Miz is now a two-time WWE Champion.
WWE
Elimination Chamber 2021 closed with a surprise: the Miz cashed his Money on the Bank contract and won the WWE Championship over Drew McIntyre. He did this with the help of Bobby Lashley, who appears to be fighting with Drew McIntyre on his way to WrestleMania after losing his US Championship.
It capped off a strong pay-per-view, which opened with a fantastic Elimination Chamber match won by Daniel Bryan. In what would become a theme of the show, Bryan was immediately defeated by Universal Champion Roman Reigns in the fight that followed.
Elsewhere, Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair failed to capture the Women’s Tag Team Championships, and Riddle won the US title by pinning John Morrison.
Keep reading for a full recap of the Elimination Chamber.
The Miz cashes, becomes WWE Champion
Bobby Lashley ambushed Drew McIntyre after the Chamber, destroyed him outside the ring and then put him in the Hurt Lock. Miz’s music was playing and he ran into the ring to officially exchange his Money in the Bank contract.
The bell is ringing. Miz got a second count after a DDT, but was victorious after a Skull Crushing Final. The show goes off the air as The Miz celebrates its championship win.
Yes really.
Drew McIntyre retains WWE Championship
In the show’s main event, Drew McIntyre retained his WWE Championship by winning the Elimination Chamber match. McIntyre last knocked out AJ Styles to keep his championship.
The match built up to a showdown between Sheamus and McIntyre, with Sheamus being the final competitor in the match. Sheamus knocked out Kofi Kingston with a Brogue Kick and McIntyre knocked out Jeff Hardy with a Claymore Kick, so it looked like the two would clear the house and fight to end the fight. It shouldn’t be, as Sheamus was pinned down by AJ Styles after a phenomenal forearm.
Randy Orton was eliminated first and that came as a surprise. Kofi Kingston entered the Chamber fourth and quickly caught Orton with a creative roll-up. After his pin, Orton RKO’d Kingston and Hardy before he left. AJ Styles, who had not yet officially entered, took advantage of ordering Omos to break open his room door. Omos did, and AJ ran from the outside and walked through the room door, trying in vain to pin Kingston and Hardy. Note that this makes absolutely no sense as AJ is not a legal man until his room door is unlocked. Unfortunately.
The match was good, but a lot more incoherent than the SmackDown opener. This is especially true during the period when five men were still active – AJ, McIntyre, Sheamus, Kingston and Hardy – where action was often going on in multiple areas. But things improved after Hardy and Kingston were eliminated, when AJ, Sheamus and McIntyre put in a strong closing section.
Rating: 3.5 stars.
Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax keep tag titles
Nia Jax pinned Sasha Banks with a Samoan drop after a bizarre distraction thanks to Reginald, Carmella’s sommelier.
The fight started slow, with Nia Jax fighting both Banks and Bianca Belair. Things got better when Baszler came along, and we ended up getting solid action thanks to the excellent counter wrestling from Baszler and Banks. The finish line came when Jax and Banks were the legal women. Reginald came to the ring with fancy champagne and a glass, and rolled the champagne into the ring, telling Banks to break it over Jax. Sasha refused, and was hit by Jax, Samoan dropped and then pinned down.
The distraction was invented, Banks looked ridiculous, and Jax’s execution was shoddy.
Rating: 2 stars. It seems very likely that Banks will take on Belair at WrestleMania, so this match suffered from the science that Jax and Baszler would certainly keep. It was further handicapped by a poor finish and Jax, who is generally not particularly fun to watch. Shayna Baszler, however, absolutely decided and was the highlight of the match.
Riddle wins the United States Championship
John Morrison replaced Kieth Lee in this Triple Threat game in the United States, which also featured Riddle and champion Bobby Lashley. Riddle won the fun fight by pinning Morrison.
It started with Lashley as a monster that handily destroyed both Riddle and Morrison. Riddle and Morrison then decide to work together to take out the beast. At first, this doesn’t even work, but eventually they get the better of Lashley and incapacitate him from the outside with a tandem offense.
