There was no Daniel Bryan-like moment for Sami Zayn in his hometown and WWE delivered about as well as it could while still holding some things back at Elimination Chamber.
Zayn, despite all kinds of shenanigans and Jey Uso refusing to turn on him, did not leave an emotional Bell Center in Montreal a world champion on Saturday night (Sunday AEDT).
Instead, he will have to settle for taking Roman Reigns to his limit, an absolute outpouring of love from his people and likely rekindling his on screen friendship with Kevin Owens.
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While it wasn’t as perfect as what we saw at the Royal Rumble, the main event delivered and so did the entire show outside one major miss.
Here are five takeaways from Elimination Chamber.
IN-ZAYN-LY CLOSE
Sami Zayn had his moment – just not his world championship.
Late in the match, the Montreal native appeared to have Roman Reigns beat after a second Helluva kick, but the referee had been knocked out. Jimmy Uso appeared, and super kicked Zayn three times and then delivered an Uso splash.
A new official raced in and Zayn got his shoulder up. After that, Reigns hit a running spear and Zayn still got a shoulder up leaving the undisputed champ besides himself. A superman punch took out a second ref, and Paul Heyman went for a chair. Jey Uso appeared this time and stood in front of Reigns – just as Zayn did for Kevin Owens at the Royal Rumble.
“It’s either me or it’s him,” Reigns told Jey while handing him the chair just as he did with Zayn at the Royal Rumble. Jey hesitated and a frustrated Reigns took the chair back. Zayn speared Jey by mistake and gave Reigns the chance to unload chair shots on him. A spear later and it was over.
Kevin Owens eventually appeared to the delight of the crowd – Stunning Reigns, putting Jimmy Uso through a table and Stunning Heyman. Owens then moved out of the way to let Zayn deliver one last Helluva kick to Reigns but didn’t not embrace his friend, walking to the back while looking at him instead.
Despite the drama Zayn and Reigns were able to create, they stuck with Cody Rhodes for the WrestleMania main event, saved Owens and Zayn from officially teaming up and Jey Uso making a final decision if he still stands with The Bloodline. Will the audience push for Zayn to get another shot is the question?
Fans were left in stunned silence after the months-long build-up of Zayn finally getting a shot at Reigns resulted in a flat defeat, with the tag team titles likely to be a consolation prize which may not placate those watching live and at home.
Still, this was one of those special wrestling nights as Zayn got an insane pop coming out last and Reigns smirking and no-selling it was brilliant as the crowd showered him with ‘F—k you Roman!” chants. The champ stayed away from Zayn for around minutes to let the fans continue celebrating Zayn.
After some early offense by Zayn, Reigns quickly took control of the match and began insulting the crowd. He even started telling Zayn’s wife at ringside, “This isn’t what I wanted. I wanted you to be a part of my family. … This is his fault. … He betrayed you” in a callback to the whole Bloodline feud.
Zayn started fighting back once the match returned to the ring and revived the crowd. He took Reigns outside and started pummeling in front of his family and kissed his wife. He countered a spear into an exploder, but a Superman punch stopped a Helluva Kick attempt. Zayn hit a Superman punch and the Helluva Kick but Reigns kicked out just before three. Reigns rolled out before Zayn could hit the kick again.
The champ went for a spear on the outside. Zayn slipped away as the champ went through the barricade. He rolled Reign in hit a Blue Thunder bomb, but again Reings got an arm up. Zayn did get Reigns pinned with a Helluva Kick but the ref was knocked out. That was as close as he would come – likely having to settle for beating The Usos with Owens in Los Angles.
NO CLOWNING AROUND
Asuka will get the chance to end her WrestleMania losing streak against Raw women’s champion Bianca Beliar, one of the most dominant title holders in the company’s history. The twisted Empress of Tomorrow, who is 0-3 at the show of shows, made Carmella tap out to win the women’s Elimination Chamber.
The entertaining match also protected the other two babyfaces by having Liv Morgan pass out in the middle of the ring to a double submission from Natalya and Asuka. After Natalya was pinning by Carmella, Raquel Rodriguez fell victim to a double pin from Asuka and Carmella. Having Morgan be the second person eliminated made the winner feel predictable, but allowed Asuka to get cheered beating Carmella.
