The Miz titled WrestleMania 27 as a WWE champion. Ten years later, he is ready to do that again.
Miz pulled out his Money in the Bank folder at Elimination chamber, defeating Drew McIntyre and starting his first reign with the WWE Championship since 2011. This happened moments after McIntyre won the Raw Elimination Chamber departure, then took a beating from Bobby Lashley. This sets McIntyre-Lashley to WrestleMania 37, as well as opening up a new possibility with Miz as champion. If it will help to boost Crude the classification has yet to be determined, but at least in the short term, Vince McMahon has made The Miz once again his signature artist.
Courtesy of WWE
In less than two months, the card for WrestleMania it is actively taking shape. Daniel Bryan opened the show by winning the SmackDown Elimination Chamber match, only to immediately lose 92 seconds to Roman Reigns in a Universal Championship match. Reigns’ post-game celebration was interrupted by Edge, who will challenge Reigns at the main event of WrestleMania.
Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair also continued their story, losing in a tag team title fight to Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax. As they no longer pursue brand titles, the Belair-Banks program should take its course this Friday, Smash, with Belair challenging Banks to the SmackDown Women’s Championship. As for Female Champion Raw Asuka, she was left out. Her original opponent, Lacey Evans, is pregnant and taking a break from an active schedule, but it was a missed opportunity to not include Asuka, especially with a division full of emerging stars like Peyton Royce, Mandy Rose and Nikki Cross.
Here are the results of Elimination chamber:
—John Morrison defeated Mustafa Ali, Ricochet and Elias in the pre-show, which put him in the triple threat fight for the United States Championship
—Daniel Bryan won the SmackDown Elimination Chamber for a title shot against Universal Champion Roman Reigns
—WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns defeated Daniel Bryan via submission
—Matt Riddle defeated Bobby Lashley and John Morrison in a triple threat fight to become the new United States champion
—Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax defeated Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair to retain the women’s doubles championship
—Drew McIntyre defended the WWE championship at Elimination chamber, defeating Sheamus, Kofi Kingston, Randy Orton, AJ Styles and Jeff Hardy
—The Miz defeated Drew McIntyre to become the new WWE champion
The Miz is probably just a transitional champion, but he deserves credit for regaining the company’s most prestigious title. He has been in peripheral stories for the past two years and has never been a real threat when challenging for the Universal Championship against Braun Strowman, so getting the title and regaining a spot at the top of the card is a great opportunity for him.
In addition to crowning a new WWE champion, Matt Riddle also won the United States championship. This is the first Riddle championship on the main list, as well as his first singles title with the company. Riddle is one of the most unique talents in the entire industry, bringing a unique blend of athletics and authenticity from his UFC days. He has also been a considerable source of controversy since his arrival last spring in Smash, resulting from allegations of sexual misconduct by a fighter of her time together in the independents. Keith Lee would have made the perfect choice to take the title, but as it was not available in Elimination chamber, WWE made the decision to put the belt on Riddle.
Riddle scored the victory against John Morrison, who replaced Lee. This allowed Lashley to remain protected, which is especially smart considering his return to the world title image. Tying back to last June Day off pay per view, Lashley and McIntyre have unfinished business – and Lashley certainly won the opportunity to represent the company as a WWE champion.
Elimination chamber helped set the table for WrestleMania, and it was also a solid pay per view. Both Elimination chamber matches were excellent. WWE kept Reigns and Kevin Owens apart, which was a smart choice, and the Raw Chamber match did a particularly good job of reinstating Sheamus, AJ Styles and Kofi Kingston as contenders for the WWE Championship. THE SmackDown Elimination Chamber saw Daniel Bryan win an extremely convincing opening, and the story was that he was too dejected to pose any real threat to Reigns. Edge then emerged as the only one facing Reigns, although it may make more sense if Reigns finds a way to keep that title in WrestleMania main event.
Since WrestleMania 37 will take place over two nights, there will be a main event each night. One of these spots must belong to Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair, who are fighting for the SmackDown Women’s Championship. Belair is about to become one of wrestling’s greatest talents, and she has the advantage of working with a bona fide superstar in Banks on the most important show of the year. It was frustrating to see Banks stuck in tag correspondence at Elimination chamber, even though it might be a distraction from Reginald. This submission took the breath away from a good start, and the focus needs to be on Banks and Belair – and no one else.
There is still a lot of history to be told on the Banks-Belair program and incredible potential. This has the chance to be the most memorable match in WrestleMania, so it’s essential that Banks and Belair have time to create a story.
WWE was successful with the fastest pay-per-view model. It is likely to be changed in WrestleMania, but it is a formula that has again been successful in Elimination chamber. The show was far from perfect, as we lacked a female Elimination chamber game was a huge blow. Overall, the show was solid, but a widely criticized product will be examined even more closely, with The Miz as the new champion.
Justin Barrasso can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JustinBarrasso