From Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Commentary Team: Michael Cole, Tony Schiavone and Booker T
Ring Announcer: Howard Finkel
***
ELIMINATION CHAMBER MATCH
AJ Styles vs. Eddie Guerrero vs. John Bradshaw Layfield vs. Roddy Piper vs. Ted DiBiase vs. Triple H
The first two men competing in the chamber were Eddie Guerrero and “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase. After five minutes, AJ Styles exited fom his pod to join the battle. At the ten-minute mark, JBL came out and threw his weight around. For most of the next five minutes, the match looked like a tag team match with Styles and Guerrero on one side against DiBiase and JBL on the other. Triple H entered the match at the fifteen-minute mark and broke this up a bit. He attacked anyone that was near him. There were no eliminations before Rowdy Roddy Piper exited from his pod at the twenty-minute mark, bringing with him the fury of a brawler who could not be stopped.
JBL tried to throw a Clothesline From Wall Street at Styles, but he did a matrix evasion to avoid it. After JBL missed, he ran right into a dropkick from Guerrero. Latino Heat picked him up and gave him the Three Amigos and then went to the top rope and executed the frog splash. He made the cover and got the three-count, thus eliminating JBL.
Guerrero got up from scoring the pinfall and did a little shimmy to celebrate. It proved to be a poor decision as when he turned around, Styles connected with a Phenomenal Forearm to the face. He immediately picked up Guerrero and gave him the Styles Clash. A three-count later meant that Latino Heat was eliminated.
After eliminating Guerrero, Styles started fighting with DiBiase. Guerrero was angry and muttering Spanish obscenities under his breath as he exited the chamber. Before the door could be shut and locked, he forced his way back in and attacked Styles. He rammed him into the pod doors and the steel chain cage before finally giving him a brainbuster on the chamber floor. DiBiase took advantage of the situation. As Guerrero walked away, DiBiase dragged Guerrero under the ropes and pinned him for three-count.
A solid five-minutes passed with DiBiase fighting Piper, then Piper fighting Triple H, then Triple H fighting DiBiase. When DiBiase and Piper were paired off again, DiBiase grabbed Piper by the front of his tights and pulled him forward as he fell to the mat, effectively sending Piper’s face crashing into an exposed turnbuckle. DiBiase sprung to his feet and put Piper in the Million Dollar Dream. Piper got towards the corner, stepped up on the turnbuckles and fell back, folding over into a pin. DiBiase released the hold before the count of three. When they got back up, they traded blows and Piper threw a knockout jab that put DiBiase on spaghetti legs. Piper then put DiBiase in his own version of the sleeper hold. DiBiase tried the same trick as Piper to turn it into a pin, but Piper released the hold as DiBiase pushed his foot off the top turnbuckle, causing him to fall on his shoulders and neck. Then Piper got him in a small package to get the three-count.
Piper and Triple H began to throw down. They were both busted open and had a bloody brawl all over the chamber. Triple H catapulted Piper into the side of the cage and then rammed his head into the cage a few times with lariats to the back of the neck as he was pinned against the cage. He grabbed Piper and hip tossed him back into the ring. Once back in the ring he set up for the Pedigree, but Piper countered with a back body drop that sent Triple H over the ropes and onto the hard chamber floor. Piper whipped Triple H into the side of the cage, then picked him up as if to give him an atomic drop but dropped him onto the top rope and then shook the ropes violently for extra damage. Piper picked up Triple H and gave him a fisherman’s suplex. Triple H managed to kick out just in time.
Piper picked up Triple H and whipped him into the corner. Triple H hit with such impact that he came right out of the corner. Piper kicked him in the mid-section and got the double underhooks in on him. Triple H quickly gave him a back body drop to avoid receiving his own finisher. Piper made it to his feet first. He went to pick up Triple H, who gave him a low blow and a lariat. He picked up Piper and gave him the Pedigree. Three seconds later, the match was over. Triple H had the win and with it, a Mash-Up Wrestling Men’s World Championship title shot against Samoa Joe at Wrestlemania!
Official Decision
Triple H wins by last eliminating Rowdy Roddy Piper by pinfall at 35:47.
