WWE’s Elimination Chamber needs a creative shake-up

The Post’s Joseph Staszewski explores the world of professional wrestling every Tuesday in his column “Post Match Angle.”.

WWE should reconsider how they use Elimination Chamber.

This year, the company has booked a corner spot for the men’s and women’s indoor games in Perth, Australia, on Saturday (5 a.m. ET on Peacock).

Despite the match being loaded with star power, the two winners make the most sense: Drew McIntyre and Becky Lynch. The other two participants, Randy Orton and Liv Morgan, were acceptable but somewhat disappointing surprise winners. But WWE did a good job of getting all the women together in a segment on Raw and making them say why they deserved to win.

Rather than the multiple viable options fans could consider, McIntyre’s determination to become world champion again and Lynch’s determination to see if he could still date someone of the caliber of women’s world champion Rhea Ripley. At its core, the match gives a strong impression of telling the story that WWE has built. Stay behind and see which one the company chooses.

Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins’ appearance on the talk show “The Grayson Waller Effect” might be the most intriguing thing about the card. Because honestly, I have no idea what’s going to happen and I feel like something big needs to happen to get WrestleMania going. Match.

So the question arises: Should the Eradication Conference be its own pay-per-view? Will it continue to be a way for wrestlers to compete in another main event level match at WrestleMania, or will it be held at another time of the year, or as a showcase match to build to at some point during the year? Is it better to use? option?

With WWE actually doing that, a loss at the Royal Rumble wouldn’t be so devastating for a wrestler because someone could go and win a Chamber match. It also eliminates the very plausible idea of ​​a champion defending his title inside the chamber. Imagine Seth Rollins having to face Randy Orton, LA Knight, McIntyre, Sami Zayn, and, say, Jey Uso for the World Heavyweight Championship. Any of those men would be a worthy and possible winner.

With WWE ramping up its international pay-per-views, it feels unlikely that Elimination Chamber will cease to be its own event.

Looking at the 2023 WWE pay-per-view calendar, I would slide Elimination Chamber into the September slot instead of Payback. That would leave enough time between SummerSlam and Survivor Series to create another big event. This gives you more creative flexibility and frees up time to build a compelling story.

Depending on the situation, the singles title could be defended within the structure, or the winner could have a chance at the title at Survivor Series or Crown Jewel, allowing plenty of time to build the story. Hey, how about trying out your first tag team Elimination Chamber match?

There’s nothing wrong with WWE’s use of Elimination Chamber. It’s proven, true, and logical, but there are better options that are less formulaic and more adaptable to creative situations.

rock my world

When The Rock appeared on SmackDown, I couldn’t help but get a Nation of Domination vibe. On the surface, he hurled some pretty good-natured Mormon and “trailer park trash” insults at the Salt Lake City crowd, calling him “Cody Cry.” ‘Babies’ protested his match against Roman Reigns and abandoned the biggest WrestleMania main event of all time before ‘The Great One’ officially joined The Bloodline.

But judging from where The Rock was standing, far to the left of Reigns, he’s willing to give up his spot as “The Head” slightly for now, but not like Solo Chicore or Jimmy Uso. I wasn’t even behind him.

There are some interesting details.

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

Bringing back the $500 “Rock” shirt was a clear sign of his heel turn and a subtle nod to his Nation days, when he took off Rocky Maivia and became The Rock in 1997. .

By March 1998, he seized control of the state from Farouk. So maybe this shirt was a fun throwback, or maybe it was the first sign that The Rock was finally joining the lineage of usurping Reigns and earning a spot at the front.

During the promo, he said that Rose’s story is coming to an end and his and Reigns’ story is just beginning. Finally, Locke’s hands formed an L shape while the other Bloodline members held up one finger and made a fist. It was probably a coincidence, but it’s fun to think it was a precursor to him attacking Reigns.

The Bloodline’s presence was already being felt on Raw. Solo Chicor’s attack on Cody Rhodes costs the Royal Rumble winner a match with Drew McIntyre to remind him he needs help, leaving his brother Jey Uso with the Intercontinental Championship on the line. By defeating Gunther, his dream match at WrestleMania became a reality.probably

ten count

Swerve Strickland has a great babyface position in the AEW World Championship triple threat match against Samoa Joe and “Hangman” Adam Page. Page’s promos for Dynamite did a great job of portraying Strickland as someone who didn’t deserve the opportunity when the audience knew him to be.

It felt weird that Don Callis was able to have a Revolution match with family members Will Ospreay and Konosuke Takeshita in their true AEW debuts, even though it was a great match. It makes me think there will be a post-match angle, a debut, and perhaps Kazuchika Okada to set up Ospreay’s first feud.

Baron Corbin and Bron Breaker found special chemistry during the Wolfdogs storyline in NXT, which naturally resulted in them capturing the brand’s tag team championships from Tony D’Angelo and Stax Lorenzo. After missing out on several main roster spots, Corbin went down to NXT to reinvent himself and became champion for the first time in six years. With Breaker joining SmackDown, it remains to be seen how long that will last.

We’ll never know what happens, but riffing on “The OC” might be the most interesting thing the group has done since knocking down John Cena.

I know that Rampage is an AEW taped show and the ratings are plummeting, but they need to get a little more creative. This week saw four consecutive backstage interviews in the warehouse area and in the regular interview section with Renee Paquette. Private parties cutting promos in empty spaces, with bodyguards behind velvet ropes, actually do little to elevate them.