wrestling / TV Reports
Pantoja’s WWE Elimination Chamber 2024 Review
Image Credit: WWE, TNT Sports
Loading...WWE Elimination Chamber
February 24th, 2024 | Optus Stadium in Perth, Australia | Attendance: 52,590
WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship: The Kabuki Warriors [c] vs. Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell
A great ovation for Candice and Indi on the Kickoff Show. I’m so happy to see Candice getting these opportunities in a big stadium and for Indi to compete in her home country. The challengers showed off some good tandem offense to start. It helps that they’re an actual tag team unlike many thrown together duos in this division. Asuka tried toying with Candice who fired up and beat her into the corner. They were wise to make Candice the face in peril. She’s a great sympathetic face and the crowd wanted Indi, who couldn’t keep herself from smiling on the apron. The heat segment was entertaining, highlighted by Kairi taking to the skies. The tag to Indi got a great reaction and she did her thing before it was time to take this home. Candice became legal again and Indi was kept at bay as she fell to the Insane Elbow combo in 8:55. Good stuff. [***]
Elimination Chamber: Becky Lynch vs. Bianca Belair vs. Liv Morgan vs. Naomi vs. Raquel Rodriguez vs. Tiffany Stratton
The winner gets the winner of Rhea/Nia at WrestleMania. I must stop to say that Liv Morgan looked incredible. That is all. Becky and Naomi kicked this off as Naomi looked for another lengthy performance like in the Rumble. Becky and Naomi had some decent back and forth to kick this off as commentary discussed how it was very humid in Perth and how that could play a factor. I appreciate little things like that on commentary. There were some “We Want Tiffy” chants during this exchange which I didn’t expect. The third woman in was indeed Tiffany to a pop. She came in hot and the crowd reacted well to everything she did. She had a big spot where she hoisted both opponents up though Naomi slipped off and she had to adjust, which she did well enough. It was the kind of veteran adjustment you might not typically see from someone so new. Liv entered at #4 and fired off on everyone, though the crowd didn’t appreciate her mocking Tiffy Time. It was time for some bigger spots like Becky’s Dis-Arm-Her through the chamber walls and then Naomi hit a Blockbuster on Liv from the top of a pod. However, Tiffany quickly pounced and rolled up Naomi to eliminate her. Raquel entered next for some power spots, causing everyone to jump her to try and get the upper hand. Bianca entered last and did her usual level of domination before battling over power with Raquel capped by a sweet DDT spot. With Raquel laid across the top turnbuckle, Liv jumped off the pod to crush her with a senton. Then, Becky and Tiffany battled on the same pod and Tiffany launched Becky onto the ladies below before jumping off with a Swanton onto the field. Props to the women who caught her perfectly, making her she didn’t hit the floor and hurt herself. In the ring, Tiffany got eliminated to a chorus of boos by a Bret’s Rope Oblivion, complete with Liv mockingly crying to mess with the crowd. Raquel was then eliminated via KOD. That left it to the three women with the best chance to win. They went at it for a bit with nobody gaining a clear advantage. Liv rolled up Bianca for a surprising elimination only to turn right around in the Manhandle Slam, giving Becky the win in 32:16. The best women’s chamber since the first two. Tiffany Stratton had a phenomenal performance, the final three did their thing, and that 32 minutes flew by. [****¼]
WWE Undisputed Tag Team Championship: Damian Priest and Finn Bálor [c] vs. New Catch Republic
Yeah, the New Catch Republic name isn’t good but Dunne and Bate certainly are. Dom tried to do ring intros for the champs but the challengers attacked and got this off to a quick start. They showed off some tandem offense and put the pressure on Finn, who couldn’t get out of the blocks. Once he managed to tag in Priest, the tide turned around though. Priest was the difference maker as the biggest guy in the match. Bate took the heat for a bit and the hot tag to Dunne came off well. It was a bit weird that the camera showed Priest doing nothing outside as the tag was being set up. He should’ve run over and at least tried to cut things off. Judgment Day took back over soon after, with Bate against taking a beating. However, he fired up with an impressive airplane spin on Priest, getting to show off that BIG BOY STRENGTH. Well, I guess big man. Bate is now 26 which is absurd. That setup our closest near fall, with Finn eating Bitter End only for Dom to put Finn’s leg on the bottom rope. Dom got ejected for that to a pop though the feed went black afterward for like 20 seconds. They flubbed a late spot where Bate sent Priest into Finn on the top rope. Priest was supposed to hit Finn but it came off very contrived. Alas, Dunne and Bate tried to take Priest off the top in the end but Finn blocked it. That allowed a double chokeslam from Bret’s Rope by Priest followed by Coup de Grace to give Judgment Day the victory in 17:26. That started a bit slow but picked up down the stretch and turned into a very good title defense. [***¾]
