Reverse Hipster's Elimination Chamber Review 2024
Naomi vs. Becky vs. Tiffany Stratton vs. Liv vs. Raquel Elimination Chamber Match 80/100 B-
This match didn't fully live up to my expectations. It was good but barely crossing the threshold of good. Becky and Naomi started off, and their fight was mostly forgettable. They didn't have good chemistry, and their sequences were slow and sloppy. Tiffany came in and changed the whole match. She was the MVP. The Crowd was mostly into Tiffany, and Tiffany had most of the major moves, like jumping off the cage, lifting two women at once, and backflipping & stomping all over the place. Tiffany also took most of the biggest moves as well. Tiffany eliminated Naomi but was the second woman out, eliminated by Liv.
People actually booed Liv for eliminating Tiffany, but they liked Liv and cheered for her later. I think WWE underestimated Tiffany's popularity. Eliminating her that early was a mistake. Even if she didn't win, she would have elevated the match by competing late into the match. Naomi had a few redeeming moves like doing a split off the cage onto Becky and doing a blockbuster off the top of the cage to Liv. Liv Morgan was the second or third-best person in the match. Liv Threw Tiffany into the cage doors over and over, reversed the KOD into a codebreaker, and eliminated Bianca Belair. Bianca is competing with Liv for the second-best in this match. She did a front flip off the top to Becky and was easily the smoothes with her maneuvers. She even hit Raquel with the KOD, which was not easy because of how long Raquel was. Raquel was okay. Her highlight of the night was delivering a double Tajana Bomb, but she was also going through Mass Cell Activation Syndrome, so it's just amazing she was out there at all.
Becky Lynch ended up winning by Manhandle slamming Liv after Liv had just pinned Bianca. I don't like this pick to win the Elimination Chamber. Becky will probably have a great match at Wrestlemania because she is a legendary performer, but with so many other exciting talents in this match, this feels a little predictable and drab.
Damian Priest & Finn Balor vs. Tyler Bate & Pete Dunne Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship 82/100 B
This match had a major handicap because everyone and their mother knew that Judgment Day wasn't losing this match. However, Tyler Bate and Dunne worked a fluid, fast-paced style that kept fans engaged and made them feel like they should have won several times. To Judgement Day's credit, they kept staying in it by cheating with help from Dom, and when it was time to squash the challengers, boy did they. Damian Priest hit a double South of Heaven Slam from the top, and Balor finished them off with a Coup De Grace.
Cody & Seth on the Grayson Waller Effect with Austin Theory
I just want to point out I don't hold segments against PPV grades, but I will use them as Extra credit if they are exceptional. This segment was not exceptional. Grayson came out and got the crowd hype and got to get cheered by his home continent. Grayson Waller had a great burn about how Cody couldn't finish a story because of the U.S. educational system. However, then Seth and Cody came out, and Cody rambled with Seth before challenging Rock to a singles match anytime, only to have Seth say he'd join and make it a tag team match because the Bloodline never fights alone. Theory had an excellent line where he did the Rock's. It doesn't matter to Cody.
However, Cody and Seth just dumped all over Waller and Theory, and I feel especially bad for Waller. Seth and Cody beat up Austin Theory and made Grayson watch in the corner on his own show like a punk. This segment could have been an R-Truth Segment instead.
Kevin Owens vs. Logan Paul vs. Bobby Lashley vs. Randy Orton vs. Drew McIntyre vs. LA Knight Elimination Chamber 70/100 C-
This match was mid as hell, and every time I thought it couldn't get any more mid, it did. They allowed every superstar to get in the match without an elimination, which is fine and should set up for a great scrum. However, the time before the final person entered felt like filler. Nothing really happened, plus it didn't get better.
The match was disjointed. It felt like they weren't doing big spots together. They took turns having one-on-one interactions without making any truly amazing moves or telling an engaging ring story. The men didn't go above and beyond at all. The biggest move of this match was Bobby spearing Logan through the pod. Logan Paul didn't even have a crazy spot. The men made the women's elimination chamber look legendary. At least the woman took a risk and made innovative offensive moves. It honestly felt like there wasn't even a plan other than interference and the winner. We got the level of offense you get in a Royal Rumble when a new superstar is about to come out.
On top of that, the interference was terrible. AJ came out and beat LA Knight down with a chair, causing him to be eliminated. This sucked the air out of the match, as LA Knight was the engine up to that point. Then, there was interference at the end of the match between Randy and Drew. Randy actually bested Drew, but then Logan Paul ran in and blasted Randy with Brass Knuckles, and Drew covered him and won. This was terrible. You made the very capable McIntyre look weak by being bested by the guy he beat and owing his victory to Logan Paul, who actually won the match for Drew. The only things that stopped this match from getting a failing grade were that it had the right winner and Bobby Lashley's spear.
