WWE Elimination Chamber 2023

WWE Elimination Chamber 2023

Montreal, Quebec, CA - February 2023

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, Roman Reigns was both the Universal and WWE Champion, the Usos were the RAW and SmackDown Tag Team Champions, Charlotte Flair was the SmackDown Women's Champion, Bianca Belair held the RAW Women's Championship, the United States Champion was Austin Theory, the Intercontinental Champion was GUNTHER, and the WWE Women's Tag Team Champions were Damage CTRL.

One of the most anticipated pay-per-views of the past few years (at least), Elimination Chamber 2023 kicked off with the Women's Elimination Chamber match: Asuka, Liv Morgan, Carmella, Natalya, Raquel Rodriguez, and Nikki Cross. Raquel had an excellent showing in the Royal Rumble in January, but Asuka came into this as the favorite due to her experience and star power. Morgan and Natalya started things off, with Nattie getting a bit of extra love from the Montreal crowd. I really liked the early physicality and use of the structure by Nattie and Liv to start things off, both women taking some good-looking bumps into the cell and cage walls. Raquel came in third and dominated the other two using her strength. At one point, Rodriguez looked like she might hit an Alabama Slam on Nattie onto the Chamber floor, but was stopped by a crossbody from Morgan. Nattie looked to apply a Sharpshooter, but it led to a sequence of counters building up to Nikki Cross joining the match. Cross came in and went right to work on the other three, slingshotting Liv into the corner of a cell and ramming Nattie's head into the cage. Nikki climbed atop Carmella's pod and hit a huge crossbody on the other three women and, for the first time in a long time, it actually looked like a legit move and not an overtly staged fall-and-catch. Carmella came in next and went for a series of covers, but to no avail. Carmella hid back in her pod to avoid Nikki, but ended up having to escape once Rodriguez grabbed Nikki and rammed her through the cell wall in a terrific spot. This led to Nikki's elimination as Carmella hid in another pod and Liv Morgan tried to climb her away out of harm's away as Rodriguez went on a spree. In the ring, Raquel went for a huge superplex, but Nattie slipped under and went for a powerbomb. Raquel didn't see it coming as Morgan came flying down from the pod for a sunset flip that got a huge pop from the crowd. Carmella went for a cover, but Raquel kicked out as Asuka came in and went right for Carmella. A loud "Asuka's Gonna Kill You" chant erupted as she thoroughly destroyed Carmella. An Asuka/Raquel showdown followed, the crowd clearly behind the Empress. Morgan came flying with a missile dropkick and then got into it with Nattie only to get hit by a Carmella superkick. She got locked in a Sharpshooter but wouldn't tap, but things got worse as Asuka applied an armbar. Liv wouldn't tap, but did "fade away." That was an unnecessary thing as Liv wouldn't have looked bad tapping to a double submission. Moments later, Nattie got eliminated by Carmella and we were down to three. Asuka and Mella double-teamed Raquel and eliminated her with their tandem offense. Carmella hit a surprise superkick on Asuka and nearly eliminated her, but Asuka kicked out. We got a decent pinning sequence between Asuka and Carmella, but Mella got caught in the Asuka Lock and quickly gave up. This match started out relatively hot, had some good spots in it, but then felt uninspired towards the end as the final 3-4 minutes were just a flurry of eliminations. A decent enough Elimination Chamber match, but certainly not one that people will remember for years to come. (3/5)

Next up - Bobby Lashley vs. Brock Lesnar. This match, despite being the second bout on the card, still had "big fight feel." Both guys were in tremendous shape for this and came out with big offense right from the get go, Lashley connecting with two spears before attempting to lock in the Hurt Lock. Lesnar resisted, though, countering it into an F-5, but only getting 2 on the cover. Remember when that move was insta-death? That's the problem with building a match entirely around finishers. Lesnar hit a second F-5, but again Lashley kicked out. Ugh. The crowd wanted one more and Lesnar went to oblige but Lashley escaped and hit a spear off the ropes. Lashley went to apply his finish again, this time securing it and bringing Lesnar nearly to his knees. Lesnar tried to power out, but Lashley held on. Lesnar reared back with a donkey kick to the balls, getting himself disqualified but breaking the hold. That was a real disappointment of a match. Lesnar hit an F-5 on the ref, popping the crowd. He then delivered an F-5 to Lashley in the ring and one on the outside through a table. This crowd was so hot that Lesnar could get away with an even lazier performance and still have them popping everything he did, but I really wish they had actually delivered a legitimate match with back-and-forth action and not just some finisher spamming leading to a DQ. (1.5/5)

