WWE: 5 Missed Opportunities from the Women’s Elimination Chamber Match
By Everndran
Credit: WWE.com
4. A payoff to the Alexa Bliss and Mickie James angle
When WWE announced that the first-ever women’s Elimination Chamber match would take place just a month after the triumphant women’s Royal Rumble match, many felt that the company was rushing to present this momentous bout, as there were no concrete narratives or enough credible competitors to step inside the massive structure. However, even with the timeframe allocated to the creative team, they started developing angles and there was no storyline more prevalent than that of Alexa Bliss persuading Mickie James.
WWE spent an entire month weaving the narrative of Alexa Bliss scavenging for an ally to assist her inside the Elimination Chamber. While James was portrayed as a learned veteran who knew Bliss’s secret plan of using her to walk out of the match as champion, she eventually aligned herself with Bliss. Bliss and James alliance drama was such a priority for WWE that it was the penultimate narrative going into the pay-per-view on the go home episode of Monday Night Raw.
The creative team didn’t even bother highlighting other storylines that needed their attention heading into this match. Tales such as the developing animosity between Bayley and Sasha Banks didn’t get much of a tease. There was no indication of Absolution turning on each other for championship gold or the fact that Paige might be jealous that her protégés received the chance to step inside the first women’s Elimination Chamber before her, as she’s been an anchor in the women’s revolution for years.
But the shaky alliance dilemma between Bliss and James was the presented as the final and most important narrative in the match. Therefore, it was outrageous that it never got a fitting conclusion. The very next night on Raw, James somehow aligned herself with Bliss for no apparent reason – when the night earlier James stated that she knew Bliss’s endgame and how she is trying to utilize her for her own selfish gains. WWE could’ve avoided this confusing situation if they had given James a reason to align herself with Bliss inside the chamber.
As the WWE Universe knew this narrative had two possible outcomes, either James and Bliss predictably betray each other, or they dominate the match as a strong team. While that is not a ground-breaking narrative, WWE had various routes they could’ve taken to reach the current angle of Bliss being booked as the cowardly heel champion and James as her shocking partner.