The Women's Tag Team Championship Elimination Chamber was a triumph, and not just based on expectations that ranged from measured to mortified based both on the talent within the match and precedent set by a downright horrific doubles incarnation of the encounter in 2015.
The gimmick was binned in February of that year in favour of Fastlane - a brand new addition to the calendar that had controversially replaced the show centred around the structure before it was hurriedly hustled back into the Network schedule by May. A portion of the fanbase called for it, but this was no Survivor Series-level protest; and those cooing over its comeback were rueing its return after the Intercontinental and Tag Team Championship clashes in the cage circled the drain as the worst versions ever.
With no Chamber to bother with, February 22nd 2015's Fastlane boasted a transparent put-over of company chosen one Roman Reigns by Actual Chosen One Daniel Bryan, Rusev controversially defeating John Cena to tee up a clean loss to 'The Champ' at WrestleMania and a fat lot of nothing else to note. Sandwiched in between the dross of the day was a five-minute match between Nikki Bella and Paige over the former's Divas Championship.
What happened over that 48 hour period would be lionised in company canon as a flashpoint in the history of a division that exists by another name today. Despite this, you'd be forgiven for forgetting all of it.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation for 10 years. Alongside the production of daily written, audio and video content covering WWE and AEW, he 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 on the UK's wrestling podcast charts with over 10,000 episodes and 70,000,000 total downloads. He also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House!, Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast, and has guested on long-running Sunderland AFC podcast Wise Men Say.
With WhatCulture, he has provided in-person coverage of some of the biggest pay-per-views and Premium Live Events in wrestling history, including WrestleMania, Survivor Series, All In & Double Or Nothing in destinations such as New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. He has also been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana, 411Mania and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling.
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 music and culture magazines The Crack, Pilot as well as Sunderland AFC's premiere fanzine A Love Supreme. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it every other Saturday at the Stadium Of Light, and at Cribs gigs nationwide.
