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

[BomberPat]

There were bits of Sami/Roman that, on paper, should have been star-making. But it felt very much like the end of Sami Zayn's story, so they won't be star-making - and that's one of WWE's biggest problems, allowing people these big matches or potential breakout performances, and never following through on them. On one hand, main eventing against the longest reigning champion in decades is already way beyond where people would have imagined Sami Zayn's ceiling was when he signed, or even just this time last year, but on the other, there's only so many times you can have that perfect storm of a hot storyline, a dominant heel, an underdog babyface at the likely peak of their popularity, and it all coalescing into a title match in that babyface's hometown. Anything after this, even if Sami does eventually win the big one, feels like it would be too little too late.

There were some great near falls and moments that made Sami look like he could win it - he got a visual pinfall over Reigns while the ref was knocked out, and I'm not sure, but I don't think many, if any, of Reigns' opponents have had even that. But after a whole bunch of shenanigans to lose relatively clean, in the centre of the ring, to the Spear was a deflating ending, and you could tell that from how dead silent the crowd fell. It didn't feel like the match had escalated to that point, because we had an extended period of the Roman Reigns Acting Segment, followed by everything with Jey Uso, that made it clear that actually, this isn't a story about Sami Zayn, just a story that has Sami Zayn in it. 

Even Kevin Owens coming out at the end was dampened by them still seemingly doing a "will they/won't they" about whether Sami and Kevin are actually going to team up or not. I know there's still six weeks until Wrestlemania so they need to pad the story out, but after having Sami lose in Montreal, there needed to be some kind of emotional catharsis for the audience, and they didn't even give us Kevin and Sami hugging, which would have gone some way toward providing that.

 

I honestly think they're going to have a hard time pivoting to Cody Rhodes now. Yes, Cody's had a couple of hot promos, but they've been very Cody Rhodes - self-contained segments, where he gets to tell his story. He hasn't really begun feuding with Roman Reigns yet, and I think there's still going to be a sizeable section of the fanbase that would rather see Sami Zayn in that spot. Assuming that it's going to be Usos vs. Zayn & Owens at Wrestlemania, WWE are going to have a hard time threading the needle between making people want to see Cody Rhodes in the main event babyface spot and as the man to beat Roman Reigns, while also keeping Sami's story alive in such a way that it doesn't feel like he's getting fobbed off with a lesser match now that the chosen babyface has come along. 

 

Going back to the Sami match, and the finish in particular, what I was expecting was something akin to the end of Cena/Punk at Money In The Bank 2011 - there, they teased a Montreal Screwjob finish, and they teased a Money In The Bank cash-in, effectively running through every finish that the audience predicted they'd come up with to try and weasel their way out of a conclusive ending or a CM Punk win under those circumstances. I expected something similar here; ramping up the tension by throwing every false finish imaginable into the mix, and playing everyone's expectations off each other, with Roman eking out a win in the end. Obviously, I can't hold it against WWE for not booking the sequence of events that I specifically would have preferred to see, but "hottest babyface in the company gets battered with a chair, hit with a finish and then pinned in the centre of the ring" isn't how this should have gone down. Sami didn't have to win, but there are ways of losing that would have protected him better, and kept some heat on this story, should they choose to revisit it later - it will be an anticlimax, but I can see Zayn beating Reigns after Wrestlemania without the title involved, and Reigns' victory being less decisive would have justified that. 

[Devon Malcolm]

There's absolutely no way Sami Zayn should be beating Roman Reigns for the world title. It was absolutely the right decision.

I love Sami, he's had an incredible 12 months or so and his character work has been some of the best I've ever seen in WWE. But that doesn't mean he had to be champion. Because what happens after he becomes champion? He gets stuffed in some dull feud where he's still playing the underdog role and loses the title within a couple of months before becoming an afterthought again. What I like about WWE right now is that they seem, for the most part, to be investing in title changes that might actually have some legs. Rather than "Oh it's Kofi's turn" type changes.

