On Saturday night in Montreal, Sami Zayn almost gave his hometown Montreal fans the victory they desperately wanted. Instead, Zayn came up short in his bid to win the undisputed WWE universal championship from Roman Reigns in the main event of the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view.
For more than 30 minutes, Zayn gave Reigns all he could handle, scoring several near-falls and pushing the champion to his limit. But after multiple referees were knocked out and Jimmy Uso interfered on behalf of Reigns, Zayn finally fell short, though he did get a measure of post-match revenge with the help of Kevin Owens.
Also on the show, Austin Theory managed to retain his United States championship after a wild Elimination Chamber match thanks to interference from Logan Paul. And on the women's side, Asuka punched her ticket to a WrestleMania match with Raw women's champion Bianca Belair by outlasting five other women in the Chamber.
CBS Sports was with you the whole way through the event, providing updates and highlights as the action went down in the live blog below.
2023 WWE Elimination Chamber results, grades
Women's Elimination Chamber Match – Asuka vs. Carmella vs. Raquel Rodriguez vs. Nikki Cross vs. Natalya vs. Liv Morgan: Morgan and Natalya were the two women who started off the match. It took little time for them to head to the area between the ring and Chamber, with both women using the chains and pods to their advantage. Rodriguez was the first woman to enter from one of the pods, quickly taking over the match with her size and strength. No one had been eliminated by the time Cross became the fourth woman in the match. After the expected hot run upon entry, Cross climbed to the top of Carmella's pod before hitting a crossbody onto the other three women in the match. Asuka was the last woman left in a pod after Carmella entered the match before quickly putting herself back in the pod only to have to run as Rodridugez drove Cross through the plexiglass, a move that allowed Rodriguez to pin Cross for the first elimination of the match.
Upon entering the match, Asuka immediately went after Carmella, battering her with strikes. Amid the ensuing chaos, Natalya was able to lock Morgan in a sharpshooter before Asuka joined in, locking Morgan in an armbar until Morgan passed out and was eliminated. The next elimination quickly followed as Natalya locked Asuka in the sharpshooter but was hit by a Carmella superkick, allowing Carmella to score the pin and leaving the match down to Asuka, Carmella and Rodriguez. Asuka and Carmella quickly worked together to hit Rodriguez with a series of kicks before simultaneously pinning her for the elimination. A brief one-on-one session followed before Asuka locked up the armbar for the victory, punching her ticket to a match with Bianca Belair at WrestleMania. A solid, if unspectacular, entrant into Elimination Chamber history with the most obvious woman getting the victory. Asuka def. Carmella, Raquel Rodriguez, Natalya, Liv Morgan and Nikki Cross to win the Elimination Chamber. Grade: B-
|
#1 |
Liv Morgan |
Nikki Cross (Rodriguez) |
|
#2 |
Natalya |
Liv Morgan (Natalya, Asuka) |
|
#3 |
Raquel Rodriguez |
Natalya (Carmella) |
|
#4 |
Nikki Cross |
Raquel Rodriguez (Carmella, Asuka) |
|
#5 |
Carmella |
Carmella (Asuka) |
| #6 | Asuka | Winner: Asuka |
Brock Lesnar vs. Bobby Lashley: Lesnar got off to a fast start, going right at Lashley before dumping him from the ring. Lashley quickly turned things around by hitting a spear when they returned to the ring and then tried to put Lesnar in the Hurt Lock. Lesnar countered the submission and hoisted Lashley onto his shoulders for the first F-5 of the match. Lesnar would hit a second F-5 and go for a third, but Lashley escaped and hit his second spear of the match. Lashley was able to lock in the Hurt Lock on his second attempt. Lesnar struggled to escape the hold but could not and resorted to a low blow with a mule kick, leading the referee to immediately call for a disqualification. After the match, Lesnar hit the ref with an F-5 before delivering another to Lashley. Lesnar took the fight to the outside and hit Lashley with an F-5 through the announce table before also dragging the referee outside for another F-5. Not satisfying in any way but this was likely the means to an end to get to a no-disqualification rematch at WrestleMania. Bobby Lashley def. Brock Lesnar via disqualification. Grade: C-
Edge & Beth Phoenix vs. Finn Balor & Rhea Ripley: Edge got going quick on Balor before tagging in Phoenix for a double-team. Ripley and Phoenix traded words, and then clotheslines with neither woman going down. Ripley looked for Riptide after taking over but Phoenix managed to escape before finally dropping Ripley with a clothesline. Dominik Mysterio tried to distract Phoenix, leading Phoenix to chase him before turning her attention to Ripley, driving her into the ring steps. Mysterio again interfered, crouching Phoenix on the top rope before being chased off by Edge. Momentum continued to swing, with Mysterio returning to ringside only to see Ripley hit with a superplex. Edge and Phoenix both locked in submissions but Mysterio tossed brass knuckles in to the ring for Ripley for the save. Phoenix attempted to hit Phoenix with a Con-chair-to using the ring steps, but Phoenix escaped to hit a Glam Slam outside the ring. Back in the ring, Phoenix and Edge hit Balor with a Shatter Machine to score the win. An odd choice to have Ripley take a loss to a bulletproof pair of legends in her first match since winning the Royal Rumble. The match was well put-together to hide Phoenix's shortcomings due to age and general ring rust and it did make the Montreal crowd happy. Edge & Beth Phoenix def. Finn Balor & Rhea Ripley via pinfall. Grade: B
Men's Elimination Chamber Match for the United States Championship -- Austin Theory (c) vs. Montez Ford vs. Bronson Reed vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Damian Priest vs. Seth Rollins: Gargano and Rollins were the two men to start the match, quickly engaging in some chain wrestling. Theory was the first man out of his pod, attacking both Rollins and Gargano and sending Gargano into the pod. Gargano and Rollins eventually turned it around, teaming up to bounce Theory around the ring before shutting themselves in a pod with the champion to rain down punches. With no eliminations yet, Priest was the next man into the match, quickly taking down Rollins and Gargano with a series of big moves. Reed was the next man in, leaving Ford to wait for his chance to join the match as the final entrant.
