WWE Elimination Chamber 2023 It takes place tonight (Saturday, February 18th) from the Bell Center in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Starts at 7:00 PM ET with the Kickoff Show leading directly to the main card at 8 PM ET on the peacock in the United States, the WWE Network elsewhere, or your local cable pay-per-view provider.
This is the most anticipated WWE title match in over a decade
It’s finally happening. Sami Zayn is challenging Roman Reigns for the WWE Universal Championship tonight, and Sami is doing so in front of a raucous hometown crowd that will give him one of the loudest receptions you’ll ever hear in pro wrestling. This is the most anticipated WWE main event and title match since CM Punk challenged John Cena for the WWE Championship in Money in the Bank 2011 in chicago.
Zane made his way to The Bloodline last year, won Jey Uso’s trust at WarGames, and then turned his back on Roman Reigns for taking things too far with Kevin Owens at Royal Rumble It was a real masterpiece. Zayn has become the most popular superstar in WWE, which could derail the company’s plan to acquire WWE WrestleMania 39 The main event title match between Reigns and Cody Rhodes.
It’s hard to prove a wrestler is a magnet in this era as WWE’s business model has moved away from traditional PPV buys, home show ticket sales aren’t so great anymore, Saudi Arabia throws over $100 million a year at WWE for their brand name, WrestleMania It practically sells itself, and TV rights fees are the main driver of WWE revenue despite widespread cord cutting. This is why Zain’s push has obviously coincided with a clear uptick in ratings smack down. The man moves the numbers in an age when it’s hard to do that, and WWE should capitalize if the idea is to make the most money.
The problem is, WWE didn’t expect Zayn to catch fire like this. He was just a football player who lost a game to Johnny Knoxville last year and served as comic relief to revive The Bloodline during a lull in Roman’s multi-year run as champion. WWE focused on booking Cody Rhodes as the number one babyface WrestleMania 39but they had to reconsider those plans due to Zayn’s undeniable popularity.
So how does it pan out tonight in Montreal? Many people believe that WWE’s plan is to lose Sami after Jey Uso betrays him, which leads to Kevin Owens’ return and a tag team title match with the Usos at WrestleMania. One of the issues with walking away from this plan for Zayn to lose is that WWE has already put pressure on Cody as the winner of the Royal Rumble, and WrestleMania The main event between Zayn vs. Rhodes doesn’t really make sense.
What it all boils down to is WrestleMania The main event should have been Zayn vs. Reigns, but that seems off the board because it’s going to happen tonight. Is there some way WWE could book the finale here to get Sami in the main event match for Roman V WrestleMania?
At this point, I think it’s too late for WWE to make a change. Tonight fans will be rooting for their man, and almost everyone watching at home will feel the same way about Sami Zayn, but unlike Punk vs. Cena in Chicago, this match doesn’t end with the hometown champ returning.
The rest of the card
Here are the four remaining matches currently announced Judicial Department:
Women’s Elimination Chamber match
raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair needs a new rival WrestleMania 39And that spot is on the line in an Elimination Chamber match featuring Asuka, Carmella, Natalya, Nikki Cross, Raquel Rodriguez, and Liv Morgan.
The rules are as follows: Two wrestlers will start the match in the ring, with the remaining four competitors locked in separate compartments located in the corners of the room. Every three to five minutes, one pod will be randomly opened and the wrestler inside will join the match. This continues until all four capsules have been opened. Pin falls and submissions can occur at any time, with the winner being the last wrestler left standing after eliminating the other five.
Here is a quick summary of all six participants:
Natalia is the childish Canadian who will get raves for.
Carmella recently returned to WWE after nearly six months off television.
Nikki Cross is here because she was one of the final survivors in the Royal Rumble match.
Liv Morgan is taking things to extremes these days and he might be the one to do crazy dives from high up in the room.
Asuka recently returned to WWE as the Killing Clown and is one of the favorites to win this match. She dominated the field and repeatedly forced Liv Morgan out this week.
Raquel Rodriguez is another favorite, who went toe-to-toe with Ronda Rousey several times last year, and will be a new opponent for Belair at WrestleMania.
Men’s Elimination Chamber match
Austin Theory puts the United States Championship on the line in a men’s Elimination Chamber match. The other five participants are Seth Rollins, Johnny Gargano, Bronson Reed, Montez Ford and Damien Priest. The rules here are the same as for a women’s room match.
Rollins is the biggest superstar out of all six men and the only former WWE Champion in the group. He has traded the United States title with Theory and is his biggest kayfabe threat. However, Rollins’ match against Logan Paul at WrestleMania It seems likely, and an American title might not be the best fit for that story.
Once you’ve passed Rollins and Theory, the four remaining wrestlers are looking for that big win to propel them to WWE’s top card.
Bronson Reed recently returned to WWE and has yet to be pinned or tapped. That must change inside the room if he doesn’t win.
Johnny Gargano had a rocky start to his main roster last year, but he’s starting a little bit now that he’s taken some time off to recover from injury.
Montez Ford is the tag team wrestler that many fans predict will eventually break out as a singles superstar.
Damien Priest is a regular presence on TV as a member of Judgment Day, and it might be time for this group to finally win some championship golds.
Brock Lesnar vs. Bobby Lashley
Bobby Lashley is one of the only wrestlers on the WWE roster who has been able to stand on par with Brock Lesnar over the past two years. Brook defeated last year at Royal Rumble 2022and beat the shit out of Brock and knocked him out after losing his rematch last November in Saudi Arabia, then easily eliminated Lesnar from this year’s Royal Rumble match.
However, Lesnar continues to dismiss Lashley, often referring to him with the phrase “Bobby who?”
Brooke pulled Bob in his United States Championship match on raw last month, and now he wants to prove he’s the real alpha male by beating him in the rubber match at Judicial Department. Bray Wyatt basically called out who would win this match, which added even more intrigue to the finale WrestleMania 39 at the corner.
Edge and Beth Phoenix vs. Rhea Ripley and Finn Balor
Edge created The Judgment Day almost a year ago, inducting Damian Priest and Rhea Ripley into the fold as wrestlers who were no longer undervalued or ignored. However, things quickly turned sour in June when Finn Balor joined the group. Balor, Priest, and Ripley immediately turned on Edge and have been working their way together ever since, with Dominik Mysterio joining up later.
Edge has been focused on vengeance and destroying his creation ever since that day, but his plan went wrong again last October in Strict rules. Balor forced Edge to watch Ripley deliver a devastating concerto to his wife, Beth Phoenix.
Edge and Beth took some time off from WWE, but both are back at it Royal Rumble They immediately laid hands on Balor, Ripley, and the rest of the group. And now they’re going to try to end this war tonight in a mixed tag team match.
summary
There are no fillers in this boxed assortment. All five matches are compelling in their own way, capping off one of the most anticipated WWE Championship matches in history. It’s a must-see event for the main event match alone.
What are you going to look for Judicial Department?
