Reverse Hipster's Reviews
Women’s Elimination Chamber 8.2/10 B
The Women’s Elimination Chamber was fun. Everyone in the match had a moment to shine. Liv was the MVP of the match with the best spot. She did a sunset powerbomb to Raquel off the top of the Elimination Chamber Pod. However, despite Liv’s status, she was eliminated too early. I think all week, and even in this match, WWE was trying to manage Liv and quell any Liv fans so Asuka could have the moment. However, If WWE had to do that, then maybe, just maybe, Asuka isn’t the one who should have won.
WWE was too safe in this match. Having Carmella be the last woman in the match with Asuka made Asuka’s win a predictable formality. Also, this match had a real chance to be more than good if it just had more time. WWE could have easily cut Brock and Bobby from the show and given the woman more time.
Brock Lesnar vs. Bobby Lashley 7/10 C-
This match was a standard Goldberg vs. Brock type match where it's just spamming finishers. When Bobby looked like he was going to make Brock tap out to the Hurt Lock, Brock kicked Bobby in the balls and got himself disqualified. Then Brock took out Bobby and the ref. This match was supposed to be unsatisfying and lead to another, so I didn’t grade it too harshly, but I can’t see how I could rate it any higher.
Edge & Beth vs. Finn and Rhea 8.4/10 B
This was a really exciting match. The rules of a tag team match hardly mattered in this bout, but it only made the match more enjoyable. Beth was in excellent ring shape, and she brought the war to Judgement Day’s doorstep. Both Beth and Rhea brought it. At one point, they each did a powerbomb to the men at the same time. Edge was good as always, and Finn Balor was in rare form. Something about Edge brings out the best in Balor. Despite Rhea and Balor’s stellar performance, Edge speared Finn and got the win protecting Rhea from having to take the fall.
Men’s Elimination Chamber Match 8.9/10 B+
The First ever United States Championship Elimination Chamber match did not disappoint. Bronson Reed had a real coming-out party. He put two superstars on his shoulders and slammed them. He took a gnarly Frankensteiner, and he jumped off the top rope to deliver an avalanche shoulder block. I left this match having a way higher opinion of Reed than I walked in with. I already loved Gagano, but he showed everyone else what he could as well when he hit a Hurricanerana off the top of the pod. Montez Ford had a great singles showing, climaxing with a flip off the top of the chamber into a splash from the ceiling. Damian Priest just ran through everyone at one point and showed how powerful and agile he is.
Seth and Theory sort of picked their spots and made it to the end of what was an exciting confrontation. However, it was ruined by Logan Paul, who attacked Seth and cost him the match. It helps the Seth vs. Logan Paul program but stops the match from being an A.
Sami Zayn vs. Roman Reigns 8.85/10 B+
The crowd went bonkers for this match. It really was Sami and Montreal vs. Roman Reigns. Sami put in a valiant effort, and he had so many near falls and even two times where he had Roman beat when the ref was down, but in the end, he got speared after enduring tons of chair shots, and he lost. He was able to fight off Jimmy Uso after taking several superkicks, but after Jey Uso got between Roman and Sami and Sami accidentally speared him, it was over for Sami. The match was great from a story and crowd involvement perspective.
However, the reason I can’t call it an A is that Sami lost. Call me what you want, but Sami had to win to put this moment over the top the way it needed to be. This had Bryan Danielson Wrestlemania 30, Punk in Chicago, and Kofi at mania vibes. However, to complete the moment, Sami needed to win, and without that, it can’t stand on the same level as the other moments. Another reason the match falls short is the finish. It felt like, after all they had been through, the finish was too abrupt. Lastly, in order to send the fans home happy, Kevin Owens came out and stunned everyone. Where was Kevin when Sami was getting ganged up on and beaten with a chair? It seems ridiculous that Kevin Owens would only come out to help after the match was over.
Rob’s Elimination Chamber Reviews
Women’s Elimination Chamber
Every time the women get a chance to wrestle and tell stories, they absolutely shine. I would wager to say everyone in this match came out of it looking stronger. Liv Morgan had the highlight of the match with the flip off the pod into a powerbomb. I think Asuka was the safest choice to win this match, but perhaps still the right choice. She has momentum after returning at Royal Rumble, and she is the best possible matchup for Bianca Belair.