In the ring we get a great fight between Riddle and Morrison. Morrison is tragically underused. Ultimately, of course, Lashley returns to the ring. Riddle rocks him with a Ripchord V-Trigger, but Lashley cleans the house. Morrison grabs MVP’s crutches and tries to wave to Lashley, but Lashley dodges and puts Morrison in the Hurt Lock. Riddle takes the crutch and punches Lashley in the back – the announcers hastily tell us they aren’t disqualifications – causing Lashley to withdraw and regroup outside.
Riddle then planted Morrison with his BroDerrick headstone slash for the win. He immediately ran away from Lashley, a true fighting champion.
Rating: 3.5 starsA fun competition with three talented guys. It’s stupid to see Riddle, an alleged baby face and real tough guy, made to look so weak in comparison to Lashley. But it was fun seeing Morrison’s talents.
Roman Reigns def.Daniel Bryan
This Universal Championship match was short and sweet. Bryan, stumbling and barely able to walk, tells the referee to ring the bell. Roman immediately goes for a spear, but he is thwarted when Bryan locks the Yes Lock. Announcer Michael Cole loses his mind and screams that Bryan is going to do a miracle. Fantastic moment.
It was not to be, however, as Reigns retired and bombarded Bryan with mounted punches. He then guillotined and strangled Bryan for the win.
Just as Bryan had no opportunity, neither did Reigns. He was impaled by Edge, who announced that he would face Reigns at WrestleMania.
Daniel Bryan wins SmackDown Elimination Chamber
The main show opened with the SmackDown Elimination Chamber match. It featured Cesaro, Jey Uso, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Corbin and the eventual winner, Daniel Bryan. Bryan started the match with Cesaro and, after about 50 excellent minutes, was the last to eliminate Jey Uso to win the fight.
After five minutes of hard wrestling between Bryan and Cesaro, Corbin was the third to enter the Chamber. He was a demolition machine that brought down both and demolished Bryan’s knee. Corbin would eventually be the first to leave the Chamber, but was tapped by Cesaro’s sniper.
Zayn came fourth, with Owens and eventually Uso behind. A high place came when Zayn climbed the Chamber and was followed by Cesaro. Cesaro, holding himself up with the links at the top of the Chamber, kicked Zayn up to the Chamber floor. Zayn was the second to be eliminated when Owens intoxicated and pinned him down.
After Zayn was taken out, Uso locked Owens’ arm in the room door and blew it with super kicks. He then pinned it after a splash on the rope.
After Cesaro knocked out Uso on the outside, we got some excellent back-and-forth action between Cesaro and Bryan. Just as it looked like Cesaro was going to take out Bryan – amid a gigantic one leg swing on Bryan’s injured leg – he was clocked by Uso with a super kick. Uso then pressed Cesaro with a splash of the rope.
Uso and Bryan left that. Uso immediately made a splash on Bryan for a two. He then climbed the top of a Chamber pod and attempted a giant splash, but Bryan got his knees up and hit Uso with the running knee for a pin, winning his third Chamber game.
The good news? Bryan wins a shot against Roman Reigns’ Universal Championship. The bad news? Roman Reigns immediately comes out to start that match. No rest for Bryan.
Rating: 4.5 stars. Excellent stuff. Bryan fans like me will likely be disappointed: it looks like his win won’t pay off as Reigns is now targeting his WrestleMania match with Edge. In fact, Bryan was probably chosen to win the Chamber from Cesaro precisely so that he could lose to Reigns. Regardless, this was an excellent game.
Kickoff Show Results
John Morrison defeated Ricochet, Elias and Ali to secure a spot in the United States Championship triple threat match on the main show. Bobby Lashley will now defend his US title against Morrison and Riddle.
Morrison won the match by rolling down Ali, while Ali was distracted by his Retribution faction powerbombing Ricochet on the outside.