***
GRUDGE MATCH
Keith Lee vs. Mark Henry
These two superheavyweights had tests of strength and both of them gave the other one a bear hug to try to wear their opponent down. Punches and kicks with a lot of power landed on each man. There were plenty of clotheslines that connected but couldn’t knock their recipient down. Finally, Lee knocked Henry off his feet with a pounce. Henry escaped to the outside. Lee followed and a ringside brawl began. Henry tried to whip Lee into the steps. Lee reversed it and Henry moved them about three-feet. Later, Henry tackled Lee with such force that a section of the barricade was dislodged on contact. Neither man made it back to the ring after that. The match was called a double countout, a result that was poorly received by the fans. Henry and Cornette claimed victory as they left ringside.
Lee was being taken out on a stretcher. Halfway up the ramp, Lee got off the stretcher. He received a pop as he walked away, clutching his ribs. As he turned at the top of the ramp to acknowledge the fans one more time, Henry returned and knocked him down from behind. Henry finished his assault by giving Lee a World’s Strongest Slam on the entrance stage. Then, he picked up Lee, strapped him to the stretcher and pushed it off the side of the entrance stage!
Official Decision
Double countout at 7:33.
***
SIX-MAN TAG TEAM GRUDGE MATCH
The Undertaker, Daniel Bryan & Ricky Steamboat vs. Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper & Erick Rowan
Bray Wyatt and The Undertaker were exchanging blows in the middle of the ring when Wyatt leaned back to avoid a big haymaker. Then he grabbed The Undertaker and executed a uri-nage slam. He quickly picked him up and set him up for Sister Abigail, but he shoved Wyatt into the turnbuckles, then scooped him up and gave him snake eyes. He ran to the far side of the ring to go for a running, jumping clothesline, but Wyatt took him off his feet with a flying cross chop. The referee administered a standing 10-count on both of them. At seven, The Undertaker sat up. Wyatt lifted himself up into an inverted crab walk and came towards The Undertaker. It didn’t frighten The Deadman, who simply hauled off and kicked him in the face from his seated position.
They each went to make tags. Daniel Bryan and Erick Rowan came in. Bryan ducked a clothesline and hit a variation of the Hart Attack clothesline. He started giving Rowan some Yes! Kicks. Luke Harper came in to stop him and Ricky Steamboat came in to defend him. A large brawl broke out and saw Steamboat give Rowan a running crossbody that knocked them through the ropes and out to the floor. When they got up, Rowan gave Stemaboat fists and Steamboat gave him chops back. Bryan took out Rowan with a topé suicida. Moments later, Harper took Bryan out with a tope suicida. Then, The Undertaker did an over-the-top-rope dive into the pile to knock them all down.
Wyatt came along and joined the brawl outside the ring. Harper and Rowan were able to get a hold of The Undertaker and give him a double crucifix bomb onto the steel ring steps. Meanwhile, Bryan and Steamboat collaborated on a double vertical suplex that they gave to Wyatt on the exposed floor of the entrance aisle. Once back in the ring, Rowan gave Bryan a full-nelson slam and pinned him, but Bryan kicked out. Rowan went for a running splash, but Bryan rolled out of the way. He waited for Rowan to get up and hit him with the running high knee. Harper came in to attack and Steamboat cut him off with a dropkick as Bryan made the cover to get the win. Although the match was over, The Undertaker and Wyatt continued to brawl in the entrance aisle, up the ramp to the stage and all the way to the back.
Official Decision
The Undertaker, Daniel Bryan and Ricky Steamboat win by pinfall at 18:52.
***
FALLS COUNT ANYWHERE MATCH
Rhea Ripley vs. Jazz
Rhea Ripley and Jazz were out of the ring and brawling around ringside within the opening minute of the contest. The ringsteps were dislodged from the turnbuckle post when Jazz whipped Ripley into them. Ripley threw Jazz into the barricade a few times. They came back into the ring for a couple of minutes before leaving it again for good. Ripley charged at Jazz to go for a clothesline but received a back body drop into the front row. Ripley climbed the guardrail and they brawled through the crowd for a while. They came back to ringside and fought up the entrance ramp where Jazz gave Ripley a vertical suplex on the ramp. Up to the top of the stage, Jazz slammed Ripley into a panel of the LED boards. She backed away and charged at Ripley, who gave her a big boot. A second attempt to charge at her was met with a scoop up into a fallaway slam that sent Jazz crashing into the LED-board.