Final Grade: 7/10 Good
Brock Lesnar vs. Bobby Lashley
It is weird to see the once-special attraction Brock Lesnar in rematch exhibition matches going on second at a non-Big 4 PPV. After this match, I felt like they still have not shown us what these two can do, and that feels like a waste of time. At Crown Jewel, Bobby Lashley dominated after Lesnar technically won. Here, Lesnar dominated after Lashley technically won. What once felt like a special matchup doesn’t feel all that special going into WrestleMania, but let’s hope these guys put in the work and prove me wrong.
Final Grade: 4/10 Below Average
Edge and Beth Phoenix vs. Finn Balor and Rhea Ripley
Both teams looked very cool and united in their entrance and ring gear. This was a fun payoff to our match of the year last year, which never quite hit the heights of that match. My personal highlight was any time Beth Phoenix and Rhea Ripley got to show their strength relative to the men. Edge and Phoenix using the shatter machine as their finish, got a pop out of me. I think Judgment Day needed this win more, but it was a feel-good moment to end the story.
Final Grade: 5/10 Average
Men’s Elimination Chamber (United States Championship)
I thought the Men would have a hard time living up to the Women’s match earlier in the night, but I think they exceeded it. Like the Women’s match, every guy in this match got to walk out looking better. NXT mainstays like Johnny Gargano and Bronson Reed got to show the main roster audience what they could do. Damian Priest looked as good as he has on his surprising run the last few years. Fans clearly couldn’t get enough of Seth Rollins. Rollins and Gargano had an unbelievable hurricanrana spot from the top of the pod, which I can’t believe no one got more hurt from. Montez Ford still had the highlight of the match with his backflip drop from the top of the chamber. Ford absolutely shined in his first exhibition as a singles star. Still, Austin Theory walked out as the champion, and in the ring, I think this was his best performance to date. Theory won with help from Logan Paul, setting up the Rollins/Paul match many expected, and leaving Theory open to a possible challenge from the greatest United States Champion of all time. The finish was a little bit of a sour note to end on, but all in all, not a bad booking.
Final Grade: 8/10 Great
Roman Reigns vs. Sami Zayn (WWE Undisputed Championship)
Coming into this, I felt like this moment was on par with any other underdog moment in WWE history. Put it up against RVD at ECW One Night Stand, Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 30, and Kofi Kingston at WrestleMania 35, and I think it is on that level. What do you do when that moment just doesn’t happen, though? Roman Reigns and Sami Zayn worked a near-perfect match, including almost five minutes of them just soaking in the reaction from the crowd. We saw some of Zayn’s old moves, callbacks to their story, and run-ins by the other involved Bloodline members. Among a few others, Zayn can claim that he would have beaten Reigns were the referee not knocked out, and he only lost because of disqualification.
But I still don’t know how to rate this match because the end was just so unsatisfying. To some degree, WWE can claim success because they didn’t get booed out of the building and just received shocked silence. I partially blame WWE for booking themselves into a corner. I just hope the payoff of Reigns and Cody Rhodes is enough to make me forget that they didn’t just let the fireworks go off here. After Zayn’s performance here, it doesn’t feel like a rivalry with the Usos at WrestleMania is enough. But independent of the outcome, I have to respect that this was generationally good storytelling and in-ring work on display.
Final Grade: 8/10 Great
Rob's Final Grade
It is a good Road to WrestleMania when you have a generationally good story main eventing Elimination Chamber. Both Elimination Chamber matches were great, and it’s a testament to the stipulation that it elevated multiple stars on the Road to WrestleMania. I think this PPV could have gone for a few other non-gimmick matches, but I love that they gave the biggest matches time to shine and tell the story they wanted. This year’s Elimination Chamber will be remembered in the future, maybe just not for the best reasons WWE would want.
Final Grade: 7/10 Good
Reverse Hipser’s Final Grade 8.2/10 B
This PPV had some truly great matches on this card, and most of them delivered well enough. There were no bad matches, and every match was engaging in one way or another. The thing that holds this PPV back has nothing to do with the wrestlers. The fact that this is right before WrestleMania really tied a hand behind the back of a lot of these matches.