This past weekend WWE’s annual PLE and the last stop on the road to WrestleMania, ‘Elimination Chamber’ happened live from the Rogers Centre in Toronto and oh boy, this may have very well been the best Elimination Chamber PLE we’ve ever seen! A lot of the attention and chatter leaving the show was all around The Rock, Cody Rhodes, and John Cena and that’s understandable because that was a history making moment in professional wrestling, but the show from top to bottom was filled with great action and surprising returns. The night started with the Women’s Chamber and before the match even got underway, Jade Cargill made her triumphant return and BEAT Naomi’s ass while poor Bianca watched on from a pod and could do absolutely nothing about it aside from have an emotional breakdown. This revealed that Naomi was likely the person that drove the car that hit Jade, which a lot of fans already assumed, but it puts those wheels fully in motion now. What makes this extra complicated is that Bianca won the Chamber as well after all that, so she’s kind of involved with that story because Jade and Naomi are her besties, but she’s now also the #1 contender to the Women’s World Championship. The Women’s World Championship that my girl Iyo Sky won in shocking fashion from Rhea Ripley the next night on Raw! I was hoping Iyo would somehow find a way to get into that match as she’s been circling around the World title for a little while now, but I didn’t expect she’d be walking back into WrestleMania as Champ again this year and I just think that’s awesome and shows the faith and confidence that HHH and crew have in her. I like Rhea and Bianca a lot as well and know they could deliver an awesome match at Mania, but they’re both powerhouse workers and Iyo is much more of a highflyer, so she adds an extra, exciting element to that match. Plus, Charlotte and Tiffany are already locked into a singles match with one another at Mania after Charlotte won the Rumble, so this kind of separates the Women’s World Title matches going in. Smart moves writers, smart moves.
Speaking on Tiffany Stratton, she teamed up with the legend herself Trish Stratus in Trish’s hometown of Toronto to take on Nia Jax and Candace LaRae. This felt kind of like the fun and feel-good match of the night, we all knew there wasn’t a chance Tiff and Trish were going to lose. This was also the spot on the show that no returns, heel turns, or crazy stuff happened. Just a nice opportunity to get Tiffany a good win on a PLE card before her Mania title defense and it’s a nice rub that she gets to work with a legend like Trish too, who of course was another reason for this match’s existence in itself. She got her opportunity to rep some Toronto Maple Leafs attire and get a nice hometown pop in front of her people. It’s been cool seeing Trish come back periodically and have some good rivalries and matches with the likes of women like Charlotte and Becky. It’s neat we’re actually in a time period where women’s wrestling is as awesome as it is and she’s still able to do the damn thing. Nia Jax is like the bar that every woman that we’re attempting to push to the moon has to get through at some point. She really has become a reliable heel and a good worker, whether I’m ever going to root for her is another story, but at the end of the day she deserves her flowers too for always delivering on her part of the story, no matter what it is. Moving on though, I’m a big Charlotte fan. I know that’s somewhat controversial, but she’s a fantastic wrestler and she’s only gotten better and better as a character as well. I’ve explained it all before, but yes, I’m very much looking forward to this Charlotte/Tiffany match for the WWE Women’s Championship at Mania. I just hope they start actually building that story more now that the Nia/Tiffany stuff is hopefully wrapped, at least for the moment. I know the match itself is going to deliver regardless, but I’m hoping to see a bit more of a fleshed-out story before then as well.
Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens were next up on the card as they competed in an Unsanctioned match in front of their home country. This match was pretty damn awesome and that was to be expected, these dudes have worked together in all capacities so many times that whether they ever have to face each other or team up you can pretty much guarantee they’ll deliver with one another. The Unsanctioned stipulation only made things more exciting as well because it was basically just an excuse for them to kick one another’s ass and come up with creative spots involving weapons and they certainly used that to their advantage. Hockey sticks were put to use to pop the Canadian fans in attendance, plenty of tables were broken, Sami Zayn was thrown over the top of KO (who was perched on the top rope) and out of the ring through 2 tables in a particularly brutal looking and wild spot. KO was hit with and slammed onto a barbed wire chair in another crazy but fun spot. These 2 both wrestle like choreographed car crashes, they look like they lay it all out on the line and have no regard for their bodies inside that ring a lot of the time, but they’re also both very experienced and calculated performers. So, when they get a chance to work with one another in a hardcore environment magic usually happens. The match ended after KO hit multiple powerbombs to Sami on the ring apron and pinned him. After the match KO was looking to inflict more damage to Sami’s defenseless self, when one Randall Keith Orton, more formally known as Randy Orton returned and began beating down Owens. He was looking for the classic Punt, but was swarmed by security and tackled to the ground before he could land it, as Kevin rolled out of the ring and harm’s way. This very well could have stole the show, it certainly delivered. The Women’s Chamber and the return of Jade could have stole the show as well. But this happened to be a very special night, all because of what happened next.
