Figure Four Weekly: Recapping Elimination Chamber and the Reigns-Strowman decision

What had been expected for nearly a year became official on Sunday night as Brock Lesnar defending the Universal Championship against Roman Reigns was announced for WrestleMania 34.

Reigns defeated Braun Strowman, Seth Rollins, Finn Balor, John Cena, Elias, and The Miz in the main event of the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view to set up him challenging Lesnar at WrestleMania. The match came down to Reigns and Strowman, with Reigns finally putting him down with two spears.

But, both before and after they became the final two, the match was largely about Strowman. He kicked out of pretty much everything (including a spear earlier), eliminated all five other wrestlers, and stood tall after a post-match beatdown of Reigns. WWE tried to accomplish two things at once: put Reigns over Strowman clean and still have Strowman come out of it as strong as possible. In doing so, they limited the effectiveness of both of their goals.

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