wrestling / TV Reports
Pantoja’s WWE Elimination Chamber 2023 Review
Image Credit: WWE
Loading...WWE Elimination Chamber
February 18th, 2023 | Bell Center in Montreal, Quebec | Attendance: 17,271
I’m getting around to this show in the early afternoon on the 19th but actually watched the main event live!
Elimination Chamber: Asuka vs. Carmella vs. Liv Morgan vs. Natalya vs. Nikki Cross vs. Raquel Rodriguez
I’ve been a big fan of the women’s chambers so far. 2018 (****) was great, 2019 was special (****¼), and both 2020 and 2022 were very good (***¼). The winner gets Bianca Belair at WrestleMania and the result feels like a forgone conclusion. Liv Morgan started things against Natalya which just reminded me of Liv’s hilarious response to Natalya in the 2020 Chamber. If you haven’t seen it, look it up on Twitter. Their back and forth was solid and Liv took a bit of a beating, which she is prone to do these days, before Raquel entered the fray. She did her powerhouse thing because she has back muscles. If you didn’t know. Nikki Cross came in next and she did the whole “crazed” thing because she’s a maniac. If you didn’t know. That included a cross body off of Carmella’s pod. Carmella antagonized people but then ran into various pods and closed herself back in to stay safe. Raquel got the first elimination on Nikki after smashing her through a chamber pod. Liv had the highlight of the match with a sunset flip bomb off the pod on Raquel that looked incredible. Liv as the division’s workhorse who goes 60 in the Rumble and lasts long in a match like this is a spot I really like for her. Asuka entered last and kicked Carmella’s ass for a bit. Natalya did the Sharpshooter because it’s how she gets a pop, especially in Montreal. Liv survived until Asuka added an armbar at the same time and she passed out with a smile. I would’ve left Liv in until the end. She is a more viable option to face Bianca than either Natalya or Carmella, or hell, even Raquel. That took away what little drama this match could’ve had. Carmella snuck in to eliminate Natalya. Raquel got double teamed and was eliminated, leaving it down to Asuka and Carmella. Asuka got the obvious win with an armbar after 19:43. That was a very good but not great Chamber. It needed to be laid out better (get rid of Nattie and Carmella early since they had no chance, then have Liv and Raquel really go at it with Asuka for a bit). Asuka/Bianca is a fresh match that feels like a big deal and as much as I love Bianca, I am ready for a new Asuka reign at the top. [***½]
Bobby Lashley vs. Brock Lesnar
Their match last year was pretty great (****) but the one at Crown Jewel was less interesting (**½). I don’t have much to say here other than this was the Brock Special. Two big guys throwing bombs at each other in about a five minute window. Sometimes they work more than others and in this case, it was fine. It’s fun to see BIG MEATY MEN SLAPPING MEAT but SPEAR/F5/NEAR FALL/SPEAR/F5/F5/ETC. is something you can only see a certain number of times before you become numb to it. Brock used a low blow while trapped in the Hurt Lock and we got a DQ finish in 4:33. [**½]
A pissed Brock started tossing referees and Lashley around. Lashley took an F5 through the table and then the referee took one onto the remains of the table. So I guess we get a rematch but where does that leave Bray?
The WrestleMania Hollywood vignettes are back like 2005 and this one was fantastic. Seth Rollins played the Joker, dancing on stairs like Arthur Fleck. That would’ve been good enough but then we got Becky Lynch showing up as a version of Batman, complete with the raspy voice.