The Men’s Elimination Chamber was one of the most single stacked matches I can remember in recent history. Drew McIntyre, Damian Priest, Logan Paul, Seth Rollins, CM Punk, and John Cena made up the competitors and this match was just fun all the way through. I figured going in that likely Drew, Punk, or Cena was walking out the winner, but I really couldn’t nail down who I thought and as a longtime fan of the product with a booker’s brain, I love it when they have me stumped. It felt like for years the product was pretty predictable, aside from a shock surprise here and there, and within the last couple years it’s definitely been a little more up in the air. The match came down to Rollins, Punk, and Cena. Shortly after being eliminated, Rollins stomped Punk’s head into the mat and left him for dead basically (keeping his promise that he’d make sure that Punk wasn’t going to main event Mania) and he watched on in glee as Cena locked in the STFU and Punk slowly faded and passed out. I really hope Rollins and Punk have a prominent spot on the Mania card, Rollins is one of my absolute faves and has been for years, and Punk is a certified veteran coming off the rivalry of the year last year with Drew. I wouldn’t be at all opposed to a triple threat involving them 2 and Roman, but they need some juice in that story to really make it matter and make sense. That match sounds awesome on paper, and I’m already halfway invested, just sell it to us a little more. I’m sure Heyman will play a part in whatever goes down between them all as well and Punk still has his favor to cash in too. Lots up in the air with that but I am certainly intrigued as to where it ends up because they’re 3 of the biggest names in the company currently.
After the match though, John Cena celebrated in the ring with the admiration of the live crowd before Cody’s music hit and he came down to the ring to shake Cena’s hand and look up at the Mania sign. As they were sharing in the moment together, The Rock interrupted and came down to the ring tailed by Travis Scott because he was looking for his answer after propositioning for Cody’s soul. Cody told Rock in the most simple of terms, “go fuck yourself” and the crowd, as well as John Cena himself, lost it. Cena went to hug Cody in the middle of the ring, when his face changed and that smile disappeared completely. Cena then turned on Cody and the all the fans as he gave him a swift low blow and Cena, Rock, and Travis Scott laid the beat down on the champ to everyone’s dismay. They left him a bloody pulp in the ring as Travis Scott burned sage over his lifeless body (a little strange, still not entirely sure why he was there, but a historic moment nonetheless). Seeing Cena and The Rock aligned with one another side by side is crazy in itself given their history and what they both have accomplished in and out of the ring, but seeing them aligned as ultimate heels is mind-blowing. As a fan who grew up watching John Cena’s mega run and being his biggest supporter in the world at the time, this was a day that I and many others never thought we’d see. He was the ultimate babyface, no matter what fans or his competitors threw at him he never wavered. For 20 years he was on the good side of things, going by the motto “Hustle, Loyalty, & Respect”, granting kids wishes all over the world, and never taking the cheap or easy way out. Then in 1 night, with his retirement year is fully underway, he turned his back on his own life motto and went to the dark side in hopes of winning that 17th world title, aligning himself with the most powerful and evil man in the business to do it. Such good storytelling and we’re just getting started. Of course, both these dudes are Hollywood guys now, so we are going to have to wait a little bit to see how this all plays out, but this show and even specifically this moment, undeniably made this year’s WrestleMania feel 10 times bigger. I was already going to watch regardless and was already very excited about WrestleMania because I’m a wrestling fan, but this is going to draw even casual or bygone viewers back to check out Mania just to see how this is all going to play out. We’re undeniably in Mania season now, and its become must see TV!
