WWE Elimination Chamber 2019: Star Ratings For All 7 Matches
5. The Usos Vs. Shane McMahon & The Miz - SmackDown Tag Team Championship Match
Better than it had any right to be, provided you are by now entirely numb to WWE’s tag team wrestling philosophy—strange bedfellows are just as good as division Aces, especially if Shane McMahon is the hard man hot tag virtuoso!—it was best to concentrate on the improbably gripping story, not the action. An early Miz backbreaker attempt was almost loving in its tender application.
Astonishingly, Shane McMahon actually looked really good when he first tagged in. Attempting—and landing!—a spinning back elbow in Jimmy Uso’s face, he then vaulted over the top rope to catch Jey with a near-fall. It was beyond odd to have watched the Usos for almost nine years only to look so thoroughly outclassed here, but just don’t think about it. It’s easier this way, and there is so much schadenfreude to enjoy when looking at Shane McMahon’s bloated purple face. Intentionally better than you’d have thought, and unintentionally comical, if we must endure Shane McMahon, he is at least no longer presenting himself as the equal of AJ Styles. Big dumb fun is still fun.
Not that you should, but if this was to be taken more seriously, The Miz sold well enough to hook the crowd, and Jimmy Uso, mimicking Miz’s taunts, acted the over-confident heel prick well enough to plug the plot hole.
As an angle and a platform to further the break-up, this was effective, somehow. The idea of Miz broken-hearted over letting Shane down might err on so-bad-it’s-good, but he actually looked crestfallen.
Good character acting in a bizarre but engrossing straight-to-video storyline, that he is a very good babyface is the real story here.
Star Rating: ***