Overall, the match was solid, even though it was sold on a lack of buildup or tension between the combatants beyond wanting the Raw women's title. Everyone stuck to what they did best and the veterans, mostly, carried the lion's share of the action.
(Mandy Rose got a chance to showcase some of her power before wisely booked out as the first elimination. Source: WWE.com)
Mandy Rose was utilized correctly, making the most of her willingness to take tough bumps and abilities as a striker. With the exception of a flapjack on Sasha Banks, her story was kept simple en route to her first elimination. I still question Rose getting in this match over the more technically reliable Alicia Fox, but Paige's career-ending injury necessitated someone getting in the cage who wasn't ready.
(A newly toughened Bayley gets some hang time on Sonya Deville. Source: WWE.com)
Deville fared better, although violent settings like the chamber don't give one a chance to show her grappling skills. Not surprisingly, she was eliminated next by Mickie James, whose time was far too short in the cage. James leaped from a pod getting some outstanding hang time and a big pop.
I was surprised James made such a rapid exit after giving fans the most memorable high spots of the match. The best WWE creative could do with her was a flimsy ad hoc alliance with the champion, which was irrelevant as Bliss never entered the chamber until her seeming cohort was gone.
(James had the most memorable spots of the match before her elimination. Source: WWE.com)
In the end Sasha Banks and Bayley, working together in the short term, carried the load to the end with Bliss finally emerging from her pod, only to try to lock herself in it. The champ was every bit the sneaky, cowardly, but ultimately conniving opportunist. In the end Bliss's major highlight was the best promo of her career once the match ended. Before the final bell, she was able to hang back and watch the ad hoc partnership between Bayley and the Boss abruptly end with a nasty little smile as Banks kicked Bayley in the face, knocking her off the pod as they followed Bliss upward onto the structure.
(Mere minutes before stabbing her bff in the back, Banks and Bayley close in on the champ. Source: WWE.com)
En route to a hit-or-miss style conclusion, in which Bliss made Banks pay for her high-risk style with a snap DDT off the top turnbuckle, this match served as some character rehab for Bayley.
(With friends like this... Source: WWE Network)
(Source: WWE Network)
Hugger #1 carried herself as far tougher than the woman who couldn't even pick up a kendo stick en route to a character burial last summer. She took what she gave in the chains and steel, bowing out to Bliss in a surprise rollup after getting some payback on Banks with an avalanche Bayley-to-Belly off the top rope. This is one of the best matches of Bayley's turbulent main roster career.
(Bliss seizes the opportunity with a snap DDT off the top rope. Source: WWE Network)
Banks showed she's come a long way since the exciting but uneven Hell In A Cell match she had with Charlotte Flair in 2016. She was crisp, did her best to make the new jacks Rose and Deville look good before their eliminations. Her abilities as a sports entertainer in this match were even more important. With the lame buildup to this spectacle, the audience needed hooked in at the opening bell and she proved again that with a smile or a tear, a kick to the face is so much more than a kick to the face.
(What price glory? Source: WWE Network)
It's worth noting that the camera trained on her several times during Bliss' post-match promo, as if Alexa's smarmy admonishment of the crowd was indirectly aimed at Banks. The Boss hung her head, again bitterly wrestling with defeat after a compelling match. It sold Bliss's best mic spot of her career and brought great heat for Five Feet of Fury and opens up story possibilities for the title feud going into WrestleMania.
(Bliss comes under critical fire at times for being pushed as a 100% homegrown Performance Center talent, but her value is undeniable. Source: WWE.com)
So far WWE creative seems content with letting this play out on Twitter and relegating the women to huge ensemble tag matches. While tweens and some millennials readily embrace Twitter and Facebook as part of their WWE entertainment, the women will not continue to evolve if we're left with vague one-liners and one-off tag snubs. After this solidly entertaining match, that was not what any of the Team Red women needed on the post-chamber Raw.
(Bayley about to blow off the Boss. Source: WWE.com)
Fans hate to love Alexa Bliss as one of the top heels in WWE and we have great potential for a secondary feud to explode between Banks and best friend Bayley, but no real groundwork is laid, and even the most social media savvy aren't going to feel like they're getting the entertainment they want--in or out of the ring-- on Twitter.
(Be despised for fun and profit! Source: WWE.com)
This is certainly better than 2010, but WWE is leaving money and another potential surge of growth for women at the top level on the table. As of this writing the trending video at WWE.com about the whole Bayley/Banks thing asks "is trouble brewing?" This should have degraded into a brawl and burned bridges to light the way to WrestleMania, but we're going to pretend there is a mystery. That's akin to saying The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a who-dun-it.
In light of reigniting a slow burn for Raw's besties from last year, Asuka's story remains unclear. There is no clear contender beyond Fastlane for a Mania bout for the Smackdown championship, and Asuka vs. Charlotte has that match of the year feel. In light of Carmella's perpetual holding of the Money In The Bank case and the potential of Asuka vs. Rousey in the future, this is one decision that could be a real surprise either way. Beyond the story in the ring, however, WWE has lost their way in getting more good storylines for their main roster women, and that is not the position they should be in this close to the Show of Shows.
In the next Glitter and Slam, I will analyze the Mixed Match Challenge as indicated in my last column. There was simply too much going on with the Elimination Chamber and the post-ppv Raw to get it in this time.
Follow me on Twitter: @weskozalla #glitterandslam
Follow Ace and Wrestlementary: @WrestlementaryT
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