7 Match Star Ratings For WWE Elimination Chamber 2021
2. WWE Championship Elimination Chamber Match
Much of this match just existed.
The ancient vibe of the match itself really wasn't helped when the most ancient pairing (Jeff Hardy debuted as a full-timer in 1999, Randy Orton in 2002) kicked it off with some solid exchanges bereft of drama. Hardy hasn't quite been around for 22 years, but he's never been booked as poorly as this when he has been.
Drew McIntyre was a great choice to enter at #3 - the match revolved around him - and his work was typically excellent. It was even better on a deeper character level. He was in no mood to f*ck around, even if that meant splattering a beloved nostalgic babyface into a pane of lexan. He had six foes to contend with, because he knew the Miz was lurking, and that creative didn't eliminate a single one before he entered was a display of remarkable competence. The scope of his threat was pronounced on a visual level, even if the action wasn't.
Kofi Kingston lit up the match with a big-bump/creativity formula too good to label 'dependable', and while Styles also created something in the way of kinetic energy - poor, miscast Jeff Hardy spent so much of it selling - his cameo felt like questions posed more than a plot hole exploited. Was he allowed to enter the match early? It's a no DQ match. So why was Omos ejected from ringside? What more could he have done, incidentally?
Sheamus refusing to meet McIntyre in the eyes was a legitimately nuanced choice that furthered the illusion that he is a real person questioning his real decisions. Orton's early exit, to be kind, might have been informed by Alexa Bliss getting in his head. More an NXT UK thing, but still: on a numbed, detached level - these are WWE RAW storylines, after all - this was faithful to continuity.
Drew won in a terrific last stand. It had to be, since so much of this was drab.
Star Rating: ★★★
But then...