It was about time.
In the course of one of the best Elimination Chamber matches, we crowded a brand new WWE Champion. It certainly set up the expected Orton-Wyatt WrestleMania 33 match that many saw coming. But how we got to that point was the truly surprising part.
But what were the most surprising parts of the very unpredictable 2017 Elimination Chamber?
I expected some very predictable results on the Road to WrestleMania and they didn’t happen. It led to some very fun moments throughout the highly enjoyable night. I present my list of the top five most surprising moments of the 2017 Elimination Chamber:
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#5 Mickie James lost
Mickie James was brought in as a force to the already strong Smackdown Women’s Division. It seemed like she had some tailor-made matches with the always strong Becky Lynch and her new alliance with Alexa Bliss could have led to some intriguing possibilities in the coming months.
So naturally, it was a no-brainer that Mickie would win her first singles match since her dramatic return and build her momentum for the future feuds. Then she lost.
Also read: 5 greatest Elimination Chamber victories
In what was likely the best women’s match of the night, Mickie seemed in control of the entire match. While I expected Becky to get in the offence, I am sure a lot of us were shocked when Lynch got the quick roll-up for the win.
It makes me wonder how Mickie can look like a credible threat going forward on Smackdown.
#4 Luke Harper was made a Star
How is Luke Harper not a star in Vince’s eyes? He has the size at 6’5 but can move like a lot of the smaller wrestlers with his impressive move set. He just needed some more quality singles matches at a pay-per-view. And that did happen at the Elimination Chamber.
They always say that wins and losses don’t matter (maybe, see above) and that could be true here. The crowd was sure into Luke Harper like never before as they cheered his every move and booed Orton mercilessly. Naturally, Orton got the win but Harper got the crowd behind him.
I hope Vince was listening, he could have a talented face in Harper going forward.
#3 Naomi won the Title
Naomi has had an interesting run in the WWE. She started as a backup dancer for Brodus Clay. She started to wrestle more and more but never was able to get that moment of glory in her five years on the main roster. I am certain most of us would have expected her to just be a filler opponent for Alexa on her road to other opponents.
So imagine my shock when Naomi broke through to win her first Women’s Championship. The crowd seem surprised and gave her a “You deserve it!” chant. It would have been one of the most surprising moments if it wasn’t for the main event.
Where Naomi and the Smackdown Women’s Championship go from here I do not know.
#2 John Cena loses the WWE Title, clean
John Cena has been given the reputation of “burying” wrestlers over the years. He always seemed to find a way to overcome the odds time and time again and defeat those evil bad guys repeatedly in the last fifteen years.
Even when he did lose it was always because of some underhanded tactics. So you could hear the shock in the crowd when John Cena took a finisher and lost clean to Bray Wyatt.
This is the same John Cena who pretty much destroyed Bray Wyatt during the WrestleMania 30 season. So it was pretty cool to see John finally return the favour and put Bray Wyatt over in a big way heading into WrestleMania 33. There was no trick or underhanded tactics. Cena simply put another wrestler over.
I don’t know what is more shocking, the clean Cena loss or the fact that Cena dropped the title in just 14 days.
#1 Bray Wyatt wins his first World title, clean
Say what you will about Bray Wyatt but he sure has had a long and rough road to stardom and the WWE Championship. He has been on the losing end of three WrestleMania matches/moments with Undertaker, John Cena and The Rock.
He constantly got involved in major feuds and was always on the losing end. Heck, he lost an unnecessary match to a nearly 50-year-old Kane just last year. Bray was the intriguing character who talked a big game but never got the big win.
The shock in the crowd was quite clear when he pinned John Cena. The man who caused him so many bad moments over the year had just lost to Bray cleanly. It set-up AJ Styles versus Bray Wyatt for the WWE title.
I wrote in another article that I assumed Randy Orton would surely help Bray Wyatt win. Why? Because Bray has never overcome the odds by himself.
So when he beat John Cena and then AJ Styles without resorting to any cheating at all, that was the biggest shock of all. Bray Wyatt finally got his well-deserved moment in the sun and he did it by himself.
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