8 WWE Elimination Chamber 2021 Impulse Reactions

2. Drew McIntyre (c) Vs. AJ Styles Vs. Jeff Hardy Vs. Randy Orton Vs. Sheamus Vs. Kofi Kingston

AJ Styles Drew McIntyre
WWE

Employing a bolder approach than the SmackDown clash in order to differenciate the two, WWE started hot with the Raw Elimination Chamber when Randy Orton was eliminated before AJ Styles and Sheamus had even left their pods.

This yet again meant no fire, no black goo and no Fiend and a match not destroyed by nonsense. The wrestlers took advantage of this - Styles found a creative early exit from his pod thanks to Omos, and Sheamus and Drew McIntyre had an awesome sprawling brawl when 'The Celtic Warrior' left his pod.

The rest of the match passed without incident in a manner most satisfying for a B-Show main event. The wrestlers wrestled like they wanted it, the finishes were clean, and the Champion endured the requisite amount of additional punishment for a show-closing angle that felt like a more realistic possibility as the night wore on.

A gripping finale saw McIntyre retain after walloping AJ Styles with one final Claymore, but he wasn't given a window to celebrate for very long...

 
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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett