This past Sunday brought the Elimination Chamber match back to WWE. Elimination Chamber is a match type that takes place inside a steel cage. It involves six men with two starting off in the ring and the other four waiting at each corner in pods. Every five minutes a new man will enter the match, if a superstar is pinned or submits they are out and will have to exit the cage. The match is ended when one man stands tall. Now that’s a big stakes match and did this one hold up? Let’s find out.

The first match of the pay-per-view saw Becky Lynch take on veteran Mikie James. This match was a very solid affair between two good workers. Becky dominated the first half of the match which made her look strong, but at about the halfway point Mikie started to gain the upper hand and the two women started trading false pins left and right. The match ended with Becky standing tall. This was a completely solid match and it did what it had to do.

The next match wasn’t so great. It was a one on two handicap match that saw Dolph Ziggler take on the team of Kalisto and Apollo crews. It started with a positive. Ziggler attacked Kalisto backstage before he made his entrance. This was actually smart on Ziggler’s end to put more favor in his odds, but when the match got in the ring that’s when it really weant down hill. Crews and Ziggler got into a holding contest for what seemed like 10 minutes just to have Kalisto run to the ring like nothing happened. This was a completely bland match that really didn’t do anything for anyone involved.

Next on the card is the Tag Team turmoil match against champions American Alpha and challengers Heath Slater and Rhyno, The Ascension, Breezdango, The Usos, and The Vaudevillans. While there aren’t really any memorable moments this match was good and set up a possible rival for American Alpha. The match was worked well with momentum between the babyfaces and the heels being distributed evenly. The match came down to a battered American Alpha and the evil Ascension in the final two teams. Since coming back The Ascension have actually looked like credible competitors for Alphas tag titles, but in the end the good guys pulled through and picked up the victory. This is was a very well worked match and the outcome was the right one.

On to what is probably the most disappointing match of the night. The match saw Nikki Bella take on Natalya. This match was actually surprisingly good. It was exciting and both women worked very well. The action especially picked up in the second half of the match, but it was all blown with the finish of the match. It saw Natalya pick up the via count out. It just seems like a cheap way to end and otherwise good match and to extend this rivalry.

Now onto the match of the night (not counting the chamber), Luke Harper vs Randy Orton. While this match started off slow when it picked up it really picked up. The second half of the match really played into Harper’s athleticism and agility. With Harper flying around the ring like a madman and Randy selling it like his life depended on it. While Randy picked up the win with an RKO it still showed everyone that Harper can stand his own and is ready for a singles push. And with him away from the Wyatts he can definitely be put in the Intercontinental title picture.

The last regular match of the night saw Alexa Bliss defend her WWE Smackdown women’s title against challenger Naomie. Going into the show the expectations for this match were low, but it surprised with being a fairly solid back and forth affair between two solid workers. The end of the match saw Naomie picking up the win and the title in a very feel good moment. Naomie has been in the company since 2010 and has been a dedicated worker since. She deserves the gold and it was nice to see her hard work pay off.

The big conclusion of the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view as the Chamber match itself. It saw WWE Champion defend his title against Bray Wyatt, AJ Styles, Dean Ambrose, The Miz, and Baron Corbin. The match started off with John and AJ in the ring first and was followed by Dean, Wyatt, Carbon, and finally The Miz. All in all this was a solid match. Every man got a chance to shine with The Miz doing some particularly good heel work. When it was his turn to enter the ring he stayed in his pod to stay away from Baron so he didn’t get beat up and this allowed Dean to get a roll up pin on the unexpecting Corban. After Corbans elimination he went wild and decimated Dean before throwing him through the glass of one of the pods. Cena also had an impressive showing playing the match as the never give up babyface to great effect. It finally came down to just AJ and Bray reversed AJ’s phenomenal forearm into a sister abigail to pick up the win and his very first singles title in the WWE. The match was a good showing and it helped set up the Bray vs Randy match at Wrestlmania this year.

Overall Elimination Chamber was a very solid pay-per-view. It wasn’t spectacular, but it did what it needed to do and there were some good moments throughout. And with this being Smackdown’s last pay-per-view before the big show, it will be interesting to see how they set up the rest of the matches for Mania.