Morgan had one of the moves of the match, running from the top of pod to sunset-flip bomb Rodriguez off the top rope, but Carmella’ pin attempt on Rodriguez was unsuccessful. Natalya and Morgan got us started, with the former tossing her opponent in the pods early on. The match moved back to the ring a bit once Rodriguez entered and started dominating both. Cross, without taking her ring jacket off, came in fourth. She did a cross-body off the pod onto the group as was later run through one by Rodriguez and Carmella kept hiding inside. It led to Cross being pinned by Rodriguez for the first elimination, which WWE cameras missed most of before showing a replay.
Morgan and Rodriguez both looked great in the match and Carmella can get some momentum from her eliminations and making it to the final two. More importantly, we get the best possible WrestleMania match, with Asuka being among the toughest and most unpredictable opponents Belair has faced during this run.
BETTER CALL (LOGAN) PAUL
The men’s Elimination Chamber match was superb with a logical, but kind of flat finish. With an “injured” Montez Ford getting helped out of the chamber, Logan Paul ran in and attacked Rollins. A Stomp from Paul allowed Austin Theory to hit the A-Town to retain and set him on a likely WrestleMania date with John Cena and adding a little spice to Rollins vs. Paul.
This match was down-right bonkers fun and deserving of a clean finish. Ford had the move of the match filled with many memorable ones – climbing up to the inside roof of the chamber and dropping down almost Spiderman-like onto the group. He got the first elimination with a frog splash to Bronson Reed, who too three other finishers before.
Ford also pinned Priest after combining with Rollins for a blockbuster off a pod. He was eventually eliminated once Theory pounced after Rollins hit the Stomp on Ford. Ford didn’t win tonight, but his star grew immensely. He has a built-in story with Rollins and Theory now.
Johnny Gargano and Rollins touched for the first time in a WWE ring to start the match before Theory — who worked under both men in factions — was the next man to enter. Theory referenced The Way in an appeal to get Gargano to work with him, but it didn’t work. Rollins and Gargano ended up locking themselves in a pod with Theory and stomping him. Reed’s night was highlighted by lifting up both Rollins and Gargano for a fall-away slam. Gargano also countered a potential power bomb of from Rollins off the pod into a hurricanrana. It was a sampling of the great action from this one.
COUPLES THERAPY
Edge and Beth Phoenix finally got the better of The Judgement Day and we will see if it is the end of this rivalry. As the match drew to a close, Edge and Phoenix put on the Edgecator submissions on both Finn Balor and Rhea Ripley. They got free with help from Dominik Mysterio throwing brass knuckles into the ring. Edge kicked out of getting him by them.
Phoenix later slipped out of taking a chair shot on the ring steps and hit a Glam Slam instead to neutralize Ripley. After some back and forth, Edge — who is from Ontario — delivered a spear to Balor and then he and Phoenix combined for a Shatter Machine to get the win for Canada.
Phoenix and Ripley in their first-ever meeting getting to test each other’s toughness early on felt fitting — as the crowd chanted “f—k you Dominik.” The women got plenty of time in the ring, including a super-plex and later in the match stereo powerbombs from the top turnbuckle. Balor and Edge’s status for WrestleMania feels a little uncertain unless Balor wants to challenge the Rated-R superstar to a match with a special stipulation.
RUBBER MATCH ROBBERY
What a waste of time for a pay-per-view match, again from WWE. Both Brock Lesnar and Bobby Lashley just kept going for their big moves — like a typical match from The Beast. After taking two spears, Lesnar pulled Lashley’s hands apart as he attempted the Hurt Lock and turned into an F5, but Lashley was able to kick out.
A second F5 also did not do the trick. Lashley managed a third spear and this time got the Hurt Lock on. Lesnar could not break out and opted for a low blow to Lashley that resulted in a DQ finish to a booing crowd.
Lesnar then flipped out, F5d the ref and Lashley in the ring and then his challenger again through the announce table and then the ref onto the broken table. The finish stunk in what the commentators called the “rubber match.”
Now what does this mean for WrestleMania after Bray Wyatt said he had has eyes on the winner? Does this mean we get a triple-threat match or a tag match with Lashley and Lesnar having to team against Wyatt and Uncle Howdy? This match, with this finish, was better served for TV — much like Belair vs. Alexa Bliss at Royal Rumble.
This article was originally published at the New York Post and republished with permission.