By Steve Ward
WWE made their return north of the border tonight for the final pay per view stop on the Road to Wrestlemania as Elimination Chamber emanated from The Bell Center in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. After tonight’s massive card, the landscape for the championship title picture will be clear as the winner of the Women’s Elimination Chamber match will oppose Bianca Belair for the RAW Women’s Championship and the victor of the encounter between Roman Reigns and Sami Zayn will defend the Undisputed Universal Heavyweight Championship against Cody Rhodes at the Showcase of the Immortals.
Tonight’s card kicked off with the Women’s Elimination Chamber Match where the winner would punch her ticket to Wtrestlemania for a championship encounter with RAW Women’s Champion, Bianca Belair. Natalya and Liv kicked off the match and another competitor would join the chaos every two minutes. The combatants would be eliminated by pinfall or submission with the last woman standing being crowned the victor. The first participant to be released from her pod was Raquel Rodriguez who immediately used her size and strength advantage to impose her will. The next competitor to be released from her respective pod was Nikki Cross with still no eliminations. With the majority of the competitors already displaying signs of fatigue, Carmella was the next to enter the fray. Moments later, Raquel put Cross through the panel of one of the pods which set her up for an easy pinfall moments later. Asuka then made her way into the match and quickly ran roughshod over the other competitors. Asuka first dispensed of Liv Morgan as she made her pass out in the clutches of the Asuka Lock. Next, Carmella delivered a kick to the head of Natalya who had Asuka trapped in the Sharpshooter which allowed her to eliminate Neidhart. Rodriguez was then the recipient of several kicks to the head from Carmella and Asuka who joined forces to deliver a tandem pinfall on her leaving them as the final competitors standing. Asuka was too much for Carmella as she quickly cinched in the Asuka Lock on Carmella earning the submission and punching her ticket to Wrestlemania.
This match was to be the decisive third match in a trilogy between these two imposing Superstars. Each man executed their signature moves several times on each other before Lesnar found himself in the Hurt Lock. Ensuring he would not suffer defeat, Lesnar elected for the low blow which prompted referee Chad Patton to call for the disqualification. Lesnar then left a path of carnage behind him as he F5’d the referee multiple times and also delivered an F5 to Lashley for good measure that sent him crashing through the announce table before he left the arena satisfied with his actions.
The bitter rivalry between Edge and Beth Phoenix and the faction he created, The Judgement Day, before his unceremonious expunging, would come to a head tonight as they would seek redemption in a Mixed Tag Team affair. In a match riddled with attempted outside interference by Dominik Mysterio, Edge and Beth finally prevailed. First, Beth dispatched of Ripley with a Glam Slam outside the ring and then she rejoined Edge in the ring as they executed the Shatter Machine on Finn Balor to secure the pinfall victory.
The stakes were high for the Men’s Elimination Chamber Match as the last man standing would walk out the United States Champion. The chaos commenced with Rollins and Gargano going toe to toe. After two minutes elapsed, the next competitor to enter the bout was the defending U.S. Champion, Austin Theory. After Rollins and Gargano took Theory out of the picture temporarily, Damian Priest entered the match and promptly asserted his dominance. With still no pinfalls recorded, Bronson Reed next entered the match to deliver his brutal brand of punishment on the other participants. As Bronson Reed found himself the lone man still on his feet, Montez Ford finally made his way into the contest. Minutes later, Reed would finally be put down by Gargano and Rollins which allowed Ford to ascend to the top turnbuckle from where he executed a frog splash which led to Reed’s exit from the match. The closing moments saw Rollins and Theory as the final two Superstars remaining. With Rollins seemingly poised to reclaim the U.S. title, Jake Paul made his way to the ring, delivered his version of Adam Page’s Deadeye, as well as, Rollins’ own curb stomp. This left Rollins out of sorts and vulnerable as Theory covered him to retain his title.
Following his expulsion from the Bloodline after he came to the aid of his former friend and Roman Reigns’ opponent, Kevin Owens, at the Royal Rumble in addition to the subsequent dissention that manifested within the Bloodline, Sami Zayn found himself in the biggest match of his career against Undisputed WWE Universal Champion, Roman Reigns. Reigns dominated much of the early part of the match before Sami rallied with everything in his arsenal, including the Helluva Kick and Blue Thunder Bomb. As Roman’s title reign appeared in jeopardy, the referee was knocked out which opened the door for Jimmy Uso to make his way to the ring and shift the match back in favor of Reigns. As Roman appeared poised to finish off Zayn, he missed him with a Superman Punch and took out the second referee of the match. With another window of opportunity open for the Tribal Chief, Paul Heyman obtained a chair from beneath the ring. As Reigns turned to strike Zayn, his cousin Jey Uso was standing in the ring. Roman then handed Jey the chair and directed him to finish off Zayn. Jey hesitated and as Zayn attempted to sneak up on Reigns with a spear, Roman sidestepped him leaving his cousin Jey as the recipient. Roman then proceeded to lay waste to Zayn with the chair and finished him off with the Superman Punch just in time for the first referee to miraculously recover and count the pinfall.
After the match, Jimmy Uso and Roman Reigns proceeded to beat down Zayn who was rescued by fellow Canadian, Kevin Owens. Owens and Zayn proceeded to gain a measure of revenge on Roman Reigns giving the Canadian crowd some semblance of satisfaction as they stood tall in the end.
