WWE Elimination Chamber 2022

The final stop on the road to WrestleMania has finally arrived! Finally, we’re at the Elimination Chamber which is undoubtedly one of many payperviews that I look forward to on the WWE calendar. Did this show deliver, or did it crash and burn like most stars during the Elimination Chamber matches themselves? Well, let’s dive on in and see what we have in store for this year’s WrestleMania show with today’s final and definitive results!

Match 1: Universal Championship Match; Roman Reigns (c) vs Goldberg. (Rating:2.75/5)

Short, sweet and straight to the point. Did this dream match deliver with high expectations? Unfortunately it did not, however it did make up for that with a short match showcasing how far and how dominant Reigns has truly become since dawning the Tribal Chief persona. Goldberg truly has improved in the ring and it really showed during these past couple of runs that Goldberg can indeed face off against the young top guys of today, and although his match with Roman did feel a bit lackluster in the grand scheme of things; he truly made the Big Dog look like a million bucks. No spears in this match were hit from neither man whatsoever but Reigns did do what he said he’d do and that was Goldberg’ing Goldberg. After a 10 or so minute bout, Roman locked in the Guillotine submission hold on Goldberg, causing the Hall of Famer to become unconscious and ending the match via submission.

Match 2: Women’s Elimination Chamber Match; (Rating: 3/5)

Today’s payperview truly demonstrated how far women’s wrestling has come a long way and with six of some of the best ladies that WWE has to offer really solidified how fun this match truly was. With this being Alexa Bliss’ first match back in months, the hype really did revolve around her and although she eventually made it into the final two, she still should’ve had an extra moment or two since Bliss really is an amazing athlete, and I truly missed seeing her compete. Liv Morgan eliminated Doudrop with a really sweet looking sunset flip and Rhea Ripley eliminated her former best friend Nikki ASH with a Riptide finisher. Following that, Bliss eliminated Morgan with a Twisted Bliss with the final entrant, Bianca Belair, eliminating Ripley with a KOD. After Bliss countered Bianca’s 450 Splash with a DDT and one more KOD to the former “Goddess of WWE,” Belair secured her spot in facing the Raw Women’s Champion for this year’s WrestleMania show! (Whether it’s on Night One or Night Two)

Match 3: Tag Team Match; Naomi and Ronda Rousey vs Charlotte Flair and Sonya Deville. (Rating: 2.5/5)

This was Rousey’s official first match back in the WWE (unless you want to count the Royal Rumble match, then by all means go for it), and she truly hasn’t lost a step in her ring work. Though the match went rather quick and had Flair and Deville focus on Naomi majority of the time, seeing Ronda immediately turn the tide and having her pick up the win for her team reapplied the emphasis that Ronda Rousey is a force to be reckoned with. The only real complaint this match has is the stipulation of Ronda having to have one of her arms tied behind her back, like sure it provides a purpose in the story for the heels to have that sort of distinct advantage and while Rousey did manage to do a relatively okay job wrestling with just one arm, she really shouldn’t have had that restriction. Regardless, with a Piper’s Pit and Armbar submission hold on Sonya, team Rousey was victorious!

Match 4: Falls Count Anywhere; Drew McIntyre vs Madcap Moss. (Rating:3.5/5)

Wow did this match exceed my expectations! This was fun, hard hitting and even though Drew shouldn’t be involved with this storyline leading up to WrestleMania, still managed to not only make McIntyre look incredible but also showcase more of Moss as a singles competitor. Madcap’s gimmick as Happy Corbin’s sidekick that tells lame jokes really has become redundant as of late but his ability in the ring certainly does make up for his character. There was actually a scary moment in this match in which Drew hit Moss with a reverse Alabama Slam and the way Madcap landed after that move really made it seem like he had broken his neck. Thankfully he was okay and with one Claymore Kick later, McIntyre is declared the winner of this match!

Match 5: Raw Women’s Championship Match; Becky Lynch (c) vs Lita. (Rating: 4/5)

Without a shadow of a doubt this was the match of the night for me. Seeing Lita wrestle in her first singles match for the first time in 10+ years really took me back to the past and served as a reminder of who were basically the pioneers that made me become the wrestling fan that I am today. Lita hasn’t lost a beat whatsoever! She gave one of the best performances of her entire career, and she definitely made Becks look like not only the big deal as champion but made Lynch look like that she would be the one to indeed carry the WWE women’s division for a very long time. There was a point near the closing minutes of the match that the Hall of Famer hit the Twist of Fate followed by the Moonsault off the top rope for one of the closest three counts that have occurred in this new year of wrestling! Lynch, of course kicks out and nailed Lita with her Manhandle Slam for the pinfall victory. Bianca Belair will in fact face Lynch at WrestleMania for the Raw Women’s championship and alas, this may have been the last time Lita would ever wrestle. Honestly, what a way to go out: as being one of the best women to ever lace up a pair of boots and having to go out by putting over one of the hottest female stars in the past decade.

Main Event: Men’s Elimination Chamber for the WWE Championship. (Rating: 3.75/5)

AJ Styles, Austin Theory, WWE champion Bobby Lashley, Brock Lesnar, Riddle and Seth Rollins; these six men have truly been the ones to carry Monday Night Raw on their backs. Awesome segments, amazing matches, great promos, no wonder this Chamber match was truly stacked in terms of talent and skill, and for the WWE title no less! Unfortunately, one man did not compete in the match whatsoever. A couple of minutes into the match, Rollins and Theory were brawling outside of the ring and near one of the pods. Seth lifted Austin in a powerbomb position and sent the young upstart crashing into the pod that had the Almighty Lashley inside. In storyline, Lashley was immediately taken out of the match and not being cleared to compete due to the impact he took from Theory breaking his pod which resulted in a concussion but in reality Bobby Lashley had suffered from a shoulder injury following his hard hitting match with Brock Lesnar at the Royal Rumble this year. Get well soon, Bobby. Riddle made his way into the ring next, fired up as per usual followed by the Phenomenal One, AJ Styles. The last man to exist and enter the match was of course Brock Lesnar but instead of waiting for the chamber pod door to open Lesnar took it upon himself to LEGITIMATELY break out of the pod and absolutely destroy the opposition. F5’s galore to Seth Rollins, to Riddle and finally to Styles and we were down to both Brock and Theory. Cowardly Austin ran around the structure and actually managed to give Lesnar a low-blow but after climbing the walls while Brock was chasing after him, with nowhere else to go both Brock and Theory were on top of a chamber pod and Brock Lesnar lifts up Austin and F5’s him OFF THE POD! Easily the most sick looking spot of not only the night but of Theory’s career and one final pinfall later, the winner and the new reigning defending undisputed WWE heavyweight champion of the world was Brock Lesnar; which makes it official that he will face Roman Reigns in a Champion vs Champion match at WrestleMania!

Final rating:3.75/5