WWE Elimination Chamber Perth Review (24/02/2024)

By Mick Robson

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It's the morning after I got home from Perth, and I am still buzzing about the whole experience! I went over there for the Chamber PLE, of course, but opted to go in a couple of days early and make a little mini-holiday out of it. I went over to Rottnest Island, and also went through Fremantle, visiting the markets and the prison (where I also met a certain Deadman). Also went to Hay St Mall and Forrest Place, where the WWE SuperStore was. A hell of a time was had, and I'll be putting together a little vlog of sorts over the next week or so if you're interested in that.

But onto the reason we're here- the Elimination Chamber! For my money, this was the first real canon show in Australia. Global Warning Tour was released later on VHS rather than on PPV, so essentially a house show in a stadium. Super Showdown in 2018 was a little closer, but it was in that weird time where international shows kinda happened in their own little universe- like the early Saudi shows. The only thing of real note- besides the "Last Time Ever" match between Triple H and Undertaker- was Buddy Murphy winning the Cruiserweight title. And no, the Cruiserweight title wasn't portrayed as anything really important at that time.

All that to say- Elimination Chamber in Perth was a BIG DEAL. The last PLE stop on the Road To WrestleMania, the Chamber matches would determine two big title matches for WrestleMania 40. And the Women's World Champion, Rhea "Bloody" Ripley, a proud Aussie, was coming home for the first time in 7 years to defend her title!

Let's do this!

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Kick-Off Show

I was fortunate enough to be 3rd row ringside for this show. The speakers were loud and the big screens could be clearly seen for the Kick-Off panel, comprised of Megan Morant, Pete Rosenberg and Sam Roberts. They were in-studio, meaning that they had to be suited up and presenting a show at 5am their time! Rough. Less hassle than flying over to do it live in Perth, I guess.

At the 11th hour, a 5th match was added during the pre-show press conference- Australia's own, "Impressive" Indi Hartwell teams with Candice LeRae to challenge for the women's tag titles. I first saw Indi on the Aussie indie scene in 2018. She got knocked to ringside in a match with Tenille Dashwood at Rock N Roll Wrestling, looked at the empty Jack Daniels cans at the feet of my mate and I, and said, "How much do you guys drink?!" before getting back to the match. Good times!

Match 1: WWE Women's Tag Team Championship- Indi Hartwell & Candice LeRae vs. The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka & Kairi Sane) (c)

The crowd was red hot for this first taste of WWE action, solidly behind our girl Indi, exploding when she hit a simple shoulder block. We also saw some innovative tag offense with Indi and Candice, as Indi launches LeRae into a flipping splash of sorts. The champs manage to isolate LeRae, and both Asuka & Kairi are animated taunting their opponents and the crowd- I'm still not used to seeing Kairi as a heel.

After a few failed attempts, Candice finally hits an enziguri and makes the hot tag to Indi, who comes in on fire! She tries a double team move with Candice, walking the top rope, but Kairi gets involved, making Indi crash and burn. This opens the door for the Kabuki Warriors to hit the assisted Insane Elbow to retain!

Winners: The Kabuki Warriors (at 8:55)

Star Rating: ***. Solid action here. Happy to see Indi get a spotlight and the crowd in general appreciated it too. Also liked to see Asuka get a spot- she's been one of my favourites for many years now. The action was at a nice pace, the psychology was on point, and the people were into it. Great way to kick things off!

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Main PLE Card

The voice of Raw, Michael Cole, and the voice of Smackdown, Corey Graves, welcome us to Perth. I am watching this back for anything I may have missed sitting ringside. Cole wishes Graves a happy 40th birthday. This makes me feel old as I remember first watching him as a promising NXT Superstar in his 20s alongside the likes of Seth Rollins and Big E.

The Chamber is lowered for our opening match, as a hype video plays. Rhea Ripley says, "Around here, we have a saying- "no worries". Well, you better start worrying." Wait, other countries don't use "no worries"? How do they let people know they're not worried? Whoa!