The Judgment Day's Finn Balor and Rhea Ripley took on the team of Edge and Beth Phoenix in the next bout, the babyfaces getting an unsurprisingly big reaction from the Canadian crowd. Balor and Edge started things off, but only sparred a few moments before Phoenix and Ripley locked up. They traded some stiff clotheslines and then did a classic test of strength as the audience chanted "Fuck You Dominik." Out of the ring they went, Phoenix sending Rhea into the steps with force. Phoenix looked to be going for a moonsault, but Dom interfered and the heels gained the upperhand. Dom went running to the back, eliciting a "Na Na Na Hey Hey" response from the crowd until Dom came back out to jeers. The amount of heat Dom got here distracted from the match going on, but the big spots and shifts in momentum kept the fans engaged when they needed to be to get the story across. Phoenix as the face-in-peril was not what I expected out of this match, but it also allowed Ripley the chance to shine in the spotlight the way she needs as Charlotte's big challenger at Mania. Phoenix hit a huge superplex at one point, but it took just as much out of her as it did Rhea. Phoenix made the hot tag to Edge who locked Balor in the Edgecator as Phoenix did the same. The heels looked like they may tap, but Dom distracted the ref. Dom slipped brass knuckles to Ripley, who knocked Edge out. Edge looked to be done as the ref counted 1...2...and then, in a woeful bit of timing, should've counted 3 but had to wait for Beth to break up the pin. Eesh. That was a horrid mistiming that deflated the crowd a bit. They won them back with a double powerbomb spot that saw both women take out their male opponents. On the outside, Rhea looked to smash Phoenix's head with a chair onto the steps, but the Glamazon escape and hit her finish onto the arena floor as Edge hit his Edgecution DDT in the ring! Edge splashed Dom on the outside and then went for a spear, but Balor caught him with a slingblade. Balor looked to go for a dropkick but Edge caught him with a spear and then hit a double-team maneuver to get the clean W. This was alot of fun and I actually felt a little bad for Beth as that one mistimed nearfall marred an otherwise very good match. The crowd nudged this one up a half-point. (3/5)

The Men's Elimination Chamber for the United States Championship was next with Austin Theory putting his title up against Seth Rollins, Johnny Gargano, Bronson Reed, Montez Ford, and Damien Priest. Rollins and Gargano got to start things off and I liked Corey Graves mentioning that this was their first encounter in a WWE ring but that they had done some work together in Cleveland (shoutout to AIW!). Reed came in at #3 to break up the wrestling-based portion of the match and got to show off his admirable strength. The crowd was very much into everything Rollins did from beginning to end (with one notable exception), but I like that this match was laid out to highlight everyone involved as, in terms of star power, Rollins was the only real capital-S Superstar of the bunch (even Austin Theory seems significantly "cooler" than he was some months back, which is not a complaint). The crowd was very into this, breaking out into multiple "This is Awesome" chants, but I didn't find this to be that much better than the Women's version that opened the show. There was some cool spots - Montez doing a huge splash from the top of the cage, a cool moment between Gargano and Rollins sitting atop a pod, Bronson Reed pancaking Priest into a cell wall - but there was nothing here that we haven't seen before and, in terms of character development, I'm not sure anybody came out of this match truly shining brighter than they went into it. The biggest head-scratcher was the elimination of Montez Ford, who took a Curb Stomp from Rollins and, after getting pinned by Theory, remained on the mat motionless as the ref called for help. Ford sold the injury - which, based on the minutes that followed, seemed to be in kayfabe - like a champ and the crowd definitely bought it at first (Rollins and Theory helped "sell" the moment by sneakily rolling out of the way and allowing Ford to be carried off). But, when the match restarted, there was a notable dip in crowd enthusiasm for Rollins, who looked to finish off Theory only for Logan Paul to spring into the ring through the open Chamber door and connect with a Buckshot Lariat and then a Curb Stomp of his own to help Theory retain. I get that Rollins stomping Ford helped put over the Curb Stomp as a lethal maneuver (which put an exclamation point on Logan Paul using it minutes later), but in the long-term, if we're headed to a possible Montez Ford/Austin Theory rivalry - which would probably serve both quite well - they really should've put the heat on Theory and not on Seth. It was a sour note in a match that was carried more by the crowd's enthusiasm than any sort of engaging, interesting through line. (3/5)