The brawl continued back behind the entrance set, into the gorilla position and further into the backstage area. All along the way, a variety of weapons were used and many bundles of clang-y poles were knocked down along their path. They eventually re-emerged from the backstage area through one of the curtains along the side of the entrance stage. Jazz gave Ripley a Jazz Stinger on the concrete floor. She thought she had won the match when made the pin, but Ripley kicked out, so she lifted Ripley onto a bank of amplifiers. They fought some more, trading blows while teetering precariously on the amps when, finally, Ripley executed Riptide on Jazz while falling off the amplifiers down into a table with some electronic sound boards and other equipment on it. After the fall, Ripley pinned Jazz and won the match.
Official Decision
Rhea Ripley wins by pinfall at 15:26.
***
GRUDGE MATCH
Bret “The Hitman” Hart vs. Chris Jericho
Bret Hart went for an Irish-whip. Chris Jericho reversed it and took Hart off his feet with a spinning heel kick. Jericho executed a lionsault and pinned him. Hart kicked out at two. Jericho told the ref to count faster before whipping Hart into the corner. Jericho charged at Hart, but he got a boot to the face. Hart came out of the corner and caught Jericho’s attempted kick and gave him a dragon leg screw whip instead. Hart went to work on his leg. He wrenched it, kicked it, elbow dropped it, and gave seated sentons to it. He picked up Jericho and gave him a pendulum backbreaker before stomping at his lower back. Hart picked up Jericho and gave him a side Russian legsweep and then climbed to the second turnbuckle and executed a pointed elbow drop. He covered and Jericho kicked out at two. Then, he quickly went for the Sharpshooter, but Jericho fought it off, grabbing Hart by the Hart and punching him until he let go. Jericho got up using the ropes and Hart gave him a running clothesline that sent him out to the floor. Next, he gave Jericho a topé suicida that sent him into the barricade.
Jake Hager came around to distract Hart, which prompted Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart to come at Hager. The referee exited the ring to get in between the two big men. He threatened to expel them from ringside if they didn’t back off. Meanwhile, Jericho thumbed Hart in the eye. Then, the camera spotted someone in a hood handing something to Jericho from the other side of the barricade. Jericho nailed Hat with a punch from a brassknuckle adorned fist. He handed the knucks back to the hoodlum. Cameras caught a glimped of the face under the hood as he turned to leave the front row. It was Sammy Guevara. This was of significance because the Inner Circle and Hart Foundation were notified that only one member of each faction would be permitted at ringside. Jericho picked up Hart and tosses him into the ring where he made the cover. Hart managed to get a shoulder up to beat the count. Jericho grabbed Hart by the legs and turned him over into the Walls of Jericho. Hart was in clear pain, but he refused to give up. It took him about a half a minute, but he got over to the ropes to force a clean break.
Jericho did some showboating while Hart was picking himself up off the mat with the help of the ropes. Jericho went for the Judas Effect. Hart ducked. He gave Jericho an atomic drop and a running bulldog. Hart pinned him for a 2-count. Hart chopblocked Jericho and then stomped on his lower back. He also gave him a few elbow drops to the area. He successfully applied the Sharpshooter this time. Jericho was writhing in pain. He started crawling towards the ropes. He was nearing them but then Hart started to pull him away. Hager quickly ran over, reached out for Jericho’s outstretched arms, got a hold of his hands and pulled him into the ropes, which incidentally caused the hold to be broken. Neidhart ran over and attacked Hager. A fight was on at ringside. Hart was complaining to the referee, who turned his attention to the fight outside the ring. He was trying to tell Hager and Neidhart they were expelled from ringside, when Jericho gave Hart a vicious low blow from the front and a Codebreaker! Jericho got up and waited for Hart to get to his feet before charging at him and nailing him with the Judas Effect. He got the referee’s attention and pinned Hart. 1…2…3!
Official Decision
Chris Jericho wins by pinfall at 19:12.
