WWE Elimination Chamber (February 2023)

Original Airdate: February 18, 2023

From Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Your Hosts are Michael Cole and Corey Graves

Opening #1 Contender's Elimination Chamber Match: Liv Morgan v Asuka v Carmella v Natalya v Nikki Cross v Raquel Rodriguez: Morgan and Natalya start, and they measure each other some. Liv gets control out on the platform, and she sends Nattie into the cage a bunch of times, but Natalya turns it around by feeding Morgan a pod a bunch of times. Rodriguez is next in, and she knocks Natalya around right away. Rodriguez piles them up in the corner for a double corner splash, and Morgan takes a fallaway slam, followed by a big boot to Natalya. Everyone ends up down following a sequence, as Cross enters the match like the ball of energy she is. Carmella is next in, and takes everyone out, but then stops to yell at Asuka’s pod. That allows Cross to recover, so Carmella regresses back into her pod to hide out. Rodriguez responds by slamming Nikki through the pod, but Carmella runs away, and hides in another pod. Meanwhile, Rodriguez covers Cross after the pod bump, and Nikki is done at 11:38. Morgan dives at Rodriguez with a codebreaker, and a sunset bomb allows Carmella to sneak over with a cover for two. Asuka is last in, and she goes right for Carmella. Meanwhile, Natalya gets Morgan in a Sharpshooter, and Asuka comes over to crank the arm at the same time, and not even those shorts can save Liv at 16:41. Nattie gets Asuka in a Sharpshooter, but Carmella superkicks her to break, and pins Natalya at 17:26. Asuka and Carmella gang up on Rodriguez next, and she’s done at 18:22. Carmella immediately nails Asuka with a superkick after the pin, but only gets a two count out of the deal. Another superkick, but Asuka catches the leg. That triggers a pinfall reversal sequence, and Carmella gets caught in the Asuka Lock at 19:30. I appreciate that this wasn’t overlong, but it wasn’t especially interesting either. * ¼ 

Brock Lesnar v Bobby Lashley: Brock railroads him into the corner right away, and overhead suplexes him out to kick things off. He keeps hammering Lashley in the corner, and a clothesline sends Bobby over the top to end the blitz. Brock drags him back in, but Lashley recovers with a spear on the way, and covers for two. Another spear connects, allowing Lashley to go for the full nelson, but Brock blocks. That allows Lesnar an F5 for two, and another F5 gets another two. A third F5, but Bobby blocks, and delivers a third spear. Full nelson gets locked on this time, but Brock mulekicks free, triggering a DQ at 4:40. The usual Lesnar sprint. You’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all, just about. ½*

Mixed Tag Team Match: Edge and Beth Phoenix v Finn Balor and Rhea Ripley: The men start, and Edge dominates. He takes Finn into the corner for a ten-punch, and then passes to Beth to set up an assisted corner splash. Ripley comes in for a slugfest, and she challenges Phoenix to a test-of-strength, and Rhea gets the better of it with a cheap shot. Riptide, but Beth blocks, and puts Ripley down with a clothesline. Ripley bails to regroup, but Beth chases, and whips her into the steps. Inside for a flying moonsault, but Dominik Mysterio crotches her on the top rope, and then takes off running when Edge goes after him. No matter, the damage has been done, and Ripley beats on Beth in a tree of woe. Ripley continues to work Phoenix over, and I know I’ve covered this ground a bunch over the years, but I still don’t get how heat segments are really supposed to work in these mixed tags. The heels can’t double up, so it’s essentially just a one on one match with very handsy managers. Beth manages a vertical superplex to buy enough time for the tag, and Edge runs wild on Finn. Edge traps him in his modified sharpshooter, so Ripley runs in, but Beth traps her in the same hold as well. Dom passes Ripley brass knux to allow her to break, and she saves Balor as well. Finn covers Edge for two, and he goes upstairs, but Edge follows. That brings Ripley and Phoenix over, and both powerbomb the opposing men off the middle rope, before they charge for a double knockout spot. That leaves everyone looking up at the lights, and the heels recover first. Ripley tries braining Beth with a chair, but Phoenix dodges, and delivers a Glam Slam on the floor. Meanwhile, Edge takes out Dom with a tope, but a spear on Balor gets countered with a sling blade. Running dropkick, but now Edge counters with a spear, and the Shatter Machine finishes Finn at 13:46. I usually don’t care for mixed tags, but this one was actually quite fun, with some degree of mixing, and not overlong. ** ½ 