Rhea vs. Nia Jax Women's World Champion 83/100 B
Rhea and Nia did have the most exciting match of the night, but that was a low bar tonight. Still, both women were able to shine. Nia dominated and did everything you would think she would need to do to beat Rhea Ripley. She Samoan dropped Rhea on the announce table and then jumped off a rolling chair using her body to put Rhea through a table. Then she got right back on her and did the Bonzai drop onto Rhea. Yet, somehow, Rhea kicked out, and then she was able to suplex Nia off the top and then lift her for a Riptide. After two herculean efforts, she slayed Nia in front of her home crowd and won. This is probably one of the better matches of Rhea's reign.
Rob’s Elimination Chamber Review
The Kabuki Warriors vs. Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell (Women’s Tag Team Championships)
The Kabuki Warriors defended their championships against Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell. Hartwell got a hot reaction in her home country and a fun hot tag spot. In the end, Asuka and Kairi Sane picked up the win, and they looked pretty good. LeRae and Hartwell had some fun tag team spots, so maybe there will be more focus on this division moving forward.
Final Grade: 6/10 Above Average
Women’s Elimination Chamber
The Women’s Division has evolved to the point that they should have the same amount of matches as the men. Every superstar in this match looked great. The highlight for me was Tiffany Stratton. The Australian crowd loved her, and this was her first time getting over with the main WWE audience with moves like a Swanton bomb off the top rope. The crowd even booed Liv Morgan when she eliminated Stratton. Morgan reminded us what makes her great with gutsy high spots throughout the match. Raquel Rodriguez and Bianca Belair were the power in the match, and Naomi and Becky Lynch were the veterans who glued the whole thing together. In the end, Lynch picked up the win, and even though it was kind of predictable, it was a darn good match.
Final Grade: 7/10 Good
The Judgment Day vs. the New Catch Republic (Tag Team Championship)
Tag Team wrestling has been kind of dead in WWE. The Judgment Day makes a better faction than tag team, in my opinion, and they are largely on Raw, which means SmackDown teams have nothing to fight over. The story of this match for me was that Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne wrestled better as a team than the Judgment Day. They hit a flurry of fun tag team moves, but they couldn’t overcome the power of the Judgment Day. Finn Balor and Damian Priest picked up the win with help throughout the match by Dominik Mysterio. I kind of which creative would have pulled the trigger on Bate and Dunne, but it was a good match regardless.
Final Grade: 6/10 Above Average
Men’s Elimination Chamber
This match was solid in-ring, but it was sort of uninspired and predictable creatively. It followed the cliches of past Elimination Chambers when AJ Styles entered the structure and cost LA Knight, Logan Paul returned from elimination to cost Randy Orton, and Drew McIntyre, the favorite going into the match, won. For my money, the most entertaining parts of this match were Kevin Owens having a koala on the preshow, Paul and Owens beefing, and Lashley driving people through pods. McIntyre is a great character right now, but I’m not excited at all to see him face Seth Rollins at WrestleMania, as their first two encounters were unmemorable. The other feuds-time will tell.
Final Grade: 5/10 Average
Rhea Ripley vs. Nia Jax (Women’s World Championship)
Rhea Ripley came out like a star in the main event of this stadium Australian show. I think it was hard for them to follow up two chamber matches, but this was a solid match between the two that lived up to the intensity of the feud with hard strikes and a table spot. In the end, Ripley won and got to celebrate in front of her home country crowd. Ripley and Becky Lynch is official for WrestleMania.
Final Grade: 6/10 Above Average
Rob's Final Thoughts
Elimination Chamber was one of the most predictable WWE PPVs in a long time. If WWE is going to heavily foreshadow the matches at WrestleMania, then I think they should move Elimination Chamber back to the summer, bringing down the risk of injuries right before their biggest show and making the fun gimmick match less predictable. While we wanted WWE to have less matches on big shows, I think they have swung too far the other direction, and a lot of this show was taken up by advertisements and the Grayson Waller Effect promo segment. On the positive side, it’s always fun to see WWE do a big show in front of an audience that doesn’t get as many opportunities, and the in-ring action was solid. Elimination Chamber matches are always entertaining, but I don’t think this show exceeded anybody’s expectations.
Overall Grade: 5/10 Average
Reverse Hipster's Elimination Chamber Final Grade 78.75/100 C
Elimination Chamber Review 2024, this was strange. Damian Priest said that if a PLE doesn't hit in a new place, WWE just won't go back. Well, on the one hand, WWE didn't put their best foot forward in this PLE, so they shouldn't hold it against Australia, but on the other hand, they didn't even really cheer for Rhea Ripley, the returning hometown hero. Australia was not very hype and did themselves no favors. I hope they get another chance, but I don't know if they will.
However, WWE really forgot the Premium in the Premium live event. I don't know if it was Jetlag or the Heat, but this PLE ended up being very lackluster, with the most exciting match of the night scoring a whopping 83/100. For reference, NXT Vengeance Day had a 10/10 and couldn't use the chambers.
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