***
ELIMINATION CHAMBER MATCH
Bayley vs. Beth Phoenix vs. Bianca Belair vs. Mickie James vs. Nikki Bella vs. Ruby Riott
Bayley and Bianca Belair had the unfortunate task of starting the Elimination Chamber. During this time, Belair used her power to get the better of Bayley until she used tactics that would be considered illegal in any other match to gain the upper hand. Mickie James was the first woman out of a pod. She used speed and quick attacks to control the pacing of the match for the first couple of minutes she was in the ring, but then a springboard hurricanrana attempt was blocked by Belair, who used her power to swing James into the side of the chamber, then lift her up into a seated position on her shoulders and ram her into the chamber wall before dropping her on the chamber floor with a powerbomb.
Beth Phoenix was the next woman to enter the chamber. Her power met Belair’s power in the center of the ring. They tied up and both women had a hard time getting the other one off their feet. They decided to try a test of strength. Belair appeared to get the better of it, but Phoenix battle back and got Belair’s shoulders to the mat for a 1-count. Belair got her feet under Phoenix and kind of monkey flipped her out of the hold, but Phoenix kept her fingers locked with Belair’s, that is, until Bayley broke her bridge with a diving elbow drop to the abdomen. Mickie James re-entered the ring and the four of them kept brawling until the next woman entered the match.
That was Ruby Riott. She took the fight straight to Bayley. She would shove others away and hit them, but her focus was trained on Bayley, who with Nikki Bella, abandoned her during a 6-woman tag team match on the last Smackdown before this event. Riott gave Bayley a We Riot diving senton and then a shining wizard and pinned her to make the first elimination about a minute before Nikki Bella was set to enter the match. Riott stood by the pod door waiting. Bella looked to the outside and complained to the referees, who told her there was nothing she could do about it. When the buzzer sounded, Bella tried to keep the door shut. Riott helped the referees get it open and entered the pod to bring the fight to Bella. In there, she repeatedly slammed Bella into the plexiglass sections of the pod.
Back in the ring, Mickie James went for a Mick Kick on Belair, but she blocked it and gave her a facebuster. Belair picked her up and executed the K.O.D. and pinned her to eliminate Mickie James. As the chamber door opened to allow James to leave, Bella forced her way out while trying to escape Riott, who followed her out and fought with her in the entrance aisle, slamming her into the barricade. After Riott gave Bella a snap suplex on the floor, she was hit in the back with a steel chair by Bayley. Referees tried to get in the way, but were scared off by Bayley swinging the chair around. She hit Riott again, dropped the chair and gave her an arm-trap headlock driver into the chair. Bayley and Bella held tense glares at each other for a moment until Bayley motioned to Bella that Riott was all hers. Bella couldn’t be more delighted. She brought a lifeless Riott back into the chamber, tossed her into the ring and gave her the Rack Attack before pinning her for the elimination.
The match was down to its three most powerful contestants. Bella was the least powerful of them, but that doesn’t mean she couldn’t hang. She nearly eliminated Phoenix with an Alabama slam and gave Belair a superplex out of the corner. She lifted Phoenix onto her shoulders to give her the Rack Attack but she broke free and gave her a two-handed sit-out chokebomb. Next, Phoenix gave Bella a Beth Valley Driver and pinned her to get the elimination. Belair immediately attacked her from behind. She gave Phoenix a spear and pinned her, but Phoenix kicked out. Next, she gave her powerslam and pinned her, but again she kicked out. Belair decided to go up to the top rope. She went for a 450-degree splash. Phoenix got her knees up. Right after that, Phoenix gave Belair the Glam Slam and pinned her for the 1-2-3! Beth Phoenix is going to Wrestlemania to face Asuka for the Mash-Up Wrestling Women’s World Championship!
Official Decision
Beth Phoenix wins by last eliminating Bianca Belair by pinfall at 28:31.
***
WWE UNIVERSAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Featuring Special Guest Referee: John Cena
Hulk Hogan vs. Roman Reigns
In the corner, Roman Reigns was laying some stiff forearms in on Hulk Hogan before choking him out with his boot. He stopped when John Cena reached the count of four. Reigns gave Hogan a few kicks to the abdomen and when back to the rope-assisted foot choke until Cena reached the count of four. Cena warned Reigns that he was running the risk of disqualification. Heyman got vocal about that. Reigns had a few choice words with the referee, himself. Hogan grabbed Reigns and swapped spots with him. He threw punches and knife-edge chops. Hogan went for a cross-corner whip and followed Reigns in. Reigns moved and Hogan’s chest hit the top turnbuckle. Reigns grabbed Hogan from behind and gave him a side belly-to-back suplex. He made the cover and Hogan kicked out. Reigns applied a headlock, which slowed the action down.