Beth Phoenix and Edge vs. Finn Bálor and Rhea Ripley
There was fun to be had here as Finn and Edge are both great and the Beth/Rhea battle is something I’ve wanted for a while. Rhea continues to be a high point of WWE TV, looking great and killing it in the ring both with her offense and with her character work. She talked trash, crotch chopped, and made sure to mess with the crowd. Dominik was also there to be a heat magnet. He’s been such a win for Judgment Day. We also got some fun moments with tandem stuff like stereo submissions by Edge and Beth and a great spot where Beth and Rhea powerbombed the men at the same time. They called back to the prior attack on Beth but Beth got free and took out Rhea, leaving Finn to fall to a Shatter Machine at the 13:48 mark. I didn’t write much here but I really enjoyed that. It was an entertaining tag team match between four really entertaining wrestlers and personalities. It kind of sucks to see Finn lose again but it was expected since Edge is likely headed toward something bigger at Mania. [***¼]
WWE United States Championship Elimination Chamber Match: Austin Theory [c] vs. Bronson Reed vs. Damian Priest vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Montez Ford vs. Seth Rollins
I love midcard titles being defended in matches like this. Granted, the IC Title one in 2015 was terrible but I digress. Gargano and Rollins started this and that’s a singles match I’m dying to see. Their exchange was really good and Austin Theory, who has a history with both men, was in third. He started hot but his enemies ended up jumping him. Priest entered next and did his thing for a while. Bronson Reed also got a big run but we have no reason to care about him. Montez Ford was a surprising choice for the final entrant but he came in and did his thing before any eliminations came. Red started getting attacked by everyone, including a sick spot where a springboard move on Gargano, who was on Reed’s shoulders, led to a poison rana. Ford did the biggest spot, hanging from the top of the chamber and dropping onto everyone with a splash. A flurry of offense led to Reed getting eliminated. Seth and Johnny fought atop a pod leading to a powerbomb attempt that saw Johnny hit a rana that sent Seth flying into the other competitors. That hurt Johnny a lot though and Priest sent him packing soon after. Ford took out Priest with a big Blockbuster and then had a really good exchange with Seth. If Ford isn’t a World Champion within five years, this company is failing. Dude is a STAR. Seth won out, hitting a Curb Stomp only for Theory to sneak in and steal the elimination. Seth and Austin renewed their rivalry but as Ford was being taken out, Logan Paul entered the Chamber and took out Seth. The problem with the spot was that the camerawork clearly showed that Seth saw Logan coming. Logan added a Curb Stomp and Theory covered to retain in 31:24. A fantastic chamber filled with ridiculous spots. [****¼]
Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns [c] vs. Sami Zayn
Roman Reigns came out first, really allowing for the build-up to Sami’s entrance in Montreal. I can’t really put into words what the reaction for Sami was. He’s been my guy since I first saw ROH in 2006 and to see this was something special. Roman wasn’t taking Sami seriously but you could tell that the crowd kind of rattled him early. The reaction for everything Sami did was magical. Even a simple headlock got a huge pop. Once Roman took control, he made sure to stop and talk trash to Sami’s wife at ringside, effectively taking the crowd out of it as he dominated. Sami kept finding ways to get going and his sunset flip bomb off the top looked tremendous. The same goes for Sami catching the Superman Punch into the corner Exploder, only to eat a Superman Punch anyway. Then Sami hitting his own Superman Punch into the Helluva Kick made for a fantastic near fall. Roman had to take a powder, which just set up Sami to try the DDT through the ropes, which was Roman goading him in for an uppercut. Sami avoiding the Spear outside and turning the Superman Punch into a Blue Thunder Bomb. I could go on and on about specific moments in this match. Sami hit the Helluva Kick and got the visual win but the referee had just taken a bump. That gave us a Jimmy Uso run in as he hit the splash on Sami and everything. Still, Sami survived. Sami also kicked out of a Spear in a rare finisher kick out that I loved. A second ref bump led to both guys being down and Heyman giving Roman a chair. But wait. Jey Uso showed up and stood in between Sami and Roman. Roman scolded him for possibly picking Sami over him and gave him the chair to take out Sami. Jey hesitated so Roman slapped him but then Sami accidentally Speared Jey. Roman then beat on Sami with the chair viciously. Another Spear and the referee got back in to end this in 32:21. That was legitimately special. I nearly went the full five though I have some issues with things like the second referee stupidly ignoring what Jimmy Uso had done but this was indeed something remarkable. [****¾]
Post-match, Roman and Jimmy started a beatdown on Sami when Kevin Owens returned to a huge pop. He took out Jimmy and beat up Roman. Paul Heyman hit him but took a Stunner with a great sell for it. KO stepped aside to let Sami drill Roman with a Helluva Kick and then he walked away while staring down his former friend. I saw some people say that it didn’t make sense that KO didn’t help Sami during the match but he really had no reason to. They’re done as friends. He only stepped in to get some revenge and when things were being taken too far.