Match 1: Elimination Chamber- Bianca Belair vs. Liv Morgan vs. Raquel Rodriguez vs. Tiffany Stratton vs. Naomi vs. Becky Lynch

Well, the winner of this one faces Rhea at WrestleMania. Or maybe Nia Jax. Hahaha okay, maybe not. We start with Naomi and Becky Lynch. Early on, Naomi scales the Chamber wall, grabbing Becky's head with her legs, and kinda pulls Becky into her ass, before ramming her head-first into the steel. The first lady released from the pod is Tiffany Stratton, and Tiffany is LOVED here! Massive "Tiffy Time" chants, especially in my section. She hits Becky and Naomi with back handspring elbows as the crowd roars its approval.

Naomi hits a top rope cross body on both Becky and Tiffy for a near fall. Later, Stratton gets Becky and Naomi down for the Prettiest Moonsault Ever, but Becky takes her off the ropes with a super Russian leg sweep. Naomi hits a split leg drop on them both for another double near fall. 

We get a nice graphic of the other 3 ladies in their Chamber pods before our next entrant, Liv Morgan. Liv is immediately aggressive, going after Tiffany and ramming her face into different pods multiple times. Backstabber on Becky. Codebreaker on Naomi. Kip up. Tiffany re-enters the fray with a flying stomp on Liv for a near fall. Naomi climbs to the top of the pod and hits a diving neckbreaker on Liv- but Tiffany stacks Naomi up for the 3 count! Naomi is eliminated!

The next entrant is Raquel Rodriguez, who just returned to Raw this past week in the Last Chance Battle Royal. She mows through the opposition and shows off her power. Becky dives at her but is caught and rammed into the steel chains of the Chamber! The other women form a brief alliance, as Becky and Liv hit Raquel with a double DDT. Stack pin by 3 women but Raquel kicks out with authority! Brief "bullshit" chant from the crowd, which I'm happy to hear makes the broadcast.

Last entrant in is the EST, Bianca Belair! She goes right at it with Tiffany Stratton, throwing hands. Bianca goes for the KOD on Raquel but she fights out of it and drags her to the Chamber floor. Raquel goes for a suplex into the chain but Bianca turns it into a DDT! Tiffany takes the fight to Raquel and drapes her over the top rope, and as that's happening, Liv climbs a pod! She dives off and hits Raquel with a senton! Tiffany and Becky climb to the top of the same pod. Tiffany pushes Becky down to the floor onto Raquel then dives off the pod with a Swanton! Back in the ring, Liv and Tiffany fight, Tiffy looks for the Prettiest Moonsault Ever, but Liv counters with a top rope Oblivion! Tiffany Stratton is eliminated! Massive boos and more "bullshit" chants for that one.

Raquel hits Bianca with a powerbomb into the ring, then smashes Liv with a corkscrew elbow drop. Raquel blocks a Disarmer attempt and Oblivion at the same time with a double powerbomb, then Bianca comes in with the KOD to take her out! Raquel Rodriguez is eliminated.

Bianca military presses Becky onto Liv then hits a handspring moonsalt for a double 2 count. The 3 ladies battle to the Chamber floor, using the chains and the pods to inflict damage. They battle back into the ring, where Bianca starts the 10 punches in the corner on Becky, but Liv comes in with a wicked sunset bomb for a near fall. Liv hits Becky with a superplex, and Bianca goes up top for a 450- but Becky gets the knees up! Lots of back and forth with move reversals, then Liv rolls up Bianca- Bianca Belair is eliminated- and immediately after, Becky hits Liv with the Manhandle Slam! It's over!