Main event time - Roman Reigns defending the Undisputed Universal WWE Championship against Sami Zayn in front of Zayn's hometown Montreal crowd. This was basically at 4-stars before the bell rang as the crowd went absolutely BONKERS from beginning to end, serenading Reigns with multiple "Fuck You Roman" chants throughout. Reigns and Zayn didn't necessarily put on a wrestling clinic, but there was enough "meat" between big moments and the story they told was pitch perfect as Reigns dominated the majority of the match while Zayn refused to stay down, wrestling with all of his heart and capitalizing on some huge breaks with a number of tide-turning Helluva Kicks. I also really liked how much Reigns (and Zayn) involved Sami's family as it legit felt like a throwback to Bret Hart's babyface work in the 90s, when you could always count on a Hart or two getting messed with whenever they were anywhere close to Calgary. We eventually got to the predictable ref bump, a lengthy visual pin for Sami Zayn, and the arrival of Jimmy Uso. Even his interference wasn't enough for Reigns to get the W and after another ref bump, it was Paul Heyman who inserted himself into the match, giving Reigns a chair. Before Roman could put it to use, though, Jey Uso showed up to a huge pop. Jey Uso didn't make his intentions clear, though, as he didn't attack Reigns or Zayn, a cliffhanger plot point that was a genuine surprise after weeks of fans believing that this show would make it very clear where his allegiance was. Sami accidentally hit Jey with a spear which led to the actual finish, a dagger to the heart of the Montreal crowd as Reigns connected with his own spear to end the match. During the post-match, Kevin Owens made his (expected) return, clearing the ring and helping Zayn land one last Helluva Kick on Roman. Unfortunately, though, even as the crowd clearly wanted it, we did not get a full reunion between the two longtime friends and rivals, a missed opportunity to send the crowd home with one last positive enduring memory. It was a rare instance of WWE restraint that I disagreed with as this audience, for how hot it was all night, deserved to have that scene play out. A must-see match because of how intense the crowd was, but this did not live up to the Match of the Year expectations despite great efforts and performances out of both Sami and Roman. (4/5)

Comparisons to Money in the Bank 2011 were common in the build-up to this show, but where that show actually delivered the big title change it teased (and an excellent, exciting undercard featuring a terrific Christian/Orton match), this show suffered from a noticeable lack of star power - where was Becky? Bianca? Charlotte? GUNTHER? Cody? - and some underwhelming matches, specifically the shallow Lashley/Lesnar match (is the WWE ever going to just let these two guys actually go and have a "real" match?) and the ultimately meaningless Men's Elimination Chamber, a match that went 40 minutes only to establish that, yes, Logan Paul will face Seth Rollins at WrestleMania. The main event could've been one for the ages, even with Reigns' getting the cheap win, but suffered a bit from not offering any real moment or story-furthering plot point. Few were looking for the match to end the Bloodline saga and even fewer should've expected Reigns to drop the title here, but why not give us the Owens/Zayn embrace that we all wanted to see? Why not pull the trigger on Jey choosing his family over his ethics? With a Kwang Rating of 2.9-out-of-5, though, Elimination Chamber 2023 shouldn't be considered an all-time great show, but the Montreal crowd might've been an all-time great audience and their engagement was enough to make this whole show a breeze to sit through and enjoy.

FINAL RATING - Watch It