WWE United States Title Elimination Chamber Match: Austin Theory v Seth Rollins v Montez Ford v Johnny Gargano v Damian Priest v Bronson Reed: Rollins and Gargano start, which would actually be a pretty good match if they ever run it. They do a contrived reversal sequence that segues into a pinfall reversal sequence, and Gargano catches Seth with a slingshot spear out on the platform. Champion Theory is next in, and he dominates the field for a while, before Rollins and Gargano decide to work together to pinball him. Theory tries to talk his way into an alliance with Johnny, but Gargano violently refuses. Theory tries hiding in a pod, but Rollins and Gargano break in, and destroy him until Priest enters the fray. He wrecks Seth and Johnny, and not much of note happens until Reed enters the match. He uses his bulk to knock guys around, as the intrigue of the early part of the match just kind of dies. Ford is last into the ring, and he (say it with me): runs wild on everyone for a bit. Much like the Royal Rumble, it feels like they have one trick in their booking bag, and just keep spamming it out there. We get a dogpile spot with Ford diving onto everyone from the top of the chamber (drawing the superior ‘holy shit’ chant instead of the inferior ‘this is awesome’ one), and then Ford, Rollins, and Gargano trio superkick Reed. Ford adds a flying frogsplash, and Bronson is done at 18:00. Priest hits Gargano with a crucifix powerbomb at 23:00. Wow, two eliminations on exact minutes, that’s some interesting timing. Ford then eliminates Priest at 24:54. Ford is feeling his oats, but Theory takes him out to end the run at 27:45. Seth sneaks up on Theory with a sitout powerbomb, but it only gets two, as officials swarm in to peel Montez off the mat. That leaves the door open, and Logan Paul runs into the chamber to nail Seth just as Rollins is gearing up to take Theory out with a curb stomp. That allows Theory a fireman’s facebuster to retain at 31:29. Unlike the women’s version earlier, this was way too long for what they were delivering. * ¼ 

Main Event: WWE Title and WWE Universal Title Match: Roman Reigns v Sami Zayn: The crowd is crazy hot for this one, and we get an extended (like, literally minutes long) staredown as both guys play them with simple looks and gestures. First contact comes around four minutes in, and they feel each other out. Sami manages to dump him, and he hits the champ with a dive on the outside to pop the crowd big. Zayn rolls him back in for a turnbuckle smash, and a ten-punch count leads to a 2nd rope axehandle for two. Zayn tries another one, but Reigns throws a punch to block, and Sami ends up on the outside. Roman follows with a Drive By, and the crowd chants for Zayn as they head back inside. A loopy Zayn throws a chop, but it doesn’t even get Roman’s attention, and the champion puts him down with a fist. Reigns mocks the crowd, giving Sami the fire for a series of chops, but Roman fights him off again with another sharp punch. Reigns unloads on his challenger in the corner (complete with trash talking his wife, who is in the first row), and then he dumps him to the outside to give her a closer look. He finds Sami’s dad next, and beats on Zayn right in front of him, with Sami throwing shots when he can, but unable to get any traction. Zayn manages a clothesline on the way back in, and he stuns Reigns with it. That allows Zayn a comeback, and another clothesline sends Roman over the top. Zayn follows to beat on Reigns in front of his (Sami’s) wife and kids, and he stops to kiss his woman to pop the crowd. That costs Zayn precious time on the way back inside, however, and Roman is able to crotch him to block a dive. Roman tries capitalizing with a superplex, but Sami blocks, and uses a sunset bomb for two! Blue Thunder Bomb, but Reigns counters with a chokeslam for two. Superman punch, but Zayn counters with an exploder suplex into the buckles! Zayn looks to capitalize with the Helluva Kick, but Reigns is ready with a Superman for two! Spear, but Sami leapfrogs, and schoolboys for two. Another suplex into the corner, and Sami lands a Superman of his own, ahead of a Helluva for two! Another one, so Reigns bails to the outside. Sami chases with a tope through the buckles, but Roman throws an uppercut to block. Reigns tries a spear on the floor, but Zayn sidesteps, and Reigns crashes through the barricade! Sami hustles him in with a Blue Thunder Bomb for two, so he tries another one, but Reigns blocks - the official getting bumped in the process. Sami still manages to land the Helluva, and he gets the visual pinfall on Reigns with the referee out (complete with the crowd counting the pin for him). Zayn goes to revive the referee, but before he can, Jimmy Uso runs in to hit the challenger with a trio of superkicks and a flying splash. The crowd boos the hell out of it as Jimmy puts Reigns over the downed challenger, just as a new official runs in to count… two! The second referee’s timing was terrible there, sliding in while Uso was still in the middle of doing bad dog shit. How would that not be a DQ? Both guys stagger into a slugfest, and Reigns ends up on the outside. That triggers a distraction from Jimmy, allowing Reigns a spear for a dramatic two count. Reigns tries another Superman, but Zayn ducks, and the referee eats it. Zayn lands his own Superman, Roman responds in kind, and everyone is left looking up at the lights. That allows Paul Heyman to pass Roman a chair, but Jey Uso arrives to stand over Sami’s body. The crowd can smell trouble, but wants to believe. Roman gives him an ultimatum as he passes his cousin the chair, but Jey doesn’t want to do it. Meanwhile, Sami recovers with a spear, but Reigns sidesteps, and Zayn takes Jey out by accident. Reigns beats the piss out of Zayn with the chair himself, and a spear finishes at 32.19. This was pretty cool, with old school crowd engagement and emotion, and an actual story instead of just a collection of signature moves. It’s also worth noting that, while over a half hour in length, it doesn’t feel long, which is usually the mark of something special. Not to mention that they didn’t lose the crowd a bit during that runtime. Plus, the match felt like it had actual stakes, and both guys cared about winning, not just ‘putting on a performance,’ or whatever. This lived up to what a main event is meant to be. **** ¼ 

BUExperience: A tremendous crowd and an epic main event are enough to make up for a lot of the shortcomings here.

**