Winner: Becky Lynch (at 32:15)

Star Rating: ****1/4. The expected winner, but what a fun ride getting there! So much intensity and aggression, and innovation! The ways the Chamber was used and the risks that were taken- you don't often see that in more recent Chamber matches. One of my big complaints over the years with women's Chamber matches has been how short some of them are- not an issue here. It was given plenty of time to be an epic, set up Becky vs. Rhea officially for Mania, and was a star making performance for Tiffany Stratton! Also, the rapid fire finishing sequence subverted expectations, we often get a mini-match in the final 2, this was a little different and refreshing.

We get a tourism ad for Perth. That's the trade-off for the government paying for big WWE shows, I guess. I will say that Perth is a beautiful place and I definitely enjoyed my mini-holiday there.

Match 2: WWE Undisputed Tag Team Championship- New Catch Republic (Pete Dunne & Tyler Bate) vs. The Judgment Day (Finn Balor & Damian Priest) (c) (w/ Dominik Mysterio)

Dom snatches the mic from Mike Rome and Perth boos him out of the stadium. New Catch Republic knock him out of the ring. Lovely stuff.

We officially start the match with Bate and Balor, as Dunne wipes out Priest with a moonsault off the apron. After a quick exchange, Dunne tags in with some joint manipulation that would make RVD proud. Bate back in with a rolling senton off Dunne's shoulders for a 2 count.

The crowd starts a big "Dom is a wanker" chant, and Priest makes Bate pay for it with a Broken Arrow for a near fall. The Judgment Day take turns beating down Bate. Balor & Priest hit a backbreaker/leg drop combo for a near fall. Bate eventually comes back with a flying European uppercut and makes the hot tag to Dunne. The Bruiserweight kicks everything in sight and hits a triangle moonsault to the outside, wiping the Judgment Day out! Bate tags back in and New Catch Republic hit a clothesline/German suplex combo for a near fall.

Bate looks for the airplane spin, but Priest escapes and hits a hammerlock clothesline, turning Bate inside out. 2 count. The crowd start a "Senor Wanker" chant, which honestly might have been the best one of the night. Balor tags in and hits Eye of the Hurricane for a near fall. Priest back in and he falls victim to Bate's airplane spin. Dunne tags in and hits the Bitter End, but Dom puts Balor's foot on the ropes. The ref realises and sends Dirty Dom to the back!

The screen goes black because we were all giving Dom the finger as a send-off, as Balor rolls up Dunne for a near fall. Slingblade and shotgun dropkick follows. Coup De Grace misses! Tag to Bate, double Tyler Driver, but Priest breaks up the pin! Dunne tries a plancha, but is caught and slammed on the apron by Priest. Bate goes for the rebound lariat on Balor, who dodges and hits the 1916 for a great near fall! Priest in and he goes for a double chokeslam, but Dunne & Bate reverse into a double Burning Hammer for another excellent near fall! New Catch Republic go for a double superplex, but Balor holds Priest's leg and tags in. Priest with a double chokeslam off the ropes, and Balor follows with the Coup De Grace to retain!

Winners: The Judgment Day (at 17:25)

Star Rating: ***3/4. That far, far exceeded my expectations. Not that I think poorly of New Catch Republic- Dunne & Bate are both extremely talented, but without a big feud or build for the challengers, I thought it would be a routine title defence, but the challengers put up a hell of an entertaining fight! 

We take a look backstage at the men's Chamber participants.

With Cody Rhodes & Seth Rollins up next on the Grayson Waller Effect, we take a look at their recent history with Roman Reigns and The Rock, including the WM40 press conference in Vegas, and Rock unveiling his full heel persona the other week on Smackdown. Lots of speculation that they get involved in this segment, especially after recent Smackdown segments which saw Paul Heyman and Roman Reigns talking to Grayson Waller.

Austin Theory is here for some reason to co-host, he shits on Australia by talking bad about Vegemite before introducing his mate, the real host of this show! Grayson Waller makes his entrance to a massive ovation. He does a shoey with UFC fighter Tai Tuivasa in the front row. Love to see it.

