The biggest roadblock on The Road to WrestleMania XL passed by this weekend with WWE Elimination Chamber: Perth and there is a lot to unpack from the event.
On paper, it might not seem as though it was too eventful. After all, there was less than 2 hours of wrestling on a 4 and a half hour show, no titles changed hands and the most obvious winners of the Elimination Chamber matches came out on top.
But now that the dust has settled, Monday Night Raw has aired and Friday Night SmackDown has its advertisements up, there are a few impressions worth breaking down.
Here are some of the biggest takeaways from the 2024 Elimination Chamber pay-per-view worth keeping an eye on.
1) Uneventful? WWE Doesn't Care When Records are Shattered
As mentioned, there was very little action on this event. In fact, nearly an hour went by between the end of the tag team title match and the beginning of the men's Elimination Chamber.
That's crazy when you consider this is World Wrestling Entertainment, not World Talking Entertainment. For 60% of a show to be filler, you'd think something must have gone wrong or that there would be a revolution about how fans are getting screwed out of their money.
And yet, the criticism hasn't been loud enough to catch fire, and all other signs point to this being a rousing success.
Over 52,000 people were in attendance, breaking the record by 20k for any other Elimination Chamber event so far in viewership as well. Australian fans in attendance (like Smark Out Moment's own Bodeen) appear to have been generally pleased with the show, too.
This sends a message to WWE that these foreign market events will not only rake in the cash, but when they go there, the fans will be so happy to just have a WWE event take place in their region that they'll be pleased with whatever they get (reasonably speaking), and it doesn't matter if it's at a time the traditional east coast time zone won't watch or if "nothing really happens" on the show, even the bare minimum will be met with praise.
There's no way WWE didn't walk out of this event with an even more laser-focused grasp on how to maximize bids from other cities for future shows while also affirming that they don't even need to go all-out on the creative aspects for it to be viewed positively, meaning going forward, we can expect a lot more of the same.
Don't be surprised if there's a future SummerSlam in somewhere like India with only a few matches on the card, many of the big names sitting it out, and a lot more filler content to eat up time, and for it to shatter more records and earn even more money than any of us can count.
2) WWE Has No Idea What's Going On With Cody Rhodes, The Rock and More
The criticism of the downtime on this event heavily revolves around the Grayson Waller Effect promo, wherein Grayson Waller and Austin Theory hosted Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins for a talking segment.
As complained about on the Smack Talk podcast post-show, nothing much was actually accomplished in that segment. Rhodes put out a generic, vague challenge to The Rock, Rollins reiterated that he would back up The American Nightmare after establishing that on previous episodes, and that's it.
No appearance from The Rock or Roman Reigns, or even Paul Heyman to represent them, happened. No true response happened on Raw, either. WWE is waiting until SmackDown to have The Rock address the challenge, instead.
Granted, that could be in part because WWE knows The Rock is available for a few SmackDown episodes and that's it, so everything is on hold until each Friday night for the storyline to move forward, but it also reeks of stalling in general. WWE appears to be killing as much time as possible to reorganize plans and figure out a different schedule for WrestleMania compared to the numerous other pitches and ideas previously set for the big show several weeks or months ago.
If plans were more set in stone, it's clear WWE would have done something more than this promo. There would have been a tag team match or something. After all, Bronson Reed was originally set to face Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship at one point, meaning that in and of itself proves The Visionary wasn't supposed to be in this segment at all.
Hopefully, WWE does lock down plans for WrestleMania extremely soon so March doesn't appear to be too chaotic and messy with a rushed last-minute announcement for things to come.
3) Logan Paul is Priority #2 on SmackDown and So Much Revolves Around Him
Saying Logan Paul is a priority shouldn't be a surprise. He's an incredibly popular mainstream media personality who brings attention to WWE and has been earning the respect of the WWE Universe over the past few years with his fantastic performances.
But to say he's the second-most important person on SmackDown right now could be a bit surprising to those who aren't paying attention to how the men's Elimination Chamber match played out.
Going into it, the only two people who had any issues with each other prior to the bell ringing were Logan Paul and Kevin Owens. Owens spent his time feverishly pacing in anticipation to get to Paul.
