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WWE Elimination Chamber (2023) -- Results & Afterthoughts

The 2023 Elimination Chamber (known as No Escape in Germany) was the 13th Elimination Chamber professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event took place on Saturday, February 18, 2023, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. This marked the first Elimination Chamber event to be held in Canada and the second to take place outside of the United States, after the 2022 event. It also marked the first major WWE event to be held in Montreal since Breaking Point in September 2009.

Five matches were contested at the event. In the main event, Roman Reigns defeated Sami Zayn to retain the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. For the event's Elimination Chamber matches, there was one each for the men and women. In the men's, which was Raw-exclusive, Austin Theory retained the United States Championship, while in the women's, which was the opening bout and featured wrestlers from both Raw and SmackDown, Raw's Asuka won to earn a Raw Women's Championship match at WrestleMania 39. This also made Asuka the first woman to win the Royal Rumble, Money in the Bank, and Elimination Chamber matches.

Match Card:

Elimination Chamber Match for a WWE Raw Women's Championship match at WrestleMania 39

Asuka defeated Carmella, Liv Morgan, Natalya, Nikki Cross, and Raquel Rodriguez

During the live show, I saw people on social media shitting all over this match at one point, but after the fact, everyone was raving all about it. I wish a lot of these fickle fans would make up their goddamn minds.

It made sense that the work horse of the division and hometown favorite, Natalya, would start this match as she would be the ring general for this like she is for a lot of these specialty matches. I wish people would stop giving Liv Morgan a hard time as she's really come into her own over the past year or so in terms of improvement. To say that she hasn't toured all over the world on the indies and has only learned through WWE's system, she's not bad at all. It's like I said last year during her SmackDown! Women's Championship reign is that WWE has to be careful concerning how much they push her as it's going to come with a backlash, but so far it's been a careful push. She went the distance with Rhea Ripley in the Royal Rumble this year and she had a strong outing in this match. She's a far cry from the lackluster performer that she was when she was initially called up from NXT and slotted into the Riott Squad faction. My only knock against her is that they are starting to make me roll my eyes a bit at her threshold for pain and/or endurance in some of these matches. The fact that it took both Natalya AND Asuka to apply double submissions on her to get the elimination was a bit much. I understand that they are trying to protect her, but at the same time, it's making veterans like Natalya and Asuka look like their best efforts aren't enough to put away the smallest of the challengers in this match.

I'm glad that Nikki Cross is back to her "crazy" gimmick instead of that Almost a SuperHero (A.S.H.) shit from last year, but I'm a little disappointed that they didn't give her spot to Piper Niven instead. I would have loved to see what she could have done in a match like this.

This is definitely not Raquel Rodriguez's year in the least. I'm glad that she didn't win this match as I don't think a match against Bianca Belair would do her any favors in the first place. If anything, she needs to find her groove on the main roster in terms of what works and who she is as a character (much like it took Rhea a while to get down) and hopefully be ready for a push around this time next year. I can't see her doing anything of note outside of maybe another Women's Tag Team run (possibly with Liv as her partner) for the time being.

I thought it was a bad call to make Asuka the final entrant in this match as it makes it look like Asuka had an easy path to win this match, whereas the other heavy hitters in this match have been in there for the bulk of the match. Carmella entering this match last would have worked more for her character, but I guess her antics to hide and pick her spots would have been less effective if she entered last. Murder Clown Kana AKA Asuka was my pick to win this match anyway, so I'm happy with the end result regardless how this match played out. Asuka versus Bianca is a match we haven't seen before in a high profile spot and I have faith that will be a sleeper hit among the women for WrestleMania.

Singles Match

Bobby Lashley defeated Brock Lesnar by disqualification

To say that me, like a lot of other wrestling fans, wanted to see Bobby Lashley and Brock Lesnar have a program against each other for a long time, especially back when Lashley left the company and regained some traction during his time in IMPACT Wrestling prior to returning to WWE, is a bit a letdown after seeing how WWE has executed it.