Reed put both Rollins and Gargano on his shoulders before hitting a double Samoan drop for a near-fall on Rollins. Reed continued to run wild on everyone in the match until Ford was able to enter and quickly hit Reed with a big punch and kick. Ford tried to hit Theory with a People's Elbow but Reed interrupted. Rollins and Gargano nearly eliminated Reed with an assisted poisonrana, but Reed was able to kick out, preventing the first elimination of the match. Ford then climbed the side of the chamber, hung from the top and dropped onto the rest of the field. Reed was finally eliminated when Gargano hit a Final Beat, Rollins hit a stomp and Ford finished things off with a frog splash.
Rollins attempted to power bomb Gargano off the top of a pod, but Gargano reversed into a rana that sent both men flying onto the other three remaining competitors. Back in the ring, Priest managed to finish off Gargano with a Razor's Edge, taking the remaining competitors down to four. Priest would follow Gargano out the door moments later when Rollins and Ford combined on a blockbuster/powerbomb combo to eliminate the big man. Rollins hit Ford with a stomp onto the platform outside the ring, allowing Theory to steal the pinfall to leave Rollins as the last challenger remaining. Ford remained down after being eliminated, bringing several referees and officials to the ring and leaving the door to the Chamber open and allowing Logan Paul to run in, hit Rollins with a Buckshot Lariat and a stomp before Theory to hit A-Town Down to retain his title. This was a solid Elimination Chamber match that helped to raise the stock of entrants who needed it and provided plenty of memorable high spots. Paul's interference won't satisfy many but it's building to a very obvious WrestleMania match. Austin Theory def. Montez Ford, Bronson Reed, Johnny Gargano, Damian Priest and Seth Rollins to retain the United States championship. Grade: A-
|
#1 |
Seth Rollins |
Bronson Reed (Ford) |
|
#2 |
Johnny Gargano |
Johnny Gargano (Priest) |
|
#3 |
Austin Theory |
Damien Priest (Ford) |
|
#4 |
Damian Priest |
Montez Ford (Theory) |
|
#5 |
Bronson Reed |
Seth Rollins (Theory) |
|
#6 |
Montez Ford |
Winner: Austin Theory |
Undisputed WWE Universal Championship -- Roman Reigns (c) vs. Sami Zayn: The pair milked the rabid crowd's support for Zayn for several minutes before finally making contact. After Reigns took Zayn down, Zayn locked in a headlock until he was shoved off and hit with an elbow. Zayn came right back by throwing Reigns over the top rope before hitting a big dive onto the champion. Reigns took back over with a right-hand counter before dumping Zayn from the ring. Reigns continued to taunt the crowd, as well as Zayn's wife, eventually bringing the fight directly in front of her and telling her that the whole situation was Zayn's fault.
Zayn eventually stormed back, hitting Reigns with punches and a clothesline that put the champion over the top rope and to the outside. Zayn scored his first true near-fall with a sunset flip powerbomb as Reigns stood on the middle rope. Zayn countered Reigns' first Superman punch attempt with an exploder into the turnbuckles but ate the punch moments later for a Reigns near-fall. Reigns missed a spear, hitting the corner before another exploder into the turnbuckles. Zayn followed up with his own Superman punch and a Helluva kick for a tremendous false finish, with Reigns kicking out at the last possible fraction of a second.
Outside the ring, Reigns missed another spear, crashing through the barricade before Zayn brought him back into the ring to hit a blue thunder powerbomb for another two-count. As Zayn went for another blue thunder bomb, Reigns defended by smashing Zayn into the referee. Seconds later, Zayn hit another Helluva kick and had a clear victory but with no referee to count. This, of course, brought out Jimmy Uso to hit three superkicks and a splash before dragging Reigns onto Zayn. Still, Zayn managed to kick out before the count of three when a new official ran to the ring. Zayn threw Reigns from the ring and hit Jimmy with a Helluva kick before turning around into a Reigns spear for another near-fall. Zayn ducked out of the way of another Superman punch, this time with Reigns knocking out the second official before Zayn hit another Superman punch of his own. Paul Heyman dug a chair out from under the ring and handed it to Reigns, but Jey Uso entered the ring and stood between Reigns and Zayn. Reigns told Jey that he had to choose between his cousin or his friend before handing the chair over. Jey refused to move before Reigns took the chair and moved out of the way of a Zayn spear, leading Zayn to take out Jey. Reigns then hit Zayn with the chair several times before hitting a spear and covering until one of the previous referees slid into the ring to count the fall. After the match, Jimmy Uso and Reigns continued to attack Zayn until Kevin Owens' music hit and he took out Jimmy and hit both Bloodline members with a stunner before putting Jimmy through a table with a pop-up powerbomb. Heyman attempted to attack Owens after Owens grabbed a chair, but Owens quickly took him out. Owens then moved out of the way to allow Zayn to hit Reigns with one final Helluva kick. A hot crowd always makes a wrestling match better and Montreal was positively on fire. The ending won't satisfy everyone and it took a lot of classic "convenient referee availability" moments -- and Owens not bothering to intervene until after the match -- to get there. But the match was given time and Zayn was positioned as a legitimate threat. Very good stuff all around. Roman Reigns def. Sami Zayn via pinfall to retain the title. Grade: A
2023 WWE Elimination Chamber results, recap, grades: Roman Reigns staves off tough challenge from Sami Zayn - CBS Sports
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