WWE SmackDown Grades: AJ Styles Makes An Elimination Chamber Statement

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3. Randy Orton vs. Mustafa Ali

The Elimination Chamber pay-per-view is less than two weeks away and it guarantees to be a huge roadblock on the road to WrestleMania.  One of the two chamber matches will feature six of the top superstars on SmackDown competing for the right to be called WWE Champion.

Two of those six superstars competed against each other for the first time last night when Randy Orton battled Mustafa Ali in an enticing matchup for the WWE universe.  Ali has had a lot of success since joining the blue brand in recent months and he has developed into a true threat, but The Viper is always a threat and he has been for 15 years in the WWE.

This match turned out to be very good from start to finish with a lot of impressive elements.  The homework done by Ali paid huge dividends in this match as he was ready for anything Orton threw at him.  Some of that just made The Viper angry, however, and he still managed to control the match throughout parts of it.  One turning point was where Orton was set to hit Ali with an RKO after Ali jumped off the top rope, but Ali knew it was coming and took advantage of it.

Just when it looked like Ali was going to pull it off, though, Orton threw Ali off of the top rope directly into a picture-perfect RKO outta nowhere to get the win.  Samoa Joe decided to intervene after the match was over by choking out Orton and adding more insult to injury to Ali, staking his claim for the Elimination Chamber where he hopes to become WWE Champion.  In terms of just Orton vs. Ali, this was a great match that was mutually beneficial.

It should be interesting to see if these two square off again in the future, but last night surely got off to a great start.

Final Grade: A