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Elimination Chamber 2023 - The End of the (Blood)Line


d-d-d-dAz

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Great show.

Jey Uso is great and I’m glad they didn’t go for the basic heel turn, as now he’ll have some acting to sink his teeth into between now and Wrestlemania.

Enjoyed the main event, and thought they did as well as they could with it. I’m glad we’re all disappointed in a way - in a perfect world, this is what heel title runs should feel like. We should always have our hearts in our mouths wanting the babyface to win, but then be gutted when he doesn’t and think the worlds collapsing in on itself.

There was no way to end that match without people feeling disappointed (well, without ending a 900 day title reign short of Wrestlemania), but they’ve left themselves an intriguing angle with the USO’s and KO/Sami, and their main event stays in tact.

Good job.

The men’s Chamber match was brilliant and Montez Ford is an absolute superstar.

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I really enjoyed that main event. The drama was there. The near falls were there. The emotion was there. And most importantly, the heartbreak was there. 

I know it's not the result some of you wanted, but that doesn't necessarily mean it was shit. That crowd were absolutely nuclear for it as well.

@Supremo I did think of you whilst watching it.

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I really enjoyed the crowd going dead, too. My heart lurched for like half a second and then it was hilarious.

It was more or less in similar vein to the streak ending. I do kind of wonder if people stop to think that this is a dramatic, permissible way for a crowd to react to what is essentially live theatre. It's not always indicative that the booking was shit. 

It was a gasp and stony silence moment. They were evidently banking on that happening judging by the production truck cutting to half a dozen lined up sad face shots. 

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17 minutes ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

 

Jey Uso is great and I’m glad they didn’t go for the basic heel turn, as now he’ll have some acting to sink his teeth into between now and Wrestlemania.

Not so sure about this either. How do you go to Jey thinking Sami was responsible for him taking a spear as opposed to the guy who was shoving him about and put him in the path of it without Jey looking like the thickest guy in the company?

He had to make a decision on this show for me - in fact, that’s probably what caused the whole thing to fall flat as Jey’s decision is essentially one of the main arcs that had been built up. 

Again like KO coming out before the end, even if Jey hit Roman with the chair you could still get to Sami losing from there - it’s not like they were shying away from attitude era chaos.

I disagree the heartbreak was there. It totally fell flat and I felt far more is that it than heartbreak.

Edited by FUM
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16 hours ago, Loki said:

the stuff with Sami's wife at ringside was great, though.

Oh, absolutely. The way Roman spent the first half of the match working exclusively to Sami’s wife was such incredible prick behaviour. I assume the kids at ringside were related to Sami somehow. At one point I was genuinely scared Roman was going to shout at them, too. He’s a terrifying man.

I think that’s my biggest takeaway from this show. Of course Sami deserves his flowers, but nowhere near enough is being said about what a phenomenal heel Roman has become. The very reason the Bloodline, Sami and Cody things all work is because this awful bastard has got it coming, one way or another. Just an absolute dickhead, with no redeemable qualities. He’s not cool. He’s not trying to get cheered. He’s a horrible, bullying, gaslighting, abusive prick. Those vociferous, “fuck you Roman,“ chants are a thing of beauty. Distilled pro-wrestling.

KO and Sami beating some sense into the Usos on night one? Night two seeing both the Usos abandon Roman? Fuck yeah. His days are numbered and I cannot wait.

Edited by Supremo
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It was a good show, with the US Title Chamber being my favourite match of the night. All six guys in there killed it. 

I enjoyed the main event, would probably put the match in the good rather than great category as it was a standard Reigns main event really but had a great atmosphere. Always expected Sami to lose and I guess they’re going to slow build the Owens/Zayn team and the Jey Uso stuff as they never really went all the way with either which is probably another reason why again it was good rather than great.  

Other than that, looking forward to Bianca v Asuka, it was fun to see Rhea and Beth in the mixed tag despite the notches and  looks like Lesnar v Lashley at Mania after all. Maybe Wyatt faces the winner of that on night 1 for night two?

 

 

Edited by AndyUK
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I know this makes me sound like a loser, but they’ve earnt the right to tell me the story they want to tell me.

They’ve got so much right, and over the last few months I’ve had more enjoyment watching wrestling than I’ve probably had since I was teenager. I’ve been genuinely teary at times watching some of this stuff because I’ve been transported back to being a kid jumping around his room chanting for Rikishi when he faced HHH for the title on Smackdown.

That was a formative memory for me as I was so full of hope, and so free of cynicism. I think if I was a kid again, this would be that for me.

Having that feeling again has been a genuinely moving privilege and I’m thankful for those involved for letting me forget life for a bit and just be genuinely joyful.

I’m with them. Wrestlemania, let’s go!!

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Fun show, buoyed by the excellent main event and the right result. I'm not sure Cody even needs to win the title at Wrestlemania to be honest (though obviously I would be over the moon if he did). Keep it on Roman for a few more years, he's incredible. 

Men's Elimination Chamber was a good match in which the only character I could possibly give a shit about was Montez Ford, so once he was out it was a let down. The fake injury thing was shite as well. 

Women's had the right winner, but wasn't much cop. 

Any time Rhea Ripley and Dom are out there I'm having a good time, so enjoyed that match even though the timing was a bit off in places. 

Lashley vs Brock felt like a bit of a waste of time, obviously going to build to something else, but how much do they pay Brock per appearance? Oh well, they're minted enough.

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27 minutes ago, Winston said:

I was delighted to see Montez Ford start to shine on the big stage, he could be absolutely massive star for them.

He's got the lot.

He hasn’t. His piss poor efforts at Dx chops and Rock Mannerisms are embarrassing. He also looks tiny compared to the rest of the roster. He’s a great wrestler, he does cool spots, but he needs more polish.

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The Reign of Terror (chalk it down)  is definitely an interesting prospect. If you can make your product exciting and engaging up and down the card without dethroning him, and he still wants to go, then fuck it. WWE have always been about making their own sort of canon reality beyond any of our lowly opinions, and the canon reality there is he becomes the greatest star of all time, has the greatest reign of all time, the moment he loses is the biggest moment of all time, and the guy that beats him is the guy. Going along with WWE's reality is probably the most bankable way to actually enjoy it as well. 

I think if they pull the trigger at this WrestleMania they've only truly netted that last one beyond all doubt. Which is still a huge win. It'd be so good to see Cody do it and the time is technically right.

But keeping it going? It's like holding onto the car door as it pulls away. Keeping the party going from Saturday night into Sunday morning. You know you probably shouldn't but man...it's intriguing. 

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6 minutes ago, Pinc said:

That finish was a horrendous bottlejob and anyone defending it is a bootlicker.

Or enjoy different things. Which is cool too.

Also, you could argue chucking away the entire story they’ve probably had planned for six months to match fan involvement is the bigger bottlejob. You can’t bottle something you had no intention of doing in the first place.

The ending was entirely consistent with the story.

Edited by d-d-d-dAz
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