Slowly, but surely, Hogan started to hulk up. He broke the headlock with three elbows to the mid-section, then he ran to the ropes. Reigns gave him a Samoan drop and covered him for a long 2-count. Reigns backed away and readied for a spear. Hogan got up and Reigns charged at him. Hogan stepped forward and took him off his feet with a big boot to the head. Reigns hit the mat hard. He popped up almost instantly, but he was clearly reeling. Hogan dropped him again with a pair of running clotheslines, which he followed up with an atomic drop and a bodyslam. He went for the running leg drop, but Reigns rolled out of the way.
Hogan and Reigns got up at the same time to beat Cena’s standing ten-count at eight. Reigns went for a Superman punch. Hogan leaned out of the way. He connected with a few punches and whipped Reigns into the corner. He charged at him. Reigns got a boot up and then threw Hogan into the corner where he pummeled him with ten lariats. Reigns gave him a cross-corner whip and then connected with a Superman punch. Reigns made the pin but Hogan kicked out and started to hulk up.
Reigns hammered away at him with forearms, but they didn’t seem to have an effect. Hogan fired back with punches and sent Reigns into the corner where he hit him with a running clothesline before mounting the second turnbuckle and giving him ten-punches. Hogan gave Reigns a vertical suplex out of the corner and pinned him. Reigns kicked out at two. Hogan picked him up and gave him a bodyslam. He ran to the ropes. Reigns popped up and hit a spear. He pinned Hogan, who kicked out at the last moment. Reigns was pissed and started to argue with Cena about a slow count. Tony Schiavone speculated that Hogan was able to kick out because Reigns didn’t get as much impact on that spear because he didn’t build any momentum with his usual running start.
Hogan rolled out to the floor. Heyman told Reigns to stay on him. Reigns hopped out of the ring and stalked Hogan. As he grabbed him from behind, Hogan spun around and slammed Reigns’ face into the turnbuckle post. He grabbed Reigns and gave him a vertical suplex. Hogan picked up Reigns and rolled him into the ring. Hogan entered and stomped on Reigns as he tried to get up. Then, he executed a sit-out piledriver. Hogan cupped his ear in all directions for the fans and heard them loud and clear. He ran to the ropes and returned to land a running log drop. Hogan pinned. Cena got in position to make the count. 1…2… the count stopped. Cena had been pulled out of position by Paul Heyman! Cena banished Heyman from ringside and an argument began.
Hogan was now upset at Cena and demanding to know why he stopped the count. He was losing his cool with Cena, and then he was shoved from behind by Reigns, sending him bumping into Cena, who fell back and hit the back of his head on the middle turnbuckle. Hogan went for a running clothesline on Reigns. He ducked it, ran into the ropes and came back to nail a hard spear. He made the cover, but Cena was out of it. Reigns shouted at Cena, who shook the cobwebs out and crawled over to make the count. 1…2… kick out!
Reigns was really upset now. He grabbed Cena by his referee’s shirt and lifted him up to his feet. He lit into him. Cena ripped Reigns’ hand off him and told him he was out of line, so Reigns responded by doing something out of line. He slapped Cena across the face. The referee was suddenly awake. Like a raging bull, he lifted Reigns onto his shoulders. Reigns tried to fight his way down, but he failed. Cena gave him the Attitude Adjustment. Heyman was still at ringside, and he was now apoplectic. Hogan saw Reigns down on the mat. He didn’t know what had happened but saw his opening and gave him another running leg drop. He covered him. 1…2…3!
Hogan got the win. Cena raised his hand and then left the scene. In the show’s dying moments, we saw Cena walking away from the ring, shaking his head out of frustration at the whole situation, Hogan celebrating in the ring, Reigns motionless on the mat, and Heyman shouting at Michael Cole and Tony Schiavone that he would be filing a motion to protest the outcome of this match.
Official Decision
Hulk Hogan retains the WWE Universal Championship by pinfall at 17:32.
***