For Sami Zayn, it may all come down to this. After months of getting himself in good with the Bloodline, it all blew up at the Royal Rumble after Roman Reigns went too far. Now, Sami has a chance to end the tyrannical 900+ day reign of the Tribal Chief in his home province of Quebec at the first WWE Premium Live Event in Canada in recent memory. It doesn’t get any more perfect than that.
WWE Elimination Chamber 2023 date and start time
WWE Elimination Chamber 2023 goes down live from the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on Saturday, February 18, 2023 starting at 8pm ET.
How to watch WWE Elimination Chamber 2023
WWE Elimination Chamber 2023 will be available to stream on Peacock in the United States, and WWE Network everywhere else.
WWE Elimination Chamber 2023 card and predictions
Edge & Beth Phoenix vs. Finn Bálor & Rhea Ripley
Shane: I’m going to go with Finn Bálor and Rhea Ripley AKA The Judgment Day here simply because I don’t see Rhea taking a loss on her way to WrestleMania. WWE needs Mami looking as strong as possible for Charlotte, and losing is not an option. Plus, if Edge and Beth lose, it could help set up the long-rumored Edge/Bálor Hell in a Cell match.
Winners: Finn Bálor and Rhea Ripley
Tyler: It’s funny, Finn Bálor said the quiet part out loud when he pointed out that Edge vs. Judgment Day has been on repeat: Judgement Day beats Edge down, he takes off for a few months, comes back to seek revenge. Rinse. Repeat. He failed to mention, however, that Edge has come out on top more often than not.
With Rhea’s ascension to the top of the card, there’s no way she takes a loss. And I know the blood feud in this whole scenario is between Edge and Bálor, but it’s a shame that Ex-Con Dom isn’t the one tagging with the women’s Royal Rumble winner. Judgment Day gets the win in a manner so gruesome Edge challenges Finn Bálor to end this once and for at WrestleMania.
Winners: Finn Bálor and Rhea Ripley
Jay: The Judgment Day is taking this. It’s wild to think that Edge has spent a year either forming or feuding with The Judgment Day, and how they have gone from a directionless, spoopy BS group to this, um, meme-heavy, slightly more menacing Team Rocket-like group for Monday Night Raw. I mean, they just kind of show up with their delightfully annoying ass music, Damian Priest spouts a catch phrase, Rhea and Finn take care of some business, and Prison Dom does some nonsense in a Meowth kind of way. Anyway, Rhea won the Rumble and they are priming her for Mania and Edge’s most logical match is against Bálor at the Show of Shows. The best way to meet both those ends is a win by The Judgment Day.
Winners: Finn Bálor and Rhea Ripley
Bobby Lashley vs. Brock Lesnar
Shane: This is a coin toss, but I’m picking Brock Lesnar to win Saturday night. Yes, right now Brock and Bobby both have a single win apiece against each other, but Brock’s win at Crown Jewel has a little asterisk next to it. I think Brock will win Saturday night at Elimination Chamber to finally give him a definitive victory over Bobby Lashley.
Winner: Brock Lesnar
Tyler: When Brock Lesnar challenged Bobby Who? to a match at Elimination Chamber instead of WrestleMania, they threw me off the scent. On the positive side of this, there are a few avenues they can travel down here, such as The Hurt Business helping Lashley defeat Lesnar. Or, perhaps, maybe MVP & Co. become impatient with Lashley’s refusal to re-join the faction and cost him the match. Either of these choices could lead to a plethora more avenues, such as Brock having to find partners and perform in an incredibly rare tag team match at WrestleMania.
Now, the negative: The three-match story of Lashley vs. Lesnar has been lazy. I understand Lashley wanting to exact revenge on Lesnar, but it still has never been explained what Lesnar’s issue with Lashley is. I thought Lashley was the good guy here? Or is it Brock, who is clapping hands with ringside fans and really hamming it up with his aw-shucks farmer boy persona? WWE has put almost no effort in this build. I don’t know, Lashley?
Winner: Bobby Lashley (with assistance from The Hurt Business)
Jay: This will be a Dusty finish or non-committal ending of some sort. There is a lot of equity in this feud and neither Bobby nor Lesnar have a clear path to Mania which is a few weeks away. It makes no sense to blow it off here. Bobby may take it just to keep score but this will be followed up at Mania.
Winner: Bobby Lashley
Carmella vs. Nikki Cross vs. Raquel Rodriguez vs. Asuka vs. Liv Morgan vs. Natalya (Women’s Elimination Chamber Match)
Shane: It has to be Asuka, right?
Winner: Asuka
Tyler: I assumed Asuka was going to win the Royal Rumble while Rhea was preoccupied with Beth Phoenix at WrestleMania. When Hunter opted for the more traditional route, Asuka is now just slotted into winning the Chamber, no? Maybe not.
By process of elimination, Carmella and Natalya aren’t challenging for a women’s world title at the biggest show of the year. Liv Morgan has successfully moved up in the top tier of the women’s roster – especially after her performance in the Rumble – but they’re not revisiting that again so soon. Nikki Cross hasn’t done much since getting her old gimmick back, and that continues until her friends come back. So that leaves Asuka and Raquel Rodriquez.