You especially couldn't put the belts on him just a few weeks after the Rumble. There's just not been enough time to make him a convincing contender. He was losing to Johnny Knoxville last Wrestlemania. He's not the new Daniel Bryan either. Bryan had a sustained and huge fan push behind him that went on for ages and had enough time dedicated to it for it to have a logical title change ending. Sami hasn't had that.

Him and Owens now have time to continue their story, and the Bloodline's, to Wrestlemania and win the tag titles. Then the story flips back to Jey, because it's been his story since the lockdown days. The most important thing is to keep the Bloodline story going because it's arguably the best storyline WWE have ever done and it still has significant legs to run. Sami's only been a player in it, he hasn't been *it*.

That all being said, the main event was great - a really good match booked like a traditional old wrestling match with potential hinted twists played out, and Reigns doing some of the greatest heel work you'll see. Fantastic stuff.

The mixed tag match was a total mess at times, mostly down to Beth Phoenix who was never that good in the first place, but Rhea still came out of it the biggest star of the lot. She's doing amazing work at the moment.

Lesnar vs Lashley was alright for what it was but I'm assuming it will be a triple-threat with Wyatt at Wrestlemania now because otherwise who's Lesnar wrestling there? Unless they have him squash Austin Theory or something and have a fun run with the US Title.

That US title match was probably the best of the night, too. Every one of them looked great. I know everyone's going big on Montez Ford and he does look good but Damien Priest has got it all. The look, the size, the moves - they need to find a way to move him up the card and get him away from fucking Finn Balor. He's a huge star in the making. Logan Paul's interjection was *perfect* too.

Women's chamber was alright but too predictable as to who was going to win. There wasn't really much need for this match at all.

Good event though, overall, but I can't remember the last time a WWE PPV wasn't. They're on a good run, and even Tattoo Harry was pretty good on commentary at times.

[air_raid]

I bet they’re going to have Sami throw the weight of his support behind Cody in the build now. Which in theory makes sense if you try and make Zayn fans into Cody fans because they’re trying to bring the empire down together, but in reality will draw enmity to Cody from Sami’s embittered fans.

[andrew "the ref" coyne]

1 hour ago, Devon Malcolm said:

Lesnar vs Lashley was alright for what it was but I'm assuming it will be a triple-threat with Wyatt at Wrestlemania now because otherwise who's Lesnar wrestling ?

I presuming Lesnar and Lashley as a tag team taking on Wyatt and Uncle Howdy.

[BomberPat]

1 hour ago, Devon Malcolm said:

That US title match was probably the best of the night, too. Every one of them looked great. I know everyone's going big on Montez Ford and he does look good but Damien Priest has got it all. The look, the size, the moves - they need to find a way to move him up the card and get him away from fucking Finn Balor. He's a huge star in the making. Logan Paul's interjection was *perfect* too.

Damian Priest is 40 years old. I know that 40 in 2023 is very different to a 40 year old wrestling in the '90s, but I can see why they'd be wary of putting too much stock in him. Though on the flipside, if he only has limited time left, cash in now while he's still there and still healthy. Montez Ford is absolutely the guy they should be getting behind, though.

I crunched some numbers earlier, and there's more than twice as many wrestlers over 40 on the main roster than there are under 20, with the majority of the roster in their late 30s. I don't know how that compares to previous years, but it doesn't feel like a great sign in terms of building stars or futureproofing. 

[Devon Malcolm]

10 minutes ago, andrew "the ref" coyne said:

I presuming Lesnar and Lashley as a tag team taking on Wyatt and Uncle Howdy.

Oh god that sounds terrible.

2 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

Damian Priest is 40 years old.

Well I learned something new today. Bloody hell.

[Accident Prone]

1 hour ago, air_raid said:

I bet they’re going to have Sami throw the weight of his support behind Cody in the build now. Which in theory makes sense if you try and make Zayn fans into Cody fans because they’re trying to bring the empire down together, but in reality will draw enmity to Cody from Sami’s embittered fans.