This match was the epitome of essentially what a match in any of the WWE Games with max finishers/specials turned on would look like in reality. This match was nothing more than a lot of big moves being thrown out and both men taking turns kicking out of the others' biggest moves. The finish came when Lashley had Lesnar trapped within the Hurt Lock, only for Brock to low blow Lashley to break the hold, causing the referee to disqualify Lesnar and name Lashley as the winner. Talk about taking a shit on this match without a good finish. The live crowd didn't like it either as chants of "Bullshit" broke out until Lesnar laid out the referee and Lashley too through the commentary table at ringside.

At the time, I was thinking that this finish was done to protect both men in preparation for a potential rematch or triple threat with Bray Wyatt in the middle (who threw down the challenge for the winner of this match on the go-home episode of SmackDown! prior to this event). Instead, it's looking like we're getting something a lot worse.

It's the definition of a bathroom break match for WrestleMania: Brock Lesnar vs. Omos. Omos challenged Lesnar to a match on the fallout episode of Monday Night RAW but he hasn't answered the challenge yet. Who the fuck did Lesnar piss off to get slotted into a feud with the modern day equivalent of Giant Gonzales? I have NO interest in seeing that match nor Lashley vs. Bray Wyatt. I don't know what drugs are these people are smoking at this point to put those two heavy-hitters against these guys for WrestleMania matches.

Mixed Tag Team Match

Edge and Beth Phoenix defeated The Judgment Day (Finn Bálor and Rhea Ripley) (with Dominik Mysterio) by pinfall

It's old news at this point in terms of being surprised or in awe that both Edge and Beth Phoenix can come back for matches like this and come off as if they have never left nor had any time away from the ring after all of these years. Finn Balor and Rhea Ripley are great talents in their own right so this match merely complimented and highlighted their exceptional talents for those who weren't already aware. If more than anything else, I much rather see Beth Phoenix against Rhea Ripley one-on-one at WrestleMania than another Rhea vs. Charlotte Flair match in all due respect. They have crazy amounts of chemistry in the ring and I think a match between those two would be incredible. Here's to wishful thinking that we might get that after Rhea topples Charlotte for that SmackDown Women's Championship and they could have the rubber match at SummerSlam.

As of this posting (2/22/23), Edge challenged Austin Theory for the US Championship on the fallout episode of Monday Night RAW, only for Finn Balor to cost him the match. It's safe to assume that they are setting them up for a match against each other at WrestleMania and while I think that will be a great match, I am beyond tired of this Edge vs. the Judgment Day storyline. All of the parties involved (save for Beth and Rhea) should be moving onto bigger and better things. I saw some musings from people fantasy booking Brood (vampire) Edge against the Demon Finn Balor and I have to pass on that unless Balor is winning. I see no reason to bring the Demon back unless he's going to win. Otherwise, it's a goddamn waste.

Elimination Chamber Match for the WWE United States Championship

Austin Theory (c) defeated Bronson Reed, Damian Priest, Johnny Gargano, Montez Ford, and Seth "Freakin" Rollins

You can easily call the Men's Chamber match the workhorse match out of the two on this card tonight. ALL of the individuals involved had their working man's boots on and it made for one hell of a spectacle from bell to bell.

I asked this to my followers watching along with me during the PLE and I'll ask it again here too for my readers of this blog: Since Johnny Gargano has returned to WWE, does anyone even care about him anymore? He and his wife (Candice LaRae) already had go-away heat with me from their lackluster heel run in NXT and I was fine without seeing them on any wrestling programming anymore. I won't take away anything from his in-ring ability as he's still pretty solid in that regard, but I just don't fucking care when I see him out there anymore. That being said, he and Rollins had a good thing going starting this match off and he worked well to make some of the other competitors look great in this match, specifically Bronson Reed, who simply just dwarfs Gargano in the size department.