By the end of the match, Paul had made no friends, only enemies. When he was taken out by Randy Orton, he then hit The Apex Predator with some brass knuckles to cost him the match, allowing Drew McIntyre to win. But McIntyre would go on to still badmouth Paul anyway, planting seeds for an eventual feud between them if WWE ever wants to go down that route.
In the meantime, Orton is going to want revenge against Paul, likely setting up Paul vs. Orton for the United States Championship at WrestleMania.
However, Owens is still in the mix. This could mean a Triple Threat. Then again, if WWE is looking to add more people into the match to get them on the marquee, LA Knight and his attacker in this match, AJ Styles, could also be thrown in there, with the connection point being that Knight and Paul were both in the Elimination Chamber.
We may be looking at a ladder match or something of that sort with most of SmackDown's top players all focusing on taking out Paul for the United States title with him as the focal point.
4) Liv Morgan, Bianca Belair and Tiffany Stratton Shouldn't Be Ignored for a WrestleMania Moment
WWE betting odds all across the board knew that Becky Lynch would win the Elimination Chamber match. It was written on the wall for basically a full year as WWE continued to tease Lynch and Rhea Ripley staring each other down every few months.
But that didn't stop fans from being very vocal in support of the other women in here, anyway.
Naomi and Raquel Rodriguez weren't able to garner as much of a fan favorite response, but Liv Morgan, Tiffany Stratton and Bianca Belair all have members of the WWE Universe calling for them to have won instead.
Stratton put on arguably the show-stealing performance. This should go a long way in boosting her presence on the main roster going forward, and when she was eliminated, it seemed to suck a lot of the energy out of the arena.
The quick eliminations at the end, where Belair was taken out by Morgan, who took a Manhandle Slam from Lynch to be pinned herself, has led to fans also wondering what WWE will do to make up for their two losses.
Belair is heavily featured in the promotional material for WrestleMania. She's on nearly every poster, had a presence at the kickoff press conference, and has even reminded people of her catchphrase that you can't spell WrestleMania without EST.
Morgan's backers will argue she is the rightful woman to dethrone Rhea Ripley, not Lynch. Her "Revenge Tour" angle has to go somewhere, right?
WWE shouldn't just sideline these women. They are popular enough to justify having some spot on the card, even if it isn't involving the Women's World Championship. Whether it means a dedicated singles match between Belair and Stratton (or Jade Cargill), or an inclusion in fighting for the Women's Tag Team Championship, WWE should make it a point to try to put them on the card. They've earned it, fans are clamoring for it, and if there isn't enough room in two nights worth of programming, WWE should consider cutting one of its many video packages or recap segments to make room.
5) Rhea Ripley Should Beat Becky Lynch
It made perfect sense for Rhea Ripley to headline this event. As an Australian, a champion, and one of the most popular Superstars on the roster in general (male or female) at the moment, she was clearly a major focal point for a multitude of reasons, including the media surrounding the show.
Her winning over Nia Jax was also a foregone conclusion. WWE wasn't about to send the fans home mad, divert the WrestleMania plans and have Jax be the champion going into the biggest show of 2024.
But now that Lynch has won the right to challenge Ripley, most fans are jumping ahead to a title change at WrestleMania. The Man has had overall more success than Ripley and is arguably the best woman set up to be the most viable threat to the championship.
However, judging by the reaction Morgan, Belair and Stratton received, as well as the popularity behind Ripley, WWE should keep the belt on Mami, instead.
There are no rules saying all the titles have to change hands at WrestleMania. On the contrary, it's nice to see champions retain once in a while to keep up the illusion that anything can happen. Considering the chances Rollins loses his title, Cody Rhodes hopefully beats Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship, and that Bayley will defeat Iyo Sky to win the WWE Women's Championship, it would make sense for Ripley to be the standout who walks into Lincoln Financial Field with the gold and leaves with it still in her possession.
This could appease those fans of Morgan, for instance, as perhaps she could be the one to beat Ripley at a future show after WrestleMania later in 2024. It would swerve the audience that thinks everything is predictable, and it would please the rabid supporters of The Judgment Day's most dominant member.
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