Raquel’s development has come across quite nicely, and it would be a hell of a push to establish a breakout new star in the women’s division, especially since the Four Three Horsewomen are now the rugged veterans. Asuka, on the other hand, has been there, done that. But wrestling isn’t always about pushing the youngest possible talent, and Asuka does genuinely feel fresh with a new coat of paint. Raquel’s time is almost upon us, but she is put to sleep in the final minutes of the match.
Winner: Asuka
Jay: The Raw Women’s title picture is interesting; there are several viable contenders to challenge Bianca at Mania. I personally hope that it’s Asuka vs. Belair at Mania and then we have a separate Becky vs. Bayley, match but it could easily be a Fatal 4-Way for the belt. Either way, yeah, Asuka is taking this.
Winner: Asuka
Austin Theory (c) vs. Montez Ford vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Bronson Reed vs. Seth “Freakin” Rollins vs. Damian Priest for the United States Championship (Men’s Elimination Chamber Match)
Shane: This one also feels fairly easy to call: it will be Austin Theory walking out of Elimination Chamber still the United States Champion. Montez Ford is still too much of a tag team guy to win, Johnny Gargano has been as entertaining as a wet fart recently so won’t be him. It’s too soon for Bronson Reed to win the title, but I can’t wait to see him hit a Tsunami off the top of the chamber pod. I don’t have a definitive argument for Priest not to win, but I just don’t see it at this point and time. And Seth Rollins will be feuding with Logan Paul afterwards so he’s not winning. That leaves only Austin Theory to retain.
I read somewhere that Theory should start a “fake” US Championship Open Challenge where he faces local enhancement talents or wrestlers like Hornswoggle until WrestleMania where John Cena answers the challenge, and now that’s all I want to happen.
Winner: Austin Theory
Tyler: I agree with Shane, this feels like the easiest to pick. I do appreciate that Hunter is booking a Chamber match for a secondary title. For years all we’ve wanted was for these belts to matter, and now they’re being put on a pedestal. WWE is investing in these championships and, in return, the wrestlers who compete over them.
In a dream world, Johnny Gargano nearly wins when Austin Theory cheats to retain, setting up their WrestleMania title showdown. But, much to my supreme disappointment, Johnny Wrestling has become Johnny Sports Entertainment, and not the good kind. Seth’s WrestleMania plans seem to be cemented with a certain YouTube star. And if this was taking place in 2024, Montez Ford would be going home with the gold. But this may be the last time John Cena ever wrestles at WrestleMania, and it has to be against the man who walks into Elimination Chamber with the U.S. championship.
Winner: Austin Theory
Jay: Austin Theory. Theory has had a great year and it seems that the audience has accepted that he is destined for more. This will be a showcase of how far he has come from being flung from the top of the cage by Brock Lesnar last year.
Winner: Austin Theory
Roman Reigns (c) vs. Sami Zayn for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship
Shane: I want Sami to pull out a Mick Foley-esque performance where he refuses to stand down, frustrating Roman enough to either force a DQ or a no contest. I know, I know. But let me explain. This prediction is more about an angle than a match result. Montreal is going to be HOT for Sami and I don’t think a simple pinfall or submission victory would be the right decision. Instead, take the beating that happened at the end of the Rumble and kick it up a notch or two. We’ve seen some great beatdowns in WWE, and this should be a top tier one when it’s all said and done. Roman walks out of Elimination Chamber still the Champ, but not necessarily victorious.
Next night on Raw (or Friday on SmackDown, take your pick), the Bloodline is out in the ring talking down Cody, talking down Sami when, for just one appearance, The Rock’s music hits. He comes to the ring, hugs his family and manages to get into Roman’s head. The Rock somehow convinces/tricks Roman to agree to either defend his titles on two different nights, one against Cody and one against Sami, or both of them in a triple match with both titles on the line.
My prediction is this: Sami isn’t out of the WrestleMania main event after Saturday night and an audible is being called to keep him there moving forward. However that looks.
Winner: Sami Zayn by DQ or no contest (Roman Reigns retains)
Tyler: He’s not winning. You know it. I know it. Let us not get too worked up, and let us be prepared. He isn’t winning.
Or will he…?
At this point, I cannot see a scenario in which Sami pins Roman at this PLE. But, as we get closer, I’m finding it harder and harder to believe that Sami isn’t finding himself challenging Roman and Cody in the main event of WrestleMania. Kudos to WWE for getting us to the point where we believe.
Conventional wisdom says Sami loses when Jey turns on him. Conventional wisdom says Kevin Ownes returns to save his best friend, setting up perhaps the biggest tag team title match in WWE history at the Showcase of the Immortals. And while that would be an incredibly satisfying conclusion to Sami’s story with the Bloodline, conventional wisdom also says you let the greatest storyline in pro wrestling history conclude in the main event of WrestleMania.
Land the plane, Hunter. Just make sure it’s in the correct destination.
Winner: Roman Reigns
Jay: I echo everything Tyler said above. I think the original plan was to have Jey turn on Sami to set up a Mania tag match, but it’s evolved beyond that. I don’t think the powers that be expected the audience to remember the Roman/Jey feud from the ThunderDome days so vividly. It’s almost like we are experiencing Jey’s PTSD with him as he watches Roman do the same thing to Sami that he survived. Roman is keeping the belts, I just don’t know how. I’m sure KO will appear to run off Solo Sikoa or something to that effect and it may come down to how Jey reacts to the situation. We’ll see.
Winner: Roman Reigns
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