Grayson soaks in the cheers before introducing Cody and Seth. He hilariously introduces Cody as a failing of the American education system, due to his inability to finish a story. Cody gets a massive pop and pyro. He's also dressed in a suit, taking away my theory (no pun intended) that this segment would turn into an impromptu match.

Cody owns the term "Cody Crybabies" and asks if there are any Cody Crybabies in the house. Big response. Not from me though- I was keen on The Rock vs. Reigns, and care very little about Cody's little 'story". Cody challenges The Rock to a match "one on one, any time, any place". That wording leads some in my section to believe Rock was coming out right then to accept the challenge. Nope. Seth throws cold water on the idea right away by saying it's never one on one with the Bloodline, and since he's days away from being cleared, he's got Cody's back.

Theory trolls Cody and Seth by using Rock catchphrases against him. He gets his head rammed through a Grayson Waller Effect sign- as Waller just stands back. Cody with the Cody Cutter, Seth with a Stomp. End segment.

Well, that was a massive disappointment. Even taking away the big expectation a lot of us had for Rock and/or Reigns- the Smackdown segments pointed towards SOME kind of Bloodline involvement. What did Reigns and Heyman talk to Waller about? Was it just the little line Grayson dropped about acknowledging Roman Reigns? This was promoted as "the biggest Grayson Waller Effect", but nothing was delivered to live up to that billing. Cody wants to fight Rock- we already knew. Rollins is about to be cleared for Mania- he made that clear weeks ago. So how was this different to a regular Waller Effect segment? He got cheered because it was Australia? Could have been on Smackdown, without the hype. 

Also, we could have had Cody wrestle. Rollins might be still on the injured list, but Cody was perfectly healthy. Seems like a bit of a robbery, with the biggest stars not wrestling on this show, that Cody just flew to Australia to do a promo. Could have done Cody vs. Waller, even as an impromptu match from this segment- huge spot for Waller, giving Aussies Cody in a match... and to add insult to injury, they added Cody vs. Waller to Raw today as I write this. Definitely the low point of the show.

Match 3: Elimination Chamber- Randy Orton vs. Kevin Owens vs. Logan Paul vs. Bobby Lashley vs. Drew McIntyre vs. LA Knight

Drew and LA start off. The crowd yells "YEAH!" with every bit of offense from Knight. The crowd chants "CM Punk" to get under McIntyre's skin, and he responds with a GTS attempts, which LA escapes. LA sends Drew to the Chamber floor then hits a diving shoulder block over the ropes, driving him into the steel chains. He also rams Drew's head into Logan and KO's pods. 

Our third entrant is Kevin Owens! Owens takes the fight to Drew and LA, before hitting Knight with a chokeslam and a senton for a near fall. According to Cole, he busted out a chokeslam because a Make A Wish kid in Perth asked for it. Well, that's nice. Clears things up because I was definitely a bit confused seeing it live. Drew attacks Owens and sets up for a superplex, but KO pushes him off and hits a frog splash for a 2 count. Owens hits a Codebreaker on Drew- shout out to his old tag partner Chris Jericho- while simultaneously hitting a senton on Knight for another near fall.

McIntyre wipes out Knight and Owens with a top rope cross body right before entrant #4, Bobby Lashley. Lashley goes after Drew, who comes back after a minute with a belly to belly. McIntyre looks for the Future Shock DDT- acknowledged by Graves as the move that injured CM Punk- but Lashley counters with a clothesline. They fight to the floor briefly where Lashley looks for the Hurt Lock, but gets rammed into the chains. Drew looks for a dive, rolls through then takes a Lashley spinebuster for a near fall. 

