Kevin Owens vs. Dominik Mysterio – Elimination Chamber Qualifying match
You know, there are times I feel bad for little Dom Dom for constantly getting booed by the WWE universe, but given that he feels no remorse for his actions despite making some relatable points, he’s too proud of his arrogant behavior for me to fully be on his side.
The booing just keeps getting louder every time he shows his face. He was trying to hype the fact that Damian Priest and Finn Balor will retain their Undisputed Tag Team titles, Rhea Ripley will remain Women’s World Champion, and apparently he reckons he’ll gain a victory at Elimination Chamber. Hmm. Ambitious, aren’t we?
But first, he has to get through KO.
Owens finally blows through Dirty Dom with a shoulder tackle in the middle of the ring. That shocks Dominik so much so that he momentarily exits the squared circle. He’s been acting like too much of a wimp the entire beginning of this match, also after a deep arm drag that Kevin sent him.
Mysterio is starting to show some gusto when he flips Owens over then arm drags him followed by a drop kick to the chest. But… that quickly switches once Kevin makes him eat knuckles to the mouth.
Um…? I’m not sure what the hell is going on, but R-Truth is here interrupting the match. He kept Owens busy long enough for Dom to perform a baseball kick then repeatedly slam his head against the announcement deck.
According to commentary, R-Truth thinks that Owens is The Miz… Anyway, Dom takes down Kevin for a brief moment to cover him, but it wasn’t sufficient. KO is now unloading against Dirty Dom.
We can’t overlook Dom’s resilience when he manages to stay in the fight after that Cannonball plus a frog splash.
Owens tries to block the X-Factor from Dom, but he fails. Ha! Ha! The attempt of that block made the scene look all the more hilarious because it was weird.
Later on, Dom was expecting R-Truth to hand him a chair to strike Owens with, yet instead Truth uses it to sit down. Ha! The delay helps Kevin to deliver a crushing ending to Dom Dom’s dreams to Elimination Chamber with a Pop Up Powerbomb.
Whoops. Ha! Ha!
Five spots are now filled with Drew McIntyre, Randy Orton, LA Knight, Kevin Owens and Bobby Lashley. Just one final entrant.
Winner: Kevin Owens
The physical fight between LA Knight and Drew McIntyre hasn’t started backstage, but the verbal one, oof, that was entertaining to witness. Seeing people trying to shed clarity into McIntyre’s eyes hasn’t made much of a dent since it began. He’s still delusional.
Alas, he’s not the only one who’s delusional here. When Roman Reigns arrived earlier and hugged Jimmy, he had the nerve to say “Let’s go fix everything Jey messed up.” Jey Jey isn’t responsible for your crap.
Zelina Vega vs. Tiffany Stratton – Elimination Chamber Qualifying match
Stratton has the power advantage when she power slams Zelina down to the mat. Luckily, Vega turns things around in her favor as she slips her opponent then delivers a knee to the face as it sends Tiffany on the main floor.
Zelina was doing just fine for the time being, but something, or rather someone catches her eye, Legado del Fantasma are in the crowd looking on from a very close distance. Yikes. We know things are about to go down when both their asses are in the building.
Given that Santos Escobar and company are here, the rest of the LWO make their way back to the stage. They’re here to make sure no one steps out of line, especially Elektra Lopez.
Back to the match, Zelina is doing an excellent job neutralizing Tiffany with a fantastic DDT out of nowhere. It was too easy to gain a win. Stratton counters with a stacking cartwheel Alabama slam that nearly puts Vega away.
It may have not finished the match, but Zelina kept fighting when she delivered a 619 to Stratton’s sheens followed by a Meteora.
Tensions really go up after Tiffany shoves Zelina against the barricades closes to Legado del Fantasma. Elektra was shouting at Vega, incohesive to the rest of us, but it made Zelina furious as she rattles Lopez a little bit.
Once Vega returns inside the ring, she’s ambushed by Stratton’s winning Prettiest Moonsault. Tiffany is now joining Bianca Belair, Becky Lynch and Liv Morgan in the Chamber.
Winner: Tiffany Stratton
Backstage, The O.C. are trying to figure out what’s going on with AJ Styles, who’s seen curled up in the corner somewhere. Michin and Luke Gallows still care about their friend, but Karl Anderson is the only one being realistic. He wonders why they’re concerned when clearly Styles has forgotten where he came from.
That boils AJ to slap Anderson. If that were anyone else, Karl would have battered their asses right then and there. Because of that, Styles questions if that’s what’s holding Anderson back.