I can't take anything away from Austin Theory either as he is slowly turning more and more heads with his in-ring ability. As a character, I thought he already had character and gimmick down in terms of what WWE typically looks for in their heels, so I figured he was in good hands when he became one of Vince McMahon's personal pet projects when he was called up to the main roster. A lot of people called that run the kiss of death for Theory, but people haven't given up on him yet and that's a good thing. If he can stay out of trouble, I can easily see him being this young generation of stars' next Randy Orton in a sense.

While Damian Priest had a solid outing in this match, I dying to see his career-defining performance like Rhea Ripley has had over the past calendar year. It feels like he's merely coasting off of the success of the Judgment Day stable (which is mostly due entirely thanks to the pairing of Dominik Mysterio and Rhea Ripley if we stop kidding ourselves) at times, especially when it feels like he should be leading that group instead of Finn Balor.

I think everyone will unanimously agree that Montez Ford gets the MVP award out of everyone in this match, even though everyone in this match came away from it looking like a million bucks from their performance in this match. That splash from the hanging off the ceiling of the chamber was insane, even though that was only the tip of the iceberg on his ring work in this match. Everyone is agreement that Montez Ford is EASILY a future breakout star once WWE pulls the trigger on splitting up the Street Profits, but I don't see them splitting them up until WWE has more capable tag teams to fill that gap. Whenever that does happen, I see Angelo Dawkins as talented as he is too, is going to be up the creak without a paddle. He's going to be in the same rut JTG was in when WWE split up Cryme Tyme.

I know I talk about everyone involved in the Bloodline storyline deserving Emmy nominations for their performances in that storyline, but Montez Ford deserves a mention about that here for his performance following the injury angle that played out after his elimination via Seth Rollins' curb stomp. As of this posting, I haven't seen an official update on Ford's condition, but if he's really hurt, then I wish him a speedy recovery. Otherwise, he's in the conversation for an Emmy for his acting ability when they were carrying him out of the ring when it came down to the final two in this match.

It take long to see why WWE pulled this angle, as Logan Paul stormed the ring and hit a Springboard Flying Clothesline that looked a million times better than "Hangman" Adam Page's Buckshot Lariat on Seth to cost him the victory in this match. I'm glad that they pulled the trigger on this as Paul vs Rollins doesn't need the title to be good. That's a match I could easily see main-eventing Night One of WrestleMania if the women aren't automatically granted the main event spot on that card.

Let's not sell Austin Theory short either. He had a great outing in this match, even though the win was handed to him on a silver platter. He's rumored to be lined up to be challenged by a returning John Cena for WrestleMania. That's another match that definitely be another feather in Theory's hat after successfully defending his title against Edge the following episode on Monday Night RAW after this.

Singles Match for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship

Roman Reigns (c) (with Paul Heyman) defeated Sami Zayn by pinfall

Roman Reigns vs. Sami Zayn was everything that it needed to be in terms of having a "big fight feel" to this PLE's main event. Sami was naturally the hometown favorite, poised and championed by this Montreal crowd that he would be the one to dethrone Roman and end his 900+ day reign as the WWE Undisputed Universal Champion. Moments like this don't come around often where two guys can just stand in the ring and just soak in the boos and cheers just from mere fan excitement for this match to go down. It was giving me the same vibes as Hollywood Hogan against The Rock at WrestleMania X-8 or John Cena against CM Punk at Money in the Bank 2011. It's really special when you have two talents this over with the crowd, with a great storyline to boot, that everyone can get firmly behind this match without these guys even making a move. I heard it was recorded around roughly five minutes of cheers for Sami before they even did anything to start this match. That's an insane milestone for this modern era of professional wrestling where it has become the norm to see guys throw caution to the wind to get cheap pops from just doing a flip or a pointless dive that people will forget by the time the next match rolls around or even by the time the show is even over. To all of the people that scoff when I say, "Work rate isn't everything" this is your prime example why that statement is true. The sheer brilliance and narrative excellence of the Bloodline storyline has gotten Sami Zayn to this point.

