Elimination Chamber was on Saturday night in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The sold out and energetic crowd at the Bell Centre witness the last PLE before WrestleMania in April and it featured two Chamber matches, an mixed tag team match and two powerhouses squaring off once again. The main event was a title match than spanned months of storyline culminating in an emotional match between hometown boy Sami Zayn and the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns. Similar to what we did with the NXT: Vengeance Day review, we go through every match and give my thoughts and give a star rating. So without further ado, here is my 2023 WWE Elimination Chamber Review.
Match #1: Elimination Chamber Match to determine No.1 contender for RAW Women’s Championship at WrestleMania
Asuka defeats Raquel Rodriguez, Liv Morgan, Nikki Cross, Carmella and Natalya
When this match was announced after Rhea Ripley chose Charlotte Flair as her WrestleMania opponent, many fans all over social media had Asuka winning. So, the match was a little predictable, but it was still a decent match. Some key spots from this match include Nikki Cross crossbody on top of the pod, dual submissions by Natalya and Asuka to eliminate Liv Morgan, and the sneakiness of Carmella being an opportunist. Asuka facing Bianca Belair is a money match for WrestleMania but the question is: Will this finally be Asuka’s WrestleMania moment, dethroning the EST? Overall, a decent match but predictable.
Star Rating: 2.5 out of 5
Match #2: Bobby Lashley defeats Brock Lesnar by DQ
Hmmm, this match was the only down part of Elimination Chamber. Two men just spamming their biggest hits and it ends with Lesnar kicking Lashley in the jewels. Also, why did Brock had to go crazy after the match on referees? What does this mean for Mania involving Bray Wyatt? What are the plans for the Beast at Mania? Are we going to get Gunther vs Lesnar? I wouldn’t mind it if the IC Triple Threat plans fall apart. All in all, bland match with a bad ending.
Star Rating: 1 out of 5
Match #3: Edge & Beth Phoenix defeats The Judgement Day’s Finn Balor and Rhea Ripley
This match was pretty good. A few things though. When Finn pinned Edge after Ripley hit him with brass knuckles, Edge clearly kicked out and I guess Beth missed her cue to break up the pin. Secondly, you knew that Rhea has an upcoming title match against Charlotte Flair, so why you had her lose in this match (she didn’t get pinned but still). Dominik is still getting heat, so his character is still doing great. Edge and Beth won with the Shatter Machine, an ode to their real life friends FTR/The Revival. Can we PLEASE end this feud and go on to other things?
Star Rating: 3 out of 5
Match #4: United States Championship Elimination Chamber Match
Austin Theory (C) defeats Seth “Freakin” Rollins, Montez Ford, Johnny Gargano, Damien Priest, and Bronson Reed
One of the better Chamber matches in recent memory. Every person in this match looked better than they were before the match started. Bronson Reed was the monster that took three men to eliminate him from the match. Gargano, in his first Chamber match was not out of his element, wrestling a day after his child’s first birthday. Priest, he has evolved since joining Judgement Day and had a few memorable moments in this match. Rollins, who had the white/black pants, reminiscing on his old Architect/Authority gimmick was in the final two, and Tez who was the MVP of the match with fans on Twitter wanting him to win the title, unfortunately he was eliminated in the final three.
When he was eliminated, Rollins had the match won until Logan Paul interfere and hit his own Buckshot Lariat on Rollins which set up Theory to hit A-Town Down to retain his title. This match was great, it sets up the anticipated match between Paul and Rollins, possibly giving us a glimpse of Montez Ford as a singles star and Theory heading into WrestleMania as US Champion.
Star Rating: 4 out of 5
Match #5: WWE Undisputed Universal Championship Match
Roman Reigns (C) retains against Sami Zayn
The match that we all were waiting for. Picture CM Punk vs John Cena at Money in the Bank 2012 in Chicago. One man was universally cheered (Zayn) and one man was universally booed (Reigns). The crowd went nuclear when Roman came out first, jeering Reigns with “Fuck You Roman” chants while going crazy when Zayn making his entrance wearing his “Honourary Hab” shirt honoring the Montreal Canadians. It’s hard to give a move by move review of this match but just know, this is a MOTY candidate. The emotional output after every near fall, Sami basically going Super Saiyan with a whole city and province behind him, and the ending of a conflicted Jey Uso inadvertently costing Zayn the title, makes this match one of the best of the year so far. Roman Reigns wins and retains so we get Roman vs Cody at Mania and now the story shifts to a possible KO/Sami reunion to be the ones to dethrone the Usos at WrestleMania. Awesome storytelling match and can’t wait to see what is next for the Bloodline/Sami/Kevin Owens saga.
Star Rating: 5 out of 5
Final Thoughts
2023 Elimination Chamber was a one match show with a few good pieces sprinkled in. Sami vs Roman will obviously be on people’s MOTY lists but don’t let the rest of the card fool you. The United States Championship Chamber match was pretty great, the Women’s Chamber match was solid but not spectacular, the mixed tag team match was decent and the only blemish was Lesnar vs Lashley. The crowd in Montreal played a major role in the event as that crowd was loud for a majority of the night especially during the main event. People were thinking that a Montreal screw job was going to happen, but it wasn’t meant to be. Good card and it gets the WWE universe ready for the month and a half trek on the Road to Wrestle Mania.
2023 Elimination Chamber overall rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Pros
- Sami Zayn vs Roman Reigns
- United States Title Chamber Match
- Montez Ford performance
In The Middle
- Women’s Chamber Match
- Mixed Tag Team Match
Cons
- Lesnar vs Lashley
- Edge & Beth Phoenix botch