Meanwhile, consequences are on the horizon when Iyo Sky informs Bayley that she will embarrass her on the grandest stage of them all. It’s Iyo’s era. As for Dakota, she’s not off the hook either. Later on, Kai is seen venturing to speak to Bayley about backing her up. Bayley isn’t so forgiving at this stage, so she doesn’t bother.
Javier Bernal & Beau Morris vs. AoP – Tag Team match
Bernal and Morris are here from NXT to face the Authors of Pain in their SmackDown debut, which is a mistake on these boys’ part. They’re about to get their asses trampled. I’m speaking realistically, not rudely.
Saying I’m stunned at how quickly Akam explodes out of the gate with a clothesline to Bernal is an understatement. Ha! That will cause some serious whiplash later. AoP play a ruthless double team as Akam tags Rezar in to flip Beau Morris.
This match was over before it even started. AoP perform the Super Collider then they crush Bernal even further to gain a victory. “That was not just a win, it was a warning shot to the entire WWE locker room.” said Corey Graves
Winners: AoP
The Miz vs. Logan Paul – Elimination Chamber Qualifying match
Miz counters an attempted leap frog from Paul with a knee to the inner thigh that I would easily mistake that as an attack to the crotch where it should have been. Ha! Logan’s inexperience was demonstrated during a standing Moonsault he failed to get any of it just as Miz got his knees up.
Somewhere in the crowd, Bianca Belair, Liv Morgan, Jade Cargill, Bron Breakker and Nick Aldis are seen watching the proceedings.
That rolling slam from Logan looked a little weak given the fact that The Miz has been focusing his attacks on the right leg of his opponent.
I’m pretty sure that it’s my obvious hatred of Logan Paul that’s got me paying minimal attention to this match, and the only thing keeping a small percentage of my patience is The Miz.
This is the final Qualifying match on the men’s side for Elimination Chamber, and I don’t want to see Logan going. Last year, he showed up uninvited. Now, he could have the opportunity to be accepted. Who the hell wants that?? If he does win here, I hope he loses over there.
I applaud Miz so hard for being able to kick out of his own finishing move being initiated against him after getting pocked in the eye while the official was held up by the ring covers pulled by Paul earlier. The sneaky bastard.
And speaking of behaving like a rat, Logan was looking to use some brace knuckles to end this fight. Luckily, Miz was able to thwart that incoming typhoon. He nearly used them himself though.
Logan won like I didn’t want him to. I don’t care. I don’t care. I DON’T GODDAMN CARE! Just get off the screen.
Winner: Logan Paul
Next week in Perth on The Grayson Waller Effect welcomes Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins to the show.
Naomi vs. Alba Fyre – Elimination Chamber Qualifying match
In the early goings of the match, Alba is the one inflicting pain to gain the upper hand on a returning Naomi. It kept getting worse once Fyre distracted the official long enough, so Isla Dawn could do some damage of her own.
Naomi makes a comeback with a striking high kick to the head of Alba followed by one hell of a smack to the jaw. She blocks a potential collision with the post using her foot, and brutalizes Fyre’s face with an elbow.
Naomi nearly puts Fyre away with an inventive Bulldog. There was a moment when Alba had a very air-tight pin against Naomi that could have ended the match after colliding her face with the mat, fortunately, my girl survives.
Naomi escapes Alba’s clutches, disposes of Isla Dawn then twists Fyre with a submission hold I’ve never seen before that concludes the fight in her favor. She’s going to Perth!!
Winner: Naomi
As we close up the night, Nick Aldis has officially signed Bron Breakker to the SmackDown roster where he’ll be making his debut the following week. Also, Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate square off against Dominik Mysterio and JD McDonagh. The Street Profits and AoP meet in the ring as well. A matchup between LA Knight and Drew McIntyre has been sanctioned, too.
And now cue The Bloodline’s entrance. But honestly, never mind that because the fans kept chanting Cody’s name while Roman was talking. He still thinks that Rhodes ruined everything, so he looks to fix it by announcing that The Rock is part of The Bloodline.
Well…
The Rock does make one good point. The fans were breaking the Earth down to its very core talking about the biggest match at WrestleMania 40 being The Rock versus Roman Reigns. Y’all did that… Remember? But, you also let it slip the moment Rhodes won the Royal Rumble
Now, now. I’m not saying I don’t want Cody to finish his story, however, the double handedness of switching so quickly is hard to not glance at. The Rock thinks Utah doesn’t understand the logic he’s trying to convey being that Cody should take the loss like a man and move on because they’re “spoiled, entitled little cry baby b*tches.” Wow-wee.
He’ll do everything in his power to make sure that Cody walks out of Mania with nothing, as a “loser”. Sing-along with The Rock is over.
TOP PHOTO: The Bloodline and The Rock. Courtesy of WWE
