Welcome to another edition of Triple Threat from Smark Out Moment, where three of us get together to discuss three questions based on one big topic going down in the week of professional wrestling.
This week, Dallas Allsopp, Ben Williams and Robert DeFelice review WWE Elimination Chamber 2022.
Just how bad was Elimination Chamber 2022? The Smark Out Moment Triple Threat Crew will enlighten you just how bad.
Question 1: Rate the women’s Elimination Chamber match. Was Bianca Belair the best choice to win?
ALLSOPP: It was ok, but I was more distracted by the fact the women were wearing what seemed like uncomfortable outfits. We know at this stage that women are forced to cover up, but it became a distraction to the match. The action was fair, with Bianca Belair and Rhea Ripley starring, each of whom deserved to win. As it was, Belair triumphed, which is for the best as we have The Man vs The EST of WWE for WrestleMania, a storyline which writes itself.
WILLIAMS: The women’s Elimination Chamber match was a decent enough match - nothing particularly amazing or terrible to pick out. The pacing of the match was very fast, which was perhaps too fast, to the point you could call it rushed, but I do think the quick pace kept the crowd alive the entire time. Bianca Belair winning was fairly obvious to me, and as much as I'm a huge fan of hers, I have almost no interest in seeing her face Becky Lynch again at WrestleMania. All in all, WWE have succeeded in keeping Belair strong for the last 18 months, so they’ve achieved something positive there.
DeFELICE: Bianca Belair was the obvious choice and I guess in this case, she's the best in terms of star power. Hopefully, Rhea Ripley can get herself back in that range. The match itself was fine. I was not a fan of the quicker intervals, but I was a huge fan of all of the women’s choices for ring gear. It's very cool to see how far they've come in terms of being able to wrestle in Saudi Arabia when it was not that long ago that they were not even able to attend the show.
Question 2: Was Becky Lynch vs Lita evidence that the WWE Hall of Famer could have a successful run with the company in 2022?
WILLIAMS: Whilst I don’t need to see an extended final run from Lita, her efforts in this programme with Becky Lynch absolutely must be applauded! Her promos have been 10/10, her ability to convey emotion and get the fans behind her still at this point in her career is impressive, and I'm glad for her sake that she got a final run that she can be proud of.
DeFELICE: It was a good outing and she deserves a better conclusion than she had in 2006, but I did not find myself going as crazy for the abilities of Lita as many of my contemporaries did. I definitely think she needs to continue wrestling, at least through WrestleMania. There is money in her working a program with Sasha Banks, Bayley, Rhea Ripley, or Shotzi. This was a solid outing for her, and I'm very glad that Becky Lynch was able to have this moment, but I wouldn't say it was the best women's match I've seen.
ALLSOPP: Yes, as long as it was to build future stars. A number of names such as Liv Morgan, Doudrop, and Aliyah would benefit from sharing the ring with a Hall of Famer who can clearly still go.
Question 3: How did the men’s Elimination Chamber match make you feel? Are you looking forward to title vs title at WrestleMania?
DeFELICE: It was fun. I wasn't much of a fan of how they wrote-off Bobby Lashley, but learning that he was legitimately hurt changed my perception on that. At this point, Brock Lesnar was going to win, and that's okay. I thought his interactions with Austin Theory were fantastic and a lot of fun. I'm having a good time watching this version of Lesnar because he looks like he's having the time of his life, and he also engages the audience. Is it my ideal scenario for WrestleMania? No. But I do commend them for not forcing another championship match on the card.
At the end of the day, it is the best story that they're telling right now, and I am looking forward to the match if they can keep from doing the same boring formulaic three-moves on repeat matches they've been doing throughout the rivalry.
ALLSOPP: I’ll keep this short and sweet - fuck everything about this match! Bobby Lashley could have sustained a pre-match attack to cover for his injury, rather than use the embarrassment of a so called concussion for his removal that WWE went with. Brock Lesnar smashing everything was expected, but to crown him at the expense of of everyone else in the ring was piss poor - if you can’t tell, I don’t care for Roman Reigns vs Lesnar at WrestleMania. Even though The Tribal Chief is the best thing about WWE at the moment.
WILLIAMS: Just like the Royal Rumble, my overriding feeling is “what was the point?”. All this match did was show that no matter who the fans care about, or who is an over star, Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar trump all. Seth Rollins, AJ Styles, and Riddle meant absolutely nothing in this match, whilst Bobby Lashley has just been completely wiped out of the title picture after only just regaining his main event status. Lesnar has once again just torn through the entire Raw main event scene. Title vs title isn't an interesting concept when the two people holding those titles have already faced each other at least 10 times at this point, including in two WrestleMania main event matches that nobody wanted to see! I hope the WrestleMania 38 undercard has some great matches because I envision this main event contest to be a pretty big flop.
Those are our thoughts on the issue, but where do you stand?
Let us know your answers to these questions in the comments below!
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