The match itself had a lot of convincing near-falls and false-finishes, but there wasn't a single moment in this match where I was convinced that Sami was walking away as the winner. You had to be a goddamn fool to think that WWE would deviate from the plan to have Cody Rhodes challenge Roman Reigns after that rocket they scrapped on his back upon returning to the company last year. There's no denying that Sami Zayn is over, but there's no excuse not to have Roman Reigns walk into WrestleMania undefeated. At this point, I don't even think that it's a guarantee that even Cody is going to be able to beat him if I'm quite honest. The more that I think about it, I start to wonder if WWE would want Roman to hit the 1000 day mark as champion and then drop it to Cody at Backlash or one of those other PLE's following that point.

My biggest issue with this match wasn't the result, it's how they executed the result. It felt like it got too cute for it's own good with all of the interference, from both of the Usos coming out and the referee bump that gave us the false finish that Sami had it won right there. I will admit that they had me going with Jimmy Uso being conflicted about whether to betray Roman or to stay loyal despite everything that has transpired. I thought they were going to have Jimmy hit Roman in the back too just like Sami did to close out the Rumble last month, but it didn't play out that way. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad it wasn't predictable like that as Jimmy should play a pivotal role in the downfall of Roman Reigns' title reign when it is all said and done, especially after the major role that he has had throughout this entire storyline.

Afterthoughts

The Feb. 20, 2022 edition of Monday Night RAW opened with Sami Zayn calling out Kevin Owens to join him in the ring as he wanted to confront his former best friend concerning his actions at Elimination Chamber. Kevin Owens joins him in the ring and quickly points out that he wasn't there to help Zayn out. He was merely sparing him from getting assaulted in front of his wife and family like he was at the hands of the Bloodline. Zayn extends the olive branch to take on the Bloodline together, but Owens refuses, suggesting that Zayn look for help from his new best friend, Jimmy Uso. I'm glad that they didn't immediately go back to being best friends, especially after how Sami had a hand in thwarting nearly all of Owens' own challenges against Reigns in the past when he was still aligned with the Bloodline. While I still think that they are going to go that route of Sami and Owens being on the same page going into WrestleMania against the Bloodline, I'm glad they didn't make it fucking bloody obvious.

Elimination Chamber (2023) was a solid show from start to finish with the only underwhelming match being the Lesnar/Lashley bout for obvious reasons, mainly due to the lackluster finish. I tend to hate matches like that where a wrestling company feels like they have to "protect" both guys that they are pushing so they come up with a finish that leaves everyone looking bad and the fans disappointed regardless. Just don't book matches like this period if you don't have concrete finish in mind. Why is that such a hard concept to wrap your heads around?

I'll end on the note saying that I don't think it's the end of the world that Sami Zayn didn't dethrone Roman Reigns here. Who says it's a guaranteed deal for Cody Rhodes to do it at WrestleMania. This stuff isn't set in stone. I should mention that I don't want to see any triple threat either. Sami had his chance and let's give Cody his one-on-one match without any other distractions and extra bullshit attached to it. Sami's story isn't over so let's see where it takes him next. I'm just not in agreement of the notion that Sami's washed up now that he failed to get the World title from Roman. It wasn't the end of the world when countless others failed to do it and Sami's going to be just fine being in that same boat. The key thing to keep in mind is how they follow this up. We saw Sami pull a John Cena on RAW by trivalizing the loss but reminding the fans that the fight isn't over yet. That is a great start, but there's still a little over a month left of build time between now and WrestleMania. These people would be goddamn fools to leave him off of the WrestleMania card.

It will never stop being crazy to me that the actual storylines in this company are much more interesting than the actual matches themselves in a lot of cases too. And that's not a knock on talent either as WWE has arguably one of the best rosters in recent memory in terms of in-ring talent who can go in the ring, but it's mainly the Bloodline storyline that's keeping people invested in the weekly shows and wanting to buy tickets to live events or to see the PLEs.

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