamber match in WWE history, but in telling the story of the new force in town, it was effective.
Natalya and Riott started the match with the standard Elimination Chamber open of a five-minute burst of action before Logan joined the party. While not much happened beyond moments of interaction between Logan, Riott and Morgan, once Baszler entered as the fourth participant, business picked up. Baszler quickly eliminated Logan, Riott and Natalya with the Karifuda Clutch, leaving her alone in the ring waiting for her next victim. Morgan was up next, and she tried to put up a fight, but was swung head-first into a pod by Baszler before passing out in the Karifuda Clutch while Baszler sat on the top rope taunting Asuka.
Then came the showdown between Baszler and Asuka, which was mildly competitive, but Baszler still managed to quickly lock in her signature submission to punch her ticket to a match with Lynch at WrestleMania. Twice in the match, Baszler was alone in the ring, pacing and waiting to strike, which takes guts to book as fans could turn on a match for lack of action. But Baszler's brutal and methodical domination of established faces makes her a new sort of challenge for Lynch.
ORDER OF ENTRY ORDER OF ELIMINATION
Ruby Riott Logan (Baszler)
Natalya Riott (Baszler)
Sarah Logan Natalya (Baszler)
Shayna Baszler Morgan (Baszler)
Liv Morgan Asuka (Baszler)
Asuka Winner: Shayna Baszler