The WWE Elimination Chamber 2022 Reaction

Welcome to the WWE Elimination Chamber 2022 Reaction, where I offer my take on the Premium Live Event from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

As always, you can check out John’s full in-depth report here.

I missed the Kickoff Show match between The Miz and Rey Mysterio, but it didn’t sound like I missed anything with Rey getting the win.

The PLE kicks off with a great pyro display both inside and outside of the arena. A video package tells how we got to our first match, Roman Reigns defending the Universal Title against Goldberg. Reigns came out first and I think his entrance took just as long as the video package did. Goldberg is out next to a great pop. He’s definitely loved by the Saudis. The match itself was relatively action-packed and not very long, as you would expect from a Goldberg match. It had some back and forth but Reigns retained in the end by putting Goldberg to sleep with the Guillotine.

The Women’s Elimination Chamber match was up next. The winner gets to face the Raw Women’s Champion at WrestleMania. The order of entrance was Bianca Belair (pod), Doudrop (pod), Rhea Ripley (pod), Nikki A.S.H. (starting), Liv Morgan (starting), and Alexa Bliss (pod). I’m not too on board with them changing up the entry order. It’s usually the first four into pods and the last two start the match. Anyway, it looked like the pod intervals were shortened to almost Royal Rumble length. And not much really happens until Ripley enters in at #4. Ripley eliminated Nikki as Bliss was getting ready to enter the match. Quick thinking by Doudrop when she knocked Morgan off the top rope. It appeared that Morgan’s boot got caught in the turnbuckle and Doudrop unhooked her. Morgan comes back with an impressive sunset flip powerbomb on Doudrop to eliminate her as Belair joins the fray. Bliss eliminated Morgan while Belair eliminated Ripley, which could be a nice feud after WrestleMania. After a little bit of back and forth, Belair pins Bliss after the KOD to advance to the WrestleMania title match. I would have preferred Morgan to get her WrestleMania moment instead since Belair had hers last year, but I get why they are going this route.

Up next is Ronda Rousey teaming with Naomi to take on Charlotte Flair and Sonya Deville with the Rousey wrestling with one arm behind her back gimmick. It’s a really stupid gimmick. The match was really handicapped by the stipulation but it was still somewhat acceptable. WrestleMania opponents Flair and Rousey had some interaction during the match. There wasn’t really anything decisive between Naomi and Deville, so I’m hoping the groundhog did not see its shadow otherwise it’ll be six more weeks of this pointless feud. As expected, Rousey made Deville tap out to the armbar.

Madcap Moss is out next with Happy Corbin for his Falls Count Anywhere match with Drew McIntyre. It was more of a handicap match fight than anything else. Scary moment when Moss landed wrong and spiked his head into the mat when taking an Alabama Slam. The match ended in the ring when McIntyre swung Angela at Corbin before hitting a Claymore on Moss to pin him. The match was pretty good, although a No DQ stipulation could have accomplished the same thing. It furthered the feud and I would expect McIntyre/Corbin at WrestleMania.

Thank you Peacock for cutting The Miz’s promo about finding a tag partner to take on the Mysterios (likely at WrestleMania) for commercials. Note the sarcasm there.

The Raw Women’s Championship is up for grabs next with Becky Lynch defending against Lita. The match was really good and Lita can still go. For as depleted as the women’s ranks are, I would not be opposed to a run through SummerSlam for Lita. I think it can be really beneficial to several people. But I digress. There were several spots where it looked like Lita could defeat Lynch and win the title. This was a great display from two veterans doing veteran things. Lita would come up short at the end of this really competitive match and Lynch would retain the title. After the match, the Saudi fans gave Lita a great response and you could see her get a little emotional over it. It was well deserved.

The Viking Raiders and Usos Smackdown Tag Team Championship match turned into an angle with the Usos laying out the Viking Raiders as they came down the aisle. They got flown all the way out there for a 30 second appearance. There is a report from PWInsider that this was the plan all along. It wasn’t a time issue.

Main event time with the Men’s Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship. The order of entrance is Bobby Lashley (pod), AJ Styles (pod), Riddle (pod), Austin Theory (starting), Seth “Freakin” Rollins (starting), and Brock Lesnar (pod). Rollins and Theory mix it up for a few before Rollins powerbombs Theory though the pod Lashley was in and in to Lashley. Riddle comes out at #3 while WWE officials tended to Lashley. Lashley is helped out of the Chamber and officially out of the match. Lame elimination but reports have since come out that he needs shoulder surgery and will be out four months or so. Styles is in at #4 and the pace quickens a bit. There’s good action and we start the countdown again, seemingly on Royal Rumble timing. Number five is designated as Bobby Lashley so Brock kicks his pod open to become #5. Lesnar wrecks Rollins, Riddle, and Styles with F5s to eliminate each in order, leaving Theory alone with Lesnar. Theory is demolished and pinned to give Lesnar the WWE Title. Lesnar celebrates with the fans to close out the show.

Let’s take a look at the highs and lows.

The Highs

The Raw Women’s Championship match was the match of the night. It was great to see that Lita was able to keep up with Lynch. Lita got a great ovation from the live crowd and it’ll be interesting to see what the WrestleMania program will be for Lita if she’s still around. I think there are several women who could benefit from a program with her.

Good to see Madcap Moss is seemingly okay after that close call in his match.

The Lows

The intervals for both Chamber matches were just way too short. Nothing really could get going in the women’s chamber match until Ripley entered at #4. The men’s match was just a mess once Lesnar started wrecking people.

The PLE ended with 10 minutes to spare before the three-hour mark. We really couldn’t have given the Smackdown Tag Team Title match five minutes?

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That’s all I’ve got, until next time