The 5th entrant in is Randy Orton! Also, there was a false countdown somewhere that may have been edited out of the broadcast, as we responded with "you f**ked up" chants. May have been earlier while LA was bouncing Drew's head off pods, the audio got muted for a good 30 seconds on Binge. Anyway, the Viper is here! Clotheslines on Owens and a snap powerslam. Hangman's DDT on the Chamber floor! Good thing they don't have the steel grate out there anymore. Lashley takes over as Orton's back appears to be hurting. Lashley hits a Spear on Knight, who rolls to the floor. McIntyre goes after Knight, who drops him with a DDT. Orton comes back with a back suplex on Knight, but appears to hurt his own back worse on the landing. 

Our final entrant is Logan Paul. Owens goes right after him and pummels Logan inside his own pod! Owens rams Logan into the chains then throws him into the ring. Paul tries to come back with some European uppercuts but KO just levels him with a clothesline! Lashley grabs Owens and throws him through a pod, then Spears Logan through the opposite pod! Wow! The censors fail to block Lashley saying, "Oh, f**k" as he struggles to get up. Don't worry, we at The Arena will block out a couple of those letters for those with sensitive eyes!

McIntyre drops Lashley with a Claymore. He can't follow up right away, as Lashley actually gets up and tussles with Knight inside the ring, looking for the Hurt Lock- then Drew hits a second Claymore! Bobby Lashley is eliminated! 

Knight lays in the boots to McIntyre. He drops Orton with a back suplex as referees come in to help Lashley, who came in with an injured elbow, out of the Chamber. LA hits a leaping superplex on Drew, then drops Orton with the BFT! He gives one to McIntyre as well- then AJ Styles runs in with a steel chair! The Chamber door was open with getting Lashley out!  AJ drops Knight with a Styles Clash on the chair, and LA Knight is elminated. Wow!

Owens drops Logan Paul with a pumphandle neckbreaker. Wicked. Cannonballs on Orton and McIntyre. Swanton on Orton gets a near fall. Swanton attempted on Drew, who gets the knees up. Drew looks for the Claymore but Owens hits a pop-up powerbomb! Logan comes in and takes a Stunner! Owens looks to give Orton the Stunner, but he counters into the RKO! Kevin Owens is eliminated!

Down to 3 and Orton's back is killing him. Stare down between Orton and Drew. They exchange punches then Randy hits a powerslam. Logan tries to get back involved but Orton crotches him on the top rope. Orton sets up for a superplex but McIntyre cuts him off. As they battle, Logan climbs to the top of a pod and hits a flying cross body on McIntyre! Logan slowly gets up and pulls brass knuckles out of his tights. As he gloats, Orton hits the RKO! Great camera work- looked way more surprising on TV than in person, where we could see it more clearly being set up. Logan Paul is eliminated!

McIntyre looks for the Future Shock, blocked. RKO, blocked. Hangman's DDT connects for Orton! His back is still causing agony, but he sets up for the RKO again, only to take a spinebuster. McIntyre sets up and counts down to the Claymore, but Orton can't even get to his feet. Orton pulls himself up by Drew's knee pads... then hits the RKO! Then Logan Paul cracks Randy with the brass knuckles. The win goes to DM Hunk.

Winner: Drew McIntyre (at 36:55)

Star Rating: ****. Another top tier Chamber match on this show. While I think the women's Chamber was a little more creative in their use of the Chamber structure etc, this was more intense and hard-hitting. Both brilliant in their own ways, even with the predictable winners. And even with that- I sure as hell didn't think we would see a Randy Orton vs. Logan Paul feud out of this! And now there's almost nothing I want to see more. I'm sure Seth vs. Drew for the World Heavyweight Championship will be great too. I think McIntyre as the second champion for that championship lineage adds a lot of prestige, considering the work he's been putting in, right after Seth being a total workhorse up until his injury. Just great stuff all around!