I would've had that concern a few years ago, but WWE's core fanbase are just happy to go along for the ride, especially now that WWE has legit competition in AEW. You never hear about WWE live crowds going against the product these days (mostly because they've frustrated the "vocal minority" who had standards and they fucked off elsewhere), and they'll have no issue positioning Cody in Sami Zayn's place in the run up to 'Mania. They've got an ex-AEW main eventer headlining WrestleMania as a climax to the most praised WWE storyline in a decade, so I think the ticket-buying WWE fans aren't going to show any anti-WWE or anti-Cody sentiment.

I would love to be wrong though. I would love to believe that WWE fans still have some bite to them, and don't just open their gobs for any old bullshit shovelled into their mouths these days, and the same goes for AEW (but that's for a different topic).

Edited February 20, 2023 by Accident Prone

[air_raid]

1 hour ago, BomberPat said:

Damian Priest is 40 years old. I know that 40 in 2023 is very different to a 40 year old wrestling in the '90s, but I can see why they'd be wary of putting too much stock in him. Though on the flipside, if he only has limited time left, cash in now while he's still there and still healthy.

This is the opinion I had of Matt Riddle and I’ll never get over how it’s fallen apart in such a predictable manner.

[waters44]

There were 20 wrestlers at Elimination Chamber and the average age was just under 37. It’s an interesting point to think about what effect this might all have long term - you forget that the numbers creep up (Lashley is 46!). There were only three wrestlers under 30 at the PPV

[CavemanLynn]

10 minutes ago, waters44 said:

There were 20 wrestlers at Elimination Chamber and the average age was just under 37. It’s an interesting point to think about what effect this might all have long term - you forget that the numbers creep up (Lashley is 46!). There were only three wrestlers under 30 at the PPV

The durations of careers and career trajectories over the past decades is interesting to me. I've always been of the opinion that, due to the physical toll of the work as much as any business approach, it should be a wrestler's goal to get in and get out as quick as possible.

I'm not an advocate of old-school dues-paying, as such - in my opinion, if a kid shows talent, you push them to the moon rather than stopping on them so they 'wait their turn' - yet many of today's big-leaguers seem to have the clock-in-clock-out lifer mentality of us working-class shmoes. He's an outlier, but look at Stone Cold - debuted in '89, was Stone Cold just 7 years later, and out 7 years after that in 2003 (arguably making his money in 2-3 of those years).

Nowadays, it's like if you don't have 10 years slumming it in men's clubs and backyards, forget about it, kid. Then again, perhaps the actual lack of indie shows (i.e. audience) is going to naturally hold back a lot of talent development. Sure, guys today are supposedly in better health than they were (despite the amount of kinesiotape propping many of them up), but unless there are more opportunities (or, dare I say, more regular loss-cutting), there's no way you don't end up with guys hanging on for a decade, picking up their salary and getting stale, not rocking the apple cart.

[Arch Stanton]

On the subject of wrestler's ages, I was quite shocked by the promo they showed during Elimination Chamber for Bianca Belair, which revealed her to be born in 1989. That makes her the same age as Bayley. I would have guessed Belair was ten years younger than that!

[FUM]

Athletes in general go much longer now - even footballers are going to around 38-39 playing at a good level when it used to be 35 was about the maximum.

Not to mention that in wrestling there is far less addiction issues than there was grinding bodies down. A 40 year old has at least around 10 years left nowadays that they can be at the top, you can hitch your wagon to someone that age no bother if they look like a star. Cody is the guy being touted in this thread and he’s only 3 years off 40.

[air_raid]

1 hour ago, FUM said:

Not to mention that in wrestling there is far less addiction issues than there was grinding bodies down. A 40 year old has at least around 10 years left nowadays that they can be at the top, you can hitch your wagon to someone that age no bother if they look like a star. Cody is the guy being touted in this thread and he’s only 3 years off 40.

Of course, the grand exception to all of this comparison of lifestyles of the eras being Ric Flair, who had the best year of his career in 1989 at the age of 40, still managed another ten years on top and had more issues with substances than Mick Foley has issues of print media publications featuring Divas with their tits out.

[Kfogg1991]

This is where I hope the wwe universe does what it did with Daniel Bryan and make them have no other choice but to get him in that title match at mania 

[TildeGuy~!]

Fuck that give Jey Uso the belt, Reigns 900 days of terror began with him, it should end with him.