Tag: Wwe Elimination Chamber 2022

February 28, 2022 Observer Newsletter: Elimination Chamber review, Undertaker to WWE Hall of Fame

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

With Elimination Chamber in the books, all WWE promotion is now directly set for a star-laden WrestleMania.

Matches that are known thus far for the two days on 4/2 and 4/3 at AT&T Stadium in Irving, TX are:

*Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns with both the WWE and Universal titles at stake with Lesnar winning back the WWE title in the Elimination Chamber. This is scheduled as the 4/3 main event. To boost attendance after the last show did the third lowest paid-for show since 1938, they pushed on Raw a house show harder than they have in decades, promoting that Lesnar is defending on 3/5 in Madison Square Garden and could lose the title.

Either way, the Lesnar vs. Reigns match is taking place. Lesnar is advertised against Bobby Lashley, but it is not expected to happen as Lashley was being checked out this week for potential shoulder surgery. Lashley’s shoulder was injured in the Royal Rumble match where he won the title from Lesnar and hasn’t wrestled since. He was taken out of the Chamber match with an injury and never was actually in the match. WWE did advertise the Chamber match as being all about Lesnar vs. Lashley, with full knowledge Lashley wouldn’t wrestle.

It was pretty sleazy to build the main event of the show around two guys when they knew in advance that one couldn’t wrestle in the match. WWE and AAA remain the only major promotions that continue to feel that false advertising is okay.

On Raw this week, Paul Heyman used concussion protocol to say Lashley might not be there and they would have a substitute who was a fitting Madison Square Garden main event title challenger. Later in the show the announcers outright said that Lashley probably wouldn’t be in the match. Locally they were still advertising him but on television, they did pretty much say Lesnar would be defending against somebody else, and Heyman used the term a worthy MSG title contender.

On 2/24, MSG did change the advertising and now it’s just Lesnar defending the title with no opponent listed. Heyman heavily pushed the idea that Lesnar could lose the title at MSG and how it would change Mania. After last week’s two-for-one ticket sale, at press time they were at 5,599 tickets out which would be around 4,000 paid which when you consider everything with the Raw push and loaded card is pretty bad. This once again shows how much priority Vince McMahon has regarding Madison Square Garden, as he made the show the most loaded house show the promotion has put on in years, and this is the first time in many years that a main storyline will play out at a house show. It may have been 20 years or more since a house show was pushed to this level on Raw.

It’s also notable they pushed the Lesnar title defense but not the Reigns vs. Rollins title match on that same show. Most likely the next AEW show at the UBS Arena would have outdrawn Madison Square Garden had the show not been so loaded and pushed to this level. Now I’d be very surprised for that to happen. The UBS show isn’t until 5/11 and has 3,906 tickets out.

Subscribers can click here to read this week’s issue.

Goldberg had COVID-19, two weeks notice when getting call for WWE Elimination Chamber

Posted on by Josh Nason

On his weekly CarCast podcast, Bill Goldberg revealed that he was dealing with COVID-19 when he got the short notice call to take on WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns at last Saturday’s Elimination Chamber in Saudi Arabia.

Goldberg admitted that he was “behind the eight ball” from the start as the fans understood what the outcome of the Reigns match would likely be and that he had a short time to prepare.

He said he had not trained in three months and had COVID-19 when he got the call to go.

“I literally had two weeks in the gym to get ready for this,” he said.

He also alluded to a documentary being filmed that will help explain his preparation.

“What people don’t understand, and it will come out in the documentary, is (wrestling) is tough to do as a 20-year-old. It’s even more difficult to do it as a 30-year-old, a 40-year-old and it’s almost impossible (as a) 55-year-old,” he said. “’I’m one of the .003 percent of humans on the planet that can pull something like that off.”

He joked that he would have liked to do the Reigns match in his 40s instead of doing it at 55. He said his role in coming back for any match was to give back to the business and in this case, make Reigns “look like a million bucks” before heading into his WrestleMania match with Brock Lesnar.

He also opened up about the mental challenge of staying positive when things are working against you like they did ahead of Elimination Chamber.

“In doing (wrestling), it’s very tough mentally to keep yourself in a positive space because you’ve got so many negatives going against you. And then, 90% of fans understand what the storyline is gonna be, so I’m fighting an uphill battle the whole way. But you know, at this point and throughout the years, I have been able to do this on a short schedule,” he said.

He added that he tries to do the best job he can and that he hopes fans appreciate the effort in some way despite a much different way that they interact.

“Now these days with social media, things are different. Back in the day, wrestling was extremely interactive. When somebody had a chant, these fans couldn’t wait to get on board with it. Now you got schmucks that wanna be the person that yells during somebody’s chant to completely change the narrative. And then they go on social media and go, ‘Hey, I was that schmuck that did that’ and try to get some adoration. So, it’s a different crowd,” he said.

During the podcast, he went into detail about the trip, the travel issues, the light amount of food choices, and a funny he and Lashley buying up all the protein they could before boarding the plane as a large group of wrestlers were coming behind them.

Ronda Rousey tag team match at WWE Elimination Chamber to get stipulation

Posted on by Josh Nason

In her second on-screen match back since returning at last month’s WWE Royal Rumble, Ronda Rousey will have to wrestle with one arm tied behind her back at Saturday’s Elimination Chamber show in Saudi Arabia.

PWInsider first reported the news, adding it will be revealed on this Friday’s SmackDown on Fox which was taped last week in New Orleans, Louisiana, due to talent traveling overseas.