It’s time for the Grayson Waller Effect. Austin Theory introduced Grayson who got a huge pop from his home country. Grayson played to the crowd and introduced his guests, Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes. The reaction for Cody was incredible once again. Seth was asked who he wanted to face at Mania and he didn’t care who but announced that he is days away from being medically cleared. Grayson said Cody ruined the Rock/Roman main event, causing Cody to make an announcement himself. He said that until WrestleMania, he’s free and challenged The Rock to a one-on-one match. However, Seth said they should cut the head off the snake since there’s no such thing as 1-on-1 with the Bloodline. So, Seth said if Rock accepts the challenge, Cody won’t be fighting alone. Grayson got excited for the scoop but since he’s playing the tweener in Australia, Theory interrupted to diss the faces. He did some Rock impersonations only to get beaten up by Seth and Cody. Grayson backed off and allowed it to happen. Just a segment to get Grayson something in his hometown and set up something big for Cody and Seth.
Elimination Chamber: Bobby Lashley vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Kevin Owens vs. LA Knight vs. Logan Paul vs. Randy Orton
Winner gets Seth at Mania. LA Knight and Drew McIntyre started this, while Orton got the biggest pop. As Knight and Drew went at it, the sound went out for a while and when it came back, it was WAY out of sync. Owens entered next but I missed some of this as I had to leave the stream and rejoin to fix the audio problem. He was doing well but kept focusing on Logan Paul in the pod. Lashley was in fourth and dominated. Commentary noted it but it’s pretty wild how Lashley hasn’t aged much since 2006. KO stood tall as the countdown went off, hoping for Paul but instead it was Orton. When it came time for Logan to join the fray, KO met him at the pod and kicked his ass. He locked the two of them in and just beat down on the US Champion. Even when Logan managed to get free, he took a Spear through the pod courtesy of Bobby. Drew followed that with a Claymore and added another in the ring to send Lashley packing first. Knight seemed to have Drew beaten but AJ Styles ran in (the chamber was open to help Lashley out) and battered Knight with a chair multiple times. He added the Styles Clash on a chair and Drew took advantage to eliminate him. That set up the final four hitting each other with everything they’ve got in their arsenal until an RKO eliminated Owens. The Paul/Orton exchange was fun and I’d love a singles match between them at some point. Randy looked like he hurt himself at one point but was clearly gutting it out. He eliminated Logan with an RKO as Logan was teasing using the brass knuckles. Orton was barely able to stand to the point where McIntyre couldn’t hit the Claymore. However, it was Orton suckering him in as he hit the RKO. Then, a pissed Logan Paul knocked out Orton with the brass knuckles and Drew covered to win in 36:42. I think this was a good but not great Chamber. A few bits dragged and some stuff was there to just set up a multi-man match at Mania its seems but it was entertaining throughout. [***½]
Women’s World Heavyweight Championship: Rhea Ripley [c] vs. Nia Jax
I am no Nia Jax fan but I do appreciate this getting the main event. Rhea in her home country and the reaction was special. Nia looked to subdue the crowd early, working a surprising Stretch Muffler and grounding Mami at every turn. They told a simple story based around that and Nia being able to overpower Rhea. It’s not something Rhea is used to so she had to get creative to find a way to combat that. It’s a simple, yet effective story. The crowd was into Rhea’s comeback, which led to the match spilling outside. Once there, Nia dropped Rhea onto the announce table but nobody removed the monitors so Rhea took a ROUGH bump. Nia splashed her through the table and added a Banzai Drop inside for two. Rhea kept surviving what Nia threw at her before meeting her up top for a superplex. She then added Riptide and retained in 14:37. About as good as you could ask for from a 15 minute Nia Jax match. They told an effective story and gave Rhea the big win in her home. [***]
