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The Week That Was in Pro Wrestling: WrestleMania picture becoming clearer, Bullet Club getting murkier

By JP Abcede

This was an eventful week as New Japan Pro-Wrestling had a major event during the weekend, while World Wrestling Entertainment held the Elimination Chamber event on Monday, Philippine time.

Bullet Club implosion continues at Honor Rising

The friction between the two alpha males of the Bullet Club, Kenny Omega and "The American Nightmare" Cody, continue to escalate as they headlined a pair of tag matches in the two nights of NJPW's Honor Rising on February 23 and 24.

The two went 1-1 in their head-to-head with the Bullet Club, composed of Marty Scurll, Hangman Page, and Cody, defeating the reformed Golden Lovers tag team of Omega and Kota Ibushi, who was joined by Chase Owens in a six-man tag bout on the first night. Omega and Ibushi then went on to win against Scurll and Cody the following evening in a traditional tag match.

All of the titles at stake in the weekend stayed with their respective owners as Hirooki Goto retained the NEVER openweight championship against Beer City Bruiser on Saturday, while the Guerillas of Destiny, together with HIKULEO, beat the trio of Cheeseburger, Delirious, and Jushin Thunder Liger to hold on to the NEVER openweight six-man tag team belt.

Finally, Dalton Castle kept possession of the ROH world championship after prevailing in a three-way against Beretta and Beer City Bruiser.

Strowman dominates, Reings wins at Elimination Chamber

The outcome of the men's elimination chamber match might have been expected, with Roman Reigns overcoming six others for the right to face Brock Lesnar for the WWE universal championship at WrestleMania 34. However, it was Braun Strowman whose light shone the brightest as he pinned all of the other combatants save for Reigns.

The incumbent titleholders were victorious in their respective fights with Alexa Bliss besting Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville of Absolution, Bayley, Mickie James, and Sasha Banks in the first ever women's elimination chamber bout. The Bar also kept Titus Worldwide at bay to remain as the Raw tag team champs.

Impassioned promos highlight Raw and SmackDown Live

With WrestleMania just a few weeks away, WWE superstars turned up the heat as several talents aired their grievances on the mic.

The Miz was his usual best, stating the fact that there is still no program for the WWE intercontinental championship at this point. Raw general manager Kurt Angle then went on to book the eight-time IC champ to two succssive matches, where he went up against Seth Rollins and Finn Bálor, losing to them both.

Meanwhile, Reigns sets his sight on Lesnar, pointing out the fact that the former UFC heavyweight champion is "hiding under his contract", limiting his appearances to select Raw episodes and even fewer PPV events.

In the only title bout that evening, The Bar swept Titus Worldwide in a best-of-three falls match, as they also wait for a challenger going into the big event in April.

Over at SmackDown Live, John Cena pleaded his case of earning an opportunity to make it to WWE's biggest show as he went to the blue brand to enter himself in the already stacked WWE championship match for Fastlane, which he formally did after beating AJ Styles.

However, the highlight of the night was when the New Day and the Usos rekindled their rivalry in a promo showdown, with each team emphasizing that they both have been on top of the food chain for the past few years, which only ended when the Bludgeon Brothers brought their gigantic mallets with them inside the ring.

Asuka keeps streak with the help of Miz; Alexander, Strong advance

The two WWE tournaments going on right now progressed to the quarterfinal round with Team Awe-ska winning over Bálor and Banks at the Mixed Match Challenge. Cedric Alexander pinned TJP and Roderick Strong stopped Kalisto to set up a battle of backbreaker specialists in the semifinals of the cruiserweight tourney.