Here’s our final thoughts on SmackDown Live’s WWE Elimination Chamber 2017!
Mojo Rawley vs. Curt Hawkins
Reactions: Hey, you know what? This was better than average. Which comes as a shock cause decent matches and the name Mojo Rawley usually don’t go together. But those few extra minutes of action and some pretty exciting near falls got us more invested than we usually do in a Kickoff Match. Hawkins played the role of the cowardly heel quite well here and got in his moves when the time was right. Mojo turned into the hype machine he’s always been and dished out some big moves during his comeback sequence as well. Both men worked hard and put on a performance that exceeded our really, really low expectations. This was quite alright.
Rating: 2 & a Half out of 5 Stars
Becky Lynch vs. Mickie James
Reactions: Lynch is always full of fire, so we knew she’d give us something worthwhile to watch during her grudge match with Miss Mickie James. We’ve been following James’ new in-ring exploits ever since her return to the ring against Asuka. with these two female favorites of ours going head to head, we were given a pretty fun matchup. James tapped into her most devilish self and even did some of the limb targeting work seen from her newfound foe. Lynch fought admirably as expected and put on a fiery performance. Near the closing moments of this match, both women turned up the speed a notch and did some clever back and forth work as Lynch tried to block James’ arm work. The quick rollup pin was a nice surprise that deviated from your usual Dis-Arm-Her submission finish, which was cool to see. Lynch picked up the win in a pretty serviceable bout against an always ready and willing women’s wrestler veteran.
Rating: 2 & a Half out of 5 Stars
American Alpha (Chad Gable and Jason Jordan) (c) vs. The Usos (Jimmy and Jey Uso) vs. The Ascension (Konnor and Viktor) vs. The Vaudevillains (Aiden English and Simon Gotch) vs. Breezango (Fandango and Tyler Breeze) vs. Heath Slater and Rhyno (Tag Team Turmoil Match for the WWE SmackDown Tag Team
Championship)
Reactions: We’ve always got a kick of these Gauntlet-like Tag Team Turmoil matches. This was a pretty fun encounter between SD Live’s roster of teams. Slater and Rhyno looked real good during their bouts against Breezango (who were more over than usual) and The Vaudevillains. The Usos made quick work of them and put on a fun war in the middle of the match once the champs came out. American Alpha went Suplex City crazy while The Usos went Superkick Crazy. AA snuck away with the win, but The Usos’ post-match assault played into the story of the champs possibly losing their titles here. We were pretty sure that was going to result in a shocking win via The Ascension. But AA made sure to shake off the damage they were dealt by the salty Usos and knock off the final team included in this bout. This was fun and didn’t even overstay its welcome, which is what we feared might happen here.
Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars
Nikki Bella vs. Natalya
Reactions: While the leadup to this big grudge match indeed hot, the crowd didn’t seem to be too interested in it. Natalya and Nikki did a whole lot to keep things somewhat interesting, but the live viewing audience (us included) weren’t too into it. That isn’t to say that the match was terrible by any means; it just didn’t have a lot of heat to it. The back and forth submissions and Superplex moment brought some life to this contest, but it still wasn’t enough to bring it to a level or good or even great. It was just passable, we guess. Hopefully their rematch gets more relaxed rules and ends up even better than this disappointing meeting.
Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars
Apollo Crews and Kalisto vs. Dolph Ziggler (2-on-1 Handicap Match)
Reactions: We’ve always had a special place in our dark hearts for Heel Ziggler. He shined here even before the bel rang since he committed to attacking Kalisto during his entrance. Crews didn’t take too kindly to this act, which helped start this match off on an especially brutal note. But Ziggler’s slippery self got one over on his babyface rival during several moments. Crews looked good out there, but Ziggler’s switch to the dark side was what really made us care about this ongoing match. Kalisto’s crazy comeback from all the way to the ramp to the ring was a big standout moment, which led right into Crews landing his Spinout Powerbomb to take down Ziggler. This was decent at best, but we enjoyed Ziggler’s post match attack even more than the actual bout. His use of a steel chair is unmatched.
Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars