WWE’s Elimination Chamber needs a creative shake-up

The Post’s Joseph Staszewski brings you around the world of professional wrestling every Tuesday in his weekly column, the Post Match Angle.

WWE should reconsider how it uses the Elimination Chamber.

The company has booked itself into a corner this year for both the men’s and women’s chamber matches in Perth, Australia on Saturday (5 a.m. EST, Peacock).

Despite having matches loaded with star power, two winners make the most sense in Drew McIntyre and Becky Lynch. Two others involved — Randy Orton and Liv Morgan — would be acceptable but slightly disappointing surprise victors. WWE, though, did a good job on Raw getting all the women together in a segment to make their case why they deserved to win.

It leaves the matches feeling more about WWE delivering on the stories they’ve built around McIntyre’s determination to be a world champion again and Lynch seeing if she can still hang with someone the caliber of Women’s World champion Rhea Ripley than having multiple viable options fans can get behind and seeing which one the company chooses.

Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins being on the “Grayson Waller Effect” talk show might be the most intriguing thing on the card because you honestly have no idea how it will go, and there is a feeling something big needs to happen to set up a WrestleMania match.

So it begs the question: Should the Elimination Chamber be its own pay-per-view? Should it remain the vehicle for wrestlers to earn the other main event-level match at WrestleMania, or would putting it at a different point in the year or have it used as a showcase match you build around at any point in the year be a better option?

WWE having it where it does makes a Royal Rumble loss for a wrestler feel less devastating because someone can just go win the chamber match. It also removes the idea of a champion defending a title inside the chamber, which can be very compelling. Imagine Seth Rollins having to put his World Heavyweight championship on the line against Randy Orton, L.A. Knight, McIntyre, Sami Zayn and, say, Jey Uso. Any one of those men would be a worthy and possible winner.

With WWE doing more international pay-per-views, the likelihood of the Elimination Chamber no longer being its own event feels slim. 

Looking at the WWE pay-per-view calendar from 2023, I’d slide Elimination Chamber into the September slot instead of Payback. By doing so, you create another big event between SummerSlam and Survivor Series with enough time in between. It will allow you more creative flexibility and time to build compelling stories. 

You could have whichever singles title the landscape determines be defended in the structure or have the winner earn a title shot at Survivor Series or Crown Jewel, with plenty of time to build a story. Heck, why not try the first tag team Elimination Chamber match? 

There is nothing wrong with how WWE is using the Elimination Chamber; it’s tried, true, and logical, but there is a better option to make it less formulaic and more adaptive to the creative landscape. 

Rock My World

I couldn’t help but get a Nation of Domination vibe from The Rock’s appearance on SmackDown, which on the surface was him hurling out some pretty snappy Mormon and “trailer park trash” insults at the Salt Lake City crowd and telling the “Cody Cry Babies” they gave up the greatest WrestleMania main event ever when they protested him vs. Roman Reigns before “The Great One” officially joined The Bloodline. 

But judging by where Rock stood, way to the left of Reigns, he is for now willing to cede to “The Head of the Table” slightly, but he wasn’t behind him either like Solo Sikoa and Jimmy Uso.

There are a few fun details to be picked up on.

His shirt choice was intriguing. And it was a choice.

By bringing back the $500-shirt Rock, it was a clear indication of his heel turn and a subtle nod to his days in the Nation, when he shed Rocky Maivia to become The Rock in 1997. 

By March 1998, he was grabbing control of the Nation from Faarooq. So maybe the shirt was a fun throwback, or maybe it was the first sign Rock is in the Bloodline to eventually usurp Reigns and take his rightful place at the head.

During the promo, he said Rhodes’ story is ending and his and Reigns’ is just beginning. At the end, while the other Bloodline members held a closed fist with one finger up, Rock’s hand made an L shape. That was likely a coincidence, but it’s fun to think about it as foreshadowing him turning on Reigns.

The Bloodline’s presence was already felt on Raw. Solo Sikoa’s attack on Cody Rhodes cost him his match against Drew McIntyre in a reminder to the Royal Rumble winner that he needs help and Jey Uso ringing the bell to cost brother Jey Uso beating Gunther for the Intercontinental championship makes their dream WrestleMania match against each look likely  

The 10 Count

Swerve Strickland is getting some fine babyface positioning in his AEW World championship triple-threat match with Samoa Joe and “Hangman” Adam Page. Page’s promo on Dynamite did a fine job depicting Strickland as the one who is undeserving of the opportunity when the audience knows he is.

Don Callis being able to make a match for Revolution between his Family members Will Ospreay and Konosuke Takeshita in the former’s true AEW debut felt odd despite it being a fantastic match. It makes me think there will be a post-match angle or debut — maybe Kazuchika Okada — to set up Ospreay’s first feud. 

Baron Corbin and Bron Breakker found a special chemistry in their Wolf Dogs story together in NXT, and that deservingly paid off by them winning the brand’s tag team championships from Tony D’Angelo and Stacks Lorenzo. Corbin went down to NXT to reinvent himself after some main roster misses and is a champion for the first time in six years. How long it lasts remains to be seen with Breakker joining SmackDown.

I don’t know where it’s going, but the riff in The OC could be the most interesting thing the group has done since beating up John Cena.

I know Rampage is AEW’s taped show that has seen its ratings dive, but they really need to get a little more creative. This week, there was a stretch of four straight backstage interviews in the storage area and the regular interview section with Renee Paquette. Private Party cutting a promo in an empty space with a bodyguard behind velvet rope really does little to elevate them.