WWE Elimination Chamber 2015 Results: Worst Booking Decisions from PPV

In the wake of WWE's latest pay-per-view, Elimination Chamber, a great deal of time has spent heaping praise upon the company's writing staff for putting Kevin Owens over John Cena. While WWE Creative certainly deserves recognition for that star-making booking decision, it was but one bright spot in a show full of questionable choices.

From the layout of the Elimination Chamber matches to those who went over other Superstars on the show, there were numerous decisions that left fans wondering what the writers were thinking when putting the event together.

On a night when WWE was heralded for looking toward the future with Owens and the main event picture, it was the typical misuse of the midcard that plagued the rest of the broadcast.

Continue to celebrate Owens' win for being the absolute right move in the grand scheme of things, but keep in mind these missteps made by the wildly inconsistent writing of WWE Creative.

Credit: WWE.com

Tag Team Elimination Chamber Match Layout

The biggest mistake made with the tag team Elimination Chamber bout was in the layout of the contest.

The Ascension is nowhere near over enough to be put in the position it was in on Sunday night. As one of the first two teams in the match, it was trusted to provide the foundation for the match.

Given its performances on the main roster to date, there was no reason for WWE Creative or the agents in charge of the match to put The Ascension in that situation, nor was there a suitable explanation for them beating The Lucha Dragons, who had been on a roll leading into the show.

Cesaro and Tyson Kidd were horribly booked, the third team to enter the match and the fourth eliminated. In fact, it was the performance of Cesaro that elevated the match from horribly disappointing to mildly passable.

That is not to mention the fact that while Young was pinning Cesaro with the schoolboy roll-up, Kidd also had Kofi Kingston pinned for a count of three. Thus, in theory, The New Day should have been eliminated at the same time.

Was it nice to see the Prime Time Players get some shine after years of being underutilized? Yes, but it came at the expense of the former champions, whose elimination sucked the life out of the crowd. By the time The New Day successfully retained the titles, the audience was sitting on its hands, their emotional investment gone.

It was a horribly mismanaged match and the worst possible way to kick off the night's festivities.

And in what universe does it make sense for Xavier Woods and El Torito to join their respective teams inside the structure?

Credit: WWE.com

King Barrett Jobs Out...

The WWE Intercontinental Championship Elimination Chamber match was the night's worst match, bar none.

Not only was there a distinct awkwardness midway through the match as the competitors tried to sell the effect of Sheamus' pod door not opening, but there was the absolutely ridiculous decision on the part of management to eliminate King Barrett first. 

Worst yet? His departure came at the hands of R-Truth, a perennial jobber whose days of climbing up the card and achieving any measurable success are over.

Why would the company even go through the trouble of putting Barrett over Dolph Ziggler and Neville en route to becoming the 2015 King of the Ring if the intent was to use him more ineffectively than they did before?

And before anyone mentions that he was basically attacked three-on-one by Ziggler, Truth and Mark Henry, thus protecting him in some strange fashion, go back in time and take a look at the booking of the Brit over the last five years and determine if it is reasonable to search for a silver lining here.

Credit: WWE.com

...and So Does Naomi

When Naomi turned heel and began a huge push that saw her ascend to the top of the Divas division, its lead villain in a battle against champion Nikki Bella and consistent top contender Paige, it felt like WWE Creative had an opportunity to finally put the Divas title on her and let her run with it for a few months.

Since then, she has been pinned in two straight pay-per-view title bouts. Sure, at Payback she picked up a big win over the Bella Twins, but only with the assistance of Tamina.

Now the question is: What is next for Naomi after Sunday's loss?

Surely WWE Creative cannot expect fans to believe in her as a legitimate challenger to the Divas Championship when she has done nothing to suggest she can win when the opportunity presents itself.

With the spotlight about to shift from the former Funkadactyl back to Nikki and Paige, Elimination Chamber may very well have been Naomi's last-gasp attempt to earn herself championship gold in WWE.

Credit: WWE.com

The Main Event Finish

For all intents and purposes, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins were in the midst of a quality main event when the WWE world heavyweight champion pulled referee John Cone in the path of a flying Ambrose, setting in motion another series of shenanigans that would taint the conclusion of a WWE pay-per-view spectacular.

The Lunatic Fringe would deliver Dirty Deeds and pick up the pinfall victory over Rollins, albeit with the count of a second official, seemingly giving fans the type of happy ending they had not enjoyed in months.

Then Cone crawled back in the ring, argued with second referee Chad Patton and had the decision overturned, disqualifying Rollins for purposely putting him in harm's way.

What should have been a hot moment turned out not to be, mainly because fans have become so desensitized to screwy finishes thanks to the sheer amount that the company executes, all in the name of keeping The Authority at the forefront.

It was a ridiculous conclusion to the show, one that did nothing to help either Ambrose or Rollins, nor Roman Reigns, who looked like the third wheel in the closing minutes of the show rather than an integral part of the storyline.

It was a fittingly poor conclusion to a show whose many issues were overshadowed by the one thing WWE got right.

In the long run, the Owens victory may very well generate more interest in the product, but unfortunately, bad booking and questionable decision-making on the part of management will do more to drive fans away than cause them to flock in droves.