The women appeared ready to steal another show until Kofi Kingston provided Elimination Chamber with a compelling and emotional finish in defeat.
Kingston, who was phenomenal in surviving more than an hour in last week’s gauntlet match on “SmackDown Live,” was a replacement in the Elimination Chamber bout for the WWE championship because Mustafa Ali suffered a concussion.
And while this story would have worked for the upstart Ali, it may have lacked the poignancy Kingston provided at the pay-per-view Sunday at the Toyota Center. Kingston has been in WWE for 11 years and never held one of its top-tier titles, and being with New Day has kept all of them out of singles feuds.
After pinning Randy Orton, Kingston was the last man standing in the chamber with champion Daniel Bryan. The crowd was passionately behind Kingston the rest of way, constantly chanting his name. He threw everything he had at Bryan. The crowd hung on every near fall — even Kingston kicking out of the first of two running knees from Bryan.
The second, after Kingston missed on a leap off the pod, finally did him in. His New Day mates, Big E and Xavier Woods, came to the ring to console him. Failure, however, never felt so good to end a night filled with great stories.
The match, which was the best of the night by far, had plenty of high spots, and the crowd was engaged from start to finish — it helps when the pay-per-view is three hours instead of five like the Royal Rumble. Jeff Hardy landed a Swanton Bomb with A.J. Styles laying on the top turnbuckle. Styles, who made Samoa Joe the first person eliminated, also hit a Phenomenal Forearm with Bryan clinging to the chamber wall.
What will the ramifications of this match be with WrestleMania 35 a month and a half away? WWE could ride the Kingston wave, go back to Bryan’s feud with Styles or give him a fresh opponent. What is for certain is Kingston reminded everyone how good he is and, in the process, should open the door for the New Day members to get runs in singles storylines.
Kingston may not have had his ultimate moment, but the women had theirs.
Sasha Banks and Bayley became the first WWE women’s tag-team champions by winning their Elimination Chamber match, and their fellow Four Horsewomen continued their WrestleMania build.
Ruby Riott deserved better than being made quick work of by Raw women’s champion Ronda Rousey, dressed like Sonya Blade to promote her voice work in the new “Mortal Kombat” video game. Rousey ended the match with an arm bar as her WrestleMania opponent, Charlotte Flair, looked on.
With those two face-to-face in the ring after the match, the suspended Becky Lynch walked to the squared circle on crutches. Lynch, who is trying to force her way back into the potential first women’s main event at WrestleMania, went on to viciously attack Flair with a crutch — paying her back from an assault at a recent house show.
Lynch gave Rousey the opportunity to do the same, but she ultimately beat up the hesitant champion. Let the Becky Lynch hell-raising begin.
As those three’s road to WrestleMania continues, Banks and Bayley saw the culmination of their more than two-year journey of having their singles careers put on hold. It paid off in gold. While their winning was predictable, it needed to happen because the match opened the pay-per-view, and you want to put the crowd on a high.
The match was fast and with a touch of raised physicality in the chamber — especially from Nia Jax and Tamina. There also was enough tandem offense to make it feel like a tag-team match. While the teamwork pin from the IIconics was a cool moment, it eliminated Carmella and Naomi first and gave us only a minute of Naomi’s feud with Mandy Rose.
The match improved after Sarah Logan and Liv Morgan’s leap off the pod and Jax running her way through one to large gasp from the crowd. Having Rose, Sonya Deville, Bayley and Banks quadruple-team Tamina to eliminate her was smart. It was believable and protects Tamina and Nia moving forward. The crowd chanting, “Na Na Na Hey Hey Goodbye” when they left makes them a perfect team to be Banks and Bayley’s rivals moving forward.
You were left with the two teams that started, and Banks’ shoulder injury, which was alluded to during the match, finally came into play. She had to modify the Bank Statement to submit Deville and win the titles.
Other matches
The Usos over The Miz and Shane McMahon for the SmackDown tag-team titles.
The Miz and McMahon team will be short-lived, possibly headed for a singles match against each other at WrestleMania, and Jimmy Uso’s arrest didn’t stand in the way of him becoming a six-time tag champion. It was even Jimmy who turned Miz’s pin attempt into one of his own for the win.
McMahon delivered his usual risk-taking with a Coast to Coast and top-rope elbow on the announce table and Jey Uso. It left him unable to break up Jimmy’s pin and being let down by his partner.
The Miz announced before the match he and wife Maryse are having a second child. His face at the end sold that disappointment, and the anger continued in the back. How much longer will he and McMahon last?
Finn Balor over Bobby Lashley (c.) and Lio Rush to win the Intercontinental championship
While having Finn Balor win his first championship in WWE in more than two years by pinning Lio Rush is not the ideal moment, it should have been a bigger deal and celebration. Instead the post-match scene was about Lashley choke-slamming Rush in frustration. Finn got a title he deserves, but this felt like a means to an end for someone else.
Baron Corbin over Braun Strowman in a no-disqualification match.
With Lashley appearing to have severed ties with Rush, he returned later in the night to join Drew McIntyre in helping Corbin decimate Strowman. The three, with references to The Shield, abound, triple powerbombed Strowman through two stacked tables to end it. Could this be the formation of a new and powerful faction in WWE?
Buddy Murphy over Akira Tozawa to retain the Cruiserweight championship.
The crowd really dug this fast-paced kickoff show match. Tozawa gave Murphy everything he had, but it’s becoming a regular occurrence for the champion to steal the match late with Murphy’s Law.
Biggest winner: Kofi Kingston
Biggest loser: Ruby Riott
Match of the night: Men’s elimination chamber match
Grade: B+