This wasn’t supposed to happen. The Elimination Chamber – which comes at you on Saturday, February 18, from the Centre Bell in Montreal, Quebec, Canada – is supposed to be a Premium Live Event (PPV) where many things are promised, and not much happens.
Such is the life of an event rammed into the schedule between the Royal Rumble – where the main event challenger for WrestleMania is crowned – and ‘Mania on the first weekend in April.
The WWE had this set up again this year. The return of Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 38 last year produced one of the biggest pops in years. Cody then went to war with Seth ‘Freakin” Rollins, putting on show-stealing performances before that legacy-defining match where he wrestled with a torn pec. His return at the Rumble was everything it needed to be, and the story was perfect for Rhodes to challenge Roman Reigns and ‘The Bloodline’, taking the Universal Championship that Reigns has now held for over 900 days.
Then Sami Zayn happened.
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The Rise of Sami Zayn
The rise of Zayn didn’t exactly come out of nowhere, but it is hard to believe that a guy doing the job for Johnny Knoxville at WrestleMania in Dallas last year could be on the cusp of defeating Reigns and (kind of) stealing Cosy’s thunder.
The angle with The Bloodline and the Honorary Uce was expected to get over. However, the company didn’t expect the groundswell of support and the level of emotion that the fans showed at the Rumble when Zayn finally turned on Reigns as he was beating down Kevin Owens. Zayn – a wrestler with a personality that screams pure babyface – was stunningly good in this angle. It is the best TV that the company has booked in a decade, thanks to the performances of Reigns, Zayn, Paul Heyman, and the Usos.
What role are the Usos going to play at Elimination Chamber? Will the WWE break against tradition and give a babyface a massive win in their hometown? Can they really go against months of planning by listening to the ratings and putting the belt on Zayn at a secondary show, with Roman having held the belt for so long?
The parallels between Zayn at Wrestlemania 39 and Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 30 are hard to ignore. The difference is that unlike Bryan – who was the clear favorite no matter what WWE did to hold him back – people love Zayn and Cody. It makes for a stunningly intriguing set of circumstances and a much-watch show on Saturday night.
Always remember folks. Pro Wrestling is Real.
