The biggest pro wrestling show in Australian history has arrived, with WWE to take a major step on the road to WrestleMania 40 via Elimination Chamber at Perth’s Optus Stadium. Live!
But while a main event of Aussie women’s world champion Rhea Ripley defending her crown, and two Chamber matches to crown WrestleMania challengers are locked, there was one Hollywood-sized mystery hanging over the event.
And in the end, The Rock did not appear in Perth. That and more below.
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It has barely rained in Perth all year, yet the city awoke to showers this morning and they’ve continued intermittently throughout the day, including just before the kickoff show began.
While the ring and Chamber structure are covered, the entry ramp and fans are not, meaning if the clouds don’t clear things could get a bit slippery.
Once again The Rock was discussed on the pre-show, with WWE continuing to say he won’t appear but then immediately teasing that he might – leaving us with more questions than answers, as unlikely as an appearance may seem.
Also on the pre-show, Melbourne’s Indi Hartwell and Candice LaRae fell short of claiming the women’s tag titles against Asuka and Kairi Sane, but the Aussie was given a huge ovation in a sign of what’s to come with Grayson Waller and in particular Rhea Ripley.
Waller was shown entering the arena in an Aussie cricket top which drew the biggest cheer of the show thus far.
In the opener of the main card, Becky Lynch earned a women’s world title match at WrestleMania 40 after winning the women’s Elimination Chamber, pinning Liv Morgan last. Lynch is effectively certain to face Rhea Ripley in Philly.
Tiffany Stratton, a recent call-up from NXT, was the clear star of the match with the crowd turning in her favour until there were massive boos when she was pinned – along with bulls**t chants – despite the fact she’s a heel.
Aussie Bronson Reed, absent from the show, revealed on social media at this point he had just become a dad – explaining his absence in the process.
Men’s tag champions Finn Balor and Damian Priest succesfully defended their titles against the ever-underrated Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate, in a very solid match.
The Rock did not appear in the Grayson Waller Effect segment, which was headlined by Cody Rhodes challenging him to a one-on-one match – presumably on night one of WrestleMania.
ELIMINATION CHAMBER MATCH CARD
Men’s Elimination Chamber, for a World Heavyweight Championship title shot vs Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 40: Drew McIntyre vs Randy Orton vs Bobby Lashley vs LA Knight vs Logan Paul vs Kevin Owens
Women’s World Championship: Rhea Ripley (c) vs Nia Jax
The Grayson Waller Effect with guests Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins – Rhodes challenges The Rock to a one-on-one match
Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship: The Judgment Day [Finn Balor and Damian Priest] (c) def Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate
Women’s Elimination Chamber, for a Women’s World Champion title shot at WrestleMania 40: Becky Lynch def Bianca Belair, Liv Morgan, Naomi, Tiffany Stratton and Raquel Rodriguez
Kickoff Show – Women’s Tag Team Championship: The Kabuki Warriors [Asuka and Kairi Sane] (c) def Indi Hartwell and Candice LaRae
Follow WWE Elimination Chamber Perth live below!
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WHAT THE ROCK SAYS… AND DOESN’T SAY
We would love to tell Australian fans not to get their hopes up about The Rock making a surprise appearance in Perth, ahead of his looming WrestleMania in-ring return.
We know the WA government attempted to secure an appearance from the iconic wrestler turned Hollywood megastar, instead seemingly missing out on both Rock and WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns.
Logically, The Rock will not appear on Saturday night. An appearance from The Great One down under would be something you’d want to advertise to sell more tickets and get more people watching the show – that’s the wrestling business in a nutshell.
But just this past week, even while saying he would not be in Perth, he kept the door open.
In a social media video, seemingly filmed backstage after his latest appearance on Smackdown a couple of weeks ago, The Rock explained: “They kept asking The Rock. Will you come down to Perth?
“Listen, The Rock can’t be there in Perth. The Rock wishes he could be there in Perth. He’s gonna be there in spirit, and that’s all that matters.”
WWE chief content officer Triple H added on 6PR: “When you’re a superstar in Hollywood, your schedule’s pretty tight.”
But in that same video The Rock, after running down Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes before their talking segment with Aussie Grayson Waller (about their feud with The Rock and Reigns), said: “As a matter of fact, if they talk trash, The Rock will fly down there to Perth before that interview is over and he’ll do it (slap them).
“Don’t wonder why The Rock can make it that quick. The Rock makes magic happen.”
WA premier Roger Cook even penned an open letter on Friday offering “logistical support” (presumably bending the space-time continuum) to get him to Perth.
It’s hard to expect WWE to explicitly say ‘no, The Rock will not appear’, because that would lessen the hype for the show.
But at the same time it’s very likely the Optus Stadium crowd will be expecting him to make a surprise appearance during the Rhodes-Rollins-Waller segment. And because of a combination of their own expectations, and the refusal to shut it down completely, they will be disappointed if he’s not there.
Traditionally wrestling promoters would try and avoid disappointing moments like that.
WHO IS PREDICTED TO WIN AT ELIMINATION CHAMBER?
While WWE booking isn’t always the most logical thing in the world – see Cody Rhodes over the last month – especially when you’re getting towards WrestleMania, you can read the tea leaves to figure out who’ll be winning on the final stop before the big show.
It would be utterly bizarre if Rhea Ripley lost her women’s world title to Nia Jax, given Ripley is clearly the bigger star and has been building towards a WrestleMania match with Becky Lynch for some time.
Lynch, as WWE has reminded fans often, is competing in the women’s Elimination Chamber for the first time and you would only really note that as a way to talk down her chances. Again, given they’re already booking towards a Ripley-Lynch Mania match, she pretty much has to win on Saturday night.
Sportsbet has odds for the event and Ripley is listed as a $1.04 favourite to beat Jax ($8.50), while Lynch is $1.30 to win the women’s Chamber ahead of Liv Morgan ($5) and Bianca Belair ($6).
Expect the Judgment Day of Finn Balor and Damian Priest ($1.13) to retain the tag titles against New Catch Republic ($5), likewise the women’s tag champions The Kabuki Warriors ($1.10) vs Indi Hartwell and Candice LaRae ($6), though there’s at least some minor chance they give Hartwell the feel-good moment at home in Australia and flip the titles over (if only briefly).
The men’s Chamber is slightly less predictable than the other matches, given Drew McIntyre has fought Seth Rollins plenty of times recently, but they’ve clearly tried to build McIntyre’s momentum to make him a genuine threat ahead of a WrestleMania rematch.
The original plan, CM Punk, fell through due to injury which explains the McIntyre idea feeling a bit odd – but still making enough sense to have him as a $1.33 favourite. Randy Orton is the only other real contender at $5 while both ‘Any Other Participant’ and LA Knight are $7 (which begs the question why you would back Knight instead of Knight plus three others).
HOW CAN I WATCH ELIMINATION CHAMBER?
WWE Elimination Chamber Perth is available streaming on Kayo and Binge, plus on Foxtel via the WWE channel (144).
The pre-show begins at 5pm local/8pm AEDT, and the main card begins at 6pm local/9pm AEDT.
Max Laughton is in Perth for Elimination Chamber with thanks to WWE.
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