On Saturday, Rousey will team with Naomi against SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair and Sonya Deville. Friday’s show will have an in-ring contract signing, some unflattering footage of which leaked after the show.

Here’s the full card for Saturday’s show on Peacock/WWE Network:

  • Elimination Chamber WWE Championship match: Bobby Lashley (c) vs. Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins vs. AJ Styles vs. Riddle vs. Austin Theory
  • Elimination Chamber match for a Raw Women’s title shot at WrestleMania 38: Bianca Belair vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Liv Morgan vs. Doudrop vs. Nikki A.S.H. vs. Alexa Bliss
  • WWE Universal Championship match: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Goldberg
  • WWE Raw Women’s Championship match: Becky Lynch (c) vs. Lita
  • WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship match: The Usos (c) vs. The Viking Raiders
  • Falls count anywhere match: Drew McIntyre vs. Madcap Moss
  • Ronda Rousey & Naomi vs. Charlotte Flair & Sonya Deville
  • Rey Mysterio vs. The Miz

Rey Mysterio vs. The Miz announced for WWE Elimination Chamber

Posted on by Ethan Renner

Rey Mysterio vs. The Miz has been added to Saturday’s WWE Elimination Chamber event. 

The match was made official during tonight’s WWE Raw episode. After trading wins with Dominik Mysterio in recent weeks, The Miz used a distraction to allow Alpha Academy’s Chad Gable to pin Dominik on Raw in a Alpha Academy vs. The Mysterios tag team bout. 

After the match, The Miz left Rey laying with his Skull-crushing Finale finisher. 

Eight matches have been announced for Saturday’s event in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. 

The lineup: 

WWE Elimination Chamber, Saturday, February 19, 12 p.m. Eastern time on Peacock & WWE Network —

  • Elimination Chamber WWE Championship match: Bobby Lashley (c) vs. Brock Lesnar vs. Seth “Freakin” Rollins vs. AJ Styles vs. Riddle vs. Austin Theory
  • Elimination Chamber match for a Raw Women’s title shot at WrestleMania 38: Bianca Belair vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Liv Morgan vs. Doudrop vs. Nikki A.S.H. vs. Alexa Bliss
  • WWE Universal Championship match: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Goldberg
  • WWE Raw Women’s Championship match: Becky Lynch (c) vs. Lita
  • WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship match: The Usos (c) vs. The Viking Raiders
  • Falls count anywhere match: Drew McIntyre vs. Madcap Moss
  • Ronda Rousey & Naomi vs. Charlotte Flair & Sonya Deville
  • Rey Mysterio vs. The Miz

Alexa Bliss set for women’s WWE Elimination Chamber match

Posted on by Ethan Renner

The final entrant has been announced for the women’s Elimination Chamber match at Saturday’s WWE Elimination Chamber event. 

Alexa Bliss was revealed as the sixth entrant during tonight’s episode of WWE Raw. 

Following a series of vignettes that began airing on the January 10 Raw, Bliss was deemed cured by her therapist on tonight’s show, then declared herself as the final participant in the women’s Elimination Chamber bout in a voiceover.

Bliss last wrestled at Extreme Rules 2021 in September, losing a Raw Women’s Championship match to Charlotte Flair on that show. 

Also on tonight’s Raw, Bianca Belair won a gauntlet match to determine which competitor will enter the Chamber match last. Rhea Ripley defeated Nikki A.S.H., Liv Morgan, then Doudrop, but ultimately lost the gauntlet to Belair. 

A Rey Mysterio vs. The Miz match was also added to Elimination Chamber on Raw. 

Here is the lineup for Saturday’s show: 

WWE Elimination Chamber, Saturday, February 19, 12 p.m. Eastern time on Peacock & WWE Network —

  • Elimination Chamber WWE Championship match: Bobby Lashley (c) vs. Brock Lesnar vs. Seth “Freakin” Rollins vs. AJ Styles vs. Riddle vs. Austin Theory
  • Elimination Chamber match for a Raw Women’s title shot at WrestleMania 38: Bianca Belair vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Liv Morgan vs. Doudrop vs. Nikki A.S.H. vs. Alexa Bliss
  • WWE Universal Championship match: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Goldberg
  • WWE Raw Women’s Championship match: Becky Lynch (c) vs. Lita
  • WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship match: The Usos (c) vs. The Viking Raiders
  • Falls count anywhere match: Drew McIntyre vs. Madcap Moss
  • Ronda Rousey & Naomi vs. Charlotte Flair & Sonya Deville
  • Rey Mysterio vs. The Miz

Stipulation added to Drew McIntyre vs. Madcap Moss at WWE Elimination Chamber

Posted on by Bryan Rose

A falls count anywhere stipulation has been added to the Drew McIntyre/Madcap Moss match ahead of next Saturday’s Elimination Chamber event.

The story on tonight’s SmackDown had Madcap Moss attempting to get out of the match by going to WWE medical staff and complaining about a black eye that McIntyre gave him on last week’s show. As Moss was being evaluated, McIntyre emerged with his sword and demanded Moss to tell the trainer that he was fine. After Moss obliged, McIntyre said they would not just be having any kind of match, it would be a falls count anywhere match.

At Day One back on January 1, McIntyre had defeated Moss in a singles match. Later backstage, he was attacked by Moss and Happy Corbin, with the duo attacking McIntyre’s neck with a backstage prop. McIntyre would later return at the Royal Rumble, where he immediately eliminated Moss and Corbin. A match was then made for Elimination Chamber between Moss and McIntyre.

Elimination Chamber will take place on February 19 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.