WWE Elimination Chamber 2025 is in the history books, and overall it was a very good, historic show that served as a good setup for WrestleMania 41. You had two strong Chamber matches, a show-stealing fight, a filler tag match, and a big angle to close the PPV. I have some gripes about a few things, but this was one of WWE's better offerings in recent years.
The show opened with what I thought was the superior of the two Chamber bouts, the women's match. Liv Morgan in particular shined in this match as one of the first two participants and the last one to be eliminated. By the end she had welts all over her from various bumps. Liv and Naomi were the first two combatants, the bell rang and suddenly Jade Cargill came out and was able to get into the Chamber because the door was still open. So wait, you mean to tell me the officiating is so sloppy they couldn't get the cage door shut in the time it took for the bell to ring and for Jade to make her slow entrance in a stadium?? That's some bad storytelling. Anyway, Jade made it look like she was going to attack Liv (who sold it like she was terrified), but instead went after Naomi, beating the crap out of her. Naomi was ruled unable to continue, which is pretty fuckin' thin considering basically all the women in the match took more punishment than she did; why couldn't Liv have just pinned her right away? Liv gloated as the officials took Naomi away and then Belair was the next entrant. Liv got the advantage early as Belair was preoccupied with her injured friend. Roxanne Perez was next and ran wild for a little while, before Bayley entered. Alexa Bliss was the final entrant. They all exchanged some good, crisp action before Liv took Bayley out with Oblivion. Alexa pinned Roxanne after Twisted Bliss. Alexa hit Bianca with Sister Abigail but got rolled up by Liv for the pin. The match really got good when it was down to just Bianca and Liv. Morgan repeatedly whipped Bianca into the cage with her braid, but Bianca came back and swung Morgan repeatedly into one of the pods. At one point while they were fighting on top of the pod, Bianca whipped Liv with her braid, which made a loud cracking sound and left a sick-looking welt. They settled back in the ring and tried to finish each other off but Bianca countered Oblivion and hit the KOD for the win. Very good Chamber that built to a strong peak. ****1/4
Next up was the throwaway match of the night, Trish Stratus and Tiffany Stratton vs. Nia Jax and Candice LaRae. This was of TV match quality, exciting when Tiffany was on offense but slow when Nia was. Probably the most memorable spot was Trish hitting a bulldog on Nia off the top rope, after struggling to hit her regular one. Candice tried to break up the pin with a moonsault but Trish moved and Candice hit Nia instead. Tiffany then hit her Prettiest Moonsault Ever on Nia for the win. **1/2
As expected the Kevin Owens-Sami Zayn unsanctioned match stole the show, though I have to ask: Why the fuck did they dim the lights for this? What, "unsanctioned" means no rules and no lights?? Why can't WWE just be normal about this shit? Anyway, this was a violent match but nowhere near the levels of unsanctioned violence featured in AEW, thus the announcers' selling of some of this stuff came off very phony and overdone. KO and Sami fought in the ring for a few minutes before hitting each other with chairs and then brawling through the crowd, where Sami put Owens through two tables. They made their way back into the ring, fighting on the top rope, but KO slipped under and shoved Sami through two stacked tables, which was a crazy spot. Owens hit a fisherman buster on a standing chair which looked brutal. Sami came back with half-nelson suplexes, the second of which was through the same chair. Sami went for the Helluva Kick but KO pulled the referee in the way. Owens hit a stunner and covered, but the substitute ref didn't make it down fast enough and Owens knocked him out too. A third referee ran down and the match got moving again. Owens hit a fisherman buster through a table from the top rope but Sami kicked out and came back with a sudden Helluva Kick. Sami went under the ring and got a barbwire-wrapped chair, and hit Owens with it, then tripped him so Owens landed face-first on the chair. No blood, oddly. Sami hit a Blue Thunder bomb on some chairs but Owens kicked out. Owens wrapped a chair around Sami's head and rammed him into the ring post, then hit a couple apron bombs (which Michael Cole way oversold). Finally he rolled Sami into the ring for the pin. Really good match with a lot of memorable spots, but not nearly as violent as WWE would have you believe. The ending was a little flat as well. But overall fine stuff. Randy Orton made his return after the match and hit Owens with an RKO. ****1/2
The men's Chamber match was far more stacked than the women's but also had a lot more dead time and was plagued with staredowns meant to evoke the magnitude of Hogan vs. Rock. WWE does this crap all the time and it annoys me to no end. "Hey everyone, John Cena and CM Punk are wrestling each other again, isn't this HUGE??" This product would be so much easier to watch if things had urgency to them instead of constantly trying to create "moments." Anyway, Drew McIntyre and Seth Rollins started things off and they had some decent exchanges. Then Damian Priest came in and hit some big moves. Logan Paul was next and the crowd booed him into oblivion. Paul ran wild for a bit but Priest stopped him and pushed him into the cage. John Cena was fifth and hit his greatest hits on everyone. Drew took Cena down with a Claymore Kick but Priest pinned him with a crucifix pin. Enraged, Drew hit Priest with a Claymore on his way out, allowing Logan to hit a frog splash from the pod and eliminate Priest. CM Punk was the last man in and rammed Paul's head into the pod. Then came the interminable Punk-Cena faceoff, and then Seth got involved and the three of them just stood there for a while. Let's pick up the pace, huh guys? Logan Paul tried to attack the babyfaces but Punk took him out with a GTS and pinned him. Cena and Punk hit Seth with a Hart Attack and then had ANOTHER faceoff, this time HUGGING(?) before fighting. They traded submission attempts before Punk hit a top rope crossbody which Cena countered into an AA. Seth hit Punk with a pedigree and stomp but Punk kicked out, then gave Seth a GTS, followed by a Cena AA to eliminate him. That left Cena and Punk, who faced off AGAIN. Once was enough, fellas. They traded finishers and nearfalls, before Seth curb stomped Punk on the outside, allowing Cena to pull him back in and lock in the STF. Punk passed out and Cena won. Good match but way too much "Look at all the moments" shit. ****
Then came the big angle to close the show. As Cena celebrated, Cody Rhodes came out to congratulate him, but was interrupted by The Rock, who demanded an answer to "Will you give me your soul, Cody?" I'm not exactly clear on what Dwayne was offering in return. He said "The American Nightmare can live forever," but what the fuck does that mean? Cody's headlined the last two WrestleManias and is the face of the company. What more is The Rock supposed to be able to do for him? Anyway, Cody said his soul already belongs to the fans and told Rock to go fuck himself. I like that WWE is allowing swearing again. Cena laughed at this, hugged Cody, but locked eyes with Rock and went all serious. Rock did a throat slashing gesture and Cena kicked Cody in the nuts, then beat him down using his Rolex. Rock whipped Cody with his own weight belt and the two heels stood over him to close the show. This went on too long but was executed pretty well. So is the implication that The Rock pulled Cena aside backstage and said "I'm gonna demand an answer from Cody tonight and if he says no do you want me to help you beat him?" Seems a little contrived, but ok.
Anyway a very good, eventful Elimination Chamber.
Best Match: Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn
Worst Match: Trishany vs. CanNia LaJax
What I'd Change: Let Sami and KO bleed, have Jade come out BEFORE the bell and have Liv pin Naomi, and tone down the faceoffs; there's way too much dead air in some of these big matches. Also get Pat McAfee off my TV, he's goddamn terrible.
Most Disappointing Match: None really
Most Pleasant Surprise: The women's Chamber
Overall Rating: 8.5/10
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