The Miz headlined WrestleMania 27 as a WWE Champion. Ten years later, he is about to do it again.
Miz charged the Money in the Bank briefcase a Elimination chamber, defeating Drew McIntyre and beginning his first reign with the WWE Championship since 2011. This happened moments after McIntyre won the Raw disposal chamber match, then received a beating from Bobby Lashley. This sets up McIntyre-Lashley for WrestleMania 37, as well as opens a new possibility with Miz as champion. If it will help increase Raw ratings are yet to be determined, but at least in the short term, Vince McMahon has once again made The Miz his lead performer.
Courtesy of WWE
Less than two months away, the card for WrestleMania is actively taking shape. Daniel Bryan opened the program by winning the SmackDown Removal Camera match, only to lose immediately in 92 seconds against Roman Reigns in a Universal Championship match. The celebration following Reigns’ match was interrupted by Edge, who will challenge Reigns in the main event of WrestleMania.
Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair also continued their story, losing in a team title match against Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax. As they no longer pursue label titles, the Belair-Banks program is expected to take its direction this Friday. Slap, with Belair challenging the benches for the SmackDown Women’s Championship. As for the female champion of Raw, Asuka, she was left out of the card. Her original opponent, Lacey Evans, is pregnant and moving away from an active program, but it was a missed opportunity not to include Asuka, especially with a split full of emerging stars like Peyton Royce, Mandy Rose and Nikki Cross.
These are the results of Elimination chamber:
—John Morrison defeated Mustafa Ali, Ricochet and Elias in the presentation, which put him in the triple threat match of the United States Championship.
—Daniel Bryan won the SmackDown Removal Camera for a title against universal champion Roman Reigns
—WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns defeated Daniel Bryan by submission
—Matt Riddle defeated Bobby Lashley and John Morrison in a triple-threat match to become the new U.S. champion
—Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax defeated Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair to retain the women’s team championship
—Drew McIntyre defended the WWE Championship at the Elimination chamber, defeating Sheamus, Kofi Kingston, Randy Orton, AJ Styles and Jeff Hardy
—The Miz defeated Drew McIntyre to become the new WWE Champion
The Miz is probably just a transition champion, but he deserves a merit to reclaim the company’s most prestigious title. He’s been in peripheral stories for the past two years and never posed a real threat when he challenged the Universal Championship against Braun Strowman, so getting the title and regaining a place on the card is a great opportunity for him.
In addition to crowning a new WWE Champion, Matt Riddle also won the United States Championship. This is Riddle’s first championship on the main roster, as well as his first individual title with the company. The Enigma is one of the most unique talents in the entire industry, bringing a unique blend of athleticism and authenticity to his time at the UFC. It has also been a source of considerable controversy since its arrival last spring Slap, which stem from allegations of sexual misconduct by a fighter since her stay together with the independents. Keith Lee would have made the perfect decision to take the title, but since he was not available at Elimination chamber, WWE made the decision to put the belt on Riddle.
Riddle got the win against John Morrison, who replaced Lee. This allowed Lashley to remain protected, which is especially clever considering his leap into the world title image. Linking us to last June Reaction pay-per-view, Lashley and McIntyre have outstanding issues, and Lashley has won the opportunity to represent the company as a WWE Champion.
Elimination chamber helped set the table WrestleMania, and it was also a pay per view solid. Both of us Elimination chamber the matches were excellent. WWE kept Reigns and Kevin Owens apart, which was a smart choice, and the Raw House match did a particularly good job of re-establishing Sheamus, AJ Styles, and Kofi Kingston as contenders for the WWE Championship. He SmackDown Removal Camera saw Daniel Bryan win an extremely convincing opener, and the story was that he was too beaten up to pose a real threat to Reigns. Edge then emerged as the one who defended Reigns, although it may make more sense if Reigns finds a way to preserve this title in the WrestleMania main event.
From WrestleMania 37 will take place over two nights, there will be a main event every night. One of those places should belong to Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair, who will be fighting for the SmackDown Women’s Championship. Belair will become one of the best wrestling talents and has the advantage of working with a bona fide superstar at Banks in the most important show of the year. It was frustrating to see the banks fixed on the label match a Elimination chamber, even if a distraction from Reginald can be obtained. That end took the steam out of a good match and he has to refocus on Banks and Belair, and no one else.
There are still a lot of stories to tell in the Banks-Belair program and incredible potential. This has a chance to be the most memorable match WrestleMania, so it is critical that Banks and Belair be given adequate time to work out a story.
WWE has found success with the fastest pay-per-view model. This is likely to be altered WrestleMania, but it is a formula that was again successful Elimination chamber. The show was far from perfect as he missed out on having a wife Elimination chamber the match was a massive blow. Overall, the show was solid, but a widely criticized product will be further examined with The Miz as the new champion.
Justin Barrasso can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JustinBarrasso