We get a special appearance by the CCO, Paul "Triple H" Levesque! My second night in a row seeing him, as he was a surprise appearance at Undertaker's One Deadman show the night before as well. He thanks the crowd, announcing an attendance of 52, 590. I mean, we know these are for entertainment purposes, and almost a quarter of the stands are tarped off, so... I did see on WrestleTix that they sold around 45,000, which is still respectable, especially for a show with no major men's championships, no Roman, Rock, Punk, Gunther, Jey Uso, New Day, and Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes not wrestling. Some of that can't be helped, but yeah. Hopefully the Aussie crowd did enough here with their energy and turning up to such a remote city in Perth, that we get something better all around next time. To be clear, it's not a bad show by any means. But clearly B tier, even if it is a stadium show. I'd say London's MITB got a little more inside an arena last year. At least we got fireworks, I guess.

A video package airs for our main event, the feud between Nia Jax, and Australia's own, Rhea "Bloody" Ripley.

Main Event: Women's World Championship- Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Nia Jax

Massive reaction for "Mami", as expected. She's also got a custom vest for the event which has the Australian flag on it. Technically, Nia was born in Sydney- raised in the States- but we don't claim her!

Nia takes early control with her size and power, hitting a couple of devastating leg drops. She also works the back and locks in a Stretch Muffler submission. Rhea tries to fight from her back but gets dropped with a headbutt. Nia lifts Ripley in a Torture Rack and she's in firm control. Rhea wriggles free and locks in a guillotine choke! She then goes for a sunset flip, Jax sits down and Rhea gets out of the way. Rhea goes for a hurricanrana, but it's blocked and she takes a double powerbomb, followed by another leg drop, for a near fall.

Nia looks for the Banzai Drop, but Rhea dropkicks her legs and hits a slingshot stomp. Missile dropkick gets a near fall for the champ. She hits a couple of short arm clotheslines, but Nia stays on her feet and hits a Samoan Drop. Rhea avoids a leg drop and goes up top, but Nia meets her there and hits a super Samoan Drop for a great near fall. 

Nia looks for the Banzai Drop/Annihilator again but Ripley counters with an electric chair into a snake eyes! She goes up top and hits a Frog Splash- shout out to her Latino Heat, Dom Dom- and gets a 2 count. Rhea goes for the Riptide but is thrown to the outside by Jax. Nia hits a Samoan Drop on Rhea on the announce table, but it doesn't break, so Nia finishes the job with an elbow drop off Graves' chair. Not pretty but effective, I guess.

Back in the ring, Jax hits the Annihilator- but Rhea kicks out! Nia goes for a second one but Rhea cuts her off and hits a ring-shattering superplex! Michael Cole just said the exact same thing, I swear I didn't copy. Rhea follows up with a roundhouse kick, then the Riptide! And still.

Winner: Rhea Ripley (at 14:35)

Star Rating: ***1/2. I was really down on the idea of this being the main event- 100% because of Nia Jax- but I'll be damned, that might have been Nia's best match. It's definitely on the shortlist. I wasn't sure how Rhea would look as the underdog either, but it worked really well. 

Rhea celebrates with her family at ringside as a Cody-sized amount of fireworks goes off at Optus Stadium. Great stuff.

Overall Thoughts

I'd say the first canon PPV/PLE from Australia was a great success. The amount of matches was a slight downer, and while I didn't feel the need to sit there with a stopwatch, someone on Twitter did, and we didn't get a lot of bang for our buck on the 3.5 hour show. The matches we did get though, ranged from very good to great. The only real downer of the show was the Grayson Waller Effect, which pains me to say as a big Waller fan- I even wore his shirt to the show! It needed something people would be talking about for days to come... and nothing of real note happened, just teases of things we've already pointed to on WWE TV in the past couple of weeks. But the Chamber matches were great, the tag title and women's title matches were pleasantly surprising in their quality, and a fun and engaged crowd inside Optus Stadium, as well as the bells and whistles of WWE TV that we don't normally get- pyro etc- made this a worthwhile and memorable experience, as we locked in a couple of the already anticipated and predicted big matches for WrestleMania 40.

Overall Score: 8/10

Until next time, take care.